The blog reviews news stories, science, products and gives advice that can help you to get the best ‘8 hours’ possible.

The blog helps our client enhance his reputation as a leading authority on sleep, performance and recovery, and serves to funnel traffic into his corporate websites.

Launched to accompany our Postura Health series of websites, Posture Experts look set to grow into a significant online resource.

Check it out now and discover practical tips on how you adjust your posture to ensure a happy, healthier life.

We’re really proud of the site, and would love to have your vote.  Yes, this is a shameless plug, but hey, you know we like the same things you do, and all that.

Remember to choose the Digital Suppliers section and then choose Best Startup Website, alternatively you can just follow this link to vote for moomü.

A recent start up, Postura Health are already achieving notable successes with their luxury moomü and Mammoth Elite Sport mattresses.

The Mammoth Elite Sport mattress is being used Premier League footballers, Premier League rugby players, and is the mattress of choice for the UK National Cross Champion, Liz Yelling.

Moomü and Mammoth Elite Sport are both built around a high specification foam core that aids performance, rest and recovery.

We built a suite of websites for Postura Health that combine eye-catching high impact designs with smooth and secure eCommerce. Content rich information on the science, technology and sleep benefits blends seamlessly with clear and crisp retailing of the mattress products.

That was the case with Isle of Man Cottages, who despite booming business for their holiday cottages, wanted a website to catch the early year bookings and fill the final slots in their availability calendar.

Designed, developed and delivered by 21 Thoughts in just one weekend, isleofmancottages.co.uk is a clean professional brochure website that incorporates vivid imagery, Google Analytics and is search engine optimised.

“We’re absolutely delighted with our new website, and with the speed of service and helpfulness of the team at 21 Thoughts, who not only built the site but also helped us set up new email addresses, gave us PDF flyers to sent to clients, and guided us on how to use the tools.” Mike Brown, Isle of Man Cottages

Some of them, e.g. Declan Metcalfe and Andrea Tobin, even follow up on my advice.  Andrea subsequently contacted me on LinkedIn to ask for my top blogging tips, so here goes:

How to write

1. Keep it personal; The best blogs are usually personal insights and opinions on a subject that matters to the blogger
2. Keep the posts short; You want people to read them, reference and link to the weightier material.  Great diary blogs, e.g. dooce.com, are perhaps an exception
3. Write about a subject (e.g. PR, football, law, or the trials and tribulations of being a PA) rather than overtly promoting your business.  Blogs are not direct sales channels; you want a long term relationship with your readers
4. Write frequently; It doesn’t have to be every day, but regular short posts will help you to keep an audience
5. Learn from others; Check out the leading bloggers and mimic the best bits.  In professional services look at corporate engagement; or, writing about something that tastes great to you try chocolate & zucchini
6. Use photos to illustrate your posts (where appropriate); They’ll draw an audience. Personal ones are best, but don’t use ‘clipart’ recklessly
7. Be bold, emotive, and give away ‘not too secret’ secrets; You want to embrace and engage your audience.  Enable comments and even crowdsource if you can

Driving traffic to your blog

1. Register your blog on Technorati
2. Put links in your posts to stories on other blogs, and leave comments on other relevant blogs and forums; These will often be reciprocated
3. Enable pings and trackbacks on your site
4. Make your posts search engine friendly; Check out the guide from blogger or your host
5. If you have the technical ‘know-how’ add social news buttons to your posts, e.g. Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon

And finally, an important tip from Tony Pierce’s wonderfully eclectic “how to blog” list:

“27. nobody likes poems. dont put your poems on your blog. not even if theyre incredible. especially if theyre incredible. odds are theyre not incredible. bad poems are funny sometimes though, so fine, put your dumb poems on there. whatever.”

Roger focussed on web2.0 sites and concepts, and how you can use them to launch an effective campaign that will help you build reputation, trust and a strong online network. Particular attention was given to how these tools can be a vital weapon in the battle to ensure customer loyalty in what is becoming an increasingly fragmented world.

See what some of the attendees are saying about the presentation on LinkedIn:

Mark will introduce and discuss numerous best practice case studies, whilst Roger will talk about future developments in online marketing.

Contact Anna Brown at Service Network to book a place.

Update, the event was a real success with an audience of over 60 interesting and fun marketing specialists and savvy business people.

Here are the slides, please let me know if you’d like a full transcript:

How though, do you take a blog for a niche special interest subject and generate a worldwide audience, TV, radio and press coverage in just 21 days? 

That’s exactly what 21 Thoughts have achieved with Chess Tales, a blog about the world of chess, and it illustrates ideas that all online retailers can benefit from. 

Chess Tales was inspired by a Google query used by a visitor to Chess Online, an experimental eCommerce shop in the United States.  The query highlighted a question that the visitor wanted answering, and was used as the basis of the first post on Chess Tales, which went online on March 3 2007.

This process is something that any retailer who wants to be successful online should consider adopting.  In an increasingly commoditised world, future success and brand loyalty will depend on the quality of relationships we build with our customers.  A blog (separate from your retail presence) gives you a great area to talk about developments with your customers, and build trust in a non-sales pressured environment.

Once you’ve established a blog though, you need to attract an audience.  Chess Tales is already pulling in a global readership on a daily basis.  The UK, United States, Canada and mainland Europe feature highly, but the blog is also getting regular visitors from surprising locations including the Far East, India, Russia, Africa and South America.  21 Thoughts expertise has helped Chess Tales maximise it’s search engine rankings and establish presence on social networking and bookmarking sites (another key tool for future online marketing), which in turn drives traffic to the site.

21 Thoughts also handled the PR that helped Chess Tales gain slots on ITV Tyne Tees Television, BBC Radio, and on the frontpage of regional newspapers, when it associated with a young chess star in her bid for success at the European Championships.

Call +44(0)845 094 3321 and arrange a no-obligation chat to find out how 21 Thoughts can help your business build a complete and cohesive online strategy.

As well as working with you to build a crisp, clean eCommerce website perfectly suited to the needs of your business, we are experts in establishing and marketing your online presence.

We can advise you on working with affiliates, credit card merchant services, complimentary blogging to build trust, open innovation (working with your customers) trading on eBay and other shopping malls, search engine optimisation (SEO), paypal, and understanding the needs and desires of future consumers.