Some of you may have seen the recent news about the latest Government plan to phase out the cheque as a method of payment by 2018.  The Treasury Select Committee are looking into it apparently.  Living in the online world as I do, I should be applauding this as a natural step in the right direction, but I’ve got reservations.

While it would be far easier for everyone to go completely down the plastic route, there is always something nicer about actually receiving a cheque in the post, whether it’s a gift for a birthday or the deposit for the greatest website development project ever.  Yes, you have to go out in the rain to pay it in.  Yes, people forget to sign them.  Yes, they can fall down the back of drawers and be picked up with other papers.  All the same, there is something tangible about a cheque that I like.  The issuer has taken the time to write the cheque, in words and numbers, usually in ink, and always with a signature.  The act of completion requires accuracy and an eye for detail, and a pen that won’t run out halfway through.

Indeed, cheques have been part of our society for over 350 years.  They are an institution within the banking institution, and represent something good about paying for a service that one truly values and believes in, enough to take the time to write the cheque in the first place.  I can recall crossing cheques manually rather than having the crosses printed on them (there might still be this option but I haven’t seen it done manually for a long time) and some of our readers won’t know what this means.  After 2018 some of our readers may not know what cheques are at all.

As I said, I should be applauding this review but I’m not, which is ironic as building ecommerce systems forms a large part of our work, for a variety of clients selling a variety of products to a variety of customers.  Indeed, our systems process millions of pounds worth of transactions every day, with not a single cheque to be seen.  Even so, I still think that cheques have their place, certainly until the banks stop charging businesses for card transactions on a percentage basis anyway.

Capreolus

As many of our readers will know there is one consistent theme with all our clients – they are successful, dynamic businesses who are all slightly different in some way.  Regardless of the size of the business, or the sector that they trade within, the clients we work with are all companies who want to achieve that much more, who go that little bit further for their customers, and who provide the highest quality of product with exceptional customer service.  They also demand the same of their suppliers, which is why they work with us.

One such client is possibly one of the smaller clients with whom we are working with at the moment, namely Capreolus Fine Foods, who are quite probably the finest smokehouse in the UK.  Based in a rural location in the South West, they take great pride in producing some incredible smoked meats including their speciality smoked venison with a secret blend of herbs and spices making the flavour of the meat a uniquely delightful experience.

Indeed, so successful have they been in providing their quality smoked meats to a regional market, that they’ve decided to expand nationally, and with this in mind we’re currently building an ecommerce website worthy of the quality of their food (and believe me their food is absolutely superb), and the new site is due to launch next month.

Alternatively, if you can’t wait, give them a ring on 01794 390493 or alternatively they’ll be at the Cotehele Spring Fair on the 6th and 7th March.  They’ll be delighted to hear from you.

William Turner Master Cutlers

In 1887 the country celebrated Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, 50 years as Queen. One in four of the world’s population was a subject of the crown. William Gladstone was a prominent politician when William Turner started a business in Sheffield smelting and refining gold and silver. The company quickly expanded into rolling other metals and manufacturing cutlery. The majority of the company’s early production was supplied to other cutlers for finishing and sale under their own name.  In essence, William Turner was the “cutlers’ cutler”.

William Turner have been clients of ours for over five years, and we are very proud to have developed a new e-commerce website that both reflects the quality of the products but also the prestige of the brand.  We worked with our clients to ensure that the site was simple to use, highly secure and visually striking but also encouraged interaction, be that using product zooms, newsletter sign ups, brochure requests, wedding list creations.

Nothing can really replace the sense of quality you feel when physically holding beautiful silver cutlery in your hand and so to ensure that the products were displayed in the best possible light on the website, we worked with David Griffen to produce the product image gallery.  Having new and high quality product images, allowed us to integrate a zoom facility that enables you to se the tiniest detail in the each design.

Two weeks after launching the website and beginning the marketing campaign our client had an enquiry from a certain High Commission in London….

