So Christmas is upon us once again, last night I was in Winter Wonderland in Cardiff enjoying a glass of mulled wine after successfully avoiding falling over on the ice-rink and I thought, it’s probably about time I began some Christmas shopping, but what do I get for people?
Luckily we’ve worked with a wide variety of companies over the years and many of them may just provide the answer to my shopping query, so if you’re like me (disorganised and in need of some Christmas present ideas) below are some ideas.
BillBandit – Do you know anyone who is disorganised with their paper (receipts, lists etc) then this clever little gem might be the answer to their problems!
The Cardiff Devils – Know a sports fan out there who has or hasn’t seen the Devils play? Why not head to the rink for a match and discover the excitement of Ice Hockey.
The Culinary Cottage – Know of any budding chefs? Why not visit the Culinary Cottage and learn how to cook some fantastic cuisine. With a wide range of courses available there’s something for every chef.
Chocolate House – We all love chocolate, so why not pick some award winning chocolates for a loved one from the Chocolate House?
Listhendig – Do you know someone who just hasn’t got enough bags? Well visit Listhendig and help them expand their collection further.
Washington Gallery – Why not visit the Washington Gallery for some art or jewellery? You might even pick up a collectors piece by our own designers who regularly show their work at the Gallery.
Penarth Yacht Club – Ever fancied taking to the high seas? How about joining the Penarth Yacht Club who provide sail training courses as well as sailing competitively and leisurely all year round.
All of the above are clients of IT Pie and hopefully will be able to provide you with some gifts this Christmas. To see a full range of our work please head over to the website (www.itpie.co.uk) and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Take a look at your website and ask yourself the question “Do I want to continue navigating through this site? If not, why am I leaving this website?”
More often than not, the answer will be:
“The site seemed kind of amateurish. There was a feeling that the company did not take the website seriously.”
“In general, I think the home page needs a refresh to make it more attractive – it is now more like a virtual storefront rather than a dynamic organisation.”
“It was unprofessional and amateur looking and hard to find the correct link to use.”
Regardless of what size company you may be, a website can make you look as though you are the largest company in the UK…in any industry.”
Comments like the above are surprisingly common—we see them regularly.
In response to similar feedback, we have carried out a very simple page re-design for several of our clients. We did not change a word of copy, but just redesigned a few of the critical visual aesthetics, to give the page a more consistent design.
So the questions remains, is your graphic design helping or hurting your business?
And our message is simple, “If your visitors are concerned about the appearance or professionalism of your site, you should be concerned about the effect this has on your business. You could get a serious measurable improvement by simply redesigning it.”
If you’re an experienced Twitter user then you’ve probably heard of #FollowFriday where you recommend people to follow, well I’m introducing #LushFriday which is a chance to indulge and share your indulgence with other Twitter users.
On the last working Friday of the month we will be indulging in our favourite lunch – which is just an excuse to go to Lush the butchers in Penarth for one of their amazing baguettes and tweeting about it with the hashtag #LushFriday or better still posting a TwitPic.
#LushFriday gourmet food if your lucky
So take this opportunity to treat yourself to whatever your stomach desires, Chinese buffet, burger, cookies or a fresh hot chicken baguette, it’s #LushFriday which means the calories don’t count (if you count calories) and after a month of hard work, you deserve a treat!
Join us in making Twitter the best fed place on earth every #LushFriday and come dine at the largest Twitter table there ever was!
It is the opinion of Trevor Harris, a lecturer in the Department of Film and Media at Lampeter University, that the title ‘Father of the Internet’ should be given to Welsh scientist Donald Davies.
It was back in 1965 that Donald Davies developed ‘packet switching’ a system that enabled computers to communicate with each other by sending information in small segments which were then reassembled in the right order. Without packet switching, it is unlikely any of us would ever have heard of the likes of Google or Facebook.
Trevor Harris said: “I never met Donald Davies, but for those that knew him, he was thought of as an unassuming man but one who deserves as much as anyone to be thought of as the father of computer communication.
“While working at the United Kingdom’s National Physical Laboratory, Donald’s invention of packet switching made the internet, and ultimately the world wide web, possible.
“In any dispassionate analysis of the development of today’s pervasive personal computer technology and its impact on our lives today then Donald Davies, a humble man from Treorchy in the Welsh mining valleys, is one of the most outstanding figures in that history.”
So there we have it, once again Wales can lay claim to being part of, if not the founder of something we all use and take for granted today.
Other amazing things to come out of Wales (aside from IT Pie) include Artificial Rain, the Hydrogen Fuel Cell, X-Rays, Mail Order Shopping and our favourite…The Equals Sign
It was reported on the BBC website on July the 10th that ‘A strung-out musician who blames United Airlines for breaking his prize guitar has taken revenge by writing a song that has become a YouTube hit.’ Today this news story has made the national morning BBC breakfast news in UK.
The musician, Dave Carroll blames United Airlines for breaking his $3500 Taylor guitar and following a long fight for compensation has released the first of 3 Music videos aimed at United Airlines on YouTube
The video to-date has received 3.5million views and has over 25000 positive reviews along with almost 17000 comments on the video. The times has reported that within four days of the song going online, the gathering thunderclouds of bad PR caused United Airlines’ stock price to suffer a mid-flight stall, and it plunged by 10 per cent, costing shareholders $180 million. Which, incidentally, would have bought Carroll more than 51,000 replacement guitars.
