The term ‘augmented reality’ (AR) sounds as if it has been lifted straight from the pages of a second rate science fiction novel. However, it is fast becoming a well-used tool to communicate information by creating a visually enhanced world.  Ronald Azuma created a simple definition of the term in 1997, whereby AR:

 Combines real and virtual elements together
 Is interactive in real time
 Is registered in 3D

Augmented reality is best explained in the everyday forms that it currently takes.  Broadcasted sports uses simplified augmented reality as a means of more accurately conveying information. For example, you may have noticed that in swimming championships, there is a bar that trails in front of the leading swimmer.  Clearly, in reality this is not real- otherwise the leader could simply grab hold of it and get dragged along to victory! However, the bar helps the viewer put the entire race into context, and so creates an entire new level of interactivity and understanding for the audience- which are really the main uses for augmented reality.

A better example (although entirely fictional) would be how technology is depicted in the films ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Minority Report’.  The main character in ‘Iron Man’, Tony Stark, creates his suit using an augmented reality system that he can control vocally and by touch.  Equally, in ‘Minority Report’, the characters can pull up any live action videos of crimes and pull it up on their interface by using their fingers to drag it up alongside crime profiles.

Of course, the latter examples are based in fiction.  However, the fast onslaught of the ‘Android Phone’ (the best known is the iPhone) has opened up a vast market where digital techniques can be used to create applications that make the most of AR.  ‘Wikitude’ is an application that uses the real time view through the phone’s camera lens and layers information on top of the display view about the user’s surroundings, such as famous landmarks and scenery.    ‘Layar’ does much of the same as ‘Wikitude’, but it allows you to flick between layers of webpages that it has searched for the information that comes up on screen.

Indeed, augmented reality has already been used cleverly as ways of providing another dimension to digital marketing and advertising.  Nissan used augmented reality in their brochure for the unveiling of the ‘Cube’- when the brochure was held up to a webcam, it showed several versions of the car interacting with the brochure.  The American electronics retailer, Best Buy, circulated an AR code in their Sunday ads which, when used in conjunction with a webcam, enabled customers to virtually interact with the latest product to be promoted

The exciting world of augmented reality is becoming all the more fascinating as businesses move towards creating innovative ways of using AR in day to day contexts and as a quirky means of standing out from the crowd.  The possibilities that AR presents is inconceivable- the face of almost every industry would be changed. The digital worlds of ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Minority Report’ present technologies that directly involve the user in interactivity as well as being able to rapidly convey a mixture of written and visual information alongside real time elements.  As fiction rapidly moves towards reality, AR presents a wealth of unique opportunities.

When you run a search in a search engine let’s say Google for example, you get a set of results for each website which is broken down into 3 elements. First there is a blue line which is the title, then a description and then a link to the website.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oldham Evening Chronicle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ... 4 Aug 2009 ... The Oldham Evening Chronicle is a daily newspaper      published each weekday evening. It is a local newspaper which se... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldham_Evening_Chronicle - Cached - Similar -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blue line comes from your websites page title which is visible at the very top of your web browser when viewing a page. When people read page titles through a search engine they tend to only read the first 3 or 4 words. This is due to the way we now search for things and the ‘triangle of attention’ which I covered in my last blog post How do people find your website? 

Being able to understand how to optimise a page title and update it is crucial as it can significantly increase the amount of traffic conversions to your website.

How to change your page title

If you update the website yourself then you need to change the title tag. If you use a content management system (CMS) then you should be able to change the page title within the CMS somewhere. Taking into consideration people only read the first 3 or 4 words of a page title let’s take a look at the right and wrong way of doing things.

The wrong way to structure your page title

 

Taking this websites homepage as an example, if I were to write a page title as ‘Welcome to the CandidSky Digital Marketing Website’.  My first 3 words are ‘Welcome to the...’ people will scan this title, read the first few words, not see what they want to see and move on.  They have not even read the rest of the title ‘...CandidSky Digital Marketing Website’.

Also its unlikely people are searching for ‘CandidSky Digital Marketing’ because if they are they probably already know our website or know of us and can find us quite easily.

The right way to structure your page title

 

Again if I use this website as an example, it’s more important that the page title says 'Digital Marketing services' or ‘Internet Marketing Services’ because that’s more likely what people will be searching for. If somebody searches for ‘Digital Marketing Services’ they want to see that search phrase in the title. This then confirms that this is the right website to look at and they are more likely to click on it.

