About Ant Hodges

Christian Businessman, father of two, husband of one. Expertise in digital marketing, graphic / web design and email marketing

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Jan 14

New Digital Waves

Predictions city! That's what December and January are all about.

I have seen so many blogs write about the coming decade and how things are going to move on again for us in the digital world or online marketing and social networking etc... so why not join in?

I have recorded a short audio podcast on some of the things that I have picked up, saying if I either agree or disagree with the things, plus a plea to steer away from DIY - if you're not expert in it... don't do it... for risk of looking very amateur.

Here is the podcast - enjoy

The New Digital Waves For 2010 by Ant Hodges  
(download)

I would love any feedback - post your comments below


Subscribe to my
podcast on itunes here

Filed under  //   Adobe Flash   Digital Marketing   DIY Websites   Gaming Industry   Online Marketing   Social Networking   Viral Video Advertising   Website Design  
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Sep 15

The art of fresh content!

Many more people are asking for ways in which they can keep their websites up-to-date themselves. Not because they are skin-flints and don’t want to pay a designer, but because they have understood that users on the internet want fresh, up to date information, that they can make use - and that they would like to do this themselves.

I’m all for this in one sense but then against this train of thought in the same way.

For - Keeping costs down for a small business is key in an economy that we are in at the moment, and anything that you can do yourself with minimal effort is great.

Against - When you are running a business you need to focus on making widgets - you did not go into business to become a marketing guru or website developer (unless you actually wanted to do those things as your way of making widgets). You went into business to make the widgets that you are so very good at! Outsourcing your website will be a good investment for the time that you need to spend in making and selling your widgets.

So why keep your site up to date with fresh, new information and content?

The old fashioned way of just publishing your brochure online only serves one purpose - to let people know what you do, when they get to your site. What happens next time you want to put yourself in front of your customer and you present them with the same information - “Oh I’ve read that”

For the purposes of engaging your customers, you need to continually add new content to your site. Keeping them engaged and on something that they are interested in, that they can take value from.

The more ‘interactive’ you make the site, the more your leads and potential customers, and of course your current clients, will visit your site and engage with you.

Try a simple blog feed, news reel, portfolio of recent work, weekly special offer, game, survey, quiz… I could go on. This list of user engaging features for your website is almost endless.

The ultimate aim is to get a response from people - a purchase, an email from the site, a response to the survey you have posted or indeed a tweet or post on their social network linking back to you!

- - - 

Ko-juhnt CMS is a simple and cost effective solution that provides you with the power to keep your site up to date and on message. You don’t need to have any coding experience - once set up it is as simple as using a word processor. Contact Ko-juhnt for more info on studio@ko-juhnt.com

Filed under  //   Ko-juhnt   Social Networking   Website Design  
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Apr 27

The Social Media Mindset

An overview of the science being social media and the social media mindset

The social media mindset, a phrase coined by internet marketing entrepreneur Katie Freiling (of KatieFreiling.com), is that of “Relationship building” - the most effective way of marketing your business to-date... as I recently heard reinforced by Grant Leboff.

Grant talked at a recent Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce lunch, about how we can develop a sales and marketing strategy that will transform our business. Instead of the funnel - it’s a straight line. A timeline that represents a relationship that we will build with our customers, clients and any potential customers, suppliers or even staff - that at some point transactions will fall off and appear to come from nowhere. More info from SalesTherapy.com

Relationships is about give and take. We know that from our own lives. Siblings, parents, partners, husbands, wives, children, colleagues... we find that in all our relationships if we give then in turn we will receive. If we are selfish then we will distance ourselves, even repel people rather than be attractive to those we want to have relationship with.

Within social networking, giving is not just about the volume of articles and posts, but its about their quality and value. When people see that you can add value to their business with the content that you provide, and that they can learn something from you, you will gain followers, build a larger network and people will latch onto you and the things that you publish.

More on developing your social networking coming soon.

Filed under  //   Grant Leboff   Katie Freiling   Social Media Mindset   Social Networking   Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce  
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Apr 20

Do you Tweet?

"Do you Tweet? Tips on how to revolutionise your business online" is the title of a talk I am giving to the Swindon Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on the 15th May (Part of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce group) - Link to the event info page. Come along and find out useful ways for businesses to utilise tools like Twitter, Digg, Facebook, YouTube, Blogs etc - and how to turn visitors to your site into customers.

Essentially the crux of my message is about creating compelling content that attracts people to you, follow you and eventually buy from you.

The thoughts around my talk are taken from a number of people who have all identified one or more ways that we can all market our business better. In a sense I am bringing them all together to form on objective view on how you can harness these technologies to revolutionise not only your sales process, but your conversion rates too.

Filed under  //   Marketing   Networking   Social Networking   Speaking  
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