Blogging Along

Ownership of a domain and control for technical reasons are 2 different things. Ownership is overall control and legal status on a domain. In the UK Nominet would look at the Who-is to see WHO owns a domain.

This brings me to a local person/company that is in the field of web design and support that’s been going for some years now and their actions with some domains the control.

Going through their client portfolio and doing a who is look up on each of them I’d say 90%+ are registered to him personally. I found this out and dug deeper, this was brought to my attention when I spoke to an EX client of his who explained he wanted to offer a new website and they wanted to leave it and get quotes elsewhere been a current client of his.

In refusing to carry on HIS service and not to go ahead to have a new and quite expensive (for the quality) he suspended hosting and took the website down. He could do this because he had control of the hosting & domain but more importantly he OWNED the clients domain name.

As mentioned above the owner of a domain has overall control and ownership which in a legal and professional world the company commissioning/paying for work on a website should be the legal owner.

So a tip for me, go to http://www.nic.uk and enter your company domain name (if UK domain) and http://whois.domaintools.com for all other extensions.

Ask this question do you legally now own the domain name? Now approach the company you paid our to build your website and ask them to transfer ownership to your company. What response did you get?

Good luck and always think economical websites may have hidden pitfalls.

In the mean time why not visit BabyBabyBaby.co.uk

Need website Advice? Give me a call 01482 247123 quoting this site.

Vebra helps customers find property that is for sale and rent in the UK. By adding properties visitors can search for property and Estate Agents with ease.

What a lot of Estate Agents don’t realise is as soon as you ask your website developer to add a feed from Vebra, you stop your website getting credit from search engines. The feed isn’t seen as content on your website and Search Engines such as Google and Yahoo know this and isn’t great for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Here’s a test you can do just to prove what I’m saying is correct.

In Google search for the Phrase “Your company name 4 bedroom houses” e.g. browns property agents 4 bedroom houses

You’ll find it comes back with many websites with property on but NOT yours.

Sites such as:

• findaproperty.com
• rightmove.co.uk
• zoopla.co.uk
• primelocation.com
• homesandproperty.co.uk

When entering all the property details into Vebra’s system it goes on many sites such as RightMove.com and if embedded it will appear on your own site in what’s called an iframe.  As mentioned above this isn’t seen by Search Engines on your site only Right Move.

When people search for property and maybe your company name they will more than likely (if the company uses Vebra) end up on Vebra or Right Move etc amongst other estate agents listings and potentially going with another agent.

Here’s a good example of a site that does’nt rely on Vebra. Search again like the above example but with a company that doesn’r rely on Vebra.

Plum Properties 4 bedroom houses as you can see in the results the company website is top of the search engine and has the visitors full attention. Not listed with other agents.

I’m not saying DONT use Vebra just don’t completly hand over your websites content over to a simple feed from them add property to your own like Plum do.

Need Advice? Give me a call 01482 247123 quoting this site.

Not to go into detail or go on about “Good, bad & Ugly” it seems as though the world is against me and nothing was letting up. Each day I thought (and still are)  what can possibly land on my lap today that will put me in a foul mood?

Google Instant  is maybe having an effect on my rev from Adsense, as it seems to be up and can see more of my local websites like HullExport.co.uk which never got any click through or revenue doing well and now getting traffic.

I really don’t want to rely on Google for a monthly revenue and still crave an Automated Revenue Stream of some kind besides Adsense. Maybe a digital download of some kind or automated service that needs minimal effort.

My latest project I’m hoping to push is my Joke Shop but also the JokeShop.TV which will show jokes in a video been used and so giving the buyer a great idea of how they work, look and can decide on whether to buy or not after watching the video.

I am a bit of a gadget freak and love new technology, with me offering a VoIP service to clients as an add-on I was interested to see if a Mobile Internet Dongle could be sufficient  for my Home use. So to run 2 laptops, a tower and 2 landline numbers the answer is YES – In my area we get around 1mb up and 1mb down on Three on a bad day with no aerial.

