Well it’s happened again and inspired me to write a short blog. Digital photographs (including scanned, downloaded, stolen from Google images and digital cameras) are known as bitmaps. ANY TIME a photograph or video (different to some line drawings, see later) reaches the computer screen, it is converted to a bitmap (if it wasn’t one already). A bitmap is a grid with a finite number of pixels (digital cameras are measured in Megapixels (10M, 5M etc.), computer screens are also, 1024×768 etc), each pixel is assigned a colour. When these tiny pixels are zoomed out, shrunk down to individual points, the squares appear invisible and we see a complete photograph of a tree/landscape/dog/your mum.

When we zoom into the bitmap, these squares will become larger and detail in the photograph is lost. There is no way to magically split a pixel out into it’s composite parts, it is a single colour and nothing more, the information isn’t there to enhance! A low quality image or video will ALWAYS BE a low quality image or video.

I can’t blame you for thinking it is possible. I mean Hollywood shows this happening all the time, but it is physically impossible with today’s technology. Even future technology will not be able to improve photographs and videos created with the old technology. It’s IMPOSSIBLE.

Scan back to the start of the film… enhance the image. See the guy in the blue coat on the floor in the reflection of the computer screen. Enhance it, turn him round and lift him up so we can work out how tall he is. Look, can you see what he ate for Breakfast? Check his stomach contents, looks like it came from McDonalds on Regent Street at 11:02-11:04am this morning, lets go speak to Magda who served him to get an ID.

It’s just NOT possible!

The exception comes with some digital line drawings (with or without colour) but not all. The rule of thumb is, unless a graphic designer has issued you with a vector format file (Illustrator, Fireworks, Some PDFs etc.) then it’s probably not high enough quality to enlarge or print in high quality. Most images from your old website will be shrunk to just the right size for the screen, generally these can not be enlarged, printed for publication or improved upon, including logos. These would need to be retaken, redrawn or the original obtained.

Tomorrow’s blog: Time Travel – why a new website and graphics cannot be designed, built and tested before last week.

Contestants

Simon Cowell – Stuck to traditional marketing methods based on years of business experience.

Tracy Morter – A photographer from Essex with no marketing experience in the music industry at all.

This week, both people went head to head.

Weapons?

Simon Cowell – TV Show – The X Factor, one of the most popular audience participation tv shows in the country. The X factor has produced Christmas number one after Christmas number one! The transit method was once the most popular media device in the world.

Tracy Morter – Networking – Facebook. Has never produced a Christmas number one or any song for that matter.

The Product

Simon Cowell – Young attractive face, the face recognised by millions across the country singing in an amazing voice a song of hope and dreams.

Tracy Morter – A 1992 rock band singing shouting a rebellious song containing more swear words than the radio would care to filter.

The Result

The Christmas number one slot has been the place of heros. The Beatles held it three years running from 63-65. Queen has also taken the spot, Pink Floyd, Band Aid, Cliff Richard and many more. This year, the official Christmas number one is ‘Rage Against the Machine’ with ‘Killing in the name of’

“**** you I won’t do what you tell me”

Power to the people! Network marketing has beaten TV marketing in an amazing fight. Joe deserved the spot but for the ultimate test of a new society.

Social media is and will continue changing the world.

(and Joe, we know you’re number one really. RATM was just to prove a point. Good luck in your new career)

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.

I get asked this time and time again. Most people I meet start out wanting a non-geographic number as they feel an 0845 or even an 0800 number looks more professional. This is not always a good thing but does have it’s place.

For local businesses, a local number is always best as you demonstrate instantly that you’re in your target market’s area code. A mobile number can work depending on the type of business but usually best avoided for initial advertising as it suggests you’re on your own and rarely in.

If you deal with small businesses, they tend to call from mobiles due to very good mobile packages with included minutes. Most mobiles are charged for 0800 numbers and most 0845 calls are outside their allowance. A local number however is included no matter where you are in the country. If you’re marketing to the whole country, presumably locality doesn’t matter anyway and potential clients shouldn’t be put off by the fact that you’re based many miles away.

If you deal internationally, the 0845 may not work and the 0800 will not be free (yet you will still be charged for receiving). A local number is still best.

If you are a B2C however and tend not to work with other businesses, an 0800 can get good results. Many consumers still rely on mobile so offering a local number as an alternative on your contact page might help capture those people. Other NGN’s can also work depending on the type of business but with scams appearing left right and centre, any variation of 0845 and even 0845 can lead to a lack of trust. I would advise offering a local number as an alternative on your contact page.

Mostly it’s all pennies when it comes to calling various numbers, but these pennies can make a huge difference as to who calls you.

