Posts

I'm obviously lower down the pecking order

Blimey, this is a cracker. So it turns out the wifes Audi isn't as safe as it was claimed to be.

"A BBC Watchdog investigation into Audi has discovered widespread lying about the safety testing of their vehicles.

Undercover researchers witnessed nine out of 10 dealers from around the country falsely claim the Audi A5 was Euro NCAP safety tested.

But the A5 - as well as the A7, A8 and R8 - are not tested. Audi's UK head office falsely claimed that the entire Audi range was Euro NCAP safety tested..."

Audi 'lied' about safety testing of vehicles - BBC

Hmm, I imagine VW/Audi are on a PR damage limitation exercise! Wonder if we can get some money back 

How's this for competition, 1 bedroom London homes for £140 per week! Maybe partner with the YMCA

Cube: Is this London's £30,000 house of the future? - BBC

Yet another service that has been compromised

Received an email this morning telling me to change my account credentials, although it looks like the compromise was on the 9th May.

It looks like they are playing it safe, and have automatically disconnected any services you may have associated such as Twitter, but make sure you change your password.

Urgent Security Update Regarding Your Bitly Account - bitly.com

The joys of email, very frustrating when it doesn't work

It is your SMTP settings, and I just use the default Google settings, which is the same as what they are saying in the AV thread. I don't have the phone module activated on my ipad, so only connect via the internet, which is why I use the default gmail settings.

My Exchange account settings are exactly the same as they are for my laptop config. 

If you have activated your Sim card and it is live, then in theory I thought it would be the same as your phones smtp, but only speculation as I don't connect via a Sim, only wireless via my router.

I can tell I'm getting old, I had to Google it! A Qashqi? Can't even pronounce it 

Looks like a wannabe 4x4. Is it designed to go over sleeping policeman very quickly? (that's speed bumps to non UK visitors, not running over lazy cops )

I'm seeing you in a Pickup Truck, with bull bars and winches 

If you can't send, then it sounds like your SMTP server isn't configured. What mail provider are you using? eg if Gmail, go to:

Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calander > (email account) > Account

If you select account, then you should have the SMTP settings (out going mail server).

Yup, it's a good point, prices are likely to be inflated, which is why it would be nice to become an approved business 

Just looking at the T&C's:

Only one claim per Growth Voucher can be submitted up to the value of £2,000 (match funding). The claim must be for strategic business advice that has been supplied by a single supplier for the business advice area that the voucher was awarded. The supplier must be registered on the online Marketplace as an accredited Growth Voucher supplier.

Somehow I'd expect a supplier, say an SEO company would be happy to invoice you for "consultancy/advice" in return for £4ks worth of work.

Be interesting to see if anyone has used or tried this approach?

Our local Chambers of Commerce sent this over, which might be of use to some use to some businesses if you haven't come across it before.

It is the Growth Vouchers Programme and is a UK Government backed initiative.

I've just gone through the online signup process, takes about 10 minutes, answer a few questions, and at the end I was sent a voucher.

Now the deal is, you have to choose an approved advisor/supplier for whatever area you are interested in, eg marketing, recruitment, raising finance etc. Once you select a supplier, you have to pay their bill, then after you have used their service, you can claim up to 50% of the cost of the supplier up to £2000 (not excluding VAT).

If you are currently in the market for a business growth related service, then this could save you a few quid.

eg say you were looking for an SEO company, then this would be classed as marketing, and you can choose a supplier from the approved Market Place

Now what I want to know is, how do you become an approved business

Has anyone utilised this scheme, or got any feedback, good or bad?

Hi Kempress

I've moved your thread over to the PPC section. If you look around this PPC Forum you should see some good stuff, including a beginners guide video tutorial.

But answering your question, I'm a huge fan of Googles PPC, and have used it for donkeys years. It just works, they've gradually made it more and more complicated over the years, so it can look very daunting to the uninitiated.

But trial wise, make sure you sign up and can get a free voucher. They vary pricewise, but looks like they are offering £75 at the moment: www.google.co.uk/adwords/coupons/

Forget £10 a day, start with £5, and then with a £75 voucher you have 15 days to immerse yourself in Google Adwords, give it a good play and get some results for free.

Key things, if you get a Google expert contact you (making sure it is a googler and not a scam!) they will want you to spend more money. That's how they make theirs

Most important thing you must do is make sure you set a daily budget!

You will make loads of mistakes, and have trial and errors with keywords, and advert copy, but worse case scenario, the most you will spend a day is £5!

Try it out and have a play. It's instant marketing, so once you have an advert approved, your keywords set, and a budget for each click (keep it low to start with, ie .10 or 10p), look and see if your advert shows in the search results.

You can then move onto the next stage, honing your message, comparing adverts once you have some data, comparing keywords, adding negative keywords for stuff you don't want to show for, adding site links.

Will keep you occupied for hours 

Let us know how you get on.