Tint-Network

Poll: Will your business be legal in time? The EU Cookie Law is coming…

Bob Toovey — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:30:11 +0000

The EU Cookie Law comes in to effect very very soon. The penalties are high and the full picture is still confusing many people. Check out my previous posts on the new law which I hope will clarify things for you.

The UK Government really want’s all UK business to comply by the due date. However, and this will not be a major surprise, many UK Government websites will not be ‘legal in time. From the BBC article, Cookies: Majority of government sites to miss deadline…

Ahead of a nationwide deadline over regulating the use of cookies, the BBC has learned that the “majority” of the UK government’s own websites will fail to comply in time.

I really would like to get some idea of how ready business is in the European Union and if they will be legal in time. Please click on answer below on the poll. Obviously this poll only applies to businesses located within the European Union…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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5 important things to ask yourself before taking your business online

Bob Toovey — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:15:42 +0000

As a business owner, I am sure you have heard lots about what your potential clients should see on your website or blog. A nice clear design, easy to use navigation and lots of interesting content. You want a site that works hard for you and matches your business in look and style. In fact a lot is said about what everyone gets to see. What about the process of getting your business online?

Before you embark on the road to a web site, you must ask yourself some important questions. There are some for your web designer too…

What do you want the site to do?

I am sure you have a great plan for your website, in your head. You have an idea of what it should look like and what it should do. Well, get it out of there and down on to a piece of paper. Write descriptions about the functions, the colours and even a general idea of on-screen layout. This can be given to the web designer as his guide. It can also be used to see if the finished product is as you expected. Make sure you are very clear on what you want and do not be tempted to phone each time you have a new idea. You will loose track of what you wanted and the designer will charge more to incorporate each new addition. Take your plan and do your very best to stick to it.

Will you have full ownership?

When you web designer has finished and before you have accept the work, check that everything is in your name. I still hear of tales where the domain name is registered and still owned by the designer, a long time after the job has been completed. You need to ensure that the domain name has your full name or your business name against it, as should the hosting.

Making minor tweaks and changes

After making an investment on your website, just what are the charges for adjustments? The last thing you want is big payouts for small edits. Before accepting the work and making any final payments, be clear on what will be charged for when you want changes made.

Will you know how to update the site?

These days a lot of sites are based on WordPress. It’s a really easy to use system – for most people. If you find it difficult to do something, a quick search on the Internet will provide all the help you need. What happens if your site is bespoke? Ensure you know how to use it by arranging some sort of training, even if it’s over Skype. Even better, make sure someone else in your company is also fully aware.

What will you do when it goes pzzzt and stops working

There are many reasons why a site can stop working. If you are thinking of hackers then please calm down. Sites can go offline for many reasons, WordPress plugins can cause conflicts, database and web servers can fail or just plain old finger problems. Ask if the designer is able to provide a service where they can ‘backup’ the site on a regular basis. For WordPress users, there are plugin’s that can help. Many web hosting companies do keep their own archives but they are mostly for their own purposes so you can’t rely on them. Ensure there is some kind of plan in place before something happens.

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Infographic: Which social network is best for your business?

Bob Toovey — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:30:38 +0000

This infographic by Zintro helps you to decide which social network is best for your target audience. Via MyCustomer.com…

Click to enlarge

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Sunday reading: The Facebook edition

Bob Toovey — Sun, 13 May 2012 07:30:26 +0000

There were some good posts this week about Facebook. New features, do’s and dont’s and a site that will help you design a custom page image.

Mashable this week revealed that Facebook will be introducing file sharing in groups. From Facebook Rolls Out File-Sharing for All Groups…

Could Facebook become the next Dropbox — or a haven for sharing files without regard to copyright?

The social network has revealed to Mashable that all Groups will now offer the ability to send files. This update rolls out to a small percentage of groups Thursday, and will become available to others during the following days. If you don’t have the feature already, Facebook wants you to know you’ll have it “soon.”

Pagemodo is a new service that aims to help you create your perfect Facebook page. From their about page…

Pagemodo enables small businesses to quickly design and publish a stunning business Facebook Page for free. A Pagemodo-powered Page dazzles and captivates Facebook visitors, turning them into fans and customers.

Thanks to Pagemodo’s Pagebuilder, entrepreneurs don’t need to have any design or technical skills to design a clean, professional, and engaging Facebook Page. Pagemodo provides everything entrepreneurs need: a wide variety of gorgeous and customizable templates, easy-to-add features like slideshows, videos, contact forms, and maps, and powerful social media tools like fan coupons and “like” gates.

Since Pagemodo’s launch in 2010, over 350,000 small businesses have signed up and have published over 400,000 custom Facebook Pages. Every month, 10 million Facebook users view a Facebook Page powered by Pagemodo!

Small Business trends reported that Facebook will soon be getting in to webinars, from Facebook Launches SMB-Focused Webinar Series…

The weather may be getting warmer but school will be in session all summer long. In fact, for some small business owners, Facebook University starts today!

