McGrath Associates are a dynamic Chartered Building Surveying company dedicated to providing a professional service to clients throughout the UK including Crosby.

ML associates are RICS chartered surveyors and Loss Adjusters based in Southport and cover areas of Liverpool including Crosby Liverpool.

If you were wondering why I began to blog a few weeks ago, and inturn, reconfigured and redesigned the website, its because of Rand Fishkin, and in particular, this video. It wasnt so much that it inspired me to write guest posts, it was the whole idea of blogging that I became interested in.

Like many, I blogged when everyone blogged, and like most people it had very little purpose aside from my thoughts on various subjects, but all with little reason direction or purpose so very quickly I stopped.  Now however, I had a new starting point, I had to give it another shot.

Firstly, I began to research blogging and began a completely new pattern of self education. My knowledge of web design as a whole exploded and gave me renewed fuel and vigor within the field.  Sometimes you need a different perspective to get you out of the rut.

Next, I wrote my first serious post about charity web design.  When you sit down to write your first post, you had better do the research. Once it  goes live, you cannot take it back. Writing about what you do makes you better, I promise.

What happened next was pretty much instant.

I wrote a couple of my own articles, people began to engage more with me accross twitter, my traffic increased and ultimately my mindset changed.  You stop creating websites and you become part of the online community of professionals.  Confidence increases and you just can’t wait to find inspiration.

You read more, you understand more and you want more.

I hope that after viewing the video it leaves you are left feeling that you too can write about what you are passionate about, and truly help people make a difference to those they are connected with.  If you are wondering what it is that I have chosen to concentrate my blogging on, well thats really simple. I have chosen to write about things that I hope will help my customers understand the value of a strong web presence, and how it need not be something of wonder and amazement.

I want my clients to have as much knowledge about the web as me, but then trust me to carry out the work for them. In the future, my clients will no longer have to say, ‘I just don’t get it’.

I welcome all feedback. Please do feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or leave your comments beloew. Please consider sharing this article too, all the cool kids are doing it.  Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time and remember, be excellent to each other.

Tony Lav

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Thanks to Rand Fishkin seems not quite to cut it for the inspiration and ongoing free education he unknowingly provides me with. Rand is now part of my ‘private inspiration team’ (that may well make it as a blog post). 

You can connect with Rand Fishkin via twitter here: https://twitter.com/#!/randfish

Rand Fishkin is the CEO & Co-Founder of the web’s most popular SEO Software provider; SEOmoz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O’Reilly Media and was named on the 40 Under 40 List and 30 Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30. Rand has been written about inThe Seattle Times, Newsweek and PC World among others and keynoted conferences on search around the world. He’s particularly passionate about the SEOmoz blog, read by tens of thousands of search professionals each day. In his minuscule spare time, Rand enjoys the company of his amazing wife, whose serendipitous travel blog chronicles their journeys.

A few days ago I attended a meeting with a local charity who are looking to redesign thier website.

Whilst thier existing website includes all the necessary information, a redesign wouldnt do any harm shall we say. Before the meeting, like with all web design, I spent a lot of time looking at how other companies have managed to use the tools of the trade to provide the right balance of engagement, aesthetics, functionality and ofcourse revenue generation.

One website stopped me in my tracks. The Michael J Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research.

You could argue that the site lacks colour and drama, but maybe there is a serious point to this.

Whilst a lot of the sites I looked at attempted to temp me into making donations by showing images of genuine suffering, I couldnt really stomach the images for too long. It may seem harsh, but a lot of the sites really turned me off. (Apologies if I have offendeded anyone who is genuinely suffering, its not my intention).

The Michael J Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research website begins with an awe inspiring image of Michael smiling broadly. Not only is the image an image of hope, its an image that says gently ‘it’s ok, together we can do this’.  Right next to Michael is a very clear message.

I keep going back to the site. There are no images of unhappy people on the entire site, or any of its sister sites.

The navigation of the website design is also well thought out and extremely easy to navigate. There is a lot of information on the website, and clearly a lot of thought has gone into the organisation of the data. The site still feels comofortable to navigate even though it is packed with information.

Under the header image, is a very simple layout, allowing visitors to very quickly get to the sections they require. Again, take a look at the positivity of the images used here. 6 very simple links with a link to the left for the latest news.  Could it be any easier to find what you are looking for?

So, you want to know that your donation is being put to good use? Here Michael gets a little more serious. Because his name is on this website and the fact that he was recently voted the 2nd most influential celebrity in the United States. (for those curious Oprah is considered first and Speilberg comes a noteworthy 3rd), here he is letting you know, he doesn’t take your donation for granted.

In addition to fundraising, the foundation has a community.  Fund raising activities are not only an amazing way of creating revenue, they are much more, they are the ability for charities to spread the message.

The Foundation has created Team Fox.  A simple name but with a wonderful message.

Video is a very simple way to send a personal message. Quality does not have to be fantastic, but the message has to be clear.

There are lots of other simple touches on the website like social media links but if I list everything, this post could take a lot longer to write.  Take the time to visit http://www.michaeljfox.org/ for more inspiration if you are a charity considering a new website, or if you are building your own to raise money for a concern.

In Conclusion:

Why has the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research Website got it so right?

They have managed to convey a very clear message.

People care and want to help. Make it easy for them to understand how they can help, what difference it will make,  they will not be left alone in there efforts and finally, they will make alot of people, including themselves, very very happy.

P.S. If you are wondering why the site is Orange, it symbolises happiness, joy and sunshine.

You can connect with Team Fox via twitter here: https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelJFoxOrg

I welcome all feedback. Please do feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or leave your comments below. Please consider sharing this article too, all the cool kids are doing it.  Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time and remember, be excellent to each other.