So you will need the right keywords at the beginning of the title and then structure things in the right order like this ‘Digital Marketing Services Provided by CandidSky Internet Group’. This way I still get in the company name but I’ve got the right words at the front. As best practice always try to put the juicy keywords at the front of your title and your business name at the end. So in a search engine my title would read like this.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digital Marketing Services Provided by CandidSky Intern... Digital Agency in Oldham, Manchester and London, UK. We do Digital Marketing, Web Design and Build, Social Media, SEO, SEM Email Marketing, ... www.candidskydigitalmarketingcom - Cached - Similar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is good for two reasons, firstly people searching via Google will see the words they have searched for, which makes them much more likely to click on the link. But also the way Google and other search engines work they tend to give the words at the beginning of a title, heading or paragraph more value than the words at the end. So don’t start your title with things like ‘Welcome to the ...’ or ‘We are happy to introduce you to ...’ as these phrases that don’t actually achieve anything and  wont encourage people to click through to your website.

Top 3 Tips for Page Titles

 

 

1. Get some juicy keywords in at the start of your title
2. Don’t assume people are reading your entire title
3. Make sure your title is relevant to what people are searching for

Have any questions? Contact Us

As the Internet develops so do people and their interaction with it. There have been some key changes in the way we are using the Internet these days. Businesses should be looking into not only how Google and other search engines find their website but also how people find it.

Psychology of Internet Search

Quite a big part of marketing is how people react and interact to things and this all boils down to psychology a lot of the time. For example when people view a website they expect certain things in certain places. They expect the navigation at the top and left hand side of the page and they expect the content to be in the middle. It’s an important part of Internet Marketing to understand how people are reacting to what you are doing.

Google Triangle of Attention

 

What this basically means is when people search for something via Google they will tend to look at the first few results in greater detail but as they move down the page they read less and less. Meaning their attention is drawn wider at the top of the page and it narrows as they move down the page.  Below the page brake (which is the area at which you must scroll down the page) studies have shown most people won’t even get this far.

The way we search has changed

 

The impact of this new way of searching is very important because people now tend to stick with one search engine a lot more and also do not look beyond the first page of results. Meaning it has become more and more important to try and get onto the first page, which is becoming harder as there are more people trying to do this.

Long Tail Search

 

More than 30% of people will search on 3 words or more. So for example if I were to search for Internet Marketing I wouldn’t just type into a search engine ‘Internet Marketing’ I would type in ‘Internet Marketing Oldham’ or even ‘Internet Marketing Specialists Oldham’. You might not get as much traffic this way, but you will get traffic that will convert into business as it’s much more targeted and relevant.

Candidsky can provide you with a straightforward, no-nonsense hosting service that ensures your website is looked after with the utmost care.  We’ll tend to each of the infinite hoops that you would ordinarily have to jump through to get your website online, so that you don’t have to even lift a finger.

We will set your website up online, maintain it, ensure that it’s absolutely secure and back up your files on a regular basis so you don’t have to worry about losing anything.   

If you would like to find out more about hosting, please contact us

Today CandidSky launch the official Oldham Chronicle Facebook Page, moving the Chronicle one step further into the digital world. To celebrate this launch into social media we also introduced the Snapshot Of Oldham competition.

Here at CandidSky we have always been a supporter of the Oldham Chronicle and have always made sure the evening edition is delivered to our head office in Chadderton.  Which is why we are proud to be supporting them in their efforts to explore the digital world.  The social media platform of Facebook is a good place to start as it already has 50,000 Oldhamers who are ready to interact online.

We believe there is huge potential for the Chronicle to connect with the local community digitally and we are excited to be involved and support them each step of the way. We also understand that the Oldham Chronicle is primarily a Newspaper and we don’t want to retract from that fact or to advance things too quickly. Our aim is to make news more accessible to the people of Oldham by utilising various mediums online. If we can make news accessible on more than one platform whether it’s in the form of a Newspaper, iPhone Application, Social Media platform or any new technology that comes along .... then everyone wins!

Together with the launch of the Facebook page comes the Snapshot of Oldham competition which invites the people of Oldham to grab a camera and take a photo of exactly what they are doing right now. The winner will be decided just before Christmas and will be presented with a shiny new digital camera.

