It is inexpensive, easy to do and can be set up in less than an hour. Yet many small businesses still don’t have a website.

Many business owners use traditional marketing techniques to promote themselves and obtain new customers. But this is a risky strategy. No one can predict what the future will bring, but one thing is certain we are all spending more time online.

Any smaller businesses such as hairdressers, gardeners, plumbers and other small service providers rely on word of mouth and are proud of the personal touch they give to customers. While this might be sufficient to keep businesses ticking over, it may not be enough to bring in the next generation of customers. A website works for your small business as local online advertising.

According to Forbes, websites are vital for small businesses.

Even for the more established companies, they can play a crucial role in attracting new customers. A basic website is the first building block to developing a digital footprint.

Be Accessible

These days, most people go online to research products and services before they decide to make a purchase. On a fundamental level, your website needs to be easy to find, professional and optimized for mobile devices. It should contain all the relevant business information and give clear instructions on how individuals can contact you.

You may also like to read: Local SEO: The guide for those who do business in the city

Consider Social Media

According to the Guardian, more than three-quarters of consumers would be more likely to buy from a brand that has a presence on social media.

Social media has made it possible for people to share their experiences and make recommendations, giving more opportunities to promote your business. The flip side is that customers could turn to social media to air grievances, so at the very least you need a plan to deal with complaints effectively before they escalate.

An online impact doesn’t have to involve a large budget. There are numerous opportunities to take advantage of inexpensive website design. For many businesses a website is a vital platform a window to show the world the products or services your business provides. It gives your organization credibility and looks professional. For small businesses, it can be an opportunity to highlight your offline business.

Author Bio:

A.H. Sagar is Operations Manager at CYONWO and author of Local Advertising Journal. A.H. has more than 6+ years of experience in digital marketing. His expertise helps him to be a professional blogger and he loves to share his ideas, tips, tricks and information with blogging.

Ever since the release of best selling book 50 Shades of Grey women around the world have started to experiment and talk more about their intimate lives. While male exploits are usually welcomed with a pat on the back, females are often condemned for their sexual lives. What this book has done is bring to light a new acceptance for fetishes and kinks that both genders may have and encourage a wider audience to experiment and explore themselves.

Kinks and fetishes aren’t a new thing, maybe just less talked about until now. There are many common ones that have been around for centuries and some that have only come to light in the last few decades. The trick to exploring new things is to have an open mind and not to judge your partner. Below are a few common and uncommon fetishes that perhaps you may like to read about to prepare yourself in case it gets introduced by your partner.

Bondage

Thoroughly explored in the 50 Shades of Grey book series this fetish involves tying your partner up. Often having one dominant and one submissive partner, it can be anything from simply tying each other up to including whips and chains. When taking this fetish to the furthest level, make sure there is a safe word that was agreed upon and that it is something completely random that doesn’t get mistaking in play.

Feet Worship

This is quite a common fetish and is talked about commonly. Some people find it funny and some find it quite strange. For the worshipers, many can’t achieve release until they see and touch your feet. Many people can’t understand how you could have a totally naked person, except with shoes on, in front of you and it’s not enough. Like I said, exploring kinks is all about an open mind and no judging.

Used Panties

Not quite as talked about as the ones above, but what is gaining momentum on the kink level is the buying of used panties and underwear. Often male partners do keep your panties as a little trophy especially if they are a pair of little sexy ones. However this is such a huge turn on for some people that they seek out used panties from strangers. Sometimes couples buy used panties together, maybe as an introduction to a threesome?

As mentioned above, when trying new things with your partner it is important to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions. Most of the time it is just a tender suggestions to spice things up in the bedrooms. Suggesting bondage doesn’t necessarily mean they want to beat you up. Suggesting purchasing used panties doesn’t mean they want to stray. Just be open in discussion about it and reach a conclusion of how far you would like to take things before jumping straight in.

Just like that, we’re already heading into the last quarter of the year. It seems like just yesterday we greeted each other with ‘Happy New Year,’ and now we’re only a few months away from doing it all over again. Before you get ready for Thanksgiving and the rest of the holidays, make sure you don’t forget one important occasion that is considered to be a tradition among many people; Halloween. Yes, if you’re an avid fan of Halloween you’ll be pretty excited to start preparing your home to scare away trick-or-treaters.

