The Turnberry Open Championship has inspired me

No, not because a 59 year old can come so close to winning the Open, I have been inspired by the place. I visited Turnberry for the practice day last week and I watched pretty much all of the coverage on TV and it reminded me that I have an unfinished painting of this magnificent place. In fact, it's the last painting I started - some 12 years ago.

Seeing the images on TV of this remarkable coastline has inspired me to dig out the painting and finally finish it. Fortunately, the hole in question (No.10) hasn't changed since Tom Watson did win against Jack Nicklaus all those years ago. I have taken a picture of the painting in it's current state and I will keep you updated with my progress. I have also posted a picture of a Turnberry picture that I did finish (the 18th Fairway, Clubhouse and Hotel) and is available as a print from my Golf Prints web site.

Has the R&A completely missed the point?

I have just been on The Open Championship web site and was pleased to see that they have an application for mobile phones, an iPhone application, a game for mobile telephones and a Twitter feed, these guys really get it...








OR, DO THEY?


I can board a plane and be trusted to switch my telephone off or have it in flight mode, I can enter a hospital with my telephone and be trusted not to use it in restricted areas but, I can't be trusted by the powers that be at the R&A to carry my telephone into hundreds of acres of open space to watch a sporting event?

This is a typical example of a company that appears to be embracing technology when in fact they are actually living in the dark ages and showing no respect for the intelligence and integrity of their customers.

I would like to know who is going to submit the posts to Twitter? No doubt one of their own...who are presumably above the rules!

Does social media work?

I was extremely interested in a story I heard earlier that demonstrates the power of social media and, the ability of just about anybody to be heard. In fact, in one week this video has been viewed over 2,500,000 on YouTube, that's impressive and should make United Airlines customer relations department take some notice.

A band called Sons of Maxwell have produced the first of three songs about the fact that American Airlines broke his guitar whilst he travelled with them on a tour. The band witnessed baggage handlers throwing their guitars about while they were sitting on the plane and when they retrieved the baggage a $3500 Taylor guitar was badly damaged. American Airlines didn't deny it happened but they appeared not to care about it and the Band were getting nowhere with their complaint.

Here is the post on band member Dave Carroll's blog:

"In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say “no” to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise."

You can watch the video here.

Before social media this would not have been possible, people simply didn't have this type of voice. Yes, I think social media works very well and I imagine United Airlines have similar views.

Car Dealerships using social media

We have just created a social network for the Phoenix Car Company who have dealerships throughout central Scotland selling Honda, BMW, Mini, Mitsibushi, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki. The aim of the network is to build brand loyalty by enabling customers to communicate with each other and the dealerships. Already the company can see the benefits of the network with some valuable discussions and blog posts.

In once instance a customer with a complaint eventually closed his discussion because he was happy that the issue had been resolved to his satisfaction. This was not only achieved by the dealership getting involved, customers took part in the discussion which contributed to the positive outcome.

Consumers want transparency and this network certainly offers a much higher level of access to the company than any other car dealership we know.

The company are also using video content to great effect; salesmen are creating their own walk around video of cars and posting them to the Phoenix YouTube Channel. The content is cheap to produce and enables the company to highlight exceptional deals very quickly and effectively.

We are also creating a series of videos to introduce customers to people within the organisation that they might not always see but who play an integral part in the company's success. We have already interviewed the Diner staff at Phoenix in Linwood where you can get fresh homemade food whilst you contemplate your purchase. Future video will include; interviews with mechanics, bodyshop staff and, administration personnel. This video content not only highlights the company's commitment to transparency but, will also "humanise" the organisation.

Whilst Phoenix operate in central Scotland, they are keen to encourage members from much further afield; research shows that customers will travel to buy the right car and, the Phoenix Linwood proximity to Glasgow Airport means they often get customers from the South. Indeed, the network has even attracted members in America. The site is intended for anyone, anywhere, who is interested in any make of car.

You can visit, and join, the network here.

Kyle made it!

Sorry, it's been a busy week so I didn't get a chance to update you on Kyle's progress.

Kyle and Andrew made it to John O'Groats last Friday (19th). Congratulations to them both for this superb effort, they cycled every day for 14 days carrying all of their own luggage and, without any support vehicles, a truly wonderful achievement.