Visit the Oldham Chronicle Facebook Page

The large town of Oldham has a population of 217,273 living in an area of around 26 square miles.  To any local businesses, whether already established or small and just starting out, this large town offers a wealth of opportunities within its own community.  The growth of the internet has ensured that local businesses can get in touch with the rest of the world at the click of a mouse, but strong connections within the local community also provide a powerful foundation that can be built upon.

Here are a few of our tips on how to get in touch with Oldham by making the most of Digital Marketing:

 

Blogging

Blogging is one of the most versatile ways of getting your name recognized on the internet.  You can write about anything in connection to your business, whether it’s a full blown article about developments, a short bulletin about winning your latest clients or even just to share your business acumen with others.  The more you blog, the more your brand receives coverage on the internet.  An additional hint would be to namedrop some of Oldham’s public figures such as Mayor Jim McArdle or Oldham Athletic FC.  Oldham has a longstanding legacy of famous individuals that can be dipped into to, such as current fashion icons Agyness Deyn and Karen Elson, Take That’s Mark Owen, or Philip Schofield, to name but a few.  If you’re lucky enough to get snapped with these celebrities or manage to get a quote from them, this will ensure that your blogs will be offered to different audiences and your brand will find a larger demographic.

Local Newspapers

The local newspapers in Oldham are a great resource for any business whether you’re looking at marketing through the papers themselves or via digital means.  Scoring an article in publications such as The Oldham Chronicle or The Oldham Advertiser or an advertisement is a great coup, but online news outlets should also be considered as a fantastic way to spread the word about your business.You’ll find that newspapers are also starting to invest more in their online endeavours, to follow suite with the success of national newspapers such as the Guardian’s digital successes.  Local newspaper websites are dedicated to the community and have a real driving force in supporting their businesses so making the most of newspaper websites, forums and their Facebook pages is a must for any enterprise wanting to gather a bigger client base.

 

Google Analytics

Social Media

Unless you’ve been living on Mars, you have undoubtedly heard of social networking sites such as Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.  Social media sites are an opportunity for any business to expand their online footprint and engage with customers directly.  Facebook, for example has 200 million users (and counting) and of that 50,000 of them are based in Oldham. This website offers businesses the chance to interact with their own customers by building pages and using fun applications.  Facebook Ads lets you place advertisements by specifying your target audience, even narrowing it down to location, gender and age at the click of a button.  So, as a local business based in Oldham, you can choose to target Facebook users who live in North East Manchester.  The most important tool Facebook has to offer is its built-in analytics.  It breaks down complex data so that you can see impressively detailed stats such as how many visitors from Facebook to your website have turned into customers.

Google Maps

 

FREE Appraisal for Oldham Businesses

 

So, there we have a few ideas to start your business off.  If you need anymore pointers in the right direction with Digital Marketing within the local community, don’t hesitate to contact us.  Whether you’re already a large, established company or a small, budding business we’re here to help.  If your business is based in Oldham, we also offer up a Free Appraisal to discuss ideas that are specially tailored for your business development.

Do you want to develop your business online?

 

Our research tells us that businesses understand they need to be investing and developing their business online. But in the past they have been faced with the headache of setup fees and up front costs which makes it difficult to get things started.

Do you want to invest in a way that suits your business and cash flow?

The development package works by us first looking at ways we can help grow your business online. Maybe it's to further develop your website, launch an online marketing campaign or even develop a piece of software or application specifically for your business. We then split the cost of this project into smaller more managable chunks spread over a period that suits your businesses cash flow and budgets.

How one of our clients developed their business online

Investing in technology during difficult times

During difficult economic times we think it's even more important that businesses have the tools and opportunities to sustain and grow their business without worrying about huge investment fees. At CandidSky we make this possible with the development package.

Here's what our clients have to say about the development package

"Genius idea! We have managed to grow our website little by little each month, it's now become a powerhouse and a valuable resource to our business"
Martin Thomas - Vehicle Consulting

"The technology we wanted to bring into our business simply wasn't accessible to us until we met with CandidSky. The business has benefited massively from CandidSky's development package"
 Phil Gray - Total Racing International

"Firstly we introduced a CRM system to better manage our business, then we introduced Email Marketing, a facebook page, a blog and will soon be dipping our toe in search engine marketing. The development package is working for us!"
Neil Hollingsworth - Rivermead Property

For more information on the Development Package or for a FREE appraisal on your business please contact us

From a small group of triathletes based in the North East to e-commerce entrepreneur reaching athletics enthusiasts all over the world

What is Total Racing International?

