Happy Christmas everyone I hope you have a wonderful holiday

With the year coming to a close I thought I’d share a few videos as a series to help give you some focus for the looming start of 2012

You can obviously dip in out & I hope you get inspiration, focus & clear action points to get 2012 started brilliantly

We are running a planning session for 2 hours this Wednesday if you would care to join us – the usual price for this 2hr power planning session is £199 – we welcome you for £15 to cover the cost of breakfast – you will be able to network as well to make new connections…….

Business Classes in St Albans

(3.5m) 8 Secrets to Success

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared, bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

(20m) Why you do what you do?

Part 1

Part 2

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared, bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

Click to receive Business Made Simple Updates This month a 90 Day Planner

Part 1

Part 2

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

(20m) Why are we happy

Part 1 

Part 2

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

(5m) Importance of focus

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

Click to receive Business Made Simple Updates This month a 90 Day planner

(5m) Importance of a targeted message

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

(1h22m) Art of the Start

How are you left feeling? Inspired, scared bored, focussed, motivated, fired up, needing guidance? Please share your thoughts below

Businesses in St Albans & Agencies in St Albans I wish you a wonderful start to 2012

If you believe my experience & knowledge can add any value into your lives please don’t hesitate to get in touch – a phone call can very often solve complexities simply by sharing

Alan French Mentor

07805675740

For Courses in St Albans please call Alan French Business Wealth Club Mentor St Albans

How To use LinkedIn Classes In St Albans Business Wealth Club St Albans

With awesome thanks to http://www.mindflash.com/ for their creation of this infographic & granting us permission to reproduce it – a simple straightforward guide to using & improving your profile on LinkedIn

Please share with us what you think & if it has helped & added value in your life?? Alan French

To Print The Full Infographic How to Use LinkedIn Classes In St Albans click on view on Scribd where you will have more print options

Click on the words to learn about 9 things Linkedin are currently telling Wall Street……………worth knowing!

Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by New York Times Bestseller & consistent top 30 UK best seller Robert Cialdini

Persuasion you may consider is a dirty word or a manipulative way of dealing with prospective clients & customers

Used negatively it certainly is……..!

Positively however it is a way of helping you understand what your prospects are thinking & the decision process they are going through,  helping both of you come to conclusions more quickly. So it’s simply about more effective communication.

Helping them buy what they need & you close deals with the right type of client.

Here I share a brief précis of my interpretation of the book to help you understand where you can improve your communication skills!

The Business Wealth Club St Albans are actually having a live discussion about the book where members will share their learning with club members & visitors to help embed this new found knowledge in their busy minds.

Why not come & join us? Share in the learning & meet some new successful business owners who can help you grow too.

Find kindred spirits who’re passionate about learning new skills & offering support developing each others business.

Share in useful practical ideas that work for others

Sales & marketing lessons YOU can take back & immediately implement into your business?

A collegiate, supportive club where everyone helps each other to work on their business not in it.

A focussed club of people with an in depth wealth & breadth of business experience different to usual networking groups.

Keep your head clear & focussed by sharing with supportive club members

The Business Wealth Club is the worlds first blended training & networking system helping You accelerate your sales, profits & growth

The unique success formula is delivered by interactive learning, skill refinement, personal & group mentoring. All in cutting edge easily remembered bite size chunks.

Annual Club Benefits

4 power planning workshops

8 Business Building Workshops

24 Dynamic Networking Meetings

2 Hours of Business Mentoring

1 Website Critique

2 Marketing Critiques

1 Hour of Business Mentoring

12 Books or CDs of the Month

Extend your offline & online networks

24/7 Access to the BWC Academy

Monthly Business Coaching Videos

Exclusive Marketing Masterclass Videos

Guest Expert Speakers on Video and MP3

Access the Fast Start Training System

Private Access to Members Forums

Expert Q & A calls

Hundreds of Success Templates to download and Use

Why not come & give us a try & experience the “difference” the Business Wealth Club St Albans can make for you & your business……..

I can also help you access the connections & contacts you need to help your business grow; with the latest tools, techniques & technology (social media, web, email, mobile, GPS) Group connections currently exceed 150m online.

Why not come & visit us in St Albans to see how our success formula & guarantee can help your business grow, prosper & mature.

Or call me now – Alan French to find out more 07805675740

CAST IRON MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Join the Business Wealth Club St Albans and if after attending the meetings for 6 months, listening to the FREE Business Building MP3s, reading the books, using the members forum and networking with our members, you honestly can’t show you get at least 150% return on your investment Alan will refund your membership fees* parting as good friends. Now that’s fair isn’t it?

*Less breakfast fees & credit card charges.

Members achieve truly stunning results – why not YOU? Come along & give us a try!

Classes in St Albans

Courses in St Albans

Business St Albans

Agencies in St Albans

Website Classes In St Albans

Guest Blog Post by Ivor Kellock from http:www.whatsonstalbans.co.uk

Getting The Most From Your Website – Are you Getting A Return On Investment (RoI)?

Ivor who is a member of the Business Wealth Club St Albans was asked to speak to a group of 25+ entrepreneurs on Monday evening in St Albans & has shared his key points below

The video Ivor showed at the beginning of the talk is here

Ivor showed this video to highlight the importance of planning & strategy before implementation occurs…. We can all be guilty of taking action before enough thought has taken place

Beware snake oil sales people………….

Before employing a web developer use this tool on some of their portfolio & see how their websites score http://websitegrader.com/

The FREE Ebook summary The Emyth promised is attached to this link https://www.box.net/shared/z4uta0lvuj

Plan Plan Plan

There is more to websites than simply price – it’s all about value & returns delivered

Websites have become commodities where very often no care of crafting takes place. This penalises you on every level…….

