Over the last couple of days, everyone in England has been hooked on the riots and looting taking place in London and other major cities.

Social media, especially the site Twitter, has been blamed for helping the ‘rioters’ decide on meeting times, places and also act as a platform for people to encourage others behaviours.

Though these sites have come under criticism, they have also allowed others to organise ‘clean-up’ campaigns, communicate and make sure friends are safe, show support for those affected and defy negative opinions of Britain.

There are some suggestions to cut off Twitter, Facebook and others but those suggesting such things forget that social media has gone far beyond catching up and chatting to friends, it is now used as a powerful marketing tool for businesses and losing such a tool would lose a lot of business for many companies.

Social media gives your business the chance to interact with others and get involved in current issues, debates and show support for worthy causes. A huge selling point of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook is to allow customers to interact with their favourite brands and businesses and see you on a more personal level and with some management by companies like ourselves; you can succeed and be a part of this growing phenomenon as well.

Thank you

SmarterWays

Being a growing company, we know how important it is to get your name out there and the best way to do that… interact and get social!

Having regularly updated media such as Twitter, blogs and Facebook – lets your customers see you on a personal rather than corporate level and this can be a great thing especially when trying to establish and build relationships.

Making different connections on social networking sites can open up your potential list of customers hugely. In our experience, not only have we been able to speak and get in touch with some exciting new customers but we are also able to engage with our suppliers, keeping up-to-date with some of their big news and also broaden our network by speaking to their customers as well. At the end of the day, one of the best ways to get recommended is through word of mouth and this can be done through social networking sites – they give suppliers and customers chance to give real feedback about your products and services.

One of the best sites we have come across is LinkedIn – it lets you socialise and interact with professional business people with similar attitudes and intentions to yourself. Joining different groups and getting involved in discussions increases your profile and also gives you a stage to voice your opinion on topical matters. Being clued up on relevant matters and issues will push users in the direction of your profile and in turn your company.

Being based in Burton, Staffordshire, we benefit from some great networking opportunities – many groups have been formed, with the most recent being ‘Future Faces’ which gives individuals and businesses that are new to business the opportunity to interact and get ideas from those more established than themselves and which are ideal to our team at SmarterWays. We welcome businesses of all sizes, ages and professions as nowadays, IT is the key for any functioning organisation.

The Burton Chamber of Commerce which we have recently joined, seems to be an ever expanding group giving us all some great networking opportunities as do the Chambers all over the country.

Being on top of social media when there are so many different sites and so many different ways of doing so can be incredibly time consuming which is why our SmarterWays team of Internet marketers want to help you. Whether you simply want advice or want us to completely take over a social media campaign for you, we are always here to help. Please get in touch to find out more.

Thank you

SmarterWays

We have recently had an enquiry regarding the expertise within our copy-writing and proof-reading team at SmarterWays and it made us think about how qualified one has to be to sell their services as a proof-reader or copy-editor.

Within SmarterWays we have qualified staff who have been on courses to become competent in these skills which is why we are confident in our abilities to offer it as a service. Not only are our staff qualified but they also have years of experience behind them in this field. Due to this experience we have helped a variety of companies from accountants and lawyers to footwear providers and clothing companies, we like to help everyone and don’t restrict our services to any company.

The SmarterWays staff can not only proof-read or write content for websites but also help with any of your literature you want  to send out to clients and help build up your brand, online and offline.

At SmarterWays our prices for proofreading and copy-editing are not expensive and definitely make it worthwhile paying for for piece of mind.

Nowadays when there is so much competition within every sector and industry people are in, the first impressions people have of your website and branding are key. One simple spelling mistake can lose you potential business worth millions. By not spelling words correctly or using incorrect grammar and therefore getting the wrong message across – people will assume you are an unprofessional company and go elsewhere.

Even if you are confident with your text, at SmarterWays we are strong believers in having another pair of eyes to check over your content… when looking over something for so long it gets hard to see mistakes and sometimes you need a fresh view just to spot the most simple of mistakes.

Please call us to find out about what we can do for you or even to get some hints and tips on writing your content.

Thank you

SmarterWays

Well… this afternoon has seen the announcement of the 2011 budget.

Whilst we can’t help being annoyed by some of the demands and restrictions on parts of the economy – as are most – we are a little relieved for IT and for small businesses like ourselves and also excited for the potential given to our sector.

Being the business we are and specialising in web design, email marketing, IT support and server installations (to name but a few!) we obviously rely on IT for the efficiency within the company.   

What we at SmarterWays are also excited about is the apprenticeship schemes that the new budget is allowing for. With an experienced team of designers and developers here at SmarterWays, we are more than qualified to train young apprentices and are fully encouraging the push to get young people into IT , share their creative ideas and introduce some freshness into our business.

The budget has also given businesses a tax break, freeing up their cash flow and allowing companies to invest in their IT and marketing infrastructure. Nowadays having a website designed and adopting Internet marketing techniques is much cheaper than traditional advertising methods as well as more measurable allowing for precise results. 

Websites are much more of an efficient marketing tool which is why we would love to hear from you and help you to build your online business profile through whatever medium you wish.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you

SmarterWays

With social media being the latest hub of excitement for not only everyday users to keep in touch with each other but also now used for marketing campaigns by companies to target particular traffic… it is no surprise that hackers are starting to get involved.

Just this morning, Kaspersky have warned about the latest malicious virus going about and it can be found on Facebook chat messages that look like the following:

Many users see Facebook as a trusted site and so might click on the link out of interest which will then lead them to quizzes and eventually the user having to pay out money.

Due to the nature of SmarterWays as a business, we look after our client’s social media, websites, IT support and much more.

Our social media and Internet marketing team help users with their different activities online including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, PPC campaigns and much more. Because of the experience we have in this field it means that SmarterWays can manage your media so that it is used to full effect and that not only do your accounts avoid being intercepted by the viruses but also that your followers, fans and potential clients don’t receive spam from you.

Working so closely and in conjunction with Kaspersky also gives us a lot of confidence in avoiding viruses and threats both online and offline. When a new virus is caught, Kaspersky will ensure they can do everything about it for example telling Facebook and making sure that any users spreading the link must be removed straight away. They also try and ensure that their anti-virus will eliminate the threats that the virus contains and protect your computer and operating systems.

To find out more about the protection Kaspersky can give you and about the help that SmarterWays can give you with your internet marketing and social media then please call us or look through our websites for more details.

Thank you

SmarterWays