Things they are a changing

OOPS!
First a quick apology for all those who received an email saying "jjj" on Saturday. I hit the wrong button while running some tests on this new fangled email list. Still at least I now know those of you who are as sad as me and work on a Saturday!
I also now know who has changed their email address recently so it wasn't a complete waste!

If you're wondering why you're getting this it's because at some time in the last couple of years or so I've relieved you or your company of money for a website or something similar! Instructions on how to get off this list are at the bottom of the page!

Anyway - the news! (start serious and gradually degenerate into piffle)

Times they are a changing.....

Invoicing

As a result of a new accounts system the way you will be invoiced for any future work carried out by Artography has changed!

From now on you will be able to access your account at Artography over the web. This is a direct result of invoices and other paperwork going missing in the post and recent changes to the postal system.

In future when you have been invoiced for work completed you will simply have to log on to our website to view up to date statements and download or print invoices. The invoices will detail work completed, part payments, days overdue and all good stuff like that. Don't worry about the details for now - you'll be emailed instructions and passwords etc the next time you are invoiced!

News

New look web site

If you haven't seen it yet go have a look at the new look Artography web site. I was looking for something different to the usual high tech, high energy or super cool and trendy web design company site so this is what finally happened www.artography.co.uk

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Search Engines (Marketing your website)

Serious bit! Around the middle of Feb to beginning of March massive changes took place in the search engine business. Google no longer supply the data to Yahoo and at the same time Yahoo, Inktomi, AltaVista, MSN and a whole bunch of other search engines were bought out (at least effectively) by Overture. These names may not mean a great deal to you but in practice it means that Google is no longer the No1 search engine. It also means that free listings on the search engines are virtually a thing of the past. Those of you who have paid listings (not pay per click - that's unchanged) will not be able to renew them when they run out. Instead there is now a new system run by Overture who are now the single biggest data supplier to the various search engines. It's called "Pay for Performance" essentially it's a license to print money!

This is roughly how it works:
	Joining fee £50 per year Pay for each page you want listed £20 per year Pay each time someone clicks on the link to your site 10p per click

Now in English!

Joining fee = £50

How many pages? 1, 3, 10, 100??? Say 5 = £100

Now the good bit! I've got one site that has 1200 visitors a day!

Assume 50% come from search engines - that's 600 x 10p = £60

Add that lot up over a year:

Fixed cost £150 plus per click cost £60 x 365 days = £21,900
That's £22,050 per year (last year the same thing would have cost about £250) Ummmm! - small increase there!

So what do you do about it?

First don't panic, most sites are pretty well included in the search engines already and they're not going to get deleted - even Overture aren't that stupid! But you do now need to make sure those listings are refreshed on a regular basis or they will vanish over time. There are 2 ways to achieve this either manually prepare a schedule and sit at a screen and re-list your site at the correct intervals (if you do it too often it'll be disqualified!). This is by far the best way! It is also almost impossible to achieve - you'll forget, everybody does! The alternative is to automate the process, it's not so effective but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing. Yes it is going to cost, we've worked out a deal with a company in the USA to carry out this task for anyone who wants to be included for £30 per month. For the £30 you get up to 10 pages of your site (or one of your sites) re-listed in as many of the major search engines that still accept free listings at intervals which obey the relevant search engine rules. In reality it's much more complex than that, it involves keyword placing, sitemaps and cross linking but that's way beyond the scope of this little note! We've been running tests over the last month and results look promising!

Interested? Click here to email info@artography.co.uk or call on 0118 961 7591

Slugs & Snails &
Puppy Dog Tales...

For all those who know me well a quick update on Ruby our Guide Dog pup...

She's doing fine and has all the makings of a really smashing Guide Dog. She's what's known as a Corporate Sponsored Pup and all her training and much more is being financed by the kind folks at Miele the domestic appliance people.

So far she's helped raise well over £80,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind. That sounds like a lot of cash until you realise it costs GDBA over £4,000 a day to feed all the Guide Dogs and puppies in training so it's really not such a lot!

Don't take too much notice of the picture she's 10 months old now and a lot bigger!

As for the slugs & snails - I've just planted some Hostas and they're like a magnet for slugs and snails so let battle commence....

It makes me MAD!!!

If inflation is supposed to be 2.5% how come my council tax has gone up by 11.2%?
-0-
Answers written round the edge of a ten pound note please!

Coming Soon

Email Marketing

We are currently in negotiation with Liaiseonline Limited to be in a position to offer all of Artography's clients a facility to start and manage their own Email Marketing campaigns (that comply with the recent changes in the law regarding junk emails).

Liaiseonline have been providing this specialist service for over 3 years now and have a rather impressive client list. They also have a "Dip your toe in the water" product which doesn't cost a great deal and gives you a feel for the service without committing you to long term contracts.

I'm talking to them about the mechanics of it over the next week or so and final details will either be on the website or mailed out once they are finalised. (This is a specialist field and I may simply just let Liaiseonline handle it directly - we'll see!)

Recipe of the Month!

OK - that's the serious stuff out of the way. Now, in my never ending quest for new ways to cook sausages I stumbled upon this... (Go give it a try!)

	Sausages with Mashed Potatoes, Beer and Onion Gravy and Mustard
		Serves 4

Preparation time	30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time	1 to 2 hours

Ingredients
8 meaty pork sausages
English mustard to serve

For the gravy:
700g/1½lb onions, sliced thinly
pinch sugar
2 tbsp sunflower oil
25g/1oz butter
1 tsp plain flour
600ml/1 pint brown ale
600ml/1 pint fresh beef stock
½ star anise
2 cloves
2 fresh bay leaves

For the mashed potatoes:
900g/2lb floury main crop potatoes,
peeled and cut into chunks
55g/2oz butter
2-3 tbsp milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

To make the beer and onion gravy, heat the oil and the butter in a large, heavy based saucepan.
Add the onions and sugar and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and richly caramelised.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in the beer, beef stock, star anise, cloves and bay leaves and boil vigorously until reduced to a rich, glossy sauce - about 20 minutes in a large sauté pan.
Remove the star anise, bay leaves and cloves (if you can find them) from the gravy and season to taste with some salt and pepper.
For the sausages and mashed potato, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 minutes until soft.
Then after about 10 minutes, heat the oil for the sausages in a large frying pan. Add the sausages and fry them over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning now and then, until nicely browned and cooked through.
Drain the potatoes and mash until smooth - a potato ricer does this really well. Beat in the butter with some seasoning and enough milk to make a smooth, creamy mash.
Spoon the mashed potatoes onto warmed plates and rest the sausages alongside. Pour over some of the gravy and serve with a good spoonful of English mustard.

The bottom line:

How come as soon as I make it idiot proof, someone makes a better idiot?

Relevant links: Miele Liaiseonline GDBA Artography