Year: 2006

Social networking – don’t invest in it just yet

Social networking is all the rage at the moment – indeed I’ve mentioned it’s value several times already. Social networks are an online extension of your existing offline interaction with people you know. They are a natural human activity so online social networks are something we can all see the

Employees should use the Internet at work for personal items

The latest issue of PC World reports that companies are cracking down on the personal use of the Internet at work. The article argues that valuable networking bandwidth can be eaten up by employees surfing the web for personal pleasure or information. Also, there are potential legal problems if employees

How do you calculate the ROI of corporate blogging?

We’ve all heard that blogging is good for business. Indeed, in this blog I’ve even said you must blog to stay in business. But what’s your return on investment for blogging? An attempt to work this out is being made at Forrester Research, however let’s consider what you are doing

Email marketing needs a new approach

Today I was at the annual Email Marketing Conference of the UK’s Direct Marketing Association. There were several interesting facts revealed during the day, but several speakers echoed a single theme. They were clear that email marketing is not like other forms of direct marketing. Instead, it is much more

Social networking online – don’t let’s get carried away

This weekend I’ve read a great deal about online social networking. If I were to believe what I’ve read, I’d think that all you needed to do was set up a whizzy social networking site and you’d be an instant billionaire. Wherever you turn in newspapers, magazines, or even online,

Top companies fail another Internet test

Research published today shows that around half of the FTSE 100 companies do not have the technological capability to accept job applications online. That is putting them at a strategic advantage. Job hunters now use the Internet as a prime source of vacancies and want to use the online services

Learn some lessons from the Internet’s biggest retailer

Listening to the radio this morning I discovered that the biggest online retailer is the UK supermarket, Tesco. This company is a true phenomenon. One pound in every seven of the British economy is spent in Tesco stores. And today I discovered that it takes £1billion online – two thirds

Businesses just don’t “get” blogging do they?

Once again, research has confirmed what I’ve thought for ages – businesses just don’t understand blogging. A three month study involving nearly 2,500 businesses by Fasthosts has shown that the majority believe blogs have powerful business uses. But only 3% of companies in the survey actually plan to start a blog..!

The future for the Internet is all negative

A survey of 750 of the world’s leading “futurists” has revealed a largely negative view of how the Internet will affect our lives by the year 2020. According to the research, we’ll have less access to the Internet because of limitations imposed by governments. The futurists also believe addiction to

The Internet really appeals to the young

A couple from Lincolnshire, UK, had the surprise of their life this week when they found their three-year-old son, Jack, had bought a car from E-bay. And it was not just any car; it was a £9,000 bright pink Nissan Figaro. Luckily, the seller saw the funny side and didn’t

Google set to help Internet marketers even more than usual

Google is a superb service for Internet marketers. It helps buyers find what you sell. However, for people selling particular products Google hasn’t been as helpful as it might. Shoppers had to use Google’s side-kick, Froogle for shopping. Since this wasn’t as well known as Google, many marketers found their

Internet crime hits home users the most

Internet criminals are targeting home users because they are easy prey. A new report by Symantec shows that attempts to hack into personal details have gone up by 81% in the past year. Many of these criminal acts succeed, as do the spam emails that we all get. They succeed

Politicians need to start blogging

The UK newspaper, The Guardian, suggests today that politicians need to harness the power of blogging. Indeed, the article says “The political party that can harness blogs to its cause is the one that will win the Internet campaigning war.” But it’s more important than that. Politics is losing more

Internet shoppers suffer from “web rage”

According to the web testing company, Scivisum, 78% of Internet shoppers have become so frustrated with trying to buy something online they have switched off their computers. “Web rage” as it is being called is when someone tries to buy something from a web site, but too many clicks or

Companies must write a blogging policy

Few companies have written policies on blogs. People have been fired from their firms for blogging “from the inside”. There are anonymous blogs apparently spilling the beans about particular companies. Plus, people who work for companies comment on blogs around the world. All of this activity has a significant impact

Internet retailers need more accessible sites

A report out today suggests that online retailers are losing millions of pounds each year because their sites are not accessible enough. What that means is that people with disabilities, such as sight problems, or a lack of an ability to use a keyboard, are not able to use many

Blogging survey shows significant problem for corporates

A new survey of blogging reveals that many large businesses see the value of blogging, but are not really doing anything about it. The study of 450 companies found that even though most of them understand what a blog is and that it would be valuable for their business, six