MRS Web Solutions

Online trading is being cracked down on for those consistently selling on sites such as ebay and Amazon. Any one who is trading on the internet should be paying the correct amount of tax on the income made.

HM revenue & Customs are bringing down those who are not complying to the tax regulations and have ordered these popular sites to hand over details of members to the taxman. These sites have a legal obligation to provide these details despite concerns over data protection.

For those online traders who have not declared their income have until June 14 to come forward where they benefit from a reduced penalty of 20% of tax owed, which increases to 100% after this period.

The HMRC said, “If you are an online seller with undeclared income, you should come forward and put your tax affairs in order, before the HMRC catches up with you.”

It is clear to see that the HMRC are being very serious about this and it is good to see they are finally cracking down on those tax dodgers!

Since May 2011 Talk Talk has included a homesafe filter that blocks sites categorised as unsuitable for under 18s. However most recently they now declare that new customers need to specify whether they want these controls on or off. They want to expand this to all customers with a view to make them choose their settings once a year.

Dido Harding, Chief Executive of Talk Talk says, “Our competitors are being dreadfully slow to wake up to the fact that society as a whole cares strongly about this. The spread of fast broadband connections means that making the internet safe for children is as important now as road safety was back in the 1970s when the volume of traffic soared.”

A research carried out by Childwise concluded that 41% of children aged 7 to 10 have Internet access in their bedrooms. This is an increase of 32% since 2004.

To add to this change in the internet market, Talk Talk are also offering parents protection for every computer, games console and ereader which can access the internet via the family broadband connection. In addition to this broadband provider, competitors in the market are following in their footsteps. BT, who provides 6m homes internet offers a free protection for 3 devices in the home. Virgin Media offers 7 devices for their paying subscribers, 4.1m, and Sky with 3.8m offers protection for 3 PC’s.

The sites with subjection of pornography, suicide & self-harming, dating, drugs, weapons and gambling are all included within these protection filters,

We think these protection schemes have been a long time coming, and is a brilliant and safe way of safeguarding our children under 18. the ways in which the protection can be turned off by those who are over 18 and want to use these sites and then swith back on again when finished is a core need for families with a variety of ages.

We think this should be rolled out to all mobile devices by phone operators when parents buy smart phones or mobile phone that has access the internet for children under 18 as an option.

Cookies and the Laws which govern website use - how does this affect your website.

Cookies are small electronic files that are placed on your computer when you visit a website.  They are often used to allow websites to work better and they also make sure a website can be recognised by a device.  Cookies can be critical to a website and the way it works or simply allow the owner of the website to just gather information.

The law now provides guidelines which mean that all websites which use cookies will need to advise their users of the cookies that are used and what they are used for.  The user must also have the opportunity to opt out of using non essential cookies.

Critical Cookies - If a website uses cookies for something critical within a website eg buying online - the website must advise the user.  A Privacy Policy should be available on the home page to let the user know which cookies are used and why.

Not Essential Cookies - If a website uses cookies that are not critical to a websites use eg Google Analytics - the website must provide information on these cookies through the Privacy Policy and also allow the user to choose if they would like to download the cookies or not.

This law is essential to ensuring that us, as users, are always aware of the cookies that are used on the websites we visit and what they are used for.

Help is at hand for all of our customers, who will receive information on their own individual websites shortly.

We were really excited to be able to help out and donate a small bundle of easter eggs to Naomi House and Jacksplace for their Easter egg hunt at Highclere Castle on 8^th April (The home of Downton Abbey).

Both Naomi House and Jacksplace to a fantastic job for young children and adults who face illness. Being able to have a fun day out is a must for both the children and their families is a must when facing difficult times. Keep up the brilliant work!

When it comes to interacting with your customers on social media sites, you need to understand the type of relationship they want with you. The way you interact with b2c and b2b is very different. One thing that remains the same however is the online communication, as all consumers want to interact with brands on their terms and in their own space.  They also like to dabble in the information they are receiving rather than spending hours learning/reading and interacting.

Social media is a window for brands to discover peoples’ behaviours, understanding their feelings, attitudes, beliefs, interests and what their behaviours are in relation to categories or products/services.

This type of communication can offer real-time and responsive dialogue. Customers thrive on being heard by the brand they enjoy interacting with. It gives them a sense of importance to each customer, it builds the brands reputation and increases chances of a positive word-of-mouth; the most valuable means of free consumer advertising.

