Twenty years ago, a career in IT was strictly reserved for the brainiacs; often socially inept and lacking any excitement. Said characters would clock in at 9am every day, sit in their grey cubicle for nine hours staring at a screen of digits and code, before going home. Silence. All day. Today is a different story. The dingy cubicles of solitude have been replaced with helter skelter slides and free gumball machines. Lacklustre personalities have been transformed into and replaced by dynamic, hipster cool kids complete with designer stubble and geek chic glasses. The end of the day doesn’t mean you go home to your cat and computer games, but for a cold one at with your fellow work mates. A career in IT has never looked so appealing.
In a world where creativity is king, IT has risen and adapted into the ‘go to’ career for many people. Designing a website has always been a skill, but today it’s a skill which is far more accessible to learn, although specialist to master. The rush of creating a site which will sell millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise is something that can be compared to a rock star at a sellout gig. Maintaining websites is something which used to be monotonous and dreary, but now it is people-related. You want to make the site better, faster, flawless for your client, and you know just how to do it. You hold the key.
IT has most definitely had the makeover of a generation. Why wouldn’t you want to be part of the revolution? Few careers are as mysterious and satisfying as the world of IT. We have an idea where technology will go in the next decade, but who knows for sure? It is constantly surpassing mankind’s expectations, and it is a career and a skill that never stops developing.
Imagine the scenario, you are an expert pro builder that renovates and refurbishes homes to make them more modern and up to date. You do a fantastic job time to time for your customers, but you lack the time and expertise to properly get your business online and the website you do have lacks in quite a few areas.
Is your website mobile friendly?
Firstly if you are online and have a builders website, make sure your website works across all platforms. Gone are the days when you only need it to work on a desktop computer, in 2018 over 65% of people use a mobile device, a mobile device might be an Apple iPhone or a larger Samsung phone. A potential customer will find you and go straight to your website and it is isn’t mobile friendly and responsive, you may loose a chance of an inquiry.
Lets talk about page speed..
Yes we live in a 4g world now, and the Internet speed in most people’s homes is pretty quick. But if your website is packed with huge sized image files, even the very best broadband will struggle and it will seem like an eternity for a website to load up!
Simply make sure when you take a picture, when you send it to your website developer you ask them to make sure the image is re-sized for online purposes. Even search online yourself for some software or tweak it from within your phone. No one likes a slow website!
Design, Design, Design
No website has to be perfect, no website should be cluttered. As a building and refurbishment contractor you will no doubt have some very good images of before and after works completed. This could be a whole house renovation job, or maybe simply re-fitting a kitchen.
But always keep your imagery simple, and use them to sell your services. Don’t get too clever and take silly or fancy images, it will only put the potential customer off calling you.
Your website could even be cluttered with too much wording, and no images at all. We suggest having over 60% of a homepage having imagery as this best sells your business. A builders website should be vivid, not boasting or boring!
The last marketing mistake
Imagine you’ve paid for a all singing and dancing website, and you sit there waiting for the calls to come in. Most of the time nowadays they won’t unless you really have a niche service, which is unheard nowadays.
Every website online will require some marketing of some sort to get going. Put yourself in your potential customers view, how do they find you? Simply put they can’t, unless you do some marketing works.
For any builder, decorator, plumber or any other local trade, it’s best to start targeting people close to where you run your business. For a builder, I would expect some sitting down on there phone to go to Google and perform a search using either ‘builders Hampshire’ or ‘builders in Hampshire area’. This would be my first point of call, then if your website sits on page one of Google you stand a great chance of grabbing some business. Also remembering the frequent website mistakes builders make and how best to avoid them as we went through above.
“It is hard to find a satisfactory definition of advertising. A picturesque way of putting it is to call it business imagination, an imagination that sees in a product, possibilities which can be realised only by appealing to the public in new ways…”
It’s interesting that these were the first words in “The Business of Advertising” by Earnest Elmo Calkins. It’s fascinating that they were originally published in 1915. It’s astonishing that he could easily have been talking about online marketing!
The conclusion can only be that advertising has changed hugely in the last century – and, at the same time, hasn’t altered at all. It is still about what it always has been about – finding the maximum-possible audience of those you might interest, and then telling them what they want to know in a way that encourages them to do what you want them to.
A century ago, it was mainly in newspapers and magazines – or periodicals if you prefer. There were men walking city streets with billboards slung around them, perhaps an occasional discreet sign here and there. Since then we’ve heard ads on radio (mainly in North America for quite a long time), seen them on TV and cinema, found them pushed through our letterboxes in one format or another, even watched planes trailing ads across the skies.
