Brads Blog

The next website review I’llbe doing is that of www.ledgerservices.co.uk. For this particular website, I will first review to design and layout, then I will discuss the content.

Layout and Design – First impressions go a long way with me. This site impressed me. With the flash animation in the header, the sleek design of the main page I knew right away that this site was not just thrown together on a whim.

I was put to a strong challenge by reviewing this site. This site offers many different accounting/bookkeeping software packages and services, and I have no experience in this field. It took me a while to read and learn about the focus of this site.

Content – There is a lot of information packed into this website. The amount of different software packages they offer seems to be quite a bit. Here are some of the different areas of the site I explored.

The Sage Software overview page decribes the various Sage Software options available and include Sage Line 50, ACT and Sage Personnel to name a few.

I went on to check out the Bookkeeping tab and learned that Ledger servies not only provides accounting software, but they also have a staff that provides book keeping services.

I could probably on on for hours describing all the different services and software packages they provide, but I will just recommend checking the site out for yourself. If you are in the accounting industry, this is a site you should surely visit.

Click here to learn more about Ledger Services.

Today I will do a review of a Sales Forum called www.asalesforum.com. I have done two part reviews recently, where I review the layout and design first, then I discuss the content of the site. I have decided that I will review this site differently, and review the site as a whole.

Upon first entering the website, I was impressed with how well put together it was. My eyes were immediately drawn to the header, where there is some flash animation taking place.

The main page is set up in a easy to read format that is not cluttered with ads or other irrelevent content.

There seems to be four main pages to navigate to from the main page.

The Forum – This is the main focus of the site. The forums are broken up into four categories, including General, Sales, Marketing, Small Business and Other Sales Stuff. All of these are packed full of good information. Anyne can view the posts, but you are requred to register before posting.

Sales Tips – The webmaster takes some of the better articles that are posted by members in the forums and posts them in the sales tips area.

Sales Articles – In this section, you have the option do view arious articles relating to Sales articles, Marketing Articles and Business Articles. You can also submit your own article.

UK Business News – Here you will find the latest business news from BBC and ITN.

If you have not noticed, this site is going to be the Brad’s Reviews site. I will no longer be doing rants, what not here. If you like to read my blog without the reviews, I am going to be hanging out at my old blogger blog for this(until I figure out what I’m going to do next).

Please update all bookmarks and links.

I was trying to figure out a good “As Seen on TV” Product to review, so I did a search. One of the first thing I came up with was the Swivel Sweeper, so I went with it. First, here’s some of the specs and manufacturers blurb about it:

4 Way Action Brushes And Swivel Head Reach In To Even The Hardest To Reach Places

Swivel Sweeper lets you clean carpets and floors faster and easier than ordinary cordless sweepers. Swivel Sweeper dual cleaning power comes from its use of Quad Brush Technology, four rotating brushes that quickly picks up dirt on all sides, and its 360 degree swivel head that allows you to maneuver around furniture and other objects easily. Sweep around and behind furniture. Gets into hard-to-clean corners on carpet, wood, tile floors. The swivel Sweeper is great for picking up crumbs, dirt, pet hair, dust, and more. Use swivel Sweeper in the kitchen, family room, dining room, and bathroom, on tile, carpet, hardwood, and more!
Swivel Sweeper Swivel Sweeper Features:

* Swivels 360 Degrees for easy movement around furniture
* Quad Brush Technology sweeps up dirt and messes from all 4 sides
* Removable dust trays
* Extendable handle – extend to 4′
* Lightweight – only 2 lbs.
* Cordless
* Rechargeable battery
* Runs up to 45 minutes on a single charge

Includes

* Cordless Swivel Sweeper
* Built-In 7.2 Volt Rechargeable Battery
* Battery Charge

I then went to Amazon.com and found this product for sale there. I went to the consumer reviews and found that this product was rated an average of 2.5 out of 5. In my opinion, this is less than satisfactory.

Reading the reviews, the people generally were quite pleased with the swivel sweper until the battery started getting use. The battery does not seem to last more than a couple of months, then you’re left with a piece of plastic crap.

I started another new website yesterday, and could really use your help. The site lets you place ads for anything you want, except spam. These are free. You can use it to promote a service, sell something, or really anything a person would take out a classified ad for. I am still working out the bugs, so if you feel up to it, please go to http://www.itsyourmarket.com and try to post an ad. I would really appreciate it! Please comment here any problems you encounter or suggestion to make it better.

Thanks!

Back in November, I posted about a survey I did to get a free Supermax Ultimate Razor. I finally got the razor in the mail last week and have been using it.

I must say, I was quite impressed with this razor. The design is such that it is not easy to drop or lose grip. This is important to me because I shave while in the shower.

The cutting blades actually look larger, so they probably are and this may be why I get a clean shave. I’ve been using it all week and have not noticed dulling of the blades. I have no clue how much these razors cost, but if they are reasonably priced I would probably go with them.

The UN has called for the closing of a key part of the American War on Terror strategy. Guantanimo Bay.

Liberals across America are rejoicing screaming “I told you so” but the White House is rejecting this, and I coudn’t agree more.

What business is it of the UN to suggest such a thing? I don’t believe any of them have even been there!

I just finished setting up our new dog website. We are posting pictures, etc there for our new puppy. The address is http://www.newgoldendoodle.com Let us know what you think!

Today I’m going to review the website called www.deepmarket.com Since this website is really a blog, I will go at this review in two separate areas. I’ll look at the layout/design, then I’ll add remarks on the content.

Layout:
This blog is set up in WordPress, and uses the default theme. It is my opinion that this is a bit generic and the site my be more appealing if there was a bit more style and perhaps some pictures.

Another problem I have with this site is that I really had trouble figuring out what this site is actually about!

I have to believe that this site is ultimately geared towards financial issues. One of the giveaways is the fact that there is an area in the sidebar that allows you to do a symbols lookup, or search by company. I entered one of my stock picks and I was able to view stock charts and other information about that company.

Content:
The content of this blog is very wide ranging. Perhaps this is what made it hard for me to understand the true focus of this site. Each category contains related articles, and the few that I did read, I found interesting.

Overall, this site contains a wealth of financial information and I feel would be a lot better if some work was done on making the site more appealing.

Its been growing slowly over the last month or so. My wife has been feeling the need for a new dog. A couple of weeks ago, she was at a pet store and just about purchased a Golden Retriever pup, but I managed to talk her out of it. We later learned from Mariah that almost all of the dogs they sell at pet stores are from Puppy mills, and you really shouldn’t buy one of them.

The shopping continued over the last several weeks, then the focus turned to Golden Doodles. They are a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. They are great dogs because they don’t shed and are smart and overall well tempered.

It all came to a head this week, she called some breeders and found one about 1 1/2 hours away. We made the road trip yesterday after my oldest son got home from school. We bought one.

I was quite skepticle at first, because we have tried the whole “dog thing” in the past and things just didn’t work out. I think this will be different. We are all at different places in our lives and unlike the last dog we tried, this time the whole family is onboard with it. We are now also armed with the book that Tom and Mariah gave us.

My wife is so in love with this puppy, which we still have not come up with a name for, I think I have her talked into a new website devoted to the dog. I will post again about it if/when that happens.

We are still putting together some pictures of the new puppy, but you can see other olden Doodles here.