Tag Archives: eCommerce

Free 20Mb/s Broadband Boost By BT

BT has announced that millions of homes and businesses are set to enjoy a free broadband boost as BT will more than double the headline speeds for its residential and business customers.

broadband

Given BT is the UK’s largest retailer of broadband with 4.8 million customers, the move, which comes in advance of Lord Carter’s Digital Britain Report, will lead to an increase in average broadband speeds.

Over 60,000 consumers already have the faster speeds through a BT trial and the upgrade to ADSL 2+ technology will be available to other homes in the summer. BT Retail broadband customers already enjoy speeds of up to 8Mb/s. The plans will see consumers and business in enabled areas receive faster speeds of up to 20Mb/s as part of their broadband service at no extra cost.

Based on BT’s 21CN platform, the faster speeds will initially be available from 549 telephone exchanges, serving more than 40% of UK homes and businesses. BT plans to extend that coverage to 55% by March 2010 subject to customer demand.

As well as boosting download speeds, upload speeds will increase to up to 1Mb/s. The faster service will enable customers to surf, upload or download data in a fraction of the time, even when several users are on the same connection. This means less waiting around for complex web pages to download and graphics to upload. It is also good news for BT Business Broadband customers looking to use rich media or boost their websites.

BT research has shown that one of the major causes of slower broadband speeds lies in customers’ home wiring. To address this, BT is also set to offer the BT Broadband Accelerator (BT I-Plate) that eliminates electrical interference from telephone-extension wiring, and can improve broadband speeds and reliability. BT will be giving away the devices free to consumers (subject to £2.50 P&P) and businesses that are likely to benefit. Crucially, this will mean more customers with marginal broadband speeds will exceed the 2Mb/s threshold required to benefit from the full range of new internet services, something Lord Carter’s report is set to address.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive officer, BT Retail said “Unlike other providers, BT is upgrading customers to 20Mb/s for free. High-speed broadband provides a faster and more reliable service that will transform the way we live, work, learn and play. We believe the true value of broadband is in helping customers enjoy the exciting new services that it makes possible. In line with the Government’s Digital Britain review, we will be making higher speeds more widely available.”

In a separate move, BT Retail will begin the first trials of up to 40Mb/s super-fast fibre-based broadband in Whitchurch, South Wales and Muswell Hill, London this summer. Openreach is already delivering speeds of up to 100Mb/s to customers in the Ebbsfleet Valley in Kent, using fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) technology.

New or re-contracting BT Business Broadband and BT Total Broadband customers in an enabled exchange area will automatically be eligible for the ADSL2+ service at no additional cost. The new ADSL2+ service will be available to business users from the initial launch, and non-business customers from early summer. The BT Business Total Broadband tariff remains the same and includes BT Openzone Wi-Fi minutes.

About BT Business
BT Business understands the challenges that businesses face in the current climate, and supports cost control, improved productivity and winning business through product collections including business broadband & internet, domains & web hosting, data & voice networks, IT solutions and mobile services.

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BT Tradespace, The Business Social Networking Website, Has Marked Its Second Anniversary By Signing Up Its 350,000 Member

A recent review of the site found that there has been a 400% year-on-year growth over the past year, with an average of up to 500 members joining each day since the launch.

In the past two years, nearly 3,000 different communities have been set up by BT Tradespace members to share information and expertise. The most popular BT Tradespace communities include a group for people who run home-based businesses and a community where new or seasoned entrepreneurs can leave advice, ask questions and share top tips.

The site is a dynamic online community for sales and marketing and offers a comprehensive directory of SME products and services. It allows members to use the latest social media tools – podcasts, videos and blogs – to promote themselves and engage with customers, partners and suppliers.

Free and easy to join, BT Tradespace also offers a secure and safe online marketplace trading platform where consumers can buy goods.

Ivan Croxford, general manager, BT Tradespace, said: “These figures show that social networking is not just a passing consumer fad, businesses are embracing it too, because of the obvious benefits it holds for companies of all sizes.

“The internet opens up a global marketplace for SMEs, helping them to compete and prosper in times of mounting economic difficulty. BT Tradespace offers a fantastic platform to exploit the full potential of the web by encouraging an ongoing open and honest dialogue with customers, colleagues, suppliers and partners”.

