Hive@Mansfield Programme for New Product Development support
We have now got to the end of the 15th Hive@Mansfield HiveStart programme and it is now widening its intake to include established businesses who are thinking of developing new products or services.
Along with a business case analysis to evaluate the commercial potential of the idea, the programme will also now include a section on technology assessment and planning prior to the development of any prototype.
There are still places available on the next programme starting Wednesday, 15th September 2010.
If you are interested, (or know anyone who may be), find out more at http://www.ntu.ac.uk/hivestart-to-innovate or call 01623 600829 for details.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Friday, 11 July 2008
Wild Design Idea's for your business...
The Hive@Mansfield Interview
| Your Name | |
| Your Business Name | Wild Ideas original graphic design |
| Your Website Address | |
Please answer the following questions….
How does your business differ from the competition?
Delivering innovative workable solutions with a reliable personal service.
There are a lot of graphic designers, but very few decent, honest, hardworking, experienced and knowledgeable as I am and as dedicated to providing customer service.
In 100 words or less describe who your customers are and how you reach them.
Local people and local businesses who want to use a local designer. Google maps has provided me with a few. Personal business card distribution and contacts from the pub where I work part-time.
Very few businesses succeed after the first few years – what makes your business plan so robust?
Going at a pace and cost I can work with. Not risking anything financially and not being unrealistic in my aims and ambition. Stress management and self preservation.
I could walk away at any time and know that even after 9 months I have made a good profit without trying too hard.
Explain how the
Gave me knowledge about business. Pointed me in the right direction. Helped me do a business plan. Gave me a leg to stand on if I need it. Provided a student card which will enable me to buy cheap software legitimately.
Gave me confidence and confirmed the feasibility of my business.
Please answer one of the following questions….
What’s your favourite meal and why?
Where would you like to go on holiday if it were all expenses paid?
What drink quenches your thirst more than any other?
What is your favourite game and why?
If you need to project a professional image, create a brand or in need or quality graphic design services, contact Linda through her website or on 01773 853491 or m: 07773 049254.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Have you got the Buzz?
The Hive@Mansfield Interview
| Your Name | Sarah Clark |
| Your Business Name | The Buzz Magazine |
| Your Website Address | |
Please answer the following questions….
How does your business differ from the competition?
A personal service catered to local individuals supporting businesses
In 100 words or less describe who your customers are and how you reach them.
Local shops, services etc. Reached via email, face to face and letter campaigns, generally small to medium businesses. Attracting word of mouth and positive feedback
Very few businesses succeed after the first few years – what makes your business plan so robust?
Adaptability
Explain how the
Insight into how businesses really work, not just the good stuff! Lots of support and help during and after. Always willing to go that extra mile to help out.
Please answer one of the following questions….
What’s your favourite meal and why?
Where would you like to go on holiday if it were all expenses paid?
What drink quenches your thirst more than any other?
What is your favourite game and why?
What TV programme do you dislike the most?
Check out the Buzz Mag website for more information on Sarah's Community magazine and the great advertising deals and offers she has for small businesses and community groups via the magazine or through her website portal.
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Friday, 6 June 2008
No one reads my Blog!
No one reads my Blog - Is this you?
Recognise the scenario?
You've spent endless hours writing your blog, going back and forth over the wording, re-writing bits, spell checking, saving and publishing, then logging back in again because you forgot to include something.
Was it worth it?
Then, after all your hours sat typing at the keyboard (at a rate 18.5 words per minute and a 66% accuracy) you wonder if you should have spent your time doing something more productive? After all, who is going to read it? And what good will come of it?
Note: For this and other Hive@Mansfield blogs, clicking on an image will enlarge it.
How many statements do you agree with?
So why do so many people blog?
Why do they think its such a great way of marketing?
After 2 hours of blogging effort, three people read my blog and no one acts on it.
Have I just wasted two hours of my valuable time?
The core issue!
There's a number of actions that you could take to resolve some of the negatives of blogging - but lets deal with the core issue - not enough people are reading your blog.
If more people read it, you'd get more comments, you'd get feedback, enquires, customers, sales!
How to get more people reading your Blog - (Exposing your blog to the masses)
If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend you PING YOUR BLOG!
People all around the world are building websites - you've seen them, you click on a link and then get a web page full of advertising and no content! This does nothing to alleviate your frustration, and the next site you look at is just the same - all the links and no content!
All of those people building such sites have not yet discovered the power of RSS Feeder Services.
RSS Feeder Services (otherwise known within Internet Media Sectors as Content Aggregation Services) allows a website owner to source blog articles that match his or her site content and automatically pull the RSS Blog Feeds directly into their site either for free or for a charge. So where do they source such content and who is collecting this content and how?
Blog Ping Services & Servers
Blog pinging is the process of sending your blog to a third party provider and utilising their services for exposing your blog to all those empty websites out there. Technically - they convert your blog article into an XML RSS compliant format (if it's not already) and then provide the blog to organisations needing blog content.