It was announced yesterday that Facebook will be rolling out two new webinar series aimed at the small to mid-sized business community. Both tracks will be held in the virtual Facebook Classroom and will be aimed at business owners with different skillsets.

We are reminded what we may do and not do on a Facebook page by Datalife CEO post, Facebook: What You May Not Do In a Brand’s Timeline Cover Photo

With the launch of Timeline for Brands, businesses now have an even better way to show off their brand. Facebook does have a few rules as to what can and can’t be done with the cover photos.

Facebook brand page cover photos should be creative,and visually connect consumes to your business. Pictures of customers using your product, a favorite item off your menu, or something artistic can make a powerful statement.

On February 29th, 2012 Facebook changed its Guidelines For Brand Pages to be more in line with selling by engaging, adding value, and connecting with customers…

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3 things to consider before rushing your business online

Bob Toovey — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:30:38 +0000

When you are considering getting your business online or perhaps creating something that is only online, how much of a rush are you in? Have heard some Internet or marketing buzz words that you think are really important and can’t wait to implement? Just because everyone seems to jumping on to the next exciting social network, do you feel you have to as well?

Just because the majority of experts and guru’s say you have to do something doesn’t mean you have to as well. Your business is unique, mainly because you are unique.

Take your time

Before you rush off and start worry about SEO and which social network are the experts recommending, do some good solid research. Just where are you potential customers? Where do they hang out online? Do you plan to start off global, country wide, regional or local? The sort of social network and websites you plan to market to is dependant on your business. The scope, your products and time available to you will define the scale of your efforts.

Leave those buzz words alone…

When you are starting out, you may not know exactly what SEO, SERP’s or Page Rank is. Good, leave that to the designer of your website. You have more important things to organise. Get the products ready for your eCommerce site. Write the content for your blog.

I encourage you to understand what the buzz words mean but don’t let them get in the way of what you need to do.

Here comes the wagon!

Pinterest sparked a lot of conversations on the Internet. It was hailed as the next big thing that would bring success to all who used it. Just because it works for the experts doesn’t mean it will work for you. You need to experiment and find out which social network works best for you. Don’t jump on to the next exciting social network until you have ensured that the one you are currently on is really not for you. Why waste a big investment of time on something like Facebook then quit it for something else?

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Do you publish your prices online?

Bob Toovey — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:30:43 +0000

I have been thinking about pricing and why so few websites publish just how much their services cost. It’s not so bad for those sites with products but there are still far to many that don’t. So while I was pondering how to write this up, along comes Ameena who sums it all up quite nicely in her recent post, Should I publish my prices online?

I am often asked the question “Should I publish my prices online?”

My response is always the same.

YES!

I know many are hesitant to publish their prices online.

The fact is online shouldn’t be different to offline.

When was the last time you went into a shop and didn’t see the prices displayed?

I could add more but I think Ameena say’s it well enough…

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Considering eCommerce? 4 tips you should know

Bob Toovey — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:30:41 +0000

This is a guest post by Daniel Clutterbuck from Webtise.

Starting a new eCommerce business can be an exciting and intriguing challenge, and one in which you can make money, whilst also providing you with the control and flexibility to work the hours you want.

In a climate where many people are being made redundant and steady jobs are hard to come by, setting up your own business may seem like an appealing, albeit daunting, prospect. But, in reality, if you do it properly, eCommerce success can be just around the corner and may be even easier than you thought.

4 Tips for eCommerce Success

Don’t develop your own eCommerce System. Don’t get your own eCommerce system developed! There are plenty of really good, professional eCommerce systems that are readily available and suitable for a fraction of the cost. For a start-up business, Webtise offer a pay as you go eCommerce system that can get you earning immediately.
Use Drop Shipping. When you first get started, buying stock in bulk is a needlessly risky and expensive strategy. Drop Shipping allows you to transfer your orders to a manufacturer or wholesaler who then ship the goods directly to customer. You will then earn the difference between the wholesale cost and the amount you sold the item for – without the risk and without the hassle of sorting out delivery!
Use Experts on SEO + Design. Whilst Billy down the pub says he can make websites, your website is your entire business. It needs to look professional, it needs to run seamlessly and it needs to be user-friendly from start to finish. If your website isn’t up to scratch your business will fail. Use web design experts to create your site. Also, when your site is ready, be sure to have an SEO strategy in place so that you will be able to drive traffic to your site through Google and co. Again make sure you use experts in this field so that you avoid punishments from Google that can seriously damage business.
Use Social Media from the start. Social media is massive and can drive vital business to your site. Engage, interest and treat your customers and they’ll share your business across the web – building brand and sales. Plus, there’s no cost to do it other than your time.

But is an eCommerce setup expensive?

No – it’s only expensive if it doesn’t work. But if you work with a company who can provide you with a professional site for a reasonable price and also an effective SEO strategy, there is no reason why you shouldn’t succeed.

