Mr Site community

Did you know around one in five young people (aged between 14 and 30) in the UK are not in work, education or training. Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1billion every year.

The Prince's Trust addresses this problem by giving practical and financial support to the young people who need it the most. They help develop key skills, confidence and motivation, enabling young people to move into work, education or training. Mr Site works alongside The Prince's Trust to offer free and discounted Takeaway Website packages to those applying for grants. So, if you'd like to find out more about The Prince's Trust funding schemes click here.

Our expert this month comes from Frank PR – an award winning consumer PR agency that offers a different take on how PR can have the biggest impact for a brand. They come up with creative ideas, platforms and themes which kick start word-of-mouth and talkability. Have a look at www.frankpr.it to to see some of their great PR successes.

Sam Pearson of Frank PR, tells her thoughts on how you can start promoting:

"PR is a vital business tool for small and big businesses alike. Generating press coverage for your business through PR provides a great opportunity to get your company or brand in front of the eyes of hundreds and thousands of people and is much more credible than direct sales or advertising."

This month, we have asked the founder of www.42pr.com, Jason Wyer-Smith, to give us his thoughts on the benefits of PR. Until he decided to set up his own agency in 2008, Jason was a Senior PR Manager for Sir Richard Branson's financial services company, Virgin Money.

"Most companies have a story to tell. It may not be a ‘front page of The Times' type story (very few are!) but with all the various newspapers, magazines and websites your potential customers could read there will almost certainly be journalists interested in writing stories about you, your company, your customers and your industry."

First things first - let's clear up what branding actually is and why it's so important for your website.

To help explain, we'd like to introduce a new monthly segment to the Mr Site newsletter that calls on experts to share their skills and experiences. So to help give you an introduction on how to start branding your website, Mr Site is bringing you some exclusive tips from Simon Middleton, The Brand Strategy Guru.

Simon is one of the UK's best-known independent brand strategy advisors and has worked with some of the country's biggest brands. His book How To Build A Brand In Thirty Days is being published by Capstone early next year and you'll see Simon this autumn as an expert brand advisor in Duncan Bannatyne's new series about seaside businesses on the Virgin 1 channel. So if a Dragon is asking Simon's advice, we think you could find it useful too!

Following our fitness theme, Website of the Month belongs to Emma Boffo, who runs Boffos Bootcamp in Middlesex, UK. Boffo's Bootcamp is a four week course open to anyone serious about committing to a healthier lifestyle. Emma has always been very passionate about fitness and wanting to educate others, so started her website in November 2008 to promote the Boffos

Bootcamp services online. Alongside exercise, Emma also offers advice on nutritional plans to achieve maximum fat loss, personal training and even specialist sessions for yummy mummies!

Visit: Boffo's Bookcamp

Thank you to everyone who submitted their credit crunch stories. Not only have you shown us some great websites, but we've heard lots of inspiring accounts from Mr Siters that have beaten the recession to follow their dreams and ambitions. This month's winners of a luxury hamper are Heather and Piers Locke of Gourdgeous Gourds –

www.gourdart.co.uk

The husband and wife duo started their Mr Site website in October 2008 and haven't looked back!

"My credit crunch story goes back to last June when I was made redundant from my cherished London job after almost three years working there," says Heather. "Our entire team was let go and I was crushed. My husband was also looking for work so we were terrified that neither of us would find anything and our modest savings would be eaten up in rent and bills. Luckily, I found another job but it was a lot less money for longer hours and the work itself was quite tedious. It was at this point I decided to take a leap.

I'd been carving and painting gourds as a hobby and people had been telling me that I should sell them online. I was no web building buff and never took their advice seriously, but with my new job being so boring I needed something to help me feel happy again. Now I sell my gourd art at a crazy rate. My site gives me a great sense of purpose and accomplishment and I never would have done it without Mr. Site. My husband recently got a job and we've moved to Wales, where I plan to sell my gourds full-time. It's been a bizarre year, full of worries and uncertainty, but I think we've finally landed on our feet."

From April, Mr Site will be helping you save even more money by partnering with web-based accountancy application, KashFlow. It follows the same easy use principles as Takeaway Website and has been specifically designed for small business owners with little or no accountancy experience; meaning anyone can be up and running within minutes.

For any questions or problems the Kashflow support team offers a fast, friendly and free service to all users. For more information about KashFlow, click here. To claim your free 90-day trial please click here.

With our brand new affiliate scheme, every time you refer a friend or colleague who then goes on to purchase a Takeaway Website through the methods below, you will earn £5 for Beginner, £7 for Standard and a massive £15 for Pro. Not only that but your friend will get £5 off Beginner, £7 off Standard and £15 off Pro too! Click here to see what you will get in other currencies.

Add a banner to your website
Help earn yourself some extra money by adding a Mr Site graphical banner to your website. When visitors to your website click on the banner and purchase a Takeaway Website via its web link, they will receive their discount and you will receive your money! Don't forget to check out our new banner designs.

Tell a friend about Mr Site
Tell your friend about Mr Site, then get them to visit www.mrsite.co.uk/friends and enter a special offer code, unique to you. If they purchase via this link, using this code, they will receive their discount and you will receive your money!

To find out more, log into your Mr Site account, click on "Extras" in the Main Menu, then click on "Make Money".

Please remember that Mr Site staff will NEVER give out passwords over the phone unless you satisfy the security procedure. This is not to intentionally frustrate or make you angry; it's actually to safeguard your Site (and its content) from falling into the wrong hands. If you have forgotten your password, we can only talk to the registered user whose name appears in your account information.

If you call Mr Site saying you have forgotten your password, we will ask you your security question. If you answer correctly, we will then call you back on the telephone number you entered when you first signed up. Or we can resend your password by email or post it to the address you entered when you first signed up. It is therefore crucial you keep your account information up to date. If you move house or change mobile number or email address, it is your responsibility to update your Mr Site account information accordingly.

The new Takeaway Website Beginner was awarded 5 out of 5 stars in the December edition of ComputerActive Magazine. At £19.99, the price may be small, but Beginner still packs a punch!