From stunning sterling silver cutlery sets to less extravagant stainless steel cutlery, and on to storage cabinets, beautiful silver napkin rings, it’s a site worth visiting.  Why not sign up for their exclusive offers! Rumor has it there’s a fantastic offer around the corner!

There’s been a lot of controversy in the News recently surrounding Microsoft’s legacy browser, the infamous Internet Explorer 6.  Many of you will no-doubt remember the days when Windows XP was released and IE6 became the stable browser of choice, fending off such rivals as Netscape.  But those days seem far off now and many haven’t upgraded to the newer versions of the browser.  Now unlike upgrading to the latest model of your prized automobile which has the same method of putting in fuel as the models five years prior to it and require the same techniques to drive, the variations in browser versions are drastically different.

This wouldn’t cause such a problem if it weren’t for the fact that each version of IE displays a webpage differently.  And IE displays a page in a different way to Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc. This means that web agencies are constantly having to build sites that function and display identically across all the browsers and versions.  However due to many of the developments on web technologies and web agencies themselves developing their techniques, creating smooth user experiences and a tightening of secruity methods, the old browsers are causing everyone a bit of a headache.

The BBC has already reported that France and Germany are convincing internet users to move away from IE6 in favour of the newest version or a different browser all together (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8465038.stm).  Google too have announced that they will cease support, and movements in both the US and UK are suggesting similar action.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8492862.stm)  More governments and large corporations are predicted to follow suit, so does this mean that we can finally abandon support for IE6?

While Microsoft have defended their product, claiming that they will continue to support IE6 until 2014, the vast majority of the web community are arguing that it is holding back the development of the web and that until we stop supporting it and move on, it is going to linger like Friday’s curry on a Monday morning!

Now enough of all this serious talk, for a light-hearted look at the rise and fall of IE6, Smashing Magazine have put together a quirky little comic for your viewing pleasure: (http://media.smashingmagazine.com/cdn_smash/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IE6_final.jpg).

Steve Hanson

Steve Hanson has been part of the Slightly Different crew for long enough to know that if we ask him to dress as a bumble bee for the front cover of our March newsletter to smile and say yes!  Steve heads up our online marketing team and is by admission a true nerd when it comes to online tools.  Steve’s expertise in online marketing is often referred to as a black art! I thought I’d drag him away from his PC for a few tweets to find out more..

At this point its worth mentioning that Steve is not from around these parts.  No he’s not local.. he’s from abroad in Huddersfield, which apparently is a town in the Frozen North.  Any of this conversation I felt required translation has been done for your comfort and understanding.

Me:  Hi Steve, great Bee outfit! Obviously you were happy about that, as I could tell by your smile!

Steve:  I loved it.  It wasn’t easy to find a bee costume that actually fitted, good job I’m only small.

Me:   So, I see you pretty much every day but for the sake of our readers who are you and what is it you do?

Steve:  Well, in a nutshell, I make sure that our clients site’s get found. But the role is much more collaborative  than the standard online marketing approach.  I get involved right at the start when a design is first being discussed.  I sit down with the design guys and we brainstorm some ideas, discuss calls to action and how we see things working, both from a users point of view and from the clients.  From an online marketing perspective, it is my job to make sure the site is fully optimised for search, carry out link building and social media marketing.  Basically, all the bits and bobs that mean our sites get found for the right words when people are searching.  Really though, it’s about results, traffic isn’t enough, I want that traffiic to convert.

Me:  joking aside, do you think that Google Buzz will outshine Twitter and Facebook then? Or is this just another box Goolge can tick as done?

Steve:   To be quite honest, I’m not sure just how successful it will be.  Their previous social networking outings haven’t been earth shatteringly successful.  It does smack a bit of Google trying to get in on the act, and it would appear they are just trying to leverage their existing customer base, but to what end remains to be seen.  Interesting that a Google spokeperson recently said they are going to be ‘all about mobile’ which suggest this may be just one of the many pies they have their fingers in and their main focus, especially for revenue generation, will continue to be ads, be it online or on mobile.

