The following information is provided by Jamie Hunt of Legal Clarity Ltd.

If you choose to form a company from which to operate your online business you will have greater maintenance and set-up costs than if you simply start trading as a ‘sole trader’. Sole traders do not usually have to register with any body other than the relevant tax authorities. However, there are key advantages of forming a company, as described below.

If you operate as a sole trader you will usually be liable for all debts and other liabilities of your business without limit. In other words, your personal assets as well as your business assets would be at risk. However, if you form a company (a limited liability company) you will in almost all circumstances benefit from limited liability. This usually means your personal liability will be limited to the amount you have agreed to invest in the share capital of the company. Companies also come with quite a degree of flexibility allowing for further investment by new shareholders and the recruitment of additional directors to bring management expertise to your venture.

Companies often have more status with the business community than sole traders/proprietors. Customers and suppliers often prefer to deal with an official company, rather than a more informal sole trader.

Forming a company is usually cheap and straightforward and can be undertaken entirely online. If your company is formed as a one shareholder, one director company then there is likely to be little else to do initially, although you will probably have a requirement to keep the relevant companies registry up to date and keep and file accounts annually. Forms to update the relevant registry are usually relatively simple, likely to be available online and the content you need to insert may not change much from year to year.

The country in which you operate may have specific rules regarding names. Two companies cannot share the same name so when forming a company you will need to search the relevant registry to ensure that your chosen name is available and that no one else is operating under the same or a similar name. Even if you choose to establish yourself as a sole trader you will want to choose the name for your business carefully and perform checks to ensure that no one else is operating under the same or a similar name (particularly for the goods or services you supply and in the geographical location you operate). Matching your chosen name with domain name availability is also obviously critical.

Whether you form a company or not, operating online means that you will probably want to prescribe terms and conditions that apply to people viewing your website, as well as the terms that will apply to an actual customer that goes on to buy the goods or services that you supply. Advice from local legal sources should be taken on these issues.

In summary, forming a company is a cheap and straightforward process and in most circumstances brings the advantage of limited liability over operating as a sole trader.

Jamie Hunt, Legal Clarity Ltd

The information provided in this article is intended as a general guide only. It is not exhaustive or tailored to your individual circumstances.

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

Should I Form a Company or become a Sole Trader when setting up an Online Business?

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Ten Twitter Cartoons to Die For

This is a guest post by Bizymoms.

Franchise businesses have gained in popularity over the years with many new and innovative franchise opportunities entering the market. Spectacular advancements in the field of information and communication technologies have also given a boost to the franchise networks and allowed them to expand across geographies.

Particularly for new and aspiring entrepreneurs a franchise may be one of the most viable options to be considered. The prevailing global economic slowdown is forcing many companies to downsize, resulting in pay cuts and job losses for many employees. New jobs are difficult to come by, and in any case many people are unable to achieve job satisfaction at work. In addition to this, there are many stay at home moms who are considering working in order to contribute financially to their households in the current times.

For all new entrepreneurs, a franchise holds out a promise of setting up your independent business with the backup of an established organization to support them. The key advantages of a franchise option for a budding entrepreneur are as follows:

1. The total expertise and experience of the franchiser is readily available to the entrepreneur from day one. One does not need to learn the hard way through a maze of mistakes and ‘hit and trial’ methods because the franchiser will pass on everything they have learned in an efficient package to the entrepreneur.
2. The franchiser has an established brand name and goodwill that can be capitalized by the franchisee entrepreneur. In any new business there is a long lead period required till the business can establish a reputation for itself. A franchise offers established goodwill and reputation so that you start earning revenues from the start.
3. The franchiser provides the technical backup and knowledge. There is a whole team of support professionals who are ready to assist you wherever you face any hurdles or hiccups in the functioning of your business.
4. The franchiser takes care of the marketing, advertising and promotional activities at the broader level, while you may have to contribute to it at the local level. Your business gets the automatic benefits of economies of scale that a franchise network enjoys in terms of marketing and advertising.
5. Business systems have been usually refined and perfected already by the franchiser. Therefore, it allows the entrepreneur to run his business within the prescribed set of parameters and maximize the efficiencies of business. In other words, the business process is highly simplified and organized which makes it easy for the entrepreneur to run the show smoothly.

