The Brighton and Hove Business Awards website has been updated and went live a few days ago.
NixonMcInnes are sponsoring the BAHBAs for the fifth year in a row and we are proud to announce the launch of a re-designed and radically different website complete with social media features to support the awards.
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Ruth wrote this on 09.05.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the Brighton, Business, Events & conferences, NixonMcInnes box
Following on from Lou’s earlier post about Social Innovation Camp, I was intrigued by their proposition of ‘an experiment in using social technology for social change. I submitted an idea, which didn’t quite cut the mustard but did lead to my being invited along to help out. So on the weekend of 5th & 6th April I trotted off to join in on an event bringing together great ideas, a multitude of skill sets and an all pervading enthusiasm to prove that the web can be used as a force for good in the world.
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Jenni wrote this on 16.04.08 – 2 comments
It's filed in the Business, Interesting, Internet, NixonMcInnes, Social media, Web technology box
OK - here is my beef. A picture says a thousand words yada yada yada - I get so bored of saying that but it’s so true. You invest your time writing a lovely piece for your blog and then you stick up some clip art / google image / modern toss to add colour / texture / meaning * (*delete as appropriate) to your lovingly personal prose.
9 times out of 10 it looks awful.
My advice - and it’s worth it - would be to use one main image to illustrate your blog post and spread the love across the whole width of those pixels. Choose an image that’s the right quality, well composed and expresses the essence of what you’re writing. Go abstract - if you can’t find an image then don’t bother.
If you really need to use other supporting images then think carefully about the arrangement. The classical [horrific] treatment is to stick an image on the left, run the text next to it and then put an image on the right and wrap the text, creating ugly rivers of copy your readers will find difficult to read.
Put the image about the text. Give it some space to breathe - honest it works!
Small images work best when they are cropped really tight - this way you see the detail instead of an array of blur.
If you’re running a team or corporate blog then stylistic consistency is key to presenting your opinions in a polished environment. Define some guidelines and communicate these to your bloggers. Good image selection / placement / arrangement are part of your brand, so give it some love.
This also applies to the tone of voice to the text you produce. We all know we should be conversational and human - it gets across some of the personality of the individual and hopefully it makes the content more interesting and unique.
I guess my last point would be about headings. You want to make them descriptive and alluring. They need to be a blend of search friendly keywords and a little bit of magic to tease the reader, grab their attention and reel them in.
Joshua wrote this on 03.04.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the NixonMcInnes box
More lovely marketing momentum from NixonMcInnes – check out where our comments are being published and where we have been getting out and about spreading the word of social media goodness.
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Ruth wrote this on 02.04.08 – 1 comment
It's filed in the Events & conferences, Marketing, NixonMcInnes, Press, Social media box
Ok so I am still absorbing Friday and what took place. Personality profiling in the workplace. Being a true ENTP I am going to kick this one off and chip in where I feel the need. Basically we went to the countryside to an amazing wee pub with a great backroom (ooh er) the kind with a nice big table and china in a ye olde sideboard thing and a REAL fire. Hazel our therapist/organiser? Not sure of the terminology, arschlosch to titles. This talented individual known the NM peeps showed us some stuff about ourselves. I am overwhelmed. I shall end there for now. Sushi seems more appealing than writing blogs just now.
Joshua wrote this on 29.03.08 – 12 comments
It's filed in the NixonMcInnes box
Recently I was on a train to Brighton, a bit bored and without juice in my laptop so I decided to go online via my mobile phone to check out the social media marketing goodness flowing from the NM towers blog.
I became increasingly frustrated by the tiny text and slow loading times. I thought that it would be a good time to release the mobile version of the site at: m.nixonmcinnes.co.uk! Read more…
Patrick Mays wrote this on 11.03.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the Marketing, NixonMcInnes, RSS, Social media box
The analytics tool we use most often in NixonMcInnes websites is Google Analytics. Analytics tools help you gain detailed insight into how your customers are interacting with your website.
Google launched a new version of their free Google Analytics package a few weeks ago.
