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We get a mention on 101 best websites

Woohoooo! The iprogress website gets more appreciation as we are featured on 101BestWebsites.com

Check out their site which is run by a design team that had an idea to build a modern web design showcase.  Being in the internet industry and spending a lot of time looking around CSS showcase sites for inspiration and new ideas, they felt sites in question seem to have stood still whilst other websites have surged forwards with their technology and up to date designs.

So thanks to the people at 101 best websites for featuring us - you can vote for our website here too.

August 25, 2008 | design, development, general, website | No Comments »

Intellect training Corporate ID

Every now and again we get asked if we ‘do logos’ and I reply ‘yes I worked in the printing industry for eight years before the internet took off’. Here we have produced leaflets, brochures, packaging, adverts, direct marketing, stationary, forms, cdroms, powerpoint presentations, banners, stands, illustrations, animation… you get the idea.

So as you can see we design other things as well as our websites. So anyway here are the designs for ITE’s (temporary as they are on the move) business cards - and yes I know swooshes may be a cliche - but the client loves them and who are we to argue - make love not war people! I am now off to paint my VW van with daisies

August 18, 2008 | design, general | No Comments »

Twitter me this Plurk me that!

If you live a life online then microblogging may become the norm for some of us. The two main ones being Twitter and Plurk. A spare minute is all you need to inform, amuse and intrigue people from a nearby computer or iphone. So if you are wondering just what we may be up to at the moment be it dancing around the office on coffee overdoses or having office chair races down the corridors of our building - check our microblogging pages out.

August 13, 2008 | general | No Comments »

Blog more!

We have been busy of late but last night managed to get away at 6pm to go to a networking event at the new Hard Days Night Hotel. The hotel looks very swish and modern but retains the old grandure feel it previously had with its interior marble columns and brass fixtures. After the key speech I caught up with a few familiar faces and a few new ones whilst I melted into my suit because of the hot weather - when did the summer finally arrive I thought!

After speaking to a friend of mine there he remarked that ‘we didn’t update the blog often’. Fortunately even in the current ‘credit crunch’ situation we are busy and I replied ‘we have not had the time of late’, however in hindsight I think we should try and take a renewed approach and inject fresh items on a regular basis.

So with this in mind I was wondering what our readers would like to see on the blog?  Creative ideas, blog blags, rants. Bring on the Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll I hear you say!…

…hmmm politics we could skip - we’re creatives here!

July 31, 2008 | blog, general, networking | 1 Comment »

iprogress featured on designsnack.com

Being purveyors of nice design here at iprogress it was great to notice that we had been featured on the front of designsnack.com

Designsnack is a website for designers to showcase their Blog, portfolios, CSS, photgraphy, flash, etc - people can also vote and comment on your website.

Thanks to all the people who have voted for us.

www.designsnack.com

July 15, 2008 | design, general, website | 1 Comment »

We get a mention on CSSdrive.com

Woohoo! the hard work that we put into our website seems to be paying off. We have noticed that we had been featured on CSSdrive.com’s website. Apparently people really like our navigation - they’re even allowed to vote on it too.

Visit their website to have a look by clicking here

Its always nice to get a bit of recognition - now back to completing my plan for global domination muhuhahahaaaa!

July 7, 2008 | design, general, website | No Comments »

Why Blogs and RSS?

RSS and Blogs have been hot topics of the moment. Seems like everyone is talking about it and there is much hype about them.

But where there’s hype - there’s interest!

And with good reason - Blogs and RSS were the break out technology of 2005. Those who do not take full advantage of it will be left behind.

If you need convincing - here are 10 reasons why you should put them on your site:

• 1. It’s easy and fast! Not to mention Free! You can use a free service like Blogger and publish your Blog and RSS feed within minutes. You can even place or publish your Blog/RSS Feed on your own site without knowing ‘html’ or ‘xml’. It’s all done for you!
  Repeat - it’s simple to use and very convenient. Publishing your blog is only a few clicks away.
• 2. Syndicate Your Content. RSS stands for ‘really simple syndication’ and it’s just another way of passing along your information. With the popularity of ‘MyYahoo’ ‘Internet explorer 7′ and the ‘Firefox’ browser (which have built-in RSS feed readers) - syndicating your content has gotten even simpler.
• 3. Get Your Content Indexed. Using blogs to publish your content is a neat way of side stepping the regular indexing procedure. It gets your content indexed very quickly in most of the search engines.
  Search Engines are constantly on the lookout for ‘fresh content’ - these ‘link rich’ blogs are a good source of this content. Because blogs are on specific topics - they have a concentrated source of good quality informational material to serve up!
• 4. Instant Contact. Blogs give you instant contact with your readers or viewers. We live in an ‘instant’ society - we want everything five minutes ago. Blogs provide this instant gratification. Readers or viewers using RSS have an instant link to your information or postings.
  RSS Feeds will instantly spread your information to all interested parties - bringing in targeted traffic.
• 5. Building Your List. People who pick up your RSS feed or add you to their blog or site - become your subscribers. You are really building your contact list. Have a popular blog or RSS Feed and you can build a large targeted contact list very quickly.
  It might not replace your old opt-in email list - but it can be a lucrative addition to it! Take advantage of all those targeted contacts.
• 6. Link Building. Blogs are link heavens! Build your links thru blogs. All these links will boost your link popularity and increase your search engine rankings.
  Plus, by giving viewers/readers a way of adding your RSS Feed creates targeted links to your site. This reason alone is why your site should have RSS!
• 7. Viewer/Subscriber Feedback. Instant feedback from your subscribers or viewers is easy with blogs. Creating trust and credibility is so much easier when there is immediate communication between the two parties.
• 8. Keyword Content Building. Blogs are especially good for building ‘keyword targeted content’ for your site. All these links will boost your keyword rankings in the search engines. Google places a high value on ‘anchor text’ and blogs are a good place to put all those links.
  You can also start different blogs targeted at ’specific related keywords’ covering the major topics of your site. Again, search engines love related keyword linking so you can boost your site’s rankings by using blogs.
• 9. Monetize Your Content. Blogs are an excellent way of monetizing your content. Blog sites like Eblogger (owned by Google) even encourages you to use the ‘adsense code’ in your blogs. If you have a popular blog - this may bring in extra income.
  Plus, publishing your ezine or newsletter in a blog can bring in revenue for months if not years to come. All those affiliate links and product promotions get indexed by the search engines and become accessible to a wider audience, i.e. market.
• 10. Because Everyone Else is Doing It! Might sound a bit ‘Jonesish’ but you do have to keep up with what other web sites are doing. To remain competitive - you MUST enhance the content on your site.
  Sites without the ‘blog’, ‘RSS’ or ‘xml’ button/link will be the exception rather than the rule in just a few years. It’s simply another way of getting your information ‘out there’. It’s an opportunity and advantage that you cannot afford to miss.Proceed without them at your own risk or you could ask us to help you out.

June 13, 2008 | blog, development, rss, website | 1 Comment »

i-Start event at the Panoramic Wed 11th June

I had been invited by Digitalinc (ICDC’s digital media incubator at Liverpool John Moores University) to attend the i-Start networking event for digital media businesses at The Panoramic from 6pm. Now these networking events can be a bit of a chore but this one had a few plus points!

• The topic of the keynote speaker: UK consumer behaviour and adoption of ICT services by Medwyn Jones, Director of Business Development at Ericsson. As I am a techy kinda guy I found his speech interesting and witty - covering market trends, social media, wap and wireless applications, something we take seriously here at iprogress as we strive to adapt to new technology for work and play.
• The event location: The Panoramic is a new restaurant on the 34th floor of the west tower on brook street in liverpool a 2 minute walk from our office. The view from here was fantastic - standing right up to the windows which are flush to the ground was making a lot of people feel uneasy. View the panoramic flash website here

Whilst we were there we bumped into Mark Butchard Strategic Development Manager at the Mersey Partnership (a company I had created various email marketing templates for in the past) and had a good old chinwag about Liverpool, its changing face and our taste in Liverpool’s many public houses.

So it was quite an enjoyable event - iStart are hosting their next one on the mersey ferry so I will be making a hat out of bread and standing on the top deck to see how many seagulls attack me - so stay tuned bloggers!

June 12, 2008 | ICT, development, liverpool, networking | 1 Comment »

Kin2Kin Event @ OSQA 05/06/2008

I have been a member of Kin2Kin for some time but have never got around to attending an event. So last night’s was my first.

It was good to see so many people at the event and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed and congenial. The wine and beer was flowing and a constant stream of finger food was always welcome.

Jon Corner from River Media enlightened us with some of his creative thoughts then it was down to getting to talk to some of the other members.

I’m pretty new to the networking game and don’t find it particularly easy, as I’m sure the majority of people don’t. People keep saying to me it gets easier the more events you go to and last night this was true.

Nick Taylor from e-blueprint was a very recent acquaintance who I had met just the previous night at the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce new member’s event. I think we both thought of the dreaded serial networker but he’s an easy guy to talk to and it was very comforting to see a recognisable face in the room.

I also got a chance to see a friend from my BNI. Rachel who recently left the BNI chapter I attend due to starting a new job with the publishers of Liverpool Lifestyle Magazine. She was with her college Sue and both of them were great company.

But I suppose that’s not what networking is all about, just talking to old and recent business contacts and friends.

I had a quick conversation with Phil Smears from Sdesign1 who I had had email contact with a couple of months ago. We discussed the level of applicants you can expect when looking for a graphic and web designer. Is interesting that the general level is pretty poor, but then the good designers are going to go for the good jobs.

In Progress are interior designers who have recently worked on the foresight centre and Liverpool john Moores University. Obviously the company name drew my eye.

So all in all the event was worth a visit and either Darren or myself will attend the next event.

June 6, 2008 | networking | 1 Comment »

We are Blog

Well we have gone and done it! Iprogress has set up its own blog. We will be writing about all things design, web, Liverpool and much more.

June 4, 2008 | general | No Comments »