Blog Servers harvest millions of blogs each day and make them available for website owners to subscribe to via RSS Subscription Services. Verisign (The world renowned Web Security Service) handles billions of blogs from around the world.
How to Ping your Blog
A Blog Ping can be done in two ways - manually or automated.
Some blog providers allow you to configure your blog to be automatically sent to ping servers they have nominated (see your blog help files for info on how to configure this option); However, the servers they choose to ping may only give your blog limited exposure, so there's a great deal of advantage for you if you manually ping your blog too.
When you manually ping a blog you can ping it to one Blog Server or to many Blog Servers.
Here's how to manually ping your blog
Here's a few popular services which we have used recently to promote the Hive@Mansfield Blog - Simply follow these links and enter in your Blog information as required. Remember to go back to them each time you update your blog.
Web log and Feed Manager from Verisign
Ping My Blog - My favourite - it pings lots of servers, and gives you real time feedback on the ping success
Blog Digger
Ice Rocket
Technorati
Now, with the aid of these Blog Pinging services may be your blog will start to be read by more and more people and hopefully this will impact on your business prospects and sales too!
To get an idea of how Verisign are marketing "Real Time Publishing Services" to Internet Sectors click here to watch their promotional flash introduction.
How you can get your hands on FREE RSS Content Feeds.
If you have a website that lacks quality content, and yet you don't have the time to publish it yourself then you can now get RSS Content Feeds for FREE from a range of Real Time Publishers.
Verisign, recently purchased Moreover and they now offer a wide range of RSS Feeds organised by Categories. Check out the list to see how you could add content to your website for free. Please Note: Moreover free feeds are for individual, non-commercial use only!
Good Luck.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Recognise the scenario?
You've spent endless hours writing your blog, going back and forth over the wording, re-writing bits, spell checking, saving and publishing, then logging back in again because you forgot to include something.
Yes? No?
Is this you?
Is this you?
Was it worth it?
Then, after all your hours sat typing at the keyboard (at a rate 18.5 words per minute and a 66% accuracy) you wonder if you should have spent your time doing something more productive? After all, who is going to read it? And what good will come of it?
Note: For this and other Hive@Mansfield blogs, clicking on an image will enlarge it.
How many statements do you agree with?
- Blogging is timely
- The rate at which I type is slow
- I make endless mistakes with grammar and spelling
- It takes an age to format my pictures and get them "web ready"
- After all my effort - no one reads my Blog!
So why do so many people blog?
Why do they think its such a great way of marketing?
After 2 hours of blogging effort, three people read my blog and no one acts on it.
Have I just wasted two hours of my valuable time?
The core issue!
There's a number of actions that you could take to resolve some of the negatives of blogging - but lets deal with the core issue - not enough people are reading your blog.
If more people read it, you'd get more comments, you'd get feedback, enquires, customers, sales!
How to get more people reading your Blog - (Exposing your blog to the masses)
If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend you PING YOUR BLOG!
People all around the world are building websites - you've seen them, you click on a link and then get a web page full of advertising and no content! This does nothing to alleviate your frustration, and the next site you look at is just the same - all the links and no content!
All of those people building such sites have not yet discovered the power of RSS Feeder Services.
RSS Feeder Services (otherwise known within Internet Media Sectors as Content Aggregation Services) allows a website owner to source blog articles that match his or her site content and automatically pull the RSS Blog Feeds directly into their site either for free or for a charge. So where do they source such content and who is collecting this content and how?
Blog Ping Services & Servers
Blog pinging is the process of sending your blog to a third party provider and utilising their services for exposing your blog to all those empty websites out there. Technically - they convert your blog article into an XML RSS compliant format (if it's not already) and then provide the blog to organisations needing blog content.
Blog Servers harvest millions of blogs each day and make them available for website owners to subscribe to via RSS Subscription Services. Verisign (The world renowned Web Security Service) handles billions of blogs from around the world.
How to Ping your Blog
A Blog Ping can be done in two ways - manually or automated.
Some blog providers allow you to configure your blog to be automatically sent to ping servers they have nominated (see your blog help files for info on how to configure this option); However, the servers they choose to ping may only give your blog limited exposure, so there's a great deal of advantage for you if you manually ping your blog too.
When you manually ping a blog you can ping it to one Blog Server or to many Blog Servers.
Here's how to manually ping your blog
- Find a Blog Ping Server
- Enter in your blog information
- Click on the submit button
Here's a few popular services which we have used recently to promote the Hive@Mansfield Blog - Simply follow these links and enter in your Blog information as required. Remember to go back to them each time you update your blog.
Web log and Feed Manager from Verisign
Ping My Blog - My favourite - it pings lots of servers, and gives you real time feedback on the ping success
Blog Digger
Ice Rocket
Technorati
Now, with the aid of these Blog Pinging services may be your blog will start to be read by more and more people and hopefully this will impact on your business prospects and sales too!
