EGrey - Profile

EGrey

	Forum title	Forum Member
	Joined	Feb 2014
	Posts	22
	Thanks	10
	Thanked	10
Latest activity		7th Mar 2014 2:20pm

Recent Posts

Bitcoins - beginning of the end? Or end of the beginning... 7th March 2014 2:20 PM

I've just started really digging into learning about cryptocurrencies so this isn't a particularly deep response!

Definitely seen more irl places accepting Bitcoin and Dogecoin in Brighton and London.

Personally opinion is that cryptocurrencies are going to continue to grow, though I'd want to know more before investing in them and would see any investment as long-term and part of a diversified portfolio, with most of my investments in more secure investments.

Taking some of the stuff in the media with a pinch of salt, after all they quite frankly seem to be proclaiming that the sky is falling in every other day.

1 in 7 UK workers are now self employed 5th March 2014 3:24 PM

Originally Posted by sjr4x4

“If you get it right, then there's nothing more rewarding than being your own boss, but it can be a long rocky road to get there. I remember being told once by an accountant the difference between a successful business and a business failure was having enough money to carry you through all your early mistakes and learning from them.”

Very true. I've seen a number of businesses fold recently, not because the underlying business plan and service was poor, but because they just didn't have enough capital or credit to ride out the initial loss making period.

Don't forget all the perks you get as an employee too - paid holiday, sickness, training, pension, having your employer make NI conts, even not having to buy the office furniture! A self-employed person on the 'same' take home pay as an employee is actually getting a lot less in benefits.

Thanks for this post:

Thanks from: Steve.Richardson

Still need convincing about mobile traffic? Look at this! 5th March 2014 1:58 PM

And yet even some medium sized businesses aren't picking up on this. I see 50% of traffic from mobile devices already for one of the websites I manage.

For small businesses who aren't selling directly through their website, a lot of WordPress themes have easy-to-implement responsive options which I've been very happy with.

Mobile apps. Are they worth it? 5th March 2014 1:56 PM

Originally Posted by Ivan

“Now I got you

I've noticed that more and more SMEs start to use simple marketing research lately, because it becomes affordable. Especially guys from IT sphere are fans of it

By the way, this is not a secret that in the nearest future such things as laptops and desktops will be used only for work, meanwhile mobile platforms will replace them. Regular user will use two kind of apps: mobile and web apps.”

Agree with you again! I can't believe it when I see business with new websites that aren't responsive or come across an e-commerce platform that doesn't have one!

Mobile apps. Are they worth it? 5th March 2014 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by Ivan

“Absolutely!

About salesmen: these guys were looking for investors, but they didn't do the main thing- the research (ask people if they need it). They didn't validate their app idea properly, instead they invested in development own cash. After, they were trying to charge people for thing that they don't even need. It's venture business style

I think, your second company did the right way(I mean initial research), but sometimes it's worth to show your clients some sketches, mockups, because they don't know exactly what you are going to do. You don't know exactly if you want something until you see it.

My approach is that an app that you are going to develop must be approved by your potential clients.

”

Agree with you 100% on the first one.

With the second one, we were considering developing an app for ourselves, so once we saw there wasn't the appetite for it among the majority of our customers there wasn't much point doing anything else.

Research needs to be the bedrock of so much marketing activity but unfortunately sometimes it seems to get sidelined, especially by SMEs.

Thanks for this post:

Thanks from: Steve.Richardson

Businesses that Aren't Yours but that You'd Recommend 5th March 2014 12:27 PM

For anyone close to Brighton I can recommend Pen to Paper in Sydney Street, North Laines.

Great for pens, notebooks and always have a great selection of reasonably priced, high quality cards that aren't the same few design ideas regurgitated over and over - sounds like a small thing but has made my life so much easier several times in the last few weeks and always so lovely to give people a card that shows you've put a bit of thought in.

Lovely staff too.

Thanks for this post:

Thanks from: Steve.Richardson

Mobile apps. Are they worth it? 5th March 2014 10:29 AM

As with everything, I think it very much depends on what you do and how well you do it.

I have salesmen try to charge me hundreds of pounds to be listed on some spurious app still in development, which would've been a complete waste of money.

Another company I worked for considered developing an app, but our initial research showed that actually the core/ideal customer base tended to use their smartphones for Facebook and weren't big app users.

But if I was an ambitious developer, designing my own high quality app would be something I'd look to do to showcase my talents, or if, say, I was developing the marketing for a national chain of restaurants or bars.

Over Used Marketing Trick - apologies for the last email... 25th February 2014 5:04 PM

Originally Posted by sjr4x4

“We send out a soft sales promo every month to our free listings, and have been doing it for years. In that time, have tried just about every variation in the subject field, but the one that has the highest open rate (the name of the game) is simply <business name>

Nothing else. At least that's what works for us. As for actual content, that's a different story

”

Interesting! I find my most successful subject lines are ones that are simply informative, no trickery or 'trying to induce curiosity'.

Friday Humour 21st February 2014 5:51 PM

But you gained some stripes!

Fun Quiz for Tradesmen 21st February 2014 5:49 PM

A friend of mine developed this quiz for tradesmen. It's pretty lighthearted - give you a score out of 100 and lets you compare it to other people in your trade and others. Something to do while you're waiting for your pint!

If any of you try it out, let me know what you think.

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