Quotations

"You get what you INspect, not what you EXpect" - Bill Johnson, Digital Equipment Corporation.

"Strategy is good tactics seen in retrospect" - Mike Brogan, Day 10 Solutions.

"Fake it 'till you make it!" - Unknown.

"It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go" - Jim Rohn.

"Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him" - Groucho Marx

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering" - Yoda, Star Wars The Phantom Menace.

"Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose" - Yoda, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.

"Yesterday is gone for ever. Tomorrow never comes. Today is in your hands" - Unknown.

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better" - Jim Rohn.

Search Engines – Facts and Myths

Mike Brogan's latest article that offers a few basic hints to small business owners about the kinds of simple things that should be done to a website to improve it's rankings on search engines. The article covers elements such as title tags, meta tags, site navigation structure, site content and external linking.

The article goes on to dispell some of the popular myths about search engines such as:

• Continually resubmitting your site to Google improves its rankings.
• Submitting your site to 1000 search engines.
• Sites that use sponsored links (Google Adwords) will get higher rankings in the natural listings.
• Using a domain name with keywords in it will get you better rankings.

Finally the article goes on to explain how search technology is likely to change significantly in the near future.

Read the full article at Day 10's website....

Future-Proofed Websites For Start-Up Businesses

Day 10 Solutions has today announced the availability of Pre-packaged websites designed for small businesses and, in particularly, for start-up businesses.

The Problem for Start-ups

Start up costs for new businesses these days can be daunting. Logo and stationery design, advertising costs, premises, telephones, computers. The list can go on and on, not forgetting, of course, a website.

Websites can cost anything from a few hundred pound for a very basic website to thousands of pounds for more comprehensive sites. For most start-ups it would be foolish to spend thousands on a website until the business is established and starts making a profit. To this end many start-ups and small businesses spend the absolute minimum getting a site developed the result of which is an amateurish-looking site. After a year or two, as the business grows they then realize that they need something a bit more professional and the website, which they've spent start-up money getting developed is completely replaced.

The Problem Solved

Recognizing this fact we have designed our Pre-packaged websites to provide, "out-of-the-box", a professionally designed, 3-page, fully functioning website for £300. Customers can have the choice of letting us host the site, for a small additional cost, or hosting it on a server of their choice. In this latter case, we provide the site on an installable CD.

However, the customer gets much more that a 3-page website. All Pre-packaged sites are built using a Content Management System (Joomla). Customers have access to all the functionality of this system which allows them to edit pages, add new pages, restructure the site and much, much more.

And It's Future-Proofed

This means that the 3-page site that we provide for the customer is completely future-proofed. There is no need to throw it away and start again after a year or two. It can be modified and expanded to reflect the growth of the business.

The customer has the facilities to make these changes himself as and when he chooses. Alternatively he could get friends or colleagues to do it. Or, he could contract with us to make the changes which will cost much less that if we had to make changes to a basic static website of the form that most start-ups have developed.

For details of Pre-packaged sites call Mike Brogan on 0800 542 9622 or email mike@day10.com or visit http://www.day10.com./

New Website for Hartley Wintney Business

Day 10 has just completed a new website for Hart Cartpets of Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. Hart Carpets wanted a website that would showcase the unique combination of carpet and flooring products that they sell and install.

In order to achieve this goal we designed a site that is loaded with images showing the various manufacturers' products in stunning settings. We also photographed various interior and exterior aspects of Hart Carpet's showroon on Hartley Wintney High Street.

You can see the new website at http://www.hartcarpets.co.uk/.

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam.....

Ever wondered where all that spam in your inbox comes from? The penis enlargement pills, viagra and claims to enhance your sexual performance. Ever wondered whether anyone responds to spam? If so, ever wondered who responds and whether anyone buys this junk?

An interesting article on the BBC website gives a good insight into this. And you will be surprised when you read it.

Read the full article here.

Do small firms really need a website?

An interesting fact from the Federation of Small Businesses - no more than half of Britain's small to medium-sized businesses have a web presence.

This article, published on the BBC's website argues that a presence in cyberspace will become increasingly essential, even for small businesses who appear to be doing OK at present without a website.

The article cites the case of Wiggly Wigglers, a local Herefordshire-based company who established a website in 1995 and started trading online in 1999. The firm's turnover has grown from £6000 in 1995 to £2.5M today with customers from all over Western Europe largely due to its presence in cyberspace.

Read the full article here....

Email Spoofing

"I found out from returned "undelivered" email that those address does not exist in my lists--in the first place, I have never sent them".

Does this sound familiar?

If so then you have been a victim of "Email Spoofing".

These deceptive emails are called "Spoof Emails" because they fake the appearance of a popular Web site or company in an attempt to commit identity theft. Also known as "hoax" or "phishing" emails, this practice is occurring more and more frequently throughout the online world.

To find out more about email spoofing and the potential effects of it on you read this article from Deb Shinder.