Looking at these benefits of a franchise business, it makes pragmatic business sense for budding entrepreneurs to consider various franchise options offered by established franchise brands in the marketplace.

Bio: Bizymoms has been helping women start work at home businesses for over 10 years. Now, with our Franchises for Moms section giving great home business ideas, women can start their own franchise business!

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

A Franchise Business Is a Viable Alternative for New Entrepreneurs

Inspired by stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution
By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, D’ette Corona and Barbara LoMonaco

Everyone makes resolutions: The new year motivates all of us to improve our habits, and holds the promise of a clean slate. But after January passes, many of us may beat ourselves up for letting resolutions fall by the wayside – which is why now is precisely the best time to renew commitments you’ve made to yourself. While most years, our resolutions are primarily about things like diets, being on time, becoming neater and similar issues, this year many resolutions have a different feeling. Set a household budget. Start recycling.

Save more. If these sound familiar to you it is because this year, more than most years, the resolutions are related in some way to the troubled economy.

Here are 9 Tips for 2009 for surviving and thriving in turbulent economic times:

Simplify. As Mary Davis writes in her story “Resolutions for Sale,” we all have items from previous resolutions that never panned out: Exercise equipment still in its original packaging, organizational gadgets collecting dust. So why not make a buck or two and have a “Resolution Sale?” Sell all of your unwanted and unused items, make some money, and simplify your life for the better.

Go green. When going green, little changes can make a big difference for the environment — and your wallet. Ashley Sanders writes in her story “I’m Not a Dirty Hippie” that her husband was apprehensive about going green at first, but got on-board once he saw the savings benefit. “After a lot of testing and trying, we began to find products that we could not only use, but that were more affordable than the products we previously used,” Sanders writes.

Count your blessings. List-obsessed Sarah Jo Smith shares in her story “A Daily Practice in Gratitude” how even the most sincere resolutions can turn sour. “I planned to write down three things a day that expressed my appreciation and love for the things and people around me..[But] what started as a positive exercise turned into a mental list of countless complaints and worries,” she writes. However, after an emotional encounter with a stranger, Sarah realized there was much more room in her life than she previously allowed for gratitude. In the face of financial worries and other daily stressors, remember your gifts – you’ll likely discover the strength you need in life’s intangibles.

Don’t exceed your needs: Try downsizing! Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution story contributor Harriet Cooper had a size problem – with her home. Saddled with double the house space she needed, she realized there was a lot going to waste. Cooper was also unhappy with her home’s “double identity” – one side that guests saw, and one side that she actually lived in. In her story “One House, Two Faces,” she writes about selling the house and moving into a smaller one. With her savings, she bought herself two years of freedom to explore new job possibilities. What’s more? Now, her guests get to visit a relaxed hostess who is happy with her (smaller) home, just the way it is.

Put the unnecessary items back. Single mom Rebecca Jay tried to save money, but every month she was living paycheck to paycheck. So she invented a game that she and her son could play to save money at the grocery store. At the check-out lane, she and her son perform a “Cart Check,” pulling out items they really don’t need. When her son puts something back, Jay rewards him with the savings. In her story “Check the Cart,” she recalls how this game not only helped rein in impulse spending, it taught her son a valuable lesson on personal finances in the process. What a great legacy to pass on to a younger generation!

Find financial peace. Kristine Byron likes to look at what she spends, rather than what she saves. In her story “Spend, Spend, Spend,” Kristine resolves to save money by cutting out certain things, but recognizes all the ways she gets to “spend” time doing something else. “As I have pledged to save on lavish meals dining out, I have vowed to ’spend’ more time entertaining at home,” she writes. When you make resolutions to save, you can also resolve to “spend” more time with your family and doing things that you love to do . for free!

Work with those you love. Working with someone you love might seem scary at first, as B.J. Taylor describes in her story “A Leap of Faith.” But when her husband needed her to work at his company because of financial setbacks, she stepped up. The two agreed to sit down and talk every six months about what’s working and what’s not. Though challenging at first, the couple has worked with each other now for 15 years. Could it be possible to go into business with your loved ones?

Give gifts of yourself. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on the people you love, just spend time doing things with them. In his story “A Commitment to Play Dolls,” Timothy Martin recalls his decision to play with his four-year-old daughter for an afternoon. “I still thinking playing with dolls is dumb,” writes Martin. “But my four-year-old daughter, Emily, loves them. She plays with her Barbie dolls every day. Since I want to be a good father, and because Emily and I don’t get to spend much time together, I resolved to learn.”