BT Tradespace research shows that three quarters of smaller companies see the web as a strategic business tool, and 45% make a quarter of their sales online. Social networking extends this playing field by offering SMEs the opportunity to compete with bigger firms, connect with niche audiences and target local markets.

Croxford explained: “The success of BT Tradespace reveals that companies are now realising that to prosper in the digital age, they must embrace the opportunities offered by the web and start using social networks to their full advantage”.

BT Tradespace member Tabitha Potts, who was voted runner-up as ‘Mum-Entrepreneur of 2009’ at the Women’s Business Mastermind Awards, believes the site has been an invaluable tool for trading and marketing her company. She said: “I have had 10,000 hits on my BT Tradespace page and some of these have clicked through to my main site generating sales.

“The site has a very nice clean interface and I regularly blog and upload videos. This has worked wonders for my search engine rankings so customers can find me much easier on the Internet.”

Lyn and John Hill created a Tradespace page to support their online business HedgePig, commented: “After just one month using the service, our BT Tradespace site had received over 1,600 hits. This corresponded with our main website, seeing a substantial rise in visitors and sales, resulting in a monthly turnover increase of around 20 per cent. We now feel confident in taking our business to the next level and offering a wholesale business-to-business service.”

Businesses can get free advice on how to build a successful online presence at the week-long BT Business Experience event being held from 29 June to 3 July 2009. The event taking place in central London is specifically created to show businesses how the very latest technology and business thinking can help them manage their costs, market their business more effectively and make them more competitive especially in the current environment.

About BT Tradespace
BT Tradespace.com is a 350,000-member online community, that enables businesses to sell products and services and connect with other people effectively – both building business and customer relationships.

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Proposed European Legal Move Planned To Regulate The Use Of Cookies Could Have A Profound Negative Impact Upon Some Of The World’s Biggest Businesses

Bigmouthmedia has warned that a proposed European legal move to regulate the use of cookies could have a profound negative impact upon the some of the world’s biggest businesses.

In a move that threatens affiliate marketing, bid management and web analytics, proposed amendments to the 2002 European Communities Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications would mean that in future, websites would only be able to place cookies on visitors’ computers if they give their express consent.

“This is a proposal that would strike at the very heart of what the digital economy is all about. The ability to measure, track and improve the site experience for visitors is key to the success of e-commerce, and given the potentially damaging effect this could have on a multi-billion pound business channel, suggests legislators don’t quite appreciate the havoc they could cause,” said Andrew Girdwood, Head of Search at bigmouthmedia.

“This isn’t really a privacy issue. More often than not, cookies only contain data to measure the success of keywords or affiliates. We support attempts to raise awareness of privacy issues and provide internet users with more control but believe these functions would be better provided by the browser than the website. This would give users even greater flexibility and more consistency.”

Many areas of the digital marketing business could be seriously affected if the proposed legislative changes come into effect, with big names from Amazon to Google likely to be hit. Services dependent on using user data to track sales such as affiliate marketing would suffer significantly, while pay-per-click advertising services would be forced to ask permission to place a cookie every time a user attempted to follow a link.

If the amendments go through, commercial web sites may be forced to run multi million pound search campaigns without having a detailed understanding of how well the strategy is performing. Most modern forms of web analytics, meanwhile, would also be threatened by the European proposal.

The experience of visiting commercial websites could also be badly affected. Sites may be forced to display a pop-up message – commonly associated with invasive advertising – in order to seek the visitor’s permission before any tracking could be used. Over all, the loss in transactions combined with the cost of implementation would stretch to many millions of Euros in lost revenue each month for online retailers, travel and finance sites.

Full details of the proposed legislative change and its possible ramifications are available through bigmouthmedia’s digital news service.

About bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest and most experienced digital marketing agency and was rated the UK’s #1 Search agency for SEO and PPC in the 2009 NMA Marketing Services Guide. Bigmouthmedia’s 200+ online marketing experts across 12 international offices maximise online brand exposure by means of integrated digital strategies incorporating SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Display Advertising, Online PR and Copywriting. Bigmouthmedia’s multilingual digital solutions deliver outstanding ROI for over 300 world leading brands including British Airways, Tesco, Sky, Cisco, BT, Comic Relief, Barclaycard and Europcar. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news.