TRI began as a team of triathletes based in North East England. Looking at their website (www.totalracingint.com), it’s clear that their passion lies in encouraging other triathletes to join in. Phil Gray set up TRI as a means of setting up sponsorship and branding for the team. Their e-commerce shop sells every product under the sun for triathletes at all levels and the website acts as a point of contact for athletes throughout the UK and from all over the world.

How did Candidsky get in involved?

Candidsky’s own David Beherall hails from a sporting background in the North East and it was through some coaching contacts that Candidsky was recommended to Phil Gray to explore opportunities in Digital Marketing.   

What did Candidsky do?

Built the TRI website from scratch

Set up a micro-site for Castle’s Challenge, a triathlon event set up by TRI where athletes run, cycle and swim to the beautiful  backdrop of a castle that has been used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films

Developed the e-commerce shop

How valuable is the internet to TRI?

Promotes the team on a larger scale. Before the website, TRI was made up of a handful of people from the Newcastle area.
Thanks to the Internet there are now members from Scotland to Hungary, from Bath to California and South Africa.

Events such as ‘Castle Challenge’ is open to a wider audience- it was advertised purely on the internet 140 people from across the UK and overseas participated

What are TRI’s plans for the future?

TRI is currently a second business for Gray, but he is bringing in another individual to run it so that TRI can receive the attention it deserves

Looking towards email marketing and SEO

How effective were Candidsky?

‘Candidsky helped me through the process of placing TRI on the internet - I’m not very good at visualising how things would look on the web, and they were great at interpreting my ideas and coming up with exactly what I wanted. They also suggested other mediums that I might not have thought about! One thing that stuck out was that they took the time to sit down with me and learn about my business plans and understand exactly where I wanted to take TRI.’- Phil Gray

Since the launch of the website and its microsites, TRI has received coverage in regional and national publications such as Triathlon 220, Running Fitness, Triathlete’s World and Living North.  Phil said that he recently had a surreal moment when an order for some cycling shorts came in from Hiroshima, Japan. Now that TRI have their place in the digital world, the sky’s the limit!

‘Web 2.0’ has changed the online world from a one-dimensional experience to one that now revolves around audience participation.  Indeed, the audience now more than participates: it creates and changes the face of digital space every nano-second.

In my previous blog post attempting to describe what exactly ‘Web 2.0’ meant, I painted a picture of a pre-2.0 desolate landscape of dictatorial rule, where material was controlled solely by the creators of websites.  I spoke of ‘Web 1.0’ and the way that businesses could only tell their customers what they wanted to say as a bad thing.  So how does the realm of ‘Web 2.0’ present a wealth of opportunity to the average businessman?

Customer Feedback

 

Customer interactivity means that companies can build a more accurate picture of who their customer is and what they want.  ‘Web 2.0’ has facilitated an exchange of ideas rather than one voice telling you the way things are going to be.  Take Amazon, for example.  Although the website is ‘Web 1.0’ at the heart of it in the sense that it shows you its wares and tells you what it has to offer, it contains ‘Web 2.0’ tools that let the customer feel that they have a say.  Amazon gives customers the opportunities to provide their own reviews.  So, if you’re thinking about buying a product, you don’t just have to rely on the official company blurb- you can see what other people think of it in the blink of an eye.  It lets you create lists of products for people who are interested in similar things.  It’s even taken on an eBay slant on buying and selling by creating Amazon Marketplace, where small businesses can use the website as a platform to reach more customers.

 

Customer Interest

 

Greater customer interactivity means that ‘Web 2.0’ presents a greater opportunity to keep customers interested and involved in a brand.  A fantastic example of this is the way that Cadbury’s used Facebook to launch a massive promotional campaign for their Crème Eggs.  They were the first UK advertiser to take advantage of the Facebook Virtual Gift application.  Users could send a Virtual Crème Egg to other users in the run up to Easter and just after to keep customer interest up.

Social networking sites that are leaders in the ‘Web 2.0’ experience, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are fantastic platforms for companies of any size, from the budding entrepreneur to the world-wide corporation, to use for the promotion and marketing of their products.  For example, MySpace has bolstered many a singer’s career, as they make their songs available for people to listen to, make people aware of secret gigs and communicate to their fans via this medium.

