Google Defends The New Privacy Terms

On March 1st, 2012 Google unveils it's new Privacy Policy and Terms for Service, which will see them combining over 70 different policies from various google products. From today, all your information available to google will be stored in 1 location and shared between all the google platforms. 

Is it a smart move? That remains to be seen, certainly many web and news sites today are already reporting that this represents an infringement of our private information, and may be in breach of several civil laws regarding privacy.

To find out what information of yours google has access to visit your google dashboard here and scroll down. It is possible to pause and clear your web history and youtube searches so reducing the amount of stored information google has. It remains to be seen how far the various watchdog groups will pursue Google for a change in their policy, and even whether Google will amend their Terms in light of fierce opposition. For now the smart option seems to be to watch and wait, and make sure your google dashboard only reveals the information you are willing to share.

Follow Google Blog here
What steps can you take to ensure your private data remains just that? Read here

Navigating Without A Map?

When you own or manage a small business, it isn't about location but direction,direction, direction. One of the most common reasons for a business to fail is the lack of it, no purpose, game plan or agenda. It takes a strong business owner to step back from how 'things have always been done' and look at new ways to achieve strong business relationships and generate profit. Clinging to past history is a natural reaction, but can spell suicide in our present economy. How often do you question the relevance of your branding, analyse changes in market trends or explore new opportunities for business development. When did you last send a survey or talk to your customers about their perceptions of your business?

Recently I received a call from a friend with a fantastic business in Australia who was considering rebranding it - after much discussion it turned out that was the only option he thought he had left. He had burned out and so had his business but it wasn't due to the branding itself, rather the lessening direction he, as a business owner, was sharing with his employees. They all felt that by changing name and logo, not to be considered lightly, that would give them a 'kickstart' into the coming year......

He hadn't talked to his very loyal customers to see how they viewed the service his company was providing, he had not looked at how he could diversify his business to absorb new trends in the marketplace, he had chosen to cling to the past ways of trading and expect that a fresh brand would allow him to continue as he had always done.

Do you have a plan for the next 10 months that will see your business thrive and grow?

Where will your next business venture materialise from?

Using Hard Light and Overlay in Photoshop - Great Graphic Design in 2 Minutes

The potential for creating unique designs in photoshop is unlimited. Previously we used the soft light and gaussian blur options, but this is what can be done with hard light and overlay. When we combined the 3 images below

and added a swirl, this was the fantastic result.

Get Back in the Saddle Again

This week's Worthy of a Read comes from one of my favourite bloggers Catarina Alexon who has a business blog that we read as often as possible.

In our unsecure economy how we view our business will have a fundamental role on how successful it will be and how much business we can retain and generate.

 "you can have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down................."
read the full article here