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BT Business Has Launched The Online Starter Kit, A Service Designed To Help Small Businesses Promote Themselves Online

BT Business has launched the Online Starter Kit, a service designed to help small businesses promote themselves online, offering a professionally-built web site and profile in the BT business networking community for £199 including 12 months of web hosting*.

web design packages

For the first time BT Business has brought together all of the essential ingredients for creating an online presence into one low cost bundle. For businesses looking to combine this with their broadband commitment, the Online Starter Kit is also available at just £5 per month with BT Business Total Broadband Option 3.

The bundle includes a web site design consultation and professional web site build, logo design, advice around web site copy and keywords, web hosting, domain based webmail and a BT Tradespace profile – all designed to work together to boost a business presence on search engines such as Google.

One in five small businesses don’t have their own web site, despite £78 billion – 25% of UK retail spend – in this year projected to come from online sales. According to BT Business research the vast majority that do are also not getting the most out of their websites or using them effectively to attract customers. Just one in over 3,000 web sites use keywords in the content they post on their sites, despite the use of keywords increasing the chances of search engines picking up web pages. 42% have websites with bad pages containing broken or invalid links**.

“Every business needs an effective online presence that works well with search engines, but this can sometimes be a daunting step for start-ups,” said Jerry Thompson, Director Business Products and Online. “By bringing everything together in one low-cost bundle BT is helping small businesses take the vital steps to getting online hassle-free. 20% of small businesses now also use social networking sites to win new business, so getting your company web site to work more effectively with social business networks such as BT Tradespace is becoming more and more important.”

BT Tradespace is a dynamic online community for sales and marketing and offers a comprehensive directory of small business products and services. It allows members to use the latest social media tools – podcasts, videos and blogs – to promote themselves, engage with customers, partners and suppliers and sell goods to consumers over a secure and safe trading platform.

* Based on 12mths contract. The Online Starter bundle costs £199 ex VAT. This comprises monthly costs of £5 per month ex VAT for a web hosting service plus a one-off cost of £139.
** Conclusion of an investigation of 70,000 websites released by BT Business in March 09.

About BTTradespace.com
BTTradespace.com is a 350,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect effectively with other people – in order to build business and customer relationships. BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

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Value Target Will Be Launching Its On-Line Bartering Services On Sunday, June 7, 2009 As A Predominately On-Line Bartering System

Value Target is a place where users list those items or services that they want to trade for other items or services. Value Target has included many of the member features, such as distance from, that allow its users to quickly locate those goods and/or services of interest.

valuetarget

Whether it is a good or a service it’s not difficult to find sites that allow you to pay for a “for sell” listing. However, currency is only one form of commerce; an equal trade of services is another. There are many “trading” sites available to the on-line user, but they can be limited to the regional areas or lack the fine grained user functionality of locating within a close proximity.

Value Target at launch will be offering the first 250 item listings at no cost to the user. Two types will be available, and always for free. Users that want to just give away goods are welcome to create a “Free” listing. Users that are in need of a service or good but haven’t found a listing to trade with are welcome to create a “Wanted” listing.

Value Target allows users to create paid item listings that covers items and services. When it comes to vehicle, real estate, and watercraft listings we have taken it further to incorporate specific descriptions of each. For no charge users are allowed to create “Free Listings” and “Wanted Listings” in hopes to accomplish trades. Even the on-site advertising is user generated to boost any users success at generating interest.

Great selling sites offer users the ability to see all products, yet fine grain searches down to the most relevant as well as closest. Value Target recognizes that; while a web developer may be able to trade programming services all over the world, a dentist may only trade services in the next city. Value Target has included geo location to help users find items by proximity to their location.

Communication between users is key as well. With accounts, users are allowed to send messages between their accounts, or questions and offers on a submitted listing. When a user registers they can elect to receive notification of their message, question, or offer via email. Additionally they can elect to receive an email for those new items activated that interests them.

Value Target is a place that fully recognizes that money doesn’t make the world go round. Everyone has something that they can trade for something else.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Scott Krutsinger, please call Scott Krutsinger at +1.386.717.9840 or e-mail Scott at scottk@valuetarget.com

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I Love This Person Website Creates Lifetime Dedication Web Pages for Dads

Web users everywhere have a new way to celebrate their fathers this Father’s Day at www.ILoveThisPerson.com. The I Love This Person website gives people an easy way to create permanent online dedication web pages for their dads. This is the perfect, long-lasting Father’s Day present that you share with everyone, to say, “I love you dad”. Don’t just tell the person, tell the whole world!

