Welcome to Striding Out! http://www.stridingout.co.uk/ 2013-05-24T06:07:09Z Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management Digital Marketing – Getting Your Website Right 2010-07-21T09:14:52Z 2010-07-21T09:14:52Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/digital-marketing-getting-your-website-right.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p />The idea behind Marketing is giving the customer what they want.  A product has to have a want and a need value in order for it to be purchased.  Marketing is about creating interest in your organisation and the products/services you have to offer.<br /><br />There are a few simple reasons behind why people buy products;- <p />The idea behind Marketing is giving the customer what they want.  A product has to have a want and a need value in order for it to be purchased.  Marketing is about creating interest in your organisation and the products/services you have to offer.<br /><br />There are a few simple reasons behind why people buy products;- Digital Marketing – Getting Your Website Right 2010-07-19T16:21:36Z 2010-07-19T16:21:36Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/digital-marketing-getting-your-website-right.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">The idea behind Marketing is giving the customer what they want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A product has to have a want and a need value in order for it to be purchased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Marketing is about creating interest in your organisation and the products/services you have to offer.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;" />There are a few simple reasons behind why people buy products;- <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">The idea behind Marketing is giving the customer what they want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A product has to have a want and a need value in order for it to be purchased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Marketing is about creating interest in your organisation and the products/services you have to offer.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;" />There are a few simple reasons behind why people buy products;- The Internet is Your Partner – Enrich Your Business’ Life 2010-06-01T10:56:01Z 2010-06-01T10:56:01Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/the-internet-is-your-partner-enrich-your-business-life.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <div>Think about the partnerships you&rsquo;ve got in your life right now. You may have thought about your romantic partner, your workout buddy, your &lsquo;partner-in-crime&rsquo; best friend or your business partner. We form these relationships because they give us something we don&rsquo;t have alone. They provide us with something that makes us more committed, effective, powerful or successful because of it. Through the partnerships we create, our lives become more enriched.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before you commit to any kind of partnership whether in your personal or professional life, you want to know what the other party has to offer and how this will benefit you or your business. Creating a partnership with the internet is really no different in this sense. Let&rsquo;s explore how creating a partnership with the internet could enrich your business&rsquo; life.</div> <div>Think about the partnerships you&rsquo;ve got in your life right now. You may have thought about your romantic partner, your workout buddy, your &lsquo;partner-in-crime&rsquo; best friend or your business partner. We form these relationships because they give us something we don&rsquo;t have alone. They provide us with something that makes us more committed, effective, powerful or successful because of it. Through the partnerships we create, our lives become more enriched.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before you commit to any kind of partnership whether in your personal or professional life, you want to know what the other party has to offer and how this will benefit you or your business. Creating a partnership with the internet is really no different in this sense. Let&rsquo;s explore how creating a partnership with the internet could enrich your business&rsquo; life.</div> Print V Online Media. Who Wins? 2010-04-19T11:27:16Z 2010-04-19T11:27:16Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/print-v-online-media.-who-wins.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <div>The internet is slowly taking over today&rsquo;s society. &nbsp;We have become immersed in a bubble of technology. &nbsp;Why buy print media when nowadays you can have current news constantly updated on the go. &nbsp;The Guardian has recently launched an App for IPhone, and Sky News and CNN are also available for the public to read. &nbsp;So, in the battle of print v online, which is more successful?</div> <div>The internet is slowly taking over today&rsquo;s society. &nbsp;We have become immersed in a bubble of technology. &nbsp;Why buy print media when nowadays you can have current news constantly updated on the go. &nbsp;The Guardian has recently launched an App for IPhone, and Sky News and CNN are also available for the public to read. &nbsp;So, in the battle of print v online, which is more successful?</div> Boost your Online Status and Network 2009-11-08T21:04:27Z 2009-11-08T21:04:27Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/boost-your-online-status-and-network.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> <span>It's important to&nbsp;raise your profile&nbsp;online to attract new clients, partners and team members. </span> </p> <p> <span>Social networking using <a href="http://press.linkedin.com/about" target="_blank" title="LINKED IN">Linked In</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/about" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a><span> can be a pivotal strategy for boosting your professional status and network. </span></span> </p> <p> <span></span> </p> <p> <span>Because of the recent massive influx of users <b>Linked In</b> provides a potentially extensive network for showcasing your work achievements. It has an estimated 35 million registered users worldwide of which more than 2 million are based in the UK. This figure is growing at around 5% per month as more candidates find themselves on the market.