The search engines won’t index you so you won’t get traffic if the architecture is not correct

The messages you give don’t encourage people to want to know more & buy

Other people won’t share your site to increase awareness

So what do you need?

What is your visions/mission/key sales messages – you need a road map to begin with so you know what direction to travel in?

Who are your target audiences? A message for an 80 year old won’t be the same as for an 8 or 18 year old

Remember that when someone is reading your website it is an incredibly personal experience – you are mainlining into their mind – treat this intimacy with respect

Have you written your copy that considers your audience – the person reading your web page? Are you solving their problem in an easily understood way?

If you have written about you & your business only you’ll get very little back! It’s all about your customer not about you…..

Have you considered the narrative journey you are taking them on & the path you want them to take through your website? If not you’ll lose them before they decide to get in touch or buy

Do you have a marketing staircase – a suite of products that leads people through your buying process – making it easy for them to buy?

Do you have calls to action?

Do you collect email/mobile numbers for future marketing?

Is your telephone number clearly placed?

Have you researched your keywords instead of guessing them? use the FREE Google keyword tool

Are you using video? 1 in 59 UK website hits is referred from YouTube

Video gives tone of voice, intonation & body language helping someone on their journey of know like & trust……. until this journey is completed no wallet will open & sale occur

 Are you using internet marketing techniques to drive traffic to your website?

 The search engines think your site is more important the more people that visit your site….. SEO is about traffic!

Are you creating regularly updated content? If not you will lose your ranking in the search engines – Google wants to see regularly updated content

When you search you are Googles client. They want to give you the most relevant up to date content they can – so they are looking for new content!

 Are you getting visitors from social networking sites? If not Google will penalise your ranking – they now expect you to get them now – you HAVE to engage on social media platforms

Do you have social sharing buttons on your site that allow people to share the pages they like with their friends on social networking platforms?

What is your promotion plan for your website – unless you actively promote it you’ll get no RoI

Is your site being built using web technology that the search engine robots can read properly? If not you are wasting your money

Can you update your own website simply & easily? if not why not? There are now many simple to use content management systems where you don’t need to be a techie…

All of the points I raise above are previously rarely properly considered when I am asked to review a website so my first job is to correct & or undo mistakes & errors created by others.

Make sure when hiring a web person that they understand the importance of the right language/tone of voice/calls to action, market segmentation, narrative journeys, effective keyword research, video, headings, backlinks, traffic generation, social media, email marketing, mobile web, GPS & connecting to offline world.

If they are lacking in some or most of these areas don’t hire them until you have all the skill sets together otherwise your money is almost certainly going to be wasted with no return on your investment RoI

For Further Information on Website Classes In St Albans

Ivor

07782193093

For Classes in St Albans – Courses in St Albans – Persuasion

Business Wealth Club members in St Albans are experienced business owners, more so than your average group you visit or join – so say our visitors……… check this brief video

For the last month Business Wealth Club St Albans members have been reading Yes! 50 Secrets From The Science Of Persuasion by New York Times Bestseller & consistent top 30 UK best seller Robert Cialdini

As part of our club meeting on 7 December as well as networking & asking for referrals we will be discussing this book in detail & sharing what we have learned.

Would you like to become a more effective persuader?

Would you like to sell more business?

Would you like your colleagues & clients to agree with you more?

Better supplier terms?

Your kids to do their homework?

Your neighbours to stop dropping litter?

 to join us on December 7 to find out if we can add as much value as members have gained already

Ivor Kellock comments “I joined in July & have already covered my membership for the year in referred business written. There is more business in the pipeline thanks to club members. This takes no account of the value added into Whats on St Albans from the ideas & learning gained from both Alan French (club mentor) & the group.”

A Different Kind Of Networking in St Albans

A FREE Gift For First Time Visitors

Secrets of The Wealth Accelerators By Paul Avins – 33 Millionaires & Mentors reveal their Strategies FOR SUCCESS in the new economy

Alan French St Albans business Wealth Club mentor has his own chapter too!

I would be delighted to meet you so that YOU TOO can experience the positive benefits of our club.

We actively encourage open sharing & discussion from the moment you arrive through our networking session, breakfast, feedback on 40 second pitches, sharing sales ideas and successes plus of course our mini workshop discussing what we have learned over the past month reading about PERSUASION!

If this sounds attractive then please do come and experience the unique style of the Business Wealth Club St Albans & positive learning you can take away to immediately improve sales, value & wealth in your business

Forget depressing economic data

Forget Eurozone bailouts

It’s always a great time to enjoy success when you are surrounded by it

We look forward to welcoming you

All the best

Alan French

07805675740

Business Wealth Club St Albans – Our Fundamental Ethos Is Collaboration

Starting, running, owning, growing, managing & ultimately selling (passing through the generations) your business is one of the most rewarding yet frustrating journeys in your life!

Business Planning St Albans

It doesn’t matter whether you are pre start – considering your idea, plucking up the courage, putting your business plan together, analysing your idea (market research). Perhaps you’re in a mature business facing different challenges such as competitive advantage, retaining staff, developing new products or markets.

Business Growth St Albans

These problems & challenges all have one single denominator.

Which is? People & Sharing

Unless you share your challenge out loud, with other people, listen, debate & mash up the feedback you’re likely to struggle to come across effective solutions.

Yes I’m possibly stating the obvious but regularly I come across people who for many different reasons do not outwardly share & therefore struggle to come up with demonstrably valuable answers. Or recognise they don’t have all the necessary people around them to share with so have given up!

Colleagues may be strategists or technicians but not managers. Family & friends don’t have the market knowledge & experience.

