Archive for December, 2009

As a special free gift to start the new year we have given you this special desktop calendar background. Just pick the appropiate resolution from the list below.

As we start this Christmas week all of us at Zedoary would like to wish you a very merry Christmas.

It’s been an exciting year for us this year and we have a load of new websites scheduled for launch in early January so keep your eye’s peeled to check them out as soon as they go live.

Have fun!

Another year has come and gone, and Google has taken a moment to look back at the happenings of 2009—the people, events and memories that made this year unique.

Each year they examine the billions of queries that people around the world have typed into Google search to discover the zeitgeist—the spirit of the times.

As we welcome the new year, we hope you enjoy this glimpse at the past.

The results for the UK show that there were mixed feelings as we headed online this year to search for our favourite online tools, to learn about celebrities new and old, and to find a good bargain.

Facebook, eBay and Spotify all featured in the year’s fastest rising searches. People searched to learn about new sensations like Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle, but they also turned to the web to learn about the deaths of Stephen Gately, Jade Goody, and Michael Jackson.

Meanwhile, the recession ensured that bargain hunting was alive and well with people searching for cheap holiday options in particular.

See the full results here: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/press/zeitgeist2009/regional.html#united-kingdom

As we have mentioned in previous posts we are members of 4Networking and their MD, Brad Burton, has written this splendid book.

If you are in business or think you want to start your own business this book explains in a “no-nonsense” way what you should do to, well, “Get Off Your Arse“.

Recommended reading and the ideal Christmas gift!

Many people still have hours of video tapes in their loft or garages, unwatched and slowly deteriorating with age.

Only a few years ago, before the digital revolution, tape was the only way to store video.

Many people still have hours of video tapes in their loft or garages, unwatched and slowly deteriorating with age. Any tape over 10 years old that is not stored perfectly is in danger of deterioration or tape mould.

The fungal blight, or ‘tape mould’, has already ruined thousands of miles of audio and video tape in Britain and much more is likely to be deteriorating in storage.

Family footage stored in cardboard boxes in damp garages and lofts are at particular risk, but even larger private and public collections are sometimes stored in damp conditions with temperature variations that can allow one infected item to destroy entire collections.

The ideal way to store videos to try and preserve them is to store them upright in a dark area away from heat sources and changes of temperature. This will help prolong their life.

Even if you have stored your tape perfectly there is still the problem that you probably threw your video tape player away years ago. Also video cassettes came in a range of formats – VHS, Betamax, Hi8, Video8 and Digital 8 to name just a few of the more common ones.

The solution is to convert your old video tapes to digital – either DVD, Blu-Ray or even to mp4 to keep the memories alive and safe. Then the video can be safely backed up or even viewed!

If you have all the equipment to play the tapes you can purchase the hardware to connect the video player to the computer and then some software to record and convert the video.

Alternatively you can use a digital conversion service to make the transfer for you.

Some tips…

VHS and audio tape should not be stored in:
garden sheds, lofts, cellars or anywhere where the temperature fluctuates

Tapes should be kept:
in the dark, away from direct heat sources but in a cool cupboard that is a constant temperature all year round.

How to deal with tape mould:
Look for a fine white dust and don’t blow it away across the rest of your collection. Don’t play the damaged tape, this could infect the machine and do not place near other newer tapes. Wash your hands thoroughly after touching infected tape.

2 Digital Media specialise in converting many forms of old media to it’s corresponding digital form.

This festive period why not give your blog a bit of Christmas cheer with this free WordPress Theme!

One of our recent projects has been a website for a Romsey Beauty Salon - Fresh Therapies.

Phase 1 of this website includes a brochure site using WordPress as a CMS, and includes random testimonials and a latest news / blog that is linked up to various social media outlets via its RSS feed.

In the new year this site will develop further when phase 2 kicks into gear and will add the ability to buy some of the quality natural products online.

We will update you when that happens so you can take a look.

Here (finally) is the third in this ecourse on emarketing. Of course it should be titled “be sure to make time to do your marketing” as this was supposed to have been sent last month but we got sidetracked releasing so many cracking websites into the world!

This month we are going to talk about websites – what they are for and what different types of website there are. A website is the central hub of any emarketing strategy. It is the very focus that you aim to push people towards so they are one step closer to buying from you.

What’s a website for?

It’s a tool. A powerful one and no amount of ads, mail campaigns, business cards, radio adverts or trade shows can substitute for having a website. A website is there 24 hours a day, every day of the year promoting your business.

Broadly speaking websites are for one of these activities:

• Immediate online sales – an eshop that allows customers to buy online.
• Lead generation for future online sales – asks users to opt in for free info, samples, advice etc… It’s the permission based marketing I talked about in the last email.
• Lead generation for future offline sales – service providers, plumbers and builders etc… Not a product you can sell online, but a service or product that can be demonstrated online.

And loosely websites fall into one of these five types:

• Squeeze Page – a one page “take it or leave it” site. These types of site exist to collect contact or purchase a single item. They can be effective if you have a proven product or service that you want to promote.
• Sales Page – we’ve all seen them, the big long page that scrolls down persuading you to “buy now”. They exist because they work and it can work for most business types.
• Blogs – emarketing and blogs are a good fit. This series of emails is backed up by my website and that is a customised WordPress blog. This means you can go from here to the site and discuss the article and read past ones. Blogs are a quick and easy way to communicate and establish yourself as an industry expert.
• Membership Websites – allow certain visitors access the best content. Subscription websites are good for residual income to cover the development of the site and it’s premium content.
• Brochure website – just as it sounds, a website to publish detailed information about a company, it’s products and services.

What questions should you be asking?

• Do you have well defined short and long term goals for your website?
• What type of website should I use to achieve my goals?

If you have not thought about what you expect your website to achieve, how will you know if it is working?

Next time…

In the next email we will look at turning visitors into customers.

We Love Freshbooks

Yes we do.

And so would you if you tried it!

Let us tell you how valuable FreshBooks is… and by valuable we mean how FreshBooks saves you so much time every month, helps you get paid faster and makes you look more professional.

If you are in business and invoice people and want to get paid give it a go.