People can create a customized dedication page any time for any person they admire, respect, or love. Dedications are especially great for a father this Father’s Day, or even a family member or friend. Dedications can be anonymous, or the creator can display his or her name. The I Love This Person web page is like creating a website for your father to show the world you love him.

Users can select a single editable lifetime dedication web page 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 select a single editable dedication for as little as $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. They believe that the potential of the Internet is enormous yet still in its infancy. They endorse the entrepreneurial spirit that exists and is inherent in all of us globally. Robipau works daily with entrepreneurially minded individuals f r o m around the world who have a well thought-out virtual business concept but needed assistance in converting their concept into a revenue-generating Internet business. For more information, visit www.robipau.com. 

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BT Tradespace And Libersy Aim To Help Small Businesses Capture Business Opportunities From Social Networking

BT Tradespace is introducing a new online booking and payment system, BT Book It Now, aiming to help small businesses capture business opportunities f r o m social networking.

bttradespace

Based on the Libersy online booking software, Book It Now is available for free to all BT Tradespace members. It is the first e-commerce solution for companies in the service industry, such as hairdressers, restaurants, sports clubs and consultants, to integrate the PayPal payments system directly into an online bookings platform within a social network environment.

With 74 per cent of all service bookings made in the evenings, BT Book It Now aims to provide businesses with the tools needed to serve their online customers round the clock. Customers can log-on at their convenience and check for available times, book appointments and pay instantly using the system.

“Social commerce is clearly on the rise and we are always looking for ways in which we can help the BT Tradespace community make the most of this upward trend,” said Ivan Croxford, general manager at BT Tradespace.

“It’s not only important to be able to display your services, it’s also vital to interact with your customers. BT Book It Now is just one of many value added services that we aim to introduce for members to help them do just this and we’re delighted to partner with Libersy on this particular one.”

“BT Book IT Now offers a unique online system for UK consumers and businesses,” said Karin Loeffen, founder and creator of Libersy. “Businesses can use the booking system to obtain more clients, use their time more efficiently and increase their revenues through BT Tradespace and PayPal. For small businesses it’s often difficult to take time off, because they fear missing opportunities. Thanks to this system, that’s now a thing of the past.”

Book It Now is available f r o m BT Tradespace in three packages, free, basic and advanced. The basic package gives customers the additional ability to support a range of services and accept full or partial payments for them.

With the advanced package, customers can select different staff and rooms and businesses can tailor information that they request f r o m customers to their needs. They can also create a link to their booking system on their own web site and third party search portals as well as on their BT Tradespace profile with the “Book It Now” button.

About BTTradespace.com
BTTradespace.com is a 350,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect effectively with other people – in order to build business and customer relationships. BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale. In the year ended 31 March 2009, BT Group’s revenue was £21,390 million.  British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. 

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New Research By bigmouthmedia Reveals Changes In Search Behaviour As Users Abandon Brand Name Searches In Favour Of A More Sophisticated Approach To Searching For Goods And Services Online

Despite online shoppers using the search box to access brand sites and browsers like Firefox and Chrome offering a single bar for both navigation and search, navigational keyword usage in Europe is down this year. Conducted by bigmouthmedia’s international offices in Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, France and the Nordics region, the research simultaneously reveals a growing tendency amongst users to employ increasingly complex search terms when looking for information online.

According to the survey, the steady increase in numbers of consumers using the web for entertainment has seen the percentage of keywords accounted for by navigational search fall, while the vast majority of European consumers now use two and three word search phrases to deliver more targeted results when surfing.

“Over the past few years consumers have become far more savvy about search, and as the recession drives people to hunt for the very best available deals, we’re seeing them adopt a sophisticated approach with the majority now employing more complicated phrases to find their way around the web,” said Andrew Girdwood, Head of Search at bigmouthmedia.

The research demonstrates a range of differing approaches from country to country. Web users in Italy, Great Britain and Germany were found to demonstrate the most complex search behaviour, topping the table for four-word phrases, while almost a quarter of consumers in France and Spain still rely on a single keyword when tracking down information, goods and services on the internet.

