Nina Edwards's blog

Huge Growth In Online Readership - Parenting & Baby Blogging

As I read blogs, articles and media on a regular basis online media has become a big part of my life. When I wake up in the morning I usually check my social accounts, then move on to checking my emails, then reading a few top news outlets...this is a typical start to the day (and it doesnt stop there). After this the majority of my day consists of working, apart from lunch time when I get a chance to catch up with my blogging.

This amount of social and media interaction always makes me curious about other peoples online habits. I have a few friends who are involved in the social side of the web, however the majority rarely leave Facebook. I started talking to LogicalJack SEO who is a lot more involved with online media than me, and we got to discussing the Facebook / Blogging competition. With the upcoming IPO everyone is talking about the value of Facebook and whether it can maintain that level of growth for the size it is. After Facebook recently published a slow-down in expansion (only a 50% growth rate in the last quater) I started wondering what the figures would be for independent blogs. I have a theory a lot of people have evolved from Facebook into bloggers, this way they can interact with people based on their interests rather than their background or locality, and the internet is an easy place to make these connections.

I started doing some research with a couple of top UK bloggers and site owners and quickly learned that there were some areas of massive growth, and some of recession. It seems that business blogs have started to decrease (many blame Google) in readership, whereas niche blogs like family & parenting have seen massive increases.
According to the stats the New Mum and Son published an article on Ideal Garments For Your Infant. This baby clothes blog post was shared by over 300 Twitter users and nearly 500 Facebook fans...however the real surprise was the amount of traffic it had received after just one month - 64,000 visits!
The guys were even nice enough to share some of their Analytics data, and it seems the majority of this traffic was referrals from similar baby, fashion and parenting blogs.

If you are thinking of starting a blog then dont be shy, get out there and get blogging! We found many of the authorities and notable bloggers in the parenting and baby niche were very helpful, they even gave us some of their own tips on baby clothes.

The Apprentice - Ergonomic Back Support Chairs

Okay if you were watching the last season of The Apprentice you will know that Tom Pellereau won. I was secretly rooting for Tom most of the way through, usually its the confident sales people that seem to win over Alan Sugar, but this time the quiet, geeky engineer managed to get victory.

Throughout the whole competition I was sure if Tom did win, the business plan would be golden. Which is why I was a bit surprised when he decided to draw up a business targetting back pain and ergonomic seating. With Tom being an inventor I wasnt sure if this was just another idea he had conjured up, or if there was a real need for more ergonomic chairs in the market. When doing research on workplace ergonomic seating there is an obvious trend towards a one-solution for all. This is what Tom is trying to work away from, which is quite revolutionary. Not everyone is homogenous, so why should we all use the same chair to fix the problem?

With the strength and connections of Alan Sugar the business will find it very hard to fail, no doubt it would be a great connection for any existing inflatable lumbar support manufacturers. Just look at the products available, its suprising the technology and development thats gone into a chair!

Part Time Electrician Work in Somerset

We have been on the march with many Somerset locals who have been on the hunt for long-term employment. With the economy in down turn we have noticed a few industries that are still seeing a regular line of work, and are even seeing some employment opportunitues even if it is only part-time.

One industry in particular is Electricians, many popular regional electricans are seeing a steady rate of employment and work contracts. If you are an electrician looking for part time work then look for a local electrical contractor and contact them about any occasional work. For example...if you are in Somerset then look for an electrician in a Somerset business directory and contact them direct.

Happy hunting!

Finding Local Food Shops and Suppliers

Getting quality food can often be expensive, which is why many people turn to alternatives such as fast foods and ready made meals. These alternatives are typically unhealthy and can lead to obesity.

So where is the happy middle ground? It seems if you don't have the money you are destined to eat unhealthily.

Now with the launch of a few high profile websites we have seen an increase in local producers supplying local consumers. Typically a farmer will send their produce across the country to be purchased by large companies such as Tesco or Sainsburys. With recent changes farmers are more inclined to supply local consumers directly or through independent retailers such as farm shops and farmers markets. And these are open to the general public so now you can get fresh, quality produce at an affordable price that is both beneficial to you and the farmer.

Its a win win situation, get yourself over to We Go Local Food Directory...find your area and support local trade!

Hand-Made Furniture For Your Home

The advantages of ready-made furniture have been getting lots of attention because of the various styles that are available in the market. However, there are some things that you should know before cashing out on factory manufactured furniture. As it is so appealing to the eye, this kind of furniture often provide a short amount of comfort so that you’ll go for another one after a few months of years. Instead of spending your hard-earned money on ready-made furniture that doesn’t guarantee a lasting comfort, you should think about getting hand-made furniture.

Experienced craftsmen work on hand-made lounge furniture. Although it’s time-consuming, these craftsmen work on details a lot. This can’t be done by factory machines. Furniture made by hand offers a unique quality since you can suggest modifications to your product – you can also avoid defective products.

