Promotion, marketing and sales of new technology and e-commerce
May 4, 2007 at 3:43 pm · Filed under Marketing and Promotion
Social shopping sites have hit the US by storm and also search engines. An item placed on Crowdstorm will be indexed on search engines within the week. Unfortunately no link is provided by Crowdstorm to the item but if it is Brand awareness and customer appreciation you want then Crowdstorm is for you. More specialist sites have cropped up like Stylehive where you can provide a link and tags for the item. Most of the items on style hive are fashion orientated, but again heavily optimised. If you are struggling for a particular keyword ranking then a site such as stylehive (as long as the products match) is for you. Other sites to include in this post are Kaboodle, ThisNext and Wists. When you join any one of these sites you are given an array of free widgets to show off your choices and recommendations on your blog or site. A smart retailer will make sure that he or she has some of her products on these sites to make sure certain keywords are covered.
April 16, 2007 at 2:59 pm · Filed under Clients, External News, News
Google checkout has just launched in the UK and channeladvisor is not far behind. This means that on Rubbergirls Blue Boutique Adwords you will soon see the Google checkout badge as the integration seems effortless within the channeladvisor system.
Thanks to channeladvisor and our friends at Google for giving the e-commerce community an alternative to Paypal and a new marketing opportunity!
You can currently save £10 on an order over £30 with new use of Google checkout!
eBay is still not accepting Google payments though so watch out!
March 27, 2007 at 8:43 am · Filed under Clients, Marketing and Promotion
Shopping comparison feeds are important in the marketing of an on-line store, but the upkeep of a feed can be tedious. Within the channeladvisor system shopping feeds are automated everyday, which had enabled us to integrate with google base and shopzilla for this client. Shopping comparison feeds are a great way to boost exposure and sales but as with systems such as Google Adwords you still need to optimise your budget and not throw (waste) money at it.
March 14, 2007 at 3:20 pm · Filed under Clients
We have started a project with Keirotech to move rubbergirls blue boutique off the channeladvisor system to an independent system. This will mean a total re-market of the site as the URLs will be different and will need to be re-indexed. Watch the new site grow at http://www.rubbergirls-blue-boutique.com the original site will remain until the transfer is complete.
Blakelands blog and website re-design by Keirotech A cleaner experience.
March 14, 2007 at 3:12 pm · Filed under Clients
Recruitment and information blog for GimmeAvon, including ajax contact form integration.
Visit site here: http://www.gimmeavon.co.uk
s working for yourself your dream?
Would you like to be part of the biggest direct selling beauty company in the world?
Whether you are interested in making a little extra money or plan on this being your full-time job, you can work the way you want with hours that suit you. Avon is exciting, glamorous and rewarding!
As long as you are over 18 and a UK resident you can apply to become an Avon Representative through GimmeAvon. Whether you are male or female, young or old being an Avon representative could be for you. There is no initial investment required, just your time and dedication.
Be your own boss and you can earn from and extra £50 every three weeks to pay for those shoes or some representatives earn over £400. The earnings are limitless! You will be fully trained and supported throughout and you can even manage all ordering over the internet!
You don’t have to sell door to door, you can focus on friends and family. You will soon be amazed at the earnings!
Be your own boss and set up your Avon business with the help of GimmeAvon!
March 14, 2007 at 3:08 pm · Filed under Clients
Two product based blogs Rubbergirls Blue Boutique and Hairfreax have now been completed. Lots of brightly coloured and fun stuff on these blogs! Built to keep in contact with customers, update them on new products and offers.
March 14, 2007 at 3:03 pm · Filed under Clients, News
A simple blog for two travelling freinds has now been completed with guest book and Picasa web albums integration.
See http://www.cyalater.co.uk…
Here is some recent news from that blog to brighten up our days!
After Luang Prabang, we went to Vang Viene for some much needed partying and tubing! We arrived in Vang Viene after 6 hours of minibus hell. We got on this comfortable leather upholstered bus which took us about half a mile to a bus station where we found we had to get on a crappy minibus with no air conditioning with asbestos seats. Me and Al had seats at the back where I sat above the wheel arch with my legs crushed against the seat in front. I was sweating like a scouser at an identity parade getting more and more pissed off and more nauseaus zig-zagging along the mountain range but eventually we got there..
The nicest thing about arriving in Vang Viene was the fact that for the first time in nearly 7 weeks we found a really decent, really cheap guesthouse. 40,000 kip which is about 2 quid for a twin! The first thing you notice however, is that the area is incredibly touristy with restaurants playing dvds of friends and the simpsons. Needless to say, I loved it here! That night we chilled out with some bears and went for a curry at Nazim’s which was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. Ever.