United Airlines are trying to claim that “His video is excellent and we plan to use it internally as a unique learning and training opportunity to ensure that all our customers receive better service.”
It will be interesting to see if the other two parts of Carroll’s trilogy will have a similar global impact? – But a more pressing question is, are you using Social Media to support and promote your brand?
I was at a Business Growth Show recently (aka networking) and as I was going around the room talking to all the people there and swapping business cards, I was asked by six people on the trot where my company was based after they thoroughly analysed my card observing that our company address isn’t on our business card. By the sixth person I chuckled and asked if one expects to find the business address on a business card, with a stern face, the lady simply looked at me and said ‘yes’ – so this got me wondering what is essential to a business card and what isn’t?
Pictured to the right is the front and back of my business card and they have the information I consider vital. Company Name, Contact name, Various Contact details (e-mail, phone, mobile and web) plus a list of services, then on the other side a sales/marketing opportunity, we have a logo and strap line which summarises the services we offer. I do know of a business who simply has the company name, logo and web address on it, the original reason for this was that the business card owner was travelling around Asia and needed a business card he could easily hand out regardless of where he was and now he tells me it means that the only people who contact him are people genuinely interested in doing business with him – great idea.
But as I said, it got me thinking to what was vital and what wasn’t and I even went through the hundreds of cards I have to see if I was in the minority by not including my business address and amazingly it turns out that the split is about 50-50 – Now I personally think that if your business, service or product is limited by location then including your address is certainly wise, for example a plumber based in Manchester isn’t likely to take on work in Cardiff (though his business card is also unlikely to make it to Cardiff, but I hope this helps you understand my thinking) so having an address or area on the card would make sense. Our business is web based so we can work with anyone anywhere as is the wonder of the web so I see no reason to include the business address on the card.
The one major annoyance of mine when it comes to business cards are those who only use one side, I was taught this on a sales course I was once sent on, why only use half of your advertising space? You would never pay for a full page advert and only send in half an add, or pay for a timed advertising slot on the radio or tv and again only fill half of it, so when ordering a business card why only use one side? I realise that it costs more to have both sides printed, but not twice as much so it really is worth the extra expenditure. It is also said that your business card should stand out from the others, be memorable and make it clear what you offer.
I think all of the above are key to a business card and if you have any ides on what else should be included I’d love to hear your comments. I know one man in America thinks he has the ultimate business card – hit play below and enjoy then let me know what you think – but please keep it polite.
We’re currently in negotiations over a contract for a fairly important client. Well I say negotiations we we’re asked to tender against competition that had been after our contract. Nothing really that shocking there, (other than the fact that when we originally agreed the deal it was under the impression that it was for more than a single year) I mean as a business I want to ensure my suppliers and sub-contractors are doing the best possible job for me and sometimes you need to keep them on their toes, so when a client does the same to me, I see it as just another part of business.
Anyway, I wrote and submitted the tender as requested and then had a telephone meeting with the man I understood to be responsible for their website and an agreement was made on a new 12 month contract. I for one was quite happy with this, trusting that this person’s word was good enough as he is supposedly a trusting, honourable and moral person, but unfortunately little over a week since this meeting it seems that they have gone back on their word and a decision has yet to be made and I am now waiting to see if we will win the contract – for a second time in two weeks.
So the question is, if we lose the contract, how do I react? I originally thought we had an agreement for more than the 1 year, then when asked to tender, I thought we had won the contract based on the word of the man at the top and now there is a chance that we will miss out on the contract.
Sadly one lesson I have learnt is that there aren’t many people in business as good as their word.
So I had planned to be blog crazy this past week after starting my blog, but I’ve been busy working – always a good thing especially at times like these, but it got me thinking about how being a Director of an SME requires many skills.As everyone knows (though not until you undertake it quite how much) when your involved with a relatively small and young company you have to do pretty much everything, so I have been busy, marketing, negotiating, tendering, selling, networking and, oh yeah working this week, but you have to remember the big picture and all these tasks go into the large melting pot that is our business.
I quite enjoy most of the tasks to be honest, I was at a meeting the other day discussing some consultancy work and I mentioned that I enjoy meeting with clients or people in general and it was met with disbelief, an IT person who actually enjoys human contact! But it’s true I do enjoy meeting with people and always enjoy chatting with clients, customers and even sales people on the phone, my girlfriend thinks this is so funny how I allow them to run through their best sales pitch before declining the offer of a life time.
Anyway, a lot of this rambling is building towards a question (believe it or not) – which part of business which you do not consider your main skill or service is your favourite part? This could be sales, marketing, finance or any other aspect of the business.
Of course my favourite part of any project is either the start when we win the project or the end when we finish the project and I get to invoice them, at either stage it’s when we get money and that is always my favourite part of business.
@o2 - why is contacting large organizations so hard these days (i.e. O2) a 5 min conversation would fix it #FrustratedAlready!!! #2010/07/28
@DineOutWales offering 20% off membership to tweeters today - retweet & contact @DineOutWales 4 discounted membership - eating out in style #2010/07/28
@philthD Best of luck my good man, I'm sure all will be fine - we await your good news! #2010/07/28
selling a Mini Cooper http://bit.ly/azpjcu know anyone who might be interested let me know #2010/07/28
Busy day, but very enjoyable - always makes the end of the day so much better. Looking to boost biz through referral networking? Message me #2010/07/27
and what isn’t?