My Thoughts on Guest Blogging

My thoughts on guest blogging represented by typewriter keysEvery once in a while something crops up in the world of search marketing that really piques my interest. Caffeine, Hilltop, Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird and all those updates and refreshes in all their versions, if appropriate, are usually talked about ad nauseam and there’s often little to be added to the conversation because there’s nothing new to be said or you’re probably a heretic for saying something different.

Read more

Just One Thing About Small Business Saturday

“Just One Thing About Small Business Saturday” first appeared in the is4profit small business blog

Small Business Saturday 2013My home town of Farnborough does not have the best of town centres; it has an ugly mix of modern buildings dating back to the 1960s and spanning every decade since then with suitably obnoxious architecture from each period all groaning for attention.

The local council’s CEO stated in early 2012 that he did not want to see this borough and its two towns of Aldershot and Farnborough become “clone towns” and yet we’ve seen new stores pop up from big businesses that you tend to see everywhere else in England.

Read more

What Does Google’s “Not Provided” Mean for Small Business SEO

Not Provided organic search terms courtesy of GoogleIf you look at your stats in Google Analytics on a daily basis as I do, then you can’t have helped notice an increase in the “not provided” phrase at the top of your organic traffic results.

What is this “not provided” in Google Analytics?

Read more

Texas Joe Reigns in Dragons

“Texas Joe Reigns in Dragons” was originally written by Paul Mackenzie Ross for the is4profit small business blog

Texas Joe's lean and mean beef jerkyLast night’s episode of Dragons’ Den on BBC was a corker.

We saw a pitch for an “umbrella” for a rotary dryer, an exercise mat that you can wear around your waist and yet another bid for funding for a range of sauces… [at least it wasn’t cupcakes – Ed]

But the best pitch of the night came from Joe Walters, a native Texan living in London, and he was wearing a cowboy hat and a rhinestone suit, accompanied by a bluegrass band singing “Put that jerky in your mouth, mouth, mouth”

Read more

Rural Business Services – Caught in the Crossfire

“Rural Business Services – Caught in the Crossfire” was first written by Paul Mackenzie Ross for the is4profit.com small business blog

Will remote SMEs cope with the privatisation of Royal Mail and can superfast broadband be good enough for them?

Rural postboxThis morning I was listening to Evan Davis’ guests on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4. Speaking about the imminent privatisation of Royal Mail this coming Autumn, one of the guests from a workers’ union pointed out that the Royal Mail is a universal service and that deliveries in high-density urban areas effectively subsidised those in rural areas.

Read more

Securing Small Business Data by Encrypting it

“Securing Small Business Data by Encrypting it” was originally written by Paul Mackenzie Ross for is4profit.com

One big problem facing British small businesses these days is the data security risk, but how do SMEs go about encrypting their data?

TrueCryptA recent report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) suggested that, cumulatively, cybercrime was costing British businesses millions. When estimated down to a per-business level, the FSB worked out that cybercrime is costing every business around £4,000 every year.

The study prompted the FSB to produce a list of top ten tips to protect your business from cyber crime – you can read them at the foot of the is4profit news story.

Read more

Clone Wars: Farnborough

On the 25th January 2012 I attended a meeting of North Camp residents, even though I live in the Fox Lane area of Farnborough (some might argue that it’s Cove, almost Hawley)

The most important aspect of that meeting, hosted by Andrew Lloyd, the Chief Executive of Rushmoor Borough Council, was that he said he did not want Farnborough to be another clone town, or words to that effect. As the CEO of this Borough, I expected that to apply to Aldershot too.

Then, on a trip to Aldershot one day, to visit Spinnadisc Records, which was forced to close due to the extortionately high rents, I saw atop a pole in Union Street a banner boasting of all the big names coming to Aldershot’s new Westgate “leisure” development: Morrisons, Nando’s, Toby Carvery, Harvester, Travelodge, Frankie & Bennie’s, Pizza Express, Subway…

Read more

StartUp Loans: Why Raising the Age Limit is So Desperately Needed

“StartUp Loans: Why Raising the Age Limit is So Desperately Needed” first appeared in the is4profit small business blog

StartUp LoansThe first small business news story of the day today is that Lord Young, David Cameron’s Enterprise Adviser, wants to raise the age limit on StartUp Loans.

This is a great idea and I’ll explain why…

Read more

Another Alternative to Amazon

The McDonaldization of Society - George RitzerWith the threat of our beloved and run-down pub, the Tumbledown Dick, being turned into a McDonald’s restaurant somebody pointed me in the direction of a very interesting book – The McDonaldization of Society.

The book, first published in 1993, is written by sociologist George Ritzer and looks at the increasing rationalisation of the world as conducted by big bureaucratic organisations such as McDonald’s. The processes used by the fast food giant streamline the production and delivery of burgers & fries, impose the division of labour, force a formal manifesto and make the company’s “character” impersonal and technocratic…

Read more