Ecommerce Blog

After using Microsoft Internet Explorer for all my life I’ve just made the change and switched to Mozilla Firefox.

Why? Well I finally got sick of IE crashing, locking up and generally misbehaving. As I make my living online my web browser gets a lot of use and IE just wasn’t up to the job. It got to the point that every half hour or hour I would have to close it down and restart it. For no apparent reason it would just freeze, new tabs wouldn’t open or it would just become generally unresponsive. So much so that it really got in the way of my productivity, so last week I binned it once and for all.

So far I have to say that Firefox has been superb. It allowed me to import all my IE bookmarks in a matter of seconds and more importantly hasn’t crashed once, yay! Not only that but it seems to run faster and smoother.

My next step is to explore all of the add-ons available. Can anybody recommend any useful ones?

What I’m listening to right now: LKP – “I’m Ready Part 2″ hello Newcastle!!!

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Goodbye IE, hello Firefox

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Original post by Kieron

I’ve just watched Dragon’s Den, Series 6, episode 2 and my jaw dropped. Why? More on that later, but for now here is how to easily impress the Dragon’s and gain some serious funding.

1. Tell them the turnover (not profit) of the biggest website that currently occupies the same niche as yourself. Obviously the bigger the better.

2.“Impress” them with some slightly average search engine results for a couple of key search terms. Judging by this weeks’ episode, position 9 and position 12 will get you over a quarter of million pounds investment.

That’s it!

On last night’s episode a website did exactly this. The site concerned is DiamondGeezer.com who last year had a turnover of £1.6 million but a profit of only £3,243.

However because the guy who was pitching said that the biggest site in this sector (BlueNile.com) had an annual turnover of $330 million - and that DiamondGeezer.com held position 12 on Google for “diamond” and position 9 for “diamond engagement ring” they actually made him an offer.

To top it all the offer was the highest ever in Dragon’s Den, it was £255,000 for 40% of the business. In fact so keen were the Dragons to invest that 3 of them (Theo, Peter and James) all wanted to be part of the investment. However the owner of the company - can you believe this - actually turned them down!! Apparently he thought that £255k for a 40% investment of his company, which made £3,243 profit last year remember, was actually too high!

I honestly can’t decide who made the worst decisions in tonight’s episode. Was it the Dragon’s for wanting to invest such a large amount of cash into such a small business, with slightly-above-average search engine rankings? Or was it the owner of the business who turned them down?

We all know that last year Theo made a similar mistake and blew £200k on another online business, but you would think he would have learned by now wouldn’t you? Obviously not.

Now I know a lot of affiliates who have much better rankings (positions 1 to 5 for example) for sites in much bigger sectors than online jewellery. The majority of which would probably call it a day if they didn’t make £3,243 profit in a week or less, never mind a year. So it makes you think what kind of funding we could all secure if we ever entered the Den with a real web business that was making good money, in a profitable sector and had good search engine results? Anyone up for it?

If you haven’t seen the pitch then please click here to watch it. And just watch how the guy manages to get James, Theo and Peter to part with their money by telling them about a few average serps results. Amazing.

What I’m listening to right now: Joe – “God’s Work”

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How to get funding from the Dragons for your website (because they don’t understand the Internet - as proven by DiamondGeezer.com)

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Original post by Kieron

I’ve just watched Dragon’s Den, Series 6, episode 2 and my jaw dropped. Why? More on that later, but for now here is how to easily impress the Dragon’s and gain some serious funding.

1. Tell them the turnover (not profit) of the biggest website that currently occupies the same niche as yourself. Obviously the bigger the better.

2.“Impress” them with some slightly average search engine results for a couple of key search terms. Judging by this weeks’ episode, position 9 and position 12 will get you over a quarter of million pounds investment.

That’s it!

On last night’s episode a website did exactly this. The site concerned is DiamondGeezer.com who last year had a turnover of £1.6 million but a profit of only £3,243.

However because the guy who was pitching said that the biggest site in this sector (BlueNile.com) had an annual turnover of $330 million - and that DiamondGeezer.com held position 12 on Google for “diamond” and position 9 for “diamond engagement ring” they actually made him an offer.

To top it all the offer was the highest ever in Dragon’s Den, it was £255,000 for 40% of the business. In fact so keen were the Dragons to invest that 3 of them (Theo, Peter and James) all wanted to be part of the investment. However the owner of the company - can you believe this - actually turned them down!! Apparently he thought that £255k for a 40% investment of his company, which made £3,243 profit last year remember, was actually too high!