Girdwood added: “Clearly, the way that users approach the search landscape is changing. As consumers continue to become more comfortable with the technology and the sheer volume of online information proliferates it will be interesting to see how this trend develops over the next few years and how it may force many big brand companies to reassess their digital marketing strategies.” 

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news along with a series of bigmouthmedia tools to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

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Rackspace Recognised By The European Business Awards 2009 For Customer Focus Excellence

Rackspace Hosting, a leading provider of IT hosting services, has announced that it has been successfully recognised as one of Europe’s leading customer service organisations by the European Business Awards 2009.

The European Business Awards recognises and rewards excellence, best practice and innovation in companies across the 27 EU member states. Now in its third year, the European Business Awards serve to showcase Europe’s most successful business achievements, with hundreds of companies entering each year. This year Rackspace Hosting achieved a top 10 place in the Award for Customer Focus category at the high profile awards ceremony, held in Rome on 7th April.

Brian Thomson, Managing Director at Rackspace, commented: “This recognition is particularly satisfying for us, as it really underlines our mantra of Fanatical Support. In the competitive IT hosting marketplace, everyone claims they deliver excellent customer service, so it’s great to prove that with Rackspace, customer focus is a reality, not just hype.

“2009 has already been a great year for recognition of our endeavours. This success follows closely on the heels of Rackspace being voted 15th best company to work for by the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies Awards, moving up nine places from 2008. This European recognition comes after Rackspace won the overall award for customer focus in the 2008 National Business Awards”.

The recognition Rackspace has achieved at these awards highlights the company’s total commitment to its customers through the Fanatical Support service which focuses on the 5 important key criteria of responsiveness, ownership, resourcefulness, expertise and transparency.

About Rackspace Hosting:
As the world’s leader and specialist in hosting, Rackspace Hosting is changing the way businesses worldwide buy IT. Rackspace delivers computing-as-a-service, integrating the industry’s best technologies into a flexible service offering, making computing more reliable and affordable.

A trusted partner to companies of all sizes, Rackspace enables IT departments to be more effective. Rackspace is distinguished by its award-winning Fanatical Support, furthering the company’s mission to be one of the world’s greatest service companies. Rackspace featured in the top 30 of both the Sunday Times 100 Best companies to work for list and the Financial Times Great Place to Work Awards, 2008.

Rackspace’s portfolio of hosted services includes managed hosting, hosted exchange and cloud hosting.

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Bigmouthmedia Summit To Map Out Finance Sectors Online Battleground

Bigmouthmedia reveals that one of the UK’s leading online business experts is set to tell an audience of financial sector executives that the digital media will be a key battleground in their fight to beat the downturn.

Speaking ahead of the bigmouthmedia finance summit in April, Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein believes that the finance industry faces a fight on two fronts over the coming year. In addition to coping with an uncertain market, he says the beleaguered sector will also be forced to come to terms with the explosive growth of social media.

“While the financial sector faces an unprecedented crisis of consumer confidence, it is also operating in an era where the way that businesses interact with the public is changing at a breakneck speed. The remarkable popularity of social networking applications such as twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook has taken many businesses by surprise, but the medium has already become a key commercial communications channel,” said Friedlein, “Coming to terms with these new channels and keeping pace with the rapid developments within them will be one of the critical challenges facing businesses in the months ahead.”

Drawing upon Econsultancy’s wealth of industry research, Friedlein plans to use the event to demonstrate how businesses can effectively engage the social media. Joining a line up of some of the UK’s best known online finance specialists, his presentation will contribute to an agenda designed to take participants through the key marketing strategies recommended to help businesses prosper in the current economic climate.

He will be joined by Senior Head of Financial Services at Google UK Ian Morgan and Tom Pearman, Finance Manager at Microsoft Advertising. Comscore’s Paolo Barbesino, Yahoo Finance Category Director Jeremy Fawcett and Will Cooper from New Media Age will also be presenting.

“It may be a tough time for the finance sector, but there are still opportunities for smart, successful companies working towards the recovery,” said Chris Cathcart, Senior Finance Strategist at bigmouthmedia.