</span> </p> <p> <span><b>Twitte</b>r is fast becoming one of the most talked about social networks available on the net. It has huge potential for marketing; and is without doubt an essential resource for all types of&nbsp;professional in all sectors. Those using it astutely realise that it is quickly becoming a major addition to the likes of Linked In as a must-have in the modern day successful marketing strategy. </span> </p> <p> <span></span> </p> <p> <span><b>So how can you make the most of social networking?</b></span> </p> <p> <span>It's important to&nbsp;raise your profile&nbsp;online to attract new clients, partners and team members. </span> </p> <p> <span>Social networking using <a href="http://press.linkedin.com/about" target="_blank" title="LINKED IN">Linked In</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/about" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a><span> can be a pivotal strategy for boosting your professional status and network. </span></span> </p> <p> <span></span> </p> <p> <span>Because of the recent massive influx of users <b>Linked In</b> provides a potentially extensive network for showcasing your work achievements. It has an estimated 35 million registered users worldwide of which more than 2 million are based in the UK. This figure is growing at around 5% per month as more candidates find themselves on the market.</span> </p> <p> <span><b>Twitte</b>r is fast becoming one of the most talked about social networks available on the net. It has huge potential for marketing; and is without doubt an essential resource for all types of&nbsp;professional in all sectors. Those using it astutely realise that it is quickly becoming a major addition to the likes of Linked In as a must-have in the modern day successful marketing strategy. </span> </p> <p> <span></span> </p> <p> <span><b>So how can you make the most of social networking?</b></span> </p> Trends in E-Commerce 2009-10-11T10:42:19Z 2009-10-11T10:42:19Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/trends-in-e-commerce.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> <span lang="EN-US">E-Commerce is &ldquo;the </span>buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks&rdquo; </p> <o:p></o:p>E-Commerce involves:<o:p></o:p> <ul> <li> <div> E-tailing<o:p></o:p> </div> </li> <li> <div> E-marketing<o:p></o:p> </div> </li> <li> <div> E-business transaction </div> </li> </ul> <h4><span lang="EN-US">The growing importance of e-commerce for business&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></h4> <ul> <li> <div> <span lang="EN-US">Currently there are 1,668,870,408 internet users in the world (1.67 billion; total world population 6.9 billion) (</span><a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm" target="_self"><span lang="EN-US">Internet World Stats</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><span lang="EN-US">US e</span></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US">-commerce sales in 2008 approx $204billion (</span><a href="http://www.shop.org/c/journal_articles/view_article_content?groupId=1&amp;articleId=702&amp;version=1.0" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Forrester State of Retailing Online 2008</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN-US">UK</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US"> e-commerce sales in 2008 approx &pound;59billion&nbsp; (</span><a href="http://www.usa.xorte.com/0,4,UK-E-commerce-Sales-Will-Reach-pound-59-8-Billion-In-2008,6629.html" target="_self"><span lang="EN-US">Xorte</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)</span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US">UK B2C e-commerce growing 17% in 2009&nbsp;&nbsp;(</span><a href="http://www.prlog.org/10368783-uk-ecommerce-to-grow-by-17-in-2009-says-new-report.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Global B2C Ecommerce Report</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Top 500 retailers posted 2008 growth of 20.7% in e-commerce<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Web-only channels are fastest growing e-commerce channels<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Recession not unduly affecting e-commerce growth </div> </li> </ul> <h4>Why the change in customer behaviour? </h4> <h4><o:p> <p> <span lang="EN-US">E-Commerce is &ldquo;the </span>buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks&rdquo; </p> <o:p></o:p>E-Commerce involves:<o:p></o:p> <ul> <li> <div> E-tailing<o:p></o:p> </div> </li> <li> <div> E-marketing<o:p></o:p> </div> </li> <li> <div> E-business transaction </div> </li> </ul> <h4><span lang="EN-US">The growing importance of e-commerce for business&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></h4> <ul> <li> <div> <span lang="EN-US">Currently there are 1,668,870,408 internet users in the world (1.67 billion; total world population 6.9 billion) (</span><a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm" target="_self"><span lang="EN-US">Internet World Stats</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><span lang="EN-US">US e</span></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US">-commerce sales in 2008 approx $204billion (</span><a href="http://www.shop.org/c/journal_articles/view_article_content?groupId=1&amp;articleId=702&amp;version=1.0" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Forrester State of Retailing Online 2008</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN-US">UK</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US"> e-commerce sales in 2008 approx &pound;59billion&nbsp; (</span><a href="http://www.usa.xorte.com/0,4,UK-E-commerce-Sales-Will-Reach-pound-59-8-Billion-In-2008,6629.html" target="_self"><span lang="EN-US">Xorte</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)</span> </div> </li> <li> <div> <span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US">UK B2C e-commerce growing 17% in 2009&nbsp;&nbsp;(</span><a href="http://www.prlog.org/10368783-uk-ecommerce-to-grow-by-17-in-2009-says-new-report.