I honestly can’t decide who made the worst decisions in tonight’s episode. Was it the Dragon’s for wanting to invest such a large amount of cash into such a small business, with slightly-above-average search engine rankings? Or was it the owner of the business who turned them down?

We all know that last year Theo made a similar mistake and blew £200k on another online business, but you would think he would have learned by now wouldn’t you? Obviously not.

Now I know a lot of affiliates who have much better rankings (positions 1 to 5 for example) for sites in much bigger sectors than online jewellery. The majority of which would probably call it a day if they didn’t make £3,243 profit in a week or less, never mind a year. So it makes you think what kind of funding we could all secure if we ever entered the Den with a real web business that was making good money, in a profitable sector and had good search engine results? Anyone up for it?

If you haven’t seen the pitch then please click here to watch it. And just watch how the guy manages to get James, Theo and Peter to part with their money by telling them about a few average serps results. Amazing.

What I’m listening to right now: Joe – “God’s Work”

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog Here.org.uk

How to get funding from the Dragons for your website (because they don’t understand the Internet - as proven by DiamondGeezer.com)

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Original post by Kieron

Great to see Dragon’s Den make a return to TV tonight with series 6. Congratulations to Hamfatter and Dance4MePromotions who both secured investments.

I have to say that the the decision to appear on a business reality show by indie band Hamfatter was a stroke of genius. Regardless of whether they got an investment or not, the 15 minutes of prime time TV would almost certainly open up a lot of doors for them. As it happened though, they had to choose between Peter Jones, Duncan and a combined offer from Theo and Deborah. Thankfully they dismissed Theo and Deborah, quite rightly too as their tinpot music download business wouldn’t benefit them at all. Instead they chose Peter who can open doors at Sony. Well done, I would have done exactly the same.

As for Air Oasis, well those guys need to stick with their door-to-door Multi Level Marketing strategy. Completely hopeless. Same applies to the Layline people, I mean come on, good comedy value but a real business? I don’t think so.

Finally. I thought the ʬM girls were brilliant. Their business was quirky, fun and something different. Already healthy and earning decent profits it was easy to see how James and Duncan could easily, easily bring them shedloads of business from their contacts and existing businesses. For what it’s worth I would have chosen those two over Theo and Peter in this instance, as I just don’t see how ʬM can fit into Red Letter Days. They are a corporate entertainment company, not an experience.

Anyway, great first show, roll on next week!

What I’m listening to right now: Joe - “All or Nothing”

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Dragons Den series 6 - well done to Hamfatter and D4M

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Original post by Kieron

As many of you will know my various sites have been ripped-off more than once. So much so in fact that I’ve compiled this handy Top 10 list of excuses given by dodgepots who have no talent:

1. I’m new to this and didn’t know that it was wrong to copy.
2. My business partner/outsourced designer from India must have done this. I will sack them right now.
3. Sorry I thought your design was just a template and therefore free to copy.
4.It’s not a copy it’s just a coincidence that it looks…erm…identical to yours.
5. I’m so busy I can’t remember where I got the design inspiration from, I run a lot of sites you know.
6. I didn’t copy all of your site, just certain parts so that’s OK.
7. I can’t deal with this right now there’s been a death in the family.
8. I didn’t copy it from your site I got it from another site. So they must have been the ones copying your site, not me.
9. I don’t make much money so it’s cheaper for me to get “inspiration” from websites already out there.
10. I credited you on my site so that makes it OK.

What’s the best excuse you’ve heard from people either copying your design or your content?

Mariah Carey Feat TI – “I’ll Be Lovin’ You Long Time” (Remix)

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Top 10 excuses given by people who rip-off your site

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Original post by Kieron

I’m heading down to London today for the 2-day Online Bingo Summit starting tomorrow, it’s my second time to London in 2 weeks, will be getting a headache with all this travelling south soon.