Benefits of the new implementation include:
- More reliable tracking capabilities
- Lighter code
- Advanced features and sophisticated reporting
- New Multi-line Graph (beta feature) that graphs two different metrics against each other over time
- Reports available in six additional languages, bringing the total number of supported languages to 25
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Telmo wrote this on 29.02.08 – 4 comments
It's filed in the Business, Development, Internet, Marketing, NixonMcInnes, Our sites, Strategy, User experience, Web analytics, Web technology, ebooks box
Read the latest chapter in our ebook series and find out how you can make sense of the endless stream of data generated by your web analytics package. Define the numbers that matter and use them to generate actionable insights for you and your colleagues.
Download the PDF from our ebooks section, and sign up for notification of future chapters while you’re there.
‘Essential Web Analytics’ is part of our FREE e-book - “A Marketers Guide to Social Media”.
This is a user-friendly, no-jargon guide with great examples and useful tips of how to use the latest digital techniques to make your online campaigns successful. Essential reading for marketers.
Jenni wrote this on 27.02.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the Free things, Marketing, NixonMcInnes, Web analytics, ebooks box
‘War…[boom boom, bam bam, donk], what is it good for?’
Yeah brother. Well what about social media? [boom boom, dank dank, dom] Haaaaaa-bsolutely nuthin’...
(Or is it?)
This is a question I’ve been asking myself lately. You see, I’m a bit crazy, a bit driven and I need to achieve. But I’ve been a bit like a rocket-jet without a steering wheel. I’ve achieved bits and pieces but at the highest and most important level, I’ve lacked PURPOSE.
Which has led me to question how I use my skills and especially those of the wonderful team we’ve assembled at Nixon McInnes. When such great people come together and gel, is it reasonable to allow them to work bloody hard in an interesting, fast-moving and fun area without occasionally stepping back and asking ‘are we really giving the world our very best here?’.
Isn’t that a responsibility I have to myself and my team, to check the reason why we’re doing what we do?
Another way to frame the same question is to look at our team, our skills, our knowledge and our passions and ask: what is social media *for*?
One thing social media can be harnessed for is improving how organisations conduct their marketing. This is our line of work, and we are building a good name and reputation for ourselves here. These days we tend to work with larger organisations and so our efforts can genuinely help our client’s consumers. So in a very very small way, we’re making a positive difference one project at a time.
But that’s not enough for me, and I don’t think it’s enough for our team.
I know you, dear reader, know this and don’t wish for me to patronise or come over all sandalwood and tie-dye (duuuuude), but this world that we live in has far greater problems than how to sell handbags. And so whilst as anyone who has worked with me knows I do have genuine passion for improving how big brands communicate with their consumers, I reckon I can recruit a whole new level of passion and energy for using social media to work on the world’s biggest and most real issues.
Here’s a few of the biggies off the top o’ me head in no particular order:
- Health
- Poverty
- Education
- The environment
- Politics & access to democracy
- Human rights
- Equality
You get the idea.
If it’s big, important, worthy and you (or I, more accurately) immediately pretend it isn’t there and wish it’d go away and stop interrupting your (my) thoughts about whether to buy the prawn or the roast beef sandwich, it’s probably on the list.
So this is pretty much where we’re up to, at the very start of this thinking and talking process as a team.
We’re absolutely not about to stop doing what we do, that’d a damn good plan B to tease us away from a Plan A that is currently fun and rewarding. But what we do is ever-evolving and adaptive and that is why we have survived and thrived over the years - and so we are about to start thinking about other things we can do in addition to our work harnessing social media for marketing. It’s another iteration of Project Nixon McInnes.
And please allow me to be very clear: this ain’t about Corporate Social Tickboxing either. This is about real differences made by harnessing our team’s unique blend of skills and experiences. And it’s not about not-for-profit necessarily. I guess the vision is of a blend of things: online communities, websites, applications & tools, channels, campaigns, resources, events (real world, even!) - whatever we feel can make a difference.
So here’s some questions for you, and I’d love to hear what you think.
- What do you personally think social media are for?
- Can social media be employed effectively to make even a tiny difference to these issues?
- What is it about social media that might help address these causes?
- Which projects or causes inspire, grip or otherwise distract you personally?
I look forward to the conversation now :)
Will McInnes wrote this on 08.02.08 – 12 comments
It's filed in the Business, Internet, Marketing, NixonMcInnes, Off topic, Social media, Strategy box
