Our charity bike ride is tomorrow!

Bikes, bikes and more bikes! We just can't get enough of them and our big charity bike ride is now only one day away! So far we have raised just under £2,000 for Julia's House and The Youth Cancer Trust, we need to raise a further £3,000 by the end of the year so please keep donating!

Thank you to all those who have donated, it’s much appreciated!

We would like to say a huge thank you to Primera Bike Shop and The Connaught Hotel in Bournemouth for being our main sponsors, also to several local companies that have helped us out through out these last few months, you know who you are!

Tomorrow at 9am we will be starting our 80 mile cycle ride from our Surrey office, reaching our Bournemouth office around 6pm (hopefully earlier!). I will let you know how it went on Monday!

Three talks in a week!

So, the Easter holidays are over for another year and the four days off has certainly helped the batteries recharge a little. Which is very good for me as this week I'll be giving three talks to various businesses in Hampshire and Dorset, spreading my words of wisdom about web design and online marketing.

If anyone is interested in coming along, the three talks are as follows;

Wednesday 26th March - 7am - 10am - Understanding Google Analytics
This will be very much along the lines of the talk which I gave a few weeks ago in Poole, Dorset. I'll be examining how Google Analytics can be used to get better understanding of how your website is working and how best to capitalise on the information.

Book here - http://www.businesslinkhampshireiow.co.uk/events/
results.aspx?keywords=&EventSubjects=412


Thursday 27th March - 5.30pm - 7.30pm - Benefits of social networking sites for businesses
Going on from the presentation I gave last year in Dorset, this talk will be looking further into social networks and getting to grips with how they can be used to benefits businesses looking to target more clients online.

Book here -
http://www.adido-solutions.com/resources/events/dorset-events.aspx

Friday 28th March - 12pm - 2pm - Discover the power of PR and website marketing
I will be presenting with national PR and marketing agency Aylesworth Fleming to talk about how PR, both offline and online, can be used to increase exposure for businesses to help reach new markets.

Book here -
http://www.adido-solutions.com/cms/site/news/
adido_and_aylesworth_fleming_pr_one_off_seminar_.aspx


I always like giving presentations. It helps me to clarify things in my own head sometimes and also allows me to put down how these technologies work in the simplest terms so that anyone can understand them. Standing on stage and talking for 45+ minutes isn't easy and the hardest part I find is actually knowing which level to pitch the talks at. Are the people in the crowd new to this? Have they been doing it for years?

My assumption is always that a certain percentage of people will come along because they may have heard about whatever subject it is, without knowing anything about it, so if I target the talk for them, then at least everyone should be able to understand. (e.g. What does SEO mean? PPC - how does that work?, What on earth are social networks? What's the future of the Internet? I want to know about web design basics etc)

Do I get it right all the time? Probably not, but I've got a lot better and more confident over the years and the feedback seems to be more positive.

I guess getting 'engagement' face-to-face is a lot easier than online!