To get an idea of how Verisign are marketing "Real Time Publishing Services" to Internet Sectors click here to watch their promotional flash introduction.
How you can get your hands on FREE RSS Content Feeds.
If you have a website that lacks quality content, and yet you don't have the time to publish it yourself then you can now get RSS Content Feeds for FREE from a range of Real Time Publishers.
Verisign, recently purchased Moreover and they now offer a wide range of RSS Feeds organised by Categories. Check out the list to see how you could add content to your website for free. Please Note: Moreover free feeds are for individual, non-commercial use only!
Good Luck.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Viral Marketing through Google User Maps
We've already shown you how to post your business on Google Business Maps so that people can find you.
Now with the help of Google's "User Maps" you could create your own map overlays in Google Maps and creatively promote your business, your clients and your suppliers too.
This Blog will help you understand how you could creatively use Google User Maps and also introduces Viral Marketing to you through example.
Note: for this and other blogs, clicking on an image will enlarge it.
Typically, every business has four key groups - Suppliers, Customers, Associates (By which I mean Professional Groups, Trade Bodies etc.) and lastly your Competitors. I've not shown Competitors on the diagram below as for the purpose of this blog post, I have excluded them.
My example demonstrates how I have promoted a number of websites I own through landmarks and places of interest in and around Alfreton, Derbyshire.
Before I go on, let me first explain about Viral Marketing. It's a term used often nowadays but not always understood.
Viral Marketing is a fancy name about the factoring of numbers in electronic marketing - thats all!
For example, you create a video on You-Tube and someone bookmarks it in Facebook or adds it as a favourite in their You-Tube account profile for others to see. The concept of Viral Marketing is simple - You link to or promote an item once and draw other people in to click on and to link to that item. One action from you, can result in hundreds of other actions - a simple modern equivalent is an email chain letter.
Viral marketing can be best illustrated by a simple diagram...
Anyway, you get the idea!
Back to the example - The websites I wish to promote are all about things and people in the Alfreton Area. The two sites I am promoting are Alfreton Wiki and Alfreton History
Alfreton Wiki is a new site which is being developed. As a Wiki site, I need to get lots of people (who are interested in the subject) to visit the site and contribute information to it. The site will grow as more content is added and I simply don't have enough time to do the work myself.
Alfreton History Site is a similar new project, which requires user contributions too.
Heres what I did.
First of all, I went to Wikipedia and made some entries regarding external sites (i.e. Hyperlinks back to my sites) to a number of articles about Alfreton History - knowing that people looking for historical information, genealogy and the like would find Wikipedia as a reliable source of information and reference. I did this to primarily improve the ranking of my site as it is quite new.
I then went around Alfreton Town and photographed lots of landmarks, buildings, businesses etc. Built my Wiki site, created new pages for lots of different entities and uploaded the photographs.
My next step was to create my Google "User Map". Let me point out that a Google "User Map" is different from a business map entry. It's basically a map overlay, which you and others can contribute content to (incidentally - Your map can be exported and shown on Google Earth!).
Under the username of Alfreton Fellowship - I created around 130 entries then named my User Map Alfreton Derbyhire. You can of course, create as many maps as you like.
One of the great things about making maps is experimenting with the icons you get to use as map placement markers - you can even create your own icons if you like!
Anyway, I digress, having created each placement, I then used the rich text option to create hyperlinks back to my Alfreton Wiki Website. I still have lots of editing to do, so here's an example that's near to completion.
Go to Google Maps, then type in "Alfreton War Memorial" in the search bar, the first result should be as shown below in my illustration (Item "A").
I like the fact that this item shows first in this instance and also that my Map Marker is shown in blue and not in red like the other business map entries! It stands out quite well and I am sure many people would click on it in favour of the other listing entries.
When you are making your map marker placements, you can edit them in plain text, rich text (thats the option I chose) or HTML. If you want to get funky, you can add images and You-Tube videos into the marker placements.
I added some text to my Alfreton War Memorial marker (which is generic for all the markers I made), then editing it using the "Rich Text" format option allowed me to easily add a very specific hyperlink back to the Alfreton War Memorial entry in Alfreton Wiki. See below...
The link then takes people direct to the Alfreton Wiki Website - job done. My job now is to go to all the other items on the map, create the back link to the Wiki site and the history site too. Whats great about user Maps is that you can generate requests to ask other people to contribute to your map. That puts you in charge and delegates your workload too!
Applying this to your business.
Lets go back to our model of the business - Competitors, Clients, Suppliers and Associates.
You may not want to create a map of your competitors, however mapping your clients and your suppliers and your associates may be beneficial to you - its up to you.
Imagine that you are a member of Derbyshire Notts Chamber of Commerce or E-Business Club
and you wanted to promote your association with them on your map - great!
Thousands of other people will be looking for them too and if they find them via your user map then great - but thats not enough. Lets suppose that each of your marker placements went back to a specific page on your website about them - that would be more than great - it would be terrific!
