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November Newsletter

Dear Newsletter Subscriber

Welcome to the UKFast Newsletter.

There have been some very exciting developments at UKFast this month, including the addition of a whole new team within the creative division. Neil’s tech tips continue with a note on security through obscurity and our marketing minute concentrates on the over 50s who account for more than half of the UK’s disposable income.

This month we hosted the Sale Sharks Insider Club, which brings together all the sponsors of the Premiership team outside the Edgeley Park setting. We filmed the night and you can get a flavour of the event by clicking through to our website.

As ever, please get in touch with any comments on this newsletter or with suggestions for future editions.

November@UKFast

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It has been another month of client side improvements. We are really pleased to have just launched our new freephone support number which is 0800 230 0032. This is being updated on the website and within your client area as we speak.

We’re also looking forward to the launch of our upgraded text alert service this December. When you sign up you’re able to keep watch on your servers via SMS and email. Alerts include capacity monitoring, backup, incident reports and more.

For a while now we have believed in the potential of online video to help businesses convert visitors into clients. Having discovered a huge demand within our own client base we’ve chosen to stake a claim on the online video market by launching a high-tech film production and streaming department.

New additions to the company include a video production team, high-tech recording and editing equipment and studios atop City Tower, Manchester. To complement the launch, we’re offering a 25% Christmas discount to new videocast clients.

In one of our first videocasts award winning Managing Director, Lawrence Jones, speaks about the importance of having a ‘family’ atmosphere within a business. And giving an exclusive insight into running a successful entrepreneurial company, he says businesses who ignore the Internet had “better beware”.

And finally, good luck to all UKFast Internet Award nominees as the judges met for the final and deciding session this week. There have been a number of difficult decisions as the standard of entries is particularly high this year and all nominees should be commended for their efforts. The winners will be contact shortly and announced in a special email next week.

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Security through obscurity

Security through Obscurity is a common term that has been banded around for a while. To be honest, it has very limited impact on actual security, however it can be applied for things like altering the default port on an application.

At UKFast, we already do this for SSH servers. Rather than run them on the common port of 22, we run them on something a little different to stop the usual port scans and attacks that occur on a second by second basis! You can do this on systems such as your database server (MSSQL or MySQL) without having an impact on your site at all, depending on your coding styles and ethics.

Small changes like this will stop the usual attacks on your application/server but obviously won't stop the hardened attacker - for this, nothing beats a good firewall ruleset.

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Targeting silver surfers

Silver surfers are fast over taking teenagers to become the Internet’s largest market. Figures show that the over-50s account for nearly one third of the total time spent on the Internet in Britain. Added to this half of the UK’s disposable income comes from over 50s and this is set to rise in the next few years.

The department for Work and Pensions has been quick to attract the demographic as has Saga. Both have launched social networking sites to harness the mature market.

Most businesses are guilty of sidelining older consumers within their marketing strategy so here are a few easy pointers for factoring them back in.

Online forums – Allow older customers to share their interests, views and opinions by creating online forums centred on appropriate products or services.

Blogs – Create a blog that is written by a suitable employee and successfully addresses the needs of this target audience. Integrate it within your product site.

PPC- Create a new pay per click campaign directed specifically at products/services for older generations, employing effective keywords and making sure the links deliver visitors straight to the right product pages.

Video testimonials - Demonstrate visually within your site that you cater for this market by actively collecting positive video testimonials from existing clients.

Social networking – Follow the Saga example and build a social networking site where your users can create their own personal profile page, make friends and easily stay in touch from the comfort of their home.

Affluent older surfers make up a large share of the online market so it makes sense to target some of your marketing efforts in this direction.

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Networking with the Sharks!

Sale Sharks are a rugby force to be reckoned with. On paper they have one of the Premiership’s best ever squads and their last few outings on the field suggest a great season ahead. But they’re not just sports pioneers they are also leading the way with superior corporate hospitality.

The Friday night Sale Sharks game at Edgeley Park is an integral part of the corporate culture in the North West and an ideal way to show off your company to favoured clients in a relaxed and entertaining environment.

The club makes you feel at home, treating you to some superb cuisine and giving you the unique opportunity to mingle and chat with the players after a game. It’s the only Premiership venue in the North West where the management and players stay truly in touch with the supporters and the hospitality atmosphere reflects this.

There has never been a better time to enjoy rugby and experience the finest corporate hospitality and facilities available from Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park. If you’d like more information feel free to contact me.

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The committed sponsors of Sale Sharks make up the Insider Club and all get together once a month. UKFast hosted the latest gathering at City Tower in November and our videocasting team were around to capture the event on film.

If you would like to see a longer version, we will be making a five minute film available online soon. If you email me your interest I will send you a link asap.

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Please get in touch with me if you would like more information on any of the articles mentioned above.

That's it for November. If you have entered our Internet Awards then I hope there is good news coming your way next week! I look forward to speaking to you at some point soon.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

For more information on the range of UKFast products and services go to http://www.ukfast.net

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