Business Development St Albans

At The Business Wealth Club St Albans this is all at the very heart of what we do.

Yes we network

Yes we plan

Yes we learn from a structured programme

Yes we challenge each other

Yes we have a laugh – FUN? – absolutely!

Yes we are described as Lively, Friendly, Passionate, Willing to Share, Energetic, Supportive,  Inclusive, Open, Trusting, Funny, Knowledgeable

Would these attributes help you with your business?

Club members are highly experienced business owners

Watch the video below to get a greater sense of how collaboration & sharing works for us as a species & is therefore part of all our futures.

Networking Event St Albans

Most of all as a club we share – thoughts, ideas, criticism (+ve/-ve), views, understanding

By the very nature of sharing we naturally collaborate as a Club! So for the deliverable conscious person you get real actions, for the strategic planner you get ideas, for an immediate solution you meet the service provider (in the room) or a hot introduction to them!

Training St Albans

Akin to a boardroom – the benefits of collective thinking that a large organisation has without the constraints a large organisation imposes – innovation with freedom!

If you’ve been looking for such a group of people then look no further & come & give us a try.

Business Mentor St Albans

If you are struggling to see, hear & feel how this can work for you & your organisation please come & meet us to experience if our collaborative approach can work for you…… we’d love to share with you!

If you’d like to discuss this privately before coming along please call me – Alan French 07805675740 – let’s understand what you want & if we can add value in your life.

Where do you find practical useful affordable guidance to help your business grow & develop in & around St Albans?

With the demise of Business Link who offered FREE & affordable courses in St Albans for St Albans companies what is actually available?

Availability is only part of the picture though. What about affordability & fitting it in with your job in St Albans?

Fortunately there is a great solution - The Business Wealth Club St Albans!

Created by Paul Avins in 2004 who wanted to create a Networking Club he wanted to attend! One where he would meet with like minded business owners who are passionate about learning new skills and helping each other succeed.

Business Wealth Club Mentors are hand picked by Paul then trained in his Business growth models, given the connections and contacts to help 
your business grow and backed by the latest tools and technologies  
available.

The results our members achieve are truly stunning and they  
can be the same for you too.

Alan French Business Wealth Club Mentor St Albans says “when I first met Paul we immediately hit it off. I’ve been a business coach since 1998 and see the vision Paul has for the future of business learning, support & growth.”

All Business wealth Club products and services are designed to help you accelerate your sales, profit and growth with an Ironclad Guarantee!

Join the Business Wealth Club St Albans and if after attending the meetings for 6 months, listening to the FREE Business Building MP3s, reading the books, using the members forum and networking with our members, you honestly can’t show you get at least 150% return on your investment Paul will refund your membership fees* parting as good friends.  Now that’s fair isn’t it?

*Less breakfast fees & credit card charges.

Classes in St Albans for St Albans Companies – How Does It Work?

We meet twice a month on the first and third Wednesday of the month

We network, share ideas, give each other feedback & take part in a workshop based around the resource of the month. Over 12 months this adds up to 

• 8 Business Building Workshops 
• 24 Dynamic Networking Meetings Per Year
• 4 90 Day Power Planning Workshops
• 2 Hours of Business Mentoring
• 1 Hour of Business Mentoring
• 1 Website Critique
• 2 Marketing Critique
• 1 Hour of Business Mentoring
• 12 Books or CDs of the Month
• Extending your offline & online networks
• 24/7 Access to the BWC Academy

• Monthly Business Coaching Videos
• Exclusive Marketing Masterclass Videos
• Guest Expert Speakers on Video and MP3
• Access the Fast Start Training System
• Private Access to Members Forums
• Expert Q & A calls
• Hundreds of Success Templates to download and Use,
• Full Membership of your LOCAL Club and Full Cross-Club Membership – attend any Club
• A4 Leather Conference Folder
• A copy of The Business Wealth Club book
• Your Members Badge

Classes in St Albans for St Albans Companies

Does this sound like a valuable proposition for you? To help you accelerate your sales, profit and growth!

If so please come along to our next breakfast event for FREE (just pay £15 for breakfast)

Have a question? Call Alan now 07805675740 to understand how this proven mix of meeting, sharing, coaching and training can help you achieve all you wish for.

Classes In St Albans For St Albans Companies

Marketing has changed forever. The basic principals remain the same of considering the right message for a desired audience but it’s the delivery mediums that have now increased in choice.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN EFFECTIVE ONLINE PRESENCE! 

Mixed with a smattering of offline.

Whether you sell business to business or to consumers the principals remain the same.

This article focusses on online – simply providing you with a wealth of statistics to encourage you to realise that there is a huge market waiting for you out there!

If you feel you missed the boat with the internet revolution around the time of the dot coms think again………

Mobile & video are the key trends of the moment with more smartphones per month being sold than desktops month on month……..There is a whole new market to go at!

How are you incorporating video, mobile & E/M commerce into your business planning, business strategy, business delivery & business growth?

If your exit route is to sell your business at some point in the future do you think a prospective purchaser will be more excited about purchasing a business that has embraced online marketing compared to one that hasn’t? An embedded online marketing machine that is creating enquiries & is scalable can increase the multiple of profits paid for your business.

This doesn’t have to be expensive simply smart!

Come and join us at the Business Wealth Club St Albans where you can get a FREE website health check valued at £249 & access members whose specialism this is. 

Perhaps some coaching or mentoring in St Albans can help you achieve business growth or help unravel a conundrum your existing network of associates, colleagues & friends can’t?

Précis of Online Statistics – don’t take our word for it interpret the statistics for yourself!

The internet is playing a bigger & bigger part of our lives whatever your age – are you missing many simple opportunities?

