Thinking it was about time to enter the big league we decided to sponsor a football team. We thought about getting shirt sponsorship prices from teams such as Arsenal and Chelsea but realised quite early on it would make more sense to look closer to home. Unfortunately Colchester United are already catered for by ROL (Readers Offers Limited) and Ipswich Town have sponsorship from event organisers Marcus Evans, so we put our heads together, and then Elliot said, “My little brother plays football.”
With this groundbreaking news we knew we were getting closer, now we had someone on the inside, someone with an in depth knowledge of the game, someone who would have contacts.
“Who does he play for?” we asked.
“Wivenhoe Town Under 11’s” came Elliot’s reply.
“Perfect!”

Phone calls were made, agents were schmoozed, emails were bounced back and forth between us and the club. We had to set this up quickly and get the deal sorted before the season started. What we really wanted though was to get the team in their WDL branded kit before the Wivenhoe Town XI vs Arsenal Celebrity match (Joe Swash was going to be there!). Palms were greased, wheels were set in motion and deals were done. With a few hours to spare, we made it.

The few of us who went to the match were so excited about seeing Joe Swash and some bloke off of some reality show that none of us had seen, that we forgot about the kit. When we got there the entire under 11’s team (give or take a player or two) were there wearing the brand spanking new WDL branded strip watching the match. It truly was a sight to behold. Tears were choked back, the atmosphere was thick with pride and the match went by without a hitch. It went on for what seemed like hours as everyone who had a few £££’s to spare got to play against the ‘Arsenal Celebrities’. I think Dean Gaffney may have scored a goal, but I might be mistaken. When it finished we all patted each other on the back and thought ‘We’ve hit the big time.’

Each time those little fellas go out on to the pitch, wherever they play, a piece of us goes with them and you can’t buy that. (Well actually you can, and it’s surprisingly less expensive than you might think!)

The team have worn the shirts a few times now and by all accounts they are quite comfortable. We’re just glad that we could be part of something much bigger and more important than us. And, most importantly somebody called us the next day after seeing the shirts (it works) and asked if we could build a website for him for £50.

Wivenhoe Under 11′s team member Oscar Smith plays in WDL kit during a tournament at the David Beckham Academy near the O2 in London.

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A few weeks we posted a short article, Offline Website Promotion, which included a few obvious yet important tips for promoting your business offline. These included; business cards, promotional gifts and signs. But if you have a vision and mission for your business, a website and some happy customers there is always more you can do make more customers happy. Below are five very simple tips that can help you become more of a prospect for customers.

1. Include contact details on your website

As well as hopefully finding their way round your services and having a look at who you are, you want them to contact you when a potential customer comes to your site. A visitor wants to know that the people they may potentially be dealing with are humans and not just another faceless business with nothing more than a contact form. Include your email, phone and where possible your actual address. It will make you seem more approachable and professional.

Also, include are links to your social media presence, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or whatever your social network of choice, and a map with directions.

If you have a contact form, make sure it includes everything you are going to need from the visitor – their contact details and what they are contacting you about.

Ultimately you want any visitor to feel welcome and wanted. You want them to engage with your business in a way that makes it easy for you to engage with them.

2. Answer the phone

This may sound ridiculous to those of you who answer your phone every time it rings. But there are many businesses who don’t; there may be good reasons why they can’t answer the phone every time it rings. However, nobody likes to leave a message unless they absolutely have to and the chances are that a potential prospect will go cold by the time you contact them back.

If possible make sure you answer the call quickly, sound like you care and take notes. You should attempt to get their name, address, telephone number, email address, information about their business, the date of the call, how they found out about you and what services they are interested in, and log the information somewhere – preferably a good CRM system.

Remember to listen to the caller and let the conversation flow naturally, even if all you want is the answers to the above. Before the call has ended ensure that the next steps have been outlined and that the caller knows what to expect; whether it’s an email or another call.

3. Best practice email communication

Once you are communicating with a new prospect take the time to write an email that is professional and polite. Be sure to avoid vast cavernous passages of text which would put any one off reading it.

• Break it down into subheadings or shorter paragraphs.
• Make sure that you identify the main points and actions clearly.
• Stick to the subject as far as possible and don’t ramble.
• Include a call to action – what do you want the recipient to do? What will happen next?

4. Dress appropriately

First impressions do count. Make sure that you look the part when meeting customers for the first time and indeed every time you meet them after. As a rule you should always dress higher rather than lower. Dirty old jeans and comfortable t-shirts are fine for the office as long as you are not going to come into contact with anyone other than your colleagues.

