Barack Obama is the first politician to advertise in the on-line gaming world by buying advertising space inside the popular Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation game Burnout Paradise. Full article…

His campaign has already heavily promoted on Facebook and YouTube, leaving no doubt that social media is a hugely important part of the marketing mix in the modern world.

I have been taking photographs for over 20 years. During that time I have taken literally thousands of photographs on black and white film (prints and slides), colour film (prints and slides), infra-red film and nowadays, of course, digital.

I have taken landscapes, still life’s, portraits, abstracts, action, in fact you name it - I’ve tried it and have always enjoyed my photography even if the results haven’t always turned out as I had hoped for when I pressed the shutter button.

One subject I have often enjoyed trying to capture has been aircraft, particularly at military airshows, and one shot I have been trying to capture for ages is of the Red Arrows synchro pair. You know, the two Hawks that break off from the main formation and fly head-on towards each other performing those stunning cross-over manoeuvres. I had one particular shot that I wanted and it became a real challenge - my Holy Grail. (more…)

Here are just a few tips that may help you get through it.

Breathing exercises
Inhale slowly - for 20 seconds, hold your breath for 10 seconds, exhale slowly - for 20 seconds.
Repeat this for a few minutes at a time to develop a deep quiet breathing operation.
Practice frequently - at your desk, on the train, in the bath… but don’t overdo it.

Relaxation
Even the most experienced speakers can feel tense and nervous before making a speech but they learn not to show it, by relaxing.
Completely relax your body. Close your eyes and try to forget about any worries. Let your jaw hang loosely, lips lightly touching.
Inhale for 10 seconds, pause for 5-10 seconds, Exhale for 10 seconds. Repeat this several times - just remember not to fall asleep!

Expression
Practice reading out loud. A book, a newspaper article, anything will do - it’s just for practice.
Pitch your voice high and unrestrained for words like “hello” and “success”.
Pitch your voice low and deliberately for words like “doom” and “gloom”.
Practice gestures and facial expressions to illustrate key words and phrases.
Learn to use emotion to deliver your message and practise placing a different emphasis on key words.

For example try reading the following sentence placing the emphasis on the highlighted word in each case:

“I can’t believe you just said that!”
“I CAN’T believe you just said that!”
“I can’t BELIEVE you just said that!”
“I can’t believe YOU just said that!”
“I can’t believe you JUST said that!”
“I can’t believe you just SAID that!”
“I can’t believe you just said THAT!”

Try to animate your speech by raising your eyebrows, staring, even thumping your fist - let yourself go.

Script
If you need to use a script then write it well in advance and remember that writing something to be read is different from writing for the spoken word.
Leave it alone for a day or two then revisit it and edit it accordingly.
Practice reading your script out loud. If you can, practice reading it to a colleague, a friend or relative.
Try to learn it, try to make it flow, you want it to sound natural so try to avoid having to read verbatim from it “on the day”.

Projection
Finally, practice projecting your voice, clearly and distinctly.

Remember, if your audience can’t hear, it can’t listen!

Inflation has just hit 3.8%, up 0.5% since May. This is an 11 year high and much greater than our Governments 2% target. As a result the Bank of England is unlikely to cut interest rates, currently 5%. The BBC and Financial Times both report daily on the impact of oil prices and the credit crunch on our economy. It is not going to improve overnight.

It is not enough to offer a fantastic set of products and services, unless of course you can survive on repeat business!. Your message needs to get to your potential customers. Your message will come in a variety of forms from advertising and web presence to verbal and sales materials. It is even in the emails and invoices you send. If your message is not up to scratch change it. If your message is not reaching your target audience or the wrong audience, change that. Continual improvement and investment will help you survive this economic downturn.

• Google has 25.8 billion pages with a .com ending and 1 billion with .co.uk - that’s a lot of competition. In competitive sectors (e.g. loans, property, games) it may be very difficult to get good rankings.
• Only the search engines control what they display, where and when. Rankings cannot be guaranteed by anyone else! Occasionally they change the rules and that can be catastrophic for your rankings.
• Some companies may employ black hat techniques to improve their results. We refuse to use them as you will eventually be blacklisted.
• Successful SEO does require a high degree of specialist knowledge which is reflected in the cost. The initial SEO work can be quite substantive and, as importantly, does require on-going maintenance.

• The cost is fixed regardless of the number of clicks so in the longer term it provides better value for money
• Generally 80% of the clicks come from the natural listings and 20% from paid listings
• Research shows some searchers NEVER click on the sponsored listings as they believe the natural listings give better, more relevant results
• Combined with paid-search it can also offer a highly targetted audience

We worked closely with John deBraber of 1^st Class Window Films to create the final site. The testimonial below highlights the great working relationship we developed during the process.

“Bad Robot came to our rescue after experiencing lets say an unprofessional web design company, they visited my company and listened to what I needed, within two weeks they had my now fantastic website up and running. I would recommend Bad Robot to anybody who wants to get things done professionally, one of their many skills is their ability to listen and understand what you want. 10/10 John den-Braber 1st Class window Films Ltd”.

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There are many ways to segment your markets. Common approaches include:

• Geography: Physical location eg country, county, city etc.
• Geodemographics: Lifestyle information eg age, car ownership
• Social Class
• Type of Business
• Size of Organisation

Once you have created suitable segments you will need to validate them before you create segment specific offers and marketing communication. There are no standard tests but if you satisfy yourself that you can answer the following common questions you should be well underway:

• Is the segment big enough? - can you make enough profit?
• Is the segment sustainable? - will it be there long enough to make it profitable?
• Can you reach the segment? - can you identify and contact potential customers?
• Does the segment respond differently? - two or more segments respond the same combine them

Typical marketing tasks

• Identify existing or future customers
• Identify their needs and/or wants
• Identfy likely changes in these needs/wants
• Create products and/or services to match
• Ensure existing and future customers are aware of your offer
• Enable customers to get hold of your offer
• Ensure you are making a profit

It is clear to see that every business does these activities, whether inside the owners head or within a marketing department. A more structured approach to marketing is likely to give you better results.

The great thing about CSS is that it has to be one of the easiest languages to write, it uses plain English to define the element properties; and using a text editor such as Dreamweaver all the properties are made available from a list so you don’t even have to remember them.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that CSS is a simply a basic language, the full potential of CSS is now starting to rise to the surface, with publications such as Dan Cederholm’s Bulletproof Web design (http://www.simplebits.com/), which highlights the advanced layout structures and website effects that can be achieved using this language.

XHTML and CSS is a great starting point for any budding programmer. They teach you the basics and introduce you into other languages such as PHP and Javascript. You don’t need any fancy software to get started. Simply load up notepad. Get yourself a couple of tutorials of the internet, give it a go and see what you can achieve.