The Tinbasher » Blogs for Business

New Server, New Site & New York (SES)

Paul Woodhouse — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:26:54 +0000

While you shouldn’t really be visiting this blog on a Friday evening when spring has sprung and the nights are getting longer, I just want to let you know that there’ll be a server upgrade going on. There’s also no reason for me to tell you this as no disruption in the slightest is expected other than the possibility of an email or two going AWOL and being left on the old server.

So, if you can keep your thoughts to yourself and resist the urge to comment I won’t have to go checking my Webmail, will I?

Apparently, it’s getting upgraded to a brand new Dell 2950 consisting of:

- Dual Quad-Core Xeon CPUs
- 8Gb RAM
- 6x146Gb 15K SCSI drives in RAID 5
- PHP 5 / MySQL 5

I’m also in the process of upgrading /redesigning our whole site and ideally wanted to get that done for next week’s trip up to New York as I’m speaking at Search Engine Strategies again.

Same crap, different venue.

Have a lovely weekend, won’t you.

Off to SES Chicago

Paul Woodhouse — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:48:04 +0000

Well I’m off up yonder to that there windy city tomorrow to partake in a Blogging for Business panel at SES Chicago. Thankfully it’s a Tinbasher case study so I theoretically should know what I’m talking about. But it’s certainly felt like a bit of a task trying to condense every single marvellous morsel of Tinbasher zen into fifteen minutes for an audience of American search engine types.

I spent at least three hours toying with various references to whippers, but then decided to drop ‘em (the references – not my whippers). As if my accent isn’t going to trouble them enough without weird Northern English slang mentions of underpants.

Any road, one of the main reasons I’ve never shown up for this kind of thing previously (and it’s not as if folks badger me constantly) is that it costs a bit to get there and put yourself up; and I’m obviously a bit tight.

That’s why my boss at Direct Online Marketing is a top man – sending me off on my merry way with an allowance nonetheless – cheers Justin. And his good lady, Kristin, did a sterling job sorting my flights and booking the hotel. I mean, if left to me I’d have booked myself in to see Chicago the musical. And then we had Deborah and the guys running round BSM HQ taking dubious photos and fixing balance sheets. Thank you.

But I really appreciate all the help from Steph, my dear lady – who’s been coughing and spluttering and hallucinating for most of the week with some flu-like condition – for being my audience and being a great little sounding board.

Still, maybe you shouldn’t trust the opinion of somebody off their face on Tylenol flu and Sudafed.

I’m very much looking forward to this. I hope everybody concerned gets a little something out of it.

So, if you want any slides of the presentation or have any questions, you only need to ask. That is if SES doesn’t have them for some reason.

Although, it’s probably best to ask me over at my day job.

No related posts.

Arcelor Mittal: “Is there anything more rewarding than saving a life?”

Paul Woodhouse — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:02:48 +0000

Have you had the pleasure as yet of partaking in the new web tv extravaganza that steel behemoth Arcelor Mittal have put together? If the header is to be believed then it could very well be called Inside Transforming Tomorrow.

Not only that but there’s a blog to tickle your fancy as well. It looks fabulous. But, as we all know, looks can often be quite deceptive fellows.

I mean, for a start off there’s that damn pic above. It isn’t some kind of spoof, I can assure you. And neither is the following post that I found: Shop floor Safety audits: we focus on people

Is there anything more rewarding that (sic) helping to save a life? Our colleagues here at the Luxembourg Headquarters had the opportunity to learn some days ago that everyone in our Group can do it! How? Thanks to what we call a ‘shop floor audit’. Let us explain to you how that works.

Seriously, I’m not making this up.

Diving into a freezing lake, or charging into a burning building with little thought to your own personal safety possibly warrants a pat on the back and a couple of column inches in the local paper, but implementing a few health and safety measures to ensure people don’t get squashed by a fork lift truck doesn’t.

At Butler Sheetmetal we’ve saved at least three lives by pointing out that sticking one’s noggin inside the hydroform could cause a few problems.

Anyway, I’m sure once the exuberant upbeat tone of the PR department has run its course there’ll be some right riveting stuff going on…..and I’m not being facetious either.

For the time being, it’s corporate answer to The Day Today.

Has The Tinbasher Lost its Mojo?