 

Retaining customers

 

The more you keep up customer interest through the world of ‘Web 2.0’, the more likely you will be able to preserve your relationship with them.  Because customers can now voice their opinions back, businesses can improve their services from feedback that is readily available instead of having to send out onerous questionnaires.  Companies can create a community around their brand that become dedicated to their products because of the interesting, exclusive extras involved.

‘Web 2.0’ presents a way of using the world wide web that allows members of the public to create a wealth of knowledge.  It has freed up the online world from the hands of few to the grasp of many.  Businesses and companies need to take hold of this opportunity to exchange information with their customers and to create strong relationships that can be maintained through the ‘Web 2.0’ experience.

On June 10th 2009 at 10:22 am GMT the Global Language Monitor declared the term ‘Web 2.0’ as the millionth word in the English language.  So what is this idea that had taken the world by storm? What is this thing that had never existed a few years ago, only to now become the buzzword of the digital universe?

 

Web 1.0

So what is Web 2.0?

In my next blog entry i'll be looking at how we can benefit from the ‘Web 2.0’ experience?

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Total Racing International site www.totalracingint.com

From Coaching, Kit, Racing, Training camps, Seminars, to team member athlete profiles you’ll find plenty to keep you occupied.

The development of the site has been fun and we thank everyone at TRI for all their input and helping make this project a success.

www.totalracingint.com

Candidsky Goes for Gold! Well, maybe it’s not quite a solid hunk of the heavy stuff, but our very own company director David Beharall has, indeed, made history.  You’ll want to remember Friday April 3rd, because it’s definitely a night that will be remembered by generations to come.  It will be hailed as the evening a certain Mr Beharall won the very prestigious and extremely shiny ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the first ever One Oldham Chronicle Business Awards ceremony! Candidsky HQ has been in raptures and we’ve been making a special place on our mantelpiece especially for our gleaming new accolade.  

We’ll keep our speech short: we don’t want you to be sitting there two hours later watching us cry our eyes out.  Firstly, we are eternally grateful to the Oldham Chronicle for giving us this amazing opportunity.  Secondly, we specifically would like to send our appreciation out to Martyn Torr, the Business Editor at the Chronicle, for being the one who dreamed up this event.  And finally, we’d like to thank the people who organized the awards ceremony for delivering a first-class occasion and a great night out.  

The evening was a massive success, not only because of the recognition we got, but also because it gave us a fantastic opportunity to mingle with other local businesses based in Oldham.

And so, the final glass of champagne was  emptied, the last dancer took off their shoes and we all turned up to work on Monday morning a little fuzzy in the brain, but nonetheless extremely proud of David as we took it in turns to polish the award.

Drum roll…please! At Candidsky HQ, there’s been a wave of fists punching the air as company director David Beharall has been short-listed for the well coveted title of ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the inaugural One Oldham Chronicle Business Awards. Winners will be recognised by their peers as among the best in the borough. In addition to a specially commissioned trophy, winners will receive a profile in the pages of the Evening Chronicle, plus a framed copy of the article ad presented in front of of hundreds of people at a gala presentation dinner at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, on Friday April 3.


The award represents individuals that thrive on success and ambition and who have shown clarity in their vision of achievement.  Obviously, we think that’s Dave in a nutshell! The award would not only be a prestigious accolade to add to Candidsky’s already gleaming mantelpiece, but it also embodies the close ties that we have with the community.  As a constantly evolving business based there, we have been afforded many opportunities by Oldham.

We’re very proud of Dave for being short-listed, and can see that things are only going to get bigger and better this year!

There’s a very excited atmosphere at the Candidsky offices this month as we launch our sister site Candidsky School Software. For the past few months we’ve been pushing ourselves to get this venture up and running because we’ve felt so enthusiastic towards it. Candidsky School Software is our new enterprise, where we’ve decided to extend our digital problem-solving skills to the educational arena.

We’ve been brainstorming ways to reinvent schools management and administration in the most inventive, cutting-edge ways we can think of. By aiming to push the boundaries, we want to create software that not only functions at the highest quality, but also operates efficiently and for multiple purposes.

Come and have a quick look around our site at www.candidskyschoolsoftware.co.uk to see what it is exactly that’s getting us all fired up.

There has been a phenomenon slowly creeping over the lie of the land.  You may or may not be aware of it.  All I can really say is that you will be, sometime in the very near future.  Maybe even tomorrow as you're listening to Radio One over breakfast.  Chris Moyles has been going on about it, Stephen Fry can't get enough of it, and even Number 10 Downing Street is telling the world everything it can in 140 characters.  Yes, it is the titanic force of Twitter I am speaking of that has recently steamrollered its way into a lot of people's lives.