You can show your appreciation of their efforts by making a donation HERE

Kyle, our film production guy, and his friend are cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats, approximately 1100 miles in 14 days with nothing other than their bikes, and a lot of miles! In doing so they are hoping to raise a very reasonable sum of money for The White Lily Fund

(www.whitelilyfund.com), a breast cancer charity and one that is very close to their hearts.

I spoke to Kyle earlier today and they have now reached Scotland - tonight they are staying North of Dumfries and they are on schedule to reach John O'Groats by the weekend. It has been tougher than they expected and, even more so since Kyle hurt his knee on day three of the cycle.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THEM YOU CAN MAKE A DONATION PLEASE DO SO HERE

Our clients using social networks

USC, one of our clients, has just launched a competition to attract members to their new social network. USC see the value in engaging with the customer and enabling customers to engage with each other. The new social network offers the chance for members to share information, upload video and pictures and enter into discussion about fashion, clubbing, music etc.

USC are also using the network to show some of what goes on behind the scenes like, the video that captures the making of their latest advert.

If you fancy a VIP night in Glasgow complete with Rolls Royce Phantom Convertible to transport you form you 5 star hotel to the restaurant you should check out the competition on the network.

More from Dubai

We've been out this morning filming Gary Dixon of Dubai Spectrum, he talks at length about the network site, watch out for the edited interview next week.

Dubai Spectrum doing the business

We created a network for Spectrum Personnel which is a business network for people living in, or contemplating a life in Dubai. It would appear that there are lots of people in one of these categories, the network is growing very quickly - 85 new members yesterday - and as of now there are 2360 members on the network.

The network is for business networking and, so far, it has been used for that purpose however, we have had to do some strict policing to control unauthorised advertising, a little spam and, the odd "lady of the night" promoting their services. All in all, the client is delighted with the progress of the network and the brand awareness it has brought Spectrum Personnel in the Middle East.

To visit the network please click here

Back to business...

Design Matters and Podcast Matters have been very busy lately on a number of projects which has probably contributed to the lack of posts on this blog. Not a good advert for what we preach I hear you all say. You're right, we should be posting much more often and in future we will.

Over the next view days I will bring you up to date with some of the things we've been involved in and show links, where possible, to the fruits of our labour.

Please join the official FAKE BAKE "SAVE YOUR SKIN" campaign that seeks to highlight the dangers of sunbeds at
http://ping.fm/tcsu6?gid=37185114613&ref=ts

Facebook and other social networks in the workplace

Recently we built a social network for The Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland and 5 weeks in the site is proving extremely popular with lots of communication and over 30,000 page views by the members. It is a private network so we had to send invitations to 480 members, this is when a small problem came to light caused by a few member companies who block social media sites in the workplace.

This got me thinking about the practice of blocking social networks in the workplace and I wondered what you think about this.

Personally, I think employers should acknowledge the power of social media and embrace it with open arms. Learn how to use it to your advantage rather than trying to ban it. Let's face it, you can already access sites like Facebook from a mobile phone so, are you going to take mobiles from employees as they arrive in the morning?

I agree with an article written by David Eaves from The Globe and Mail, Canada who wrote “As free-thinking adults who manage to show up on time each day, we are ultimately responsible for our own conduct. Things like coming back from lunch on time, not sitting and reading the paper or a novel all day in our offices, or standing at the water cooler and chatting with colleagues until the whistle blows are where we are able to monitor and measure our own slacking. At least Facebook manages to keep people at their desks!”

The TUC (Trade Union Congress) in the United Kingdom issued a briefing document that suggests establishing a policy on usage within the workplace. I am certainly more in favour of this than an outright ban and total blockage. Like it or not, social networking is here to stay, the ‘Net Generation’ will see to that. Companies need to be prepared to communicate at this level and, when I see that Stanford University has recently launched a Facebook Class, I feel I might be right.

Here’s what Cisco Systems had to say about encouraging staff to use Facebook, “We are now pulling motivation from the roots of the organisation rather than pushing from the top down”. Indeed, many blue chip companies are using Facebook and other social platforms to recruit the cream of the graduates each year.

