Design Communication Blog

On the look out for suitable iPad covers I came across the Griffin Elan Passport case and with impeccable timing the nice people at www.gearzap.com got in touch to see if I'd like one to review. Within a few days I had the case in my possession and I've not been without it since.

I was looking for a case that would give good protection but also easy access to the screen, both around the office and on the move. That's when I saw the Griffin Passport case which appeared to provide just that.

Whether you are using Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla or similar CMS you will want to keep your site and module plugins up-to-date for security as well as functionality reasons.

This can be straight forward or a tricky and time consuming task depending on the size of your site and the amount of modules installed.

Updating the core site with half a dozen extra modules would, 9 out of 10 times, be straight forward but then again who only has that many modules installed on their site?!

That's why when it comes to updating your site and its' modules you should follow a set procedure to insure your site looks and works in the same way as it did before you updated anything.

I see a lot of people asking the question on Twitter, "Should I get the 3G iPad over the WiFi only version?" and my simple answer is no.

Why pay extra for the iPad itself for 3G connectivity, then the data package to go with it when WiFi is widely available and quite often, when out and about, free.

I went away for a week on holiday to Southwold in Suffolk, on the east coast of England, knowing that the property we were going to didn't have WiFi. What I did find though was the Blyth Hotel with free WiFi, beautiful food and good hospitality!

Having done a little research before we went away I knew there were quite a few WiFi spots in the area, so I didn't panic.

iPad 3G Data Plans UK

Not my words but the words of the comedian Bill Melvin Hicks, who am I to argue with the great man?! I was lucky enough to go to the world premiere of American, The Bill Hicks Story at the London Film Festival (last year) and with it now on national release it got me thinking about how you should advertise your business in todays market.

Once you've finished reading this post do check out the video which clarifies what Bill Hicks joked about! One thing that is obvious is that in years gone by advertisers would sell their soul to get you to purchase a product, nowadays they've wised up to the fact a big budget doesn't guarantee a good return.

So how should you market your business whilst avoiding the pitfalls of those advertisers Mr Hicks despised?

Here are 5 ways to advertise your business in 2010, the ethical way.

Having used a number of Twitter apps on my desktop and iPhone I was looking to take my Twitter interaction to the next level on the iPad.

Having heard that Tweetdeck was quick to the market I jumped on board, downloaded it and gave it a whirl.

On first impressions the app looks great, in portrait mode you have two columns of info, primarily your followers tweets and mentions. In the top third of the screen you have a blank area which, when you click on a tweet, is used to display said tweet or, if you click a link inside the tweet the panel flips to show the website.

Selected Tweet

This will be my first Follow Friday since Chris Brogan came up with an improved version that can help drive traffic to your own blog.

The new format below means you have more room to detail why you should follow someone rather than just plaster Twitter with a handful of tweeple with no explanation.

So without further a do here are 4 great people to follow this Friday:

@BWelford tweets about business online, seo and blogging on a regular basis with a well respected opinion, a must follow.

@nictinworth is my Far East correspondent for digital and web solutions.

@ruudhein Wordpress, social with a large chunk of SEO for good measure.

Up to this point in time I feel my participation in social media has been quite fruitful. I started my blog back in January 2008 and since then it has steadily grown with thousands visiting on a regular basis. 

I've been active in Digg, Sphinn, Stumbleupon, Design Float, Mixx, the list goes on, for some time and have had a Twitter account for a couple of years. All this time I think I've done my fair share of social media marketing, sharing content, writing blog posts etc but the busier my web design business has become, the less time I've had for other things.

I realize how important blogging and social media is to my business which is why I felt the iPad would be crucial in boosting my activity in both areas. Having previously used my iBook and iPhone primarily to tweet, share content on social sites and read feeds I saw the potential that the iPad offered me.

RSS Feeds

In my opinion the best way to keep up-to-date with industry news or what's going on in general is either with Twitter or an RSS feed reader. I use NetNewsWire on my iMac, iBook, iPhone and now iPad. It's a great app and one I use every day.

The only problem being is that I follow so many blogs, last count 60, is that it can be a struggle to keep the number of unread posts at a reasonable level. I'm probably not the only person who feels like this but the sight of 900 unread posts makes my heart sink!

I took the job, yes I used to see it as a job, of reading these posts quite seriously, keeping abreast of the latest goings on in the blogosphere, that was until I got the iPad.

To take a quick step back I used to open up NetNewsWire on my iPhone or laptop to read posts, mainly to get away from my main machine to stop my legs from thinking they were no longer needed! 

Yes that's right, I have an iPad, I can't quite believe it myself, I'm keeping up with the Fry's of this world!

This time last week I was only dreaming about getting one when they eventually come out here in the UK, luckily for me a great client was off to NYC to get their hands on one and managed to snaffle a second. Even better than that is the fact he didn't then put it straight on Ebay but instead offered it to me for a reasonable amount :o)

So enough of the fawning over actually owning one and on to the business of reporting my first impressions, which are blinking brilliant. Mainly because if you blink you miss it, the speed of the iPad is one of its stand out features.

The Basics

Speed is definitely of the essense when it comes to the iPad and start up doesn't disappoint. Opening and closing apps is as quick and efficient as you could ask for. Battery life so far is good although I haven't used it non stop yet!

Your website is live, people are visiting and interacting, you're probably thinking that's it surely, show me the money! Whether you're running an ecommerce or a regular business site, getting it live takes time, content creation, site designed and built, so when all this is complete it means the hard work is done, right?!

Wrong, I'm afraid to say that anyone can get a website live, via free services, diy or paying a web development company to do the work for you. But I'm afraid this only sets the foundations of your online business, poor foundations can have long lasting effects. However, how you build on top of these will develop your online presence into either an also ran, or a market leader!

I sometimes hear from clients that they are not getting the results they expected from their new website. I then have to reiterate that a website can develop from very little effort or promotion, but if in a competitive niche, more time and energy is required.