Celebrate the old. While everyone else may be resolving to try something new, don’t forget to remember your old treasures. Dayle Allen Shockley writes in “Let’s Celebrate the Old” about all the many items, principles, and people that she celebrates every new year. “I enjoy making new friends, but old friends who have shared my pain and sorrow, celebrated my joys, and remained steadfast when trouble came knocking; they are the ones I will celebrate most in the New Year,” she writes. In 2009, which old pleasures are you thankful for? Life can be improved just by recognizing the wonderful gifts we already have.

And remember, improving yourself is not exclusive to the month of January; it’s a year-round opportunity. Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution (Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, D’ette Corona and Barbara LoMonaco) is published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. For more information, please visit chickensoup.com.

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9 Tips for 2009: This Year’s Resolutions and the Troubled Economy

I just couldn’t resist this. I’ve recently read an article that advises the Twitter newbie (and probably expert too) how to “get retweeted” with 10 “twitterisms.” The author actually gives 12 quotes, but I suppose this is the charm of being a “tweeter” – twitting one thing and meaning another.

The terms and the contents of these 12 quotes reminded me of a quote from Bring It On: “this is not a democracy, it’s a cheerocracy.” Paraphrasing we could say the same about Twitter: “this is not a democracy, it’s a twittocracy.”

So I thought it might be a nice change to write a funny post today, and for every “twitterism” by Iconic88 to give you a “cheer.”

Iconic88	Bring It On – paraphrased
“Twitter sharing is Twitter caring”	Wait a minute, people tweeting… tweeters?
“As we grow as unique Tweople, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others.”	In tweeting we throw people into the air. And fat people don’t go as high.
“The really happy Tweeter is one who can enjoy the scenery when on a detour.”	I don’t know what’s scarier, neurotic tweeters or the pressure to win.
“Take only what you need and leave Twitter better than you found it.”	Where we come from, ‘tweet’ is not a word you hear very often…
“If you are building your Twitter stream and the dialogue breaks, do you stop building, or do you change the stream?”	OK, so I never tweeted before. So what? What about doing something that actually requires neurons?
“Let your Twitter love be like the misty rain; coming softly, but flooding the Twitter rivers.”	You were having twitt-sex with him!
“Twitter Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not shared, it cannot be harvested.”	You are tweeters. Tweeters are bloggers who have gone retarded.
“If you are on a Tweet to nowhere, find another Tweet.”	Well, look on the bright side – It’s only tweeting!
“Twitter faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.”	Hey, ladies, wanna see my spirit stick?
“We make follows by what we get, but we grow a following by what we give.”	Follow me or perish, sweater monkeys!
“I have found that among Twitter’s other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”	You are being a twitt-tator,Torrance, and a pain in my ass!
“Twitter happiness held is the seed; Twitter happiness shared is the flower”	Awesome, oh wow! Like, totally freak me out! I mean, right on!

Did you smile? Great! Are you a Twitter fan and you hate me right now? Even better – there must be some truth in my paraphrasing Bring It On in this particular case. It’s great to “promote” Twitter, to build a large Twitter community, but I don’t see how anyone in the world can actually follow and respond to over let’s say 500 members of a personal network. Following too many people: what good does it do, except boosted traffic to sites you try to promote? There’s obviously no dialogue with 3000 people, human attention simply cannot handle that much information. So where is the love? Where is the giving? What do you think? Any Twitter quotes to convince this non-believer that there is a dialogue possible between you and 3000 total strangers?

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

This Is Not a Democracy, It’s a Twittocracy

The Google search killer wannabe Wikia Search monetizes with Ads by Google (!!!) while back at Google, someone opened a bag of dirty tricks. The interjection of Google’s SearchWiki generates brand and product confusion, and possibly indicates fear in the Google search camp.

What will it be – Wikia Search or Google SearchWiki? The web community will decide.