The next day we decided to try out the thing that everyone comes to Vang Viene for.. TUBING!! We met up with Sarah and Rachel, the Irish girls and booked our tubes and dry bags and got on the tuk tuk to the Song river. Al, being the most unfortunate of whatever activity he partakes managed to pick the smallest tube in the world much to our amusement and we got into the river and proceeded for about 50 yards to the first riverside bar. We stayed there for about an hour drinking BeerLao (an amazingly good cheap beer, designed and brewed by Germans for Laos) and riding the zipline into the cool river.
As you can see from the photo, Al was doing his Jesus impression!
Uh, maybe not then.
One of the coolest parts of the tubing was when we got further down the river to find massive swings which went out over the river. Now, the rational part of my brain was telling me “yeah, it’s high but it’s relatively safe. You can do it Andy!†But it took me a good half an hour and a couple of BeerLao before I got the courage to do it. I was shitting myself! If you don’t think it’s that much of a big deal or it wasn’t that high, dear reader, then take a look at these next pictures!
(above) No, this isn’t a screenshot from Spiderman 3! It’s a photo of me shitting myself. You see, the hard part’s isn’t the initial jump, it’s actually letting go from the swing that’s difficult!
(above) Al, Aka monkey boy.
See me smiling? This is my look of relief when I finally came off!
After a few hours of swinging and beer drinking we decided to call it a day and floated for another few hours back to the town. The next few days we didn’t do anything but drink and relax. We did go tubing again though only this time we decided to jump off the highest point into the water instead of using the swing. Never, ever in my life have I done anything as scary as this! It took me a while to jump but I did, hurting my face and chest from the impact but I did feel a sense of accomplishment!
As you can see, I fell through my tube coming towards a bar.. Everyone laughed. Doh!
On the 3rd, we arrived in Vientiene after a rather easy, if not hot 4 hour bus ride. It still amazes me how much they piss about here. No form of transport ever drives off until they’ve crammed every last person they can find on! They even placed some chairs on the middle aisle in between the seats to fit more people on. Crazy.
Vientiene is the capital of Laos but it’s absolutely dead here! There’s nothing to do and nothing to see. There are various temples of importance around the city but to be honest, i can’t be arsed with seeing any more temples.. I’ve seen hundreds so far and I’m sick of them. I will see some in Cambodia though in Angkor Wat which is probably one of the most impressive sights in South east asia which is where i’ll be heading in a week.
4th March.. Well well, I’m finally up to date with the blog and I’m writing this in real time dear lucky reader! It’s currently 36 degrees with 35 per cent humidity. The only reason I thought I’d write this blog today was because this internet place is air conditioned! We slept in a room last night for the first time with air conditioning which I thought would be luxury but it blasted cold, mould infested air around the room and leaked all over the floor. I may very well contract legionnnaires disease so I don’t know how many more blogs I’ll be able to write! I’ll be heading back up north tomorrow or further down south. I haven’t decided yet but that’s the beauty of travelling.. I can do what I want!! hehe. x
March 14, 2007 at 2:59 pm · Filed under Job Control Software, News
I have now nearly completed the job control software website to use as a internet base. Still to go are the new screen shots of the colour coded screens and to set up the ad words campaign.
Please Visit: http://jobcontrol.etashou.com
Info about the project:
Introduction
What is the difference between data and information? We think of information as data made useful. Information should be easily accessible, easily searchable, and provide links to all other associated information. Our system has been designed primarily to supply you, the management of a successful service company, more information.
Our system has been designed with all service industries in mind. If you operate a day-to-day service business, with operatives working out on site or even in your own workshops, our system is for you.
A computerised system is only ever useful if it simplifies processes. We have built our system with this clearly in mind. Our philosophy is a quick route to information. Imagine the following questions….
‘You did a job for us early last year, we need a similar job doing, which engineer did you send then?’
‘I enquired about one of your services last month, can you remind me what I was quoted?’
How long would it take you to answer these questions? Where is the information? How long will it take you to locate it? With our system, answering questions like these can take you as little as seconds.
Operating in a single or multi-user environment to suit your needs, our system will improve your performance, but hopefully your profitability too!