This principle could be applied to your website for all your suppliers, clients and associates and the more popular they are, the more likely you can feed traffic from Google User Maps back to your business! Fantastic!
I hope the above example has been a good illustration of viral marketing, but more importantly inspired you all to make creative use of Google User Maps.
Enjoy the journey, and remember, if you need help with anything in this or other blogs, please come into the hive@mansfield for support and advice.
Good Luck. If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Now with the help of Google's "User Maps" you could create your own map overlays in Google Maps and creatively promote your business, your clients and your suppliers too.
This Blog will help you understand how you could creatively use Google User Maps and also introduces Viral Marketing to you through example.
Note: for this and other blogs, clicking on an image will enlarge it.
Typically, every business has four key groups - Suppliers, Customers, Associates (By which I mean Professional Groups, Trade Bodies etc.) and lastly your Competitors. I've not shown Competitors on the diagram below as for the purpose of this blog post, I have excluded them.
My example demonstrates how I have promoted a number of websites I own through landmarks and places of interest in and around Alfreton, Derbyshire.
Before I go on, let me first explain about Viral Marketing. It's a term used often nowadays but not always understood.
Viral Marketing is a fancy name about the factoring of numbers in electronic marketing - thats all!
For example, you create a video on You-Tube and someone bookmarks it in Facebook or adds it as a favourite in their You-Tube account profile for others to see. The concept of Viral Marketing is simple - You link to or promote an item once and draw other people in to click on and to link to that item. One action from you, can result in hundreds of other actions - a simple modern equivalent is an email chain letter.
Viral marketing can be best illustrated by a simple diagram...
X
X X X X
X X X X X X X
X X X X
X X X X X X X
Anyway, you get the idea!
Back to the example - The websites I wish to promote are all about things and people in the Alfreton Area. The two sites I am promoting are Alfreton Wiki and Alfreton History
Alfreton Wiki is a new site which is being developed. As a Wiki site, I need to get lots of people (who are interested in the subject) to visit the site and contribute information to it. The site will grow as more content is added and I simply don't have enough time to do the work myself.
Alfreton History Site is a similar new project, which requires user contributions too.
Heres what I did.
First of all, I went to Wikipedia and made some entries regarding external sites (i.e. Hyperlinks back to my sites) to a number of articles about Alfreton History - knowing that people looking for historical information, genealogy and the like would find Wikipedia as a reliable source of information and reference. I did this to primarily improve the ranking of my site as it is quite new.
I then went around Alfreton Town and photographed lots of landmarks, buildings, businesses etc. Built my Wiki site, created new pages for lots of different entities and uploaded the photographs.
My next step was to create my Google "User Map". Let me point out that a Google "User Map" is different from a business map entry. It's basically a map overlay, which you and others can contribute content to (incidentally - Your map can be exported and shown on Google Earth!).
Under the username of Alfreton Fellowship - I created around 130 entries then named my User Map Alfreton Derbyhire. You can of course, create as many maps as you like.
One of the great things about making maps is experimenting with the icons you get to use as map placement markers - you can even create your own icons if you like!
Anyway, I digress, having created each placement, I then used the rich text option to create hyperlinks back to my Alfreton Wiki Website. I still have lots of editing to do, so here's an example that's near to completion.
Go to Google Maps, then type in "Alfreton War Memorial" in the search bar, the first result should be as shown below in my illustration (Item "A").
I like the fact that this item shows first in this instance and also that my Map Marker is shown in blue and not in red like the other business map entries! It stands out quite well and I am sure many people would click on it in favour of the other listing entries.
When you are making your map marker placements, you can edit them in plain text, rich text (thats the option I chose) or HTML. If you want to get funky, you can add images and You-Tube videos into the marker placements.
I added some text to my Alfreton War Memorial marker (which is generic for all the markers I made), then editing it using the "Rich Text" format option allowed me to easily add a very specific hyperlink back to the Alfreton War Memorial entry in Alfreton Wiki. See below...
The link then takes people direct to the Alfreton Wiki Website - job done. My job now is to go to all the other items on the map, create the back link to the Wiki site and the history site too. Whats great about user Maps is that you can generate requests to ask other people to contribute to your map. That puts you in charge and delegates your workload too!
Applying this to your business.
Lets go back to our model of the business - Competitors, Clients, Suppliers and Associates.
You may not want to create a map of your competitors, however mapping your clients and your suppliers and your associates may be beneficial to you - its up to you.
Imagine that you are a member of Derbyshire Notts Chamber of Commerce or E-Business Club
and you wanted to promote your association with them on your map - great!
Thousands of other people will be looking for them too and if they find them via your user map then great - but thats not enough. Lets suppose that each of your marker placements went back to a specific page on your website about them - that would be more than great - it would be terrific!
This principle could be applied to your website for all your suppliers, clients and associates and the more popular they are, the more likely you can feed traffic from Google User Maps back to your business! Fantastic!
I hope the above example has been a good illustration of viral marketing, but more importantly inspired you all to make creative use of Google User Maps.