As a company we are using Web 2.0 technology, including a range of social platforms, to help clients promote their businesses therefore, I find it strange that other businesses are so ‘anti-social’.

I would urge every employer to look carefully at their policy on all Web 2.0 technology and social networking, I am certain it is the future and, 26 million social network users in the UK agree!!!

What are your thoughts on this, please post your comments.

Gordon

Use this site as an amazing traffic referrer

Sites pop up all the time that promise to drive traffic to your web site, many of these will work for you and many will fail to deliver. I have been using a site recently that really does work for most sites I've tried it with.

stumbleupon.com is a very hot site at the moment and I would recommend everyone try this to see how it does deliver relevant traffic to your site.

To make it easier I have included some simple instructions:

Step 1: Go to stumbleupon.com and complete the registration process. (Note: The service is not available on the Safari browser, it works on Internet Explorer and Firefox)
Step 2: You will be asked if you want to add Stumbleupon to your browser bar – proceed with this step
Step 3: Once StumbleUpon has been installed on your browser you will see the StumbleUpon logo and small “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” icons
Step 4: Go to your on web site - "http://www.yourdomain.co.uk" and when the page appears on the screen, click on the “thumbs up” sign,
Step 5: You will then get a box where you enter a short description
Step 6: Enter some key tag words
Step 7: Submit

It looks like a long process but, the whole thing should take less than 5 minutes and it will drive traffic to the site.

IF YOU HAVE FOUND THIS TIP OF USE PLEASE SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.

Google Grants for Charitable Organisations

Google Adwords is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your web site however, due to the increasingly high number of competing web sites using Adwords, you may have found the cost per click is increasing and becoming prohibitive.

If you are a registered charity, or you represent one, you can now apply for Google Grants. The programme basically offers free Google Adwords advertising to qualifying organisations. If you can get a Google Grant you can use the free advertising to promote an even, raise awareness, launch an appeal etc.

If you want to find out more about how to apply for these grants please visit the following link:

http://www.google.co.uk/grants/details.html

If you have found this tip useful and, know other people who might benefit from similar information please 'share' the Blog information with them.

Know what other are saying

The opportunities to promote your brand or product has never been better. Social networks, blogs, forums, podcasts etc. not only give you the chance to get your message out there, they enable your customers to talk to each other about your product or service.

However, for exactly the same reasons that this is a fantastic opportunity, it is potentially a disaster about to happen. Brand assassination has never been easier. The ability to destroy a product exists for everyone.

Sure, you can moderate your blog or forum and approve all the comments before they are posted however, what if someone attacks you on a blog or forum you don't control?

You can't do much to stop it but, you must be aware of it in order to respond to it. I am constantly surprised that people don't bother to monitor what is being said about them online.

By using tools like Google Alerts, a free service, you can be notified every time your name or product appears in a page on Google. this includes news, blogs, web sites, groups and video.

Another very useful trick is to set up alerts for your competitors product or service, that way you can keep track of what they are doing and what people are saying about them.

If you found this tip useful, or know anyone who would benefit from it, please share it with your friends.

WE NOW HAVE A NICHE SOCIAL NETWORK THROUGH THE SISTER COMPANY, PODCASTMATTERS. IN THE NETWORK YOU'LL FIND SOME GREAT INFORMATION AND INTERACTION BETWEEN THE MEMBERS. TO JOIN GO TO http://network.podcastmatters.co.uk

Need to do some Market Research?

I am amazed how many Facebook users I speak to who don't know about Facebook Polls. This is a superb way to research your customers and get answers that will improve your decision making.

The Polls work like this; You pose a question and up to 5 possible answers Eg. Where do you shop for food? Possible answers, Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-op or Sainsbury's

You then select the demographic you want to poll, this can be done by interest groups, location, age or sex.

You then pay $0.25 per response for up to 100 responses + $1 insertion fee.

You then get real time streaming results to you question from 100 people in as little as 30 mins.

So if you want to know about your target audience use the Facebook Poll service to find out quickly.

To sign up for the Facebook Poll you select the "Businesses" link at the bottom of any Facebook page and you will get the full details of how this fantastic service can work for you.