Now – the advertising workplace (as in the place where your advertising works) is changing rapidly in so many ways. Increasingly, if you are not on Twitter, Facebook, Google and the like – then you are simply not there (in the prospect’s eye-line). If you are not available on desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile, or smartTV – and many of the more traditional media too – you are simply nowhere.
Earnest Elmo Calkins might initially shake his head in wonder if he was suddenly assaulted by our modern world. He would quickly appreciate, surely, that making use of professional online marketing services, is the way to go!
Newly created adult business ‘Sexual Desire’ opens up online, and ready to take orders! With various adult related products available from within their online sex shop you can rest assured that every sexual desire is catered for!
Is adult shops frowned upon?
In the modern world any adult based shop shouldn’t be, pleasure is part of human nature and we should all embrace it. But saying that anyone looking to buy and adult related product would still want discreet delivery.
Why start online?
The team at Sexual Desire wanted to create an honest, professional looking website that had good designs and graphics, but also to create a sense of intrigue and sexiness. We feel we have this throughout the website.
We have also made sure it is easy to navigate our sex shop, with our contact details visible to all. Anyone can pick up the phone for help and advice, or simply to have a chat.
We also understand there are many beginners, and many experienced people out there, and we offer a discreet service to all. We don’t judge, and nor should we, and we will help improve any sex life if we can. Sex isn’t just sex, it should be pleasurable, mutual and desirable.
What’s on offer?
We have over 4500 products to choose from our UK based warehouse, our online sex shop have various sex toys, from dildos to anal toys to lubricants. Some products are for pure pleasure, some are to help aid or improve a sex life.
Bondage Gear
We also have various fetish items in our bondage gear range, from handcuffs, to restraints. There are loads to choose from, but with anyone looking to try bondage we always suggest to start slow and work your way up, and play with a trusted partner that you can trust. Always have a secret stop word, that if things hot up then you can stop.
Like with all bondage products there are basic products for beginners and also products that are more for the experienced man or woman.
Other sexiness
We aim to have lots of sexy bedtime clothing, lingerie and sexy stockings to choose form. Along with products for better sex and quality lubricants that can help with any vagina or anal activities. Its better to lubricate any areas in which sexy toys are going to go into, otherwise the following days may be painful.
Whether your new business involves running a bar or operating a swimming pool, employee and public safety is very important. You may not have thought about it, but the floor that your employees work on or members of the public walk on could be very dangerous if it’s not protected with matting.
You can reduce the risk of accidents from the floor to the roof by protecting your flooring with the correct flooring to suit your needs. Most should be easy to install, can be cut to any shape and size and is available in a range of colours.
Most flooring suppliers offer hard wearing, heavy duty, anti-fatigue matting and anti-fungal matting to protect all your flooring needs.
It’s ideal in environments that experience chemical, oil or water spills and offers maximum drainage, so liquids don’t lie on the surface. It can also insulate from electric shock.
The matting itself is anti-slip and is perfect for barefoot activities around swimming pools. It is durable and can withstand heavy footfall like areas behind a bar or in a factory and offers cushioning to employees who are on their feet for long periods of time. You can even have interlocking tiles to help protect your flooring over large areas.
If you’re thinking of setting up a new business, start from the ground up with the help of a great commercial flooring company.
Carpentry business, and the rich history
Carpentry has been part of a lucrative and skilled area of the building trade for many years, when you think of every building in the UK. A carpenter has worked on some part of the building. Whether this was the making or installing of the roof trusses, doors or frames. But to become a real expert or master in your chosen profession takes years of college training and on-site confidence building and it doesn’t happen over night.
Did you know that carpentry is more suited to a profession, than a company?
Apparently accordingly to data found, there are over 37,000 carpenters employed throughout the UK and other 5,000 Ltd companies and sole traders alone.
We took the time to speak to various carpentry business, of who are professional carpenters and offer carpenter services in Portsmouth and Hampshire areas. We asked them various related questions and here are their answers:
How long have you been a carpenter?
We have been skilled and trained for over 15 years.
What sort of work do you do?
We undertake all sorts really! We have undertaken a small refurbishment project recently on a local pub, which meant we gutted the place and re-vamped it to bring it into the modern world. We also do regular insurance works, which are speedier and re-active, as many of these projects are people’s homes. One recent job was in Portsmouth and their shower had leaked, so we have ceilings pull down and re-do, plus a bathroom re-fit.
Do you work solo or with others?
Most of the time there are just two of us, but also depends on the size of the job in hand.
What do you do for marketing and advertising your business?
