Here’s a great article that’s well worth a read.

Blogging is a fantastic way of keeping in touch with customers and improving your search ranking – but there are a number of things you need to avoid when blogging to the masses.

Setting up and maintaining blogs is something we’re experts at, just take a look at Belvoir on for Britain and see for yourself. Everything is managed in-house on behalf of the clients and there has been a massive leap in regular visitors to the blog, and it’s also having a brilliant effect on how Belvoir’s main site is performing in the rankings.

Yesterday saw the official launch of the Come to Your Senses campaign on the London Underground. The stunning imagery from the shoot at the start of the month is bound to look fantastic on the interior walls of the tube cars.

If you see any of the ads while trying desperately not to make eye contact with a stranger, let us know, or even better, try and get a shot of one in the wild and send it into us (there’s four to collect!).

I love the web. It’s a goldmine of information and entertainment that’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Every day, there’s something new to discover. A new app. A provocative article. An inspirational video.

With all this daily new iCandy (geddit?) hitting your browser, it’s no surprise that us web geeks are always looking for the next big thing. But what about the good old stuff? Let’s take a look at a rather nifty tool from one of the web’s biggest players that’s been around for a while.

Google Alerts lets you set up email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. But why’s it so useful?

If, like me, you’re writing a lot of content, keeping up with the latest events and musings on any particular topic is great for inspiration. Especially if what you’re writing is PR-ish and needs to be relevant to what’s happening now. One good online article sparks another. And another. And another. Before you can say PageRank, you’ll have lots of delicious incoming links to bump you up the rankings.

Let’s get hypothetical. One of Spring’s beloved clients is the sheepskin expert Nursey of Bungay. Sheepskin’s their thing, so it makes sense for the word ’sheepskin’ to be one of their topical alerts.

Thanks to Google Alerts, I can tell you that a sheepskin and chain mail belt has recently hit the catwalk.

I can also tell you that sales of the Baydan Model 271 Shoe are up 500%. The reason? They were the shoes thrown at George Bush by a journalist (they’ve since been renamed Bye Bye Bush). The lining? Sheepskin.

I could also tell you that sheepskin rugs appear to be back in vogue.

It’s not all relevant and useful, but short of Google reading your mind (they’re probably working on that, too) its Alerts service is a simple way of keeping up with topics.

If this is all old hat to you, perhaps it’s worth speculating on what Google do next (thanks to Jamie for the link).

It’s a tricky subject, copyright. Much to clients’ surprise, their work does not automatically belong to them. In fact, agencies own the copyright to all the work they generate, whether the client has paid or not.

Copyright will automatically belong to the creator of the work, unless they:

1: Are creating this work as part of normal employment – in which case copyright will belong to the employer.

2: Have agreed as part of the contract or terms of service to hand over ownership of copyright.

Now, what Spring does to get round this for our clients, is offer them the right to take over copyright once they have paid for their work. Funnily enough although this is written in clear terms on our quotations, only one client has ever asked us to send them formal documentation to this effect – and that was a 14 year old intern for whom we had created a pro bono item. He’ll go far.

So what if clients DON’T ask, or DON’T pay? Well, in effect they have to secure their agency’s permission – a license in effect – for the use of their brand, photography or other item. And clearly if they haven’t paid, this permission will not be granted. If they use the item anyway, the owner of the copyright has the legal right to demand that all copies of offending material be recalled and destroyed.

So, the lesson is:

1. If an agency pitches concepts, and, despite not taking them up on it, a client uses elements of those concepts in the finished piece, the agency has every right to demand payment or pulping
2. Up until the point that bills are paid, it is highly unlikely that an agency will allow use of their items
3. Upon payment of a bill, clients should ask their agency for a copyright transfer or useage license.
4. Wise clients will check what agencies are prepared to surrender, up front.
5. In the event that a client sells their business, the new business owner has no more right to use items than the client did, if those items were unpaid or unlicensed, as it is not an asset of the company.

This is terribly important and often overlooked. We would strongly advise clients to ensure they have covered the issue, and make sure it doesn’t come back and bite them.

I have been asked by the county Chamber to send some of our recession busting good news for them to publicise: and was delighted to find it was quite hard to stop. Without including launches and current client success stories, leaving a large number of web and brand wins out of it, and NOT including wins out of the county, the following was what we sent:

Spring Design & Advertising, the creative agency based in Southwold, is bucking the recession by winning a flurry of new accounts.

Commissioned by Choose Suffolk to work on the Visit Suffolk tourism account, the agency has spent the past few weeks on photoshoots across the county in preparation for the launch of a London ad campaign later this month. Their workshops on marketing at this week’s tourism conference proved highly popular with over 100 delegates attending to pick up some Spring top tips.

Spring is also working alongside Choose Suffolk to create the branding for ‘Bring the Torch to Suffolk’, an exciting opportunity for the county to join together and generate bright ideas to ensure that the Olympic Torch comes to Suffolk on its tour of the UK.

The agency is delighted to have been appointed by Tim Rowan-Robinson of Aldeburgh Hotels and Restaurants for his new venture The Crown at Woodbridge, and is currently working on logos and a website as the first stage of a gorgeous launch suite that will complement this exciting new addition to Suffolk’s foodie destinations.

And away from tourism, Spring is working with Leap to spread their name. Leap provides information hubs in towns across the county, for adults who are looking into courses and further education. Spring is working on adshel posters, bus backs, PR and print information. The agency has also been commissioned by the eastern region’s ‘Make Your Mark’ initiative, to raise awareness of the scheme’s activities and benefits through PR consultancy and printed materials.

Other significant wins include three of the county’s best loved businesses – an independent school, a land agent/auctioneer and a food producer/ retailer. And in the digital sector, the agency and its web affiliates Shelton are delighted to win a number of new accounts, including the East of England Trading Standards Authority’s online business information resource and the up market vintner Private Cellar.