In January 2007 SEO experts described the search startup Wikia Search as “not even a remote threat to Google” and a “complete letdown.” It’s pretty clear that a comparison with the giant of search is detrimental for any search startup: although many show promising potential, few come even close to Google’s search results relevancy. The “potential” is in the technology, but the consumers don’t care about technologies – they want results. Wikia Search came on the market with a methodology that could and probably would, with some refinements, revolutionize the search industry. Yet from a “technological revolution” to market hegemony the road is long and thorny.

Wikia Search is today close to the “technological/methodological revolution” but…

Monetizing With Google? No, Thanks!

If something transforms Wikia Search over night into a popular destination, what is the credibility of search results cluttered with Ads by Google? Click on the image below to view how Wikia Search understands to monetize its search results.

Google is the evil we cannot do without. No matter what we say, no matter where we try to turn, we all end up using Google one way or another. Google has its fingers in too many pies to be bypassed. In fact, treating Google as a “search engine” is biased. Without its AdWords and AdSense programs, Google would be just another search engine and all its other acquisitions would have never been possible. AdWords is the ace of spades in Google’s hand, the luck charm that makes Google invincible. When Google’s opponents use parts of Google’s monetization program or indices to help their developments along, what might be a competition turns into a game of catch-up.

Our advice: dump Google! Why? If you think about it, this is a little bit like Target advertising for Walmart at the store’s entrance.

Google’s Nightmare Breeds Clones

I wouldn’t call Wikia Search a search engine. I’d call it a choice engine. Yes, the search functionality is there, but then again, there are already way too many search engines on the Internet, yet none of them gives the user the power over the search results, not even Google’s SearchWiki.

With Wikia Search, anyone can choose which sites deserve a place in the SERPs and which don’t. Yes, you read that right: anyone can edit the search results. The edits happen in real time and affect all the results, not just the results in the user’s profile. Actually you don’t even need to be a registered user to influence Wikia Search’s SERPs. The concept will undoubtedly change the search industry as we know it. If Wikipedia was called by many analysts “Google’s worst nightmare” what would Wikia Search be called in its most refined form yet to come?

Does Google feel threatened? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to answer this question. Google is scared. The most recent addition to Google’s potpourri of search tools is SearchWiki. Was it an accident that Google chose a brand name so close to a competitor that was there first and developed a social search engine? SearchWiki resembles too much Wikia Search and not only in name. Technologically and methodologically Google SearchWiki is an immature clone of Wikia Search. Google purposely chose SearchWiki to create brand confusion. Wales might even have a chance in court if Wikia Search is a registered trademark.

From a PR’s perspective, and this author is a PR consultant, Google pulled a dirty trick and should be admonished for doing so. Is trademark infringement part of Google’s new marketing strategy? Let’s call a wolf a wolf. This is not about being a Wikia or a Google enthusiast, but rather about fair play. Apparently Google is not familiar with this concept.

I wonder who at Google came up with the name? Was it Joe Kraus who stated loud and clear back in June at the Supernova conference “Social is the new black” and emphasized even louder that search needs to become social? (duh!)

Or was it Cedric Dupont, Google SearchWiki’s product manager?

Whoever – It doesn’t really matter. What really amazes me is how Google can get away with anything.

When Wikia Search launched the wave of criticism was almost unbearable. Even today only when discussing Wikia Search, there are voices against a search engine that is too open to the whims of the capricious humans. An editable search engine will also make an ideal target for SEO spammers of all kinds.

So Google is coming to market with an inferior product, yet no real negative criticism has fallen on the search Giant.

Wikia Search Undoubtedly Superior – So What?

Google abused once again its virtual monopoly to the detriment of an innovation that is without any doubt superior to Google’s variant. But don’t take my word for it: go to Wikia Search and test it yourself. Do not stop at a custom search like a lazy, Google accustomed user. Learn how to use Wikia Search and configure the results based on relevancy and value. Use your better judgment to select the sites that truly deserve a place in the top results at Wikia Search and elsewhere for that matter. The superiority will be apparent in a fair comparison.

At Mashable Paul Glazowski compared SearchWiki and Wikia Search and concluded:

Wikia (Search) is without doubt the more capable of the two when it comes to search results customization and annotation. There are just more stuff that a real power user would need. And let’s face it, the only search engine users that will bother combing results for their personal best-of list(s) are the power users among us.

Conclusion

Summing up, We should scrutinize three dependent variables in evaluating what is obviously going on now in search:

First, Wikia Search needs community help as Wikipedia did. Ethically, we should all see that the real player in social search is Wikia Search and we should not support another entity that uses brand power over value power.

