Category Archives: eCommerce

BT Unveils Priority Business Class Fibre Broadband

BT Business has unveiled its new fibre broadband service, BT Business Total Broadband Fibre, offering download speeds of up to 40Mb/s, from £30 per month. The service gives business traffic priority at times of contention and the UK’s fastest upstream speeds of up to 10Mb/s*, allowing users to get more than ever before from the internet.

The new service allows businesses to run multiple VOIP, high-definition video conferencing and business-grade cloud applications plus download emails, web-pages and FTP files concurrently, to reach new customers and better market themselves. It will also make home working a reality, allowing staff to remain connected to the office at all times.

A dedicated broadband “fast lane” also puts business user traffic first at times of contention to help firms continue to work faster, do more, reduce operational costs and boost productivity.

Nigel Stagg, managing director, BT Business, said: “28% of businesses are already using faster broadband to expand their website capabilities, and another 25% are using it to drive more processes online and employ more bandwidth-hungry technology according to our research last year**. BT Business Total Broadband Fibre gives businesses capacity and reliability, with the reassurance of a priority service, to enjoy the best possible online experience. We are committed to rolling out higher speeds and additional coverage across the UK during 2010.”

Businesses in Muswell Hill, Whitchurch and Glasgow Halfway have already been enjoying the faster 40Mb/s broadband service through a BT trial. The service will now be made available to approximately 500,000 homes and businesses from 31-enabled exchanges by late February. A further two million homes and businesses will be able to access the services by late summer following the roll out of the technology by Openreach, BT’s local access division.

This announcement sees BT Retail confirm that it will make fibre-based broadband available to 40 per cent of the UK – or some 10 million premises – by summer 2012. 2.5 million premises in total will have access by late summer and four million by the end of 2010.

From 26 January, new and existing BT Business customers in an enabled exchange area will automatically be eligible for the fibre service. 50 per cent of UK businesses can currently also receive ADSL 2+ broadband speeds of up to 20Mb/s at no extra cost to copper services.

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First Electoral Roll Update of the New Year

Tracesmart, providers of online Electoral Roll search tools, have announced the release of the first Rolling Register u p d a t e s of 2010. The company hold the edited Electoral Rolls f r o m 2003 onwards, with their most recent addition being 2010 Electoral Roll data, which was released in December. The new data will ensure that individuals using Tracesmart’s people search facilities will have access to the latest Electoral Roll information available.

The use of online Electoral Roll searches to find long lost friends and relatives has grown increasingly popular during the past few years. For providers of such services it is essential that they u p d a t e their Electoral Roll data at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure their customer’s searches are successful; Rolling Register data allows providers to do just that.

Historically, those eligible to vote could only add their details to the Electoral Roll once a year. However, since the introduction of the Rolling Register, people whose personal circumstances have changed during the year – for example they move home – are now able to register their new details onto the electoral database throughout the year. Tracesmart u p d a t e their Electoral Roll records with this information and in doing so, ensure those that use their people and name searchtools, get the results they need.

The Rolling Register u p d a t e s follow on f r o m last month’s loading of the Electoral Roll 2010 – an achievement of which the company are proud as they made 2010 electoral data available before their competitors. Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, highlighted how this accomplishment benefited Tracesmart users,

“This year new Electoral Roll data was loaded into our systems in record time, providing our customers with access to some of the latest information available at the earliest possible opportunity. Loading new data swiftly significantly improves our customer’s tracing success rates, as it allows our address search and people search tools to provide the most up-to-date results available.”

In addition to loading new data regularly, Tracesmart also work hard to fill in any data ‘gaps’. The Electoral Roll opt-out rate has risen to 46% of eligible voters in the UK, a gap which could hinder tracing efforts – however Tracesmart minimises any impact by providing their customers with additional datasets to search.

“Our unique Tracesmart Register database is compiled f r o m various data protection compliant sources and currently holds 38 million records, which helps us to bridge the opt-out gap. We continue to source new data all of the time; our monthly Electoral Roll amendments via the Rolling Register is just one of the data acquisition projects which highlight Tracesmart’s commitment to providing customers with access to the most up-to-date information available.” Weathersby remarked.

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Easyspace Launches One Click Installs For Its Web Hosting Packages

Easyspace, one of UKs leading providers of domain names and web hosting services, has announced the launch of One-Click install SaaS Applications for its range of web hosting packages.

Having recently launched similar applications for its range of Virtual Servers, Easyspace has now integrated an easy-to-use interface into its customer control panel allowing customers to install and run over 50 of the Internet’s most popular SaaS applications through their own web hosting package.

