Posts

richard c pendry security consultant and author

What Makes A Good Blog?

“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.”
-Howard Luck Gossage

Effective blogs improve your website’s potential as a lead generation tool

What makes a good blog – I’ve just been asked. On a daily basis for years now we’ve been offering advice, training and hands on support in how to ‘Blog’. The intricacies of what makes an effective blog and by that i mean how do we get to the top of google, has changed rapidly, as is the nature of the internet, online marketing and search engine optimisation. Keep signing up for and reading those email newsletters from marketing disruptors to keep on top of it, or call on us for advice.

The basics of common sense sales and marketing have remained.

A good blog has eye catching and relevant images, a short sharp and well thought out video preferably towards the top of your blog, good use of styling to make the content easy to read and links into your website pages and to external sources you reference. Make sure your website is mobile friendly and check it on a mobile phone. If you can turn off large images on mobile great. Make sure you have a call to action at the bottom and a contact form.

Here’s a blog we’ve just published for Richard C Pendry. We’re on with improving his current website http://www.richardcpendry.com and helping him with his sales and marketing both for his consultancy business and his brand as an emerging author.

how to write a good blog and improve a website

Here’s a video that’ll give you more insight on his writing. Check out his books here. Enjoy.

 

the big chip awards 2016 manchester digital agencies

Looking forward to #BIGCHIP2016

We’re super excited about the Big Chip 2016 awards on 23rd June.

There are still sponsorship opportunities: an ideal opportunity to get your brand in front of the cream of the North’s digital and tech-creative sector. Contact info@bigchipawards.com for details.

The shortlist was announced in April. Full details here.

Journal/Chronicle news coverage here.

Manchester Evening News coverage here.

Big Chip is the UK’s longest running digital industry awards and the biggest outside London. It has an unrivalled reputation for judging consistency and integrity. Run by and for the digital industry – not for profit – the Big Chip Awards are for all things digital in the north of England, with special categories for start-ups, micro-businesses, students and apprentices. You can read more about Big Chip and its history here.

Big Chip is run by trade association, Manchester Digital working with partners including Digital Union  in the North East, Creative Sheffield, and user groups and networks in Leeds and Liverpool.

“…our most recent win for Best Digital Agency in 2014 really paid off. As a direct result we were approached by Bruntwood … 4 months later they were a client.” Jon Keefe, KMP Digitata

“We got a really nice job from a blue chip client as a result of our win, so I can testify to how effective the awards are.” Jon Turner, Kilogramme

Big Chip The Movie from Mighty Giant on Vimeo.

brigade 77

77 Brigade Launches April 2015

The Army is setting up a new unit that will use psychological operations and social media to help fight wars “in the information age”.

Head of the Army General Sir Nick Carter said the move was about trying to operate “smarter”.

The 77th Brigade, made up of reservists and regular troops and based in Hermitage, Berkshire, will be formally created in April.

It has been inspired by the Chindits who fought in Burma in World War Two.

‘Bespoke skills’

An Army spokesman said the unit would “play a key part in enabling the UK to fight in the information age” and that it “consists of more than just traditional capabilities”.

He said: “77 Brigade is being created to draw together a host of existing and developing capabilities essential to meet the challenges of modern conflict and warfare.

“It recognises that the actions of others in a modern battlefield can be affected in ways that are not necessarily violent and it draws heavily on important lessons from our commitments to operations in Afghanistan amongst others.”

Recruitment for the brigade, which will contain 42% reservist troops, will begin this spring.

Gen Sir Nick Carter The Army, led by Gen Sir Nick Carter, could face cuts following the general election

Its members will come from the Royal Navy and RAF as well as from the Army.

The unit will also look to find “new ways of allowing civilians with bespoke skills to serve alongside their military counterparts”.

The spokesman said it will share the “spirit of innovation” of the Burma Campaign of 1942 to 1945 and will also use the old Chindit insignia of a Chinthe, a mythical Burmese creature which is half-lion and half-dragon.

‘Changing behaviour’

Paul Rogers, a professor of international security at the University of Bradford, said the announcement represents a “big expansion” of the Army’s psychological operations and is an “attempt to rebrand and update” this area of its work.

“We had so much difficulty in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s about trying to learn the lessons of how these groups are using social media,” Prof Rogers explained.

He added: “In some senses it’s defensive – trying to present the case from this side against opponents who hold many of the cards.

“We’ve seen with Islamic State, its incredible capability on the net, Facebook, Instagram and all the rest.”

A former Army officer involved in psychological operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, Simon Bergman, predicted it would help build “the Army for the future”.

“For example, 77 brigade have a large component of civil affairs soldiers who’ll be operating in populations, working with them, achieving military effects – and a broader effect, because as we know from Afghanistan, the military doesn’t work in isolation. It works as a component of government.”

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said: “The Army says it’s learnt valuable lessons from Afghanistan – not least that it can’t win wars using pure military force alone.

“77 brigade will be made up of warriors who don’t just carry weapons, but who are also skilled in using social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and the dark arts of psyops – psychological operations.

“They will try to influence local populations and change behaviour through what the Army calls traditional and unconventional means.

“Civilians with the right skills will work alongside regular troops and reservists and could be sent anywhere in the world to help win hearts and minds.”

He added that the new brigade was also being introduced at a time there are fears within the British military that it could face further cuts following the general election.

More on This Story

Related Stories

From other news sites

Portfolio Items