Interesting couple of stories about Google recently.
First concerning the potential offered by Facebook with respect to PPC and affiliate marketing – apparently half the price of google ppc, then problems with the launch of BUZZ with privacy issues and now this one with the EU.
Google under investigation for alleged breach of EU competition rules.
Remember Windows and the EU, Apple and the EU …. and having crossed swords with the EU in past roles, I know that they don’t have much a sense of humour when it comes to anti-trust.
Should Google be worried. and given the strength of the Google offering as a marketing channel – should us marketeers be worried? My sense is probably not – there is always a channel to fill a vacuum – we just have to find it and use it.
Matthew
Snap – Marketing at Bracknell Expo 3rd March 2010
Date: 3rd March 2010
Venue: Blue Mountain Golf & Conference Centre, Wood Lane, Binfield, Bracknell, RG42 4EX
Visit us on #70 at the Bracknell & Berkshire Business Expo.
Talk to us about what you want to achieve in 2010 and we’ll give you lots of free advice on the day, as well as some great offers.
You’ll also meet a range of business specialists, see and learn about new products and services, network with hundreds of like-minded local business people and hear the latest tips on such subjects as social media, sales, low cost marketing, PR, business confidence and business growth.
With eight FREE seminars running throughout the day, all designed to inform and inspire you, some 60 exhibitors with products and services that can help you run your business more effectively and hundreds of other local business people to network with, this is an event not to be missed.
Details below.
Bracknell & Berkshire Business Expo
Wednesday 3rd March 2010 – 9:30am-5:00pm
Blue Mountain Golf & Conference Centre
Wood Lane, Binfield, Bracknell
Berkshire, RG42 4EX
We look forwards to seeing you there!
Debbi and Matthew
Click here to check out our exclusive offer for Bracknell Business Expo Visitors
We all have views on what constitutes great design.
But your collateral is the foundation of your marketing armoury, and it must reflect you, your brand and products in the best possible light.
So, naturally, we would obviously recommend you have a professional design agency do it for you! But its interesting to understand some of the wrinkles that the professionals use day-in day-out.
But whatever route you choose, here’s some ideas about how to use images.
Worth a thousand words?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words – but in the ultra competitive world of marketing, where you have an instant to create an impression, your images need to be spot on in terms of resolution.
Good images cost money – whether you buy them in from a library or if you get them shot yourself. So you will need to use them as much as you can to maximise your investment.
Always keep the the original, and its layers (if any), as a .PSD file before flattening, because if you need to edit it again, this will not be possible if you do not. As we used to with transparencies – work from a copy of it – always keep the original un-edited –its so easy to click the wrong button and over-write the original.
Work in the highest resolution you can initially. You will need at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) for print and only 72 dpi for the web – its not worth trying to go higher on the web – higher resolutions are slow to load and won’t give a significantly better image on-screen.
When presented with an image that is too large for the area it needs to populate, then this should be reduced in photoshop to the correct TIFF size as a CMYK (if working in 4 colour). Remember you must never increase the resolution size of the image more than 10% than the original as this will deteriorate the image and can cause pixelation.
JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. JPEG compression is the most is the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the web.
This is not always necessary for PDF documents, as the size has no impact on the postscript, except the end size when you use them for print.
Give us a call or drop us an email if you need help.
I cannot claim to have thought these up (I wish!) – they came from the Jeremy Burkhart – CEO of Speakercraft a US based Home Automation brand and I stumbled his thoughts in an industry magazine today.
He calls them his 7 Capitalist ZEN Rules
1. Tackle one thing at a time. Trying to do more is setting yourself up for failure.
2. Slow down and be deliberate in thought. Everything changes, and you are better off being deliberate and initiating change, as opposed to waiting for it.
3. Do everything you choose to do with 100% effort.
4. Do less with more. Get input from advisers, make a decision, be flexible and move forwards. You don’t need everyone on your social networking site to tell you what to do!
5. Create repeatable rituals that work for your success. Success doesn’t always happen by accident. It happens by being deliberate on a regular basis.
6. Only think about what is necessary now. We harm our minds and bodies by thinking too much about the unknown. Think about what you can do that will create forward progress.
7. Live and think simply. We have a tendency to complicate life by making things more difficult than they should be. Do your work, serve others the best you can, then step back and live in this moment.
I can’t add anything else – thoughts anyone?
Matthew