Speaking of prices, it seems like it a bit expensive than ready-made ones. Given its quality, impressive detail, and modifications – it’s really a competitive price! Looking for hand-made furniture has never been easy with the help of http://www.tomfaulkner.co.uk/. Compare prices and avail special promos as you proceed on ordering products.

The Big Guns Weigh In On Cloud Computing

With increasing popularity of cloud computing, many of the big guns have their own vision for the technology. Google have already made their expectations of cloud computing very simple, and is in effect across many of the Google Apps. Google have stated that the cloud computing is there to directly support a user, so they can browse the web and be able to access and edit their data right there and then. Google Docs is a perfect example of this, in that you can log in from anywhere and edit your documents on the fly. The alternative perspective has been introduced by Apple, and is similar to the way Microsoft has been pitching their proposed cloud based services. Apple are introducing the service as a support to the existing software in place, which means that you need the software on your device before utilising the service. This allows Apple to still produce proprietary software which would have to be purchased in advance of use of the cloud service. This is similar to the method proposed by Microsoft, however very little has been done to achieve this theory. Hopefully the iCloud will see a better user experience, and achieve the syncronicity which is currently unavailable through the MobileMe service. If you are interested in the service then make sure you have an up-to-date iPad, iPhone or Mac computer. You can read more informative articles at the shopping blog >

Getting Digital Assistance For Blogging

Keeping on top of consistent blogging can be difficult. Especially when you have periods planned for when you are taking a vacation, and if you have built up a regular rhythm to posting then your followers will be dissappointed.

When we came across a page from blogger Chipp Thomas, we were enlightened!

Chipp has actually shared some of his favourite and most handy tools with his followers. This is a great list which he will be regularly updating with new software as and when he comes across it.
If you are scaling up your blogging ambitions then the list is definitely worth a view as it will help you to no end. And if you are currently pulling your hair out trying to manage lots of blogs, then head over there to get some assistance!

Whatever the problem, you are sure to find an answer on his page http://chippthomas.com/tools/ 

Finding Top Photos Without Top Prices

Typically stock photos will set you back a few quid, and for high resolution images you can look at spending up to £15 for one photo. These are often photos purchased by many people the world over, so its not exclusive to you, however you are paying for the licensing permission.
However there are many ways to reuse an image under public licenses such as Creative Commons or Public Domain licensing.

Typically these pictures are much more hard to find, however we have recently come across a summary of image search engines which are focused specifically on serving free to use images.

For the full review and list then check out the UK Small Business blog. We however do not think that stock photography is the answer to all problems as there is still a great need for professional website photography and product photography which would not be found on the web.

Hottest UK Websites

With over 270 million websites online competing for exposure, websites are undoubtedly going to get buried. This means there are potentially millions of websites that you would never see...we have found a website that is soon to change that.

The Hot UK Sites blog aims  to bring to you some of the most popular, useful, informative or stylish websites aimed at a UK audience.
This could be eCommerce websites, business websites, informative websites or game based websites, their website showcase shows off some of the most deserved and attractive websites.

The latest showcase was of a small agency in Bristol who were offering a very unique web based photography service, for the full write up check here >

The Hot UK Sites team have also stated they are dedicated to bringing top news and informative posts along with website reviews. This is a great addition to the site as they are a very involved team and bring some great advice and news. This is evident in some of their original posts describing how to promote and advertise a small business when on a budget. This stems out of the teams interaction with many small businesses in the area and their one common problem; Promoting their business. The guys then authored a very informative post giving guidance on steps to take to get some instant promotion for your business when online. For the full post then check it out after the jump.

For example, recently they came across a very informative shopping guidance article which they have shown on their site.

And last week we saw the launch of their website review submission form, which allows visitors to submit their own favourite websites. This allows the site to act very much like a social bookmarking website, but this is a community contributed site where the submissions are reviewed before receiving a full writeup review.
We have heard that they are currently working towards 3 reviews per week however due to their other involvements this may be a strain.

So head on over to the Hot UK Site and get your own submission in!

News News News!

Yes people we are bringing some of the latest internet news regarding websites, shopping and retail!
Regularly we will be updating with some of the top advice or guidance we wish to impart, and here comes some gems from the last week on the web

Furniture Advice? Having been in the market for some vintage furniture I came across a post on http://hotuksites.blogspot.com which had some great details on retro furniture. They also link to the original post if you wish to read the whole thing

Also on the same site, came across a great article about gifts and have come to the conclusion that gift buying is an annual disaster for me. Therefore I am going to be doing all my shopping online this year, and thinking of getting mainly gift hampers. Seen some amazing ranges of gift hampers on this site, and they will even tailor it to your needs if you ask nicely