Enjoy the journey, and remember, if you need help with anything in this or other blogs, please come into the hive@mansfield for support and advice.
Good Luck. If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Making Google Maps work for your business
Google Maps is a great free tool for promoting your business - So don't run your business without one!
Here's a quick demo of how to use Google Maps and how to promote your business using this free tool.
Google Maps is fast becoming more popular for people to home in on a locality and search for information. A Google Maps listing contains keywords that are utilised by the Google Maps search engine.
Keyword Demo
Top Tip - In addition to using keywords in your listing you can also add some images. Design your images to be appealing and also add a text layer, to enforce your keyword messages. Don't forget to use one for your business logo.
How to create a Google Maps Listing
You will need a Google Account to create a Google Maps Listing.
On the home page of Google Maps, click on the link (Highlighted above) "Put your business on Google Maps". This link will prompt you to sign in (Highlighted below) or (a little further down the screen) prompt you to create a Google Account.
When you sign in, opt to create a new listing and it will take you straight into a wizard. Complete the entries as fit and upload your photo's too.
Top Tip - Use the fix marker tool to position the marker on the exact location of your business.
Top Tip - Don't add your email address in the email field! Otherwise your email address will be picked up by bots on the Internet looking to capture email addresses and you'll end up with lots of nasty spam!
At the end of the process, opt for the confirmation by telephone option to verify your listing - its quick and simple to do. Google will call the telephone number you specified in your listing and ask you to confirm using a pin number.
When you listing becomes live, check that the details show as you wish them to, edit and make any necessary changes.
The most important step
Finally, the most important step of all - ask your customers to add reviews about your products and services. Good quality reviews will make your business maps listing really work for your business.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Here's a quick demo of how to use Google Maps and how to promote your business using this free tool.
Google Maps is fast becoming more popular for people to home in on a locality and search for information. A Google Maps listing contains keywords that are utilised by the Google Maps search engine.
Keyword Demo
- Bring up www.googlemaps.co.uk in your browser. It should by default show a view of the whole of the UK.
- In the search box at the top of the screen type in "Mansfield Hive". It should find the Hive@Mansfield's listing on Google Maps and show you our entry.
- Now hit the back button in your browser and type in "Headstart Programme" - again, our entry should appear amongst a list of others across the whole of the UK.
- The Google Maps engine will determine likely results based on the location you are viewing and the keywords you use. To demonstrate this, use the zoom controls on the map to show the area around Mansfield and then run a second search for "headstart programme". You'll notice, that the results show a number of listings with the keyword "programme" highlighted, but no mention of "Headstart" - and hopefully, ours would be top of the list because it matches both keywords we used in the search.
Top Tip - In addition to using keywords in your listing you can also add some images. Design your images to be appealing and also add a text layer, to enforce your keyword messages. Don't forget to use one for your business logo.
How to create a Google Maps Listing
You will need a Google Account to create a Google Maps Listing.
On the home page of Google Maps, click on the link (Highlighted above) "Put your business on Google Maps". This link will prompt you to sign in (Highlighted below) or (a little further down the screen) prompt you to create a Google Account.
When you sign in, opt to create a new listing and it will take you straight into a wizard. Complete the entries as fit and upload your photo's too.
Top Tip - Use the fix marker tool to position the marker on the exact location of your business.
Top Tip - Don't add your email address in the email field! Otherwise your email address will be picked up by bots on the Internet looking to capture email addresses and you'll end up with lots of nasty spam!
At the end of the process, opt for the confirmation by telephone option to verify your listing - its quick and simple to do. Google will call the telephone number you specified in your listing and ask you to confirm using a pin number.
When you listing becomes live, check that the details show as you wish them to, edit and make any necessary changes.
The most important step
Finally, the most important step of all - ask your customers to add reviews about your products and services. Good quality reviews will make your business maps listing really work for your business.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
How to subscribe to this Blog and to other RSS Feeds
Subscribing to this Blog and RSS Feed's is a simple process.
How you do it depends on two factors - 1 - The browser software you use and 2- The RSS Feed reader you use.
Modern browsers now detect when a web page has RSS Feed content. When the browser detects that there is an RSS Feed, it will usually show a highlighted orange icon in the browser.
Below is a summary of how to subscribe to feeds offered from three popular web browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Please note that you can click on any of the images below to make them larger.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer v7 - Below is a screen shot of Microsoft's Internet Explorer v7 - the orange circle highlights the RSS Feed icon. Simply click the RSS icon to subscribe to the feed.
A new screen will open showing the feed - Click the link on this screen to subscribe, confirm your subscription and a new link will appear prompting you to view your feed.
Firefox Browser shows a variation of the RSS Feed icon in the address bar (as shown below). Firefox is a very popular alternative to Internet Explorer and has a superb range of add on tools which prove invaluable.
When you click on the Firefox RSS Feed icon, a new window appears, offering you to subscribe to the feed by selecting your favourite RSS Feed software (Shown below).
Opera Browser is a little more sophisticated and provides inbuilt utilities for handling RSS Feeds (Icon for subscribing is shown below). Opera is also very lightweight, has some great utilities and takes just a minute to install.
When you click on the RSS Feed icon in Opera, Click "yes" to confirm your subscription to the feed and then Opera will take you to its own inbuilt RSS Feed Reader.
Opera's inbuilt RSS Feed reader -
It will auto-update subscribed feeds and show you a preview pane so you can read each feed article in turn without having to open multiple windows.
Subscribing to feeds puts you in control of what information you want to see and saves you time too.
If your are still unsure of how it all works, pop into Mansfield Hive and we'll be happy to give you a quick demo.
How you do it depends on two factors - 1 - The browser software you use and 2- The RSS Feed reader you use.
Modern browsers now detect when a web page has RSS Feed content. When the browser detects that there is an RSS Feed, it will usually show a highlighted orange icon in the browser.
Below is a summary of how to subscribe to feeds offered from three popular web browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Please note that you can click on any of the images below to make them larger.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer v7 - Below is a screen shot of Microsoft's Internet Explorer v7 - the orange circle highlights the RSS Feed icon. Simply click the RSS icon to subscribe to the feed.
A new screen will open showing the feed - Click the link on this screen to subscribe, confirm your subscription and a new link will appear prompting you to view your feed.
Firefox Browser shows a variation of the RSS Feed icon in the address bar (as shown below). Firefox is a very popular alternative to Internet Explorer and has a superb range of add on tools which prove invaluable.
When you click on the Firefox RSS Feed icon, a new window appears, offering you to subscribe to the feed by selecting your favourite RSS Feed software (Shown below).
Opera Browser is a little more sophisticated and provides inbuilt utilities for handling RSS Feeds (Icon for subscribing is shown below). Opera is also very lightweight, has some great utilities and takes just a minute to install.
When you click on the RSS Feed icon in Opera, Click "yes" to confirm your subscription to the feed and then Opera will take you to its own inbuilt RSS Feed Reader.
Opera's inbuilt RSS Feed reader -
It will auto-update subscribed feeds and show you a preview pane so you can read each feed article in turn without having to open multiple windows.
Subscribing to feeds puts you in control of what information you want to see and saves you time too.
If your are still unsure of how it all works, pop into Mansfield Hive and we'll be happy to give you a quick demo.
Friday, 25 April 2008
Hive "Creative" makes front page news
Hive "Creative" Ian Carter from Cohort 6 has many strings to his creative bow.
Not only is he masterful with a variety of languages and a consummate word smith, he has music and song writing skills and video editing too.
We reported on the Hive Blog a short while ago about the school video Ian made for his son's primary school, well now it's made front page news in the Derbyshire Times. Well done Ian. Free press and word of mouth publicity are certainly helping Ian move his business forward.
Naturally, his great language skills, music and song writing skills, video and software applications mastery puts his business into a very credible position to help other Hive Businesses to market themselves more effectively.
For more information about how Ian can help your business grow contact him direct by email.
Not only is he masterful with a variety of languages and a consummate word smith, he has music and song writing skills and video editing too.
We reported on the Hive Blog a short while ago about the school video Ian made for his son's primary school, well now it's made front page news in the Derbyshire Times. Well done Ian. Free press and word of mouth publicity are certainly helping Ian move his business forward.
Naturally, his great language skills, music and song writing skills, video and software applications mastery puts his business into a very credible position to help other Hive Businesses to market themselves more effectively.
For more information about how Ian can help your business grow contact him direct by email.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
RSS - What it is, How it works...
When Mike asked me to write an article on RSS Feeds, I got all excited and thought of all the wonderful techy, nerdy things I could write about!
But then, I had to consider my audience and the fact I was writing a blog and not a book!
Looking around the Internet, I found a really good article on creating an RSS Feed, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, I'll refer you to that. Wiki How
In addition to that article... go to the WIKI How homepage and enter RSS in the search box and you'll get a number of articles on using your favourite browsers with RSS feeds. Great stuff!
Mentoring & Support - If you have problems in understanding all this, come back to us and we'll show you how with a one to one mentoring session.
RSS is simple really - you configure a file or software that you embed into your website and your audience requests to read that information through RSS reader software. - You write - they request to read and thats all it is!
What is technically different about RSS compared to a web page, is that most web pages are written in HTML, whereas RSS feeds are written in XML. Ugh? Whats that mean? You may well ask! Well, HTML is a language used for presenting and formatting information and XML is a language for sharing information (usually through software applications).
So, away from the technicalities and back to the conceptual side of things; When you make the most of RSS you can feed information which is written once on your website and have it featured through multiple portals. Great!
Handle information once and publish it a thousand times over - Dynamically! That's what makes it a truly efficient and wondrous marketing tool!
Making the most of RSS in business marketing
Here's how I use RSS Feeds as a professional web developer (not just someone looking to read individual RSS articles about interesting things)... Let me show you an example that demonstrates how "sexy" RSS can be....