He continued, “We designed this summit to highlight the positives, and the attendees can look forward to an exciting event focused on successful strategies, informal networking and a chance to speak directly with the people at the forefront of online finance in the UK today.”

The bigmouthmedia Finance Summit takes place in London on 8th April and is a free event aimed at senior marketing and ecommerce executives. Places are limited, but those wishing to attend can call 0845 130 0055 or email hello@bigmouthmedia.com for an invitation.

About bigmouthmedia 
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: PPC and Search Engine Optimisation, Online Media Planning, Affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics.

Leading the digital marketing strategies of a third of the UK’s most trusted brands, bigmouthmedia services over 300 big-brand customers globally including: Adidas, Hilton, British Airways, Tesco, Aer Lingus, BP, Barclays, Castrol, Conrad International, Dorling Kindersley, Early Learning Centre, , Fasthosts, Jumeirah, Canon, Samsung, Starbucks, Top Man, Debenhams, Which?, Lacoste, Euler Hermes and Wall Street Institute.

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The Internet’s Most Popular Wedding Favor Store Offers Affiliate Marketing Opportunities Through Shareasale, Avantlink And Linkconnector

AmericanBridal.com, the Internet’s most expansive collection of unique and affordable wedding favors, today announced that it is offering affiliate marketing opportunities through Shareasale, Avantlink and Linkconnector. AmericanBridal.com pays 10% referral commission on sales and provides very appealing promotional offers that can easily turn referral visitors into paying customers.

“There are many affiliate programs out there, and one of the reasons we are successful is that we are constantly offering special promotions and offers that are too good to resist,” said Shirley Tan, founder, AmericanBridal.com. “Helping to convert referral traffic to actual sales means that our affiliates can earn commissions more regularly.”

Affiliates appreciate the generous promotions that AmericanBridal.com offers to their referrals, which makes it easier for publishers to earn money. One of the most popular and blogged about promotions was AmericanBridal.com’s $5 bridesmaid tote sale. Affiliates can post the promotional banners to help drive traffic to AmericanBridal.com. Once there, the unique selection of products coupled with a competitive price ensures that referral visitors become customers.

Due to popular demand, AmericanBridal.com is bringing back the $5 bridesmaid tote special for a limited time. Choose f r o m a selection of bags including tote bags, cosmetic bags, pet carriers, overnight bags, toiletry bags, purses, duffel bags, backpacks, garment bags, laptop totes and more. A coupon code is not necessary to receive special pricing. Add monogramming for just $10 more. Please visit www.AmericanBridal.com and select $5 Bridesmaid Totes banner.

In addition to the Tote Bag promotion, AmericanBridal.com is offering a 50% reduction on clearance merchandise (enter coupon code clearance50 at checkout). Clearance code cannot be combined with the $5 Tote Bag sale.

A popular destination for wedding favors, bridal shower favors and discount wedding favors that don’t look like cheap wedding favors, AmericanBridal.com is now serving and shipping to U.S. and international customers.

AmericanBridal.com offers the most extensive collection of wedding favors and accessories such as party favors, wedding invitations, personalized gifts, wedding ideas, wedding flowers, cake toppers, thank you cards, wedding guest favors, shower favors, wedding jewelry, wedding decorations, wedding centerpieces, bridal shower games, wedding programs, bridal jewelry, bridal shower invitations, place cards, usher gifts, wedding albums, wedding announcements, favor boxes, unity candle, wedding anniversary gift, wedding checklist, wedding bells, wedding napkins, wedding veils and much more.

About AmericanBridal.com
AmericanBridal.com is the online source for unique and affordable wedding favors and accessories. For every theme or season, AmericanBridal.com has the most extensive selection of products that are guaranteed to make any wedding an unforgettable event for the bride and groom and their guests.  F r o m fun and unusual to traditional and elegant, Americanbridal.com specializes in personalized wedding favors, attendant gifts, wedding ceremony accessories, unique bridesmaids gifts and groomsmen gifts, bridal accessories and jewelry, and themed wedding favors. AmericanBridal.com offers the selection of a showroom with the convenience of online shopping and superior customer service at prices that can’t be beat. For more information, please visit us at www.AmericanBridal.com.

