Several of our business clients have expressed a need to store their data off-site and we’ve been looking at ways to help them in a cost effective manner.
After much searching and following up blind leads, we came to the conclusion that if you want it done properly, you’ve got to do it yourself, as the saying goes!
So we’re pleased to announce that in the next few weeks, we’ll be launching IAS Data Storage, a new site dedicated to advising existing and potential new clients just what we can offer them. But here’s a taster:
- You’re allocated storage space to use as you like in 10 gigabyte chuncks
- You can buy additional 10 Gb chuncks as and when you need them
- We’ll supply a suite of programs and set them up for you to make sure everything is protected
- We’ll set up a VPN link for you, so that you see your storage space on your computer(s) as a network drive
- If - God forbid - you suffer a theft, mechanical breakdown or fire and your office is in the NW Kent area, we’ll even bring your data to you on a portable hard drive and help you get back up and running again
- A GENEROUS referral program - free or discounted storage for every new client you recommend
We’ll get the new site with further product detail up on the web as soon as possible. When ready it will be available here: IAS Data Storage.
In the meantime, please also visit our main site: IAS Solutions
We’re pleased to announce the release of another site, for Great Northern Investments. GNI is a property search firm, specialising in finding investment property in the north-east of England.
The company is an offshoot from those very nice people at Capital Currencies, the forerign currency broker. Craig Strong, the MD wanted a very simple site that acted as an introduction to the business, but which was visually appealing and gave a strong link to the north-east, the focus of business activity. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re pleased to announce the go-live of a mini-site for one of our regular customers, Gaslec Installations.
Gaslec are big players locally in the renewable energy business and, because they have such a wide range of products, wanted to make a big impact for a minimal cost whilst promoting one of their latest product lines - Janfire wood pellet burners. These heat a domestic boiler whilst creating next to no ash - the ash is cleaned out roughly every 6 months!
They truly are amazing, but to maximise exposure, Gaslec felt it was worth creating a mini-site which will then funnel vitors to the main Gaslec site. Expect to see more mini-sites soon for some of their other new products.
Mini sites are useful where you want to create maximum exposure (and hopefully high Google search ranking) for a particular product or service, which would otherwise be lost in the morass of your existing sites products.
To visit the new site go to Janfire Specialist
We’re pleased to announce the launch of our first Zen Cart e-commerce site, for local stamp dealer Cray Stamps. Cray Stamps specialise in British Commonwealth collectable stamps (philately).
Whereas in the past we’ve built bespoke online shops, the clients’ requirments in this case we’re such that we could utilize Zen Cart, an open source shop system.
We’re big fans of Weebls Stuff - the dancing badgers became an internet phenomonon. Even bigger - and more addictive - is their latest cartoon advertising Kenya. Make sure you take in all the background stuff, like the facts and figures about Kenya.
It loops, so you’ll just end up getting completly addicted…..
Click here for Kenya
As if I wasn’t behind enough already, my main work PC decided to corrupt its installation of Windows. So instead of catching up with my work I spent Bank Holiday Monday reinstalling everything, having reformated the drive.
Previous Lesson Learnt: It was so much easier this time that I could go to a recent backup and recover all my mail, favourites and setting, etc. No more tearing out of hair for me - backup your data, people!!!
So, Tuesday arrives and I think I might get some work done, once I finish off the last few items that need installing. Mostly little helper freeware tools. Then it crashes again…..
We were asked to get a site up and running in a hurry for PSG, as the deadline for HIPS was rapidly approaching.
Little did either of us know at the time what hurdles were to be thrown in our way and how the 1st June dealine would be pulled from under us just as we went live!
The site is now live - take a look at PSG’s Homebuyers Information Pack Site. We’ll just have to change the counter to 1st of August.
The site owner, Chandra Sharma, wanted to use a domain name he’d bought several years ago, homebyersearches.co.uk. After considerable effort trying to convince the ISP holding the domain that he was the owner, we thought we’d be ready to transfer the domain over to IAS Hosting and then take the site live.
Something that recently caught my eye in philately (stamp collecting) made me think about how we value the goods and services we buy.
Ebay has a very active stamp collecting community, with anything up to 200,000 items for sale at any one time. The key item that determines whether you get a bargain or not is the catalogue value (or ‘cat’). The trouble is, there are several publishers of stamp catalogues: Stanley Gibbons (UK), Scott (US), Yvert (Europe) to name a few. Each of these have their own value that they’ve calculated for a particular stamp or set of stamps, and they very often are not in line. For example, SG tend to put a higher price on British Commonwealth issues than say Scott, to whom the commonwealth is just another bunch of countries.
Well after a 10 year gap, I’m riding a bike again. I went and collected the ‘rapid response vehicle’ on Good Friday and I’ve got to say it’s been a boon. Already, the traffic jams that made my blood boil are beginning to fade into the past. Something had to be done - 4 and a half hours getting back from a half-hour job in Tunbridge Wells is not a way to run a successful business. All that time spent in traffic jams is wasted income.
Plus there’s the green issue, something we’re aware of and support to the extent that we can. More often than not a car isnt needed on a trip to a client. A motorbike is a much greener alternative, and causes next to no congestion.
When people ask me about Google Ads and whether it’s a good idea, you might be surprised at the answer:Â ‘yes’ and….’no’.
The fact is that for some business types, Google Ads just don’t work. Either an applicable keyword is just too obscure to get any hits, or the market is so competitive that the return on investment just is’t worth it. Take IT services - everybody wants a piece of the action and therefore the cost per click is too high for a small business to justify.
