Microsoft SME Website Announcement

What we have long believed has been put into more specific terms by Microsoft. The link below outlines how Microsoft believe that SME’s (Small and Medium size Enterprises) are wasting around $3billion a year on their websites because they do not sufficiently promote them.

This does however make me think; is there enough room for all of these companies to advertise using keywords on Google, Yahoo! and MSN? Would the increased advertising just push the keyword prices up? Are the best keywords not already out of reach for most SME marketing budgets?

link to article (Marketing Week)

Free Newspapers

Free newspapers used to annoy the hell out of me. The constant ramming of the actual paper in my face and my view that the content was second rate meant I held a deep disdain for ‘those rubbish free papers’. However, I have come to appreciate a number of features that they provide. Firstly they are very convenient. After you have got used to the paper touts they become quite handy when you are in a rush, trying to get home or moving through stations like London Bridge. Secondly and obviously, they are free. This means you don’t have to queue up or scrape your pocket for the required change. Thirdly and quite importantly is the content. As aggregators they do a good job of bringing together all of the thorough journalism of a number of the more traditional papers. This may mean that the headlines are not as recent, but with the availability of news on the internet, papers are no longer a medium to provide up to date information anyway. When you add to this some actually interesting lighter and more social content, you are presented with a bitesize product that fits well into all of my train journeys. So, I must admit, I’m a bit of a fan.

Pumpkin Carving Dangers

Pumpkin carving is dangerous! With tools including a 7 inch sharpened knife, a 4 inch serrated blade and the ever-lethal spoon, the practice of pumpkin carving for Halloween is something that seriously requires adult supervision. Not to mention the addition of lighters, matches and candles. Fire is dangerous. Also a lesser known danger is the excess pumpkin innards that can be hazardous if trodden on or left uncovered for a bit. So next year please remember to be safe and not sorry when carving yours.

Facebook - the ultimate distraction?

I read an article not long ago regarding the evil vice that is Facebook and the problems associated with it in the work place. It is more than common these days to have sanctions placed on workplace computers and more specifically on social networks and slightly less savoury sites. But are they really necessary, and do people actually waste their time on it all day every day as we have been led to believe.

The short answer is... well, maybe. The fact of the matter is that some people do, and they seem to ruin the fun for everyone else. According to the recently published Ipsos Mori's The Engage Report, only 5% of people access Facebook from their place of work, the majority using their home broadband. On average Facebook users spend around an hour and ten minutes per day on the site, but have been forced to spend this time at home while their bosses block access to the site. What they fail to realise is that many people, including myself, use Facebook for work, to contact people who they believe may wish to do business or work with. In fact, the report reveals that many people who use Facebook use it to replace conventional email processes. Therefore using Facebook is not necessarily the biggest problem businesses face, and I doubt whether they will be saving any considerable time by placing sanctions on it in the work place. Still, employers like to have these small power struggles with employees, as has been the way from the beginning of time!

The report in fact revealed some very interesting figures. It appears that loyalty has become an issue with social networking sites, with only 29% of people who signed up to it using it on a continuing basis. Despite this, social networks remain a powerful tool for advertisers and users alike, though for quite different reasons. This would no doubt explain the recently announced acquisition of 5% equity stake in Facebook by Microsoft. An interesting move especially when Google, who lost out on the deal, shortly after announced their partnerships with several other social networks including MySpace. The future of social networking is a hazy one and I think social network providers need to realise that they get carried away with all the features they provide. Having spoken to several friends who used to use Facebook, it seems that the additions of applications and endless pointless group invites have caused them to move away and ignore the clutter in their inbox from various notifications.

The future, which I think Google might be heading towards, is a global social network that ties into Facebook, MySpace and the various other most popular sites, providing one, easy to use (and very much uncluttered) system that draws data from the others and does not try anything too fancy. It will be interesting to observe the developments.