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UK SMEs Sell Themselves Short On Internet Shopping Bonanza Revealed by BT Tradespace

New research from BT Tradespace indicates that six out of 10 small businesses are missing out on their share of a £20 billion-a-year* web shopping boom because they are not selling their products and services online.

The new Voice of Small Business report from BT Tradespace shows that 67% have little faith they can find customers on the internet, even though more than two thirds (69%) shop online at least once a month.

The survey found that the number of SMEs with a website rose by 20% between 2007 and 2008. However, just 13% of small businesses consider websites integral to marketing strategy and only three per cent use their site to communicate with consumers.

Mick Hegarty, head of bttradespace.com, said: “Small companies can benefit greatly by exploiting the marketing and sales opportunities afforded by the internet.

“During these challenging times, more people than ever are using the web to shop because of the choice, convenience and cost savings it provides. A professional and credible online presence can open up a world of opportunities and provides a great platform to engage with customers.”

The Voice of Small Business report, commissioned to discover how SMEs can best communicate and conduct business in the current economic climate, found that 92% are aware of blogging but just 18% use it for business purposes.

The research also found that the smallest companies (up to five employees) were least likely to interact with other local businesses with 47% admitting to not knowing the companies in their area.

Hegarty said: “The internet opens up a global marketplace for SMEs helping them to compete and prosper.”

“Free business social networking websites and social media tools like blogging and podcasting can transform a company’s fortunes at the click of a button.

“Entrepreneurs can showcase goods, enhance their online marketing profiles, maintain an ongoing dialogue with customers, and share information and expertise with like-minded companies.”

* Verdict Research estimates that in 2008 online spending by consumers on retail purchases rose by a substantial 32% to £19.4bn. With Internet access growing and users purchasing more frequently and more heavily online, this strong growth is set to continue, albeit at a more subdued rate. By 2012, online retail is set to reach £42.4 billion, 12.4% of total online spending.

About BT Tradespace
BTTradespace.com is a 300,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect with other people effectively – both building business and customer relationships.

BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.

In the year ended 31 March 2008, BT Group plc’s revenue was £20,704 million with profit before taxation and specific items of £2,506 million. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

Via EPR Network
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Virgin Media gets festive with the launch of a new Christmas microsite providing inspiration for gifts and advice on Christmas dilemmas

As the festive season fast approaches, Virgin Media has unveiled a brand new Christmas microsite providing inspiration for gifts and advice on family dilemmas.

The new Virgin Media microsite contains a host of top brands, such as Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, Toys R Us, Red Letter Days and Majestic Wine, and is bursting with Christmas gift ideas for everyone. With over four million products available to choose from, the new site makes it even easier to browse through the special gift sections to help find the perfect present for that special someone.

The new site also includes a host of daily updated features to help avoid any Christmas crises or family feuds. There is a wide range of articles available on the site covering the weird and the wonderful, to common Christmas questions, such as presents for pets, festive recipes and party planning, budgeting for Christmas, top skiing destinations, the best European Christmas markets, gift giving etiquette, ethical and eco-friendly Christmas tips and lots more.

To really get into the seasonal spirit, from 1st December, there will also be an interactive advent calendar which will feature some of the best Christmas steals and deals available, as well as competitions.

The new Virgin Media Christmas microsite offers a massive range of high street shops and must-have brands, including personalised gifts, most-wanted toys, snazzy gadgets, top-class wine and champagne, festive flowers, imaginative experiences and, gifts, designer clothing and sportswear, and awesome electronics.

About Virgin Media
Virgin Media is an innovative and pioneering UK entertainment and communications business. For the first time consumers can get everything they need from one company – the UK’s only quad-play of TV, broadband, phone and mobile, plus the most advanced TV on demand service, all delivered through its unique fibre-optic cable network. Virgin Media launched the UK’s first high definition TV service, is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer, and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder. Virgin Media is the UK’s largest residential broadband provider, the largest virtual mobile network operator and the second-largest provider of pay TV and home phone.

Virgin Media has been voted the sixth Most Loved Brand in Britain in a Marketing magazine poll, as well as having been voted the Most Trusted ISP Brand 2008 by Reader’s Digest magazine. The Sunday Times also awarded Virgin Media its 2008 Best Buy awards for broadband and movies on demand.

