Alienating Customers through Mobile

I'm an avid Android fan, always have and probably always will be.  I consider myself a geek, and for me its all about the spec of a Phone / Computer / TV etc.  I have always considered Iphones a bit pretentious and what's under the bonnet is not worth the price tag.  You can get better spec phones for a lot less, so in my eyes its not worth the money.  Now I would like to put something straight, I'm not a hater of all things Apple, far from it.  Macs are so worth the money, and that's because what's inside warrants spending extra.

Anyway, this isn't a blog about reasons for liking or not liking Iphones, its about Apps for Apple and Android. For a long time I have always been jealous that some Apps were available for Iphone and not on Android, however there has been a shift of more equality as the Android market share has increased.  I think a lot of companies have started trying to have their Apps available on both platforms at the same time.

Current figures suggest that Android has a 68% market share compared to Apple at 17%.  Now going on this figures you would at least think that companies would develop Android Apps first due to it being available to more customers.

I recently signed up for Virgin Media when we moved house as I wanted fibre optic broadband, phone & TV.  Virgin in the last week or so have just launched their TV Anywhere service which allows streaming of TV to Mobiles, Tablets and Computers.

Now the major issue for me is that this service is only available on Iphone and Ipad, and the Android version isn't due for release until March next year.  Surely Virgin are alienating all their Android owning customers by releasing this service to one platform and not another.  There was a time that this would have been acceptable as Apple had the market share, but come off it Virgin.  Surely you did some research with regards to market share before you released this App.  Even if you couldn't have been bothered to research it you could have developed them at the same time.

Does anyone else agree with this?

Now I appreciate Mobile Apps are expensive to develop, however for a company Virgins size it should be able to develop them at the same time.  Poor show Virgin.  You certainly have one annoyed Android customer.

If you're reading this blog post then you're probably aware that I run a recruitment company specialising in Digital Marketing. I work for myself and I have to work as efficiently as possible as I work with quite a number of clients and get quite a few roles in each week.

One of my friends Ryan Gibson writes an amazing blog on working from home and the tools he uses to help him get by. He also interviews other people in the industry about how they became successful working the same way. If you haven't read it, I advise you to check it out: Generation Y Working. Anyway, Ryan's blog got me thinking about the tools & products I use on a day to day basis that aid me in my work. In this blog I will cover some of the products I use and how I feel I benefit from them.

Now at this point the obvious thing would be to mention the usual Social Media channels like LinkedIn & Twitter, but I wanted to mention some of the more obscure tools I use. Some of the things that help my business as well as making it more productive.

So here's some of the tools: 

Lemon: is a tool I've used for a while now, and I could probably sell it. Its a fantastic expense managing tool you can use on your phone. You scan your receipts in using the camera on your phone and then it saves it to your account. You can use it for personal and business at the same time, you just tell it when you're scanning the receipt what it is. You can download all your expenses to a spreadsheet when its time to claim them back. Its a great tool and I would definitely recommend it. Its also free (although there is a premium version you can pay for).



Awesome New Tab Page: I think the name says it all. Its a home page for Google Chrome that enables you to customise it and put your most used sites there. It takes some time to get it just how you want it but its worth the effort. There's no looking for bookmarks or typing in web addresses its just one click. Its definitely worth a download.




Buffer: Is a great tool that enables you to publish posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn at different intervals. Buffer will post 3 times a day: Morning, Midday and Evening. You don't need to be online, it will post for you. This will hopefully mean that you're getting maximum coverage even when you're busy doing something else. Also, there is an App on Android & Iphone now so you can Buffer posts when you're away from your desk.

ifttt: Basically it means: if this then that. This site has so much potential and its getting even better all the time. Its a way of automating the web. Although that explanation doesnt do it justice. There are some many different channels to choose from. You can get it to email, or SMS you if its going to rain tomorrow. You can get it to change your Twitter Avatar when you change your Facebook profile, while also saving the picture in DropBox. You can get it to instantly follow someone on Twitter when they follow you. Its a fantastic tool or tools.

Anyway, I think that's enough for now. There are lots more tools & Apps I use and I'm discovering more hidden gems every week. I will try to keep you updated with some of the best ones I find.

It would be great to hear back about some of the tools you use and would be lost without.