By 2008, Twitter had played host to well over 5 million visitors, which places it high amongst some of the most influential sites on the internet today.  It's brilliance is undeniable.  The definition of Twitter has been notoriously hard to pin down as anyone who has read any of the articles on it will realise.  It is, basically, comprised of a series of short, sharp updates known as Tweets from Twitter followers.  It's easily accessible on mobiles and PCs which means that you can pretty much chirp your message to the world from any location.  However, it has gone above and beyond a mere notification system: it has built a sense of community, as people come to the aid of their fellow followers if they can help in any way.  The best example of this is the man known as the Twitchhiker.  As part of a charity challenge, the Twitchhiker has proclaimed that he will travel as far as he possibly can in the space of a month solely reliant on the wonders of Twitterers the world over.  And from the most recent tweet, he seems to have raised just under £1,000 in charitable donations purely from the good hearts of his Twitter followers...Not bad considering he's starting out on 1st March.

The main point is that news spreads as fast as a lighting strike these days on the internet.  We are lucky enough to have information a mere tap and click away.  But what Twitter does is give you the information you're interested in alongside the chance to debate, converse, ponder and marvel at ideas that other followers have typed in response.  And trust me, it's always a very quick response.  One eager individual described Twitter in what I think is probably one of the best, albeit absolutely dripping with cheese, descriptions I've heard:

   "Twitter is a room full of strangers. Just talk to your friends and you'll leave the party early. Mingle, and you'll learn, share and grow."

The Integrated Marketing Communication approach has been around for a long time. In essence it involves taking the strengths from a number of advertising mediums, and deploying them in a united marketing method to achieve maximum results.

This works by way of positive reinforcement. As members of the audience become exposed to the message across multiple formats, they absorb the communication from different perspectives.

Finally, a strong presence on social websites allows the message to become social, meaning users can interact with it in a communal way. Because of the community oriented nature of sites like Facebook, Bebo and Myspace, the fact that one person has seen the advert means that people they are connected to online may also see it. Because the message may be ‘recommended’ by a friend, a user may be more likely to read it and pass it on. It is this social behaviour mechanism that can cause a chain reaction and a viral loop.
Once initiated, a viral loop can multiply the reach of the campaign indefinitely. This means that the power of integrated marketing campaigns can be intensified far beyond that of the more traditional campaign strategies.

In addition, using traditional digital marketing techniques such as mass emailing and interactive microsites in association with rich media such as videos and communal applications can give a good campaign the power to become great.

Its all about integration and bridging the gaps between different mediums so that they communicate a mutually beneficial message.

If i were giving an award for new media star of 2008 it would go to American President-elect Barack Obama. He left his mark in the history books by raising $500m (£306m) in donations via the Internet for his Presidential campaign. The campaign was centered around the use of social networks YouTube and Facebook, first hand showcased the power of the Internet and the weight it now carries. It also seems that Obamas connection with the Internet is here to stay as he promises universal broadband coverage for all US citizens. This is a very good move as it will keep the Internet ever present in the lives of all Americans leaving the door wide open for Obama to communicate and channel future campaigns through.

On the other side if there was an award for dimwit of 2008 it would surely go to Jerry Yang the founder of Yahoo. He spent pretty much all of 2008 trying to seal the deal on the proposed acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft but failed miserably and has since quit as Yahoo's CEO. Yahoo as a whole have struggled to get up to speed with the Web 2.0 environment of social networks and micro-blogs. Currently they are one of the walking wounded companies of Web 1.0 laying off staff in the wake of the current credit crunch and recession.

So who will be the stars and dimwit's of 2009? Well let's be honest it really is impossible to tell but as the Internet continues to dominate and with more and more businesses channeling work through it, it's certainly going to be an interesting year.

Well what better time to make the most of your website than 2009, with the credit crunch and recession hanging over us many of us are looking to new ways to survive. There are so many different directions and routes to follow that the Internet can seem quite daunting and downright confusing at the same time. The single most important piece of advice i can give is keep your strategy simple!