A mobile number suggests solitary worker, hard to get hold of and never in the ‘office’. If I get through, I know I’ll be able to speak straight to the person I want.

An 0800 number suggests a solid call centre. Free to call from landlines but I wouldn’t want to call when out and about as it will cost me. Might be difficult to speak to a specific person. Not sure where they’re located so can’t pre-think a meeting request. Might have to sit through automated services.

An 0845 number suggests a solid call centre. Will cost me every time I call, might be difficult to speak to someone specifically. Not sure where they’re located so can’t pre-think a meeting request. Might have to sit through automated services.

A landline number (locally) suggests a solid office. Free from my mobile, the person I want to speak to is probably near the phone. Handy as their office is just down the road so before calling, I’ll get a list of dates and times we could meet.

A landline number (non local) suggests a solid office. I know where they are, I may not be able to meet them but I know this before calling. The person I want to speak to is probably near the phone.

As a side point: When printing business cards with your name, ALWAYS include a direct line or mobile, a direct email address and optionally twitter, linkedin, ecademy links.

Driving home the other night, something scooted across the road forcing me to stop suddenly. I pulled over and found a very friendly king charles with no name tag. I pulled the leash out of the car and had a walk around trying to find someone with an empty lead or at least to see if the little guy would take me home. Instead he happily walked alongside me as if nothing was wrong.

I walked up to the street he appeared to come from and found another small dog owner, asked if they recognised the dog. She told me outright to keep it. The owner regularly lets the dog loose outside the house and he’s been hit by a couple of cars…

I took him home and filed a lost dog report to the police. I couldn’t guarantee this lady’s story and certainly didn’t want to end up in court for theft.

He happily wandered into the kitchen where I decided to investigate. He was filthy, thirsty, hungry, had to keep him and my dog for fighting for food and attention. He rolled over as we stroked him and I watched his black skin turn white as hundreds of fleas ran for cover. These were the biggest fleas I had ever seen, most 2mm long!

I hadn’t started looking for them, they were impossible to miss and no responsible dog owner would ever have let it get that far.

We took him straight up and gave him a soapy bath to get rid of the worse of them, then while my wife was drying him off I ran to the pet shop to grab some strong flea products.

The bath didn’t clear them completely as suspected but they were no longer hoarding. The bath was full of dead fleas and his coat was once again a beautiful black brown and white with all the curls in just the right places. We dusted him down with flea powder and once the half hour passed and he was brushed down, applied some spot-on treatment. (They did say not to use two products but the powder was relatively weak lasting only a couple of days and the chemicals different so all should have been safe.) We kept him contained last night in an effort to keep stray fleas, eggs and larvae in a known area.

This morning he was almost flea free. He’d almost stopped scratching and must have had the most peaceful night’s sleep ever! I found a couple of live ones still, but I really had to search so hoping the spot on treatment will continue working as the 24 hours suggested hadn’t elapsed.

All the while, rooms used were dusted down with the remainder of the flea powder and left overnight for hoovering the next morning. The two dogs were playing happily although occasionally had dominance dances when we were around. When I went to the loo, I got up the stairs, turned round and had too faces looking up at me, it was absolutely adorable!

This morning we had a call from the owner. I tried to address the flea problem politely. (How to tell someone their house is full of fleas without criticising their cleanliness. I know that fleas don’t necessarily mean they’re unclean but I think she took it that way). She casually said that he must have collected them in the street. I just thought that yes, the first ones he did, the other thousands come from neglect and are breeding, nesting and growing into adulthood in your carpets… but I didn’t say anything… She sent her son round to collect and I had no choice legally but to hand him over. I also gave him the rest of the spot-on treatments and again tried to mention about his house being full of fleas. These may have been too subtle but he was reading the packet as he left.

It’s heartbreaking to do that, but in the eyes of the law, that dog is their property and I have no right to decide whether or not they should have him.

I’ve vacuumed the entire house moving all the furniture and looking forward to repeating the process every day or two for 3/4 weeks I didn’t get a thank you, a handshake or anything. More to the point, I feel like I’ve lost a new friend. He was a lost, itchy, dirty little thing who went to happy, sparkling and almost void of those pesky things. I know I did the right thing on all fronts but didn’t want to let him go.

If we find him again (which I suspect we will) I’ll send him to the dog pound. The owner will have to pay them £70+expenses. That will hopefully teach them to keep a closer eye on their animal and if they can’t afford or are not willing to pay, he’ll be rehomed under strict rules to someone who will treat this fluffy bundle of joy the way he deserves.

