Paul Mackenzie Ross

With over 25 years expertise in digital, Paul Mackenzie Ross is a highly experienced digital marketer, consulting in full end-to-end solutions. As an SEO expert, PPC guy, web designer, and content manager, I set up, build, populate, and promote websites, so I know everything you need for a highly successful web presence.

Another Alternative to Amazon

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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…

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Beetroot Books

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The Money-less Man - A Year of Freeconomic Living - from Beetroot Books In my quest to find alternatives to Amazon, my latest discovery has been an interesting one.

A couple of weekends ago I made a brief trip to Avebury in Wiltshire, a picturesque little English village and home to an impressive neolithic henge monument.

Once I was home that same Sunday evening I had a sudden flash of inspiration and wondered what Britain’s leading Druid, Philip Carr-Gomm, was up to these days…

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Ship My Pants: Such Clever Marketing

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OMG! Have you seen this?! The latest online advert from US department store retailer Kmart is absolutely hilarious. Just watch and listen… Isn’t that great? It’s such a cheeky advert and really clever marketing. Here’s the transcript: Dad: “Ship my pants… right here? Ship my pants? You’re kidding?”Store clerk: “You can ship your pants right … Read more

Hive: Books Arrived

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Hive NetworkAs previously posted, I was recently looking for an alternative to Amazon. The thought process came about after I was accused, quite reasonably,  of putting money into Amazon’s pockets when there were serious questions to be asked about their ethics and morality. The main points of contention are that:

1) Amazon have been accused of paying very little UK tax on billions of pounds worth of turnover (2011 – £3.35 billion turnover with a tax expense of £1.8 million according to the BBC)

2) If that’s the case then small businesses are being subjected to unfair competition (Because they pay full UK taxes on their profits and their Goliath-sized competitors do not)

3) High streets are apparently suffering because of online retailers and some of those are based in tax havens

4) Buying from local businesses puts money INTO the local economy. Purchases to big corporations ensure that money is drained OUT of the local economy.

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Alternatives to Amazon: First Book Order Through the Hive

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Siddhartha - Herman HesseA recent conversation on one of the comments sections of the Friends of the Tumble Down Dick website got me thinking:

“Are there any alternatives to Amazon?”

For many years now I’ve been an Amazon affiliate and earned a few pennies here and there from my web and blog posts. In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever had a cheque from Amazon, but one day I’ll probably earn that £25 threshold payout from linking to obscure Haynes Manuals for the Opel Manta.

When the opportunity came up to make some pennies for the Tumbledown campaign, I set up an Amazon affiliate account.  I haven’t looked yet, but I don’t expect it’s earned very much at all. (Update: I just looked – Zero pence)

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Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?

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“Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?” was written by Paul Mackenzie Ross and first appeared in the is4profit small business blog The news this weekend has been filled with stories about the demise of HMV. That’s not to say that the store, founded in 1921, will totally disappear, but it has been … Read more

Computer Games and Small Business Strategy

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Computer games and small business strategy - still only level 6Are SMEs Being Encouraged to Level Up too Quickly?

I’ll admit it; I’m not particularly good at computer games. When I played Halo on the original Xbox against one of my younger brothers I got shot. Lots. On the Nintendo Wii versus my junior-school daughter, her wrist-flicks fired off aces without a single “proper” serve. That’s just not tennis. As for driving games, I’m used to wrestling with a wheel & stamping on pedals, and the last time I remember fighting in a Judo match, I don’t recall manically pressing a convoluted button combination to throw my opponent.

But strategy games, ah… that’s another matter. And what does this all have to do with small business, I hear you say?

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A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business

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“A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business” was first published in the business advice section of www.is4profit.com When looking for ways to improve your business one method of working is by using SMART objectives. First coined in a 1981 edition of Management Review, S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym/mnemonic for: S – Specific M – Measurable A – … Read more

The Business Benefits of Marginal Gains

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“The Business Benefits of Marginal Gains”, written by Paul Mackenzie Ross, first appeared in the small business blog section of www.is4profit.com

The Business Benefits of margin gains - one percent

My Managing Director and I were discussing the subject of business performance and commercial efficiency the other day when he mentioned the recent story of the British Olympic Cycling team boss, Dave Brailsford.

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How Do Small Businesses Capitalise on the Olympic Spirit?

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London 2012 Olympic torch - How Do Small Businesses Capitalise on the Olympic Spirit?This article was first published on the is4profit small business blog in September 2012

Cast your mind back to just a few weeks ago and recall the London Olympics 2012. Look at the current buzz surrounding the Paralympics 2012.

From the spectacle of the opening ceremony to the Olympic venues, the crowds, the medal table and this little island country punching well above its weight…

London 2012 and the Paralympics have been touted by some as “the People’s Games” and  in other places to have been “the greatest games ever”. The Olympic Committee has promised a lasting legacy, even setting up the London Legacy Development Corporation to handle the handover and the future of the event’s assets.

But really, what’s in it for small businesses?

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