Lucidica The IT department for small business

March 2011

Interesting technology articles from the month

• Budget 2011: Chancellor moves to close online VAT loophole
  
• Advertisers in Europe May Face Limits in Use of Keywords
  
• Investors See Web Boom - Not Bubble
  
• Google’s quest to build a better boss 
  
• EU Presses Stiffer Rules for Privacy on Internet
  
• Facebook Search Patent… Should Google Be Worried?
  
• Sorry - Steve: iPhone Slower Than Android on Web
  
• Citi: Google’s YouTube Revenues Will Pass $1 Billion In 2012 (And So Could Local)
  
• Microsoft adds Do-Not-Track tool to browser
  
• LinkedIn posts $243M in 2010 revenue - $15.4 million in net income
  
• LinkedIn Today Is Live: A Walkthrough
  
• Home wi-fi '30% slower' than fixed broadband
  
• Facebook a top cause of relationship trouble - say US lawyers
  
• Google expects ad market to bloom
  
• Internet Up For Nobel Peace Prize Again - Let’s Hope It Wins This Time

Qype now offers local community reviews and recommendations for business

Personally, I’ve been using Qype for a few years to find great spots to go out to in London (pubs, bars, restaurants etc).  I find their newsletter particularly well written and useful, and one of the few I am still subscribed to after a year.

In mid-2010, we were invited to be one of the 10 Business Council Members who would provide their feedback & recommendations on Qype products & services (see our introduction article for details).

Qype is Europe's largest site for local community reviews and recommendations of businesses. Customers can share reviews and recommendations of their local businesses, while business owners can share information about their company, products and services. More than 5 million people a month visit the site, there are now over 60,000 UK businesses in the Qype community, you can create special offers to attract more customers, your listing is search-engine optimised so it helps your business with your SEO and it’s FREE to register.

I recommend you have a look and see if it is relevant for your business and register it. If you do, be sure to ask your customers to place reviews of you (as you should be doing on any other social network that lists your business).

Our next Search Engine Optimisation seminar is Tuesday 6 December

Come and hear how we got to be in the top 10 of 1.2 billion (yep, billion!) search results for “IT support London”.  Our CTO, Tom, will explain what we did to achieve this, and what you can do to dramatically improve your search engine ranking. Attend our next SEO seminar 10am-2pm on December 6th.
More information about this seminar here.

Tech News:

• Should small business use Twitter? If so, how? - This is a hotly fought debate when I am out networking and talking with other businesses - should we be using social media in our business development efforts? Twitter is one pillar in social media, alongside Facebook and blogging.
• Apple iPad 2 – is it worth the hype? - Certainly an improvement on iPad 1.0 on many fronts, but is it worth the coin? Or is there better value-for-money out there, like an Android of Windows 7 option?
• Want to send a really, really, really large file? Send as large a file as you like with Sendoid - You can send the largest file you have and even pause and restart uploads and downloads. Worth checking this free tool out if you have large files to get between your office and clients
  
  

February 2011

Malware on the increase - don't risk down-time for your team, ensure you have virus & malware software and it's up-to-date

We see a lot of servers and computers come to us with viruses and malware on them (malware is ‘Malicious Software’ installed on a computer, usually for financial gain by the creator). This not only costs our clients financially but also a lot of down-time (unless they’re on contract, in which case we send them a loan computer). A recent BBC article outlines the increased risks and costs from malware

If you don’t have all your computers and servers protected be sure to look at this immediately, technology is as much about being proactive as it is reactive.

A great London courier company

The courier company we’ve been using for a while now, Mango Logistics Group, provides a tremendous service and experience. They’re always super-friendly and easy to deal with, and are the most reliable courier company we’ve worked with (and we’ve had a few in 11 years!). We generally use Mango for their same day deliveries but they also provide UK and international courier deliveries, and serviced storage.

Tech News:

• The best Internet Marketing resource we could find - Our CTO, Tom, and I have been following the awesome Site Visibility “Internet Marketing” podcast for years. And download this free 63 page “Clockwork Pirate” SEO PDF from one of the podcast contributors, Kelvin Newman. It’s a gem of a resource.
• Sazneo - Group Instant Messaging - A cross between email, a discussion forum, and instant messaging; I have been checking out this innovative product that can help disparate teams collaborate in a smarter way.
• Quickly get your business further up Google search results, with Google Places - With less than 30 minutes of your time you can register your business address with Google Places so you appear in geographic search results – something that Google is focusing more-and-more on.
  

January 2011

Top 6 Tips on Social Media

Social Media is now the #1 activity on the web overtaking the one I won't mention to save your spam filters. Nearly every business has an online presence beyond that of it's website, as WebCreations point out Social Media is not a fad it is a shift in they way we do business. Here we look at our top 6 tips for social media for your business read more...

 

Our next Email Marketing seminar is next Tuesday, 8 Feb

Come and see how we send these newsletters easily, and at low cost. Attend our next Email Marketing seminar 10am-2pm next Tuesday. More information about this seminar here. More information about this seminar here.

 

Our client Jess could get a dance with Vince, but Dave wasn’t having it...

Jessica Elliott is founder of Dancing After School – which provides dance classes to schools at breakfast, lunchtime and after school.

Launching a year ago they’ve already helped thousands of children access dance across London. As a company their service not only helps children grow in confidence and keep fit, but it’s also a useful service for working parents - as their clubs often extend the school day. read more...

 

Tech News:

• Apps set to explode in 2011 - If 2010 wasn’t already big for apps, 2011 is shaping up to be even bigger. There are now more than 700,000 apps available on iPhones, Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7 devices.
• HTC HD7 Product of the Month - Windows Phone 7 finally catches up with iPhone though perhaps it's already looksing out of breath dsoing so?