If you have found this, or any other tip useful please share the Blog information with your friends.

Create a Facebook Page for your product or service

Earlier this month Facebook launched ‘Facebook Pages’ and the best description I can give it is a network for ‘things’ instead of friends. Facebook’s own description is, “a way for you to connect to things other than people, without cluttering your Friend List”.

You create a Facebook Page for your business, or product, or event etc. then invite people to become a ‘Fan’. By becoming a fan they are announcing to their friends that they are interested in your business, if these people are also interested in your business they can become a fan and so on.

The obvious benefit is the ‘snowball’ effect created throughout the Facebook network however there are other benefits.

Facebook Pages are mini-websites and as such will be findable by the search engines so, it’s an additional outlet for your business or product.

Within the administration section for Facebook Pages, you can get ‘Insights’, a report on page views and other useful information. I recently set up a page for “Golf Prints by Gordon White” and within 24 hours I was able to determine that 58% of page viewers were woman, 84% of viewers were between the ages of 25 and 44 and, 16% were over 45, all useful information.

I would advise anyone with a business, product, service, event, charity etc. to set up a Facebook Page, it’s free to do and you can get started by going to the ‘Advertisers’ link at the bottom of any Facebook page. You may also be interested in the Pay-Per-Click Social Advertising on the same page!

Submit to Article Directories

A great tip for increasing traffic to your web site is to submit to Article Directories. Often overlooked by many web owners, article submission is, for the most part, free and, easy to do.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Web owners and editors (both on-line and off-line) use Article Directories to find relevant content for their publications. If you have any interesting articles, features, comments, case studies etc., submit them to the hundreds of Article Directories and get them published. The benefits to you are enormous.

1. Good articles on niche topics can promote you as an expert on the subject.

2. Published articles help to promote your site.

3. Article Directories create hundreds of incoming links to your site, which in turn improves your search engine ranking.

You can submit articles manually; do a search for Article Directories and choose which ones you want to use. Alternatively, you can use a variety of article submission tools, which automatically submit your article to hundreds of directories. Some of the popular ones are; ArticleTrader.com, and ArticleGold.com

Why we should use Favicons

The Favicon (Favourites Icon) is the small square icon that appears on the left of the web address in a web browser and, most modern browsers support Favicon display. Many web owners believe this is their only purpose and don't use Favicons or view them as important, this is a mistake.

Browsers use Favicons to display bookmarked sites and, tab enabled browsers also use Favicons to display tabbed sites. So, if you want your site to stand out in a list of bookmarked sites you should use a Favicon on your site.

Other sites now use Favicons to list sites. RSS feed readers use Favicons to display your site and some search engines are now using Favicons when displaying search results.

So, this small icon (16 pixels x 16 pixels) could become very well used and commonly displayed on the internet. It is not only worth using it, it is worth giving some consideration to its design.

If you know anyone who would benefit from regular tips and advice on web marketing, design or podcasting please encourage them to join Design Matters Group on Facebook.

If you need further information on Favicons please contact us at favicons@designmattersgroup.com

Keywords ARE Important!

I often hear people saying that keywords are no longer important because search engines don't rank sites by keywords anymore. Strictly speaking this is true however, for the same reason, this makes keywords more important than ever.

Search engine spiders don't look at Keyword Meta Tags but, in order to deliver relevant results, they look for the keywords in your content instead. For this reason it is essential that the keywords or phrases that people might use to find your products or services are included in the main content of your site.

You may have seen the term 'Web Optimised Copy', this is content which has been written to include as many search words and phrases as possible. When writing the content for your site it is important to get the balance right between optimised copy and readable content, search engine spiders don't buy your products, the visitor reading the copy is ultimately the target.

Keywords are also important if you use Google Adwords, or any other Pay-Per-Click advertising.

A very useful tool to help you establish the keywords relevant to your website is WordTracker

WordTracker will help you identify the keywords and give you a KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Indication) for each word or phrase. The Free Trial version will enable you to get started however, for those serious about web optimised content you should consider the full version.

If you know anyone who may benefit from this advice or previous posts, please encourage them to subscribe to this Blog or, contact me at gordon@designmattersgroup.com or, via the website