Applications such as WordPress for blogging, OS Commerce and Cube Cart for eCommerce and Joomla, Drupal and Mambo for Content Management are just some of the range of applications available to web hosting customers as part of this development.

“We recently launched similar applications for our Virtual Server products, but the larger development has been in creating an easy-to-install application system for our shared web hosting environment.” comments Errol Vanderhorst, Managing Director at Easyspace.

“SaaS applications such as WordPress, Joomla and Cube Cart are allowing smaller business to grow more rapidly without the fully customised, and expensive, efforts once required to generate such applications. Our web hosting customers can now install fully functioning Content Management Systems, high end eCommerce solutions and various other applications such as forums, surveys, guest books and image galleries, all with just a few clicks.”

Allowing customers to grow their businesses online without unnecessary spend has been a focal point of the Easyspace web hosting packages for some time. With free email and a free domain name already included in all packages, and a Pic n Mix package allowing customers to choose the specification of their hosting package – and therefore the cost of their package – the new SaaS integration allows customers significantly more opportunity for growth online.

Errol continued “Most hosting companies, like Easyspace, offer high levels of disk space and bandwidth with their web hosting packages. We feel that the real benefit to customers is not in those specifications, but rather it’s in how those hosting packages can help grow a customers business. With access to online shops, content management systems, blogging software and more, there is now really very little a customer cannot do with an Easyspace web hosting package.”

To find out more about this new feature please visit http://blog.easyspace.com/2009/12/21/easyspace-launches-one-click-installs-for-its-web-hosting-packages/

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BT Brings Video Marketing To Small Businesses

BT Tradespace, the UK’s first business social networking site, has launched Version 2.0 of the social business network to enable small businesses to create and use video and other social media tools to market themselves and grow their businesses online.

With research revealing that people spend longer on websites with video, BT Tradespace will give small businesses the tools and advice they need to easily record and upload video content onto their online profile to display products and engage with customers. Internet video is also on the rise and is predicted to be over 60 per cent of all consumer internet traffic in the next three years.

Members of BT Tradespace will be given a special offer when purchasing a range of video camcorders. Businesses can get further information at http://flip.bttradespace.com

The complete revamp of BT Tradespace introduces a range of new features to ensure that small businesses can extend the reach of word-of-mouth online, get noticed by customers through influencing their search engine rankings and create more sales on and off the web.

Ivan Croxford, general manager of Digital Marketing Services at BT Business, said: “Online video advertising is continuing to grow as more and more people are using engaging video content to help get their unique personalities across online. We are now giving businesses on BT Tradespace a simple, effective way to market themselves using video.”

Tradespace V2.0 will offer further benefits to small businesses to help grow their online reputation and establish stronger relationships with their customers, partners and suppliers. These include the addition of BT ServiceSmart, a new customer service tool designed to help members improve their customer service. Customers can ask questions or report a problem so that businesses can resolve any queries through the community.

Members can also use keywords for every item they add to their online profile, which helps them to achieve a higher ranking on search engines allowing consumers to find them more easily. Additionally, businesses can track visitors to their BT Tradespace profile using Google Analytics.

Croxford, added: “More and more small businesses are boosting their online presence in an effort to increase their turnover. BT Tradespace is all about making online an accessible and effective sales and marketing channel for businesses, helping them grow their customer base and in return their business.”

Other benefits to members of BT Tradespace include online fans, testimonials and business recommendations and BookItNow, which allows businesses selling services to accept appointments in just a few clicks. Secure transactions using PayPal will also be available to enable businesses to quickly set-up an online store using both images and video to display goods and services.

Businesses using Tradespace will have access to more than 4.2 million stock photos and illustrations so businesses can personalise their online profiles and now also have the opportunity to set-up or join communities to connect with others, share ideas and get advice on a diverse range of topics.

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Tracesmart launches the 2010 Electoral Register

The end of the calendar year is the period when local authorities make available their amassed edited Electoral Registers, and again Tracesmart is at the forefront following the announcement that they have already started incorporating the newly released 2010 data into their extensive catalogue of consumer information. As one of the UK’s leading data specialists, Tracesmart maintains its position and reputation by ensuring the data they hold is the most up-to-date possible, providing their clients with access to the latest information obtainable.

The UK electorate populate two registers which are collated by local authorities. The first is the full Electoral Register, which is utilised to facilitate local and national elections and is also employed by credit reference agencies. The second is the edited Electoral Register which holds the data of those individuals who did not ‘opt-out’ whilst completing their registration form. This list is held in the public domain and is commercially available. Tracesmart utilises this information, along with previously accumulated data, to provide identity checks, data cleansing and tracing solutions to the nation’s businesses and industries.

