The Village Websmith - Web Design & Development in Your Area
New, brighter surroundings for mobile office
To make visiting the Village Websmith mobile office a more pleasurable experience, there's been a change of colour scheme. From the dark colours of its party bus origins, the change has made the interior much lighter and brighter, so you can look at your web site on the large screen in greater comfort.
The aim is to make a trip to Essex later on this month, so if you would like to find out if your web site is " Just the Ticket" give us a call or click in the header of any page to email for details of the timetable.
Here's hoping to welcome you aboard!
Abenhall is a tiny, ancient village in a secluded quiet valley near Mitcheldean. The parish includes the settlement of Plump Hill, on the Mitcheldean to Cinderford Road as it climbs into the high Forest.
Once part of the Westbury Hundred (which was known as Dene at the time of the 1086 Doomsday book) Abenhall is on the Flaxley to Mitcheldean Road. Originally a mining and iron making centre, it is notable for its 14th century Church of St Michael, which is built of local red sandstone and has excellent contemporary carvings relating to the Forest of Dean's industries. These include a shield bearing the arms of the Freeminers on the west wall and the fabulous mid -15th century octagonal font, that has tools of miners and metalworkers incised on its St Michaels at Abenhall sides.
St. Michael's Church - originally built as a chapel of ease, the church was expanded in the 14th century to include nave, south aisle and tower. The arms of the Freeminers can be seen on the south side of the tower and on the 18th century font. St. Michael's Church - Abenhall is 1.5 km south of Mitcheldean and is set in beautiful surroundings on the edge of the Forest. Old Parish baptism, marriage and burial registers, from 1596, are stored at the Gloucestershire Record Office. For more information, please call us on the number shown, or click in the header of any page to email Abenhall-forest-of-dean@villagewebsmith.co.uk.
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Welcome to Winning Wednesday
Wednesday is derived from the Norse god, Odin who was their supreme god and god of victory. Winning is what today is about, winning new business, winning the right price for every job we do and winning ore referrals from happy customers.
What a great day for digging out an old quote you may feel have gone cold and getting in touch to converting it into business. Customers may be looking at other options but they can't get from anyone else what they would get from you. Going back to Monday, focusing on the MOJO of your business, the quality that makes your value stand out in a crowd can help you do just that.
The bitter taste of poor quality lingers long after the sweet taste of low price is forgotten. Like Baby Bear's porridge, your combination of cost and value is just right. Different people will see 'just right' in different ways and asking the right questions helps to find out which bit of what you do is how you focus your offer.
Oscar Wilde described a cynic as someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. In our modern cynical world it is easy for people to base their purchasing decisions on an incorrect assessment. Lifetime cost, ease of purchase and delivery, prestige, comfort, peer comparison and pleasure of ownership are all powerful motivators. By identifying your MOJO and aligning it with the motivator or 'hot button' of the customer in question we can not only win business but also make sure that we get full value from the transaction too.
Do you collect testimonials from happy customers and promote them via your website and advertising? Do you regularly ask for referrals to friends and family? The tools available to us to do this are more powerful now than ever and definitely deserve a place in the marketing mix. Getting people to leave comments on websites, social media sites and Google + is easy, all you have to do is ask.
"Who else do you know that may want one of these?" is an easy question to ask but one that is neglected too often. If only one person in ten provides a lead, it is a free 10% increase in opportunities.
Wednesday is a great day for picking up the phone and making those calls in odd spare moments. There is no advertisement like a list of happy customers but having the list is only part of the story, promoting it is much more.
To find out about how to make sure everyone knows about your MOJO, just call us on 0203 239 0350 or click in the header of any page to send an email.
Abercraf is well known for these attractions: Waterfalls caves and close by the National Red Kite Centre.
Abercraf is also close to our headquarters in Shirenewton, Monmouthshire, which helps us to maintain our policy of only working face to face with customers to make sure they get the best results quickly when writing the content for their web sites. This is a much quicker method of establishing what aspects of a business are the most promotable and getting the order of things. So, if you have a small business in Abercraf, just get in touch with the Village Websmith and experience the difference of truly personal web design for yourself. For more information, please call us on the number shown, or click in the header of any page to email Abercraf-s-wales@villagewebsmith.co.uk.
- Website
- Web design
- Search engine optimisation
- SEO
- Webvertising
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Promotion
- Graphic design
- Branding
- Brochures
- Exhibition graphics
Welcome to Terrific Tuesday
Named from the Germanic god, Tiw, and associated with Mars. Mars is known as the 'Red Planet' so make it a red letter day for your business. Public speaking is as alien to many business people as a being from Mars. However, it is one of the most important skills that anyone in business can learn. Becoming adept in addressing new people in groups of all sizes from one upwards is simpler than many people think and there is help at hand.
Last week, I talked about making an unusual introduction to new prospective customers. Since then, many have said that it is all very well to talk about such introductinos but this area of their work bothers them.
That is no real surprise as many people cite public speaking as their biggest fear, even greater than death itself. In this context 'public' can mean any number of people tha you don't necessarily know, from one upwards.
How to overcome the reticence that so many people feel to open up and talk about their business then? The most reliable method that I have found in 37 years of addressing new people, either individually or in groups, is preparation. You may be familiar with the 'Five Ps' rule which states that Preparation and Practice Prevent Poor Performance. Addressing groups of people is all about confidence and the best way to be confident is to know exactly what you are going to say.
By having a series of ready made presentations at your disposal, you can be confident in what you are saying and present your business in a much better light. This arsenal of presentations can cover a wide range of common situations such as
- A few seconds introduction to a stranger
- A succinct sales oriented answer to the question "What do you do?"
- A short intro presnetation up to a minute for networking meetings
- A more detailed presentation of several minutes to address groups
- A full, detailed sales presentation including visual aids to present your business
If you feel less than comfortable with presenting your business either face to face or to a group, then the Village Websmith's "Let's Talk about Business" workshop may nold tha answers. There are two levels, with an introductory half day workshop, outlining many of the skills and techniques, leading to an advanced level full day which is desined to enhance your presentation and bring out the showman in you.
To find out more, call us on 0203 239 0350 or click in the header of any page to send an email.
Aberdare is well known for these attractions: Country park fabulous indoor market and Aberdare Park home of historic motorcycle road races.
Aberdare is also close to our headquarters in Shirenewton, Monmouthshire, which helps us to maintain our policy of only working face to face with customers to make sure they get the best results quickly when writing the content for their web sites. This is a much quicker method of establishing what aspects of a business are the most promotable and getting the order of things. So, if you have a small business in Aberdare, just get in touch with the Village Websmith and experience the difference of truly personal web design for yourself. For more information, please call us on the number shown, or click in the header of any page to email Aberdare-s-wales@villagewebsmith.co.uk.
- Website
- Web design
- Search engine optimisation
- SEO
- Webvertising
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Promotion
- Graphic design
- Branding
- Brochures
- Exhibition graphics
- CF44