I own a number of websites (as you may well know). Each week, I get information added to my websites by registered users and I also add information myself. However, I don't always want to keep copying information from one site to another, so I make use of the function that RSS Feeds provide, to share information on the portals I have through the XML technology.
Here's the example...
I have four websites - Alfreton News, Alfreton Online , Alfreton Fellowship and Alfreton History (the latter is still in development).
If you look at each site in turn you (Do it now), will find an RSS feed link on each. Go through each site, find the link, click on it, read some of the info and familiarise yourself with some of the content.
Now... on the Alfreton History portal I have used a different approach to RSS, I have pulled the feeds through from the other three sites! Click here to see this happening.
So, from the viewpoint of just using RSS to read the information that you want to read, consider it from a marketing perspective of pushing information around the Internet to get more people to read and link to the sites that contain your "Messages" that form your Internet Marketing Strategy.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
But then, I had to consider my audience and the fact I was writing a blog and not a book!
Looking around the Internet, I found a really good article on creating an RSS Feed, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, I'll refer you to that. Wiki How
In addition to that article... go to the WIKI How homepage and enter RSS in the search box and you'll get a number of articles on using your favourite browsers with RSS feeds. Great stuff!
Mentoring & Support - If you have problems in understanding all this, come back to us and we'll show you how with a one to one mentoring session.
RSS is simple really - you configure a file or software that you embed into your website and your audience requests to read that information through RSS reader software. - You write - they request to read and thats all it is!
What is technically different about RSS compared to a web page, is that most web pages are written in HTML, whereas RSS feeds are written in XML. Ugh? Whats that mean? You may well ask! Well, HTML is a language used for presenting and formatting information and XML is a language for sharing information (usually through software applications).
So, away from the technicalities and back to the conceptual side of things; When you make the most of RSS you can feed information which is written once on your website and have it featured through multiple portals. Great!
Handle information once and publish it a thousand times over - Dynamically! That's what makes it a truly efficient and wondrous marketing tool!
Making the most of RSS in business marketing
Here's how I use RSS Feeds as a professional web developer (not just someone looking to read individual RSS articles about interesting things)... Let me show you an example that demonstrates how "sexy" RSS can be....
I own a number of websites (as you may well know). Each week, I get information added to my websites by registered users and I also add information myself. However, I don't always want to keep copying information from one site to another, so I make use of the function that RSS Feeds provide, to share information on the portals I have through the XML technology.
Here's the example...
I have four websites - Alfreton News, Alfreton Online , Alfreton Fellowship and Alfreton History (the latter is still in development).
If you look at each site in turn you (Do it now), will find an RSS feed link on each. Go through each site, find the link, click on it, read some of the info and familiarise yourself with some of the content.
Now... on the Alfreton History portal I have used a different approach to RSS, I have pulled the feeds through from the other three sites! Click here to see this happening.
So, from the viewpoint of just using RSS to read the information that you want to read, consider it from a marketing perspective of pushing information around the Internet to get more people to read and link to the sites that contain your "Messages" that form your Internet Marketing Strategy.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Women In Enterprise
Last week, David went up to Worksop to present our exhibition stand to the North Notts College Women In Enterprise exhibition and workshops organised by NBV. Time was limited for the attendees, but we did manage to get to speak to a handful of new start hopefuls who made enquiries about our ninth cohort which begins on Wednesday 7th May.
If anyone has referrals for the next cohort, please do pass on our details or refer them to apply online at mansfieldhive.ntu.ac.uk.
We have widened the scope of the course and now accept developing and emerging businesses onto the programme.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
If anyone has referrals for the next cohort, please do pass on our details or refer them to apply online at mansfieldhive.ntu.ac.uk.
We have widened the scope of the course and now accept developing and emerging businesses onto the programme.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog or if it's been useful to you - please leave a comment below.
What is your Strategy?
As a new start-up business your initial strategy is researching and obtaining the evidence that your idea will work and having an initial plan to start the business.
What next?
Well you will try to make your idea work in line with the business plan that you have spent the past few months developing - it must be correct - you've done all this research to prove it.
Well the proof is in the eating -or in your case can you get a regular stream of customers.
You will probably find out that this is easier said than done. The ones who said in your market research that your idea was brilliant and they will buy it, now make excuses and this is very depressing. What do you do?
Well the first thing is not to give in. But remember to listen - this is still market research. Try to identify new opportunities to get a sale. Do they want it in different form , at a later date, what else can you do to raise money?
It may well mean that you end up doing something completely different for period. This may lead to new opportunities - don't be concerned about this - your business plan is a changing document and this may well be the correct direction for you now.
The old adage that "If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" is very true. It just means that you have to experiment to find out where you actually have to start from to be a business success.
Another perspective is to re-look at where you want to be now that you have found a new starting point.
What strategy do you now have to have to achieve this?
Please ask us to help you with this - that's what you will pay your royalties for!