I ordered another package from Three as my current 3GB for £7.50 offer wouldn’t be enough for the month and so 15GB (500Mb per Day) for £15 seemed a good deal. The video above explains and shows you in more detail but basically this time next month I won’t have a landline with my current provider KCOM and Karoo. This saves us around £40+ a month and now could only pay £4 for the phone number and line and £15 for the Mobile broadband connection with Three.

I do work from home but do most of my heavy traffic when out and about at other locations. Within a week or so I should be able to see if this was a sensible change and will update here. I have tested the system for a few weeks and all works fine and think the system will work even better when I get an external aerial for the dongle.

Still not got an IPAD due to the £600+ price tag

With me feeling a little sorry for myself, I’m due some (maybe not luck) but rewards for my efforts as this self employment lark can be a bit time consuming and takes over your full life.

I’m still looking for people in the Humber area wanting to break into the HyperLocal game. I’ll set a domain, website etc up for you and then you run it adding images, videos, content but passing some of the content Humber.TV’s way!

Talking of video, You Tube is a good way to drum interest up to Local sites or any site thinking about it. Take a video of a local parade for example, post the first 2 minutes to You Tube and the full version to your site. In the description in the first line on You Tube paste a link to the full video and if the want to see more or are just wanting more in general they will click through.

A quote from Leo when we met him the other night on a Wedge Welly knees up – “Make Money, Have Fun but don’t forget to make money having fun”

Bit of a bombshell hit me the other week which I won’t go into but god it felt like I had a voodoo doll somewhere and was getting it right in the neck! Hopefully I will sort that situation out before the end of September and can move on with a clean slate. Big black cross next to that individual.

I always say people who want jobs doing for next to nothing and/or haggle on prices are not worth the hassle. Well how true is it with a job I have now, it’s a peanuts job but they want the earth to revolve around them 24/7. Although the extra cash was welcomed I feel like a genie in a lamp who needs to perform miracles.

Setup and Getting into FaceBook, Twitter, You Tube, Vimeo and are seeing results by the way of people viewing the pages whether it be a video or a post but then clicking through to Humber.TV which is a result for unique visitors.

Twitter I use daily, i do seem to be getting on well and are trying not to follow every Tom, Dick and Heather that follows me.

You Tube is a great one as I’m posting RAW unedited video and prviews of video’s that are say 20 minutes long ASAP of me recording them. People are searching for that event and viewing the video but then clicking through to Humber.tv from You Tube which is a FAB way to increase the uniques per day.

Vimeo and FaceBook I only kicked off this week and so need to see results filter through over the coming weeks.

I’ve been building back links up for the site and am hoping that Google takes note and rewards it with a nice PR score and even better search results.

Recently we’ve done a bit of OB (outside Broadcasting) for Howden Show and Hull Pride to name just 2 and just them 2 alone drew in 100’s of extra visitors who wanted to find out more or wanted to see the video we shot. (T-shirts we wear have URL on back)

Just like buses this week I have had 2 calls regarding domains, but never struck a deal with either of them, which was a pity as they both need developing. I’ll maybe follow them up in a few weeks for a final nudge which would be nice to pay for an iPAD.

Latest bash at converting hard work into cash/results is my Hull domains AGAIN I know. I have bought a few 01482 numbers and placed them on a few sites one been Hull Recovery which gets a nice flow of traffic but not much revenue. It’s going quite well as I forward the numbers to businesses (helps to track calls) and hope once shown the statistics agree a small monthly fee, and then multiplied 35+ will a nice monthly income. (fingers crossed)

Final thought for today to self – Get out more, meet and talk to people but you must get an iPAD soon!
UPDATE: I have an IPAD WHOO HOO – If you need help setting one up and your in Hull call 01482 240087 and quote this site!

As for the numbers I bought for sites like Hull Recovery, Hull Taxis etc they died a dealth. When I called they didn’t think they would or was doing any good (call records proved other wise). It maybe that they would be ideal for a new start up who hasn’t got any traffic or exposure, but we’ll see.

I have spread myself quite thin, and all because of my active mind that seems to have new ideas every week. Rather than saying ok when I’ve finished this I’ll do that next, I start it so not to miss the moment. I could hire some one to follow it up for me but not got the cash spare to do this.

