PostsA competitor i just cannot figure out how he does it 19th August 2013 1:08 PM My cynical side says cheap stuff on ebay like that is either knock off or factory seconds. Maybe Primark scrap some stock as seconds, and sell that on? Or cross a security guards hand with silver  Hello All My friends. 19th August 2013 12:46 PM Where did you go, anywhere nice? Flash for cash!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! 16th August 2013 3:48 PM I've read it all now. Heard of insurance scams and faked accidents, but this is a new one on me... BBC News - Warning over 'flash-for-cash' car accident insurance scam “Motorists are being warned about a new insurance scam where criminals flash their lights to let other drivers out of a junction, then crash into them on purpose. Anti-fraud experts are calling it "flash-for-cash". The gangs tend to target new, smarter vehicles or vulnerable road users, including older people and women with children in the car.” There really are some scumbags in this world  Do Not Jail Thieves? 16th August 2013 3:44 PM This is where we need our resident Probation Officer to pick up this thread. This is right up his street  Though will duck for cover once he starts ranting!Come on Ray, where are you????? Thomson Local has gone bust!!!!! 16th August 2013 3:39 PM “Do you think 118 Information and Market Location have just brought the database?” Thomson Local are a big well known brand, so I would imagine they will keep it running, they'll just absorb their database. But as Barney says, I can see them ditching the publishing side. Physical directories have been a dead duck for a long time, and look at the sheer amount of debt Yell is in. I don't think I actually got a yellow pages this year, maybe they have dumped it all ready? That said you still see very localised paper directories, or at least you do round our neck of the woods, so maybe it's viable for smaller niche publishers? Am I spending wisely? 15th August 2013 2:46 PM Just remember Del Boy's saying, this next year Rodney... Mind you, I say that every year Thomson Local has gone bust!!!!! 15th August 2013 1:13 PM Well it seems within a few hours of going into administration, they have been bought by the founders of 118 Information and Market Location. Be interesting to see what happens to them now. Am I spending wisely? 15th August 2013 1:02 PM “My site displays OKish on a smartphone but not brilliant. I haven't done any door knocking PR, and I agree that I definitely need to. It sucks just waiting for the phone to ring, and when it does, it's telesales. Time to get some business cards and be proactive. Thanks.” Smartphone usage is going through the roof. Any new business that doesn't make their online content smart phone friendly has just lost 40% of the market, possibly more. If my computer is knackered, how do you think I will be searching for your services??? Displaying ok'ish on a mobile device is wrong. If you think it looks crap, how do you think others will view it? PPC now is all geared for mobile devices. Door knocking, pounding the streets, talking to businesses and schools etc can be soul destroying and humiliating, especially if like me you're not a natural salesperson. But it is proactive and stands a chance of generating leads. To run a business, you need a very thick skin, be self motivated, a self starter have an endless supply of optimism, and just a little luck... I'm afraid sat watching the phone is a guaranteed recipe for failure... Thomson Local has gone bust!!!!! 15th August 2013 12:30 PM Blimey, Thomson Local has gone into administration!! Sacked and left stranded: phone book staff called to HQ, fired and told to hand over company cars | Mail Online “Hundreds of workers were left stranded and in tears yesterday after they were called to their company head office, unexpectedly made redundant and then told they could not use their company cars to get home. Sales representatives for telephone directory Thomson Local received a mysterious email late on Tuesday afternoon ordering them to attend a meeting at head office at noon yesterday.” Well I never!! I remember me and Clive being invited down to Thomson HQ a few years ago, thinking they might consider buying us, they in fact tried to flog us their database. It was a surreal experience and I remember at the time seeing the army of basement workers trying to cleanse their data and watching the hard copy book get thinner, it was only a matter of time with the sheer amount of overhead they must have. Then there is the army of sales guys in their company cards, proper old school hard sell directory model. So with Yell up to it's eyes in debt, and Thomsons exit stage right, is this an opportunity or a worry??  Samsung hammers Apple as smartphone market grows 15th August 2013 10:24 AM This is pretty interesting, especially if considering mobile friendly versions of your websites, and what to optimise for. The smartphone market has now overtaken the traditional feature phone. “A smartphone is commonly defined as a device that has built-in applications and can connect to the internet. In contrast, feature phones tend to perform fewer functions and are priced more cheaply.” BBC News - Smartphones sales top feature phones Interesting to see the popularity of Samsung, 31.7% market share versus 14.2% by Apple. I'm still an iPhone fan though |
