In the recent International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) the first prize for the Top Pinotage was awarded to Stormhoek, a small independent winery in South Africa. Two years ago they were virtually unheard of in their own country – let alone the rest of the world. Now you will find their wine stocked in […]
Niche Products Reach Global Marketplaces
Whether its honey scented soap, a bespoke tailored suit or tin planters for the garden – there is virtually no product or service you can’t buy online. The Internet’s growth is changing the modern day business model. Marketing is no longer limited to an advert in the yellow pages, or a 10 second slot on […]
“Business Blogging Best Practices: Maximizing Your Success”, Affiliate Summit, Aug 2006
Internet guru Dave Taylor gave a talk on blogging at the recent Affiliate Summit. In the video he provides a rundown on the SEO value of blogging, how they can be used for customer relationship building and how businesses have succeeded or failed in using them effectively. Dave Taylor is an industry expert on SEO, […]
Internet Explorer 7 = RSS Consumption Explosion
Does your website provide an RSS news feed? Do you know what RSS is? Do you care? If up until now you haven’t taken any interest in RSS very soon you won’t have a choice. The imminent arrival of Internet Explorer 7 could well change the way information is found, distributed and read. IE7 will […]
How is MySpace relevant to your business?
  MySpace is the best known social networking site and is certainly the most popular. With 95 million members, and 500k joining each week, it is the seventh most visited site in the UK. Its these impressive statistics (its traffic has increased 367% already in 2006!) that led to Rupert Murdoch buying the site […]
Pay per click advertising – A Waste of Time and Money?
It would appear that after getting a slap on the wrist, following some expensive lawsuits, Google and Yahoo are now finally doing something to try and combat click fraud. Whether these efforts will have any success, or be pursued with any conviction, remains to be seen. With estimates of fraud accounting for between 14% and […]
The challenge facing the traditional media
The Guardian has reported that by the end of the year Internet advertising will overtake traditional newspapers with a 13.3% share of the £12.2 bn spent on UK advertising. With ITV’s ad revenue also falling below £100 mill, in a year on year decline of 11%, traditional media organisations are having to reassess their position […]
Top ten SEO tips for getting into the top ten rankings in 51 days
 Many businesses pay thousands to SEO specialists to get their websites to the top of Google and Yahoo. The only alternative has been to use a quick fix of pay-per-click advertising or paid directory submissions. Both short term, expensive solutions. Bloggers, for some time now, have been trumpeting the ‘organic’ SEO value of blogging and […]
Dell finally start blogging about their business
In one of my previous posts I mentioned how Dell computers’ reputation was dented by bloggers criticising them for their poor customer service record. Dell have now taken their heads out of the sand and started talking to their customers. Dell’s One2one blog provides them with a forum for responding to comments, and to hopefully provide […]
What can we learn from John Prescott?
  The current furore over the role of bloggers in the attacks on John Prescott has shown the growing impact of blogging in the UK. The response by journalists, such as BBC’s Nick Robinson, has also highlighted the contention and misconception between the established order and the new social media. Some journalists perhaps view […]