Via EPR Network
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Apress Announces The Agreement To Include Apress And Friends Of ED Titles In Safari Books Online

Apress announces the agreement to include Apress and friends of ED titles in Safari Books Online, a premier on-demand digital library, as part of its continued commitment to supporting the needs of its technology professionals.

The availability of Apress and friends of ED books to Safari Books Online subscribers is a key part of Apress’ ongoing commitment to providing high-quality information to its readers in the ways they need and want. Safari Books Online is a widely popular service that will provide flexible, on-demand access to Apress books on a subscription basis. Apress is pleased to be joining an elite group of business and technology publishers whose titles are available to Safari customers.

According to Paul Manning, President of Apress, “…Safari’s client base is a perfect match with Apress’ content. We’ve heard from many friends and customers recently that they wanted Apress books available on the Safari Platform. In the end, that feedback, that message, is what drove the partnership. We also believe that this is great exposure for our authors, and that is a core value at Apress.”

70 Apress and friends of ED titles have been available for download at Safari Books Online since October 2008, and Apress is looking forward to feedback on other titles to offer going forward. Currently available titles include:

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston
CSS Mastery by Andy Budd
Microsoft SharePoint: Building Office 2007 Solutions in C# 2005 by Scot P Hillier
Pro Spring 2.5 by Jan Machacek et al.
The Definitive Guide to Django by Adrian Holovaty and Jacob Kaplan-Moss
Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform by Andrew Troelsen
Practical Common LISP by Peter Seibel

Mark Brokering, Director of Content Management and Acquisitions for Safari Books Online, explains why Apress is a great fit for Safari: “We are very pleased that we can now offer Apress’ prestigious line of technical books to our subscribers. We’ve had so many requests for their titles over the years—and for good reason. Apress has an outstanding editorial team with a well-earned reputation for publishing high-quality books on important topics on which reliable information is hard to come by.”

Apress’ entire list of published books has been available in PDF eBook format since 2005 via the Apress eBookshop, http://eBookshop.apress.com, and will continue to be sold direct from the publisher.

About Apress: Apress is a technical publisher devoted to meeting the needs of IT professionals, software developers, and programmers, with more than 700 books in print and a continually expanding portfolio of publications. Apress provides high-quality, no-fluff content in print and electronic formats that help serious technology professionals build a comprehensive pathway to career success. Apress and friends of ED are part of Springer Science + Business Media. Read more at http://www.apress.com/info.

About Safari Books Online: Safari Books Online (www.safaribooksonline.com), founded in 2001 as a joint venture of pre-eminent technology publishers O’Reilly Media Inc. and Pearson Education, is the leading on-demand digital library, providing access to thousands of books, manuscripts, short topics, articles and instructional videos from the world’s thought-leaders in business and technology innovation. Safari Books Online empowers technology professionals, software developers, web designers, and business and creative professionals to quickly and easily search for reliable, definitive answers to mission-critical questions. Learn more at http://www.safaribooksonline.com/company/company.php.

Via EPR Network
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Welcome to EPR Internet News

EPR Internet News is a new blog, part of EPR Network, that is going to be focused on and will be covering the Internet news and stories from press releases published on EPR Network.

EPR Network (EPR stands for express press release) is one of the nation’s largest press release distribution networks on Web. The EPR’s nationwide network includes 12 State based PR sites, one major PR forum and a number of industry specific PR blogs and what started as a hobby on Internet years ago turned out to be a rapidly growing business today. EPR Network is also known as one of the most trusted (human optimized, published, edited and monitored, spam/scam/low quality PR content free) PR sites on the web with more than 10,000 company and individual press releases distributed per month. EPR Network is putting your press releases on top of all major search engines’ results and is reaching thousands of individuals, companies, PR specialists, media professionals, bloggers and journalists every day.

EPR Network has thousands of clients around the world including global 500 corporations like Hilton Hotels, Barclays Bank, AXA Insurance, Tesco UK, eBay/Skype, Emirates, just to name a few. The network’s PR web sites are currently reaching from 150,000 to sometimes 500,000 unique visitors per month while our viral reach could possibly go to as much as 1M people per month through our presence across various social media sites. EPR Network was established in 2004 and as of May 2008 it had more than 800,000 press releases (pages) published on its network.

If you have a press release to be distributed, you can do it over here: press release distribution