Consumers now have 4 different devices to which they access the information they want to digest à Smart phone, tablet, laptop and PC. This means that dipping into information is a lot easier than before, anywhere and everywhere they go.

In order to judge the success of your social media campaign, focus on what your consumer does next, NOT how many likes, fans and followers you receive, unless that was your desired result.

Why your brand uses social media should be at the fore front of all your online networking activities. What do you want to get out of using this social medium and how will it increase your business prospects?

The internet has revolutionised marketing.

Through the move of traditional marketing activities to online tactics, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the new medium. While some traditional marketing efforts are now a burden to businesses and can be over used, others are still shinning stars when it comes to reaching millions of people.

Traditional marketing uses intrusive tactics pushing messages on to consumers whether they want it or not. Content marketing is about sharing information with those who actually want to receive it and who want to interact with your brand. Content marketing is gaining popularity because it doesn’t use the old tactic of slapping consumers in the face and hoping they remember what’s being sold, it actually informs and educates consumers instead.

Consumers are fed up with of having brands talk at them, all with the only underlying message of buy, buy, buy. With this more social arena we live in and with many social media networks to choose from, consumers want something for their time, effort, information and money from connecting with a brand.

Of course brands can’t give away all of their secrets for nothing, so this two way communication medium is the way forward. A simple example is giving a consumer a PDF full of useful content that reaches their interests in exchange for their e-mail address.

Traditional marketing techniques will always have a place as long as TV, radio, magazines, billboards & exhibitions are around, however brands need to compromise and listen to their consumers of how they want to be interacted with and utilise the advances of technology for the benefit of the business. Through constantly being sold to, consumers will leave your brand and become loyal to another who listens to their wants and puts strategies in place to satisfy these. It is difficult to ignore the fact that these traditional marketing tactics are more expensive and produce less favourable results.

Research from Marketo has shown that the 6 most popular content marketing tactics used by businesses are; social media, article posting, in-person events, e-newsletters, case studies and blogs. The 11^th position on the list is promoting traditional content through traditional media. However with this, in-person events like exhibitions, networking events, awards etc are all traditional media which need to be utilised in a fresh way.

In our opinion, there should be a mix of both traditional marketing with content marketing techniques.  Utilise the new medium as it is here to stay and use it to support marketing techniques such as exhibitions, events and awards to get your message to hundreds of thousands of people. Bring in the results from both angles and get the best of both the digital and physical marketing world.

Written by Kristie Blackford-Mills

With your customers and clients using e-mail every day, it’s easy for your e-mail marketing to be left in a muddle with the rest. Below are some hints and tips to ensure when you write an e-mail it doesn’t get left behind and you capture your audience from the very first word.

Before Writing

• Who should receive them?

Selecting who to send the e-mails to is critical at the start to be able to direct the right content at the correct people. You can send to:

- Current customers, focusing on information and new services

- Old customers, to encourage them back

- Prospects, outlining who you are, what you do and why they need your services/products.

• Prep customer e-mail lists

Make sure all your e-mail lists are:

- Up to date so customers do not receive the e-mail twice

- Sent out to only valid email addresses

- Separated into targeted segments for the e-mails aimed at different markets

• Target a specific segment - make sure text and pictures are relevant

When targeting a particular segment, the e-mailer should be specific to the target market you are sending to, encouraging them to interact with your brand.

• Set up a mailing schedule

When using an e-mailer system like Zest Mail you can set up your campaigns to send out e-mails on a scheduled time period and date. This makes your campaigns more consistent without bombarding your target audiences with constant e-mails.

Whilst constructing

• Keep it short and simple

If there is too much text that is not interesting for the customer to read they will switch off and will more than likely delete the e-mail.

• Interesting subject line

This is the first thing a customer will look at. The subject line should be short and catchy to make the reader want to read on.

• Content is so important

Giving great content in an e-mail is vital to entice the audience to read it, and should leave them wanting more. It also encourages trust in your brand and reputation. They will be looking forward to future e-mails you send and will view your website, blogs, and social media platforms giving you more scope to have a conversation with them and build up a rapport.

• Engage the user

Use call to action buttons within the content to direct your customers to a specific landing page, website, social media page etc.

• Add value - what is the customer getting when opening the e-mail.