If you’ve gotten into the tradition of participating in Halloween the first thing you have to do is to get your lawn ready for the occasion. It doesn’t take much, and a little creativity can go a long way. You can also follow some tips on how you can make your lawn look in tune with Halloween.

The good thing about decorating your lawn for Halloween is that you can always go overboard with your decorations. There are no limits to how you want to decorate your lawn. As a matter of fact, the more decorations you have, the more beautiful your lawn will be. But, if you’re decorating your lawn to scare off people you have to remember to make things interesting. This way you can create a beautiful effect on your lawn.

If you don’t know how to decorate your lawn for Halloween, there are a few tried and tested ideas that are always a hit among trick-or-treaters. Just by using supplies in your home you can create a lawn full of surprising terrors for your guests. Here are some tools you can use for decorating your lawn:

Pumpkins

When it comes to decorating for Halloween pumpkins are always considered a fixture. This means that they should always be part of the decorations. Pumpkins are something that symbolizes Halloween no matter how much it is used.

Traditionally, pumpkins are carved with a face on them. There are even some that have put candles inside these holes to create a ghostly effect. If you would like something different, you can stack pumpkins together to create a new object. This way, you can scare people away from your lawn when they come up to pay you a visit.

Chicken Wire

One of the most brilliant ideas people use is to create a ghostly figure with the help of chicken wire. You can shape chicken wire into a wedding dress and spray paint them. Use a glow-in-the-dark paint so that they will produce a beautiful yet terrifying effect at night. The illusion alone will make people stop in their tracks and believe that they have seen a ghost. Only until they come closer to your lawn will they be able to realize that it’s not for real.

Wheelbarrow

If you have a wheelbarrow at home you can incorporate it in your lawn, and then leave around a few fake skeleton bones scattered around it. You can easily pick up some skeleton bones from stores that sell Halloween decorations. By using this decoration your guests will think that you have skeletons in your lawn. Just make sure to remind them that the bones aren’t real, or else they might call the cops on you.

Lawn Mower

Another cool design that you can use for your lawn on Halloween is with the help of a lawn mower. If you have one, you can use it to terrify people into thinking someone was caught underneath a lawn mower. A cool trick would be to have a skeleton body hold the lawn mower while a fully clothed mannequin is lying down underneath the machine. This will fool people into thinking that the dead have come back to life to pay revenge on people. But really, it’s just a fake mannequin that you have put together.

Gourds

If your lawn has a few branches that have already fallen to the ground make sure you gather them for the Halloween season. You can use these branches as a scare tactic for your Halloween lawn decoration without spending a lot of money. The trick here is to paint the gourds white and tie some branches together with the help of a wire. Hang these gourds around your lawn area so that they can frighten people away. Don’t forget to use black paint to create the mouth and the eyes of your ghosts.

Halloween is the only time of the year where it is okay to scare people away. Even if you are joining in on the fun of Halloween season, or you just don’t want strangers to approach your porch you can scare them off with the help of these decoration ideas.

Smart technology has the potential to make life much easier and streamline activities – anything from getting out of bed in the morning to locking up at night. Investing in automated systems and appliances with Wi-Fi capability and mobile integration is one of the simplest ways to join the smart home revolution. As with any connection to the internet, you’ll want to make sure you’re safe.

When it comes to home automation, the security of your personal Internet of Things is of paramount importance. The internet of things is as simple as connecting your Wi-Fi enabled coffee maker to your smartphone to make sure you wake to freshly brewed coffee every morning. However, any internet connection can be vulnerable to hackers and security breaches. A home network that connects things like alarms, door locks and even medical information is the last system you want anyone gaining access to. For Home Automation, visit http://digitalinteriors.co.uk/

Here are some steps that you can take to protect your smart home:

Start with Security in Mind

Make sure you do your homework before you ever connect your smartphone to the thermostat. It’s much easier to start with a secure system than to try and patch up an insecure one. Certain devices emphasize security as a top priority, and those are the devices you want to work with. Focus on things like the available encryption strength or a company’s commitment to long-term security support. Look for developers that encourage sustainability in addition to a convenient user experience as you don’t want a system that will be completely vulnerable and outdated in a matter of months.