This video was brought to my attention by Richard Perry (http://www NULL.ecademy NULL.com/account NULL.php?id=17959) and I think it paints a wonderful ideal which the 21st century has trouble addressing. It does not talk about copy and redistribution which is unquestionably illegal but about adapting other’s works to make it different for non-commercial purposes. The ability to do so is available on nearly every home computer and exercised by millions of technologically savvy people worldwide in the form of musical remixes, video collages and even the simple act of putting music to one’s own photo gallery or video. Youtube (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com) is full of them, should it be ok to do so? Under broadcast/copyright law, it is illegal.

With the way the internet works currently, we have already made a copy of anything we view, watch and listen to whether we intend to or not. Images are stored in our computer cache directory, videos are buffered onto the hard drive. Should common sense intervene and revolt? How far should it change? Should we be allowed to use a popular song on a commercial website? Provided of course we have purchased the music in the first place. Or should broadcast licences be simplified and more accessible to the general public?

Here’s the full video, listen to what Larry Lessig has to say on the matter. It is 20 minutes long but time well spent.

Starbucks is a huge name, some say it’s better known than any car company in the US and one that is known and trusted in the UK.

But does the Starbucks brand image goes against everything it stands for? If Starbucks want to be the local coffee shop and not an overused high street cliché, then the billions of dollars building the Starbucks empire has gone slightly off-track.

To tap into the ‘local’ market, Starbucks have just opened a remodelled coffee shop called ’15th Avenue Coffee & Tea’ in Seattle. No green logo, no motif on cups, just a nice, modern, friendly, local coffee shop. They will be open throughout the night and provide tailor-made drinks and atmosphere. After covertly researching other local coffee houses, they realised that there is a massive untapped market of independent coffee drinkers who aren’t interested in going corporate.

Few others seem to understand this move, but having been brought into business almost entirely through social networking, it makes sense to see someone trying the small business approach. How will it work? Watch this space.

The lesson to learn here isn’t actually that branding can work against you, it’s about making the branding reflect the image you want to give out. Virgin has always been the rebel brand, ‘Ryan air’ the budget, pay only for what you want brand. Would Ryan Air now be able to offer a full first class service like BA? Absolutely not, consumers would be confused at the apparent price-hike and Ryan Air’s branding would go kaput.

McDonalds, like Starbucks has built it’s own niche empire, they keep trying to dip in to the local market, but they will forever be known as a fast food chain with little or no personality in it’s stores. A McDonalds in Venice is identical to one in North London. If McDonalds wanted to launch a proper cuisine and expensive exotic menu, they would fail. It makes perfect sense therefore for Starbucks to introduce a new concept to differentiate itself from the brand and give it a little flair. You’ll never see a chain of ’15th Avenue Coffee & Tea’s, but that’s the point, that’s the brand. The strength of Starbucks and the personality of an independent, such a beautiful combination. We know Starbuck’s underlying ethics, we know the quality, but now we get the personality.

A brand doesn’t have to be attached to a logo, especially if that’s exactly what you don’t want. Branding is much much deeper than a swanky logo and colour scheme. It’s everything.

It’s finally here! Zako Media is shortly moving to Swansea, 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 on our contact page, or by calling: 01792 427005

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.

The news of Michael Jackson’s passing was quickly widespread, it was probably the fastest news story ever to reach the world and it did so because of technology, namely Twitter. Within minutes of the article appearing on TMZ’s website, it was global! I was following closely using one of my favourite Twitter news tools; Twitscoop (http://www NULL.twitscoop NULL.com/) which analyses public tweats looking for patterns in real time and shows emphasis on the most common subjects.

Through Twitter, I watched accusations on Michael’s Doctor, I saw mass hatred of Parez Hilton for accusing Michael of faking his collapse.

Yesterday I saw the start of the mass moonwalk in Liverpool Street Station, I even got to watch it live online through someone’s mobile phone!

Twitter is a wonderful thing because it allows mass communication spread instantly throughout the world.

While watching the trending keywords on Twitter however, something strange happened. Jeff Goldblum’s name popped up and quickly grew. After looking into it, news of his death was spreading just as quickly. Harrison Ford also cropped up as having died or gone missing depending on the source.

News of Michael Jackson stopped people in their tracks and brought them online to Twitter. Now people are poised for news, this story went even faster!

At the time of writing, both Jeff Boldblum and Harrison Ford are alive and well (and no doubt questioning that fact Sixth Sense style)

Before Twitter, reporters researched stories before publishing. All information needed some proof before it would get published.

With Twitter, the information leaks uncontrollably and is retweeted and spread with little or no such research.

The world has become a nation of well connected, free publishers. Is this a good thing? The alternative Orwellian Internet doesn’t bare thinking about but we should learn to be ever more careful about the source of our information.

We need to learn to fight the urge to become the ‘first’ and instead become the ‘best’. I wonder where else that lesson could be applied.