We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Total Racing International site www.totalracingint.com

From Coaching, Kit, Racing, Training camps, Seminars, to team member athlete profiles you’ll find plenty to keep you occupied.

The development of the site has been fun and we thank everyone at TRI for all their input and helping make this project a success.

www.totalracingint.com

Candidsky Goes for Gold! Well, maybe it’s not quite a solid hunk of the heavy stuff, but our very own company director David Beharall has, indeed, made history.  You’ll want to remember Friday April 3rd, because it’s definitely a night that will be remembered by generations to come.  It will be hailed as the evening a certain Mr Beharall won the very prestigious and extremely shiny ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the first ever One Oldham Chronicle Business Awards ceremony! Candidsky HQ has been in raptures and we’ve been making a special place on our mantelpiece especially for our gleaming new accolade.  

We’ll keep our speech short: we don’t want you to be sitting there two hours later watching us cry our eyes out.  Firstly, we are eternally grateful to the Oldham Chronicle for giving us this amazing opportunity.  Secondly, we specifically would like to send our appreciation out to Martyn Torr, the Business Editor at the Chronicle, for being the one who dreamed up this event.  And finally, we’d like to thank the people who organized the awards ceremony for delivering a first-class occasion and a great night out.  

The evening was a massive success, not only because of the recognition we got, but also because it gave us a fantastic opportunity to mingle with other local businesses based in Oldham.

And so, the final glass of champagne was  emptied, the last dancer took off their shoes and we all turned up to work on Monday morning a little fuzzy in the brain, but nonetheless extremely proud of David as we took it in turns to polish the award.

Drum roll…please! At Candidsky HQ, there’s been a wave of fists punching the air as company director David Beharall has been short-listed for the well coveted title of ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the inaugural One Oldham Chronicle Business Awards. Winners will be recognised by their peers as among the best in the borough. In addition to a specially commissioned trophy, winners will receive a profile in the pages of the Evening Chronicle, plus a framed copy of the article ad presented in front of of hundreds of people at a gala presentation dinner at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, on Friday April 3.


The award represents individuals that thrive on success and ambition and who have shown clarity in their vision of achievement.  Obviously, we think that’s Dave in a nutshell! The award would not only be a prestigious accolade to add to Candidsky’s already gleaming mantelpiece, but it also embodies the close ties that we have with the community.  As a constantly evolving business based there, we have been afforded many opportunities by Oldham.

We’re very proud of Dave for being short-listed, and can see that things are only going to get bigger and better this year!

There’s a very excited atmosphere at the Candidsky offices this month as we launch our sister site Candidsky School Software. For the past few months we’ve been pushing ourselves to get this venture up and running because we’ve felt so enthusiastic towards it. Candidsky School Software is our new enterprise, where we’ve decided to extend our digital problem-solving skills to the educational arena.

We’ve been brainstorming ways to reinvent schools management and administration in the most inventive, cutting-edge ways we can think of. By aiming to push the boundaries, we want to create software that not only functions at the highest quality, but also operates efficiently and for multiple purposes.

Come and have a quick look around our site at www.candidskyschoolsoftware.co.uk to see what it is exactly that’s getting us all fired up.

There has been a phenomenon slowly creeping over the lie of the land.  You may or may not be aware of it.  All I can really say is that you will be, sometime in the very near future.  Maybe even tomorrow as you're listening to Radio One over breakfast.  Chris Moyles has been going on about it, Stephen Fry can't get enough of it, and even Number 10 Downing Street is telling the world everything it can in 140 characters.  Yes, it is the titanic force of Twitter I am speaking of that has recently steamrollered its way into a lot of people's lives.

By 2008, Twitter had played host to well over 5 million visitors, which places it high amongst some of the most influential sites on the internet today.  It's brilliance is undeniable.  The definition of Twitter has been notoriously hard to pin down as anyone who has read any of the articles on it will realise.  It is, basically, comprised of a series of short, sharp updates known as Tweets from Twitter followers.  It's easily accessible on mobiles and PCs which means that you can pretty much chirp your message to the world from any location.  However, it has gone above and beyond a mere notification system: it has built a sense of community, as people come to the aid of their fellow followers if they can help in any way.  The best example of this is the man known as the Twitchhiker.  As part of a charity challenge, the Twitchhiker has proclaimed that he will travel as far as he possibly can in the space of a month solely reliant on the wonders of Twitterers the world over.  And from the most recent tweet, he seems to have raised just under £1,000 in charitable donations purely from the good hearts of his Twitter followers...Not bad considering he's starting out on 1st March.