Me:  It seems that the constant stream of new tools and changes in the way search engines work are pretty fast paced, how does this affect what you do for clients on a day to day basis?

Steve:    It can be a bit of a nightmare!  There are a lot of things that will always be the same, such as link building, it’s just the way we go about it that changes.  Social Media has changed the landscape a lot.  What concerns me the most are all the new ‘social media experts’ who have sprung up, shouting about how everyone must twitter and twitter now!  Personally, I see social media as a tool which has it’s uses, but also has it’s limitations.  When you’ve been around the web as long as I have, you learn to be a bit more pragmatic.  What is new and shiny right now, may be dead in the water next year.  Take a look at FriendsReunited or even MySpace for a couple of over valued sites which are declining rapidly.

The hardest thing about my job is search engines constantly changing the way they display results.  Google has rolled out personalised search results which means that no two people wills see the same thing.  Makes it kind of hard to maintain a high search engine position when you don’t know what everyone else will be seeing!  It means that I have to be very proactive and adapt existing techniques to an ever changing landscape.  The bonus is that you never get chance to be bored by it, as there is always a fresh challenge out there.

Me: Sounds like a constant challenge then.. so tell us more about you Steve, who’s the man behind the black and gold stripes?

Steve:  Well, after I retired from being an international spy, I got into web stuff by accident.  A training company I worked for put me on a web design course so that I could then build their site.  This was back in the early 90s, and it was all done in text pads and uploaded via a DOS prompt.  Although I was technically OK, I didn’t have the design skill needed to cut it as a pro.  I got into the marketing side after reading a book about permission marketing by Seth Godin.  I was always interested in marketing as a career, and web marketing seemed to be a growth area, so seemed ideal.  I then worked as a consultant in this area before starting for Slightly Different.  I’ll always remember the day I got the phone call about whether I would be willing to move to Cornwall.  I turned to my partner Sarah who was with me at the time and asked her, she nodded so fast her head almost fell off!  Within months Sarah, our hairy son/dog Dexter and I made the move for good.  It’s great to live in Cornwall, although I didn’t expect this much rain.

Me:  The more rain we get the better the pasties taste Steve! Come on then, what’s the best bit about your job?

Steve:    That’s a tough one as there any many ‘best bits’.  I love brainstorming new ideas with the team, I love the way we always look to push what’s possible, but I suppose most of all I love it when our clients win, which normally means a top spot on Google.

Me:  And the most challenging? (Aside from the dressing up you’re made to do)

Steve:    Keeping those top spots!  Whenever I approach a new client’s marketing, I always look at who is in the position I want to be in and then set out to beat them.  The only thing is, once you’ve done that, you can guarantee someone is doing the same to you!

If you are interested to find out how Steve can help your business grow, sell more products online,  improve your search engine position or learn more about email marketing, please contact him direct steve@slightlydifferent.co.uk or pick up the phone 01326 372416..

After previous (possibly viewed as not very unsuccessful – orkut anyone?) forays into social networking, Google has launched Buzz.  This is Google’s new product, which is being compared to social networks like Twitter and Facebook.  It is integrated with Gmail and other Google products, and appears to be one of the missing links in tying Google together as a social network.

It hopes to leverage the millions of people who already use it’s email system, but what will it actually do?  Well, here’s a quick run down:

• Buzz will allow you to embed a thumbnail of a YouTube video and make it available to play in line.
• When you add images, they will show thumbnails, but also has a custom photo viewer, which lets you flip through them quickly and easily.
• If you share links, it will automatically drag in the content such as images and headlines, similar to how Facebook does.
• You can “like” and “unlike” stuff.
• In your Gmail in-box, you will see buzz notifications that contain comments, in real-time.

All this can be delivered in a public or private timeline on your Google profile page.

