Updates from Zo Nicholas RSS
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03:20:59 pm on June 3, 2011 |
Blue Tit
Something caught my eye the other evening, a movement in the patio tub outside right outside the window. There was this tiny little baby Blue Tit just sitting there on a branch. Suddenly he darted of onto a bush where he found something to eat. As quietly as possible I grabbed my digital camerato take a shot, by then he was already on the fence, sitting still for just a moment. I managed to get a shot of this baby Blue Tit, but not a very good one as it was taken through the window which makes the image a little blurred. Blue Tits are very flighty birds, always darting here, there and everywhere in search of insects, seeds, nuts and caterpillars so not the easiest of subjects to photograph.
Blue Tits (Cyanistes Caeruleus)
Blue Tit
This year we have seen a few blue tits and their youngsters in the garden but never so close to the house. They are resident here in the garden all year round usually darting among the bushes and very occasionally on the bird table.
Blue Tits or Cyanistes caeruleus are such pretty little birds, a mix of blue, green, yellow and white and quite common in gardens in the U.K. Although we have a nesting box up we have not been succesful in attracting them to breed in our garden. The blue tit is a great pest controller in the garden as it loves to feed on aphids (those horrible green bugs that can cover and destroy your most precious garden flower in the summer) as well as other insects that gardeners dislike.
Digital Nature Photography
Over the years I’ve taken many photos, some good some not so good. The best digital nature photos are the ones where there has been preparation beforehand. Taking photos of moving subjects like birds means setting up a camera often on a tripod and being prepared to be patient. Unless you are a professional photographer or really dedicated amateur we don’t often find the time to do this. Taking a perfect shot by someone like myself is very much a hit and miss affair, although there are some digital photos that I am truly pleased with and can add to my Digital Photography collection.
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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04:33:50 pm on May 31, 2011 |
Tendring Hundred Show 2011
Just a quick heads up for those who enjoyed last years Tendring Hundred Show . This years Tendring Show is to be held on July 9th at Lawford Park, nr Manningtree. Last year the weather was absolutely perfect fo the show, a nearly cloudless warm summers day! Let’s hope the weather doesn’t let us down this year. Nothing worse than tramping around the show in wet clothes and wellies, so w ar keeping fingers tightly crossed.
The children loved going round to see all the farm animals close up. This year too we are looking forward to some great exhibits and competitions and doing some retail therapy amidst the variety of food and craft stalls. See you there!Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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12:35:06 am on May 28, 2011 |
Colchester Zoo Turtle
While going through some old digital photographs I took last year I came across this photo of the Turtle that caught my imagination today. I took this on a trip to Colchester Zoo with my grandson. A zoo is an interesting place for a photographer, although you do need patience. Patience to get the shot you desire although we can always do some editing in Adobe Photoshop.
Reflections in Nature
The natural world that surrouds us is a beautiful place if we take a closer look at what we see. Nature can amaze us, inspire us and calm us, but we don’t often take the time to look around at the beauty around us. When using a camera and getting closer to your subject you begin to see more vividly small details that may otherwise be missed. This photograph I took last year of the Turtle focuses on the natural reflection created in the water adding a slightly surreal feeling to the photograph.
Digital Photography Seminar
Ycademy will be holding another Digital Photography Seminar online very soon, so watch this space for more details!
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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04:14:41 pm on May 25, 2011 |
Marketing on Facebook
While some are taking it easy and relaxing in the warm sunshine here in the U.K., others are busy preparing for the forthcoming seminar this weekend on Marketing Products on Facebook. Selling your product on a Social media site is not just a matter of sticking your product under everyones nose and hoping to make a sale. There’s much more to it than that.
Facebook Marketing Seminar
The forthcoming seminar focuses on how to best utilise the various features and tools to our best advantage in order to make a sale. Facebook is quite a daunting place if you have no idea how to use the settings and tools. This is why a seminar is a great way to focus and learn how to use Facebook to achieve the best results and be guided through the whole process step by step. The advantage of this seminar it that it’s entirely online so I don’t have to leave home and can still be here for the family, and if I miss something then there are recordings to fall bck on.
Facebook is a massive market place and also great place to do some market research for your marketing strategy if you know how. An advertising campaign can prove very expensive and inefficient if not researched and planned correctly. In Facebook a campaign if set up and followed through can be highly cost efficient, increasing your sales, brand awareness and visibility.
There will be more to follow on Marketing your Product on Facebook after the seminar this weekend, so watch this space…
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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11:03:02 pm on May 21, 2011 |
To Facebook or not to Facebook
According to Facebook there are over 500million active users on the site, and half of this number login at least once a day. That is one busy market place trading in international friendship. Social media sites have crossed international borders and cultures, building international relationships with total ease, * ’70% of Facebook users are outside the United States’, so thus redifining the old concept of globalization.
Around half of the 500million users login to their Face book site via a mobile phone. Now even if all these stats are a bit exaggerated, it’s still a social media site to be reckoned with. So, the question is, do I need to be present on Facebook?
Do I need to be present on Facebook?
The first question you need to ask yourself is, why am I going there, for personal reasons to find old friends, new friends and have a chat?, or, after reading the statistics, is this an ideal marketing place for my product?
The demographics of this social media platform are so diverse that it makes it really worthwhile to tap into this global market place. If you have a product to sell where else would you find a place to talk to so many people? As the vast majority of users are adults over 21yrs of age its certainly a place where a small business marketer may find his new potential customers, BUT, you must know your target market first. Then apply the ’age old’ marketing strategy; building relationships first and then and only then the sale.
Not everyone is a fan of Facebook or of social media sites. Many are still fearful of these sites due to some of the bad publicity they have had. generally social media sites are pretty safe places. When you first join such a site you fill in your profile, those who are not truly aware, may find they have exposed too much information unwittingly, or got carried away in the chats etc and given away private information that should not be made public. Privacy is a much talked about subject these days. Dangers lurk everywhere in society, and you should always take care of what you say and write to whom, whether on or offline.
Facebook Marketing Seminar
At the end of the month I will be attending a 2day Facebook Marketing Seminar, not because I’m a raving fan of Facebook but rather because of the recent changes to Facebook and now a new marketing strategy and campaign must be applied in order to reinforce the brand and build a successful business using the website as a marketing tool. The site is just a tool, what you use it for is up to you.
* Source: Facebook Statistics
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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12:23:45 am on May 13, 2011 |
Maintain a Website
Following up on the previous post about Website Maintenance, in this post I will outline a few website maintenance basics that any owner of a WordPress website can follow. These are simple general maintenance tasks that are often overlooked and can cause errors and ultimately a failure of the website.
Website Maintenance Basics
Here are a few basic steps that you can easily follow to help keep your website up and running and in good order. Once logged in to your site you will see the Dashboard and all the features below in the menu. Any Updates that need to be attended to will be highlighted on the menu. This will be your first task to perform. These updates refer either to a new version of WordPress itself ( at present we are running version WordPress 3.1.2) or a plugin update.
On the dashboard menu you find certain features.
1. Users: here you can enable the editor that you see and use when you write a post, do fill out the user name and nickname and add your email where people can contact you as an administrator. Also keep your eye on the other users you may find you get some unwanted guests, just delete them if neccessary.
2. Settings: Here you find various sections that need to be filled out, these all depend on how you wish to run your website and what you would like the public to see. If you use plugins, some find their way into this section if they need settings to be configured.
3. Plugins: this section displays any plugin that you may have installed on your web site. This section is important to keep updated. Plugins that are outdated can cause serious damage to a site. Be mindful that not all plugins are compatible with each other and can create conflicts. Any plugin that you decide not to use should be deleted, as it just ads to an unneccessary load on the server. The Akismet plugin is important to activate in order to keep down the spam.
4. Pages: here you can add pages to your site. Not many problems here normally in this section .
5. Links: normally no problems here but do delete any dead link.
6. Comments: if you post to your blog regularly and your site is visible on search engines you will find comments here, either legitimate or spam comments. The Akismet plugin filters out many of these comments, however some do get through. Some of the comments can be extremely large, full of links and can cause your web site to slow down – just delete all spam.
7. Posts: here is where you ad your personal contribution to the site. Using the text editor can be a big help if you are not familiar with code. If you ad images make sure they are not heavy as this slows down loading time. Usually no problems here unless something is added to a post that creates conflict and wreaks havoc on your site
All these tasks can be performed without a webmasters intervention, but it means regularly logging in to your WordPress based website and performing checks that all is running smoothly. If time is money and you have very little time then maybe a monthly website maintenance plan is the right thing for you. For more information about Web Maintenance Services click HERE .
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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07:50:58 pm on May 11, 2011 |
Website Maintenance
Last week we were putting some finishing touches to a project called ‘Oliver’s Shop’, a new eshop selling Childrens Toys and Books. I say ‘finishing touches’ reservedly as no website is ever really finshed. In the case of Olivers online shop there are always products to be added, an update or upgrade that needs to be dealt with and of course general website maintenance that must never be forgotten.
Web Maintenance Services
Where there are databases these need to be taken care of too, kept clean, error free and optimised at least once a week and most importantly backed-up. Back up is a neccessary must and invaluable when things go wrong. Without good maintenance a website is more likely to go offline and in some cases not be cost effective to restore. Web maintenance rates can start from as little a 25$ a month (for a small website) or you are charged an hourly rate, all really depends on how much work needs to be done.
