All posts in Web Thoughts

Come see our latest creation…

by Simon Lilly on January 26, 2010 in Web Thoughts with No comments

Apple - Come see our latest creation...

Apple are the undoubted masters of the top-secret launch event. Their next unveiling is set for Wednesday 27th January at an Arts Centre in San Francisco. The web seems to have been whipped up into quite a frenzy for whatever Mr Jobs and Co. are going to announce and if it has as much impact as the iPhone has had then the speculation will turn into something that creates even more digital marketing opportunities.

Tune into the biggest live blogging event of 2010 (okay it’s the first too) at your chosen tech blog of choice from 6pm GMT…

Engadget | Gizmodo | TWiT

Friday Five – Free Edition

by Simon Lilly on July 10, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

I’m currently reading Chris Anderson’s new book Free (Buy on Amazon or read online for free @ Scribd) and this has inspired today’s blog post. I’ve highlighted five sites/blogs that offer you something (pretty useful) for nothing!

  1. Creative Commons Imagery via Google Search – This has only just gone live, but Google image search now allows you to search for images that you can use on your site, with your blog posts, etc for free (just don’t forget the credit).
  2. User Testing @ fivesecondtest.com – For free? Well it’s not a massively comprehensive solution, but if you want to check if a design is conveying the key brand messages, this online service might be perfect. Simply upload a concept design and people then have 5 seconds to look at the design and feedback to you what stood out.
  3. Wireframe Tool – The Pencil Project is a great browser-based sketching an GUI creation tool that works inside of Firefox. One simple download and away you go…
  4. Twitter’s taken over the online world, which is probably a good thing. Grab this free Twitter Icon Set made available by the ever-excellent Smashing Magazine.
  5. WordPress templates are easy to find, but quality ones that work with the latest versions 2.7+ are not so easy.  Here are 15 high quality, but still free templates that Noupe have pulled together.

Would love to hear any great resources any of you have found for free recently in the comments?

Friday Five – Michael Jackson Edition 03/07/2009

by Simon Lilly on July 3, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

The sad passing of music legend Michael Jackson saw some very interesting online impacts from traffic surges on social media sites, through to chart topping sales of digital downloads. As the dust begins to settle a number of sites have looked at the impact it had online:

  • Social media gurus FreshNetworks look at the rise of Flash Mobs to celebrate the life and music of MJ. Some great YouTube clips on there.

  • Times Online highlights the power of Twitter for real-time news (Every article like this must make Google cringe).

  • Twitter and Facebook had massive usage increases as the news spread, the Tech Blog at the LA Times looks at the numbers.

  • The LA Times looks back at how gossip website TMZ stole the limelight from TV news channels all over the world.

  • TechCrunch reports that the web as a whole struggled to deliver information as everyone rushed online to get the news.

The Future of Digital Marketing 2009

by Simon Lilly on June 18, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

Updated (19/06): Included a new blog #FODM event summary below…

Unfortunately my experience of the event was a very distant one, but I caught occasional tweets from various people attending The Future of Digital Marketing event organised by the excellent Econsultancy. There were some real gems of wisdom in there, below I’ve picked out the 10 best:

  1. Social media is about engagement. Use to engage, not direct sales (via @econsultancy)
  2. Twitter and its like will be a greater source of consumer traffic than paid search by 2012 (via @tanyagoodin)
  3. Twitter’s not going to be around forever, Twitter shows the limits of current technology (via @econsultancy)
  4. Telling me my own name after asking me what it is does not count as personalisation (via @econsultancy)
  5. Google sending Adwords vouchers because they’re scared of social networks pulling eyes away from search (via @aizlewood)
  6. Social networks represent the most significant consumer marketing opportunity since Google (via @tanyagoodin)
  7. Social media is the result of social change, not a technology revolution (via @econsultancy)
  8. 65% of users say online compliments the shopping they do in-store…(via @ZiaZ)
  9. Twitter is about brand exposure, sharing content, engagement, not SEO, or link building (via @econsultancy)
  10. Retailers looking to integrate online & store: don’t lose customers because they don’t want to buy online (via @econsultancy)

Only one blog summary is online so far, but I’ll add more links as more appear:

There was even some interesting digital marketing intelligence shared:

  • BBC have 110 newsletters delivering 360m emails each year (30 m per month) (via @juliansambles)
  • Approximate Twitter numbers: 6m users, $250M valuation, and yes, u can make money (Dell – $3m to date)
  • 98% of high net worth individuals are buying online. 35% of Britons are spending more online. (via @econsultancy)
http://twitter.com/Aizlewood~

iPhone 3GS Launch and Twitter

by Simon Lilly on June 9, 2009 in E-Commerce, Social Media, Web Thoughts with No comments

After following a couple of liveblogs reporting on the Apple WWDC last night and the launch of the new iPhone 3G S I turned to the retailers websites to find out how to get hold of one. Neither the O2 or Carphone Warehouse website had been updated to reflect the announcement. For neither site to even have a holding page or even basic information for about 3 hours after the announcement surely was a missed opportunity. It may well be the lock down that Apple puts on the information it announces at these conferences, but the time delay still was pretty bad.