About the author:

Daniel Clutterbuck is from Webtise, a leading UK-based eCommerce web design agency and SEO specialists who offer fantastic package deals using eCommerce systems to help you start and grow your eCommerce idea and turn it into a reality.

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More research on social networks and SEO

Bob Toovey — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:30:57 +0000

Following the research the showed Twitter has a big effect on SEO, another has shown something rather different. A post on Open Forum, New Study Reveals Best Social Media for Search Ranking, discusses how a company called TastyPlacement put the networks to a not-totally-scientific but still revealing test, pitting Google+, Facebook and Twitter against each other.

The Austin-based company created six websites based in six similarly-sized U.S. cities and let them sit for 10 months. Then the researchers spent a month promoting five of the websites in one of five ways: Twitter followers, tweets and retweets, Facebook shares and likes, followers to the site’s Google+ business page and Google+1 votes to the homepage. The sixth site received no promotion to act as a control.

At the end of the month, the company measured how each site’s search engine ranking changed for a set of keywords. The changes over the month ranged from dropping 1.22 results to a rise of 14.63 rank positions—suggesting that social media does have an influence on search results.

The results showed that, “Google+ had the greatest effect. The website linked to a Google+ business page with 100 followers, yielding a 14.63 rise in search position. The website that had 300 Google+ votes rose 9.44.”

Facebook also had an effect, “Facebook promotion had a small but demonstrable effect on the rankings. After 70 Facebook shares plus 50 “likes,” the test site here rose 6.9 in the rankings.”

It seems Twitter was the worst performer, “…made a poor showing, at least in this study. After 50 tweets (and some retweets)—some original and some from the company—the linked site rose just 2.88 in the rankings. The truly bad news for fans of Twitter promotion is that the Twitter-promoted site actually did worse than the site with no promotion at all, falling 1.22 in the rankings, versus the no-promotion site dropping only 0.11.“

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The secret to increasing your reach on Facebook page’s

Bob Toovey — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:00:27 +0000

A lot of people will tell you that to save time, automate. I’ve done that in the past, for both Facebook and Twitter. Twitter works, I have automated it enough and I chime in when I can to make sure it stays fresh. Should you automate your Facebook page?

The problem I faced was that I was too busy to visit Facebook everyday. So I added Networked Blogs, it saw new posts from my blog and then fed them to Facebook. For good measure I also had an RSS feed app that too took new blog posts and used them as updates.

This works fine, page fans get to see the updates. Trouble was it was not a smart thing to do.

The value of updates

Facebook puts a weight (a value) on updates. Hand written updates are given more weight than automated updates. More weight means they are displayed better and get seen more. If it’s automated then no human was involved, in my view that means no eye balls on content and adverts. Therefore Facebook ‘penalises’ them, however if a human writes the update then there is more value as there was a visit to the site – more weight.

I was right to ensure that my Facebook page was being updated on a daily basis but I was doing it the wrong way.

The secret – dump automation

I tried an experiment. I removed the RSS app and deleted my site from Networked Blogs, no more automation. That was around the 10th of April. Each time I published a new post, I would head over to the Facebook page and write an update. No more than a line or two and then added the link to the post. Initially the was no improvement but then over time, my pages reach just kept on improving. The graph starts with 58 people being reached, at the end 120 people.

What I learned from this

I had read before that Facebook preferred hand written updates. In fact I had written about it.The trouble was I thought I didn’t have time. However, writing updates with a link is now part of my daily routine and takes a mater of minutes to do. And as you can see from the above graph, those few minutes are worth spending.

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Book review: ‘Shiny Shiny’ by Karen Skidmore

Bob Toovey — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:30:44 +0000

Karen Skidmore has helped thousands of people to market their skills on the Internet. That includes Coaches, Trainers and Consultants. When you spend so much time telling others how to make the best of it, you kinda listen when they warn you against all that glitters. Karen’s book, ‘Shiny Shiny’, give plenty of advice, not just on the things to avoid but what you could be doing instead.

As Karen’s speciality is helping Coaches etc, it’s not surprising that the book is actually aimed at them. However, if you are a small business or a one person enterprise, this book is still worth reading.

The point of the book is to warn small business owners of being distracted by the latest and greatest social network. It is true that there seems to be more and more cropping up all the time. Should you go chasing the next shiny social networking site for more business?

The book tells you the basic things you should do for your business. Getting a website, starting a mailing list and of course Facebook, are discussed with other ideas as some of the basic marketing activities you should be doing. Basically, if want a guide on how to market yourself on the Internet and not get lost on the way then this book is it.

Karen’s writing style ensure’s that even total beginners will understand what is being discussed. Topics are spread across chapters with small sections that further break it down to small easy to do tasks or explanations. Also very helpfully, there are magpie alerts to warn you against getting distracted.

If you are a total beginner or just starting to get to grips with social networking and Internet marketing then you will need this book. Definitely recommended!

Shiny Shiny: How to Stop Being a Social Media Magpie paperback version is available from Amazon UK for £12.99 (Also available on the Kindle)

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