Protect Your Network

The security of your home network can be either a critical line of defence or a weakness. It’s good advice to set your router to employ the strongest encryption available. In most cases, a WPA2 encryption combined with a secure password is the safest. Another good move is to segment your network access. Most wireless routers will let you set up more than one network, allowing you to have separate networks for home automation devices, TVs and computers, and guest Wi-Fi. By separating your devices, if someone does break into one of your devices, they won’t automatically gain access to everything else in your home.

Maximise Security Features

Don’t settle for default security settings on your smart devices. Become familiar with the access control and authorization protocols of every device you use, and make the most of them as default configurations are available to the masses, making them an invitation for a cyberattack. Most devices offer enhanced security options, but you have to take the time to enable them. Always change a device’s default password to a strong password that includes a random combination of numbers, symbols, and both uppercase and lowercase letters.

Be Prepared

There are no guarantees of complete safety these days so an attack won’t be as damaging if you prepare for the fact that it could happen. Limit the storage of personal information that can be found from your devices. Ensure that all transfers of data are encrypted, and don’t store transactions records on a device or network. You can minimize the damage by limiting the data available and ensuring that any data compromised is now rendered useless such as immediately changing all passwords.

For years, medical trials were conducted along the same lines. But new trends are currently revolutionising the way that trials take place and how patients interact with clinical researchers.

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1. Wearables

Collecting data from patients has hitherto been an expensive and time-consuming business. But wearable technology, such as the fitness monitor, has the capability to change that. The great bonus is that because the patient can wear the device at all times, data can be collected during the night without waking the patient.

2. Patient-Centred Trials

Patients feel more empowered today to question, challenge and become involved in the trial process. Clinicians and researchers have been a little slow to catch up with this but are now understanding that they must involve patients and their advocacy groups in order to help recruitment and engagement. In the UK, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) insists on patient involvement in research studies that it is funding.

3. Faster Responses to Competition

Pharma companies are becoming a lot quicker at responding to developments that occur during the trial – for example, increased competitor activity. They will now act quickly to adjust endpoints or increase patient recruitment. Clinical studies that pay patients, such as those run by http://www.trials4us.co.uk/, to become involved generally find it easier to increase recruitment at short notice.

4. Closer Contact Via Mobile and Social Media

Mobile technology enables pharma companies and academic researchers to keep in touch with study participants throughout the trial.

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Social media is having a similar effect in encouraging trial participants to build engagement with the study. Again, researchers have been somewhat slow at taking to social media but are now beginning to recognise the enormous benefits it can bring when communicating with a diverse group of participants.

5. Logistics and Supply Automation

Pharma companies are starting to use the “internet of things” to automate their supply and inventory functions in trials. Smart labels can be tracked through the system, enabling supply chain efficiencies.

The major trend yet to hit clinical trials is the development of artificial intelligence. But this will impact the trial process, because while the interpretation of data and the setting up of trial protocols require human intervention, there are many aspects of the trial that could potentially lend themselves to further automation.

If you’re running a small business, you’ll know that a website is pretty vital for you. There are very few businesses that can thrive in the modern environment without a web presence, which means having a website is vital. So is having the right website – and many small businesses hire web designers in order to get theirs up and running. You can run into problems, however. If web design isn’t your area of expertise, how do you make sure that the web designer you hire is right for you?

Define Your Needs

A web designer knows their business. You know yours. You know what your customers need, so you know what needs to be on your website. You can carry out your own research by asking your employees, your peers and your customers what they want from a website, and you can look at examples of websites from other companies in your line of work.

A good web designer will value your input and use your expert knowledge of your business. Not all businesses need a complicated or highly interactive website – sometimes simple is better. You will probably always need:

A home page
An “about us” page
An “Our Services” page
A “Contact Us” page
A Testimonials page
An Event Page

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but you will know better than your web designer if you need anything more!

Know Your Budget

You don’t want to cut corners with your website, as a good website will work wonders for your business. Equally, though, you don’t want to spend money that you don’t need to. Find out what the service costs of your website will be, and don’t forget to ask your web designer how much value they think the website will bring to your business. Like https://www.igoweb.co.uk/website-design, who do web design in South Devon, they should be able to support their answers with concrete examples. There are more suggestions about choosing a web designer here http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Website-Design-Company.

Ask for Proof

You shouldn’t just take anyone at their word these days. Ask to see samples of your web designer’s work. Have they worked with other businesses like yours? Do they have testimonials? Have they got proof that their website gets traffic and improves custom? If they can’t or don’t want to refer you to previous clients, you should use somebody else.