Anyway if you’re attending please do come and say hello. I’ll be on the “Affiliate Management meet Affiliate innovation Panel” Tuesday afternoon at 3.30pm, here’s the blurb:

This 2 part panel delves into the business of managing affiliates for best results and then looks at the latest innovations in affiliate marketing to ensure your brand gets the best marketing reach online

Take away marketing best practice tips to help you increase ROI for your online bingo business
Tap into player referrals and WOM marketing by utilising social networking, online wikis and effective SEO
What’s next? Find out how affiliates are innovating to bring you even more players, ROI and profits!
Get real, get practical… Ensure your marketing strategy employs the most effective ways to spread the word without breaking the bank!
Part 1:
Nicky Senyard, Owner & CEO, Income Access
Vikki Taylor, Affiliate Manager, Crown Bingo
Part 2:
Raj Ramanandi, Affiliate, Bingo Base
Jason Dale, Affiliate, Loquax
Kieron Donoghue, Affiliate, Bingo.org.uk

Moderator: Chris Wesson, Affiliate, Little Star Media

See you there!

What I’m listening to right now: Lil Wayne feat Babyface – “Comfortable” - love this track!

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See you at the Online Bingo Summit

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Original post by Kieron

So, how on earth did Lee “That’s what I’m talking about!!” McQueen win The Apprentice last night??

The guy has never shown any talent in any of the tasks, and his leadership skills are non existent. He did an impression of a “reverse pterodactyl” in his interview for God’s sake, lied about his uni education on his CV and generally showed no business qualities at all throughout the whole 12 weeks.

Not to mention the fact that in last night’s final task he created a men’s fragrance called “Roulette” - I mean come on! Did you see the design of the bottle? probably not as it was hardly shown - which may have something to do with the fact that it was shaped like a roulette wheel and was the biggest piece of tat I ever saw. I mean who would buy that? But despite the cheesy 1970’s style tv ad, and the fact that the fragrance was criticised as being “bland” by experts, they won!!! Not to mention the fact that loads of the industry insiders expressed concern of its gambling connotations.

Whereas the other team created a fragrance that was critically acclaimed by the top perfume smelling fella in the world and the bottle had an innovative and unique design - they lost! The only (weak) argument was that their bottle would be expensive to make because it’s so unique. So what? The uplift in sales due to it’s uniqueness and novelty value would more than compensate.

Wrong wrong wrong!

What I’m listening to right now: Robin Thicke – “Magic” - you know the one from the Samsung Soul U900 mobile phone ad. Brilliant.

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Lee McQueen wins the Apprentice! Has the world gone mad?

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Original post by Kieron

Back in last November I wrote about online statup HungryHouse.co.uk appearing on the BBC TV show Dragon’s Den and securing a £100k investment from 2 of the Dragons for a 50% equity share. At the time I really couldn’t make my mind up if this was a good deal or not. It seems it wasn’t meant to be though, as James Caan got cold feet and backed out of the deal.

However due to the popularity of the TV show, some other investors expressed their interest with the result being that HungryHouse.co.uk have just announced a £150k investment for a lower equity stake. So it seems that appearing on Dragon’s Den does have its benefits after all!

Press Release:

DRAGONS’ DEN WINNERS FIND THEIR ANGELS

The deal is agreed, hands are shaken, and the cameras stop rolling. But what happens next for entrepreneurs that find success in the Dragons’ Den?

Hungryhouse.co.uk, the website that makes it easier than ever before to find a local restaurant and order takeaway online, was one of the successful pitches featured on the BBCs Dragons’ Den in autumn last year. They won a £100,000 offer of investment from multi-millionaires James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne, in exchange for an eye-watering 50% of the business.

But, as hungryhouse’s founders Shane Lake and Tony Charles were to find, the investment is far from secure when you shake hands. Four months after filming, post-show due diligence ground to a halt after Caan became unsure whether the business would take off.

Now, the hungryhouse.co.uk team have finally found their business angels. Bryan O’Connell and Andrew Fuller were among those watching that night, and liked the idea so much that they made immediate contact to explore the possibility of backing the duo themselves. Bryan asserts, “We have experience in investing in similar website models, and we immediately felt that this idea had legs. On meeting Shane and Tony, we were particularly impressed with their passion for the business. The team had achieved so much with so little that it was clear that our £150,000 would have a big impact on the growth. We didn’t get the equity deal obtained in the den, but then the business has grown significantly over the last 5 months and of course we aren’t the Dragons.”

Andy adds, “We felt strong empathy with the founders in terms of our technical and business backgrounds and the way that we started our first business. It was clear that we could make a contribution beyond the obvious financial help.”

Shane Lake comments: “After appearing on TV, we had literally thousands of people emailing us. It took about 2 weeks just to read through all the messages. We were so busy, we almost missed Bryan’s initial approach - which came right at the time we realised that the offer from James and Duncan wasn’t going to work out.”

