Clarihon Web Services newsletter August 2008

Clarihon Newsletter

You're received this because we already have a business relationship or we've exchanged business cards somewhere. If you don't want to receive future editions, please use the opt-out facility at the bottom. In this issue Hints & Tips Keep in Contact (article) Client Profile - The Tool Supplier Useful Links Latest News Graphics on the Internet (article) Our Services The lighter side Useful Links The Business League Actnow - Broadband for Cornwall Federation of Small Businesses Business link Devon & Cornwall Bizhelp24 for Small Businesses Businessballs Companies House HM Revenue & Customs UK Patent Office Latest News Although we've plenty of business lined up, the summer has been a little slow for us. We've provided a new template for the Business League's weekly newsletter and will be doing the same shortly for Crown Copiers and Total Energy Solutions. On the web site front we've provided a simple holding page for One2Three Commercial and helped Total Hospitality with their Search Engine rankings. Within a couple of weeks 3 of the 6 new/revised pages we provided are ranked first on MSN. I'm sure that Yahoo and Google ranking won't be far behind. If you'd like to see what else we have to offer, please see below or visit our web site at www.clarihon.co.uk. Article - Images on the Internet Have you ever wondered what the difference was between the different types of images used on the Internet and which is the best format to use? Hopefully the following will help explain. GIF format – this is very good for compressing large areas of the same colour and is the only option for animated designs without using Flash or similar animation software. A GIF file often loads more quickly on a web page as it's usually smaller in (file) size. One other important factor is that GIFs can have transparent backgrounds. All images have a rectangular shape and are comprised of the main component(s) plus 'background'. Where the web page background is plain there is no problem. The background of the image is simply set to the same colour. Where the background is not a solid colour there could be a problem. The transparency of a GIF image's surrounding area allows the background of the page it is on to show through. GIF files support a maximum of 256 colours and are best used for logos, line drawings and icons. JPG format – this supports a maximum of 16.7 million colours and handles gradual colour changes well. Photos are usually stored in JPG format and are much more easily manipulated this way. In addition to photographs, use the JPG format for colour gradients and any image that needs more than 256 colours. PNG format – this is the newest format that is used on the Internet. This was developed to overcome some of the limitations of GIFs, so provides similar features but with much greater depth of colour, has more transparency options but does not support animation. See the Hints & Tips section about software for resizing images. Our Services Web sites - clean, attractive, easy to use web sites that rank well with Search Engines. Search Engine Optimisation - getting existing web sites ranked better on Google etc. Web addresses/Domain names - Your own business or personal web address. E-mail - your own business or personal e-mail addresses. Web site hosting - lots of web space and plenty of features in our cheap web hosting packages. Newsletters - like this one, designed for you and sent to your clients and prospects. Logo and business stationery design - great designs but terrific value for money! To see how we can help you get more from the Internet, see our web site at www.clarihon.co.uk. Sign up If you've enjoyed this newsletter but aren't signed up to receive it regularly, you can sign up via our web site.	Issue: 10 - August 2008 Dear Reader Welcome to our newsletter. With all the talk of the economic slowdown (no 'R' word here!) it's easy to be concerned about your businesses' future. A friend of mine has the answer to this - Always Look on the Bright Side. Read his uplifting words here: Painless Newsletter July 2008 It's at times like this that the most successful businesses put extra effort into standing out from their competitors. Whether it's better customer service, more advertising or a greater Internet presence, maybe it's worth thinking about? Hints & Tips There are lots of tools available for editing and resizing images for the Internet. If you don't already have a program like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Paintshop Pro, try the free editor Irfanview. It lets you resize and rename a batch of images. Irfanview also has a lot more features like cropping, artistic effects and drawing tools. Get it from www.irfanview.com. At some time or another you've probably had an e-mail warning you of a dangerous virus/trojan etc. Apart from being wrong they can sometimes be dangerous in themselves. If you're unsure whether the warning is real, before opening it up check Hoaxslayer or other similar sites that attempt to capture scams and malicious e-mails. It's also worth checking the web site of your anti-virus software company. If you need help editing your images, call us on 01579-342360 or via enquiries@clarihon.co.uk. Article - Keep in Contact There's a truism in sales that says the best source of increased sales are existing companies. That can be extended to existing business contacts. When you're looking to attract new business or advertise a new product or services why not approach your existing clients and contacts. The way to do this is via e-mail marketing. At it's most basic the e-mail can be simply a broadcast of latest products or special offers - an e-shot as they're sometimes called. The most effective though are much more than this. By providing more than just overt advertising and sales information you can build up a relationship with your readership. By providing the recipients with useful information you encourage them to read the e-mail communication, maybe to forward it on to their clients & contacts or even to request your products and services. By giving and being helpful the goodwill it can engender will pay dividends in the long run. If you'd like to know more about e-mail marketing (especially newsletters) why not contact us on 01579-342360 or via enquiries@clarihon.co.uk. Client Profile - The Tool Supplier The Tool Supplier are an Internet-based power tool supply company set up by Toby Halcrow and based in Saltash. Focusing currently on Makita tools they provide a wide range of discounted power tools for both professionals and DIYers. Toby approached us at a business breakfast club of which we are members. He wanted to set up his own business selling power tools having established excellent links with local distributors. Even though his budget was restricted we were able to set up a full e-commerce web site for him. A custom design ensured that his branding is clear and that the tools are well presented. If you want to sell products via your web site, we can help. Contact us on 01579-342360 or via enquiries@clarihon.co.uk. I bought a new Audi and returned to the dealer the next day because I couldn't get the radio to work. The salesman explained that the Audi has Sync and the radio was voice activated. "Nelson," the salesman said to the radio. The Radio replied, "Ricky or Willie?" "Willie!" he continued and "On The Road Again" came from the speakers. Then he said, "Ray Charles!", and in an instant "Georgia On My Mind" replaced Willie Nelson. I drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time I'd say, "Beethoven," I'd get beautiful classical music, and if I said, "Beatles," I'd get one of their songs. Yesterday, a couple ran a red light and nearly creamed my new car, but I swerved in time to avoid them. I yelled, "Ass Holes!" Immediately the French National Anthem began to play, sung by Jade Goody and Noel Gallagher, backed up by Nigel Kennedy on violin, Chris Evans on drums, Tara Palmer Tomkinson on harmonica, George Bush on tambourine and Hilary Clinton on spoons. Damn, I LOVE this car.