Category Archives: Relationship

Consultancy, Relationship, SMO

You Got 7 Seconds To Do It – Hot Data

7 Comments

I have been reading the IOD magazines in my Christmas break and they have got an interesting article on e-commerce. They claim that you have got seven seconds to capture and interest your visitor. With so much content online these days the old maxim that content, content, content would guarantee a number of visitors is yesterdays news. Why?

First it takes time to produce quality content, not only do you have to be well informed you also need an opinion. Even if you have these two aspects it may not be enough. Writing content is an art as Sherrilynne over at Strive Pr can explain. Is it cheap to produce quality content? Hell no, even the most established bloggers such as Dosh Dosh require an indeterminate amount of time to write and check there content before it goes on there website. Other bloggers or companies employ other people do it for them. Which ultimately costs money instead of time.

Is Content King? Nope. A few months ago I looked at setting up a debt recovery business. In my research I was staggered to find so much quality content already on the net . I could have written till I was blue in the face with original content. I do not think that that my debt recovery website would have got on to the golden first page of google results for debt as a search word. As Chris Barling, in the IOD article also CEO of e-commerce software company Actinic, explains: “People try to trick Google, but it’s very good at finding relevant sites.

So what to do? Owen and I have been talking too about this problem recently and we do believe there is a solution. It does not lay in the content that you produce. Although original content is beneficial. It is no longer about one certain area but the concept as a whole. You can now buy a very respectable website for £1000 pounds. Unless it is geared to engage your market in all honesty you are better spending the money on hosting a wine and cheese evening for your potential customers . The only problem with that is, in a time poor world you are severely limiting your market and my 7 seconds was up long ago.

development, Relationship

The Plus and Minus of Groups

Why join a Group?

To share an interest, discover more about something? There are hundreds of groups from writers to sport fans all blogging on the internet. There are groups within groups such as Face book, and than for example the David Bowie group page. There you have a public and private group. You could just join David Bowie website group instead of the facebook group. Interesting!

What can you add to a group?

What do you expect from a group?

What groups are worth pursuing? Is there communication within the group? Do they achieve anything?

How can you tell?

First know what you want from the group and than start by asking questions.

Relationship

When is Free not Free

3 Comments

A recent advertising campaign by Manx Telecom claims that you get 3000 text messages free or 6000 text messages free depending on which account you sign up to.

Or do you?

Apparently not according to the text below from their website.

* Free Texts http://tinyurl.com/653pxw

Free texts only apply when purchasing top-ups online or via 154. Free texts only apply when sending to other Manx Telecom mobiles. When available, they will be used first at anytime. If no free texts are available in an account normal text messaging charges will apply. Free texts cannot be used whilst roaming, normal roaming charges apply.

If you are going to give something than give it.

If not that do not say it is free.

Why?

Because you will build up expectation and than cause disappointment.

Ultimately damaging your business.

Marketing, Personal, Relationship, work connexions

Lawyers the cost of Business

1 Comment

Having been involved in several legal cases to recover sums of money. There are a couple things that are starting to become clear.

Unless the amount you are seeking is a large sum it is almost in all cases not viable to employ a lawyer.

So the only choice left is to represent yourself. Learn the relevant act and hope that providence is on your on side. Or is it?

While the very cheapest lawyers will cost more then £100 are they the only people that can provide this service.

Anyone who has represented themselves in court law will find it is a strange experience. You can have all the best intentions but if you do not have the facts at that moment in time it can cost you severely, especially if it is your first time or not had the chance to prepare.

I wonder if there is market for assistance, At the very least for correct presentation of the facts.

What do you think?

business, Consultancy, Relationship

Getting Known

The first thing in setting up an office or moving to another place for business is letting people know that you there. You can do this by a number of means. Registering at the Chamber of Commerce, sending out information, attending networking events.

There are also some more interesting and innovative ways. Like writing a blog post about the area and mentioning the names of businesses that appeal to you. Of course in my case Lancaster is really well known for it’s Universtiy where some 15,000 sudents come to study. There are a lot of networking groups and clubs. Most of the clubs tend to use tools provided by Facebook for organising events.

So a little about Lancaster courtsey of Wikipedia. “Lancaster is a city in Lancashire, England. Situated on the River Lune, it has a total resident population of 45,952, and together with a number of other towns, forms part of the wider City of Lancaster local government district, with a population of 133,914.

Long existing as a commercial, cultural and educational centre, Lancaster is the traditional county townof Lancashire, to which it gives its name. Lancaster has several unique ties to the British monarchy; the House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family, whilst the Duchy of Lancaster holds large estates on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, who herself is also the Duke of Lancaster.”

Some companies that caught my eye that are based here include, Backbone Solutions McCulloch Accountants Lancaster, Choices Employment Services, Mount Recruitment Ltd, Intec, Gillows. Ubertechs.

business, development, E-Commerce, ideas, money, Relationship

Content Is No Longer King, It Is Who You Know Offline

3 Comments

I have been thinking for a while how to differentiate ones self from the super competitive internet market. The closely held maxim that content is king deserves to be re-examined.

I have recently been doing a lot of research and study into Law. While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, the amount of information on the internet relating the subject is more than sufficient. In this academic study where there is little commercial interest and expertise in generating Law content, I found the internet has more than enough sources.

My bet is that if you created a website which is well written and has truly informative content, you may have already missed the boat. This is purely in regards to search engine traffic and becoming an authoritative source on the internet.

Go any to any search engine and type in these words; blogging, How to blog, biz development, I would be very surprised if any blogger came on the first page except possibly A listers, or a blog that has been around for some considerable time.

There is no hard or fast solution here, first it is important to get to the facts.

It is no longer possible with millions of pages being created on the internet for Google to index yours at the top.

We must ask ourselves some questions:

If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, does it make a sound?

My own suggestion is that we possibly have to start moving to a more local applied use of blogging and use of information on the internet.

For example, small offline groups/communities in your particular area brought online by people they know. It is so much more interesting when you have met the person. You may than be able to gauge your audience and ultimately interact much better. So in my case it would a sales/business development that I would find and bring it online. Connecting to local people.

Thoughts?

business, Consultancy, Relationship

Question: How To Present SMO Services

Question: I am planning to present SMO services as a separate service of our company. Can any you tell me ways to market it. It would be a big favour if anyone can reply me in a descriptive manner. I would also like to get the list of major SMO service provider along with some case studies.

Answer:

First you will need to answer some of the questions below, than we can draw up a detailed plan for your company/organisation including listings, cost structure, time line etc.

Questions:
The seize of the company
What is your budget?
Any current Internet SMO policies
Any current use of advertising medium
What do you want to achieve/Goal?

After you have answered these questions just contact me here: leo at wcx dot me