Are Google and Verizon lining us up for Premium Internet Services ?

With all the talk about the need for Net Neutrality, some companies seem to be speaking with forked tongue.



Both Google and Verizon say they support an Open Internet. Yet they seem to favour a system that charges premium rates.

In a recent PCWorld report, both of these companies are described as "wolves in sheep's clothing - they very narrowly define net neutrality, and yet leave enough built-in intricacy and double speak to leave the door wide open for industry players to interpret net neutrality to fit their needs."

Two problems with Social Media unveiled - and solved!

First up, Axl Rose of Guns N Roses suffered at the hands of a Twitter Hacker - the only real complaint was that the hacker could have been a tad more original...



Second this week was the Dislike button, more of a scam, but easy to spot and avoid. We tell you more on this video:

Conrad and I had the great pleasure of meeting up with 700+ networking professionals last week, including Dr Ivan Misner, the founder of Business Networking International.

Dr Ivan Misner was the keynote speaker at the UK BNI Members Day. Some visitors had travelled from around the world to spend a day with him, he did not disappoint.

There was a lot that he said, some of which I wrote up on my BNI chapter blog. As you will see, I cannot possibly do him justice in a few lines for what he said in a day. The blog was based on my notes and I wrote them out as I think that what he said was full of great ideas and stunningly useful.

Although camera shy Conrad and I still managed to get a photo with Dr Misner...

Dr Misner even got a mention in the Telegraph about
the latest problems in social media: Premature solicitation






Dr Misner maintains there are four types of networking and professional networkers practice all four:

• Social networking (online, Twitter, facebook etc),
  
• Professional networking (offline, like BNI),
  
• Knowledge networks (trade associations) and
  
• Casual networks (customers, friends etc).
  

Recent research proves that people who network less than 6.5 hours a week are not very successful. Yet those that do at least 6.5 hours per week achieve much more. Mystery solved!

If you are interested in generating more business, drop me a line I would be glad to invite you to my BNI chapter in Paddington - BNI Great Western.

Otherwise checkout the BNI site Good luck with your networking, see you soon.

Crisis Charity run for the Homeless.

Weboptimiser, Lenta and many other city firms taking part in the Annual Crisis Charity run for the Homeless.

Weboptimiser - 1st in Search and Social Media

If you are looking to improve the performance of your website, we offer a free web assessment. To get yours, just drop us an email and we will have a good look at how you might take more advantage of and optimise for search engines, social media, video and mobile.

We find friends around the World and our services are available round the clock 24/7 through our central London, City office and our international offices and partners dotted aroud the World

We always love your feedback, please leave your comments below - and don't forget to register for next Tuesdays webinar. We have a brand new telephone system, so the sound quality will be as clear as a Whistle!

Register here for next Tuesday's Twitter Webinar.
See you next Tuesday...

Conrad Swailes talks about Video Optimisation with Neal Gandhi of Born Global

Conrad Swailes CEO of Weboptimiser talks with Neal Gandhi about Video Optimisation and some of the key benefits of integrating Video with search campaigns.

Love Marketing and days like Valentines Day

As you will know, it was Valentines Day on the 14th. Just last week at the Foundlings Museum near Kings Cross, London, the home of philanthropy, I was talking about Love in business and how so many brands use it in their marketing.

For some people it is obvious that they should. For instance one of our clients is Thorntons, the chocolote people and they sell chocolates every Valentines day... Mothers Day and all other Days throughout the year. They taste really good too.

For others in business focussing on Calendar events such as Valentines Day is a less obvious approach. However it is no less relevant and I hope to show you how and why that might be in the short video below. In the current climate I have always maintained that the Calendar is about the one thing that you really can rely on!

During the presentation I refer to a book written by Kevin Roberts CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi entitled Lovemarks - The Future Beyond Brands. As it was all around the loveliest day of the year it seemed most appropriate that I should refer to this, especially as the book gives some practical advice on what you should consider and use in your business. Buy the book - it is a small investment that will pay dividends.

The video basically records the highlights of the event, it puts the story across in around 18 minutes. I hope you Love it as much as I did making it.

I talk about how to make Love bankable and how to put love in your business. We all love our businesses. Our business pays the bills and keeps us warm at night. So it shocks to the core when things don't work out.

In the current climate there has been a lot of failure and difficulty. So I have looked at what we can learn from failures too and how it can help grow your business. How through loving our businesses, we can uncover rich rewards that we can use to fuel recovery.

I hope you find it enlightening enough to take action, there are no costs involved (except you should buy the book - which is a steal). This concept of Love in business encourages you to useand nurture the assets that you already have to generate more business. Buy your copy of Kevins book here: Lovemarks - The Future Beyond Brands

Share the love. Let me know what you think.

xxx

David