Paul Woodhouse — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:03:33 +0000

A sudden realisation hit me as I garbled my way through an email q&a related to business blogging for a West Virginia news publication: Would I still point people in the direction of The Tinbasher as an example of a good business blog?

The next thing you know, I’m suffering some kind of existential meltdown fearing it’d lost its mojo.

The very same evening after I’d spent most of the day wondering if I or this blog was still cutting it, I came across this post asking what had happened to all the great bloggers the blogger in question once knew (or read, to be more precise):

Three years ago there was some riveting writing going on in the blogosphere Hugh Macleod held my rapt attention for the length of even his longest posts and the Tin Basher made me giggle with his brash and bold writings on business.

So I suppose my point is what gives? 2 posts about The Global Microbrand in a year? And the Tin Basher hasn’t said anything… well most anything remotely interesting in weeks.

I think someone’s being rather generous about me not having said anything remotely interesting in weeks.

There’s a single key element to quality business blogging in my not so humble opinion, and that is business blogs tend to be better the closer to the business the blogger is. You see, a business blog can only really differentiate itself by being able to get behind the scenes within a business. Think of a good business blog as the gateway to the soul of a business. It was far easier for me to do this when I was in constant contact with the Butler brothers and got to pop in to the office once or twice a week and go out on the brass razoo with John. While communications have moved on since the days of the Pony Express, an ocean is still a bit of a barrier. But, there’s no excuse not to pick up the phone or throw a few more emails about than we currently do.

Saying that, this blog has always had a rather peculiar focus. It’s never kept sheet metal workers happy all of the time and it’s never kept marketers happy all of the time. I don’t need to point out the obvious here do I? The bottom line is that this blog is part of a curiously pasted together online marketing strategy for a sheet metal firm and, as such, needs to meet the goals of that business – the major goal being to generate more business, which it seems to do admirably. Now another thing happened on the way to the bank in so much that this blog became something of a shining beacon for prospective bloggers to home in on. While I’m never going to complain in a million years about that side of things, it does mean that you feel you’ve got a reputation to live up to of sorts.

At the moment I’m probably mid-eighties Bowie.

I’d also hate to be living off past reputations alone.

I suppose I’m getting round to asking in my rather convoluted way for a bit of feedback as to what you think might be missing or what you’d like to see more of, if anything!

In the meantime, you’re always welcome to read what I’m now paid to do as part of my 8-5 at Direct Online Marketing on our company blog over there.

Maybe be that contains more along the lines some people might be missing. If not I’m buggered.

Online Marketing: Innovations That Work Conference in Pittsburgh

Paul Woodhouse — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:10:06 +0000

Ah, to have proper internet again.

Irrespective of where I lay my swede, I always end up near some wretched foundry. If starting off in that bloody electricity cupboard of an old foundry at Butler Sheetmetal that would warp your monitor with its electrical juiciness and zap you once in a blue moon if you started licking exposed metal filing cabinets. Then I had a little stretch in the ruddy rust belt, where you honestly couldn’t tell a used and a disused factory apart. And now my latest parish sees all manner of heavy industry hiding in the most inopportune of idyllic little spots with the Pittsburgh Steelers 40 minutes down the road. (Although the idea of supporting the Steelers to a Cleveland Browns fan is as abhorrent as supporting Blackburn if you’re a Burnley fan.)

But Pittsburgh is the venue for the Online Marketing: Innovations That Work Conference that I’m currently blogging for. I must admit that it’s nice still being involved with businesses in your more traditional industries. For example, I just popped to the bathroom and had a tug boat pushing a few coal barges passing ingloriously by the window.

Granted, that had nothing to do with actually being involved with any type of business – I was just filling in the industrial backdrop.

So, if you happen to be round Pittsburgh, West Virginia, or even Ohio, take a look at the marketing conference site.

Even if you’re not, you can still come.

UPDATE: Considering I’m doing the calendar rounds, here’s write-up so you can give it the once-over:

Online Marketing: Innovations that Work
Discover how simple, cutting edge marketing tools can help expand and promote your business.

