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Recent Posts Loads of Wonga 7th May 2012 9:02 PM “Seems like Wonga is going to start lending to small businesses, with interest rates being charged at between 0.3 and 2 percent a week.... Personally I'd rather have my gall stones removed again  ”Sounds like an interesting idea. There's no better way to fund operations than through existing cash flow though, other terms of lending should really be used with caution or over the shortest term possible. Chinese Weetabix 4th May 2012 10:39 PM “Poor old UK, the French own our power utilities, the Indians own Jaguar and Landrover, and now the Chinese have snapped up our Weetabix! BBC News - Weetabix bought by China's Bright Food I dunno, what's it all coming to....” I think it's great. Most folk would say I'm contrarian but I really believe foreign investment - and the UK has by far the most in the EU I'd guess if not up there globally - is a good thing. When you think the shape the Eurozone is in right now, isn't it good that America, Japanese, Indian, Chinese companies are investing in us? Whilst there's no doubting that profits can (and are) often transferred back to holding companies based in these economies, it's well worth remembering this profit is taxed. I've seen this in Oil & Gas myself in the North Sea, where more and more companies are foreign. Not only are they spending money acquiring our companies and knowledge, they're hiring/retaining our people and allowing us to export our capabilities to other economies. I'm a strong supporter of FDI - the alternative e.g government ownership, isn't worth contemplating for me. We've been there and it's not good. Social Analytics 4th May 2012 10:33 PM “Must admit, with all the new changes with the new look analytics, I'd over looked the social tab. But playing with it today, it's fantastic, giving a breakdown of all of your inbound social traffic, and what's converting.  If you've not used it, then go and have a look, you may have a few surprises. Here's a good help file for it: About Social Analytics - Analytics Help Also there is now also an activity stream, which only works for a few social networks such as Google+ (obviously) and things like Digg, but if Facebook starts using it, this could be pretty useful. Search Engine Land have a good article on it: Discover Links Using Google Analytics New Backlink URL Report” Agree. I think Google Analytics gets better and better all of the time. It's a product that not many think about when they think Google e.g search, android etc. For me, it's been their best acquisition - formerly urchin - and it's pretty much invaluable for me. So much so that if they were ever to charge, like they are introducing with Google Maps, I'd definitely pay for it. keywords 3rd May 2012 9:38 PM “when i am looking for keywords to use is it better to check my competitors keywords and use them or use one of them free keyword suggestion tools” Google webmaster central is a must - it will help you with your testing immensely. UK Startups With Potential 2nd May 2012 11:38 PM “Never even heard of Badoo! But apparently it started in Spain in 2006, so not exactly a new company. So what is the definition of a start up? Brand new, 6 months old, 18 months? I remember we came second at the 118 awards in 2007 in the new directory category, and were beaten by the Post Office!?! Apparently as they had just launched their own directory services, they were classed as a new business. So a company that can trace its roots back to 1516 was classed as a start up If Google launches a new company in the UK with a $5 million budget, is that a start up?” Good point re. what is a startup. I think Badoo is in this case as right now at least it's still in it's growth phase. I think companies that prioritize growth over profit can technically be called a 'startup' though in year terms, I guess any company older than 10 years is probably not a startup. Microsoft invests in an e-book reader to rival Kindle 1st May 2012 11:12 PM Microsoft, whilst extremely profitable, successful, influential etc is still a real enigma at times. They've been investing heavily in R&D and buying/starting products and services yet appear always to be late to market. Ebooks is just another example. Bank Lending and Media Hype 1st May 2012 11:09 PM “Had my bank (Bank of Scotland) telephone me today, asking me if I'd like to increase my overdraft facility and what are my plans for the future etc. Told them I was considering purchasing a couple of new vans as the current ones are 6 years old, told her I was looking at various deals with dealerships and seeing who was offering the best deal but was in no rush to make a decission. She then blurted out "we can lend you UK Startups With Potential 1st May 2012 10:35 PM Inspired by this thread on Lion, I thought I'd share the question here on MLF. What are UK business startups with great potential? I think Badoo is one. It's massively popular both here and elsewhere globally, has many customers (users), innovative (and profitable) business models, some smart people working there and huge growth. Approaching other businesses to offer your services 25th April 2012 9:29 PM “Hi Forum, I just wanted to get everyone's opinion on what the best way to offer your services to other businesses is. What has worked for you ? This thread was prompted by a cold calling stationary salesmen who just knocked on the office door. We didn't buy anything but it made me ask the question is cold calling a good approach. It may work for product orientated businesses but can you apply it to recruitment for example (My industry).  ”I think online marketing is as good as anything out there. I guess the younger generation are comfortable with online, whereas maybe olders folks prefer direct selling/full service. I guess much of it depends on what nature of business you're in - certain channels work for certain industries. An Imperfect Business - social media 25th April 2012 9:27 PM “The problem I find with twitter is that the news feed updates so quickly (especially for people who are following a lot of people) that your tweet is soon replaced by the tweets of others, sometimes within minutes whereas with facebook the content you write stays visible and current for much longer as the news feed does not change so rapidly.” That's a good point - it's also probably why I use it as a reading medium as a opposed to a writing medium. |
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