What candidates don't know about Recruitment agencies until its too late. Part 2

In an earlier post I wrote about Recruitment agencies, and some of the things that they get up to which isnt commonly known to candidates, and how it can affect them.  Now if I'm honest, I feel so passionately about some of the underhanded & old school techniques that a lot of recruitment agencies use that I could probably write one post a day as there are so many.

This time I'm going to write about something that I commonly come across, and in fact its just happened to one of my candidates.  Lack of feedback from an agency.  This candidate was informed by an agency after her second interview with a client that she should expect an offer very soon.  The candidate hasn't heard from the agency all week since this last conversation.  She has tried to phone the agent, however she hasn't managed to get hold of them, and they haven't returned her call.  This is shocking behaviour.  All it would take is a two minute conversation to advise that they hadnt heard anything back or that the client wasnt interested, or the budget had been pulled.  Instead they avoid the candidate.  Unprofessional!

Its like some agencies dont understand that they're playing with peoples careers.  This candidate could have turned down all other opportunities as she was expecting an offer.  There could also be a situation where someone contacts her about a new role, however she turns it down as there is no point if she is expecting to already have a new role.

This is frankly shocking behaviour, and I cant condone it in any way.  I will admit that the thing I hate the most about working in recruitment is giving my candidates the news that they were unsuccessful.  I do however try to do this as quickly as possible as I dont want them to miss out on other opportunities.

I feel that a lot of recruitment agencies are so blinkered on making a placement & making money that they miss out on the long term picture, and this is something I & Digital Minds thrives on.  Treat everyone with the same level of respect as more than likely a candidate will become a client one day, and you'll be more successful if you have a good reputation.

So agencies out there, if you want to be successful start treating your candidates with respect and it'll work out better for you in the long run.  What goes around, comes around.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk


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Budget Airlines, are we really saving anything?

I used to really enjoy flying when I was younger.  My father used to travel in his job and as my parents wanted me to have an undisrupted education, I attended boarding school.  Although I hated being away from my parents, I used to really enjoy the adventure of travelling to Hong Kong or Cyprus, which I did many times.

When I first started flying to Hong Kong I was 10 years old, and I used to fly by myself.  I was dropped at the airport by my guardians, and they would hand me over to someone from British Caledonian and they put me into the Lion club, which was for young flyers.  I used to feel so special, getting a pack to keep me entertained through the flight.  Even as I got older the flights were enjoyable, it was still an adventure.

I realised today that all the enjoyment and adventure has gone, thanks mainly to budget airlines.  I had the displeasure today of dealing with Jet2 for the first time, and hopefully the last.  Not only has the enjoyment and excitement of booking your flight gone, its been replaced with frustration and anger.

I used the Skyscanner website to find a flight to Cyprus from Leeds / Bradford next year.  Skyscanner found me a flight with Jet2 for £425.96.  I thought that was a great price and so decided to book it.

I was forwarded to the Jet2 site, and asked to fill in some details.  Now this is where I quickly figured out that the £425.96 was just bait to draw you into the site.  Once in the costs would be added on.

Now the first thing you get hit with is baggage.  It states that hand luggage is free, however if you want to take anything to go in the hold its going to cost you: £41.98 per 22kg bag.  Lets be honest, who is going to go on a 2 week holiday without taking at least one suitcase.  So there is definitely going to be that charge added on.

Next thing you're hit with is: Online Check-in or Airport Check-in.  Now the Online Check-in is £10 extra (Not exactly sure why it costs anything, but there we go).  However, if you want to Check-in at the airport it will cost you: £36 (Now that is just scandalous).

Once you click to move to the next page, you get a pop-up that asks you if you want to take anymore baggage as Jet2 are doing a special deal at the moment:  50% off baggage costs.  Wow!  Sign me up!

Its great to see a company giving something back, they're so generous.  Enough of the sarcasm.

So I got to the next page, and I find a diagram of a plane and it asks me where I would like to sit.  When I click on a seat it says its either £6.99 or £24.99.  So basically I have pay for a seat.  Not only that but I have to pay for it on the return flight also.  Surely a seat would be a prerequisite of a flight.  I mean I cant really fly without a seat, its not like its a bus.  Pathetic!