Tracesmart Corporate has a diverse and constantly growing legion of companies employing their online facilities to trace people, and verify individuals as part of fraud prevention procedures. Edited Electoral Register records provide indispensable information for both identity checks and tracing exercises, as they contain names and addresses of UK citizens; key information needed to identify or locate an individual.

Commenting on the release of the newly uploaded Electoral Register data, Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director, remarked, “Once again, Tracesmart leads the way in delivering Electoral Register information. We have uploaded millions of new records to our system in a very short period and they are already fully searchable. We pride ourselves on this rapid integration which guarantees our customers early access to the best data available.”

Loading of the 2010 edited Electoral Register data into Tracesmart’s systems will continue throughout December and January; it is anticipated that the edited register will be fully integrated by the end of January 2010.

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2010 Electoral Roll now available at Tracesmart

In addition to the Christmas festivities, the end of the year brings with it a period when local authorities make new Electoral Roll data available. As in previous years, Tracesmart lead the way, as they have already started incorporating the newly released 2010 data into their people search facility.

As the most up-to-date yearly snapshot of the UK’s adult population, the Electoral Roll is at the core of Tracesmart‘s people search service. There are two versions of the electoral database produced each year, the full Electoral Roll and the edited. Tracesmart utilises the edited version, together with a variety of other datasets such as directory enquiries and birth, death and marriage indexes, to make it as easy as possible for individuals to find relatives and friends.

Ensuring their customers have access to the most up-to-date data available has always been one of Tracesmart’s fundamental principles and loading Electoral Roll data at the earliest possible time is a key part of this ethos. Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, explained further,

“Every year since Tracesmart formed, we have aimed to load the new edited Electoral Roll records earlier than the previous year, and ahead of our competitors. This year is no different and I am pleased to say that we have loaded new Electoral Roll records earlier than ever before, ensuring our customers have access to this important data at the earliest possible juncture.”

Now is the perfect time for Tracesmart customers to utilise the new 2010 electoral data within their searches as it can be used in an address search to update contact details in readiness for posting Christmas cards, gifts and party invites. Alternatively it can be used to locate relatives in time for a Christmas family reunion.

Commenting on the release of the newly uploaded Electoral Roll data, Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager, remarked, “We hope the newly added Electoral Roll data will help make more reunions possible. Our researchers are already using it to great success and I am confident that the new data will benefit those gearing up for Christmas, who are looking to be reunited with loved ones.”

Tracesmart has added millions of edited Electoral Roll 2010 records onto their system and will continue to do so throughout December and January. It is anticipated that all of the edited Electoral Roll records for 2010 will be loaded by the end of January.

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Rise In Online People Searches In Time For Holiday Season

With Christmas fast approaching, many people start thinking about absent family members, and will look to the internet for help. Indeed, the rush to reunite with family and friends has already begun, with online people search providers, Tracesmart, reporting a marked rise in visitor numbers to their site.

Tracesmart celebrated their tenth year of tracing earlier this year, and with over 10,000 searches performed daily on their website the service goes from strength to strength.

The popularity of online self search websites has grown rapidly since the introduction of the edited electoral roll, and the growing trend in online searching has empowered people to independently locate individuals without the need to pay for a private investigator.

Even with limited information, it is now possible to use an address to locate a lead as part of a search as Tracesmart provides an address search facility. This is particularly helpful if someone already has a street and house number, but isn’t sure if the person still lives there. Additionally the free postcode search function is especially useful for this time of year as it can be used to update old address details, so that items aren’t unnecessarily delayed at the postal sorting office.

Tracesmart has an experienced customer service team, available all day and late into the evening to offer support and advice to novice tracers. Commenting on this surge in demand, Sarah Lawrence, Tracesmart’s Customer Services Manager, noted, “We are receiving lots more enquires this month, which is not unusual for this time of year. As always my team and I are fully prepared to deal with the amount of searches and transactions that are being carried out on the site. We hope and aim to be able to assist in reuniting as many friends and families as possible this month, to make their Christmas even more special this year.”