They have also launched mobile apps to enable users to ‘buzz’ on the go.  It is suggested that mobile use will be the key to success, as recent research had shown most most mobile internet usage is on Facebook, Google hope to tap into the same mindset.  2010 will be a big year for mobile web, with the sales of smartphones going through the roof.

Expect to see your favourite sites on a small screen near you, soon.

Catch the buzz here:  http://www.google.com/buzz

Do you think that our newsletter might be of interest to any of your colleagues or business contacts?

It’s green and you can stick it in your ears, and no it’s not a sprout – it’s an iPod shuffle!  The new shuffle is so small you can hardly see it.  Ideal for the gym or when you need to listen to music without having a pocket full of technology.  It has 2gb of storage which means it can hold up to 500 songs.  For full details on this beautifully designed piece of kit, visit the Apple website.

Simply use the “send to a friend” link  at the top of the email this month and when your colleague signs up to our newsletter, we’ll enter you into our prize draw to say thank you!

The draw will be made on the 9th March 2010 and the winner will be notified via telephone. We will feature our winner in April’s newsletter and we’ll also write a feature on them and their business.   All we ask is that you put some decent music on the iPod!

As well as emails promising mega-bucks from imprisoned or recently deceased persons in Nigeria which hopefully everyone now immediately deletes, is this little popular number;

You are sent a plain-text email with a .zip attachment like this:

We are all sent stuff and this is relying on you being interested even if you know you are not due that parcel from Christmas!  You are advised not to open the attachment as will contain some sort of malware;

Malware includes viruses, key loggers and other nasties that install themselves on your computer with the intent of revealing your private data e.g. online banking, to the sender.

Most major carriers now have real-time parcel tracking so even if you are expecting a package, just find the despatch number from the order confirmation email and follow their link to check the location of your goodies.

The other giveaway in most of these emails is the grammar just doesn’t cut it - No decent company would start ‘The courier company … and then sign it DHL Delivery Services

We all know that DHL have local depots and not ’post offices’.

Stay safe

Tim Cooke

As the theme for this newsletter is Spring I thought I’d share a few Easter eggs with you.  Apart from being an overpriced ovoid made from cooking chocolate an Easter egg can also be a feature or area hidden inside a piece of software or even a website.  Some of these eggs are getting pretty famous, for example the flight simulator inside the ’97 version of Microsoft Excel, and more are appearing every day.

One company famous for their Easter eggs is Google, as you probably know they offer their search engine in various languages but they also have Klingon, Elmer Fudd, Pig Latin and leetspeak versions.  Google are also famous for their April fool’s Easter eggs:  GPaper, Google Romance and Pigeon Rank.  Google also hide eggs in their software – download Google Earth, run it and then press Crtl+Alt+a to start a flight simulator!

I’ll leave the last two eggs in our Easter basket to the Firefox web browser:  In the Firefox address bar type ‘about:Mozilla’ or ‘about:robots’.

For more on Easter eggs see this Wikipedia article.

When I first came across the term Biomass, I had an image of the sort of deposits farmyard animals leave behind and penny conscious farmers use to fuel their tractors!

Ok, we’re all much more clued up now of course, having worked with Regen SW on the South West Woodshed project. Recently we launched phase 2 of the website which included a few new tools, one of which was an online community.

Using online communities within new and growing industry sectors and interest groups can allow people to build contacts, learn more about new developments and share knowledge and experiences.

The Woodshed online community portal

In this case, woodfuel is a rapidly growing sector within the renewable energy sector and has seen new businesses cropping up all over the UK in the last few years. The community site has been designed to encourage business people to become members and communicate with each other in a private and convenient way.

Users can request an account easily and when authorised, can develop their own profiles, create interest or discussion groups, make new contacts, promote their businesses, write blog posts, send messages to other members and generally share knowledge and experiences.

If you are involved in the woodfuel or bioheat energy sector or are interested to become a member of the woodshed community you can request an account and get involved.

Read the How To Get Started guide