Bay Web Blog

I just located my house on Google Street View and felt very weird knowing the front of my house (complete with the weeds & overgrown hedge that were there at the time) is on display and available to anyone with a decent internet connection. It got me thinking as to ways I could use Street View.

1. To view the area around a house you may be interested in purchasing. Very obvious but quite a plus if it’s out of your area or you haven’t got transport. You can see not only the street you’re interested in but also the surrounding area. It gives you a better view (and more control) than photographs from an estate agent would.
2. To locate visually a house you plan to visit that you haven’t been to before. House numbers are not always visible from the road, sometimes even non-existent, so to be able to see where you will be going helps rather than slowly crawling up the road in your car peering at house fronts and looking suspicious lol.

I understand that, even though my area has just gone ‘live’, it is already out of date as the pictures were taken sometime during the summer of 2009 - I know this because we had the weeds exterminated and the hedge cut back late summer/autumn last year - but still the images could be useful. 

OK, only two ideas so far - have you got any more?

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It is folks, going to be a Mad March. From having a quiet start to the new year I now have clients in abundance. I also have an ebook to write, a workshop day to attend this week and more training later in the month. Family life is hectic too - hubby’s birthday coming up (what the heck should I buy him?), son starting at a new Explorers group and daughter got a better social life than me despite being a few months short of being a teenager.

Now, what help do I need? I want feedback. I need your input.

To all you SMEs, start-ups, groups or individuals that are thinking about getting a website - what kind of questions do you need answering? When you talk to a website designer what do you REALLY want to know? How can they make the whole experience better for YOU?

Have a website already? Well would you mind sharing your experiences (good and bad) with me? Tell me what you found helpful, let me know what made it a nightmare.

Visit my Contact Page for ways to get a message to me. I would love to hear from you. Thanks.

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Only a couple of days until March arrives (like a lion if I believe the weather reports), but March is the herald of spring and before we know it we’ll be into a soggy summer again.

You may notice that I have started a new offer for spring complete with pretty pink flowers growing in the grass - a 3 page static website for only £125. Ideal for those small businesses who could do with a simple shop-front type of website.

It’s been a fairly quiet start to the year so far, just a couple of things bubbling away, but this means more time for me to learn new techniques and catch up on the latest news. It seems that IE6 may be coming to a slow and painful demise, Google are dropping YouTube support for IE6 soon - it will still work but some new features may not. HTML5 & CSS3 are just around the corner now and support is permeating through the various browsers.

I am expanding my network on places like LinkedIn and trying to help people out whenever possible. If you feel you’d like a little advice or need a question answering the why not contact me? I don’t bite (unless you’re made of chocolate).

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Just a quickie.

I had a client last year that I ended up parting company with. It was a local church and they finally decided that they really wanted a flash-based website which I do not do. It was all amicable and I was sorry not to continue working with them.

One thing I did try to impress on them over again was NOT to have music auto-start when the web site opened. Guess what, you open their new site and immediately get audio. That, I guess, would not be so bad but you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the turn off button.

Ah well. When it’s all said and done they have the web site that they really wanted. I do wish them all the best and hope their flash site serves them well.

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Off to Bolton today for a client mtg. Posting this from a cold platform at Bare Lane train station. Ok I could have driven but I hate motorway driving. Plus I can catch up on some reading on the train. At just over £12 return it is maybe cheaper too.

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Small firms should ‘increase their web presence’

I guess articles like this are good for us web designers. Small businesses all over the country (and the world) will read this - how many will then go on to follow the advice?

BUT STOP.

Before you, as an SME business owner/manager/whatever, pick up that phone or tap on that keyboard you need to consider a few things…

• why do we need a website? (yeah, I know the article states we should but think a little beyond that)
• how will our clients use the website?
• what will our business achieve with a website?

There are many website design companies out there waiting to take your money. Find one that’s the right fit for your and your business. One that will consider you and your clients rather than the latest fad in web design. One that will guide you and walk with you rather than lead you.

Contact me if you want, but also contact others. Don’t go with your friend’s nephew because he will do you a favour - go with your friend’s nephew because he produces good work and listens to your concerns and answers your questions.

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Aiming at new start-ups (SMEs) I am creating a workshop that will take them from the thought “Hey, I could do with a website” to “Look everyone, I have a website”.

Often business owners think that getting a website is just a matter of finding a good website designer and telling them they want a website. But there are lots of things to think about even before you contact a web designer. That’s what this course is aimed at - helping business owners make good decisions and explaining just what is involved in getting your business on the World Wide Web. It’s not a techie workshop, it’s just plain common sense and relevant hints & tips.

If you like the sound of this workshop and you know people who would benefit then do contact me…

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Obviously I don’t want to be building sandcastles for my business, I want something more substantial that will not collapse with the first wave or adversity. My ‘castle’ is my business and I want to add at least another storey to it this year.

I have some ideas about what I want to do and I am using Microsoft’s OneNote to keep my ideas in order. Here are my plans -

• Grow my client base
• Get involved with local community/businesses
• Blog more
• Learn new design techniques

Using OneNote I am breaking each one down into short-term goals and brainstorming ways to achieve them.Some I have deliberately under-set so I don’t get over-whelmed but all are SMART. There is one other achievement I am aiming for but I am too shy to express it just yet.

What goals have you set for 2010 and how are you planning to achieve them?

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I am currently making contact with other local businesses; naturally I am looking for paid work but also trying to build a network where people can turn to each other for help and advice.

To that end I am sending out a letter & flyer to introduce myself. There’s no selling as such within this letter which may look odd and not be ‘good business practice’ but I dislike pushing myself to strangers without building even a tenuous relationship first.

Do you think this is a good idea? What do you do to create relationships?

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It’s a new year and everyone talks about new beginnings - should I be any different? Well, I feel that 2010 should be more of a continuation of what I have been building for over a year now.

I want to continue to

• help my existing clients and build a relationship of trust and excellence with them.
• meet more people and create attractive, affordable websites for them.
• expand my knowledge and experiences in both my business and personal life.

This first working week of the year has been unusual in that the children, having had 2 days at school, are home now due to the snow and ice and will be home for at least another day. While it doesn’t stop me working it means I do change my working environment from the home office to the living room so that I am on hand easier if they need me.

I am also counting (again) the benefits of working from home. I know several people who have not been able to get to work in this unusually bad weather despite the best will in the world. For some reason Lancashire County Council haven’t gritted residential areas - not even those on a dangerous incline. I certainly would not try to get out of my road unless it was urgent. However, my commute is one minute from the house to the office and so it was off to work despite the snow

I have done a certain amount of sorting and de-cluttering over the last few days and have spent today catching up on reading matter (.Net, blogs, downloaded docs etc). I also have been looking at ways to help potential and current customers. Some things are still ‘in development’ but I have added another pdf link to help with the design process - checkout Low-tech Website to have a look.

There is also a fresh offer for the new year - 1 YEAR FREE website hosting (through Bay Web Designs) for every new website I create. This offer will be available through to mid-February at least. Contact me to take advantage.

I do hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays - let me know what you are doing to succeed this year.

*MMX is roman numerals for 2010

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