We do get a lot of business from word of mouth, but initially we spent money on flyers, business cards and even on Google. As a business you also have to make calls to other companies to generate sales. We recently revamped our carpenters website, and tried to gain more visitors by using social media, this way we can post new and old jobs in which we have completed.
Here are some business tips from Setting up a Business Blog
1. Always start with a business plan, this may be tedious, but it will give you a rough plan to stick by.
2. Decide whether you are going solo, a partnership or whether you are aiming to become a larger Limited company.
3. Pick a name that stands out and looks professional, either your name or a name that represents you and your business.
4. Decide on whether you will work in your area of where you live or whether you will travel. With the cost of a car or van and fuel, this should be taken into consideration.
5. Get the insurance you need, imagine you fit a kitchen and a unit falls of the wall, you’d need to be insured for this.
6. Don’t be someone that expects work to come to them, be a go-getter and go out and get your work.
7. Do a good job!
Everyone loves a party, and having a good quality party supplies shop can make all the difference: having someone you trust takes all the stress out of planning a party and means you can just focus on the most important thing – having fun! Here at Katie’s Party Supplies Ltd, we have everything party-related you could ever need.
In these beautiful days of early summer, what could be better for your little girl than a flower fairy party? Every little girl loves to dress up, and fairies are the perfect characters, with their cheeky, magical natures: even non-girly girls get carried away with the thought of flying on their wings or waving their magic wand. Under the Katie’s banner they also Katie’s Princess Dresses a delightful online shop and have a stunning range of excellent quality princess dresses, with something magical available for everyone.
With the photo opportunities that come with little fairies running around your garden, you should definitely plan to hold this party outside, preferably with some nice pretty areas. if your garden isn’t big enough then a local park or beauty spot will do wonderfully, and keep your fingers crossed that the weather co-operates (although children never mind a bit of rain, and fairies under umbrellas will look adorable!)
If you go for this option then you do need a little bit of preparation beforehand. If you want to play some traditional party games such as musical statues, make sure you have a way of playing music that your little fairies will be able to hear. Balloons can provide hours of fun, either through playing games or letting the little fairies run around with them on ribbons. Take a picnic rug or disposable table cloths, and take along a fairy party picnic. Katie’s Party Supplies have a range of party tableware, in your little fairy’s favourite colour, so everything can look perfect. The last thing to remember is some fairy themed party bags and you will have the perfect party.
The shaky nature of the global markets over recent months mean that many economists are awaiting the UK’s first GDP figures of the year with baited breath. Will uncertainty from the economic downturn in China seep through to more developed economies such as the UK? That’s the question on the lips of many.
Forecasts indicate that the British economy will remain strong, especially when compared to the other developed economies around the world. A recent Reuters poll indicated that growth of 0.5% will be recorded for 2015’s last three months, climbing from 0.4% in the preceding quarter.
However, others have made gloomier predictions, highlighting the relatively poor Christmas sales figures in the retail sector as a reason why the forthcoming GDP figures could disappoint.
The forecasts come after chancellor George Osborne last week used the World Economic Forum in Davos to declare that the UK is the global economy’s “bright spot” and that its main threat was from other economies around the world impacting on domestic finances. Osborne spoke of the “dangerous cocktail of risks from the global economy” which has the potential to transmit to the UK.
Looking to the future, he concluded: “Anyone who thinks it’s mission accomplished with the British economy is making a grave mistake.”
The generally dismal summer in the UK this year didn’t do much for holidaymakers staying at home – or for businesses across the country. All kinds of retail sectors were hard hit by the washout, most especially clothing stores, and about the only ones profiting from the gloom were budget airlines, as people escaped to sunnier climes.
While it’s true that parts of the UK experienced unseasonably high temperatures in July, when 36.7ºC was recorded in London, the sizzling heat quickly gave way to one of the coolest British summers in years. In fact, throughout the summer months, when many parts of the country were deluged in heavy showers and thunder and lightning, temperatures averaged a measly 13.9ºC, according to the Met Office.
People were in no mood to shop, at home at least. Clothing sales dropped 5.5% in August alone, a fourth consecutive drop for the sector, accountants BDO reported. Giving a boost to the great getaway, meanwhile, was the rising strength of the pound against the plummeting value of the euro, largely due to the lingering Greek economic crisis. That meant holidays to eurozone countries were cheaper than ever, and substantially so.
Just how many people were dashing overseas to get some sun? We can take a clue from leading budget airline easyJet. It said that an enormous amount of people bought tickets at the last moment for travel in August, and during that month it carried 7.1 million people, chiefly to popular Spanish and Portuguese destinations.
As summer transitions into autumn and then the peak shopping season of the year, businesses up and down the country will be looking to recover from the big summer slump.
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