Online retailers are fumbling in the dark

Bootiful Berrnard Matthews died yesterday having turned a simple £2.50 start-up “fund” into a multi-million pound empire. He was an astute businessman, turning down advice from so-called marketing experts who wanted his strapline to be about “tough birds”, inventing the “bootiful” line himself. It suggests that the Norfolk entrepreneur knew …

Read More

Facebook could kill your online business

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, appears to want to make all teachers clones. Rigorous personality analysis and aptitude testing is planned for all prospective teachers. It smacks of trying to make all teachers alike. Interestingly, Michael Gove is an acknowledged deep thinker. Having only been an MP for five years, …

Read More

You must be visible online

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, may be young but he certainly knows a thing or two about getting his business noticed. There can hardly be a day that goes by where you do not hear someone talking about Facebook, or you see a Facebook “like” button on a  web …

Read More

blank

Harry Potter casts a spell for website success

The latest Harry Potter movie has opened to critical acclaim and to box office records. Millions of people will be watching “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” over the coming week – indeed in the UK it has already taken over £12m in its first two days and …

Read More

Let the people Tweet

Troops in the USA are being warned that using the likes of Twitter and Facebook could be damaging. Apparently, it could reveal to the enemy the whereabouts of individuals in action. Strangely, it is only a couple of years since the US Military demanded that the troops be allowed to …

Read More

blank

Beating the cognitive load of email

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook (pictured), announced a new messaging system which many are calling a “Gmail Killer“. But in his press conference yesterday, Mr Zuckerberg was actually pointing out his system was not email, nor a replacement for it. Instead, he described his “aha” moment when talking to …

Read More

Do not distract your older website visitors

Teenagers are often criticised for being “unable to listen” or “ignoring their parents”. How many times have you asked your teenage children to turn down that music, only to be ignored? Well, new research suggests they are not actually ignoring you. It is just that they are better able to …

Read More

blank

Big firms teach small businesses an online lesson

Sir John Rose had to square up to the media yesterday in his role as the Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce. His company’s engines had been found to have a fault which led to the explosion on a Qantas flight earlier this month. Sir John admitted that the issue would cause …

Read More

Your customers could start ignoring you

Right at this moment what do you think your customers are doing? Go on, have a guess. They could, of course, be in their office. Or they might be on the train. They could be having a swim, eating a snack, downloading something they shouldn’t or kissing their loved ones. …

Read More

blank

You should not make your website visitors angry

Anger is breaking out behind the scenes at X-Factor, according to reports. It seems that Cheryl Cole is cross with some of her acts boozing, while her competing judges are furious she went off to the USA in the week, leaving her acts without a mentor. But the chances are, …

Read More

blank

How to check your online suppliers are up to the job

Prime Minister David Cameron must be rather upset with his own security services. It seems they informed President Barack Obama within five minutes of discovering a suspect package at East Midlands airport, yet they took 11 hours to let Mr Cameron know. Apparently, “Whitehall sources” have said that “lessons can …

Read More

blank

How to keep your head above water on the internet

Thames Water can stop leaks it seems, but is unable to run email properly Customers of Thames Water must be gasping at the stupidity of the company. They have admitted an “email error” which allowed 4,000 emails they were sent to go unnoticed for seven years…! The mind boggles. How …

Read More

blank

X-ray vision needed to see through business clutter

Martin Broughton, the Chairman of British Airways, has stirred up controversy by suggesting that some of the security checks we go through at an airport are unnecessary. He has a point. I asked an airport security officer recently why I needed to take my laptop out of my bag. After …

Read More