Learn how you can use the Web to increase sales and build brand ad awareness at this exciting one-day event with experts from Microsoft, eBay, WebTrends, and other international and regional companies. At this event, http://www.MarketingConference.org, you will learn:

• Cutting edge Web techniques to enhance public relations
• How you can track campaigns across different channels
• How businesses are improving their customer relationships with blogs
• The best uses of – and uncommon tactics for – search marketing
• Why social media isn’t just for kids anymore
• How to maximize your ad dollars for total efficiency

Reserve your seat at this conference online at http://www.MarketingConference.org or by calling 1.800.979.3177.

Date
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Time
8:15 AM – 4:15 PM

Location
Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh / Southpointe
1000 Corporate Drive
Canonsburg, PA 15317

RSVP Info
1.800.979.3177
info@MarketingConference.org

http://www.MarketingConference.org

Price
Event registration:
$125 if booked in advance. $149 at the door

Top Corporate and Anti-Corporate List of Blogs in The Times

Paul Woodhouse — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:13:40 +0000

Both the print and online editions of The Times have a list of the top 50 corporate and anti-corporate blogs and The Tinbasher is in there under the ‘Industrials’ section.

My only question is whether it falls into the corporate or anti-corporate category?

For me personally, writing The Tinbasher is a bit like being in one of those obscure critically acclaimed bands. If only it could afford me the lifestyle to which I would like to be accustomed as opposed to the one I am currently accustomed to (although, ‘working’ in just your underpants can be quite liberating y’know). I do this for the love not the money. But, it’s the kind of love that only a mother can possess for a child who has a face like a spanked arse.

Since emigrating to America I’ve found that I now work at home rather than working from home. And believe me there’s a difference. In the UK I could pop into Butler Sheetmetal whenever and go and see people about possible projects amongst other things – home was just a convenient base. Over here I feel chained to a damn computer – home feels more like serving a stretch.

So, I’ve decided to get off my lily-white ass and find me a job. Or, to be more precise, I’ve had to keep my lily-white ass plonked firmly in its chair and find me a job. And I don’t mean any old job I mean a career related to what I’ve done over the past three years. Something either blogging, SEO/SEM or writing related.

If we go back to the critically acclaimed band thing and take into account that I’ve taught myself everything, as well as The Tinbasher being nothing more than an experiment then what’s your worth? If you said all this had been planned on the back of a beer mat you’d be giving me credit for more than I deserve. Does a prospective employer want a lucky chancer with some degree of natural talent or an analytical thinker who works their nuts off? For the record, I’m obviously both.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve interviewed for a Corporate Blogger position (first question asked: “So what job are you here for?”), been put up in a plush hotel and wined and dined with regards to an SEM position (I presume they didn’t get me down because they thought I needed a break), and have an interview coming up for a rather interesting writing/editing position. I’m also clogging up one or two other pipelines.

I’m getting an inkling that I might be worth something to somebody. But, I’m a self-deprecating doofus that expects any suitor to at least do their homework on me. And there’s a contradiction there that belies a certain arrogance.

One of my main concerns is The Tinbasher itself. At the moment I think it’s suffering a bit due to there being a bit of water between Colne and Elyria. I’m simply not as connected as I was. If this blog turns into nothing more than odd sheet metal tidbits and inane ramblings about what I’m doing over here then we’re in trouble. But, there’s no way I could pass the mantle on and there’s no way I could give it up. I suppose I’m a bit like Tony Blair.

Now whilst everything is all a bit topsy-turvy and I haven’t a clue what could happen or where I could wind up, I’ll sort it – I always do.

In the meantime your candid observations are both appreciated and required.

Tinbasher Blog to Gather Virtual Dust

Paul Woodhouse — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:41:53 +0000

Earlier today I received an email from the British Library. The inability to recall taking anything out probably meant the fine for not returning it was going to be a whopper. I was envisioning me having ‘borrowed’ Leonardo Da Vinci’s original sketchbook in a confused booze-hazed event circa 1996 and they’d finally caught up with me.

Mexico was sounding good.

On opening said email I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that:

The British Library is building a collection of blogs. This collection will form part of the UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC) initiative to archive websites of research interest. Please visit www.webarchive.org.uk if you wish to see the current online archive which is publicly accessible.

We would like to invite you to have your site included in this important collection for Internet research. We will be selecting some 150 key sites to form the basis of the blogs collection until August 2007 but archiving will continue into the future.

