Author Archive: Matt

More Pixels and More Mobile Than Ever!

In graphics, pixels are everything. More pixels give us sharper images and make the images on a screen look more lifelike.

Here’s a refresher about pixels: the word itself stands for picture element, and a pixel is a single point within a graphic image. On colour monitors, each pixel consists of three dots in the primary colors (red, blue, green) making colour images a bit fuzzy. High-definition display screens pack pixels very tightly, until you can no longer see individual ones, providing sharper images and less blur.

Pixels are key to display qualities. People want high-quality display monitors. More than ever, they want them on their mobile devices as well.

People Watch More Video on Tablets

It makes sense to crank up tablet display quality. More people are watching video on tablets, according to Broadcast, which reported this more than doubled between June 2012 and 2013. In 2013, the British video provider Ooyala found that more than one-quarter of all video were viewed on a mobile device by the close of 2013. People now watch long-form video content (video running for at least 10 minutes) equally on tablets and laptops, and 53% of all tablet use is spent watching video.

Video stream is replacing television. Across the pond, Mashable says that it’s the Millenial generation (those who reached adulthood around 2000) who are watching video online. Thirty-four percent prefer viewing this way, rather than traditional television. Ten percent of this group doesn’t even watch broadcast TV at all, instead accessing the networks’ streams. (British TV also offers online streaming.) Forty-four percent said they like watching on mobile devices because it lets them decide when, and where, to watch a show.

Why are tablets popular for watching videos?

Television still offers the best high-definition quality, but tablets are fast catching up. Why are they popular? Marketing Pilgrim say’s it because they are mobile. With a tablet, you can watch video anywhere. It also allows people to browse for programs and apparently fosters intimacy, too: Business Intelligence reports that more people stream TV and video on their tablets in the bedroom than watch live TV there.

Lightweight, 4G tablets should appeal to Millenials everywhere. The latest ones feature 1920 x 1200 pixel displays ( 323 pixels per inch, or PPI) on 7-inch screens, (the standard is 1280 X 800) and weigh around 300g (.66 lbs) with 4G technology. Nexus 7, offered by T-mobile, Google, and Asus, offer these specs. Plenty of other larger and heavier tablets also have these speeds and resolutions.

4G Service Providers

4G is available everywhere although service is still spotty outside of major cities. The number of 4G services offered in the UK tripled in 2013 when Vodaphone and O2 invaded EE’s territory; EE, however, has the largest 4G network. Tesco and Three Mobile have joined since then. Check here to see if you have 4G coverage in your postcode.

Website Trends That Improve Your ROI

Facebook is king when it comes to user engagement and return on investment. Brand engagement on the social networking site continues to grow, up 438 percent in 2012, notes Econsultancy. Along with having an engaging, consistent social presence, your business must catch up with website trends to boost your ROI.

These four website trends will not only improve the user experience, they will improve your ROI by making it easier for users to convert. They work best with a clean, fresh website design. If your website has a clunky or stale design, or it does not match your branding, start from scratch to have the best chance of increasing your return on investment. Implement these trends and use analytics to regularly track your progress and refine your approach.

Conversion optimization

Conversion optimization boosts your ROI by making it easier to convert the traffic your website already captures instead of focusing on driving more traffic to your website. Paid conversion optimization tools include Crazy Egg (which offers a 30-day free trial and plans from $9) or Optimizely (which offers a 30-day free trial and pricing plans from $17 per month). Google Analytics offers some free conversion optimization tools that can help you get started.

Bounce prevention

Similar to conversion optimization, this trend targets the traffic you already get. Bounce prevention measures intend to stop the user who visits your site from leaving and forgetting about you. They might include remarketing ads that target users who have left, or targeting users with a pop up offering a free ebook download or an opt-in newsletter option. You’ll get direct feedback on how effective many of your bounce prevention measures are by seeing how many users opt in.

Tell your story

Your website should tell your story in a clear and compelling manner to really engage the user. You can look for inspirations by looking at storybrand website examples to know how to portray your story in your site. Elements that help you tell your story include clear writing, crisp images, engaging videos, and a rich social media promotion strategy that continuously puts your message out there. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or videographer to do this. Take advantage of resources like Shutterstock, a stock photo database where you can purchase images for your website, and freelance marketplaces like Elance or oDesk to connect to freelance writers, videographers, or web marketers.

Focus on perceived value

Increasingly, it isn’t just about putting your product out there but about finding ways to demonstrate value. Blog regularly about ways to use your product (or service), create tutorial videos, or use targeted email marketing to show value. If you create shareable content that will demonstrate perceived value, you’ll also gain an organic traffic boost when users share your content. Social shares will continue to be an extremely important, relevant way to increase your return on investment. Getting out in front and being active in promoting your brand socially can benefit your ROI.

Futuristic Business Cards

Business cards might not sound like the cutting edge of graphic design, but you’d be surprised at how adventurous people are being. Some of today’s designs look like they belong in the far future, for example the ingenious card for a cargo company that folds into a cardboard box.

