Welcome to the Escape Blog

Not a massive fan of Flash, it’s sometimes a bit clunky and slow when heavy (as is the case with this but, worthwhile waiting for.

I feel like a man watching this micro site for the Audi R8.  vrrmmm vrmmm.

The current Autoblog business card was designed in a rush and frankly we’re not too proud of it, so we’re turning over the design of our next business card to you in exchange for a Pioneer AVIC-D2 in-dash navigation system valued at $1,500.

FT.COM reports that the number of companies spending more than 15 per cent of their
marketing budgets on the internet has risen sharply this year and is
now double that at the peak of the dotcom boom in 2000.

Internet marketing is expanding at a time when total UK marketing -
including direct mail and promotions - is set to grow at its slowest
pace since 2002.

Our web stats tell us that many people read this blog through their web browser as repeat visitors.

If you are one of them you might want to read this guide about setting up the RSS feed straight to your computer - it will save you lots of time in the long-run.

The value of sales on the Internet rose to £103.3 billion (yes billion) in 2005 - an increase of 56% on 2004 figures, reports the Office of National Statistics. (report PDF).

Other key findings of the survey include:

• The value of Internet sales to households rose to £21.4 billion in 2005 from £16.5 billion in 2004, a rise of 29.7 per cent.
• 14.6 per cent of businesses sold over the Internet in 2005 (12 per cent in 2004) while 56.3 per cent made purchases over the Internet in 2005 (50.3 per cent in 2004).
• Internet purchases by businesses rose 50.4 per cent, from £48.4 billion in 2004 to £72.8 billion in 2005.
• 69.8 per cent of businesses had a website in 2005, compared to 66.9 per cent of businesses in 2004.
• 50.5 per cent of businesses used the Internet to interact with public authorities, such as government departments, local and regional authorities in 2005.

2007 Will Be A Big Year For RSS writes Richard MacManus.

With Microsoft looking to finally release Vista and associated upgrades to their key software (including Internet Explorer and Outlook), many people will no longer need special tools or any extra effort to utilise RSS feeds. So, your blog feeds and the transfer of data could finally being going mainstream.

Watch Out, apparently IE7 is coming for all those Windows Users on Auto Update.

I don’t want to do the whole Millennium Bug thing again but it will be interesting to see how many websites out there suddenly either stop working or look a little broken.

Let the games begin!

This recent article over at Pronet got me thinking about what any company should be looking for when it comes to commissioning a website. Maybe it’s also because I have been involved in a couple of pitches recently as well that it has got me thinking.

A recent pitch had our potential client telling us how we had wowed him.

A massive compliment, but aren’t all other web companies giving the same sort of pitch, talking about usability, compliancy, metrics, data sharing with RSS and XML - how to deliver traffic and ROI?

It amazes me looking at the competition in the UK. There are some guys out there who really know their onions, without a doubt. But, there are some companies who really should know better and it’s not sour grapes - I want everyone to have a great website and there is enough work out there for all of us.

It’s just the laziness on the part of the agency and the ‘mis-selling’ of a valuable marketing tool for a business. It’s a big investment on the part of the client and they are a business looking for value for money the same as any business making a purchase.

It saddens me to say that I have met business owners who recently spent tens of thousands of pounds on solutions that don’t deliver traffic and a quick look over their ‘new’ site tells us what is wrong – it’s basic lack of cohesion and vision. It gives us all a bad name.

It strikes me, that one of the key people (if you have all the basics in place), often overlooked in the overall equation, is a great Project Manager. Cameron Cameron puts it nicely when he says,

You wouldn’t let your nephew be your accountant, so why would you hire him to build your website?

Creating a great web site is not just a case of getting a designer, or a programmer who ‘know someone’. It takes a team of people with different skills who can throw their ideas into a (sometimes heated) debate of what is right for a client even when sometimes the client doesn’t even know what they want or what is possible.

Good Project Management

Now, a good Project Manager should understand how all the disciplines fit together. They know where compromise is needed and they have the big picture understanding of:

• The clients short-term and long-term objectives
• What the client actually needs (whether they think they need it or not)
• What the client can afford to pay
• What time the client has to maintain a completed solution
• What is possible for the budget

They should upsell but not oversell

They can bring together the strengths of a team to deliver a great web solution. One that is right for the client, not for someone’s ego and not playing to the only strengths one person has.

Now, such a person exists in this world. We have one or two (but could do with some more) and I am sure other companies do too.

Great Web Companies

There are some great web companies out there – we aren’t the only one, believe me. Please make sure you find one and keep this business geek happy and make sure they have an outstanding Project Manager who knows his stuff.

Why not kick back, relax and read this article by Ben Henick.

You may want to get a cup of tea first… it’s a longun’ (but a goodun’).

Always nice to do work for a client that you can really get your teeth into. Especially when they are just around the corner.

This great brochure project for local Gas Safety Watchdog CORGI allowed us to flex our knowledge muscle in the Housing Sector.

Read the Corgi Case Study.