Smartphones are growing rapidly in use – their growth is out stripping the growth of desktop adoption. Is your website mobile optimised for search, functionality & use? If not you are missing sales………… 

Video is huge in terms of sales conversions, raising profile & awareness, grabbing internet traffic & growing sales volumes. Are you winning sales here? If not why not?

More & more business is being conducted online – are you carving out your share? If not why not?

Social media is here to stay. It is not a fad. Google now expect you to have social sharing links on your website with regularly updated new relevant content. Without this your search engine rankings will quickly fall. Does your website & web strategy need an overhaul?

Do you need to take the web more seriously & be more involved in its management?

Our club members afford you access to a combined population online of over 150m people. Would this be useful to your business?

For more information about Business Wealth Club St Albans please call Alan French now on 07805675740

Mobile

Mobile media users pick up their phone 18 times a day to consume content via apps/browser. Mobile in the Media Day, IAB Research , January 2011

Global mobile data traffic in 2010 (237 petabytes per month) was over 3 times greater than the total global Internet traffic in 2000 (75 petabytes per month).Cisco, January 2011

There are 48 million people in the world who have a mobile phone but do not have electricity at home.Cisco, January 2011

Over a third of mobile internet users globally used it to search for a product or service to buy in the past monthWelcome to Social Entertainment – Annual Report 2011, January 2011

More children aged between two and five can use a smartphone (19%) than can tie their own shoelaces (9%).AVG as cited by TechEye, January 2011

It is estimated that the number of mobile broadband subscribers will hit 1 billion by the end of 2011 (up from 500 million in 2010).Ericsson as cited by ReadWriteWeb, January 2011

The number of UK adults aged over 50 consuming social media on their mobile has risen by 52% year on year.TGI MobiLens, January 2011

In 2007, there were 500 million internet-connected devices – about 1 for every 20 people on the planet. In 2010, that number grew to 35 billion, or about 5 per person. By 2013, may grow to 1 trillion devices, or 140 devices per person.Cisco as cited by pcmag.com, February 2011

More than a quarter (26%) of mobile video viewers watch more mobile video now than they did a year ago.QuickPlay Media as cited by eMarketer, February 2011

It is estimated that by 2015, 1 in 8 mobile users worldwide will either buy transport or entertainment tickets on their mobile or will have them delivered to their phones.eMarketer, February 2011

There are currently 13.9 million mobile internet users in the UK. This figure is expected to rise to 17.3 million by 2012 and 18.6 million by 2013.eMarketer, February 2011

Smartphone manufacturers shipped 100.9 million devices in Q4 2010, while PC manufacturers shipped 92.1m units worldwide. It’s the first quarter in which smartphones outsold PCs.IDC as cited by ReadWriteWeb, February 2011

62% of smartphone users have made a purchase on their handset within the last 6 months.Adobe, February 2011

Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) teens have used their phones to read a QR code.Dubit Research as cited by eMarketer, March 2011

The mobile you have in your hand has more computing power than all of NASA in 1969, the year they put a man on the moon.salon.com, March 2011

53% of users are watching TV at the same time as browsing on their Mobile.Ipsos, March 2011

Mobile barcode usage has increased by 1800% year on yearInternational Data Corporation (IDC) as cited by MobiAd News, March 2011

51% of mums say that they are “addicted” to their smartphone BabyCenter, March 2011

1 in 4 respond positively to mobile adsGetJar as cited by IAB, March 2011

More than half of smartphone owners use mobile devices in retail stores.Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies, March 2011

Globally, 40% of Google Maps usage is mobile.Google Internal data, March 2011

Mobile internet user penetration is set to hit 37% in the UK by 2015.eMarketer, April 2011

Mobile Internet Users in the UK (Millions): 2010: 14.1 – 2011: 15.9 – 2012: 17.3 – 2013: 18.6eMarketer, April 2011

80% of mobile internet users in the UK under 25 use a mobile device to communicate with friends while watching TV. Digital Clarity, April 2011

78% of potential car buyers say they will use their mobile device for both searching and purchasing their carGoMoNews, April 2011

Half of men and 3 out of 4 women access the internet from their phones. Carphone Warehouse, April 2011

3 billion Android apps have been downloaded to date.TechCrunch, April 2011

Half a billion people worldwide will use their mobiles as metro and bus tickets by 2015. Juniper Research, April 2011

3.6 million households in the UK use their mobiles for broadband access, which amounts to 17% of the population.Ofcom as cited by IAB, May 2011

20% of mobile users in the UK make use of mobile banking. This is up from just 10% of mobile users in 2010. TNS, May 2011

1 in 10 UK consumers uses mobile wallet and 1 in 5 use mobile banking. TNS, May 2011

2 out of 3 mums use smartphones while out shopping.MobileMarketingWatch, May 2011

1/3 of all items posted to Facebook are from a mobile device.danzarella.com, May 2011

Comic Relief text donations accounted for 20% of the total raised.Marketingmagazine.co.uk as cited by Brand Republic, May 2011

20% of mobile users in the UK make use of mobile banking. This is up from just 10% of mobile users in 2010.TNS, May 2011

1 in 10 UK consumers uses mobile wallet and 1 in 5 use mobile banking.TNS, May 2011

2 billion people worldwide will own at least one smartphone by 2015.Parks Associates, May 2011

Nearly 9 out of 10 (89%) of iPad owners watch YouTube on their device.imano, May 2011

Mobile shopping is now more popular than online among 15-44 year olds.InMobi as cited by MobiAD, May 2011

In 2010, revenue from mobile gambling in Britain more than doubled to $65.8 million, showing that consumers are increasingly playing games on their mobile devices.IHS Screen Digest as cited by Mobile Commerce Daily, June 2011