The main point is that news spreads as fast as a lighting strike these days on the internet.  We are lucky enough to have information a mere tap and click away.  But what Twitter does is give you the information you're interested in alongside the chance to debate, converse, ponder and marvel at ideas that other followers have typed in response.  And trust me, it's always a very quick response.  One eager individual described Twitter in what I think is probably one of the best, albeit absolutely dripping with cheese, descriptions I've heard:

   "Twitter is a room full of strangers. Just talk to your friends and you'll leave the party early. Mingle, and you'll learn, share and grow."

The Integrated Marketing Communication approach has been around for a long time. In essence it involves taking the strengths from a number of advertising mediums, and deploying them in a united marketing method to achieve maximum results.

This works by way of positive reinforcement. As members of the audience become exposed to the message across multiple formats, they absorb the communication from different perspectives.

Finally, a strong presence on social websites allows the message to become social, meaning users can interact with it in a communal way. Because of the community oriented nature of sites like Facebook, Bebo and Myspace, the fact that one person has seen the advert means that people they are connected to online may also see it. Because the message may be ‘recommended’ by a friend, a user may be more likely to read it and pass it on. It is this social behaviour mechanism that can cause a chain reaction and a viral loop.
Once initiated, a viral loop can multiply the reach of the campaign indefinitely. This means that the power of integrated marketing campaigns can be intensified far beyond that of the more traditional campaign strategies.

In addition, using traditional digital marketing techniques such as mass emailing and interactive microsites in association with rich media such as videos and communal applications can give a good campaign the power to become great.

Its all about integration and bridging the gaps between different mediums so that they communicate a mutually beneficial message.

If i were giving an award for new media star of 2008 it would go to American President-elect Barack Obama. He left his mark in the history books by raising $500m (£306m) in donations via the Internet for his Presidential campaign. The campaign was centered around the use of social networks YouTube and Facebook, first hand showcased the power of the Internet and the weight it now carries. It also seems that Obamas connection with the Internet is here to stay as he promises universal broadband coverage for all US citizens. This is a very good move as it will keep the Internet ever present in the lives of all Americans leaving the door wide open for Obama to communicate and channel future campaigns through.

On the other side if there was an award for dimwit of 2008 it would surely go to Jerry Yang the founder of Yahoo. He spent pretty much all of 2008 trying to seal the deal on the proposed acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft but failed miserably and has since quit as Yahoo's CEO. Yahoo as a whole have struggled to get up to speed with the Web 2.0 environment of social networks and micro-blogs. Currently they are one of the walking wounded companies of Web 1.0 laying off staff in the wake of the current credit crunch and recession.

So who will be the stars and dimwit's of 2009? Well let's be honest it really is impossible to tell but as the Internet continues to dominate and with more and more businesses channeling work through it, it's certainly going to be an interesting year.

Well what better time to make the most of your website than 2009, with the credit crunch and recession hanging over us many of us are looking to new ways to survive. There are so many different directions and routes to follow that the Internet can seem quite daunting and downright confusing at the same time. The single most important piece of advice i can give is keep your strategy simple!

So many times we see businesses trying to go down many different routes at the same time but all this does is confuse matters. Following my own advice i will give only one tip for 2009 and it's one that i hope you seriously consider ... 'social media marketing'

With millions of people logging in everyday, social networking sites offer you an audience just waiting to be contacted at your fingertips.  It’s not just about getting in touch with a wider target market either.  You can also really milk your creative juices by building interactive campaigns that allow your customers to participate and have fun.

If you wish to discuss social media marketing further please dont hesitate to contact us

Paul Brooks Design have been clients of ours for a couple of years now as we have developed and designed a portfolio website for them with a bespoke cms. Today we are pleased to announce a further updates to their website and products helping keep their site up to date. Paul Brooks Design are specialists in office furniture offering a full design and development package. Experienced with a proven track record we have found them not just very good at what they do but also superb to work with.  For anyone looking to have a bit of a revanp of their office in 2009 and add a bit of style it would be worth checking out what Paul Brooks Design have to offer.

www.paulbrooksdesign.com