Tips

Here are two articles with recession tips for web designers and developers. I figure that they also apply to most types of businesses.

There's no new advice here but the points are definitely worth remembering. Take a look:

• Recession Tips For Web Designers
• Top 10 Reasons Why Many Freelance Designers and Fresh Start Up Design Firms Fail

David Armano, from the interactive services firm Critical Mass, suggests 10 Ways Digital Can Help You Thrive in a Recession. It's a US-focused slideshow presentation but also applies to British small businesses.

I share it because several points correspond with our approach when building sites:

Have you ever been presented with a premature 'change cartridge' warning by your printer? This scenario should be quite familiar: your printer is happily churning out pages with no sign of fading when suddenly the low ink indicator lights-up. The thing then becomes useless until you pop in a brand-new (and probably expensive) cartridge. You might suspect that there's still more ink and you're probably right. It's been widely-reported that printer manufacturers' cut-off system is a little too eager.

Thanks to an article from Slate, an online magazine, I came across fixyourownprinter.com. The site has a forum offering tips on how to squeeze every last drop of ink out of your cartridge. Although Slate's article focuses on laser printers, fixyourownprinter.com also covers many brands of ink-jets.

This blog will be about helping small companies use the internet more effectively.

As a small-business owner or entrepreneur, you know that reaching a wide audience is vital. You've heard that the internet can play a big part in a successful business but perhaps don't know where to start. You have enough on your plate just keeping things running smoothly. There's no time to become an expert and there's no budget to hire an expensive consultant. Besides, who can you trust? There are charlatans out there who'd happily run away with your hard-earned savings.

Sound familiar? If so, this blog is for you. It will help you apply technology to your business, spot new ideas that might otherwise go unnoticed, and find ways to make your life easier. As a result, you'll be able to use the internet to improve your business.