Give the customer a reason to open the e-mail. Are you giving them anything in return? A coupon, free gift or just some really good content that will help them or their business is a good way of thanking them for taking the time to read your e-mail.

• Include pictures to provoke thought and catch their attention

Pictures, videos and moving things are always the first thing that grabs the attention of the reader. So utilise this and grab them in the first second they open the e-mail!

• Simple but effective design

Using a few bright colours and a lot of white space can be a good way to make use of the space around the text and pictures without making it look overcrowded. It is also a smart way to direct them to the content and call to action buttons you really want them to reach.

• Use social media to help the campaign

Using social media to communicate with current customers/followers bridges the gap of the brand to the customer with direct communication. It also increases awareness of the campaign.

• Add links to relevant information

For example your website, social media pages, blogs, forums, campaign landing pages etc.

Was it successful?

• Analytics and Stats

Make sure you look back at all the statistics and analytics of the campaign to discover if it was successful or not. From this you can determine who opened, read, responded, clicked through from the e-mail to be able to understand what your customers want and what they will respond to in future e-mail campaigns.

The QR Code is the bridge between the real world and the digital world.

QR Codes are a fantastic way to give the user an easy transit to a page of your choice, influencing them to do what you want them to do while they are on that landing page. Whether you use them to promote a new product/service, send them to your website, or to a page on your website that would benefit them, they need to be used properly.

However, people are using these Codes as an add-on to their marketing efforts without thinking about the user. A few examples below…

Ways to not use a QR Code:

On the end of an email - If you open an email on your phone you cannot scan the code as your camera is on the back of the phone.

On a subway - You have no signal.

On a plane magazine - The user has no signal and cannot connect to the internet. Very few if any will take the plane magazine with them when leaving their flight.

On a billboard on the side of the road - You are driving past, unless you stop to scan it, there is no point in having it there.

By using a QR Code you are giving someone in the real world an opportunity to relate directly with the digital world. In order for them to physically scan the code they need to get their phone out, get close enough to the Code to scan it. It therefore means the user needs to publically associate with it. In order for them to want to do this, you NEED to give them a very good reason to do so.  You need to give them something for the time/trouble of them actually scanning the QR Code in the first place.

Before you use a QR Code in your next marketing efforts, STOP and think; will the user be able to scan the code, does it offer them something that will equate to the time and effort it takes them to scan the code? Because the user will be thinking,

What’s in it for me?

Written by Kristie Blackford-Mills

With more than 800 million users now on Facebook, one of their greatest achievements to date is ½ billion people used Facebook in 1 day! Around 200 million people have accounts on twitter, and that is constantly growing daily. Now that is a mass amount of people providing some serious interaction!

Social media platforms are sticky sites! They make you want to keep coming back, never being left behind and always in the know of what people are doing/where they are/who they are friends with/following etc. The types of people on these sites are in discovery mode and so it is vital that you provide them with information that will make them want to discover more and look around! Keeping the stickiness on your company page encourages more interaction with your business and eventually converts these into sales.

More than 50% of users log on to Facebook every single day. They have an average of 130 friends and on average there are 900 million objects that people interact with. These include pages, groups, events and community pages. Just think - How far could your message go through an Integrated Social Media Platform? Social media is word of mouth at scale!! This provides you with immediate interaction with companies that give you a platform to have a conversation with your customers at any given time of day, anywhere in the world. Information spreads instantaneously, and this is considered the most valuable market research tool you could possess!

Here at MRS we can provide you with an Integrated Social Media Communications Platform - making sure you leave not 1 of your customers behind.

So what are you waiting for? Make your brand unforgettable now!

Nominet are the body who look after owner disputes on Domain Names.  It is nice to hear that Wayne Rooney had his domain name www.waynerooney.co.uk returned to him after taking his complaint to Nominet.  Wayne’s team were able to prove that the domain name had been purchased and not used for many years.  The Wayne Rooney team had to also prove their ownership of the trademark.  The man who owned the domain name had hoped that he would be able to sell it to Wayne Rooney’s team, but instead lost the case and was requested to give it up.

It is good to know that should a domain name fall into the wrong hands of someone wishing to pocket from other peoples success,  Nominet can assist in such disputes should the need arise.

You have to do two things to win:

1)    You will need to show you have legally enforceable rights.  E.g. evidence of trademarks

2)     Is the existing web address an abusive registration?

Nominet check to see if the owner of the domain name is taking unfair advantage of the other company’s rights.