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eCommerce Sites Add Festivity and Enhanced SEO this Holiday Season

SEOWhat.com, an Internet marketing, search engine optimization and web design firm helps prepare clients’ sites for this year’s holiday shopping season with festive banners, improved rankings and social media buzz. The holiday season is one of the busiest for online shopping sites and this year’s economic situation will increase the competition among merchants.

eCommerce Sites Add Festivity and Enhanced SEO this Holiday Season

“Industry experts and surveys show that consumers are likely to increase their online shopping to complete their holiday shopping lists this season,” said Catherine Seven, founder, SEOWhat.com. “The challenge for e-tailers this year will be to win the trust and loyalty of shoppers in an increasingly tight-fisted economy. And this year, the key to being relevant is to make the entire shopping appealing to customers.”

The design team at SEOWhat.com specializes in creating eye-catching banners, holiday logo enhancements and overall web site design. Clients like www.bigsmiletoys.com chose a holiday-themed logo to make its site welcoming to potential customers. In addition to aesthetics and SEO site development best practices, SEOWhat.com generates buzz for clients and manages their reputations online employing the myriad of new and emerging social media and social networking tools available.

SEOWhat.com helps clients improve search ranking through a combination of search engine optimization strategies that include, but is not limited to, social media optimization/Web 2.0, social bookmarking, press release and article writing and submission, on page/off page optimization, niche keywords and long-tailing, link building, meta tagging, Yahoo! merchant sites (Y! Stores), YouTube/video submissions and more.

Ranked best in Social Media Optimization by TopSEOs.com, SEOWhat.com creates buzz through the use of social networking tools such as blogs, social bookmarking sites and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The full service agency provides a la carte or full service SEO strategies tailored to the needs of B2C, B2B, products and services, businesses, educational and not-for-profit organizations. With a talented team of web engineers, graphic designers, copy writers, editors and online/offline marketers, SEOWhat.com is the only competitively priced firm of its kind that is based entirely in the U.S.

About SEOWhat.com
SEOwhat.com is an SEO services agency that helps companies navigate the dynamic world of internet marketing, integrating search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media optimization (SMO) and Web site design to increase a site’s visibility. Specializing in Yahoo! and Google optimization, SEOWhat.com develops search friendly Web sites on a variety of platforms including Yahoo! Stores, WordPress and custom built sites. In addition to Google SEO, SEOWhat.com provides organic search results, without the price tag, creating powerful web sites that appeal to human eye and search engines alike.

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JLT Findings Underline Benefit Of Tracesmart’s Existence Product

Following an assessment of their clients’ member screening procedures, JLT Benefit Solutions Ltd (JLT) established the distinct advantages of Tracesmart’s Existence checks facility. JLT were one of the first companies to employ Existence Alert in conjunction with Tracesmart’s tracing service and are able to quantify fully, the benefits of comprehensive screening and batch pension tracing.

Commenting on the service, Andrew Marson, Head of Administration Consulting, JLT said, “All JLT clients using this service are benefiting from the improvements it brings. A number have saved significant sums of money as a result. Our relationship with Tracesmart is well established.”

Tracesmart Corporate provide a broad spectrum of data intelligence services to the financial sector, including a multi-tiered consumer tracing solution utilised by a growing number of FTSE 100 companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small number of companies to receive a weekly feed of current UK Death Registration Information (DRI) from the General Register Office, crucial data which is employed to enhance the mortality screening functions of its anti-fraud services.

Established as the preferred choice within the pension industry for conducting existence checks, Tracesmart’s Existence service can boast the vast share of the relevant market. The process utilises DRI, historical death indexes and commercially aggregated mortality data to flag any deaths in the UK, whilst also confirming residency and identifying gone aways. This is carried out on a continual basis, permitting appropriate action to be taken to mitigate risk at the earliest possible moment.

Remarking on Existence and his company’s performance within the pension sector, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, Mike Trezise remarked, “Tracesmart’s combined existence checks and tracing services are industry leading. We are the principal player in this market now because we essentially understand the needs of the sector. As JLT has confirmed, our existence service delivers significant advantages. The process appreciably benefits all concerned, except that is, the fraudster.”

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Self Storage Finders Increases Sales and Clients in October 2009

Self Storage Finders announced today year over year comparable sales increased 597%, exceeding company expectations. Self Storage Finders is one of a few online self storage directories experiencing staggering growth within the last several years. Comparing year over year sales for the month of October, the company has increased its sales by 597%. In comparing year over year clients, they have also increased their Preferred Membership 318%.

Self Storage

Selfstoragefinders.com has been in business for 2 ½ years and is starting to build a solid brand around their unparalleled Search Engine Optimization, allowing them to continually rank highly for many self storage terms. Their clientele consists of self storage facilities of all sizes, self storage management companies, marketing companies and several web based companies. Marketing Executive, Brian Barwig said “Strong sales and a large increase in Preferred Members tell us our clients continue to use Self Storage Finders as their choice for generating quality traffic, clicks and most importantly rentals.”