Then we move onto the next page, the meal.  Now I'm aware of meals on most flights cost extra these days, so its quite easy to skip this one.  There's no way I'm going to pay £40 for 2 of us to have 2 meals outbound and 2 inbound.  Also we're not going to buy Jet2's insurance at £19.54 per person, or their entertainment pack for £40 for 2 people for both flights.

So we're finally at the check-out, not bad so far.  However once you select you want to pay with a Visa/Debit card, you then get hit with an £18.21 booking fee.  Ouch!  That however isnt the worst.  You want to pay with PayPal that's: £10.21 on top of the booking fee.  However on a Credit Card, you're looking at £18.87 on top of the booking fee.

Anyway, lets add all this up.  Lets say I was going to pay with a Debit Card.  Now the amount I was quoted on Skyscanner was: £425.96.  The actual amount I was expected to pay was: £524.11

In the end I booked with Thomson and got it for £381 flying from Manchester.

Now the point of this blog was vent my anger at the so called budget airline industry.  It seems like all the budget with none of the cost saving.  Also to warn other people of the perils of using budget airlines.

Get rid of budget airlines they offer nothing.  You're stressed when you've finally booked your flight due to the fact that its nearly £100 more than what you thought you would be paying.  Or you end doing what I ended up doing, going through the whole process getting to the end and then going to look elsewhere having wasted about 45mins of your life.

So are we getting anything out of budget airlines?  My personal opinion is no.  Bring back all inclusive flights.  I'd much rather just buy a ticket and know that its all included and I'm not going to get hit with a charge, like somewhere to bloody sit.

So for me the pleasure and adventure has gone from air travel.  Please bring back all inclusive flights, I'm fed up of the poor service and hidden charges.

Please be aware when looking for flights, that the initial cost your quoted wont be the one you have to pay. Oh and just for the record, I think its quite funny how Jet2 have taken there Twitter account down.  There was probably too many complaints about the hidden charges.  That cant be good for their PR if everyone is complaining.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk

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What candidates don't know about Recruitment agencies until its too late.

I have worked in the recruitment industry for over 10 years, and in that time I have worked for a number of companies.  Most of the companies I have worked for have worked in a similar way, and as I have got more involved in social media I felt it was about time to write something about them, and maybe offer some advice to candidates over the pitfalls of using recruitment agencies.  Unfortunately candidates usually only find out about this when its too late and by then the damage has been done.

Now, firstly lets get the information out of the way that most of you will know.  Recruitment Consultants are sales people, they earn commission by making sales.  Now comes the bit that you might not have been aware of, and that is that most agencies are very KPI (Key Performance Indicator) driven organisations.  This means that the Consultant you're speaking to will be managed on different areas, and that's not just making placements.  Now different agencies will have different KPI's but they usually revolve around:  Number of candidates they have spoken to; number of clients again they've spoken to; number of CV's they've sent out; number of vacancies they have picked up; number of interviews they've set up, and then number of placements they've made.

Now when you have managers within recruitment agencies pressing their staff to hit these KPI's its going to lead to problems with the candidates and clients that they're working with, and over the last week or so this has been highlighted to me.  This is why I decided to write this blog post.  I felt that I wanted to make people aware of the pitfalls of working with many of the Recruitment Agencies operating today.

Most candidates when they decide to look for a new job, will post their CV onto some job boards, and may also send their CV's to a number of agencies.  This I feel is where the first problem arises.  Agencies scan the job boards and will contact the candidate.  So where you went from having your CV with a couple of agencies, all of a sudden its with 5 or more and they all want to get your CV out to their clients ASAP.  Usually with clients its a first come first serve basis, so whoever gets it there first wins, and also the agencies have a target for number of CV's to send out.  So then you're in the situation where your CV is with a client and you've not even given permission for the agency to send it.  Now the client is getting annoyed as they've received it 5 times and no longer see you as a viable option, your CV becomes blacklisted with that client.

If the above happens with multiple clients, you can see how it all of a sudden becomes increasingly difficult for you to get a new job, and the options open to you become extremely limited.

I'm not saying all recruitment agencies work this way, at Digital Minds we don't operate this way and the reason we set up the business was to show that recruitment can be done differently. We are certainly not the only ones either, there are plenty of good recruitment companies fighting against these draconian methods, however the majority of recruitment companies are set in their ways and focussed purely on quick profits and short term relationships.