Mobile payments users to grow by 40% to reach 2.5 billion globally by 2015.Juniper Research, June 2011

Mobile app downloads are forecast to reach over 180 billion by 2015.IDC as cited by Smaato.com, June 2011

55% of mums that own an iPhone or Android smartphone agree that mobile ads play a role in their purchasing decisions.Greystripe as cited by MobiAdNews, June 2011

2 in 3 mums that own an iPhone or Android smartphone use them as part of their shopping process. Greystripe as cited by MobiAdNews, June 2011

58% of mobile shoppers are aged between 18 and 34.ComScore, June 2011

Paypal processes $10m a day in mobile transactions.PayPal blog, June 2011

Mobile app downloads to reach 48 billion by 2015.Smaato.com, June 2011

Smartphones are expected to increase from 23% of total phone shipments in 2010 to 45% in 2015.Smaato.com, June 2011

Mcommerce to be worth £19bn by 2021.IAB , June 2011

41% Smartphone penetration in the UK ComScore , June 2011

Almost 1 in 4 people (23%) are interested in using their mobile phones instead of cash to make purchases.YouGov, June 2011

2/3 of smartphone and tablet owners use them while watching TV.Nielsen, June 2011

1 in 3 UK adults now use smartphones.IDC as cited by Moneyhighstreet.com, June 2011

NFC mobile payments to drive contactless transactions to reach nearly $50 billion worldwide by 2014.Juniper research, June 2011

Nearly 1/4 (22%) of all global mobile bandwidth is consumed by people watching YouTube videos.Allot Communications as cited by gigaom.com, July 2011

75 percent of mums regularly hand their smart phones to their children.Flamingo as cited by Contagious Magazine, July 2011

Mums are 40% more likely to use mobile social networking tools than the average smartphone owner.Flamingo as cited by Contagious Magazine, July 2011

37% of iPhone owners play games on their phones on a daily basis.Symbiantweet.com, July 2011

68% of tablet owners spend at least an hour a day on the device.Symbiantweet.com, July 2011

Almost half of mobile users make more than one purchase a month via their mobile devices.Myxer as cited by MobileCommerceDaily.com, July 2011

For 1 in 4 smartphone owners, their phone is their primary way of accessing the internet.Pew Internet & American Life Project, July 2011

The mobile industry now accounts for 2% of global GDP.Chetan Sharma as cited by gigaom.com, July 2011

It is expected that consumers will spend $50bn a year via NFC phones by 2014.Juniper Research , July 2011

81% of smartphone users have their mobile switched on all of the time, even when they are in bed. 4 in 10 adults and teens admitting using their smartphone after it woke them. Ofcom, August 2011

Nearly half (47%) of UK teenagers own a smartphone.Ofcom, August 2011

1 in 5 smartphone users access financial information via mobile.Comscore MobiLens , August 2011

When asked what they would prefer to give up for a week, 70% of smartphone owners admitted that they would rather give up alcohol rather than their phone.1/3 said they were prepared to give up sex instead of their smartphone. Merkely and Partners, August 2011

The average Android user spends nearly an hour (56 mins) on their smartphone. Two thirds of time spent is within apps.Nielsen, August 2011

1 in 5 teen smartphone users regularly watches video clips on their phone.Ofcom, August 2011

23% of UK teenagers claim to watch less TV and 15% admit they read fewer books now that they have smartphones.Ofcom, August 2011

Mobile accounts for 10% of ecommerce.Screen Pages as cited by IAB, October 2011

1 in 10 adults redeem mobile coupons. eMarketer, August 2011

Smartphone users are more engaged with ads while shopping. Nearly 2 in 3 users had seen an ad while shopping and more than half that number had clicked on one.Yahoo!/Ipsos as cited by eMarketer, August 2011

10% of YouTube’s views come through mobile. Experian Hitwise, August 2011

1 in 3 iPhone users say that they would use contactless payments if given the opportunity. YouGov, August 2011

The use of wireless hotspots almost doubled in the last 12 months to 4.9 million users.Office for National Statistics, August 2011

Half of all smartphones worldwide are Android.Mobiledia, August 2011

More than half (51%) of adults and nearly two thirds (65%) of teenagers use their smartphones while they are out socialising.Ofcom, August 2011

Nearly a quarter (23%) of adults and a third (34%) of teenagers have used their smartphone during mealtimes.Ofcom, August 2011

1 in 5 adults and nearly half (47%) of teenage smartphone users admitted using or answering their handset in the bathroom or toilet.Ofcom, August 2011

27% of teenagers admit to leaving their phones on while at the cinema or library.Ofcom, August 2011

47% of adult smartphone users have downloaded an app.Ofcom, August 2011

Teenage smartphone owners are more likely to have paid for an app download (38%) than adult owners, amongst whom just 25% had paid for an app.Ofcom, August 2011

The average transaction value for a purchase carried out on a mobile phone has increased by 43% in the last 12 months. IAB UK, September 2011

Online video ads reach nearly 2 in 3 smartphone users. Comscore MobiLens , September 2011

In 2010, 1 in 10 Brits said that they might respond to a mobile ad if they thought it was relevant. This number is expected to increase to 1 in 5 by 2012. mobileSQUARED and adsmobi, September 2011

1 in 4 UK smartphone users are exposed to mobile display advertising. ComScore MobiLens , September 2011

It is estimated that mobile payments will account for $670 billion globally by 2015. mobilepaymentstoday.com, September 2011

Mobile ads are 6 times as effective as standard banners. MegaMind as cited by eMarketer, September 2011

Mobile Internet is expected to eclipse wired internet by 2015.IDC as cited by The Independent, September 2011