Barwig goes on to say, “We plan to continue to grow Self Storage Finders sales through our broad expansion nationally with greater penetration of new city markets due to our high SEO visibility, as well as with partnerships with leading companies in the storage industry.”

“Our directory is unique, effective and irreplaceable in many cities where the competition is too fierce for storage facilities to be able to manage their SEO and rank their own websites.” The system is ideal for storage owners and managers who need to concentrate on their day to day operations and do not have time to carry out the innovative marketing and SEO strategies Self Storage Finders can provide. The company insulates its Preferred Members from the everyday hassles of storage marketing. In addition, Selfstoragefinders.com works closely with its storage partners to ensure the highest customer satisfaction.

An increase in sales and clients can be attributed to proper business plan execution, advanced marketing techniques and partnerships with highly respected companies in the industry. Mr. Barwig adds, “Self storage is becoming a highly aggressive industry and every owner needs a competitive advantage. Our Preferred Members are able to attract customers before their competitors do, expand their business and increase overall profits all for a minimal monthly fee. We are most proud we can provide solid traffic to owners, while keeping it easy on the budget.” Self Storage Finders has been able to dramatically increase their sales and clients all while keeping their monthly rates near lowest in the industry.

Selfstoragefinders.com is committed to aiding customers in finding self storage locations quickly and easily by providing storage unit locations and contact information for facilities around the country. Prospective tenants can search through the Preferred Member listings and Neighboring Member listings on the site to find the best personal fit. The company offers unique opportunities to storage owners in addition to prospective renters. Selfstoragefinders.com generates exposure for its Preferred Members by offering premier visibility on major search engines connecting prospective renters to self storage owners.

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Network Affiliates Push Clickbooth.com Into Inc. Magazine’s Top 500

The Inc. 500 is a list of the top 500 high growth businesses. It is an entrepreneur’s dream to be on the list. Clickbooth ranked #5 overall and #1 in their business sector, which is advertising and marketing. In an economic climate where many businesses have been simply trying to survive, Clickbooth has grown an amazing 12,000% over the last four years. They have been doing it by providing consistently strong ROI for publishers and advertisers. It is a milestone for the advertising industry as whole, and marks the dawn of a new day for the future of marketing.

The infamous dot-com bubble may have popped but there are still businesses using the Internet in innovative ways to enjoy high growth by providing exceptional customer value. Clickbooth’s industry revolves around a concept known as affiliate marketing. It is a marketing strategy that shares revenue among advertisers and affiliates online. affiliates are traditionally known as publishers and are considered the same in this context.

The network affiliates at Clickbooth are among the best in the business. Some are among the Alexa Top 50 sites. The affiliates network together through Clickbooth to provide premier marketing campaigns for advertisers. The number of worldwide affiliates they use is over 10,000 and many of them are exclusive. The coverage is very broad and encapsulates a number of niche markets. The compensation is based on performance from one or a combination of sales, clicks, and registrations.

Each affiliate is rigorously screened and monitored for performance and integrity. Much of Clickbooth’s success comes from their industry leading compliance team. Their function is to track uploads and downloads among other monitoring functions to ensure that the proper integrity is maintained. Any of the affiliates that are identified as abusing the system are promptly excommunicated. The result is a dependable set of affiliates that are networked together through Clickbooth to be reliable, trustworthy and maximize an advertiser’s time and money.

Clickbooth is an internet marketing business created in September 2002. With their high integrity and high quality affiliates network, they leverage the power of the Internet for businesses looking to maximize their advertising budget. Clickbooth produces benefits for their network affiliates and their clients in need of advertising through a high level of integrity, a careful screening process, and an Internet marketing program that is mutually rewarding.

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Coupon Clipping Has Gone Digital

CouponChief.com is setting a new standard in how one shops online. With the trend toward online shopping growing it is no wonder that more and more Internet merchants are offering special promotions and discounts with the use of special codes. This is in keeping with what consumers have come to expect of all merchants; special offers make shopping a more enticing experience. The development of a digital form of coupons was inevitable. And just like brick and mortar shops that offer coupon shopping, the online merchants have to have a way of distributing the coupons. CouponChief.com is the centralized, one-stop shop for these codes.

The concept is both simple and ingenious. No sign up or log in is required and the entire use of the promotional coupons is free. However, by setting up an account an individual can receive alerts via email announcing new promotions and discounts offered by a favorite store. This is the ultimate in convenience for online customers.