Our System in a Nutshell
1. Control of your service work from order right through to invoicing
2. Simple time scaling helps you measure and improve your response and completion times
3. Logging of timecards, material usage, operations, travel, and other expenses
4. Modules available for compatibility with recognised and bespoke Schedules of Rates
5. Automated invoicing with export routines for Sage Line50 and Line100 systems
6. Detailed measure of profitability at job level
7. Simple linking achieves tractability of all documents and records back to job
8. Support from detailed customer and supplier databases
9. Log enquiries and produce formal quotations
10. Raise purchase orders and maintain parts and materials database
11. Searches, filters and browse screens achieve instant location of information
Who Uses Our System - William Gough Limited – Building Maintenance Company
‘The investment made by our company in this software has paid for itself tenfold! For many years, we have utilised IT systems where only a small proportion of the package has been used. The system supplied by Biztech has revolutionised our business with 95% of our work being procured using this system. Not only has our productivity increased, but through so many efficiencies we are delivering an extremely high level of service. This has ultimately increased our sales on one 3-year term contract alone by over 40% with the same level of overhead. We couldn’t have wished for a better result!’
Explaining Our System in More Detail
Job Control
The core of the system is the Job module. A job is raised for every sales order received, be it a day-to-day call out, or a larger project. Time-scales are set, engineers assigned. The job record is dynamically linked to the customer account in the customer database. As work is completed labour and travel time are logged, along with and material usage, plus indirect items such as mileage charges and on the job expenses. As such items are logged to the job, job totals are calculated showing detailed profitability analysis. Each item may also bear a nominal code, which is used when the invoice is raised and transferred to the accounting system. On final completion of the job, an invoice is raised drawing forward the charges from the job. As invoices, purchase orders, quotations and letters are sent relating to a job, automated and user placed links are added to the job to enable immediate access to information whilst the job is live, and in the future.
March 14, 2007 at 2:55 pm · Filed under External News
The Google sandbox is like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. Evidence is apparently seen but never proven or admitted by an authoritative body. Is the ’sandbox effect’ a flaw or delay in googles algorithm? Are we talking Ghosts in the Shell? Google migrated to a new data centre in 2003, and even before the dust has settled, SEO merchants noticed some weirdness? Suddenly dropping links everywhere on a site took 30 days to ’show up’(almost too precise)
The bottom line is - it doesn’t matter if a small business has been established for decades. If they have a new website on a new domain, then they are dead in Google for competitive keyword rankings, unless they do something extraordinary. Why can’t you escape? Your fighting for googles trust and they have heard websites cry wolf before.
Is it googles fault? Should we have them flogged? No, they are just a company and ‘we’ the surfing geeky net addicted let the Googleness Monster take over our searching world. We created this creature. Now it controls our interweb (or hypernet) Skynet?
So now we have the yette in charge of our google rankings how on earth do you shake the sandbox effect in the quickest possible way?
Building links and anchor text on your own site is fine but what you do need is links from trusted third party providers. You need links from a site you can produce user generated content. The age of Web 2.0 is FOOOOOL of them.
The cheap as chips, easy winners are:
1. Link on your ebay about me page.
2. Link on your myspace account.
3. Links on your live journal account
Sounding familiar? WhAAAT? You already have these all set up and you never just slipped in your website link? Well do so.
If you are a small business, you can look into business directories (which can be pricey) and also respond to blog posts that are topical to your website and you are usually asked to provide an email addy and website address.
February 9, 2007 at 1:39 pm · Filed under Marketing and Promotion
The buzz word of 2006 was web 2.0. ‘Oh its so Web 2.0′ you might hear at conferences and seminars. My take on web 2.0 is building a community for your buyers based on the product type on offer. Your customers are moving to on-line sales but they need your advice. Truthful, simple advice without the hard sell. First magazines, gossip columns and newspapers caught onto the blog wave, but now product sellers are paving the way to help the customer make the right purchase.
Adverts may be boring and invasive at times but Blogs are not, take ‘Innocent smoothies‘ they have a web log that provides an interesting insight to their origins, ethics and the people in the company. A blog like this takes of the lid off a large company letting the consumer take a look inside. This is what corporate blogging is all about.
For instance Bluefly.com a fashion designer and retailer launched their blog http://flypaper.bluefly.com to raise awareness and keep customer informed of new styles and movements in the fashion industry.
Top free blog providers out there include Blogger.com, Typepad and Wordpress. Wordpress is also one of the most popular open source blogging software, with a new release at the end of January and a unique ‘Multi-Blogger’ system dubbed ‘Wordpress Mu’ so you can provide your employees with a blog of their own linked to your main domain.
As a new ‘blogger’ I would suggest a free hosted blog before you integrate a blog into your main domain. A ‘news’ blog needs to be updated with new content everyday, but a corporate blog only needs feeding 3-4 times a week. If you don’t update your blog your customers interest will wane and the point of the blog will eventually be lost.
We hope to see you in the blogging revolution!
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