So many times we see businesses trying to go down many different routes at the same time but all this does is confuse matters. Following my own advice i will give only one tip for 2009 and it's one that i hope you seriously consider ... 'social media marketing'

With millions of people logging in everyday, social networking sites offer you an audience just waiting to be contacted at your fingertips.  It’s not just about getting in touch with a wider target market either.  You can also really milk your creative juices by building interactive campaigns that allow your customers to participate and have fun.

If you wish to discuss social media marketing further please dont hesitate to contact us

Paul Brooks Design have been clients of ours for a couple of years now as we have developed and designed a portfolio website for them with a bespoke cms. Today we are pleased to announce a further updates to their website and products helping keep their site up to date. Paul Brooks Design are specialists in office furniture offering a full design and development package. Experienced with a proven track record we have found them not just very good at what they do but also superb to work with.  For anyone looking to have a bit of a revanp of their office in 2009 and add a bit of style it would be worth checking out what Paul Brooks Design have to offer.

www.paulbrooksdesign.com

We are pleased to announce that we have launched UNthreaded's ebay platform which will serve as a starting point for sales as we build their e-commerce system in 2009. UNthreaded are looking to build a retail platform selling designer clothing soley on the internet. One of the key areas we have developed for them on ebay is a mass upload system which allows them to upload thousands of products straight onto ebay in minutes. This system will also be fully intergrated into their website and e-commerce system providing a simple and easy to use solution accross multiple platforms.

Unthreaded Ebay Store

Spirit owner Lauren opened her first salon in High Wycombe and to celebrate her first 18th salon birthday she opened SHC in Wallingford. Lauren is passionate about first class customer care and is a certified A1 Assessor and an NVQ qualified trainer. Lauren also holds a distinction in her Colour Masters.

Lauren says “There’s no such thing as difficult hair, only the wrong approach to dealing with it. It's our hope that we can teach our clients how to deal with their hair at home, no matter what their personal skill levels.Lauren works very closely with Schwarzkopf and has launched new colour ranges on stage to salons across London and South East. She feels very privileged to work with an amazing team.

CandidSky will continue working with Spirit Hair Company helping them grow their online presence.

www.spirithaircompany.com

• Get to know the people in your local press
• Look to get famous people involved with your company & PR campaigns
• When looking to start a PR campaign be creative and look for different ways to get your message across
• Positive PR can be a good counteractive measure for dealing with negative PR

History of social bookmarking

 

Sharing online bookmarks dates back to April 1996 with the launch of itList which featured public & private bookmarks. Within the next three years other online bookmarking services came on the scene, some of which were venture-backed companies and things became competitive. In 2003 del.icio.us pioneered tagging and coined the term social bookmarking and remains as one of the biggest social bookmarking services.

Advantages of social bookmarking

 

A social bookmarking system can rank a resource by how many times it has been bookmarked by users, this can be a more useful metric than a system that ranks a resource by the quantity of external links that point to it. To the user social bookmarking offers advantages such as sharing bookmarks with contacts, accessing bookmarks across multiple computers and keeping larger quantities of bookmarks organised and easily accessible.

Disadvantages of social bookmarking

 

A blog can be anything from a personal diary, a daily pulpit a collaborative space, to a political soap box, news outlet or the simply ravings from inside your head. It doesn't matter if you're writing the latest news for your company or passing judgement on the world, these tips will enable you to unlock the power of your blog!

DO's

• Be open and honest.

• Include your own opinion and observations

• Keep it up to date, relevant and interesting.

• Let people comment on your blog (and don't get upset if you get negative feedback)

• Set yourself some clear aims before you begin, then ensure you stick to them.

• Allow a maximum of two people to write on your blog to make it flow nicely and consistantly.

DONT's

• Avoid Corpoate Spiel

• Don't try to hard sell

• Don't include lots of details about products and services

Feed Me!

Most blogs have an 'RSS Feed' which is a fancy way of linking your blog into other websites. For example you can grab your RSS url and 'feed' it into facebook. Magic! All your blog posts will now show up to all your friends on facebook.

Phillip Beharall has kindly donated a framed Ernie Cooksey football shirt to our office while visiting recently. He won the shirt in a silent auction set up by Oldham Athletic FC in order to raise funds to help Ernie in his battle with cancer.

I had the pleasure of playing football along side Ernie for Oldham Athletic during 2003 – 2005 and he was a dear friend of mine. Unfortunately Ernie lost his battle with cancer on the 3rd July 2008 leaving behind not only his family & friends but also a great legacy.