The process of using Online Coupons is not only easy and convenient; it is a great way to save money. Online shoppers have grown accustomed to seeing ‘coupon code’ and ‘promotion code’ fields during the checkout process at Internet shops. The problem has been that few people knew where to find those special savings codes. Fortunately, that is no longer a problem. The numerous Coupon codes available for online shopping have been collected in an organized and quick to access fashion.

When shoppers visit ‘Coupon Chief’ before shopping they are sure to find useful Coupon Codes. Visitors to the site are happy to find that Online Coupons often offer a more substantial savings than the typical paper coupon does. But in order to offer all possible savings to its visitors, CouponChief.com also has a program called ‘Pays-2-Share’.

The ‘Pays-2-Share’ program pays visitors for coupons that they find and add to the site. Once enrolled in the program an individual simply logins and submits new Coupon Codes for participating merchants. When a shopper uses the coupon payment is made to the person that submitted the promotional code. In fact, they earn 2% of the purchase price, which can be substantial in some cases. Surprisingly, this payment is made even on purchases made by the submitter.

CouponChief.com was established to provide an easy way for individuals to find useful Online Coupons for the stores and products they need. The website has collected and organized the promotional codes in an easy to find format, making saving money on Internet purchases trouble-free. Additionally, the site offers a program called ‘Pays-2-Share’, which provides a money making opportunity through submitting coupons found.

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Technology Adoption Fuels Recovery Tipping Point For UK SMEs

According to research from BT Business, supported by the Design Council and Prince’s Trust, small businesses at the forefront of technology adoption have been the least impacted by the recession, with those most reluctant to bring in new technology suffering the most. Companies with a positive attitude to technology adoption had a 69% better than average experience of the recession, whereas technology laggards suffered a 34% worse recession experience than the average.

The survey was conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of BT Business and included responses from more than 7,200 small businesses across the UK.

The 2009 Business Pulse report is the UK’s largest survey of SMEs this year. The survey shows widespread recognition of the importance of technology in reducing costs and increasing efficiency and competitiveness. 30% of businesses said that they have saved money through using technology, 32% use technology to network and obtain advice and 28% have found more customers through its use. Nearly one in five cited the use of technology to support flexible working as having one of the most significant impacts on how they have managed the recession.

The Business Pulse survey identified the positive steps firms have taken to manage the downturn. Nearly twice as many technology innovators have seen an increase in turnover of 10+% compared to those small businesses reluctant to embrace new technology, the majority of which have seen their turnover decrease since the recession began.

Mick Hegarty, strategy director, BT Business said: “The small business community has fought bravely to survive the downturn. Our findings show that many small businesses believe we are now at a tipping point with a recovery almost upon us. We can also see that now more than ever technology has a critical role to play in the future success of these businesses, helping them to find new customers, market themselves more effectively and reduce costs. Investing in better technology is emerging as a measure of success in the future for many businesses.”

In terms of the technologies having the biggest impact, 61% said faster broadband speeds have had a positive impact on their business. Better web sites, better e-commerce and mobile devices were also particularly beneficial. More than 1 in 10 small businesses are looking for more advice and support on using technology to manage their business.

Smaller organisations are also increasingly turning to social media to improve the way they operate with one in five respondents turning to support forums, Twitter and blogs to market their business and attract and retain customers.

Lord Digby Jones, said, “The Business Pulse highlights that optimism is on the rise. Equipping firms with the right technology and support will help tip the economy from recession onto the road to recovery in 2010.”

Full findings of the Business Pulse will be revealed in Small Business Week 2009 and debated by a business leadership panel including business experts Peter Jones and Lord Digby Jones at the launch.

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Data Cleansing Specialists Unveil New-Look Corporate Website

Tracesmart Corporate, data cleansing specialists and leading providers of consumer information services, have launched their new look corporate website. The redesign is not just skin-deep however, as it also includes an updated appearance to their intuitive online services, employed by a growing legion of operators to trace people and conduct identity checks. The redesign project was initiated following discussion with clients and prospects about site functionality.

Following in-depth market research with staff, customers and potential clients, the company embarked on a strategic overhaul of their business website to reflect the requirements and observations made by visitors during the research. The new look website and service portal was developed to portray Tracesmart Corporate as a modern and progressive organisation with a more welcoming and easier to understand user interface.

Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager commented, “Putting into practice the feedback we received during market research has paid dividends. We believe our new look corporate website presents a more customer focused and user friendly search facility. Our in-house web developers and design team have responded to the challenge and delivered a fresh, contemporary design that I’m sure our customers will greatly appreciate.”