The people you meet make a judgment about who you are in the first 30 seconds of meeting you. Think about your own thought process when you meet someone for the first time. Make sure you make a winning first impression. Dress appropriately. It’ll help to build your confidence as well as instilling confidence in whomever you are meeting.

5. Write professional quotes.

Take your time and write a quote that includes what you’ll do, how long it will take and what it would cost. Don’t forget to include terms and legal information as well. Bear in mind how you would wish to be quoted. What details would you want to see in a quote? If the quote is too high you probably won’t hear back, too low and you might not look like a great prospect. Think about getting the balance right.

As with the Offline Website Promotion tips these do seem obvious and for many of us, common sense. However they are a reminder to always strive to be at the top of your game.

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Last night saw the Colchester Digital group meet for the 3rd time in it’s short 3-month history. Around 25 members attended the informal get together at the River Lodge bar in Colchester.

Members from many different areas of the digital spectrum – software developers, social media guru’s, web developers, digital marketers, SEO practitioners and graphic designers – were among the attendees. Topics of conversation ranged from the Google + social platform to the new html5 markup language and the various projects that members are working on.

Colchester Digital is a Meetup group for individuals and businesses in and around the Colchester area.

Spanning the digital sectors, our members are developers, designers, digital image and video specialists, marketers, PR, social media and SEO experts, and everything between.

The group welcomes freelancers, graduates, experts, professionals and anybody who feels that they could gain from the group, or add something to it.

Colchester Digital members meet once a month (usually the 1st Wednesday) at various locations in and around the Colchester area. We get together to share knowledge, experience and information, and where possible to collaborate on a wider scale. It’s essentially a group of like-minded people who want to grow a bigger and better foundation for the digital community in Colchester.
Please note that you can still join the group even if you are unable to attend a Meetup or event. The group pages allow for interaction with other members and for dialogue to occur, and your suggestions on future Meetups or events are more than welcome. There are no expectations if you join, all we ask is that you give us your feedback and input your ideas when you can.

Future Colchester Digital Meetups will include speakers, trainers and workshops on various aspects of the internet and associated industries. So tell your friends and colleagues to join Colchester Digital. The more members there are, the more you can get out of it.
To join the group, and keep up-to-date, simply go to www.colchesterdigital.co.uk and click the button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

If you have any questions email us at social@colchesterdigital.co.uk, or join and leave a comment.

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There are many tried and tested methods for promoting your website online, but it’s important to remember the power of promoting offline too. People often forget to promote their business offline in more traditional ways.

Here are a few ideas / a reminder:

1. Business cards

Your URL (website address) does not take up much space on your business card, and if it’s not there already you’re obviously still holding on to ones from 10 years ago! In this day and age where everyone has a website (or at least a blog, or Facebook page) your URL should be considered essential contact information along with your phone number, email address, etc.

2. Promotional Gifts

T-Shirts, mugs, postcards etc. There are many sites (e.g. cafepress.co.uk) where you can create and purchase custom t-shirts, coffee mugs, mousemats, keyrings etc. Put your URL on these and distribute them as free gifts to your friends, customers, – indeed anyone else who you think might want one – as constant reminders of your URL.

3. Signs and Adboards

These can be made relatively inexpensively and placed on street corners, in shop windows, at football clubs, in fact anywhere that will take them – free or otherwise. Remember, for motorists to take notice of your URL, it must be catchy, descriptive and memorable. Also, don’t forget to seek permission!

4. Car Stickers

Window and bumper stickers can be an effective marketing tool, especially in large, high traffic areas. When people are stuck in their car, they’ll have no choice but to look at your sticker. Again, you need a catchy and memorable URL for this to work. Think about design, as it needs to be desirable for someone to put it on their car.

5. Word of mouth

Tell all your friends, relatives and acquaintances about your site and get them to tell all their friends etc. If your site is any good, words will spread and natural traffic will grow through word of mouth.

6. Print Media Ads

Ads in print media are another way to promote your URL. Pick up a free classifieds publication from your local supermarket and look at where other people are advertising their sites. Advertise on a wider scale if you like, in print media e.g. local papers, take away menus etc. the options are endless.

7. Stationary

All stationary from letterheads to invoices and envelopes to printed labels should contain the website address. If you are getting something printed make sure you include it!

These do seem obvious, but sometimes we forget the common sense approaches when we are busy.

WDL offer a wide range of offline and online marketing services. Visit WDL today to find out more, or Contact Us

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Social Media Marketing is the one of the most talked about topics in online marketing.

