On the twelfth day of christmas my true love gave to me

• twelve PEOPLE  TYPING
• eleven LUCKY LEADS
• ten BUYERS BUYING
• nine PAYPAL PAYMENTS
• eight EMAIL ERRORS
• seven SURFERS SURFING
• six ADWORD VOUCHERS
  *** [with gusto]
• FIVE THOU-SAND HITS
• four SUPPORT REQUESTS
• three COMPLAINTS
• two NEW CLIENTS
• and a CARTRIDGE IN THE PRINTER

Merry Christmas one and all*

*If you don’t celebrate Christmas, have a nice few free days off work celebrating nothing in particular while enjoying random old films on TV… which I hasten to add tend to be black and white, low quality at a silly frame rate. I hope you enjoy that beautiful HD TV which as it turns out is a complete waste of money! Next time you WILL celebrate Christmas… it takes our mind off the TV and gives us a great opportunity to tell our family members what we really think about their new girlfriend/hairstyle/tattoo/dress sense/sexuality.

It’s finally here! Zako Media is shortly moving to South Wales. We will continue normal operations, existing websites will remain unaffected and we will be more contactable.

Why is Zako Media moving to Swansea?

We’re currently based near London and so paying what I like to call ‘London Tax’ which is basically artificially raised prices of transport, accommodation, office rent and staff. Our clients are based worldwide so we can’t fairly pass this London Tax on. Moving our web design operations to Swansea and Cardiff means we can keep our prices competitive and give us a better shot at organic business growth. We’ve operated so far without loans, debts and investments and to make the leap forward, we would like to keep it that way. Our new offices will allow physical expansion, while extra spare cash will allow us to take on more staff.

The second reason behind the move is the environment. Watford and London have very few areas of natural beauty and no access to the real sea. We have Southend 45 minutes away, but that’s really just the mouth of the Thames. Swansea has the sea on one side and the Gower on the other. Cardiff being just up the road gives us the city culture we would otherwise miss.

Other city candidates included: (and please note I mean no offense)

Norwich - Was too flat, Yovina is Mauritian brought up at the base of mountains just a stone’s throw from the seaside. The beaches were lovely but less awe inspiring scenery.
Ipswich – Very similar to Norwich
Some surrounding villages were very idyllic however, but for transport and city life, they wouldn’t have been ideal.

Portland and Weymouth
We absolutely fell in love with Portland. We have some amazing photographs of water spraying up from between the rocks. Nearly every home on Portland island has a view of the sea… it was just stunning. It has to be on hold for now unfortunately as the nearest big city really is London and it would defeat the point staying that close.

Cardiff
Another bussling city of culture. Cardiff university attracts lots of young, dynamic people and it’s a great business centre. It lacks beaches and is too close to my mum.

Liverpool
Liverpool is my father’s birthplace and I have many family members up there. It’s definitely a city of culture and business but again a little too big with less scenery nearby.

We visited each of these places for a few days (plus many others) and decided that Swansea is the perfect compromise.

Timescale, the move will be some time near the beginning of August 2009 so Swansea beware, there’s a new web designer in the area with a strong client base, amazing contacts and the passion to take over South Wales

Networking group members, invites are welcome as we will be looking to network with people in the area to see how we can help each other.

Contact us using the email address at the top of this site, or by calling: 029 2125 0010

Blogging isn’t new, most people have their own blogs and can see the benefits, but some people don’t, and I want to play a part in changing that. A good business blog isn’t about inane subjects like where your last holiday was spent or your new kittens (unless you’re in the holiday or animal rescue business) and if you are an expert in your chosen field, it doesn’t have to be difficult to come up with new ideas and topics.

Top 10 reasons for having a blog:

1. SEO – The search engines LOVE blogs, more and more are appearing in the top results. Google in particular is now concentrating on newer content vs old and it’s time your static website started getting a piece of that action.
2. Credibility - By releasing well worded articles, you can prove your expertise to the general public, you will build up a reputation of being knowledgable and passionate about your chosen subject and not just following an ‘it pays the bills’ mentality about your business.
3. Free links – A good article is shared with others, the link gets emailed and posted on other’s blogs and comments, the back links help both click throughs and again aid the SEO.
4. Up-to-the-minute – Almost all industries are undergoing change on a daily basis, by writing articles about these changes and how they affect your target market, you can keep people informed, especially if you’re the first to blog about it.
5. Interaction – Blogs are usually linked by keywords, once a user has finished with one blog either by reading or irrelevancy, there is the option for them to see previous articles on the same subject, this gives more exposure, more chance of being seen and shared. Again the SEO benefits are amazing.
6. Openness – Depending on the type of business and impression you want to give as a business, adding personal blogs can be a benefit. In many businesses, the USP is the individual involved. By being open and sharing shows you have nothing to hide and helps visitors build a rapport with you.
7. I’m still here – The Internet is well over a decade old, it is full of closed business and obsolete sites. By updating a dated blog, you are showing Google and your visitors that you are still operating in full force.
8. Special offers and Updates – Blogs are a great way to update clients without hitting them with constant unread newsletters. It enables them to see smaller changes within the company, new product launches and allows you to post special offers.
9. Allows overpopulation – One of the first mistakes people tend to make with new websites is to write too much information. Some visitors want that information however and the blog is a brilliant repository. You can keep your main pages clean with good sales copy and write all the technical details and performance results in an article.
10. Feedback. – A static website is relatively flat, it can act as a barrier between the visitor and the business. A blog opens the comments channel allowing visitors to play a part in the growth of your online presence. They also tend to be written in a more relaxed way helping your visitor to feel more relaxed and less defensive to sales copy.

