Web Design and Drupal Development Blog

We all crave publicity for our business and when it doesn't dent the bank balance then all the better.

We can all spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds on advertising but do you know if you will get a decent return on investment?

The answer to that question is invariably no. So where does this free marketing come from?

The Business Press Release

I've found that the press release is such an under used source of free marketing and that is such a shame as it can really boost your brand.

Whether you've got a product to launch or a recent project to promote a press release can be a great starting point in your marketing plan.

Local Exposure

Why not contact your local newspaper and see if they have a particular section you could feature in. Or even better than that make yourself available for an interview or photograph.

I've had great success with this for a number of client's and it's a tried and tested method for many companies.

An algorithm is a set of mathematical equations. The search engines use the algorithm to rank pages to try and show what they deem to be the best results for a particular search.

To explain a little further lets take a good example from the great book by Malcolm Gladwell called Blink.

A must read for anyone interested in psychology and marketing in which he highlights how the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, the inspiration for the hit show ER, used an algorithm to cut down on admissions to its' Emergency Department (ED), saving huge amounts of money and time.

One problem for the build up of patients within this department was down to doctors incorrectly diagnosing symptoms that could lead to a heart attack.

A simple cost effective idea for schools, surely this won't happen! A great article by John Spencer over at ComputerWorldUK highlights an area where schools could save billions by using Open Source software.

If you're not familiar with Open Source software then a quick description would be that it's free to download and use in many different forms.

There's plenty of software out there for the office such as Google Apps that not just schools can take advantage of but office workers too.

This opportunity would also open up areas for students to really get their teeth into software and programming for free, something I would have loved. I can still see those old machine probably as powerful as a couple of calculators put together, those were the days!

PayPal, in an interview with Macworld, gave a stark warning about possible security breaches related to the Mac Safari browser and PayPal. Steer clear of Safari or you could become a victim of online fraud.

"Apple, unfortunately, is lagging behind what they need to do, to protect their customers," Michael Barrett, PayPal's chief information security officer said in an interview. "Our recommendation at this point, to our customers, is use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 when it comes out, or Firefox 2 or Firefox 3, or indeed Opera."

Seeing that Safari is the default browser for the Mac it's a big disappointment that it has no built-in phishing filter to warn users when visiting a fraudulent website. Security should be one of the main concerns for any browser software company but when someone recommends Internet Explorer as being safer then you need to think about changing browsers.

This being my first interview I wanted to make it a valuable one for my readers and clients. Many people I work and interact with are new business owners just starting out. On the flip side I also converse with long standing business owners but when it comes to the internet they both have a number of things in common.

A lack of knowledge about the latest technology and a little fear and trepidation of the unknown.

It's very easy to find information from experts about what you should do and where to start on a particular subject. But somewhere along the way problems occur and that's where the information dries up.

I'm hoping this interview will help those who have been through a business start up or website purchase and stumbled across problems plus those just starting on this journey.

Good luck to my cousin in India who was recently married at a monkey wedding in Ghanteswara village in Orissa state India. As reported on the BBC News site Crowds flock to monkey 'wedding' over 3,000 people turned up for the occasion. I didn't realise he had that many family and friends!

Sadly I couldn't make it due to other commitments but I wish Jhumuri and Manu well for the future. Word from the jungle is that they're planning on a long honey moon before having a family which I think is right for such a young couple.

I'm also glad to hear they have been released into the wild as previously they were chained up. All the best Manu, she looks a feisty one!

A Varnish is a liquid coating that is applied to a printed document. The varnish can be Glossy, Matte or Satin giving a variety of different finishes.

A varnish is an additional process and cost due to the fact it is not normally applied on the same printing press as the original document.

Before saying no on a cost basis alone it is always worth asking your printer or designer to show you some examples.

What Can a Varnish Do:

• Enhance colour especially in photography
• Add texture to a page
• Protect against fingerprints
• Add a wow factor
• Add emphasis to certain page elements

Other benefits include the speeding up of the drying process and prevention of ink rub off.