Biker News - Regularly updated

Welcome to our News section, where articles are listed below and if relevant within the categories on the right, just to make it easier for you to find what you wish to read...

Please note that the content within our News section (text and images), follows the same copyright laws/notice as all other content on the website - ie not to be reproduced (including slightly amending) without prior consent. 

 RSS Feed

Category: THE BIKER GUIDE®

  1. Charity Donation to NABD from THE BIKER CALENDAR 2010

    Posted on

    A donation of £321 was given to Rick Hulse, from NABD at this years You've Been Nabded, at Astel Park, Chelford on May 8th, from THE BIKER GUIDE from sales of THE BIKER CALENDAR 2010.
     
      THE BIKER GUIDE donation to NABD. Photograph by Captain Smurf

    In accepting the cheque Rick said that "When people start up in business they have a lot of things on their minds and goals they have in place. In the first year of business for THE BIKER GUIDE, they have donated this cheque, as NABD is important to them".

    Sharon Rollisson-Slaughter, from THE BIKER GUIDE, talked about how she had a crazy idea a long time ago to produce a Calendar in the style of the Calendar Girls, with Bikers included and how she was glad the calendar was not 'Scratch and Sniff'!

    The main ethos whilst producing the Calendar was "Its all about the comedy value" and one particular comedy moment was when briefing the Royal British Legion Riders Branch group to how we would take the photograph, she said "We will position the Bikes and then you can strip down to your underwear", where she was greeted with blank stares and mumblings of "I thought it was naked and I have nothing on underneath". As Sharon composed herself and to avoid 'eye contact' with the baby Bikers (!) she tried to change the subject and mentioned that "Is it true that the RBLRB were larger down South than up North".

    The calendar featured Motorcycle Clubs from around the UK, with volunteers virtually naked and carefully posed with their bikes, to avoid any embarrassment or envy and artfully taken in black and white.

    During the summer months of 2009, the photographs were taken of various Motorcycle Clubs across the UK, including members of NABD, The Royal British Legion Riders Branch, Northern Harley Club, Jesters MCC, FELP, The Wrecking Crew, Unwanted MCC, Royal Oak Rejects, Salutation MCC and Bristol & Avon Roadrunners MCC. All in all, 121 Bikers in various forms of undress took part.

    A big thank you goes to all those who took part and dared to bare, everyone who bought the calendar, all those who helped with the promoting and NABD for supporting this idea.

    In association with THE BIKER GUIDE website (www.thebikerguide.co.uk ) they are now looking for Motorcycle Clubs who wish to take part in the 2011 Calendar.

    For more details check the web-site, under the CALENDAR header:
  2. Best Club Turnout awarded to the TOMCC - Mighty South London Branch

    Posted on

    At the TOMCC ANNUAL RALLY 2010 held on 7th - 9th May, 2010, the BEST CLUB TURNOUT AWARD SPONSORED BY THE BIKER GUIDE was awarded to the TOMCC - Mighty South London Branch, who fielded 23 members (total attendance 220)
     

    TOMCC - Mighty South London Branch Best Club Turnout award THE BIKER GUIDE

     
    Photo shows National TOMCC Chairman Fred Hall presenting the trophy to Brian Peters, MSL Rides Leader
     
  3. Naming photographs on your website

    Posted on

    Did you know...    

    If you name each photograph on your website with a relevant name it will help your website be found by search engines (and so rank higher) with terminologies included?    

    Rather than name a photograph on your site room one, ad v or HX22, try naming it as you would like to be found on the internet!    

    For example for the client below, we named photographs:  

    Green cart Biker Friendly Camping Hadrian's Wall Northumberland  
    Greencarts Farm Biker Friendly B&B Humshaugh Northumberland Hadrian's Wall  
    Greencarts Farm Biker Friendly Bunkhouse Hadrian      


    Greencarts Farm    
    A working farm situated in the beautiful Tyne Valley, surrounded by the magnificent, unspoilt beauty of Hadrian's Wall country and with a warm Northumbrian welcome from proprietors Sandra and family. As the farm sits almost on top of The World Heritage site that is the magnificent Hadrian's Wall with its many Forts, visitor's centers and historical points of interest, it is a great base to explore this spectacular area and countryside, including The National Park, Kielder Water, The Scottish Borders, Alnwick Castle & Gardens, Cragside House and just an hour away from the east and west coast, on the Coast to Coast route. The Market town of Hexham, is a short ride away and is steeped in history, with its wonderful 7th century abbey, antique shops and many quality pubs and restaurants. B&B en-suite, tastefully decorated country style accommodation with tea/coffee making facilities. A hearty Northumbrian breakfast is served. Bunk Barn and Camping is also available. Secure parking.