So in my time of I need I turned to the ever-reliable Google for the latest information and it was after a number of searches that the weakness of Google for breaking news was exposed. Saving the day came Twitter! Yes there was alot of noise on there from people, like me, despairing over the lack of information available, but eventually the O2 and Carphone Warehouse twitter streams started to post information. O2 broke first with estimated pricing, but then around 9pm left a message saying they were finished for the day. Carphone Warehouse then picked up and exceeded O2′s early strong position with Twitter user ‘@guyatcarphone‘ posting useful links and responding to peoples enquiries.

Around 11pm the retailers websites kicked into life with the bare essential information, tariffs appeared on O2′s site, then Carphone Warehouse again outdid them with a simple, but effective iPhone 3G S pre-registration system.

All in all, an interesting launch to follow online and Carphone Warehouse clearly went the extra mile in providing the personal touch for the UK early adopters amongst us.

Laptop Bags: Simon Lilly Edition

by Simon Lilly on May 22, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments
Belkin Laptop Messenger Case

One of my favourite sites – Lifehacker – has started to do a feature on what’s in people’s laptop bags, quite a nice idea, so here what’s been in mine today:

So this Belkin Laptop Messenger Case is my selected laptop enclosure. It’s got an internal removable laptop sleeve, loads of internal storage and good number of zipped external storage points. It’s really light weight, but robust enough to take an occasional battering!

The VIP Passenger

My Dell Latitude D830 has served me well for the past 20 months. Nicely described as a 15.4″ business notebook, it’s slowly become a desktop replacement and isn’t really ideal for people who are always on the move.

My favourite feature is the quality of the build and especially the keyboard which is a pleasure to use. The least likeable feature is the overall bulk of this laptop, especially when compared to a netbook.

The Cables

  • AC Adaptor for the Dell laptop
  • Apple iPod headphones

The Data Carriers

A single 4GB SanDisk Cruzer is all I had today, but various size variations of that brand and drive can often be found in my laptop bag.

The Analog Stowaways

  • A4 Ruled & Margin 100 Page Recycled Paper Notebook
  • 2 x Biros and 1 x Pencil
  • 10 Business Cards

In Ear Entertainment

I love to take my first generation iPod Nano out and about with me. It’s only got 2gb of storage and it’s been around the blocks a few times, but the battery retains charge well and it holds the perfect about of music & podcasts.

Other Misc Technology

  • Three 3G USB dongle – great for getting online on the move.
  • Logitech MX Revolution laser mouse
  • LG Viewty mobile phone (soon to be replaced by the next gen iPhone?)

Reading Materials

Friday Focus: Facebook Pages

by Simon Lilly on April 24, 2009 in Social Media, Web Thoughts with No comments

If you are involved with a brand, business, band or think you’re in a line of business where you might have ‘fans’ then setting up a page on Facebook can be a very rewarding adventure. As a first step into social media it’s potentially a great way to develop an online community, but don’t assume that if you build it they will come. Once the Page is ready to go live you will need to use your full armoury of marketing channels to put up signposts to your fantastically polished Page.

Please also be aware that developing content and keeping on top of your fans questions and queries can become a full-time job, build in management and review time in your work schedule. There are some great resources below that make essential reading before you click the ‘Publish’ button…

Facebook’s very own guide – giving you background information, how to prepare and a step-by-step guide.

A handy 10 page Facebook Pages PDF (updated March 2009) also from the Facebook team that gives you an extra level of information, from Page publishing through to looking at user statistics.

Following Facebook’s recent overhaul Mashable pulled together a superb Guide for Social Media Marketers – highlighting the opportunities and challenges of setting up your first Facebook Page.

Mashable is a superb social media resource and their 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page post really supported that position.

If you are seeking inspiration Peter Kim setup a very useful Wiki packed full of social media examples. Sort by type, find Facebook Pages and there are some good examples there.

Probably the best way of researching is to dive into Facebook itself and search for brands, most of the big boys have pages, with varying examples of how to and how not to setup a Fan Page on Facebook – Skittles, Maltesers and Innocent all offer good, simple examples.

Friday Four 10/04/2009

by Simon Lilly on April 10, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

A bit of a mobile/hardware theme this week…

  • TechCrunch give us an update on the ‘CrunchPad‘, this large, slim iPod Touch-like device could be a very nice portable netbook rival.
  • 12 top tips for starting down the road on iPhone Development on SitePoint.
  • MacRumours suggest that 4 million new iPhones have been ordered by Apple
  • Engadget sneaked out some early shots of what is rumoured to be the Zune HD.

Friday Five 03/04/09

by Simon Lilly on April 3, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

Seth’s back in my Friday Five, along with regular Twitter, a useful quick image sharing app and some advice for anyone creating a mobile website…

Sunday Seven 29/03/09

by Simon Lilly on March 29, 2009 in Web Thoughts with No comments

As I missed my self-imposed Friday deadline, I’ve upped the number of featured articles to seven from the usual five.

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