Tony Charles continues: “It was great when we were offered the backing we so desperately needed by the Dragons. The exposure of being on TV was massive for us too. But when you go into the Den, aside from the positives, the one thing you can’t expect is a good equity deal! On reflection, we’re glad the negotiations with the dragons fell through – the new deal, £150,000 for a smaller equity stake - values the business at over 3 times what was agreed in the Den. It was a long process, but we finally have the money we need for our nationwide expansion.”

-About hungryhouse.co.uk-

Hungryhouse.co.uk was launched in Putney in 2006 by Australian entrepreneurs Shane Lake and Tony Charles. The website allows visitors to read customer reviews before ordering their takeaway online – helping them find their area’s favourite restaurant without the hassle of sifting through piles of unwanted junk mail.

Launched with 12 restaurants, they now partner with 400 and are beginning their expansion beyond the M25. The website shot into the spotlight in 2007, when it attracted an offer of investment from Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan in the Dragons’ Den (view the hungryhouse pitch). It has since been nominated by Yahoo! as one of 2007’s most innovative websites.

What I’m listening to right now: Ryan Leslie – “Rescue You”

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HungryHouse.co.uk Dragon’s Den investment falls through. The best thing that could happen to them?

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Original post by Kieron

Q. If you happen to be in the fortunate position of registering the .uk domain extension of the name of the biggest social networking site in the world a full 2 years before they launch, what is the stupidest thing you can do?

A. Try to make money from it by putting up a “parking” page full of PPC ads.

As the moment you do this you can be accused of “kiting” and you will be asked to hand the domain name over.

Which is exactly what happened in February of this year. The owners of Myspace.co.uk, a UK ISP called Total Web Solutions were told to hand the domain over to Myspace.com as they recenty put up a Sedo parking page up when Myspace.com gained popularity, thus cashing in on type-ins.

Amazingly however this decision has just been overturned and Myspace.com have been told to hand back Myspace.co.uk to Total Web Solutions. However the domain is pretty much worthless now as the moment that TWS attempt to put up another landing page then I imagine the Myspace.com lawyers will descend like a ton of bricks. Why oh why they didn’t just sell it to Myspace.com a few years ago is beyond me.

Full story here courtesy of TechCrunch UK.

What I’m listening to right now: Day 26 ft Fat Joe – “Got Me Going” (Remix)

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Myspace.com lose Myspace.co.uk domain name

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Original post by Kieron

Following on from my pointless email post, I received the following email today. Here it is in it’s entirety:

Hi Guys,

I have attached a form that I would very much appreciate you to fill in. The finalised document will be sent to the client so they have an idea of the sites, rates etc you have,

Please send this back as soon as poss,

Many thanks,

Tristan

I did not know the sender, and have never spoke to him before, nor do I recognise the company he works for. It was a completely unsolicited email. If anyone can correctly identify what it is about then I will give them a voucher so they can take the Microsoft adExcellence exam for free (normally $50). Please leave your answer in the comments below.

What I’m listening to right now: Shana May Jackson Feat Neyo – “80’s Kind Of Love”

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More stupid emails, guess what it’s about and win a prize

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Original post by Kieron

OK so I’ve just come back from a week’s holiday and despite taking my laptop and logging on every day, I’ve still had around 1600 emails to sort through when I came back

Just to make life even more interesting, I still find emails like this in my inbox almost daily, what is it with these people?

Hi Kieron,
I have a look in to your websites. thats grate can i have the other address as well plz
Regards’
Abul

Then I see pointless, pointless emails from affiliate managers who should know better. This was the whole text of an email I received last week:

New Partmaster code coming soon watch this space for details !!!!

I mean what on earth does that mean? I can only presume that “Partmaster” relates to Currys Partmaster and that by “code” the affiliate manager means that there will be a discount code launching soon. So what? Shall I drop everything and wait by my inbox waiting for this hallowed discount code to arrive? The suspense is just killing me, will it entitle my users to say 10p off a replacement ink cartridge? Or maybe £1 off a water filter! I just can’t stand the wait, send me my Currys Partmaster discount code now!!!!

Now I am all for merchant communications, I positively encourage it. If you send me offers, discount codes, tips on how to promote you then I will probably use them. But an email to tell me that you will be sending out a discount code soon?!?!? Really? What next??