    Humshaugh, Northumberland, NE46 4BW
    01434 681320
    www.greencarts.co.uk 

    SEO    

    Rather than pay for seo, the above can help you to get to the top of pages such as Google, which are relevant to your business.  

    If you already doing this, please accept our apologies.    THE BIKER GUIDE

    www.thebikerguide.co.uk

  4. Contact Us Page - Marketing tips fromTHE BIKER GUIDE

    Posted on

    To many of you this may seem like a very straight forward section to have on your web-site, however many websites just get it SO wrong...

    The entire purpose of a Contact Us page is to help people contact your business as easy as possible, in a variety of different ways.  

    One click Wonder...  
     
    There are certain pages that visitors expect to be able to reach in one click from any page of a website, such as the home page. The Contact Us page is one of these kinds of pages.  
     
    It is not user friendly to include this information at the bottom of your website as many visitors are not going to bother scrolling down. People use the internet as they want information quickly, so make it easy to find at close to the top of the website as possible, either in your left-side navigation or across-the-top navigation... or even both!  
     
    Trust  
     
    Despite the fact that many large companies, such as Amazon, make it hard to find their contact information, it is generally true that if you do not make your contact information easy to find, visitors will trust you less. Trust is everything on the Internet, especially when you're trying to run a business. In general, people will not buy from those they do not trust. Your Contact Us page does not need to have a lot of information; indeed, it's likely to be the smallest page on your website. What should it contain? I'm glad you asked...

    The following three are imperative:  
     
    address - with postal code telephone number, including a land line and a mobile e-mail - not just as a contact us form   You can also include on this page information about yourselves and even a photograph - Remember people buy people so why not let your potential customers know who you are!  
     
    Address - with postal code or gps  
     
    Many people will search your address to plan the route, so include your full address, with postcode and if you can include a hype-link from the post-code to a Google map, even better.  
     
    Telephone number, including a land line and a mobile  
     
    Many people prefer to call on a land-line than a mobile, so try and include both. If you do not have a mobile connected to the business then get one. If someone wants to contact you, they usually want it instantly and not wait for a returned call from your answering service.  
     
    e-mail - not just as a contact us form  
     
    Some people do not like to include their actual e-mail address as you can get spam. So what? Do not put potential customers off by making them fill in a lengthy form when all they want to do is ask you a simple question.   And for the love of all things holy, make that e-mail address relevant to your business. If you own the web-site the e-mail should relate to it. Use any of the following before your web-site address and just get it directed to your e-mail or you can set up a new e-mail account for less than £15 per annum, which relates to this address.   info@ sales@, stay@, enquiries@, etc...
     
    Most people use e-mail these days and for some people they simply prefer it as a means of correspondence - yes rather than talking on a telephone!  
     
    It is now expected that people do not have to speak to someone to ask a question and get an answer. Using e-mail means everyone gets a solid record of the communication, too, providing an extra layer of protection in case things go awry. Also it gives your customers an easy way to contact you after hours.  
     
    Available 24/7/365  
     
    Not everyone will be in a position to call you during your normal business hours. That is simply a fact of life, if you are doing business globally – which you are, technically, if you're doing business on the internet.  So by including all of the above you can be contacted, with ease, any time of the day or night.  
     
    Customers you have not met yet!  
     
    By updating your Contact Us page, your potential customers will appreciate it and you should see a marked increase in enquiries.  
     
    As with all marketing suggestion from THE BIKER GUIDE, apologies if you are already doing this.
     
    THE BIKER GUIDE  
     
    Bringing the Biker Community together!