Finally, Wikia Search being the main contender against Google/SearchWiki on the social search level, in fact indicates that Google does have a weakness. If social search will be more relevant than current Google technology, it is obvious why Google is afraid of Wikia Search. To spell it out: Wales’s philosophy, network of volunteers and ultimately his methodology are in a different league than Google’s thinking. The Search Giant’s growth horizon is past. Google is trying to hold on, while everyone else is trying to catch up – where does innovation come from?

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

Who Is Afraid of Wikia Search?

Too beautiful to last – this is how we could characterize Twitter’s ad free platform. The sad news is that it’s not Twitter destroying the dream – other companies come to invade a space where so many people used to communicate undisturbed about all that’s new and fun under the sun.

If ads would come from Twitter I could understand. Actually, I believe that every Twitter user would understand and tolerate the obvious: Twitter offers a great service, but are they making money with it? The answer is no: no to the making money, and no to the intent of inserting ads on Twitter.com.

If Twitter doesn’t insert ads it must be for a reason, or for a thousand reasons – but finding out why is not the purpose of this article. I leave the debate to others, more experienced at dissecting the financial implications of launching a service without a business model.

The discussion today will focus on Magpie. Aside the “long-tailed black-and-white crow that utters a raucous chattering call” meaning of the word, Princeton gives another definition: “an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker.” This is what Magpie wants you to become, and they are not even subtle in their mission.

With an “in your face” approach to business, Magpie chatters loudly: “be a magpie! Convert your tweets into bling-bling.” At this point I think Magpie deserves more to be called “Maggot” and I could name a million reasons why this is a more appropriate name.

“Make money with Twitter” type of services was to be expected, and they’ll multiply like rabbits as Twitter will continue to gain momentum. As hard as I try thought and searched, I couldn’t find anything worse or scarier than Magpie. Any committed Twitter user will see my point by just looking at the Magpie site, but for the others who might consider using Magpie to “monetize” their Twitter accounts, here’s what they should consider.

It took a long time for the community to accept paid blogging like Sponsored Reviews and PayPerPost. Even now “make money blogging” is not totally accepted by the community and the debate goes on. Selling ad space on a personal blog is a matter of personal choice – and because the blog is a private asset whatever you get paid to do with it is in the end of little importance. If they don’t like it the visitors would eventually stop visiting the blog in case.

But “monetizing” an account that is part of a public network where every action might impact the community, well, that’s a different story. “Making money with Twitter” is not an issue opened to abuse.

Twitter users like Twitter for these very reasons: it’s an ad free platform, it makes a great tool to communicate real-time news and real-time life streaming, and it makes a great social network – adding value to dialogue between people with similar interests, and so on. Any deviations from these reasons would eventually generate an aggressive reaction from the users.

Magpie’s business model is not viable on Twitter – it looks too much like spam, actually it is spam. Magpie twitts take away from the authenticity of the message, they “invade” the Twitter boxes of the “followers” with unsolicited messages.

If email spam had a definition (unsolicited bulk email messages), the definition for Twitter spam is not that much different. Many marketers try to sell their products by posting on Twitter, many giant corporations already have a Twitter presence, but instead of ads, these chose to actually communicate with their followers. Dialogue is the best form of advertising I guess. The Web is already saturated by ads of Magpie type – this is not adding value to the Twitter network, it’s bashing it. Twitter is about conversation, not about noise, soapboxing crap and spamming the network with random junk. Twitter is just not the place for such marketing campaigns, and I can only hope that none of my clients would ever consider it, for I will terminate the contract with that client on the spot. I will not have my name associated with any type of spam.

I found the best description of why Magpie is a bad idea on Sociosophy. And the same site does a great job at explaining who would use this service:

• Someone who doesn’t understand Twitter at all
• Someone who doesn’t understand Social Media at all
• Someone who has no problem using their friends for revenue
• Someone who doesn’t mind watching their Twitter follower count drop like Brits during the Black Plague

I cannot go on writing about this service – I am already annoyed and I don’t want to say things I would later regret. But I will use the ending found at Sociosophy, it summarizes perfectly my feelings:

Congratulations to the creators of this and other services like this… Turn your creativity into something that harnesses Web 2.0 and the Social Realm positively instead of filling it with this Web 1.0 mentality and muck.