With the state of the current climate and recession looming Ernie’s shirt is not only a reminder of all the good times we had together it’s a reminder to dig deep work hard but above all 'keep the faith' as he always did.

Thank you for the memories Ernie you will be missed but not forgotten and thank you Dad for a thoughtful and well timed gesture.

We are pleased to announce that the new Jack Burke website is now live. Jack Burke is a film maker based in Manchester who has been involved in projects in and around Greater Manchester for a few years now. We have designed a portfolio website with streaming films and cms system. We've also delivered high Definition Streaming full length videos and the ability to add films to his site at will. Although still quite young Jack Burke shows tremendous promise so much so that we have hired him to make our very first CandidSky introduction video which will feature on our homepage very soon. Stephen Spielberg ...  watch out!

www.burkefilms.co.uk

As  technology advances and broadband internet becomes faster, designers will begin to seek out more innovative rich media. We can already see this happening with the dawn of video streaming and internet TV.
We believe that the next evolutionary step will be to bring the third dimension to our web pages.

Exciting times here at the CandidSky office. With the addition of Adam Heslop to our team, we're happy to announce new 3D design capabilities

3D Design and Animation can be used in conjunction with our services to enhance their visual appeal.

We are currently experimenting with blue screen technology which will allow a narrator to walk around any virtual environment that we can imagine. This has endless creative uses, but it also has a more corporate scope as showreels and company introductions can now be made more exciting and friendly.

Ultimately 3D creates a higher level of involvement. This is increasingly important in order to communicate to your audience in today's disinterested and overwhelmed society.

What will be next? We dont know, but when we do we'll be here to tell you all about it.

I was looking for an alternative to BT, so I thought it was about time I brought Skype into our office. My first port of call was the 3 store in Oldham where I was advised to get the latest 3 mobile. This allegedly allowed me to connect to Skype anywhere in the UK regardless of my location. It sounded great as I envisaged myself being able to take my landline calls outside the office which I saw great value in.

The saying goes, "when things sound too good to be true then they normally are" well this was certainly the case here as the staff at the 3 Store hadn’t been entirely honest with me, here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Can I use Skype on this 3 mobile phone"
3 Staff: "Yes you can"
Me: "Can I make calls to both mobile & landline numbers from this phone"
3 Staff: "Yes you can"
Me: "Can I receive calls to my SkypeIn number"
3 Staff: "What's a SkypeIn Number?"
Me: "It's a number assigned to my Skype account for my business, and I purchased the number from Skype"
3 Staff: "Oh well yes it will definitely work then if it’s through Skype"

Now admittedly the alarm bells should have been ringing when they said, "What’s a SkypeIn number?" but due to the fact they were so enthusiastic and adamant that a SkypeIn number would work I just took them at their word.

11:30pm that night I was still trying to make the phone work but after consulting with my best friend Google with searches along the lines of “Why wont my 3 mobile work with SkypeIn” and “What phones work with SkypeIn”,  I came across thousands of posts with people in the same situation as I none of which had figured out how to make the phone work.

Eventually I found a few specialist sites which explained that the phone actually does not work with SkypeIn, and that the 3 staff nationwide were either misinformed or just unaware that the phone was not compatible with SkypeIn.

A few stern words back at the 3 Store and I was fully refunded and back to square one. So I thought about getting a wireless Skype phone that we could use in the office without having to connect it to our computers via a USB connection. We all agreed this would be a viable option however  after a week we were again let down by the phone cutting off every 10 mins.

We found the route of the problem was although the phone was wireless it connected to Skype through our computers therefore if we had a few programs running the connection had a tendancy to cut out. Finally we discovered a phone in PC World that connected directly to the wireless connection in the office meaning there was no disruption to the line so we swapped the phone again and prayed we’d found the solution.

After a couple of months we still have the Skype phone however we are now considering going back to BT. The reason being is that although Skype is a great concept, has fantastic features such as the Skype Business Control Panel and far cheaper than it’s competitors it has one fundamental flaw that is unforgivable, the line connection is poor.

In business this comes across as very unprofessional when you’re trying to talk with clients who can’t hear you properly or the line keeps cutting out due to the broadband connection playing up. Saying all that we can actually see Skype being a big player in years to come as the growth of 3G and 4G will make connections faster clearer and more reliable, but until that day we will have to put up with BT.

Have you had any experience with Skype? Let us know by commenting below.

7th July 2008