For more examples of incredible business card designs, look at these examples of innovative design. The business card printed on paper money is especially maverick, as is the dog trainer’s card printed on actual dog biscuits.

Until now business cards were just a way of swapping contact details, but it makes sense that they have the potential to communicate so much more to a customer or colleague. If first impressions are everything, then why are so many professionals happy to give out bog-standard, uninspiring business cards? If you want to meet your customer’s expectations, you might also need to think about your chocolate bar packaging.

Potential clients could look at these cards and make a quick judgement based on design, without even realizing it. As the current job climate is so harsh, no wonder more and more people are thinking of unusual and clever ideas to make their business cards stand out from the crowd. If you’re in the business of financial planning, you have to know how to market yourself as a financial advisor so you can perform effectively.

Andy Defrancesco believes that a business card is an opportunity to tell people about you in a few seconds. Seeking for a recognized  business Print management could help you in producing state of the art prints. Follow the example of the creative mechanical engineer who designed his business card to transform into a mini paper catapult, or the hair and make-up artists who gave out cards with Kirby grips slotted in them to look like the hair of a cartoon girl.

Perhaps the future of business cards lies in cards becoming more technologically advanced. Cards will become less about the material and more about the virtual. Technology is becoming cheaper and cheaper: perhaps one day businesses will give out tiny screens that switch on to reveal contact details or sound recording devices that relay important information by way of a voice message. An IT consulting company can put in place security strategies that ensure your business is up-to-par with security standards.

It sounds gimmicky, but in this challenging job market gimmicks might just work. You don’t have to go over the top, but you should make sure your business card is well-designed. You should consider hiring a logo maker to make your card stand out. Potential clients will judge you and your business on the quality of your business card, so make you use a professional to print off your design. Some print companies will even let you upload you own design, for example Instantprint have a design and print function. That way you know you’ll be using a unique design that will look fresh and interesting.

Increase Productivity With a Small Business Technology Makeover

More than 80 percent of small businesses responding to a recent j2 Global survey said they are ready to retire their old systems in favor of new technology. Look at your company’s equipment and processes for those areas taking up too much of your time and money. Consider the following technology as a way to put new life, and efficiency, back into your business:

Small Business in the Cloud

Entrepreneur magazine sees the migration of small business practices to the cloud as a natural growth step. Once used primarily as a place to store information, the cloud now offers a variety of services, such as:

• data backup and recovery
• applications
• testing and production platforms
• networking services
• disaster recovery

Some companies offer entire office environments in the cloud. Intermedia’s Office in the Cloud provides file storage, syncing and collaboration, office tools, voice and email services. All of these services are through secure connections and can be accessed by all desktop, laptop and mobile devices.

Back Office Processing Revamped

Many vendors have moved their standard business software offerings to the cloud, enabling customers to get rid of cumbersome and expensive desktop-based software, licenses and support fees. CRM, sales force management, marketing tools, accounting and payroll are all available in the cloud. For example, Intuit’s invoice application is now cloud-based, and like most products in the cloud, it includes mobile interfaces.

These cloud-based tools save you money and are accessible whenever you need them and wherever you can get a network connection. This makes your sales force on the road more productive or lets you look up current customer data quickly before an offsite meeting. It also opens up more outsourcing opportunities since it’s easy to give a remote worker access to these tools, while if you want your workers to be more efficient services like Jason Linett professional hypnotist can really help giving training to your business and more.

Updated Cash Registers

Point-of-sale (POS) solutions have altered the way payments are taken. Entire POS systems now run on tablet computers. Small card readers plug into tablets or smartphones and let you swipe credit cards. The smallest of retailers can now take a variety of forms of payments with these tools. Many of them interface with cloud-based accounting systems making reconciliation and reporting easier. As your business adapts to these technological advancements, be mindful of your financial stability. If you encounter any financial challenges, don’t hesitate to Get Advice on Business Insolvency to help manage and overcome obstacles effectively.

Phone, Netbook and Tablet in One

Fox Business predicts phablets will be adopted by small businesses in 2014. These phone/tablet devices have been on the market for a few years, but have not been well received in the UK and US. They are popular in countries where people want to save money by buying this all-in-one device versus a separate smartphone and tablet.

The larger screens are easier to work on and browse the Internet. With smartphones becoming even larger, phablets may have already filled the niche of people who want to do real work on their mobile phones.

A Cloud on Your Desk

Businesses are concerned about storing data in the cloud until a high-level of safety and security is proven. But they still want the ease of getting to it as if it were in the cloud. Western Digital’s My Cloud is a network drive that sits in your office but can be accessed by you and your staff over the network. Up to 4GB can be stored on the drive fully encrypted. Software lets you control who has access to certain areas. You can use any laptop or mobile device to get to the secured data. With devices such as this and cloud data storage, you’ll have access to all of your business information when working away from the office.