A big part of marketing is about the image you project from inside your company as well as out. As someone who wants to come across as very helpful with a supportive and can-do attitude, I got into the habit of asking clients after my final invoice ‘How do you feel it went so far? All feedback is appreciated’

It’s a simple question but one which has proven invaluable. The latter part invited negative criticism as well. I would like to say this never happens but it does which is a good thing.

We all make mistakes… but without generalising, I make mistakes. Most mistakes I know about and fix them before the client (and in my line of work, their clients) ever notice, if it’s a big mistake I will inform the client and tell them what I’m doing up at 3am, what I’m doing to fix it and when they can expect it to be rectified. Some ‘mistakes’ go unnoticed however. Asking this question ensures that I know what they feel I did wrong, and this gives me the opportunity to put it right. When that customer is deciding whether or not to renew, that could be a make or break decision. I have so far lost only one client in 2 years.

When things are going perfectly, it instead gives me the opportunity to proudly add their comments as a testimonial or I can ask that it is submitted via Ecademy or LinkedIn.

Customer feedback is essential as there are three types of complainers:

1) Something went wrong and they tell you
2) Something went wrong and they don’t tell you
3) Nothing went wrong and they complain anyway

Number 3 is the most annoying but number 2 is dangerous for your business because they are telling someone.

This is the easy way to move number 2’s into the top slot.

Google is forever releasing new features, most of which aren’t really of interest to the general user however today, things change. Google have added new search options. The next time you search for something, click ‘Show Options’ in the blue bar. Now you have a number of filters you can use to refine your search. These filters do make life easier but they are also the start of something big.

Type filters include: Video, Forums and Reviews

Time Filters include: Recent results, Past 24 hours, Past week, Past Year

There are also related searches and a ‘Wonder Wheel’

The type filters are going to make life easier for searchers to find what they are looking for and will be useful but won’t require changes from website owners. If you do run a searchable forum however, I would recommend your results display correctly in date order. To do this, go onto google and type:

Site:http://www.yoursite.com/forumdirectory

Then use the options to sort by date. Talk to your web designer about your choices if they don’t display as you would expect. Some coding changes may be required.

The time filters are the most important. The more recently your content was updated or added to, the higher you will appear… it’s as simple as that! If you don’t edit your site content regularly, add news articles, blogs etc. you will appear right at the bottom. Every time you add new content, you jump back to the top of the queue. So it’s important that you can and do edit your website and regularly!

What can you do if you have just a few pages of information for your company? Consider adding a Blog. A blog (like this one) is an easy-to-use list of articles grouped by category and keywords. It’s easy to find and construct content and could make a HUGE difference to your exposure. You’re obviously an expert at something, else you wouldn’t be able to run a business based on it!

If you have a community based site, consider opening the forums to all if locked down. Make sure Google can see it so posts are indexed regularly and listed in their search.

The final features are fun to play with and will actually help sites get better rankings even with less Search Engine Optimisation in place.

Have a play around, have fun and keep your website current.

As the self-assessment deadline draws closer, thousands of business are being hit with an email, supposedly from the tax office claiming they are owed a rebate. HMRC describe it as ”the most sophisticated and prolific scam” they’ve had to deal with and would like to remind people that HMRC will only ever offer rebates by post.

HMRC are receiving around 500 of these emails forwarded by customers. Taxpayers are being asked either to leave their bank details or to call a premium rate number which will charge them around £6 per minute as they hold for a reply.

From HMRC: “We only ever contact customers who are due a refund in writing by post,” said a spokesman for HMRC. “We never use emails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances, and it is very important that anyone receiving it does not reply or provide any personal details whatsoever.”

Did you know that everything you do on your computer is recorded, even when not online. Documents are saved, credit card information is recorded, passwords are encrypted but still noted. Normally this isn’t a problem and is a vital peice of the computer’s functioning.

When you come to sell the computer however, issues can arise. Deleting files isn’t enough, even some harddrive wipe software doesn’t quite do the job, and a good expert can gain access to your information despite the wipe. As you surf social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, banking sites, registration forms, online tax returns etc. the hard disk records all aspects of you and your life giving a hacker enough information to open bank accounts and get loans in your name. They can obtain credit leaving you to pick up the peices. You really don’t expect them to pay the money back do you?

Scary stuff? Well you don’t have to be worried because there is an easy, ultra-secure way to solve the problem. All the information whether on a PC or laptop is stored in a removable box. For someone who knows what they’re doing, 10 minutes is enough time to open the PC or laptop, remove the drive and replace it with a brand new, blank disk. These can cost as little as £40 so is well worth the investment, cheaper than a lot of disk wipe software and ultimately gives complete peice of mind.

Destroying data on the removed drive should be done with care. Safety goggles should be used as smashing it with a hammer is the best way to ensure the hard disk data is gone forever. In the casing is a vacuum sealed cavity containing metal disks, these store data magnetically so make sure these are in as many pieces as possible. They shatter easily so once you’re through the protective layer, they go without much of a problem. Just make sure you’ve pulled out the right part from the PC.

Rather than destroy it, if it’s not a laptop, you can sometimes install the hard drive into your new computer giving you access to all the files you had before on a second drive. This isn’t always recommended as relying on older hard drives isn’t usually a good idea.

If you’re based in Watford, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas and are not happy with doing this yourself. Give Simon a call at Zako Media on 0208 123 6609 and we’ll be happy to pop round with a new drive and kill your old one on site for a small fee. We can also reinstall Windows providing you have the original disks for a little extra but the choices are yours.

Don’t get caught out, information is far too easy to get hold of, and impossible to get back, so make sure you’re secure. Destroy your hard disk before sale.

Well this one came completely unannounced. The power of Google is such that they no longer need to build up hype, it just spreads around like wildfire. I present to you. SearchWiki.

If you are a logged in google user (either of Gmail, documents, calendar or one of their zillion other services) you now alter the search results. If a site isn’t coming up which should, you can use a link at the bottom to add it directly to page 1… instantly. If a link isn’t relevant, you can use the arrows next to it to drop it down or remove it and keep the good content up top… instantly.

Now don’t get too excited, before the click wars begin, this isn’t a Google-wide change… that would be anarchy… in fact only you can see those changes, and only when logged in to your google account, but from any computer.

Why is this useful?

As Google’s search results change on a second by second basis, it can be hard to keep track on every useful site and page. Our bookmarks are filling up with sites we forget exist and things are becoming harder to find.

Now rather than bookmark it, move the link higher in the results so that the next time you look, it’s right there.

Business uses? practically none, but the next bit really caught my attention…

As well as moving Google search results, SearchWiki allows you to add notes and comments to the results. The last link underneath the site address drops down a little textbox. Again everytime this result appears in your search, you’ll get instant access to your own notes. This is useful as above but with one difference… everyone can see them… They have to click a link to, but they are visible. This means you can start adding notes not only to other’s sites but to your own. An extra few lines to promote your business and show people why your link is much better than anyone elses.

It does mean you can also comment on your competitors… This approach is not recommended as Slander and Libel cases are on the increase against digital bloggers and public internet authors.

Keep an eye on this one, perhaps with user generated results, Google may wish to start allowing the data to influence overall results… What better relevancy test than through the masses. There have already been numerous picture games associated with Google played around the world by millions of people. Only a percentage knew that they were actually describing image content for google’s image search. Google’s wonderful viral allowed it to index billions of images accross the globe in a matter of weeks.

Watch this space. In the meantime, here’s Google’s Lead Designer talking about SearchWiki: