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Category: Tech

IMC135: Looking at the expanded features of Chat GPT

Ben explores the transformative features of ChatGPT 4o for marketers, emphasising its speed, memory, and customisation options. He demonstrates how to create tailored Google ad copy and keyword lists, as well as introducing custom GPTs that mine existing content for insights. The episode highlights the potential of AI to streamline marketing efforts, enhance creativity, and ensure consistency in client branding.

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How to clean your Smartphone

  • Ben Kinnaird
  • March 27, 2020
  • Tech

Via cybertech.digital

– Unplug your smartphone, turn it off and remove the case.

– Dampen a microfibre cloth with water and household hand soap e.g. the soap dispensing bottle type.

– Gently rub the surfaces of the phone with the damp cloth. Try not to get moisture in any of the openings.

– Dry the phone with a clean microfibre cloth.

– Washing your hands regularly and thoroughly can reduce the number of germs that you put on your phone after you’ve washed it.

Considering we touch our phones hundreds if not thousands of times a day this is good advice

Fewer people are learning the skills to repair the things they own

  • Ben Kinnaird
  • February 3, 2020
  • Tech

This Tweet thread from BriannaWu got me thinking about what more we can do.

The irony is that even as society has become more technologically dependent, fewer and fewer people are learning the skills to repair things we own. Addressing climate change will require us stop throwing tech away, and start treasuring and maintaining it.

A couple of years ago my father and brother – both qualified engineers – were supporting a Repair Cafe in Hereford. The idea being for people to bring in old items to be repaired rather than be thrown into landfill.

I’ve always been interested in what’s inside an object or how it works, particularly electronics, and where possible I like to at least attempt a repair using my favourite Gorilla Glue and even digging out a soldering iron. It’s also fun to do this with my kids as long as they don’t move all the screws about!

The Repair Cafés are still going strong with over 100 in the UK and 1500 worldwide. If you have a gadget or household item that’s broken, before you chuck it go along to a Repair Café near you to see if it can be fixed. Even if you still fancy shopping for a new item you can Freecycle the old one for someone else to enjoy.

Update: You may also like to watch this short from the series Me vs Climate Change about Tech which features a visit to a Repair Café.

Something Inventive 33: First webinar lessons learnt, Recaptcha and Al is leaving us

Al and Ben discuss lessons learnt from their first webinar, how to check if your data has been hacked, gdpr fails and a look back at Al’s time with Rather Inventive before he embarks on a new adventure.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

 

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Pexel.

Interview: Magnus Unemyr going viral with marketing automation

Ben chats with Magnus Unemyr on how implementing artificial intelligence and automated marketing can impact society and if done well, AI driven, marketing automation can not only propel sales but can and waste less time through more targeted interactions.

They also dip into the darker side of how big data can, and has been misused by companies in the recent past.

 

 

Image Credit: Magnus Unemyr portrait. Banner Image Credit: Image of Magnus Unemyr presenting a lecture.

Interview: Dan Lewis Founder of FreeAgent247

In this interview Ben managed to catch Dan Lewis from Free Agent 247 in-between meetings to chat about their free business model and how video plays an important part in their promotional strategy.

 

Image Credit: Founder Dan Lewis, FreeAgent247. Banner Image Credit: Image of Dan Lewis sat in a chair reading.

Interview: Duane Forrester Yext’s VP Industry Insights

Voice search on Alexa and Google, is an area we don’t have a complete grasp on yet, particularly optimising for it. So, Ben was keen to talk with Duane Forrester, VP of Industry Insights over at Yext.

We discuss why we should be using structured data on our website. How this impacts conventional SEO and why it matters for voice and augmented reality.

 

Image Credit: Founder Duane Forrester. Banner Image Credit: Accounts icons on a mobile courtesy of Pexel

What is Project Beacon? – Google’s mysterious gift

Have any of you received a mysterious package from Google courtesy of Project Beacon?

A small device which self activates as soon as you open the box, feels slightly disconcerting as the simple instructions indicate it is already broadcasting to local phone traffic in your area. It’s enough to make your head spiral: To what means and to whose benefit? Does it comply with the new GDPR regulations, where is this information stored or analysed? Can I opt out of it? How do I switch if off? So many questions and so little information, so we decided it was time to dig a little deeper.

Overview shot of what you receive in the package from Google's Project Beacon

What is Project Beacon?

Our technology has become so ingrained within our daily lives our mobile phones are more like appendages and Google knows it. You can’t deny it, throughout the day we will all find ourselves on it at some point, whether it is to search for something, read a review, get directions and so on.

Google have developed a seemingly innocuous battery powered device, Project Beacon that makes location-based searching and interaction a little easier and more accurate.

The small, thumb sized column emits one way signals that are readable by nearby Bluetooth low energy devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Allowing your phone to better identify its location and to send or receive information which currently takes the form of targeted advertising, confirming arrival at a particular location and engagement.

Image of stats being captured on a laptop and mobile phone

How will using Project Beacon benefit your business?

This device could enable businesses to track how many handsets visited their store. This will help your business show up on individual personal maps, help filter out inaccurate reviews for people who have not even visited your business, help identify popular times and typical visit durations for the business.

A simpler way to say it is that with a beacon, your phone will now know exactly where you are, as opposed to guessing where you are.

However, this is not the first or last beacon device out there, there is already the Amazon Beacon, the Apple iBeacon,  among others which are all doing similar things among varying levels. There are also companies like Estimote who develop apps to help you interpret the data you are gathering. Here are some case studies of how some organisations have been getting on with them such as the Guggenheim in New York and FC Barcelona.

Image of stats being captured on a tablet and mobile phone

How to avoid a beacon

If you would rather not be party to a big brother state of having your personal technology track your every move then you must look at your own device settings and opt out of the Location Services.

Technically the Beacon device cannot be switched off without being taken part. However, if you would like to opt out you can send it back to Google free of charge.

Banner image courtesy of Pexel, Computer images courtesy of Estimote.

Interview: Dean Murphy Founder of Crystal Adblocker App

Dean is an app developer who Ben met when he was invited on to the delightful Mac & Forth podcast.

Ben was particularly interested in Dean’s app Crystal, an iOS ad blocker that in many ways it actively works against the companies in an industry adjacent to ours, advertising. Although we see ourselves as the good guys when it comes to promotion.

Ben finds out how Dean started in app development, identified his very specific niche and got his app out to market.

 

 

Image Credit: Founder Dean Murphy. Banner Image Credit: Girl Holding Crystal Ball courtesy of Pexel

Something Inventive 29: Bath Digital Festival Special – Part two

In this episode as well as giving you a round op of the days events we also feature an interview with Jim Morrison the festival director and ask him pointed questions such as ‘why are the workshops so far apart’.

Part one available here

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

 

 

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

  • Bath Digital Festival 2018
  • Secrets Of Successful Calls-To-Action and Landing Pages
    • It’s about motivation – Convert action and urgency
    • Test. Test. Test.
    • Exit pop ups can bring in more clicks for email signup
    • (In their tests) video less effective on landing page when the offer is simple
      Gertie Goddard, Noisy Little Monkey
  • Revealing The Mysterious World Of Marketing Automation
    • Lead nurturing campaign: Early research -> CTA -> landing page -> Follow up emails
    • Lucid chart for high level flowcharting of user experience
      James Mulvaney, Noisy Little Monkey
  • The Psychology Of Sales Emails
    • Nurture people towards a close: Attract -> Convert -> Close
    • It’s all about them. Use the word you more than we/me and yse their name in the email subject line
    • Use video as part of proposal process
    • Use a PS, often people skip straight to this
      John Payne, Noisy Little Monkey
  • Evershare.io – Where Fans Can Buy A Share in a Song
  • Why Your Business Needs a Blog
    • Share the why (your story) in your blog. To help with this describe what you do to a friend or colleague then ask them to summarise it back to you. This is your story.
    • Give stories to customers so they can share them and convert others
    • People use Instagram because they are looking for images they can step into or a person they can be.
      Sal Godfrey, Sal’s Kitchen
  • The Tech is Not Enough
    • Bring the audience to you. Find out how to help them
    • Understand: who will face this challenge? Who do they trust for recommendations? How can I reach them?
    • Maximise content: what do you have already? What can you easily create? Video has 130% additional engagement. What else does your audience need? Create stock image library of product images or shareable content
    • Maximise engagement: look for a slow burn acceleration. Ask questions? Polls! What are there anxieties/fears/hopes? Pick the right tone of voice. Listening to customers and adding features that add value.
    • Make your tech shine. Move from spec (what is it made from) -> Features (what does it do) -> Benefits  (how does that help me) -> Value/Impact (why customer busy).
      Emily Perkins, OggaDoon
  • Bristol and Bath Cyber meet up
    • Company of the lovely chap Ben met at the bar www.showup.global
    • Shout out to these guys for an interesting event with free beer!
  • Successful CTA and Landing Pages
    • Simple, clear, targetted, bold
    • Dont be afraid to lose your site nav on landing pages
    • On exit popups were more effective than bottom-right panels
  • Designing for a better World
    • Draw up your own goals and aims, as an agency or freelancer
    • It’s ok to say no to a project but keep it professional
    • Its ok to work for an ‘evil’ company if you are trying to change them for the better
    • Check your pension and what it is funding!
  • Digital Brands__ready
    • 50% of purchases are on phones
    • Traditional shopping model totally altered by peer reviews and trust
    • 81% read reviews before buying a product. 1 in 3 comment or interact with brand in some way. 79% wont buy from again if mobile experience was bad
  • Lean Content – Jo Duncan
    • Simple, Single Channel, Straightforward content
    • Really, really put yourself in your customers shoes. Feel what they feel.
    • 80% planning / 20% doing
  • Why you need a blog
    • Write new posts once a week or 2 weeks ideally
    • Give people a story to talk about and to share
    • 300 – 1000 words perhaps
  • Bring a product to market
    • People want problems solved, but not get sold to
    • Who does your audience trust?
    • How-to’s, guides and manuals really important.
  • Equality in workplace discussion
    • Returnships – for people returning to work after career break – new concept
    • Offer fair paternity/maternity policies, dont get stuck in traditional policy
    • Home or flexi working opens up new potential workforce
  • Really interesting anecdote; when a successful male recruiter used his colleagues’ computer while she was on holiday it mistakenly added her email signature to his emails. He found that he got loads more negative responses from recruiters in particular.

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Bath Digital Festival

Something Inventive 29: Bath Digital Festival Special – Part one

Al and Ben have been on location at the Bath Digital Festival, soaking up talks and workshops on everything to do with technology, marketing and business. We thought we’d do something fun for this episode and have to recorded our experience through-out the two days in video as well as audio.

We hope you like it. Part two available here

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

 

 

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

  • Bath Digital Festival 2018
  • Janusz Stabik, Grow Your Digital Agency
    • Compete on knowledge not price.
    • Grow to sell even if you don’t sell it – Think franchise
    • Review your strategy (where we’re going and how we’re going to get there) every 90 days
  • New frontiers in digital creativity – Nick Ellis, Halo
    • Purpose is the why. Know this and you will deliver valuable insight
    • Blogs are ‘b****cks’ on the whole
    • Hear your audience, listen to your instinct
  • Jamie Ellul, Supple Studio
    • Just say yes!
    • Follow your passion and the paper (aka money) will follow!
  • Kate Gorringe,Mr B & Friends  7 golden rules:
    • 1. Be creative, not digital first.
    • 2. Stop colouring in wireframes.
    • 3. Blend real and virtual worlds.
    • 4. This rule was skipped over…
    • 5. Let your imagination run wild.
    • 6. Never forget your brand purpose.
    • 7 be a cynic.
  • Pedigree SelfieStix case study
  • Build a Computer Game – Charlie Coggans, Mayden Academy
    • Great fun building a HTML, CSS and Javascript game
  • Digital PR and SEO @stekenwright
    • Don’t forget about Bing (it helps answers Alexa queries)
    • Google looks for EAT in your site, and sites linking to you; Expertise, Authority and Trust
    • Good content can beat inbound links
  • Secrets of Social Media -Paul Wickers – Huggg
    • Look for the Human story, not just data journeys – and meet the real people
    • People remember how they feel more than other factors
    • For every success story, there are multiple failure stories
  • Swoon Gelato
    • Social media is extremely time-consuming
    • Peoples attention span dropped from 14 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2018
    • Try and turn a negative into a positive on social media
  • Lightning Talks
    • Talk to customers
    • People learn in different ways
    • Limit your time in fixing a tough problem to 2-3 hours (timeboxing)
  • Digital Creativity
    • Your brand is co-owned by you and your customer
    • Purpose before profit
    • Don’t just colour in wireframes to create your site design
  • Immersive Stories
    umm, there’s lots of clever people researching the future of AI right now

 

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Bath Digital Festival

Something Inventive 26: A very friendly bunch

Al and Ben are joined by seasoned podcaster and Mac enthusiast, Karl Madden to talk about the latest iteration of Intelligent Tracking Prevention from Apple. Karl also advocates that every business should get into podcasting or video.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by Ticked-off.com

Check out the sponsor ticked-off.com. When you sign up let us know and I’ll extend your trial for 2 months.

Show notes

 

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Donalize – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman – Image Credit: Drinking Liquor and Talking On Dining Table Close Up by Helena Lopes on Pexels

Our Five Favourite Web Chat Apps

A client recently asked for our recommendation on which website chat app to use and as I’ve only have experience with Olark in recent years I thought it would be worth reviewing what’s currently available.

I picked five listed below based on whether they were recommended elsewhere, if I’d heard of them before or on the clarity of the offer and the systems design. I evaluated each chat app as a potential customer chatting to the vendor’s operator judging each on how quickly I got chatting, if I was hounded at all to begin with, what integrations they had and of course the cost. Hopefully this will give you a little more information to refine down your selection to test out.

Summary: JivoChat and Olark stuck out for me as a cost effective way to get started but Zendesk looks like a good step up to a fuller chat and customer support system with better integrations when time and budget allow.

Tawk.to web chat sales website screenshot

Tawk.to

https://www.tawk.to/

  • Chat only. Free with option to pay for branding removal or chat agents
  • Need to enter email/name to start chat
  • Admin is browser only as far as I can see
Olark web chat sales website screenshot

Olark

https://www.olark.com/pricing

  • Chat only from £12/mo/agent but have free plan capped at 20 chats/month
  • Automated messages to start conversations based on rules such as referring URL or location
  • Message templates for quicker responses
  • Integrates with many CRM apps
  • Needed to enter email/name to start chat
  • Exit survey and ability to send copy of the transcript by email
JivoChatweb chat sales website screenshot

JivoChat

https://www.jivochat.com/pricing/

  • Basic version free for 5 agents. Pro version (£7/mo/agent) includes canned responses with some automation message automation
  • No questions to start the chat, was initiated by operator
  • Have desktop and mobile apps as well as browser app
  • Have API/Webhooks
  • Simple exit survey to capture sentiment (thumbs up or down)
Zendesk web chat sales website screenshot

Zendesk

https://www.zendesk.co.uk/product/pricing/

  • Chat from £12/mo/agent
  • Email software £5/mo/agent. Includes basic Knowledge base/FAQ system
  • Optional Answer bot from £38/mo/50 queries
  • Chat box doesn’t pop up automatically. Not able to test out the chat feature
  • Mobile and browser apps from what I can see
  • Have API/Webhooks
Intercom Inbox web chat sales website screenshot

Intercom

https://www.intercom.com/pricing

  • Chat from £38/mo unified comms inbox to manage chats. Can also manage social (Twitter/Facebook) direct messages
  • Help document/FAQ management £35/mo. Includes an operator bot to surface relevant content
  • Initial bot interaction asked for name/email/company/employees. Seemed slightly slower process to other companies
  • Chat box didn’t pop up automatically
  • Mobile and browser apps
  • Have API/Webhooks

Let me know which chat apps you use or the experience you have using them on other websites

Something Inventive 25: I’ll get back to you in a minute

Al and Ben talk about the importance of being a fast responder and our thoughts on the WXG 2018 conference.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by Ticked-off.com

Check out the sponsor ticked-off.com. When you sign up let us know and I’ll extend your trial for 2 months.

Show notes

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Donalize – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman – Image Credit: Waiting by Aurimas

Something Inventive 23: From Audio Books to Zero Reach

Al and Ben discuss the benefit of audio in learning, Some advice on GDPR, and my interview with Sophia who entered the Dragons Den.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by Ticked Off Marketing Checklist

Simple marketing tasks to act on right away. Each task includes examples, downloads or the steps needed to complete it, plus a big button to tick it off when you’re done. Sign up for a free 7 day trial at ticked-off.com with just your email and no credit card.

Show notes

 

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Donalize – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman – Image Credit: Listen by Jim Simonson

Something Inventive 15: Don’t put all your eggs in one bucket

Ben asks if we rely on computers or software too much and Al answers with a firm yes. We bring up some topical examples where systems have failed and how people deal with the outcome, or don’t as the case most often is. And we wonder if now, is the time for QR codes to shine?

Listen on Apple Podcasts app

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by Be Sociable

Easy-to-follow social media tips and strategy to get noticed by the right people for the right reasons. Available for iPhone, iPad and Mac for £9.99. Or get it free by subscribing to our email newsletter at the bottom of this web page.

Show notes

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social Media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Promote your service for the price of a tweet

If you’d like the opportunity to have an advert for your product or service read out on our podcast, for FREE! Simply tweet what you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes. Here’s an example:

‘Sick of writing boring blog posts? Try Wordbirdy.com #podvert @RatherInventive’

First come, first served. So get your tweets in early.

—
Audio edited by Donalize – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman – Photo: Christopher – 22 chicks on the way…