Email

There were 107 trillion emails sent on the Internet in 2010. royal.pingdom.com, January 2011

Twitter

40% of all tweets are now composed on mobile devices, up from around 20% a year agoMashable, January 2011

In 2010, there were 25 billion tweets on Twitter.royal.pingdom.com, January 2011

There were 456 Tweets per second when Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 (a record at that time). The record was beaten four seconds after midnight in Japan on New Year’s Day when there were 6,939 Tweets per second.Twitter Blog, March 2011

Roughy 140 Million Tweets are sent each day.Twitter, March 2011

Twitter users helped find a missing child in Saudi Arabia just three hours after the child’s parent tweeted about the disappearance.TNW, April 2011

Every auto-shared tweet results in six new YouTube.com browsing sessions. ReelSEO, April 2011

Less than 12 after the initial tweet about the death of Osama Bin Laden, there were almost 40,000 blog posts and news articles and 2.2 million tweets on the topic.Sysomos Blog, May 2011

The royal wedding was mentioned around 67 times a second on Twitter as viewers took to the social network to publish their thoughts on the marriage of Prince William and Kate MiddletonTelegraph, May 2011

The number of social media posts about Osama bin Laden’s death eclipsed those of the royal wedding and the Japanese earthquake. In a 3.5 hour period after it happened, an average of 3,000 messages per second were being posted on the micro-blogging site.MediaTel, May 2011

Internet TV

350 million internet-enabled television sets are expected to be sold worldwide by 2015Parks Associates, January 2011

59% of tablet owners in the UK have watched a TV program or a full length movie on the device.QuickPlay Media as cited by eMarketer, February 2011

The royal wedding broke records by attracted the largest ever concurrent live streaming audience online.Telegraph, May 2011

Ecommerce

UK consumers spent £6.8bn online in December which equates to approximately £111 per shopper.IMRG as cited by Marketingmagazine.co.uk, January 2011

Boxing day was the busiest day of 2010 for online retailers in the UK, with visits to websites around 12% higher than before Christmas.Experian Hitwise as cited by MediaTel, January 2011

More than a third of Domino’s Pizza deliveries in the UK are now ordered online.Internet Retailing, January 2011

32% of shoppers will purchase Valentine’s Day gifts online, a 9% increase from 2010.eBillme, January 2011

eBay in numbers:

$2 billion – the amount generated in global mobile sales in 2010 – more than three times the mobile gross merchandise value in 2009.

1 per second – the number of purchases made every second through eBay’s mobile apps.

94 per minute – the number of bids average users make.

3 to 4 Ferraris are bought every month through eBay’s mobile apps.

1/3 – UK and Germany combined generated nearly a third of all eBay’s mbile sales in 2010.Mobile Commerce Daily and TechCrunch, January 2011

Total UK online sales reached £58.8bn by the end of 2010 – an 18% increase on 2009. It is predicted that this total will reach £69bn by the end of 2011.IMRG as cited by Marketingmagazine.co.uk, January 2011

51% of the UK population has engaged in some form of M-commerce, that’s 23m people, and 27% of the UK population has paid for something on their mobile using their credit card or bank details.IAB, February 2011

58% of purchase decisions begin on search engines GroupM, February 2011

More than 50% of all consumers have changed their perceptions about brands based on social influences.GroupM, February 2011

48% of consumers combine social media and search engines in their buying process. GroupM, February 2011

90% of consumers use the internet to research vehicle purchases. Kia Motors as cited by Marketing Week, March 2011

Consumers spent $1 billion on e-books in 2010. That number is expected to triple by 2015.Forrester as cited by Wall Street Journal , March 2011

78% of potential car buyers say they will use their mobile device for both searching and purchasing their carGoMoNews, April 2011

Ebooks are now outselling paperbacks in the US. Total Ebook sales reached $90.3m in February compared to paperbacks at $81.2m.guardian.co.uk, April 2011

Online retail is growing 6 times faster than high street sales and is predicted to exceed £37 billion by 2014.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

2,000 cars are purchased via eBay mobile apps per week.Mobile Commerce Daily, May 2011

Mobile shopping is now more popular than online among 15-44 year olds.InMobi as cited by MobiAD, May 2011

More than 1 in 4 UK adults claim that online product reviews have a major influence on their purchasing decisions.TGI, June 2011

55% of mums that own an iPhone or Android smartphone agree that mobile ads play a role in their purchasing decisions.Greystripe as cited by MobiAdNews, June 2011

2 in 3 mums that own an iPhone or Android smartphone use them as part of their shopping process. Greystripe as cited by MobiAdNews, June 2011

58% of mobile shoppers are aged between 18 and 34.ComScore, June 2011

Consumers are less likely to buy high-ticket items through social networking sites. 65% say that they would only ever spend between £1 and £50 on a social networking site.Havas Media Social and Lightspeed Research, June 2011

Nearly 1 in 5 consumers (17%) stated they were likely to buy from a brand if it was recommended by someone they knew.Havas Media Social and Lightspeed Research, June 2011

53% of consumers are more likely to look up information about a brand if a friend had recommended it.Havas Media Social and Lightspeed Research, June 2011

Online ads are expected to account for 40% of total media spend in the UK by 2015.eMarketer, June 2011

In game purchases are expected to surpass pay-per-downloads by 2013.Symbiantweet.com, July 2011

Online sales accounts for 10% of retail in the UK.Digital Strategy Consulting, August 2011

Record Spend: UK Online adspend in H1 2011 reached a new high of £2,256.2m IAB, October 2011

Spending on UK internet advertising grew by 13.5% year on year on a like-for-like basis. The advertising industry as a whole grew by 1.4 IAB, October 2011