The Tracesmart Corporate website provides access to a variety of data intelligence services such as self-key consumer tracing, existence checks anti money-laundering and know your customer identity verification. Users of these services come from a broad and growing range of industries that include, amongst others, the financial sector, professional services and the media.

Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director added just before its launch, “Following exhaustive examination of our previous site and listening to visitors and our customers, we were keen to improve the user experience and design. The website has gone through more than just a face lift and early indication from those consulted on the project suggests a more than favourable reaction. We are extremely delighted with the new design.”

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Tracesmart Bolster Their Database

Tracesmart, the online people search providers, have announced the addition of 100,000 rolling register updates for their tracing website. The new records will further assist customers when performing their online searches, delivering added accuracy to the Tracesmart facility. The new electoral roll data consists of individuals who have moved home or changed other details during the past month and have contacted their local authority to register their change of circumstance. The annual canvas of the UK population is undertaken during October every year, offering households the choice to opt out of the electoral roll if they wish. The option has given people the freedom to decide if their information is to be kept in the public domain, or only made available to those within local authority or credit reference agencies.

The number of people choosing to opt-out has risen since the opportunity was introduced in 2003, however the electoral roll continues to document millions of people and in 2009 the total amassed was 25 million records. Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director, explains that although this number is lower than previous years, he is confident that the company’s unique Tracesmart Register fills in the gaps, strengthening the database. Weathersby commented, “We were the first website to publish the monthly updates, and we know from listening to customers that this has benefited them greatly. The fresh data we upload monthly is in addition to the Tracesmart Register, which is a database of data compliant sources.”

The Tracesmart Register has 250,000 new record uploads every month, and the extra rolling register monthly additions bolster the websites positioning as the premium name search facility.

“We pride ourselves on the information we hold, and invest in the most current data available to us. This provides our customers with the best possible chance of a successful address search to find relatives or friends,” said Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager.

Anyone who moves or changes their details is encouraged to contact their local authority or visit the website About My Vote to register or update their details.

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HSBC Division Employ Tracesmart’s Proprietary Existence System

Tracesmart Corporate has been appointed by HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited (HACL) to provide their proprietary existence and tracing services. The facility will allow the verification of customer data against vital consumer information, including key UK mortality records; permitting the HSBC employee benefit consultancy to continuously and confidently monitor their client database in order to maintain contact with existing customers and highlight possible fraudulent activity.

HACL is part of the HSBC Group and a market leader in the UK specialising in actuarial and employee benefits consultancy, providing opinion, advice and services to pension scheme trustees, employers and individuals. It has become one of the leading employee benefits and actuarial consultancies in the UK.

Following stringent examination amongst stiff competition, including the incumbent, Tracesmart was recently awarded the three year preferred supplier contract. Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director commented, “Our meticulous procedures and thorough understanding of our customers’ requirements has successfully delivered yet another major account. Our existence facility and unique multi-tiered tracing solutions are currently delivering significant benefits to our clients. We look forward to working with HACL to deliver the best possible and most cost effective service available.”

Tracesmart, the Cardiff based data intelligence company, provides a comprehensive and unique facility to trace people, delivered by a team of in-house tracing agents, the service offers a tiered search solution to a growing number of companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small number of organisations to receive a weekly update of the UK Death Registration Information f r o m the General Register Office (GRO) to enhance its mortality screening facility. Approximately 12,000 deaths are recorded weekly in the UK, and this amassed information, combined with Tracesmart’s vast consumer database, drives the company’s proprietary service ‘Existence Alert’. The service is in essence a data cleansing process, which provides a continuous screening facility that identifies deceased individuals and ‘gone aways’ (people that move home without notifying a change of address) at the earliest possible moment, allowing appropriate action to be taken to minimise risk and combat escalating fraud such as the impersonation of the deceased.

Via EPR Network
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Tracesmart Won The South Wales Chamber Of Commerce Excellence In eBusiness Award For 2009

The Cardiff based people search specialists, Tracesmart, have won the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Excellence in eBusiness award for 2009. The award was presented to Tracesmart by the distinguished journalist and television personality, John Sergeant at a glittering ceremony and dinner to honour the best in Welsh business. The event was the culmination of the Chamber’s Business Week in Wales.

Following 10 years of growth, investment and continued technical advancement, Tracesmart has developed one of the UK’s leading people tracing facilities. Utilising a range of consumer datasets, including the continuously updated electoral roll, the online resource delivers an intuitive tracing service to the general public.