“Watch this space for an email next week”
“Watch this space for an email about a new email coming soon”
“Keep an eye out as at some unspecified time in the future, we’ll be…wait for it….uploading some new creative!”

Sigh - maybe I’m just having withdrawal symptoms from the sun.

What I’m listening to right now: Cassie – “In Love With You”

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Pointless and ridiculous emails

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Original post by Kieron

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, I’m currently in Fuerteventura having a bit of a break. Thanks too, to the readers who have emailed me, asking where I am I haven’t gone AWOL, honest!

Weather here is currently 27 degrees c and I have to say I’ve had a very relaxing time. I brought my laptop but have forced myself to a minimum of 30 minutes work every day. Anyway I’ll be back home Thursday so normal service will be resumed then.

What I’m listening to right now: Mary J Blige - “Growing Pains”

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AWOL

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Original post by Kieron

Will.i.am has to be one of my favourite artists in recent years. I love the Black Eyed Peas and I love pretty much every record that he has produced/featured on with other artists too. I think he is a great producer and brings a certain special something to otherwise dull records.

Having said that I’m absolutely baffled as to why his first solo album didn’t do as well in the charts as it should have done. Some have called it a flop and some have blamed his record label for releasing a weak track “I Got It From Your Mama” as the first single.

Anyway, after a few false starts it’s great to see that Will.i.am has released one of my favourite tracks from the album, “Heartbreaker”. But…he’s gone and asked Cheryl Cole to sing backing vocals on the single version. This came about from when Cheryl was doing the ITV2 programme “The Passions of Girls Aloud” where she was training to be a street dancer. She was originally set to dance in the video only but Will.i.am asked her to add a few vocals to the track too. The result? Well I prefer the original album version but I see that it makes sense commercially to have a Girls Aloud member featuring on the track. Plus, it has to be said that Cheryl looks fantastic in the video (but not as gorgeous as my fave, Sarah) so it’s not a bad thing.

BTW did anyone see Cheryl in the ITV2 documentary? She came across really well, loads of personality and genuinely funny.

Here’s the vid, best part is the last 60 seconds or so.

What I’m listening to right now: This

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Will.i.am featuring Cheryl Cole?! Heartbreaker

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Original post by Kieron

This post is inspired due to the fact that I’ve just dropped my car off at the garage as it needs a service. While I was waiting around I counted how many cars where in the lot, there were 58. Now out of these 58 different models of Land Rover they were all either black or silver/grey. What’s that all about?

The lady at the garage said that in the 5 years she has worked there, mine is only the second Range Rover she has ever seen in white.

So why are so unadventurous when it comes to picking colours for our cars? I do think black looks good if it is kept clean and highly polished but there are sooo many of them around there is just no individuality in owning one. And as for silver, well I’ve never liked silver as a car colour to be honest. Dull, dull, dull. But even worse is grey, grey is associated with boring old politicians isn’t it? What really makes me sad is when I see supercars in grey, I mean that is just wrong. There are a couple of Aston Martin’s and an Audi R8 in my neighbourhood and for some reason I just don’t understand, the owners chose them in grey. Shouldn’t a supercar be something of a statement?

So let’s pretend that you’re in the market for a new car and that the colours silver, grey or black didn’t exist. What colour would you choose?

P.S. Here’s some “inspiration”

What I’m listening to right now: Taio Cruz – “Come On Girl”

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If grey, silver and black were uninvented; what would you choose as your next car colour?

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Original post by Kieron

Enter the Sunshine.co.uk competition to win an Apple MacBook Air. It’s very easy, just put a link up! Competition ends March 31st.

Save 25% at Best Of The Web using discount code SAVEBIG. See here for more details. Offer ends March 31st.

Then when you’ve done all that upgrade your WordPress site to the latest version, 2.5. I’m using it to write this post and it’s the biggest upgrade in terms of functionality and changes to the interface that I’ve seen in a while. Very good, I like it.

I’d also like to thank everybody who voted in my last poll, taking a guess as to how much my last “white cars” post had cost me in terms of bandwidth. The correct answer was an additional £600 was added onto my monthly bill I’ve now bought a new domain and intend to build a stand alone site dedicated to white cars. Well that’s the intention but so far I haven’t been bothered.

What I’m listening to right now: Ray Lavender Ft T Pain – “Put It Down”

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Things to do before the end of March

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Original post by Kieron