Stay in Touch this Christmas

I didn't really like my last posting too whingy about things I cannot control.  This post should be much more fun.  How to stay in touch over the Xmas holidays.

I better state - I am on holiday - let's not quibble over that, in the last weeks I have launched www.table-place.co.uk, www.jillbarnesdacey.com, www.silvermagpie.co.uk and have new sites ready for www.kitchenhire.co.uk, www.dillonmurals.com and am working on www.ahdf.co.uk, www.cloudcomputingcentre.co.uk, www.easysoftware.co.uk and www.oliverbrown.org.uk - so it's been busy here.

The plan is to shut down over Xmas as i am sure many of you will.  So contact methods.

1. The obvious is by phone - I use Skype - and I subscribe to their Unlimited Europe calling plan, for £4.99 per month I get free landline calls and most important a Skype In number.  This is a special number that calls my Skype account.  So if I am online and Skype is loaded - you can call me.  0207 193 8278.
2. Email - I've had the same email address for over 10 years now... I'm using Gmail and effectively that means I can use any computer or mobile to check my email.  So while I have set up a 'pretty' auto responder letting you know I'm away... in fact I'm not - I'll be checking even if it is just wondering where those Amazon gifts have got to.  But emails - a pain and requires me to check it.
3. Facebook - you'd be surprised how often people send me messages by facebook.  I don't check as much as I should... but the weird thing is that for all those people who are also on holiday - Facebook is probably the easiest way to contact me.  You bound to know you own details and if you're reading this you almost certainly a 'friend' of mine.  But if you've left your work at the office and forgotten my email address, then Facebook is an often over looked way to contact me.
4. Twitter - I'll be twitting over Christmas - it'll be fun... I won't do it very often, but now we're moving away from you (as a client) needing to contact me - more towards you needing to know where I am.  twitter will almost certainly tell you.  If you're following me, you'd be surprised at how much information you can clean about a persons where abouts from their simple little Tweets.  Twitter is a give away if you trying to 'find out more'.  For starters most of you will see all my suppliers on Twitter, that's because I follow them...
5. Linked In and the rest - these pages are less looked at, but just as frequently updated automatically - you'll find out where I am what I am doing on virtually any service you like, from MySpace to aSmallWorld.
6. Lastly, FourSquare - this 'game' allows you to tell people exactly where you are, sign up join in and become friends.  What you do is 'check in' and when you do that your friends (connected of course) are alerted to your where abouts. If I 'check in' at a Pub nearby - you might make the effort and surprise me by coming along.  This concept of 'knowing' where people are is really going to be the theme for 2011.

As they say in the property world - location location location.  Stay in touch and Happy Christmas.

Keep it short

I want to whinge this month about everything - we're in danger and the end of the world is nigh, Austerity Britain is everywhere and all around us... so what's on my mind...

1) Well VAT again - the rise from 17.5% to 20% is on the way - but what's the best way to deal with this. VAT hikes are ugly things at best and last year's chops and changes resulted in my losing more business than I gained. My net VAT went down compared to when the rate was 15%. The government should realise lower taxes increase business and therefore yield.

The good news is that I am not going to couple this with any rises in my own pricing, so hopefully that will help you.

2) WikiLeaks - how can we not be interested? Okay my reflection on this is called Net Neutrality - the big boys like Google and Verizon wish to have a two speed internet one for 'paid' content like movies which will zip along and one that is free and will share whatever is left of the Internet Infrastructure and when it only takes 400 computers to bring down a website like Master Card you have to wonder what sort of infrastructure we have.

This two speed idea has to be fought and stopped... the point of the Internet is openness, freedom and the ability for any of us to do business on the web.  Many clients put great faith in their websites and get decent business from it, but try doing it at a quarter the speed.

Rest assured that we at NComp@ss have signed up to every service we can to advocate a free and open Internet.

3) Shopping On-line - many clients sell their products or services on-line - it's great - it provides a direct communication through to the client... we love it.  But I have done all my shopping on Amazon (OK 95% of it) - what's going on... well basically the big boys are out there and they want you. Apple, Amazon, Dell, eBay, Boots, Tesco's, Superdrug... I quibble not these companies have invested millions in eCommerce and they want to dominate.

The result is the small guys are (just like the high street) being firmly pushed out - unless you can compete in price, quality and service Amazon will continue to get my business.  The standards have never been higher.

My whinge is watch out because it is not what your website 'looks' like or even what is 'says' - it price first, convenience and service second period.

4) Terrorism - I live a quite and secure life, up a hill far from a city, all my news comes via the web and mostly the news sites... but when I hear of a car exploding, or an aeroplane carrying a Printer Cartridge, I do not immediately think of terrorism... nor does the news...

What strikes me from this distance - is how news stories change, over a relatively short time.  The headlines go from 'Car Carrying Canisters Explodes' to 'UK Involved in Terror Threat to Stockholm' in less than 24 hours.

I fully understand Police have to investigate 'as if' it might be a Terror threat - but that is no reason to think it was a terrorist threat.  This suicide bomber might have had a genuine accident - something I think Muslims are entitled to as are the rest of us.

Whatever the case of the example above (that does not interest me) the real concern is the constant scare tactics used by our governments to keep us all in check, whoops did I just say that... But yes, all these terrorists threats do is say, don't fly, don't go to Stockholm, don't leave your flat - stay inside, watch TV. It's not safe.

If it weren't for Wikileaks it'd be 1984 before you know it.

Thanks for listening, your feedback is welcome.