It may also be an opportune time to redo a SWOT on yourself and the business as it is now.
What are your strengths and weaknesses, your opportunities and external business threats.
You can develop this further by comparing these 4 with each other.
What next?
Well you will try to make your idea work in line with the business plan that you have spent the past few months developing - it must be correct - you've done all this research to prove it.
Well the proof is in the eating -or in your case can you get a regular stream of customers.
You will probably find out that this is easier said than done. The ones who said in your market research that your idea was brilliant and they will buy it, now make excuses and this is very depressing. What do you do?
Well the first thing is not to give in. But remember to listen - this is still market research. Try to identify new opportunities to get a sale. Do they want it in different form , at a later date, what else can you do to raise money?
It may well mean that you end up doing something completely different for period. This may lead to new opportunities - don't be concerned about this - your business plan is a changing document and this may well be the correct direction for you now.
The old adage that "If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" is very true. It just means that you have to experiment to find out where you actually have to start from to be a business success.
Another perspective is to re-look at where you want to be now that you have found a new starting point.
What strategy do you now have to have to achieve this?
Please ask us to help you with this - that's what you will pay your royalties for!
It may also be an opportune time to redo a SWOT on yourself and the business as it is now.
What are your strengths and weaknesses, your opportunities and external business threats.
You can develop this further by comparing these 4 with each other.
- match your Strengths with Opportunities - these are Real Opportunities
- Match Opportunities with Weaknesses - these are possible Opportunities if you can overcome your weaknesses
- Match Threats with Strengths - these are only potential Threats - build on your strengths to overcome them
- Look out for where you have Threats and are Weak in critical areas - what can you do about it?
Good luck and if you need help in developing a new strategy - ask
Michael
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Congratualtions to Cohort 8 for their hard effort in completing the programme.
Paul Beasley it starting ShreddyBed a horse bedding material made from shedded cardboard, Linda Wild is starting her graphic design business Wild Ideas,http://www.lindawildideas.co.uk/
Carol Jennings & Tony Porter are still finalising the design of their businesses but will be up and running in a month or two. Rita Bridina will be enrolling onto a physiotherapy course to get her qualifications. In the meantime she is studying all forms of massage and will soon be able to de-stress you - more details to follow.
Mark Palfreyman has started developing a website where you will be able to buy your favorite gadgets http://www.ecogadgetonline.co.uk/
Liz Askew is still working on the design of her buisiness and looking for funding- watch this space for more details
Congratulations also to Ian Carter of Cohort 6. He has written, recorded, played, shot, edited and everything else - a video of a song for his son's school http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gEgGYc69ja0 You can see him in action as a barn dance caller at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vruy4OQUh4w and second, calling with a three-piece band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5fwwejvvzE. If you think that Ian can help you promote your business with a video, song, music or podcast, contact him at iancarter50@gmail.com
Cohort 9 starts in a few weeks, if you know anyone who may be interested, ask them to call Michael on 01623 600829 or apply through the website, http://www.mansfieldhive.ntu.ac.uk/
Finally we are looking for funding for our continuation. It would help if participants could add their reviews of the programme in our Google Maps pages - http://maps.google.co.uk/ - Search for "Mansfield Hive" - Click on "Reviews" and "Write a Review" - Thanks - all testimonials gratefully receive to support any funding bid.
Bye for now - Michael mansfieldhive@ntu.ac.uk
Paul Beasley it starting ShreddyBed a horse bedding material made from shedded cardboard, Linda Wild is starting her graphic design business Wild Ideas,http://www.lindawildideas.co.uk/
Carol Jennings & Tony Porter are still finalising the design of their businesses but will be up and running in a month or two. Rita Bridina will be enrolling onto a physiotherapy course to get her qualifications. In the meantime she is studying all forms of massage and will soon be able to de-stress you - more details to follow.
Mark Palfreyman has started developing a website where you will be able to buy your favorite gadgets http://www.ecogadgetonline.co.uk/
Liz Askew is still working on the design of her buisiness and looking for funding- watch this space for more details
Congratulations also to Ian Carter of Cohort 6. He has written, recorded, played, shot, edited and everything else - a video of a song for his son's school http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gEgGYc69ja0 You can see him in action as a barn dance caller at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vruy4OQUh4w and second, calling with a three-piece band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5fwwejvvzE. If you think that Ian can help you promote your business with a video, song, music or podcast, contact him at iancarter50@gmail.com
Cohort 9 starts in a few weeks, if you know anyone who may be interested, ask them to call Michael on 01623 600829 or apply through the website, http://www.mansfieldhive.ntu.ac.uk/
Finally we are looking for funding for our continuation. It would help if participants could add their reviews of the programme in our Google Maps pages - http://maps.google.co.uk/ - Search for "Mansfield Hive" - Click on "Reviews" and "Write a Review" - Thanks - all testimonials gratefully receive to support any funding bid.
Bye for now - Michael mansfieldhive@ntu.ac.uk
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