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

Magpie Threatens to Destroy Twitter

If they play their cards right, Yahoo! will be the new million dollars baby of the Web, defeating Google, Microsoft and a few others on a territory very few ventured to explore: Internet connected television.

Yahoo! are not the first trying to market software that merges Internet with television, but previous attempts by other companies failed lamentably. It was never the public’s fault – the public is actually ready for Internet connected television, as ready as it was for the iPhone. The reason why previous attempts of bringing Internet content on TV failed lays in technology, at both hardware and software levels.

Yahoo! TV, in cooperation with Intel, developed software that would let users call up websites right alongside programs they are watching on TV with just a remote. The innovation was presented this month at CES. Among the early adopters of Yahoo!’s technology we number LG, Samsung, Sony and VIZIO. The service will be thus included in TV sets sold in America and 10 European countries.

An Open Source Platform

Yahoo!’s declared their TV widgets open platform – pretty much like Apple’s iPhone. Third party developers will be able to write widgets that will be included in Yahoo!’s widget directory and made available for the public only after they pass Yahoo!’s scrutiny.

When the TV Widgets go public later this year, the directory will include about 20 different widgets, with online services like Yahoo! Weather, Twitter, MySpace, New York Times and others.

The widgets at launch are free and are all downloadable from an online “widget gallery.” The service will also have controls for parents who want to keep their children away from inappropriate content.

Yahoo! made no disclosure about the monetization plans for this service – apparently they are waiting to see whether the public enjoys the service before including ads. On a later stage widget developers will be allowed to set up their own widget download prices, sharing the revenue with Yahoo!

Equal Opportunities for all Brands

The widget gallery is not exclusive to big brands. Any new widget needs Yahoo!’s approval before being made available for download. However, this minor impediment should not stop serious brands from creating their own widgets and submitting them to Yahoo! widget gallery. Delivering content to the customers’ TVs is definitely a new boundary to explore.

If Yahoo! is successful we will assist at the birth of some new trends: optimizing a site for TV, new types of TV advertising, etc.

What do you think? Will Yahoo! be successful or are we just hearing the swan’s song?

Related articles from the Web:

• Yahoo!’s Next Frontier: Internet TV
• Yahoo’s Web TV faces uphill battle
• HDTVs and Internet Tie Knot in Vegas

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

Internet TV, Thy Maker Is Yahoo!

Winner receives $ 100 and other cool prizes.

In February Pamil Visions will launch an all new corporate site. So, to celebrate, we decided to have a contest for the best original Pamil Visions slogan, and award some cool stuff to the winner for Valentine’s Day. By entering this contest, our friends, the PR, SEO, development and social communities can help us be better than ever before.

The winning slogan will symbolize both our personable services and expertise in the PR and consulting field. Of course we could come up with one, but as the saying goes; “Two heads are better than one”, so imagine what 200 heads might come up with. So, without further eloquence, perhaps we can engage some of the very best to contribute to our image and win some cool prizes too.

Slogan for Pamil Visions

Contestants in the Pamil Visons slogan contest should:

• publish an entry on their site describing the contest,
• insert the suggested slogan,
• express how and why their version is a “sticky” idea and relevant
• link to the Pamil Visions site www.pamil-visions.com to be eligible to win.

All entries should be submitted prior to February 13th as the winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day. Simple enough right?

The winning slogan entry will be selected by voting amongst the Pamil Visions staff and the winner will receive the following prizes:

• A hard bound copy of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
• A Pamil Visions handmade dreamcatcher
• $100 on either PayPal account or Amazon Gift Certificate (winner’s choice)
• One hour free PR consultation for branding, brand value, SEO or other topical assistance
• A special Valentines’ surprise

We sincerely hope that all our friends and contemporaries will contribute a little effort both for the prizes mentioned, and our sincere appreciation (plus the challenge of course). As we all know, together great people can do wonderful things. As a helpful hint, we want a slogan that conveys the imagery of the dream catcher, the vision of our partners and the personable way in which we conduct business.

Finally, we want to thank each and every one of our readers, clients and friends for all the support they have given us over the past year. Truly great people enable us to think of ourselves as great, and we would not be here without all our constituents.

