I write this while stranded in the Glasgow Airport BMI Business Lounge, waitng with Martin and Paul for our flight to London (now delayed by 2 hours).  We’re going down to attend the Nominet Best Practice Challenge Awards, where NSDesign are shortlisted for the “Raising Industry Standards“. 

The awards themselves are essentially about making the internet a better more accessible place, and so it’s a great pleasure for us simply being shortlisted among other giants within the industry.  Accessibility has always been at the forefront of what we do at NSDesign, so to gain some recognition for this (and other initiatives we get involved in) is fantastic.

Talking of accessibility - the European Union has just published a public survey on accessiblity, which aims to gauge the current situation with regard accessible websites, the costs/efforts associated with building them, and the affects (and improvements) they give to disabled users.  The research will all be used to determine if a broader EU law on accessibility (rather than a country by country implementation of different laws) is a better approach to take than what we currently have.  Pretty interesting stuff, and I’d encourage everyone to complete it.  It’s just a shame their own survey doesn’t meet accessibility guidelines!

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Anybody watching Wimbledon last night can’t help but admire Andy Murray, and his epic performance against the French number 1 - it really was one of the superb comebacks of the sporting world.

With no “Home Nations” in the football this year (and even Martin’s Italy didn’t have the best campaign), it’s great to see Andy doing the Scot’s proud - lets face it - on the sporting front, we don’t often have much to cheer about (with the exception of me winning the EURO2008 office sweepstake)…  Plus, it gives us a great excuse to mention the website we did for Andy’s Main Sponsor - Highland Spring.

Go Wiild with Andy Murray is a competition “microsite” developed for Highland Spring giving users a chance to win a Nintendo Wii, as well as play tennis with Andy Murray himself…  Although based on last nights performance, best of luck to you!!

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On Saturday, NSDesign took Clyde 1 DJ Colin Kelly to the Bon Jovi gig at Hampden in Glasgow.  Kind of….  Check out our dedicated site - www.ColinKellyatBonJoviwithNSDesign.com which explains all (and has the photos to prove it).

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I always find it amusing when I come across the “Top 10 Tips for…” articles that seem to be everywhere.  Most of the time they’re full of very obvious suggestions and lack any real innovative ideas that actually help you.  Flick through any of the web magazines or popular blogs and you’ll find “Top 10 Design Mistakes“, “Top Ten Client Attraction Tips For A Feng Shui Website“, “Top 10 Blogging Fonts“, “Top 10 Tips for creating Top 10’s”…  The list goes on.

I was therefore delighted to find not just a Top 10, but a “TOP 75″ related to useful & different ways of promoting your web business.  Expecting just yet another uninspiring list, I was pleasantly surprised to find it fairly interesting, with some novel and innovative ideas - many of which I’m proud to say that NSDesign have already tried and found success with.

Starting with the pretty obvious first tip of “Write a Press Release” (which I know many companies still do NOT do), to tip 75 - “Sponsor a local roundabout”, there’s a range of good ideas that might prove beneficial to your own marketing of your website and business, and a few we’d advise against also!!

Some of the 75 Tips that we currently do:

11. Get signage for your car showing your web address, it’s amazing how many people you pass on a daily trip to your workplace that will be intrigued and go on your site later that day – even more effective if you commute on a motorway.

22. Try to get local radio stations to give you and your staff a mention. And ensure you get the domain name in there too. Not that many radio stations will read out the full domain, especially the nationals, but the locals and inner London ones generally do without any fuss.

40. Sponsor a local event or sports team – www.uksponsorship.com has a list of all the current opportunities on offer in the UK

50. Advertising in new mediums is often a great way to get in front of new audiences. There is a form of advertising now available on London buses.

 And a whole load more….  But there’s a few we don’t do, and wouldn’t recommend anyone consider - mainly in relation to buying links and link farms - things like:

25. Create a links page and exchange links using a programme such as…

48. Text Link ads are also a cheap way of getting people to your site. Companies such as text-link-ads give further information

All in all, some interesting reading, and I’m guessing at least a few of the ideas may strike a chord with even the most pro-active company and their marketing. Have fun!!

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Starting next week, we’re running an intensive Radio advert campaign on Rock Radio 96.3FM and as a wee incentive to listen out for the ads, we’re giving away a Free NSDesign T-shirt to the first person who calls the office immediately after every advert has played for the week. 

Admit it….  you want one!! 

With 30 adverts running from Monday - Friday, there’s plenty chances to phone up and win.  Just call 0141 585 6390 and ask for Gary.

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NSDesign took full advantage of the recent Scottish Rocks basketball game, live on Setanta last month, using the opportunity for some brand infiltration on the tv!

As official web partner to the Rocks, we already benefit from some great courtside advertising and marketing opportunities, but we decided to really put in an effort for the first televised game of the season.

The above TV stills are just 2 quick examples of our logo clearly on display to the TV cameras.  Thanks to all our clients who came along to the game and for showing their support to NSDesign by wearing our T-shirts and caps etc…..

The stroke of genious that ensured maximum exposure, was handing our free “Thunderstix” to the crowd.  To explain what these are, and to highlight the effect they had - just check out the image below…

Nearly 2,500 fans, most with NSDesign adverts in their hands…  Just in case you’re interested in seeing the highlights of the game - View the 15 min video here.  Now…  I’m off to think about how we crash the next old-firm game….

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