Most companies today are attempting to get themselves engaged in various social media channels for various purposes.

Why? If planned and executed well Social Media marketing can be one of your cheapest and most effective modes of marketing and promotion.

WDL can set up a bespoke WordPress blog to match your website. It’s a great way to load your website with fresh content (search engines love this!) and drive traffic there too.

Setup for just £350 + VAT

Contact Us for more information

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Key features of WDL’s circulateit service include; an automatic and manual subscription and unsubscription system with list-specific statistics. Full reporting with complete statistics on opens, clicked links, bounces, forwards, deliveries and unsubscriptions. Available from any web browser via secure login, it allows you to build and send email campaigns yourself (WDL can look after this for you if required, additional charges apply).

Setup for just £199 + VAT

From £10 (based on number of subscribers) + VAT per month

Contact Us for more information

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Social Media Marketing is the one of the most talked about topics in online marketing.

Most companies today are attempting to get themselves engaged in various social media channels for various purposes.

Why? If planned and executed well Social Media marketing can be one of your cheapest and most effective modes of marketing and promotion.

We can set up your Twitter and Facebook accounts, and link them to your website.
Setup for just £99 + VAT

Contact Us for more information

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If you’re about to set up a Facebook account for your business, or if you want to, then we would recommend an investigation of this post on copyblogger ‘The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing’ by Andrea Vahl.

The author has recently finished co-writing Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies and has been extremely thorough in squeezing all the external resources into one post.

Hope you find it useful.

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The team here at WDL have decided to set up and launch a Meetup group for like-minded digital professionals in Colchester, and the surrounding areas – www.colchesterdigital.co.uk.

The thinking behind the group is to get as many of us together so we can collaborate, share knowledge, experience and information. Essentially, an opportunity to regularly catch up and meet others who earn their living (or want to earn their living…) from the Internet. Somewhere to discuss issues that have a direct effect on our businesses, or just a time and place to have a drink and a chat. We know there are enough of us out there to justify this Meetup, so we thought why not; it’s not hurting anybody and it has the potential to be really useful for the members.

Initially we’ll get together once a month (1st Meetup – 8th June, 2011 at WDL, East Street, Colchester), but there is scope to meet more often, and at different places, it’s up to you – it’s your group! There will be no expectations so just bring yourself, a friend if you want, and perhaps a few business cards – you never know who might be there.

To join the group, go to our Meetup page at www.colchesterdigital.co.uk

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us

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At the beginning of the year Google announced the latest change to its algorithim, i.e. the way they rank web pages. These changes were in direct response to the rise of ‘content farms’, which were gaining high listings in search engines with low-quality content, e.g. duplication and lazy practices.

The new update, which Google have cutely named ‘Panda’, has had a marked effect on many sites, some high profile organisations have seen their rankings tumble since it was introduced on February 23, 2011. Many, on the other hand have held their positions and others have improved theirs.

Whilst the exact nature of the changes is shrouded in mystery Google experts claim that there are some simple questions one would need to ask themselves before delivering content (see the Google Webmaster Central post from Amit Singhal for these). The basic premise is this; if you can tick these of as you go along Panda will not penalise you web page.

Amit Singhal states: “Of course, we aren’t disclosing the actual ranking signals used in our algorithms because we don’t want folks to game our search results; but if you want to step into Google’s mindset, the questions… provide some guidance on how we’ve been looking at the issue.”

As I’m writing this I’m asking myself, does this count as original content? Will Google penalise this article because I’m quoting Amit? Will it rank lower because I have the same writing style as somebody else who’s written on this subject? Is there a chance (probability would suggest) someone else has written an exact copy of what I’m writing now?

In his blog post, dated May 06, Amit goes on to give more advice to those of us who need further clarification, he says; “We encourage you to keep (the) questions in mind as you focus on developing high-quality content rather than trying to optimize for any particular Google algorithm.”

So, what do we need to do and how do we act on the update? Whatever your thoughts it’s got to be good for those of us who put the work in and care about what we do. Lazy SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) practices are becoming a thing of the past and Google’s Panda update just reinforces this. Ultimately it’s important not to forget that Google are continually developing their algorithm and will always strive to reward websites that provide high-quality and relevant content. If you follow simple rules your site is more likely to rank well in the long term and hold its position.

Remember this, if you want something done – do it properly (as it’s always been and as it always will be). There are no quick and easy fixes, if you think there are then you will get found out in the end!

If your concerned about these changes or need your website optimised using best practice ‘White Hat’ techniques, then Contact US, we can help.

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