Note: Only one submission per publisher, company or individual. Contest submission ends at midnight EST on February 12th. Winner will be asked for information on where to send prizes and method of cash payments (eg. PayPal or Amazon).

All decisions of Pamil Visions selection committee are final, and all submissions must be completely original. Any entry found to be plagiaristic will be disqualified and the next runner up will be awarded all prizes. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Have fun, good luck and thanks again for all our caring.

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

Contest: Slogan Needed – We Want You!

When I read that 2009 will be the year that email dies I cannot help a “LOOOOL” – you know: that “laugh out loud” acronym we use in instant messages and twits. This “gem” is just one of the many proliferating the Web these days. Sometimes I wonder: what do these so called prophets smoke?

So we are all supposed to move all communication on FaceBook and Twitter. Instead of evolving we should be digressing. Instead of writing intelligent messages we should be going off the point and sending crumbs of thought randomly to a network of “followers.”

Well, the email will not die because Lee Provoost said so. If anything, it will become stronger while Twitter’s success will decline. How much longer will serious people broadcast themselves to complete strangers? And how much longer will the Twitter users tolerate the spam, the never-ending sales pitches, heck, even the Obamas of the network? (Note that since Barack Obama won the Presidential elections, the person who took care of his Twitter account ceased twitting? Bad twitter PR if you ask me!) So here it goes: my list of anti-predictions for 2009 starts with twitter.

Twitter loses feathers…
Twitter’s little blue bird will eat too many blueberries and will succumb due to an upset tummy. The blue whale will appear more often on the horizon, riding the waves and stumbling over a few unsuspecting cruise ships. Twitter will also release a blue mammoth that will make everyone wonder WTF? They’ll call this new blue apparition a “new feature” – it will be pretty clear that in the rush to becoming “mainstream” twitter got greedy and swallowed some bad berries! The flock of marketers nesting at twitter will begin to slowly migrate to other waters – bluer, cooler, deeper. Twitter will lose its feathers by the end of the year.

Flock wins the browsers’ war…
Speaking of flocks… flock will overpower Firefox, becoming the browser of choice for geeks and technophobes alike. Internet Explorer will sweat acid sweat and Microsoft will do what any smart trust would: buy the flock. Right on time, because companies like Dell will sell PCs with flock preinstalled. Phil’s already working on this. Tongue in cheek!

FaceBook becomes FacePoop
FaceBook will lose face because of too many spammy applications that will slowly piss of some of the Scobles of this world. As Kirkpatrick says, the network will continue to surprise, and why not? With so many foolish, mediocre and time wasting applications, it’s a wonder that this network still exists – but we all know that when fools rule, folly is king. So Facebook will indeed surprise us in 2009: it will literally encompass all the futility of the Web. It will pretty much feel like watching the TV show Big Brother: we all know it is profoundly stupid, but somehow we’ll be inapt to change the channel. Is stupidity addicting?

Live Search makes Google sweat
Microsoft will make Google “shake it like he means it.” It will not happen with an online version of Office. MacManus appears to believe that Microsoft will have a stroke of generosity this year.

Well, let’s say that Microsoft will indeed come up with a free online version of Office, but this will only be to make us pay even more for the desktop software. Also, Google Docs is popular, but it is an inferior product. Platforms like let’s say Zoho, are much better, yet no one sweats about them. Will Google bother to improve Google Docs this year? Nah! Why would they? There’s no financial gain from a product thrown at the users from the mercy of the big search giant. Besides, Google will be too busy to infringe brands like Wikia Search (see Google’s Search Wiki – does the name sound familiar? Isn’t the service a mirror of Wikia Search? Common, be true about it!).

Google will also have to fight Microsoft’s Live Search, which, in my web stats, is the second most used browser after Google. Voila. This is why Google will shake baby shake. If Microsoft will do something to Google, that will be in the search field. On no, Live will not “kill” Google, but it will give SEARCH new meanings. Microsoft did acquire Powerset, remember? Something must (and will) come out of this, and it will happen soon.

Who gets Yahoo!?
ReadWriteWeb will buy Yahoo! and MacManus will become even more inaccessible. Who else would be crazy enough to buy Yahoo! and its entire luggage if not RWW? Hallmark?

Post from: eWritings - Online Public Relations

2009 – One PR’s Anti-predictions