Tony Lav

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Web Design for Matt Holland. Personal Trainer from Chorley, Lancashire and has been in the fitness industry for over 4 years. Matt also covers Crosby.

Andrew Hoban Photographer has has been taking photographs in and around Crosby for 100 days now as part of his Crosby 365 project.

Initially I was a little skeptical, i mean really, 365 pictures, all of Crosby?  I have to be honest though, Im amazed at how little I knew of the local area. The collection is quite wonderful.

My Favourite so far is  is shown above. Day 85. Sat 18/2/12. this may change however as there are another 265 to come.

Andrew describes the image:

The sound of the town centre on a Saturday is the lone accordianist giving us all a slice of European music as we go about our business. There is quite often a piccolo player round the corner – never on each other’s patch – although he wasn’t here today so this bloke was happy enough churning out the tunes while surveying his audience.

If you would like to see the collection so far, you can view it here: http://crosby365.tumblr.com/

For the tweeters amongst us, you can keep upto date and receive live updates via Andrew’s Twitter account.  You can also give him a little moral support there too, heaven knows, 365 images of Crosby, one every day sure takes some commitment!  https://twitter.com/#!/hobanphoto

Working with housing providers throughout Merseyside and Halton, and managed by Sefton Council, REECH will refurbish over 2,000 homes with a range of measures to make them more energy efficient at a cost of £15million.

This work is known as retrofitting. This is available to residents of Crosby and Waterloo.  The aim is that the increased demand for green technologies will provide new business opportunities for local suppliers and contractors working in the green energy/low carbon sector.

The REECH Initiative is overseen by a Steering Group which is made up of officers from the Merseyside and Halton local authorities and staff from other key partners, for example The Mersey Partnership. The Steering Group is chaired by Cllr Ian Maher, Sefton MBC Regeneration Cabinet Member.

The programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Sefton MBC, Liverpool CC, St Helens MBC, Knowsley MBC, Halton MBC, Liverpool Housing Trust, Liverpool Mutual Homes, Plus Dane, Helena Partnership, Villages Housing, Riverside Housing and One Vision Housing.

for more information: http://www.sefton.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=11569

Image Credit

According to a newly released study from Borrell Associates, small businesses are spending more of their budgets on social media.

In fact, small and medium size businesses expect to spend nearly as much on social media as they do on search engine marketing.

Full Story Here:

Before considering a social marketing, read this. It can be very easily applied to most forms of marketing.

1. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking for more leads, more direct sales, greater brand awareness, conversions, or brand engagement? Understanding what you’re trying to actually do with your social media presence should be the first step in developing a social media strategy.
2. Why social media? Do you want to build stronger relationships with customers and prospects? Tap into online word-of-mouth channels? Demonstrate that you’re down with the kids? You have a niche audience that’s difficult to reach otherwise? The best way to avoid recklessly jumping on the bandwagon is to examine why the wagon is the best way to get where you’re going before you hop on. Ask yourself: is spending money on social media going to provide better ROI than other forms of advertising you could be spending money on?
3. What kind of social media will help you best achieve our goals? Do you need to utilize social networking sites, blogs, real-time updates (e.g., Twitter), social news sites, media-sharing sites, review/directory sites, virtual worlds, or display ads on social media sites? In some respects, talking about a social media presence is like talking about having an advertising presence: you must specify what you’re doing and where you’re going to place it. Examine the characteristics of the type of social media you want to have a presence on and how those characteristics fit what you’re trying to accomplish to help choose the ones that will work best for you.
4. Are you prepared to let go of control of our brand, at least a little? You can’t participate in social media without being…well…social. And that means engaging in a conversation with customers. Once you engage in a conversation, you have to give up control. Is your company willing to do that?
5. What will you do to encourage participation? There’s nothing more embarrassing than going to a corporate YouTube channel and seeing that the viral video it spent tons of money making has just 127 views. Ditto for going to a company’s Twitter feed and seeing that it has all of 11 followers.

What are you planning to do to drive people to your social media presence? And do you have the money to do it?

1. Who will maintain your social media presence? Participating in social media takes a lot of work. You must have something to say and you must have someone to say it on a regular basis. It won’t happen unless it becomes part of someone’s job. Do you have someone ready to commit a big chunk of time to maintaining your social media presence?
2. Do you have the resources to keep this up, or will this be a short campaign? Similarly, unless you specify that what you’re doing has a limited duration (such as a Twitter feed based on a particular conference), people will expect you to keep it up. Have you budgeted the resources to continue your social media presence beyond the fiscal year?
3. How does engaging users via social media integrate into your overall marketing/communications strategy? None of this stuff exists in a vacuum. It has to be part of a larger marketing/communications strategy. How does social media fit into what you’re trying to do in all your other channels, and how will you use those channels to support each other?
4. How do we measure success? What constitutes failure? Are you measuring views, followers, comments, or subscribers? What’s the threshold for your success metrics that takes them into success territory?

Drive traffic, gather data, connect, measure.

1. What will we do less of if we’re spending resources on social media? Chances are you have limited budget (if not, could you contact me immediately?). If you spend more money on social media and other nontraditional forms of marketing, you have to spend less on something else. How will your overall goals be impacted by taking money away from other forms of advertising/marketing and moving it into social media?

Credit: Sincerest thanks got to Sean Carton for the 10 steps.

Sean Carton has recently been appointed to develop the Center for Digital Communication, Commerce, and Culture at the University of Baltimore and is chief creative officer at idfive in Baltimore. He was formerly the dean of Philadelphia University’s School of Design + Media and chief experience officer at Carton Donofrio Partners, Inc.

Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider real value — and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.

Web design created for local Entertainment Company Jack’s Entertainment based in Crosby.