Display advertising accounted for 23% of UK online advertising in H1 2011, with £510.1m spent across all display formats throughout Jan-June 2011 IAB, October 2011

Search: Paid-for listings maintained its position as the largest single format with a 58% share of the UK market. £1,313.4m was spent on search in H1 2011. IAB, October 2011

The average transaction value for a purchase carried out on a mobile phone has increased by 43% in the last 12 months. IAB UK, September 2011

Online video ads reach nearly 2 in 3 smartphone users. Comscore MobiLens , September 2011

In 2010, 1 in 10 Brits said that they might respond to a mobile ad if they thought it was relevant. This number is expected to increase to 1 in 5 by 2012. mobileSQUARED and adsmobi, September 2011

1 in 4 UK smartphone users are exposed to mobile display advertising. ComScore MobiLens , September 2011

It is estimated that mobile payments will account for $670 billion globally by 2015. mobilepaymentstoday.com, September 2011

Mobile ads are 6 times as effective as standard banners. MegaMind as cited by eMarketer, September 2011

Online Video

2 in 5 video viewers upload video content ComScore, January 2011

More than half of video viewers watch videos with others ComScore, January 2011

Video is the most social and engaging medium: 1 in 3 video viewers comment, 2 in 5 upload videos, 1 in 2 regularly share videos, more than 1 in 2 view online videos with others.ComScore, January 2011

Half of all video viewers regularly share videosComScore, January 2011

1 in 3 video viewers comment ComScore, January 2011

200m mobile clips are streamed on YouTube every dayYouTube Blog, January 2011

More than 400 tweets per minute contain a YouTube link, and over 150 years worth of YouTube video is watched on Facebook every day.YouTube Blog, January 2011

Over 15 million people in the UK watch 200 million videos dailyComScore Video Metrix, January 2011

People who see an advertiser’s ad on the YouTube homepage are 4 times more likely to visit the advertiser site, search for the brand or watch the company’s video on YouTube, than those who did not see the adYouTube internal data, February 2011

Globally, we spend 2.9 billion hours on YouTube in a month. That’s 326,294 years!DoubleClick Ad Planner as cited by royal.pingdom.com February 2011

YouTube has 490 million users worldwide (unique visitors per month), generating an estimated 92 billion page views each monthDoubleClick Ad Planner as cited by royal.pingdom.com, February 2011

The average YouTube user visits the site 14 times per month, spending an average of 25 minutes on the site each timeDoubleClick Ad Planner as cited by royal.pingdom.com, February 2011

More than half the videos on YouTube have been rated or commented on by users. ReelSEO, April 2011

In 2010, there were over 700 billion video playbacks on YouTube ReelSEO, April 2011

YouTube Mobile gets over 100 million views per day. ReelSEO, April 2011

Over 13 million hours of footage was uploaded to YouTube in 2010 ReelSEO, April 2011

Each week, YouTube receives the equivalent of 115,000 full-length feature films in uploads. ReelSEO, April 2011

Every auto-shared tweet results in six new YouTube.com browsing sessions. ReelSEO, April 2011

Every day, millions of clips are “favourited” and millions of subscriptions occur. ReelSEO, April 2011

57% of global internet users watch music videos.Nielsen, April 2011

Britons watch 11,000 years of video online every month. Nielsen VideoCensus, May 2011

Nearly 1 in 5 visitors go on to an entertainment website after a visit to YouTube.Experian Hitwise, May 2011

Over 3 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day.YouTube internal data, May 2011

1 in every 59 visits to a UK website comes from YouTube.Experian Hitwise, May 2011

YouTube accounts for 20% of visits to social networking sites in the UK.Experian Hitwise, May 2011

More than 48 hours of video are uploaded YouTube site every minute.YouTube Blog, May 2011

Nearly 9 out of 10 (89%) of iPad owners watch YouTube on their device.imano, May 2011

By 2015, one million minutes of video – the equivalent of 674 days – will cross the internet every second.Cisco as cited by Mashable.com June 2011

66% of online video viewers watch premium short-form content, such as music videos, film trailers and sports highlights. MediaTel, July 2011

23% of people watch online video every day, nearly double the 2010 figure. MediaTel, July 2011

Three times more people watch music videos on YouTube than download music.Nielsen, July 2011

Nearly 1/4 (22%) of all global mobile bandwidth is consumed by people watching YouTube videos.Allot Communications as cited by gigaom.com, July 2011

240 million hours are spent watching online video content, of which 184 million hours are spent on YouTube.Experian Hitwise, “Online Video Bringing Social Media to Life”,October 2011

Monthly reach of YouTube currently stands at 19.8m UK adults.UKOM, August 2011

10% of YouTube’s views come through mobile. Experian Hitwise, August 2011

Online population watching more and more video online: in June 2011, 26 million people watched 2.3 billion videos for a total of 6.4 billion minutes. Per person that equates to an average of 87 videos viewed for an average of 4.1 hours per month. UKOM Video Census June 2011 quoted in IAB: H1 2011: Internet Advertising worth £2.26 billion, October 2011

Facebook 

By the end of 2010, there were 600 million people on Facebook. 250 million of those joined Facebook during 2010.royal.pingdom.com, January 2011

Globally, we spend 9.3 billion hours on Facebook in a month. That’s 1,065,449 years.DoubleClick Ad Planner as cited by royal.pingdom.com  February 2011

On Facebook the royal wedding dominated status updates, with around 74 mentions every second.Telegraph, May 2011

1/3 of all items posted to Facebook are from a mobile device.danzarella.com, May 2011

Social Networking

88% of Brits use social networking siteseMarketer, February 2011

Global social network ad revenues make up about about 10% of worldwide online ad spending, or about $8 billion.Financial Times , March 2011