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Global B2C Ecommerce Report</span></a><span lang="EN-US">)<o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Top 500 retailers posted 2008 growth of 20.7% in e-commerce<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Web-only channels are fastest growing e-commerce channels<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span> </div> </li> <li> <div> Recession not unduly affecting e-commerce growth </div> </li> </ul> <h4>Why the change in customer behaviour? </h4> <h4><o:p> Planning a Social Media Strategy 2009-06-21T21:49:53Z 2009-06-21T21:49:53Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/planning-a-social-media-strategy.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> <span></span> </p> <p> Planning a Social Media Strategy&nbsp;by social media expert, <a href="http://www.joannejacobs.net" target="_blank">Joanne Jacobs</a> <img src="http://www.stridingout.co.uk/images/stories/profile_pics/joanne_jacobs.jpg" alt="joanne_jacobs.jpg" style="margin: 5px; float: right; width: 124px; height: 168px" title="joanne_jacobs.jpg" height="168" width="124" /> </p> <p> When the financial services sector make public claims about their intentions to mobilise social media to improve their service offering, you know that social media is no longer a mere fad.&nbsp; On closer inspection, the actual tasks for which the sector plan to use social media are for cheaper, more direct customer service and monitoring of investments and competitors in the market, so the actual deployment of social media is not terribly innovative, yet it is decidedly effective for their purposes.&nbsp; But what's crucial about this kind of public announcement is that it indicates the maturity of social media as a measurement tool for real-time changes in the marketplace, affecting stock prices, public reputation and customer loyalty.&nbsp; </p> <p> Of course the problem with the strategies being presented by many organisations adopting social media is that they assume </p> <p> <span></span> </p> <p> Planning a Social Media Strategy&nbsp;by social media expert, <a href="http://www.joannejacobs.net" target="_blank">Joanne Jacobs</a> <img src="http://www.stridingout.co.uk/images/stories/profile_pics/joanne_jacobs.jpg" alt="joanne_jacobs.jpg" style="margin: 5px; float: right; width: 124px; height: 168px" title="joanne_jacobs.jpg" height="168" width="124" /> </p> <p> When the financial services sector make public claims about their intentions to mobilise social media to improve their service offering, you know that social media is no longer a mere fad.&nbsp; On closer inspection, the actual tasks for which the sector plan to use social media are for cheaper, more direct customer service and monitoring of investments and competitors in the market, so the actual deployment of social media is not terribly innovative, yet it is decidedly effective for their purposes.&nbsp; But what's crucial about this kind of public announcement is that it indicates the maturity of social media as a measurement tool for real-time changes in the marketplace, affecting stock prices, public reputation and customer loyalty.&nbsp; </p> <p> Of course the problem with the strategies being presented by many organisations adopting social media is that they assume </p> How do I get incoming links to my site? 2009-03-15T21:04:22Z 2009-03-15T21:04:22Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/how-do-i-get-incoming-links-to-my-site.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> This is a question on many site owner's minds, it only takes a few minutes to read up that search engines (in particular Google) regard inbound links as an essential factor when it comes to increasing those all important rankings. The tricky part is actually gaining them so here are a few tips.... </p> <p> This is a question on many site owner's minds, it only takes a few minutes to read up that search engines (in particular Google) regard inbound links as an essential factor when it comes to increasing those all important rankings. The tricky part is actually gaining them so here are a few tips.... </p> Top Tips for Search Engine Friendly Web Design 2009-03-15T21:00:35Z 2009-03-15T21:00:35Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/top-tips-for-search-engine-friendly-web-design.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> Good SEO starts with a well built site. A site which looks the part might not necessarily be the part. Search Engines want to be able to get to the bits of content which mean something as quickly and easily as possible. the cleaner your code is the better! </p> <p> Good SEO starts with a well built site. A site which looks the part might not necessarily be the part. Search Engines want to be able to get to the bits of content which mean something as quickly and easily as possible. the cleaner your code is the better! </p> Is your website visible to the search engines? 2009-03-15T20:50:42Z 2009-03-15T20:50:42Z http://www.stridingout.co.uk/online-marketing/is-your-website-visible-to-the-search-engines.html Heather Wilkinson [email protected] <p> If you aren't receiving the level of search traffic you would like, here's a very easy test that you can conduct to find out how your site is viewed by the search engines. It'll take less than five minutes to conduct and could shed-light on some issues that would otherwise be invisible to you. </p> <p> An important part of search engine optimisation is site optimisation - ensuring that the content on your website is presented in the right way for both your users and any visiting search engines. </p> <p> If you aren't receiving the level of search traffic you would like, here's a very easy test that you can conduct to find out how your site is viewed by the search engines. It'll take less than five minutes to conduct and could shed-light on some issues that would otherwise be invisible to you. </p> <p> An important part of search engine optimisation is site optimisation - ensuring that the content on your website is presented in the right way for both your users and any visiting search engines. </p>