“But I’ll run out of things to write about”

Ask for ideas, look at similar industry blogs, read your industry’s news, blog about what you see, put it into plain English.
Accountants – Tax saving tips, How the budget effects small businesses (dumbed down version), what does the expenses row mean?, why are politicians choosing to wait until the next election to stand down?
Estate Agents – What’s happening to the property market? What should first time buyers be looking out for? What can sellers do to increase their chances?
Graphic Designers – A good designer produces work which is beautiful to look at, show it! What thought processes go behind a good design? Give us case studies, explain why a blue blob with the letter ‘Y’ just cost your client £600.
Unemployed people – I’ve been talking to a young lady who’s making a small fortune by being unemployed, she’s written a book about job hunting blogged and vlogged about it and is really pushing her online profile.

The lists are endless but you get the idea.

Don’t have a blog? have I convinced you to give it a try? How about this for numbers: I don’t put much time into my own site, I spend too much time with other people’s, but every so often I post a new blog. When I do, my site traffic spikes up 50-100% within a few days before settling down at an overall 2% increase. One blog per week will double my overall site traffic every 35 weeks, one blog per day will almost double the traffic every month!!! If I stop, a decrease will start, but for now it just grows steadily.

How do you get it? You can install WordPress straight on to your website with custom or matching themes, (or we could do it for you) or you can use one of the hundreds of free blogging websites. WordPress again is by far the best in my personal opinion and very easy to set up and use. (I’m not on commission with WordPress, it’s just really good, in fact this blog is using wordpress)

Is there a benefit to having it installed or using the free option?

The free option is excellent but does have some advertising on for WordPress and links to other people’s blogs on similar subjects. Quality here is key, make sure your blog is better than the other related articles and yours will shine through. WordPress also benefits from high seo rankings so there is a good change of being seen.

The self-hosted version loses the ads and has no competition. It helps build the seo rankings for your whole site and allows you to use your domain name, although the seo benefits may not be instant, they will be longer standing.

If you haven’t got one, get one now and happy posting.

Richard Branson’s Blog
Stephen Fry’s Blog
Ivan Misner’s Blog
Derren Brown’s Blog

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.

I don’t need to worry about branding because it’s already happening…

My brand is my reputation, previous work and my testimonials.

If someone would like to make more money online and they decide they need a web designer or a web developer, I may end up in a short list of people to research.

The second they send me a message, email or call; my brand is building in their minds. The sooner I pick up or reply, the better the initial branding process starts. If I take 3 days (especially during a call), my brand looks terrible.

I meet the client and the way I dress, look, act and smell will affect my brand. My language and the politeness instilled by my parents will show through. It may or may not be accepted, but that is my brand.

They read my testimonials and look at past work… again, the brand is built.

I discuss possibilities with the client, past successes and external factors. I am making a promise and again growing my brand.

I don’t need to worry about branding because it’s happening every day whether I’m working on it or not, whether I want it to or not.

I have a strong, unique logo, this is what many people mistake as branding, actually it’s just an identifying mark, it promises nothing when stood alone. It’s not even that well designed! But it’s unique and allows people to associate a simple image with the feeling they got when communicating with me. Whenever they see this image, those same emotions and feelings will arise.

The question is, do I continue with this ‘accidental branding’ process and hope for the best?
This will allow my connections to be more natural. There will be people out there who don’t like me, there’s nothing wrong with that, but the slower work flow will be more pleasant as will the clients.

or do I make the effort to brand myself the way I want people to see me?
This is a little more effort, it drives me to improve and be more likeable. Fixing my flaws, driving my business forward and taking control not just of myself but strongly influencing what others are saying about me.

I know the answer for me, which do you choose?

A good way to approach people who don’t believe they’re big enough for a ‘brand’ image. You’re too late, it’s already happening.