The web based facility offers, amongst a multitude of functions, an address search feature, affording consumers an easy to use resource to find relatives and friends. The facility has, over the years, helped reunite thousands of families and friends, whose stories have often attracted media attention.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director commented, “We are delighted to have won the Chamber of Commerce Excellence in eBusiness award, it’s a notable mark of distinction and a tribute to the work we do at Tracesmart. We constantly strive to develop and improve our online services, and it’s great that our work has been recognised.”

Tracesmart’s Communications Manager, Owen Roberts added, “The South Wales Chamber has built up an excellent reputation within Wales and has firmly established itself as the nation’s most prominent business support organisation. We are proud to be associated with the Chamber and are extremely pleased to have won the award. The company has changed and grown significantly over recent times and we are now reaping the benefits of our hard work.”

Tracesmart will now receive automatic entry to the British Chambers of Commerce national awards.

Via EPR Network
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BT Business And Google Today Announced An Agreement To Offer Digital Marketing Services To Small Businesses

The alliance will involve BT Business becoming a Google AdWordsâ„¢ Authorised Reseller. Small businesses can now access Google’s base of millions of UK users and receive professional, full-service AdWords account management, from account setup and activation to ongoing campaign monitoring and optimisation, through BT Business.

More than one million businesses already served by BT Business, including the 350,000 members of BT Tradespace, will benefit from the agreement.

“Small businesses are looking to the internet to compete and grow in these tough economic times,” said Bill Murphy, managing director at BT Business. “Our own research across 700,000 small business websites shows that the majority need help to optimise search and effectively use search engine marketing. They don’t often have the skills internally to manage this and need affordable services and support. Working with Google AdWords will enable us to help smaller companies promote themselves and engage with customers, partners and suppliers online as well as larger businesses.”

The addition of the Google AdWords online advertising platform means BT Business can now offer customers a complete range of digital marketing services to help them promote their businesses effectively on the Web. From setting up a website and managing an online marketing campaign to ensuring they can effectively extend their business relationships through customer management tools and business social networking profiles such as BT Tradespace and other business applications.

Matt Brittin, Managing Director at Google UK & Ireland said: “Many businesses already use Google AdWords to reach new customers locally, across the UK and across the world. BT Business can now offer targeted, accountable and cost effective AdWords advertising to more than a million small businesses in the UK. We look forward to working with BT to help more small businesses get the most out of the online opportunity.”

About BT Business
BT Business understands the challenges that businesses face in the current climate, and supports cost control, improved productivity and winning business with technology including business broadband & internet, domain names and web hosting packages, IT support and mobile services including BlackBerry.

Via EPR Network
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Review Website Now Available That Is Out To Help The Consumer

People have been dealing with work from home, weight loss & fitness scams for years. With the internet the “Scam” industry multiplied by ten. You rarely ever see honesty when it comes to internet purchases.

Risk Easy Reviews has been one of the few sites that are out there for the consumer. They claim to have success with some of the products they have tested. But they also have some negative claims & put that “do not buy” tag ON some as well.

Bringing honesty to the industry. Risk Easy Reviews has reviewed many products from work from home, forex, health, fitness, weight loss, Warcraft, internet TV and more. They also have made it a point to only try products that come with a great money back guarantee. There are many review sites on the net that have another agenda. And although everybody has got to make a living, Risk Easy Reviews seems to really care what people are reading and knows that their credibility is at stake with each review. It’s good to see that some people can still take the initiative to help people. Helping people better their lives which in turn enhances the world we live in.

Via EPR Network
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Web Users Everywhere Have A New Way To Celebrate Their Loved Family And Friends At ILoveThisPerson.com

The I Love This Person website gives people an easy way to create permanent online dedication web pages for their loved ones. This is the perfect present any time of year, or simply a happy surprise. Don’t just tell the person, tell the whole world!

People can create a customized dedication page for any person they admire, respect, or love. Dedications are especially great for a family member or friend. Dedications can be anonymous, or the creator can display his or her name.

Users can create an editable lifetime dedication web page, containing up to 100 photos, for only $19.95. Dedication web pages are visible to anyone searching the Internet. Users also can link dedications to social media websites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, making them easy to share.

New users can create a test dedication web page and view it without committing to pay for it. Once they are happy with the results, they can purchase their editable dedication for only $19.95. The I Love This Person website is available at www.ILoveThisPerson.com.

About Robipau
The I Love this Person website is a service of Robipau. Robipau develops and promotes virtual products on the Internet that emphasize the good in humankind.

Via EPR Network
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