I have juggled quite well up to now and have cut back on a lot of things time and money wise. This will hopefully get the wheels in motion and my arse into gear with a climb that can only be up, instead of bobbing along on a flat line.

I nearly never was able to post this as a crazy 169 year old woman disregarded giveaway markings on a Beverley Westwood road and would have been a head on crash. Luckily I decided driving onto a grass verge and skidding was a better option than death.

Cash flow is KING and hope this month or before the end anyway, payments are more regular. No one is withholding money, it’s just jobs take longer than anticipated. Hence as mentioned before Humber.TV and the whole video service will generate a nice regular flow to balance short falls in the month. Latest one we created was for a teeth whitening company.

I have a lot of mini site ideas, FootGloves.co.uk Jokeshop.org.uk to name 2 and these are sites that if I follow up and make them a lot bigger, increase inventory and range, they will do a storm. Again time and money! A local Joke shop owner who has no web site agreed to work something out between us as he has the stock and I have the ranking and web site.

Want to set a few goals before the end of this year and hopefully look back at this and smile.

• Humber.TV – 1000 unique visitors a day
• Jokeshop.org.uk – Stock inventory 250 items plus with 25 orders a week
• My Hull domain portfolio – Making £25 per day from adsense or clients renting
• People in the Humber Area know Humber TV as a Brand to view local video after asking 100 people 50% of them say they have heard of it
• At least 25 clients renting Hull sites from meand  at least at £10 a month
• Have a team of 4 Volunteers with HD camcorders to record events etc local to them for Humber TV
• I am at a stage where I can start thinking about myself and maybe even go to the gym
• Make 10 new friends I chat to at least once a week!
• To use this blog at least 4 times a week almost like a diary

Lets see ;o)

A few moans and groans from me as a list to just say I’ve posted, as I’m stupidly busy and can’t think or focus on a decent blog post.

Moans and groans about things that bug me!

• People that over take a lorry on a dualo carrige way half a mile before they are along side it and then sit at 57mph for 5 miles while slowly over taking it.
• Projects that should take 2 months MAX but beyond my powers takes nearly 2 years!
• Unplanned nights out ‘on a school night too’ and then rolling in at 6:30am
• Puppies that think plants are toys and can be chewed
• Not having enough hours in the day to take a few hours out to start or finish small personal projects
• VodaFone charging £5 for using your iphone as a modem and thethering it to a laptop
• How BP can spend billions on cleaning up an oil spill but would even think of spending that on renewable energy

Over and out – back soon.

Ok looks like no rush to call me back so I called normal support and got a bit of script from them and did a bit of tweeting to prompt someone higher than first line support into calling me.

I called support back and requested the card be removed and that I had a refund for the 2 domains I didn’t want renewing. Put on hold came back and was told.

That is all done now for you Sir, card removed, and refund actioned!

What if I make another payment with a card? It will be entered in your account as the master card for any services due for renewal. hmmm not good and I know you can go in and cancel the auto renewal for domains but that removes the reminders to say your domain is soon due for renewal in 60 days / 45 days / 30 days and so on right down to a day which is GREAT!

Got a call from 123-REG not sure how high up this guy was but he listened and almost agreed with somethings.

I just told him to revert back to how it use to be. Not saving card details and maybe have a box that you have to tick as an agreement if you wish you card to be stored – don’t tick it it doesn’t store it.

Hopefully we  should see a PR and emails been sent out  saying it’s now back to how it was. Also I hope the developer team will add a tick box for YOUR choice to add card details and not to do it automatically when buying services from them.

Thanks for your call back and help today 123-REG, lets see if you can gain customers and customer convidence before Christmas and not loose it and really put you foot in it guys!

Do 123-reg send out client gifts at Christmas does anyone know? ;o)

Well, first of all 123-reg now have their own category on my blog. It’s not a good thing  but is to reflect how pissed off I am tonight!
About 10 days ago I noticed all my details filled out at checkout stage when I went to reg a domain at 123-reg+ (not because of my browser setting as I have that disabled) So I thought Strange carried on, paid for the domains and looked at my account payment details which should have been blank.