100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments etc) every week.ReelSEO, April 2011

72% of under 25s comment on programmes via social networks as they watch them. Digital Clarity, April 2011

84% of top UK senior executive headhunters agree that having a social media profile is important for senior executives seeking a new role. InterExec as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

Nearly half (43%) of 9-12 year olds in the UK have social networking profiles.European Commission, May 2011

Over 10 million people joined Google+ in the first 2 weeks.Google, July 2011

Mums are 40% more likely to use mobile social networking tools than the average smartphone owner.Flamingo as cited by Contagious Magazine, July 2011

Social networks/blogs now account for around 25% of all time spent online in the UK.IAB, October 2011

Search

48% of users say they start with a Smartphone search and finish on a desktop.Ipsos, March 2011

27% of people rarely or never look at more than one page of search engine results.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

29% of people think the placement of a brand on the search results page reflects the importance of the brand company.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

34% of people think information about a particular company, service or slogan in an offline channel has driven them to search for information online Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

51% of people expect leading brands to be on top of the search results page. Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

63% of people normally find websites via a search engine.Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011

Internet Use

Nearly a quarter of Brits said that the PC had replaced their TV as a main source of evening entertainmentUKPA, March 2011

20% of Britons regularly eat their evening meal in front of the computer UKPA, March 2011

UK Internet Users: 2009: 43m 2010: 44m 2011: 46m 2012: 47m 2013: 48meMarketer, March 2011

Broadband Penetration (% of households) 2009: 62%  2010: 70%  2011: 75% 2012: 78% 2013: 81%eMarketer, March 2011

More than 3 out of 4 (76%) tablet owners have bought their tablet in addition to a desktop or laptop computer. 1 in 12 bough their tablet instead of, or to replace a desktop or laptop computer.YouGov, April 2011

2/3 Brits go online while out with friends and 1 in 9 do while out on a date.Carphone Warehouse, April 2011

Approximately 1 in 12 tablet owners purchased a tablet instead of, or to replace a desktop computer, laptop or other computer.YouGov, April 2011

The daily visits to news & media websites reached a three year high for the second time this year on Monday, May 2, 2011 following the announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden. The previous peak was on March 11, 2011 from the news of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.Hitwise, May 2011

Internet traffic is projected to approach 1 zettabyte per year in 2015 — that’s equivalent of all the digital data in existence in 2010.Cisco as cited by Mashable.com, June 2011

By 2015, nearly 3 billion people will be using the Internet — more than 40% of the world’s projected population.Cisco as cited by Mashable.com June 2011

Social sharing now produces an estimated 10% of all web traffic and 31% of referral traffic to sites from search engines and social networks.Starcom MediaVest Group and Rubinson Partners as cited by Brandchannel.com, June 2011

In the UK, 22 million people play video games on consoles. Gamers on mobiles and social network sites are not far behind; 21 million play video games on their mobiles and 18 million on social networking sites.Newzoo BV “2011 National Gamers Survey”, July 2011

Over 10 million people joined Google+ in the first 2 weeks.Google, July 2011

More than 2 out 3 (68%) 18-34 year olds claim that their PC/laptop is the entertainment device they “can’t live without”. This compares to 28% of this group who claim that they “can’t live without” TV.MediaTel, July 2011

In a drive to eliminate the use of paper in school by 2015 in South Korea, the country plans to spend more than $2bn on ebooks and tablets.mobileburn.com, July 2011

76% of British homes are connected to the internet (compared to 25% in 2000).Ofcom, August 2011

9 out 10 adults aged 35-44 have internet access at home.Ofcom, August 2011

26% of adults aged over 75 have internet access at home.Ofcom, August 2011

74% of UK adults have broadband (fixed + mobile).Ofcom, August 2011

Penetration of broadband access in internet homes is now 94%. Over a quarter of users have super-fast broadband (28% access online with a connection speed of over 8Mb). 46% of at home UK internet users access the internet with a connection speed of between 2Mb and 8Mb. UKOM APS/Netview May 2011 quoted in IAB: H1 2011October 2011

Source

Business to Business St Albans – Networking St Albans – Business Planning St Albans – Business Mentor St Albans – Business Coach St Albans – Business Development St Albans

Preliminary figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 0.5 per cent in Quarter three, which is better than a flatline although not by a lot!

The rise,  which was better than expected as most people said we would be in negative growth, was driven by strength in the Services and Production Sectors which is interesting as it’s where 70% of the BWC Members operate.

Previous growth sectors like Construction were still in decline though…

The British Chambers of Commerce welcomed the increase,  following the ‘particularly disappointing’ growth of just 0.1 per cent in quarter two.  But the BCC claims that there are still risks ahead,  and that the Government must use the Autumn Statement to boost Business Growth.  I would agree and suggest that the Government cuts more red tape and gives small businesses tax incentives to invest in new technology and new people.

David Kern, Chief Economist at the BCC said:  “It is right for the government to persevere with reducing the deficit, and calls for a Plan B are unjustified.  But there is a clear need to reallocate priorities within the current spending envelope to support Business Growth.

“The Government must make use of the considerable flexibility within its current fiscal plan.  The Autumn Statement at the end of this month provides a real opportunity for the Chancellor to remove obstacles facing businesses, and take additional measures to improve the flow of Credit to companies,  particularly SMEs.  The MPC must persevere with it’s current expansionary policies and reassess its reluctance to engage in credit easing policies”.

I would say that until we have the UK Banks prepared to support British Small Businesses, rather than act in a way that just shocks me more and more we will find the funding restrictions a real threat to future growth.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for the end of the month.

Paul Avins