I often used to forget events booked in the family calendar. Just the other week, I forgot my wife’s regular ‘Book Club’ (wine) meeting. It was quickly pointed out that I needed to get into the routine of checking the calendar in the kitchen!

I can do that, I thought. It’s there on the wall. I’ve seen it. Even written in it. But somehow it’s just not a part of my day-to-day life. Metaphorically speaking, I am like a paper calendar that needs to go digital.

My new employer, Sandberg Trygg, came to the rescue. In the office, everybody is armed to the teeth with smartphones, which they’re always using to ‘sync’ calendars with one another, clients, suppliers and anybody else equipped with a suitable device.

This provided a Eureka moment for me! I’ve now ‘synced’ calendars with my wife, even reminding her about her wine club the other night. Unheard of! My personal upgrade from forgetful spouse to SmartHusband is now complete.

Does Flash work in your mobile? Which standard is best for your new site? Is there a solution that works for all visitors? With the advent of smartphones and new mobile platforms, web development has become more complicated. Here is some help at sorting out the various concepts.

The answer to the first question is easy. Today there is no support for Flash in for example Ipads or Iphones. To be able to see and hear videos in them the present web standard has to be updated. And that is ongoing. The solution is called HTML5.

But shouldn’t I choose HTML5 then?

The advantage of HTML5 is that it you can see and hear videos on the net without a load of plugins. But the standard is still under development. And unfortunately older browsers like Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8, lack support for HTML5. So if you choose to develop your site using HTML5, you exclude a lot of visitors.

The advantage of Flash is that it is already installed in nearly all web browsers. Flash gives you greater freedom when you design your site. You can create softer transitions and make your site a pleasant experience. And should your company have a unique font, there’s no problem.

The drawbacks then? Flash demands a lot of resources. A visit to aftonbladet.se, where Flash is used in abundance, makes your computer feel ancient. And as I said, Flash doesn’t work in all mobiles.

But what should you choose then? In a few years’ time, the answer will be HTML5, but we’re not there yet. And Flash will live on for quite a while. So right now there isn’t one solution, you may have to choose several. Get in touch with our skilled web developers if you need advice. Or say what you think on facebook, twitter or us. To be continued …

Statistics about Flash: http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html

Other links about HTML5:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5

A good safe start so you can concentrate on creating interesting, compelling communications.

This article is published on Tuesday the 27^th of July at 1:48 p.m., Swedish Time. At this point in time, I, the writer, am on holiday with my wife and daughter. But that’s not stopping me from communicating with you anyway.

If I hadn’t told you I am on holiday, you would probably think that I have just finished writing this article. In other words, when almost everyone else is on holiday. And you’d probably think that I am pretty ambitious, perhaps even bordering on workaholic.

Digital media opens up completely new opportunities not only for how we communicate but also when. All it takes is a little bit of planning and a good digital publishing tool. Time-delayed digital operations could, for example, be useful for international companies during holiday periods, when it’s difficult to synchronize employee and customer holidays. Even if your colleagues aren’t able to take calls and discuss things, you can at least spread a message that adds value and blocks sneaky competitors.

But enough about that. I’ve got to get back to a client project. After all, it’s 4:37 p.m. on Wednesday the 14^th of July …

You might have seen the movie, the television series or even read or listened to the book? Yet there’s another way to enjoy a real classic. For the first time a complete novel, Around the world in 80 days by Jules Verne, has been published with Ubimark.

Ubimark is 2D code made up of ubilinks that can be printed on paper or an object. Resembling a graphic stamp, the code works like a hyperlink to the web. If you want to find out more about something on a page, take a picture of the ubilink with your cell phone camera. Click! And you immediately access audio, images, films, maps and other things that can enhance your reading experience. All you need is an app that you download for free.

Ubilinks have been around for a while without really breaking through. Well, that may be about to change. Making printed matter interactive certainly presents some interesting possibilities. Particularly today, when everyone takes their cell phone everywhere. When you’re comfortable in your chair reading Around the world in 80 days you can for example quickly find out where Phileas Fogg’s and Passpartou’s adventures take place. Or watch an episode of the film. Without having to tap in long URLs or make complicated searches. And if you get tired of reading, plug in your headphones and listen to the audio version.

In a similar way Ubimark could be used in a corporate presentation or product folder. The printed links can quickly guide prospects to more in-depth information about whatever catches their eye. Without having to wade through through several levels on a website. To see how Ubimark works, click here.

Sometimes a product comes along that forever changes the way we think about communication and media … like the TV, the transistor radio, the Walkman, the PC, the mobile phone, or the mp3 player.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that the new Apple iPad will introduce another revolutionary new medium. At an initial cost of $500 – 1000, it won’t be long until they’re even cheaper … and absolutely everywhere.

While there will always be room for printed material, put an iPad next to a conventional brochure and the limitations of paper become obvious. Imagine a product brochure where you can twist and turn the product to see it from all angles. Then click on it to get the technical specifications, watch a film of it in action, go to a forum and see the customer reviews and then send the brochure to a colleague … all at the touch of a finger.

Clearly it’s not worth investing a lot of money in these interactive brochures while the audience remains so limited but it’s a good idea to get prepared. Maybe a first step is to see the iPad as a presentation tool for salespeople where they sit down with prospects and use it to explore products, services, and even simulate the customer’s own earning potential. Or they connect the iPad to a projector to create a live and compelling multimedia presentation.  Get excited, get creative … there is a whole new world of opportunities to discover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwFbwHaP5tE

As online marketing rapidly develops, new expressions – acronyms in particular – appear. Some never to be heard again, others are here to stay. These are a few to keep in mind:

SMO = Social Media Optimization

CGM = Consumer Generated Media

SEM = Search Engine Marketing

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

SERP = Search Engine Results Page

CTR = Click Through Rate

PFI = Pay For Inclusion

PPC = Pay Per Click

PR = Page Rank

RT = ReTweet

UV = Unique Visitor

A well-written e-newsletter that is sent out periodically creates a positive impression of your business. It helps your customers understand your offering and makes them more inclined to buy from you. But, what happens when you post the same content as a blog?

For a start, it instantly becomes interactive and you can get direct feedback from your readers. Your content also becomes searchable and you can reach other readers than your e-newsletter recipients. Other bloggers and digital media can link to you, generating more traffic leading to to greater searchability, which leads to… well, you get the picture. You can also get followers by pushing out updates through Twitter, Bloggy or RSS.

But why choose just one channel when you can choose both. Combine your blog with an e-newsletter. Select posts from your blog that are relevant to your target audience and compile them in an e-newsletter that you send to your subscribers (that, of course, will link to your blog). So, don’t scrap your e-newsletter, redo it.

Many have admired our previous website over the years. Attractive and easy to read were some of the comments. And although it was built in Flash, it was search engine friendly.

Beautiful. And smart

Beautiful.

But habits on the web are constantly developing. Today, we as visitors demand a continuous flow of information – and not just news but also other things that interest us. We want to be involved and interact, for example, by commenting and ranking contributions from others.

With this website we want you as a visitor to share in all the exciting things going on at Sandberg Trygg – and in our world of b2b. In short, take you closer to the centre of what is happening at our company. Which is why you can access articles about our clients and b2b directly from the start page.

There’s more about why you should choose us and about the history of our company. In addition we’ve chosen a simple technical solution and redone the contents so that it is even easier for you and search engines to find things.

What do you think of our new website? How can we develop it to better suit your needs? Drop a line or two to , and he’ll present your thoughts (anonymously) at the next meeting of the web staff.