123-REG had only added my debit card details to my account from my last visit a few days earlier and then saved them to auto renew and pay for any domains/hosting/servers coming up for renewal.

NOT A HAPPY BUNNY PEOPLE

I called them up and asked why my card details had been copied and added to my account? I was told “You MUST have gone in added your details yourself and saved it.” That people is absolute nonsense, but hey ok I said “Remove them and this had better not be an on going thing or to be repeated if you don’t mind”

Tonight I gets an email invoice from 123-REG “Domain renewals and Please note that this invoice has been paid. Please do not post a cheque.”

Shot over to my account and AGAIN the prats had harvested my card details and added them to my account to auto renew any domains/hosting/servers coming up for renewal. Which their was and took money from my account without my consent.

THEFT that’s called I think, correct me if I’m wrong!

I will see what they have to say tomorrow when I hopefully get a call back.

To happen once is not on but twice in less than 2 weeks and to also take money using my card without my consent is boarderline me calling my solicitor.

Question to 123-reg if they do read this and one that I will ask tomorrow.

What if the card I used last when you copied the details wasn’t mine, maybe a friend wanted a domain and I offered to use my account to buy  it through?

Moved out from Hull to Gilberdyke into a brand new house a few years back to move closer to work, but to cut a long story short. Got laid off, setup on my own and is at least an hours round trip to anywhere towards Hull.

Been out in the sticks (watching tractors pulling trailers full of carrots and potatoes) I thought would be quite peaceful but when you get a dick of a boy racer bombing around all the time from getting in from work till going on midnight it ain’t! (Needs his exhaust fixing I think) He skidded off the road last year, his car was a right off and luckily no one else was involved as he does think 2 inch from peoples bumpers is acceptable.

COCK!! a doodle doooooooo……

Hopefully he’ll do a better job now the wet weather is back!

Been self employed and only just starting out in April 08 isn’t a great platform to look at moving and so need to start thinking big and up a gear or two into earning some serious cash.

This is in the form of mini site revenue, domain sales, directory building, websites for clients and any sexual favours needed. (last part is a lie)

Been self employed is great at times but can put me on a bit of a downer not been able to bounce ideas around with people face to face. Living in the sticks again doesn’t help that situation, distance, travel, and cost etc.

2010 we should be looking at selling in spring time and then start to rent for a year or so to sort things out and get back to normal living in Hull.

All in all I need to move people!

Ok here goes a rant on our wholesaler of VoIP who we resell VoIP under our umbrella of Hull VoIP.

Since taking them on-board last May-June 08 to sell VoIP through them, I have lost count of issues they have had with their system. From a total melt down, to lines been cut off, poor sound quality and so on. If you were a one man band or personal use you wouldn’t in all fairness notice that much.

I have a local company on Gradwell’s system with around 50 phones making 1500 incoming and outgoing calls a month (excluding internal) and all works great with the setup we’ve installed. All hell breaks loose at least once a month and phones either de-register or are just totally unusable to name just 2 problems.  When something isn’t right these guy’s are the first to SHOUT with calls coming in and going out every minute of the day, something goes wrong, they know!

Apparently over the past 6 months Gradwell have invested in a lot of kit to fail safe it but it always seems to have issues still after all their investment. Their status (what they do post) reads like a nightmare script and you wouldn’t touch them if they paid you.

One of my biggest rants is at their over flow (lack of staff) system that goes to a answering service who never get informed of whats going on. Email is a wonderful tool to just say

Hey any customers calling (from their mobiles LOL) about VoIP it’s down with a estimated time of fix 30 minutes

Call backs happen at least 24 hours after any messages you’ve left and emails longer. I’m not sure whether it’s lack of money extra staff don’t get employed or it’s just penny pinching that leaves a shite customer service.

I’m sure Gradwell have Google scan the Internet for mentions of “Gradwell” and read this and many other rants. How about a bit of compensation or credit to my account as I must have ran around like a blue arse fly for hours this year trying to calm clients down and show willing to resolve issues out of my control.

Before this year is out and with all the issues over the past 12 months and some days feeling phyically sick. I’m affraid I’ll have to say for them reasons I will have to think about saying….

I’M OUT

Maybe…