The Edward Lloyd Trust – now on Facebook & Twitter!

(This was posted 6 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 17 hours, 26 minutes's ago.)

The Edward Lloyd Trust – now on Facebook & Twitter!

About a year ago we redesigned and developed the Edward Lloyd Trust website. The design was in the capable hands of Baseline Creative and the development was carried out by us using ExpressionEngine.

In the last year there have been many new features added to ExpressionEngine as well as trends generally changing.

Last month we spoke with the team at ELT and proposed that we intergrate their news and events section with Facebook and Twitter so that they could spread the word about what they are doing quickly and easily!

So here it is, ELT v.2: http://www.edward-lloyd-trust.co.uk/.

It now sports links to its Facebook and Twitter account and whenever a News article or Event is put on the site both are updated.

As well as this we have done one or two things in the background that will make administering ExpressionEngine even easier!

Testimonial from Michelle Crockett of Beaumont Business Service

(This was posted 6 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 15 hours, 22 minutes's ago.)

I came into the office today to feedback from a recent client.

Michelle Crockett, from Beaumont Business Services (Maldon based Bookkeerers) had very kindly taken the time to drop me a note to say that she was about to start marketing her business more and appreciated the work that we have done for her business.

Michelle is a bookkeeper that is based in Maldon Essex and was only really looking for a simple site that would stand a chance of being found when people searched for bookkeepers Maldon or Maldon Bookkeepers.

Here is her website http://www.beaumont-bookkeeping.co.uk/.

I would suggest if anybody is based in the Maldon area and are looking for a bookkeeper, they could do a lot worse that dropping her a line and getting a bookkeeping quote!

Thanks Michelle.

How does you site look in firefox and chrome?

(This was posted 6 months, 3 weeks, 15 hours, 53 minutes's ago.)

After Microsoft IE became the most popular browser to use taking around 95% of the market share is its time finally up and is it going to fall and burn like the Roman Empire?

In recent times IE has dropped to around 62% which is taking into account IE6, IE7 and IE8 and within the last 6 months alone it has dropped in use by around 5% while its main rival FireFox has just pass the 25% milestone and seems to be going from strength to strength.  

But the browser to watch seems to be Googles Chrome which was released just 16 months ago and is now the third most used browser in the world taking over from safari (some may ask safari? Whats safari? To answer It is Apples attempt at a web browser) with 4.63% over the market share.

So is now the time to ask yourself as a website owner, how does my site look in browsers other than Microsoft IE? As believe me there can be a drastic difference. If you like many others would like to make sure your site still functions currently check out browsershots which will allow you to take a screenshot from as many different web browsers as you would like.

Facebook, Twitter & Linked-In - End it all and get real!

(This was posted 6 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours, 21 minutes's ago.)

Is your virtual life taking over your real life? Do you tweet friends instead of enjoying their company? Do you spend hours and hours ‘on the blog’ for business instead of doing business?

If this is you and it’s too much then end it all, quickly and easily with the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine!

I first saw this website on the Guardian’s website, I was amused by it and then further still when a business coach (Gill Tiney) from Steps to Success said on her inaugural tweet that if she gets addicted she’ll blame me!

So here you are, if you answer yes to the following perhaps you should consider the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine:

• Do you Tweet rather than speaking to friends and contacts?
• If you stub your toe do you update your Facebook status?
• Do you envy peoples contacts on Linked-In?

My thoughts on Social Networking websites...

I think they are great, but need to be respected:

Facebook can be like being at the pub or round a friends place enjoying a curry: the only problem is that your boss is there and so are prospective employers.

Twitter is a great way of getting your message out to many people – far more than most of us could ever speak to but why does ‘Ting Tong’ from Tooting want to follow me and how does it help either of us?

Linked-In helps you to see your connections in the business world but surly it also lets predators see who you are connected to?

Social networking works well for speaking to many friends and contacts at once and viral marketing can spread your offer, service or product far and wide and will probably put you in front of somebody in need very cost effectively.

I think that web 2.0 sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In will start to settle down over a period of time. Social networking sites will always be popular and will continue to be used by the general public.

For me the most interesting thing is how businesses will use them. I believe passionately that if use responsibly social networking and viral marketing can be a great tool for all sorts of organisations. Personally I’d like to see charities use sites such as Facebook and Twitter more that and small businesses that thrive in referrals.

So there you are, commit ‘Web 2.0 Suicide’ if you feel you need to connect more with the chap next to you on the train in the morning or think about how you could use it better in your life!

Celebrating Sir Isaac Newton’s Birthday!

(This was posted 6 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 16 hours, 59 minutes's ago.)

The Google Doodle celebrates Sir Isaac Newton’s Birthday!

Today Google is celebrating Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday with a Doodle of a falling apple.

At Thinking Virtually we are really big fans of the Google Doodles but this one didn’t really work for us. Recently Google celebrated ‘Sesame Street’ with a torrent of Doodles that we great and the annual Doodle 4 Google competition winner was fab!

For us the doodle doesn’t seem integrated, it feels like a ‘bolt on’.

This being said celebrating the birth of Sir Isaac Newton on 25th December 1642 is a worthy thing to do indeed. Isaac Newton was a mathematician, physicist and one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time.

He was born in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire and passed away at the age of 84. Considering the average life expectancy in the 1700’s was 45 to 50 years Sir Isaac Newton clearly lead a full life!

Either way – Happy Birthday Sir Isaac Newton and well done to Google for bringing it to all our attention.