So in conclusion there are some great forward thinking recruitment agencies out there  and I'm sure you'll be impressed when you find them as they'll get you a new job, and one that'll you'll be happy with. But remember to put the time in at the beginning, you need to invest time in deciding which recruiters you want to represent you and which ones will provide you with the best service. Moving jobs is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make – ensure the people who are helping you are suitable and have your best interests at heart.

So in future be careful before sending your CV out, it may not be helping your career.

Feel free to contact me at any time and I would be happy to offer you some advice.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk

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eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer? Latest Update

I have made a couple of posts about the good and bad service I have received from varying companies over the past month.  I was getting really disheartened by just how shockingly poor the level of service was and I had the impression that customers just weren't that important to companies these days.

I put this down to companies working in a niche market knowing that their customers were just coming back to them as they didn't really have anywhere else to go.  The example I gave was Game, where I had got my product 5 days after its release and didn't really get a satisfactory response from their customer service team.

Well after posting my last blog, I was contacted directly by someone in their customer service team.  She was really apologetic and explained that they did care about their customers, and to make up for the level of service I had received that I could chose a game from their website and I could have it for free.

Its a shame that it got to the stage of having to use social media before a company reacts to a problem, however the fact that they did respond is a big plus on my part as I do have that feeling of being a valued customer, and in the end that's all we want.

With regards to Carphone Warehouse on the other hand, we have a completely different outcome.  They clearly don't care about their customers and I've had no response what-so-ever.  My complaint with them is ongoing.  All I would say is that if you're tempted on one of their cash back offers on Quidco, then don't be.  You probably will receive cash back, however it will be considerably lower than you were thinking.  Its a shame as the Quidco idea is great.  I will certainly think twice before entering into a deal on Quidco, and I certainly wont be entering into anything involving Carphone Warehouse.  They have conned me out of my money.

Dont use Carphone Warehouse, go direct to the phone companies you'll get a better level of service anyway.

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk

Hope Restored!

Over the last couple of days I have posted about some negative experiences and some pretty bad service from some retailers.  I'd pretty much given up hope that companies valued us as customers, and therefore didn't care about the service they offered.  That is until last night, all hope has now been restored.  Thanks to Pizza Express.

I know Pizza Express isnt an Online Retailer, however they do offer a service, and an exceptional one at that.

I was visiting the Albion Place Pizza Express in Leeds last night with my girlfriend Laura and it has to be one of the best experiences I have had with regards to service.

We made our order, Dough balls to share for starter, and we were discussing with waiter about the different types of chillies on an American Hot, as my girlfriend didnt want anything that would burn her mouth out.  The waiter was quite knowledgeable and discussed each.  Laura didnt want to take a risk and so decided to play it safe and order a Sloppy Giuseppe and I went with a Pollo ad Astra.

Our order came extremely quickly, however there wasnt any dough balls as they had brought our pizzas and instead of Laura's choice, they had an American Hot.  We explained that we had ordered dough balls and the one of the pizzas wasnt right, the waitress was extremely apologetic and said that she would go and get them to rectify the order and remake the pizzas.  Now as this was clearly an honest mistake, as we had been discussing the American Hot with the waiter, we just assumed he'd accidentally written it down.

We would have been happy with them just remaking the pizzas and bringing our dough balls.  What happened afterwards was extremely unexpected and shocked both myself and Laura.

The manager came over to us and apologised for the mix up, he handed us a plate of dough balls each and said that they wouldn't be charged.  He then said that we should save room for dessert as that would be on Pizza Express as well, and he was really sorry.

Now in my eyes, this went above and beyond what he needed to do.  We didn't see this as a big mistake, it was a simple error.  Laura and I left that restaurant feeling like we were really appreciated and valued as customers, and can honestly say we have never been made to feel like that anywhere else.  That was my first time visiting that Pizza Express, however I can guarantee it certainly wont be the last.

If anyone else is fed up with poor service, or you're a business that wants to see how its done, I couldnt recommend the Pizza Express on Albion Place highly enough.  Its second to none, and the staff are amazing.

Well done Pizza Express!

If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout.  Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk