** warning: these productivity tips have nothing to do with credit crunch but I liked the title better with those words in.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to try and improve my productivity by implementing a few simple techniques. There is nothing ground breaking here but sometimes its good to focus on the basics and fine tune a couple of things. Perhaps you, like me, are sick of looking at your watch to find a few hours have passed and you’ve done lots of things, but none of them being what you were supposed to have done.

Avoid interruption
- Here’s a radical idea. Only have your email turned on at preplanned points throughout the day. Email is one of the biggest productivity killers because when you leave it on all day you become a slave to it. If you get a lot of mail it will be coming through in a steady stream all day. In my case most email I get requires some sort of response and it’s really tempting to respond to things as they arrive (we all like a clean inbox – right?). Personal preference will dictate how often you check it: for some three times a day for 30 minutes a pop works a treat.

- Turn off Twitter, instant messaging and anything else that pops up. Mates are great, aren’t they just, as is their every waking thought but there is a time and a place. If you’re busy, turn it off.

- Set aside some ‘procrastination time’, and be strict about how many precious hours you devote to that fine black hole. Sites like Proggit and Hacker News are great for knowledge but if you are not careful you’ve lost two hours in there. You know an awful lot about an algorithm you’ve never heard about before but your real work – you know, that stuff you get paid for – is still untouched.

- Headphones. There is nothing better for shutting everything out in a busy office than sticking on the cans and losing yourself in the soundtrack to your own life. Try as I might not to listen to others around me, my brain can’t shut everything out – especially as most of what’s going on can usually involve or affect me in some way. Shut it out – focus on the task at hand.

Exercise
The benefits of regular exercise are well know but one of the main advantages for me when working 18 hour days (and that’s just on a Sunday!) is that my energy levels are quite high for most of the time. I never used to be a big fan but once you get past the first month or so of a regular exercise plan you sleep better, feel like eating more healthily and you are much more productive. Take a walk. Run, even. Go on.

This one is very much open to debate – as I am keen to find out the general consensus on the subject of web copy…

I am an ardent believer that less is more and as a web user, personally, always prefer snappy and to-the-point when I am browsing. I tend not to be interested in the long arduous company history blurb and usually care far more about the general aesthetic of a site and its usability than being told what the company ethos is. Read more…

Many organisations are reluctant to delve into the world of using social media as a marketing tool. To some organisations, the idea seems too risky of negative exposure, is far too time consuming and the just the thought of online social networking causes some to turn and run towards the less ‘geeky’ and more safe, tried, tested and traditional marketing methods. However, by doing this you’re only putting off the inevitable that sooner or later you’re going to have to embrace it or you may be left behind.

Fear not, the best thing is that using these tools to tell your customers about your latest promotions, latest products, your events, jobs available, your opinions current affairs and anything else you like is incredibly easy. They’re all designed to be completely user friendly to even real non techies and once you’re set up, a little time and thought is all it takes.

Actually, that’s not the best thing. The best thing is communicating with your customers and potential customers on social networking websites is arguably the most cost effective advertising its possible for you to do. If you’ve got the time and the inclination it’s completely free! Don’t think either that it’s just the kids who are Facebooking, Tweeting Or Flickring (errr sorry, must be a better work for interacting with Flickr!), 35% of visitors to Facebook are 35-54 years old and who are the people with the most followers on Twitter UK? Barack Obama, Stephen Fry, Jonathon Ross … not exactly the voices of our teens.

Having a single brand website for all online activity is becoming a thing of the past. Sure, you’re always going to have your core website as a central hub to your online strategy and activity but to maximise exposure across the web including search engines, it’s advisable to create a ring of online content and activity across the web, all pushing people back to your core website and then back out to the networks. For example, you might have regularly updated Facebook fan pages, MySpace profiles, Bebo profiles, numerous blogs, regular news updates to your followers through micro-blogging platform Twitter, Flickr slideshows, etc all linking and integrating with your core website.

Everyone’s heard of Facebook (and if you haven’t you won’t be reading this). Facebook has 21.8 million UK members. You can set up your fan page, invite all your friends to join, get links to the fan page on your core website and articles, thus driving members. You can communicate with your members by posting articles, starting discussions, sharing photos and videos. Use the network as it is intended to be … a social network. Talk to your customers and keep it updated. When you’ve posted your latest news, you can send alerts to all of your fans. All for free.