Professional Web Maintenance
Unless you have some webmastering skills its best to leave website maintenance to a professional. Keeping a website error free, free from dead links, working with msql databases, repairing databases etc is a time-consuming and skilled job. You can of course learn all these elements by joining a webmastering course, however who has time for all this if you are busy running a business, its best to out-source the work to those have experience.
If you have already spent a $1000+ for your web site it makes real sense to spend just that little bit more to keep your investment in perfect order. There’s nothing worse than creating a marketing campaign and sending would be customers to an error ridden website. For more information about these please contact us HERE
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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07:10:49 pm on May 9, 2011 |
The Common Frog
Spring has certainly arrived here in this corner of Essex U.K. as announced by the cuckoo call all day long today. While the cuckoo was busy calling for a mate or to mark its territory, the common frog was having a bit of a sunbathe in the warm sunshine. Where there is water there will be frogs.
This frog was not at all deterred by the activity in the garden and was quite happy to sit on a discarded bit of clothing. It’s good to always have your digital camera handy like my NikonP90 when outdoors as you never know what you will see next. Our garden is always full of surprises.
Common Frog
The common frog or Rana Temporaria is a frequent visitor in english gardens like here in Essex especially if there is a garden pond. The common frog is distinguished by its smooth skin which can vary a little in colour from green, yellow, brown or grey with a dark stripe around the legs and eyes. They are a useful visitors in the garden as they are happy to eat insects, slugs and snails with their long sticky tongues. Our pond was full of frogspawn this year which has now turned into lots of little tadpoles which in turn will turn into frogs. We are in for a few more surprises in the garden that I am sure of!
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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04:17:01 pm on May 7, 2011 |
eCommerce Solution
In today’s fast moving, technological world any business with a product or service to sell needs to have a portal online where customers can come and make a purchase. There are many ecommerce solutions to choose from: from some very sophisticated and expensive right ones through to the free shopping cart solution. From past experience, when I first was online, I know that free can be expensive. Today I would recommend and urge anyone to start with a simple solution that suits your business needs. There are a few features to consider when choosing your ecommerce shop.
Your eCommerce Solution
Customers are your priority and they should experience a pleasurable shopping trip online, without navigation problems and frustrations. When it comes to webstore design it is important to consider the layout and navigation. Navigation must be easy, with a clear flow through to the buy now button or checkout. Payments and payment options are another feature that need to be considered as customers do come from various corners of the globe, especially if products are downloadable or services offered are online.
Also, first impressions do count, so the store design must be visually pleasing to the eye yet projecting your business and your brand. Today its all about ‘looking good’ and very much about non-verbal communication and this does requires stimulating design with clear, self explanatory images.
From eCommerce to mCommerce
We saw the shift to eCommerce a few years ago. Today the fast growing trend is mCommerce thanks to the latest developmets in technology like the smartphones, iphone and iPad. No longer are we tied to a desktop to make a transaction. With the development and addition of apps on mobile devices retail visits, comparisons and purchases are made simple and are easily integrated into our daily lives, anytime and anywhere.
Semiomantics eShop Solution
Taking all the above points into consideration, the Semiomantics eShop provides a simple solution for most any business requiring a clean and friendly interface with high visibility and performance. A Semiomantics eShop is based on a WordPress shop theme that has been adapted to comply with the high Semiomantics standards. Customers requiring a more diverse and complex ecommerce platform with multi-currency can opt for the ?????Semiomantics Total eCommerce Solution.
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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11:14:32 pm on April 11, 2011 |
Copyright © 2011 Zo Nicholas. Visit the original article at http://zonicholas.com/web-design/slidedeck-for-wordpress/slidedeck-pro-slides/.
SlideDeck Pro Slides
It’s been a busy week here working on various projects that I have on my desk. My last post referred to SlideDeck Pro that I installed on my author blog. I also mentioned that I may end up completely changing the look of the jQuery slider. Well this I have done, having been not totally satisfied with the first version.
SlideDeck Pro Slides
As you can see from the screenshot it is a very different look from the previous one and very focused. The slides convey the message, whereas the rest of the site can be very minimalist directing viewers to other less important topics.
The SlideDeck is a very efficient way for any business, or individual, to display his/her business products to the public, where each slide leads to a relevant product page. With this display, marketing a single product or multiple products is just a matter of creating attractive slides. I have a few projects here that I am working on where this will benefit not only the business but the customers too.More will follow…
Author:
Zo Nicholas, Media, Marketing, Publishing.Co-Founder of YORGOO, Ycademy,YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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