So, in a nutshell, The Tinbasher is going to be part of the British Library’s Internet Research Archive for as long as they keep paying their hosting bills.

As I absorbed the implications of somebody 200 years hence being able to view this nonsense researching a paper relating to their Phd in New Corporate Communications History, I couldn’t help but raise a wry smile: immortality is such a humbling experience. At least now I can rest easy at the thought of leaving something for future generations apart from a pair of soiled underpants buried under some rocks in a non-biodegradable carrier bag. (I was ~~thirty~~ six.)

Shall we dedicate this one to Craig? I think so.

Please note: all comments are now eternal or for as long as dispensationalist end-times theory allows.

The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media

Paul Woodhouse — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:36:55 +0000

Blogging, podcasting and other social media are profoundly disrupting the mainstream media and marketing industries. Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers explores these forces by identifying the influencers, their goals and their motivations. The book also offers advice for marketers at both large and small organizations on how to influence the influencers.

The New Influencers explores:

• Why social media are now so important in consumer decisions;

• How to leverage the blogosphere to enhance your company’s message;

• Strategies for taking advantage of this new medium;

• The need for transparency and how to make it work for your benefit;

• Action items for both small and large businesses

• Whether and how your organization should use blogs, podcasts and other social media tools in your marketing strategy.

The New Influencers would be at the top of my reading list even if The Tinbasher wasn’t mentioned in it.

Although, I obviously don’t have enough influence to wangle a customary free copy.

UPDATE: Paul has just emailed me and a signed copy is in the post – top man!

Real Business Magazine Article

Paul Woodhouse — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:14:28 +0000

Whilst I’ve hardly had more mentions in various publications than hot dinners (and to be fair, if they were literally hot dinners, not only would most be cold by now, I’d also be discernibly thinner), I have had a bit of a sampler.

I’m not actually mentioning the last piece in Real Business Magazine for the sake of mentioning it, but for the freelance chappie who wrote it, Jonathan Holt, putting the stuff that wasn’t used in the article on his blog. Not only that but he was decent enough to send me a pdf of the article to boot. It’s always nice to be thought worthy enough to pad out an article, but I also appreciate the contact afterwards. I particularly love the fact that he’s given the piece more of a dimension on his own blog.

Maybe it’s just my limited experience, but I tend to find freelancers far more interesting and approachable as journalists and individuals than those on staff. They also seem to be actually researching a topic as opposed to churning out some guff related to one.

If only the same could be said for yours truly.

Do The Dofollow

Paul Woodhouse — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:26:52 +0000

Whilst I’m boring you on the subject of blogging, I’d just like to tell you about a few plugins I’ve installed to fight the good fight against splogs and spam, which impact some of you in terms of commenting and reading via RSS.

Dofollow Plugin

I’ve never liked the idea of rel=”nofollow”. The easiest way to stop comment spam is to turn on comment moderation. Stripping the benefits of a bit of pagerank from the odd link in a comment wasn’t the way to do it and has hardly stopped spammers in their tracks. Besides, who’s going to whine about comment moderation other than those who have too many comments to plough through in the first place? The lucky swines. The rest of us need as much help as we can muster.

[Dofollow plugin here] [13 Reasons Why Nofollow Sucks here]

Digital Fingerprint and AntiLeech

If, like me, you keep finding splogs with your content scraped into their posts and, like me, you’re not overly keen on seeing it, then you can use Digital Fingerprint or AntiLeech. The former puts a ‘fingerprint’ of your choosing into your posts which is only visible when reading it via RSS. (That’s why some of you might be seeing an additional little message at the bottom of posts in your RSS readers.) It then tracks the fingerprint and shows you when it’s been indexed in various search engines. AntiLeech confuses the scraping bot and garbles the content with a link back to your site and the plugin author’s. As I’m thinking on, I suppose one should negate the other, but Digital Fingerprint is worth it just to see how quickly various readers and engines pick up on your content.

[Digital Fingerprint plugin] [AntiLeech]

Oh, and the above are all WordPress plugins.

UPDATE: ~~Oh, the irony – there’s something broken and you can’t currently even leave your url. Now that’s a way to stop spammers.~~ Fixed!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ultimate List of Dofollow plugins.