Blogging can also be a wonderful way of interacting with your customers and potential customers. It’s generally used as a less direct approach to sales as the tone that would be on your core website. Here you can create a following by writing regular articles containing content that the public may actually be genuinely interested in. For example, if you owned restaurants, rather than constantly pushing people towards your restaurants, the subtle approach maybe to talk to people about food, cooking, recipes, the lifestyle. If people relate to your writing, ethos and beliefs they’ll associate this with your brand and could result in indirect sales. My main tips would be keep blogging at least once a week, offer people something so they have a reason to come back, keep linking to other websites and organise links back to you and try not to see it was a chore, it’s something you need to live and love. Also, blogging is perfectly set up to provide you with fantastic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Blogs are perfectly set up for SEO, after all, they contain text, links and tags, everything Google can read and lots of it.

Because of users like Stephen Fry, Jonathon Ross and the BBC, Twitter is the new darling of social media. It’s been around for a while now but is quickly becoming huge. Twitter allow you to ‘tweet’ or post micro-blogs of up to 140 characters per post. It’s a great way to instantly inform your customers of what’s going on and what you’re doing. Top news stories are now being broken on Twitter before they hit the news networks due to the platforms speed of delivery … so if you’ve got something to sell or offer your customers, send them a short sharp tweet and word will quickly spread.

All these platforms and more allow you to set up a presence and interact with customers and potential customers for free. It takes time but for this you need to make the time. Every time you run a marketing campaign not matter how big or small, update your posts on your networks and write a quick blog. Try to make it part of the whole campaign process.

My only other words of advice relate to the content of your posts, blogs, updates, etc. Whilst in your core website you can directly sell and promote yourself, in your networks you should be more funny, light-hearted and indirect. The hard sell on social networks is akin to being sat in a pub chatting with your friends and being approached by a stranger asking you to buy his goods. The seller risks making the people relaxing with their friends feel uncomfortable and less likely to buy now or ever.

Done the right way, social media marketing is truly cost effective. The potential for fast communication with huge numbers of people all under your own control and in your own time. Why not give it a try and most importantly try to enjoy doing it too!

If you have any questions or want to learn more about social media marketing, just shout.

James Wray

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Hello you mighty blog-reading folksters!

It’s been a while since my last blog-session but five hail mary’s and a ‘hell yeah’ and I’m back and mean business.

Everyone seems so down in the dumps at the moment and I for one want to put an end to it. Yes – pasta is more expensive and my collectible Buffy dolls are now worth more than my house is – but you know what? Life is still pretty darn amazing for the majority of us Brits and let’s not make bones about it.

We have food, we have shelter and the most any of us have to worry about is a few months in the dole line. There are plenty of people who are suffering far worse from the current situation and charitable donations from people like us are at an all time low. That’s why I wanted to highlight the upcoming Comic Relief and talk about what I am going to be doing to raise some mullah!

First and foremost, I am rallying the Magnitude team to take part in some simple money raising. I have also threatened to turn up to work in a cow costume and demanding people pay for the pleasure of seeing me in it (well wouldn’t you?!).

However most importantly, I am throwing a party in the evening, fancy dress of course, where people have to come as their self-invented superhero (e.g. make your own costume, choose your own power and weakness!) Guests will pay £5 to enter. At the end of the night a hero will emerge as ‘Most Original Superhero!’ and be the lucky recipient of half the door takings. The rest will go to the Red Nose Crew!

However, if I win I will give all the money to charity – so in a bid to get more cash over to those really suffering at the hands of ‘The Crunch’ (my evil nemesis) – can anyone think of a winning costume for me?!

There’s a lot of worrying and nay-saying doing the rounds at the moment and it is understandable given the constant reminder on our TVs, radios and web searches of the current recession and it’s annoying little brother – the credit crunch. And even those of us who have yet to feel the frosty bite of dropping figures look to the future with a sense of fear and uncertainty. Will our clients continue to spend as much? Will we lose them to cheaper competitors? And, if they do, where will our new business come from?

Read more…