Aggregated external news

SEO Visual Blueprint: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing
by Kristopher B. Jones (Author)
Publication Date: 29 July 2010

Buy new: £19.99 £16.99

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The Internet Case Study Book
by Rob Ford (Editor), Julius Wiedemann (Editor)
Publication Date: 30 Mar 2010

Buy new: £24.99 £18.74

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Viral Explosions!: Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand Online
by Peggy Mccoll (Author)
Publication Date: 22 April 2010

Buy new: £18.99 £16.14
2 used & new from £9.79

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Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
by Chris Treadaway (Author), Mari Smith (Author)
Publication Date: 12 May 2010

Buy new: £19.99 £12.99

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Advanced Google AdWords
by Brad Geddes (Author)
Publication Date: 21 April 2010

Buy new: £26.99 £22.94

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Social Media Marketing All-in-One for Dummies
by Jan Zimmerman (Author)
Publication Date: 30 Aug 2010

Buy new: £19.99 £14.99

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Performance Marketing with Google Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI: Practical Techniques for Maximizing Online ROI
by Sebastian Tonkin (Author), Caleb Whitmore (Author), Justin Cutroni (Author)
Publication Date: 18 May 2010

Buy new: £26.99 £17.54

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Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing: An Hour a Day
by David Szetela (Author), Joseph Kerschbaum (Author), Michael Flores (Author)
Publication Date: 5 July 2010

Buy new: £19.99 £14.99

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More than £26m is raised for global causes by celebrities and the public taking part in the BBC's Sport Relief charity event.

This weekend (Friday 19th to Sunday 21st March) is Sport Relief. It only comes around every two years, but when it does, it’s one of the biggest fundraising events in the calendar, so we always see a lot of Sport Relief activity on JustGiving. But before getting on to a round-up of what’s going on, I thought it would be worth just saying, for those who don’t know, Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief in which celebrities from the worlds of sport and TV come together to try and get people in the UK active, while at the same time raising money to help transform the lives of poor and vulnerable people both at home and abroad. In 2008 the event raised a total of £28 million and the organisers are hoping to beat that this year.

Tune in to BBC One from 7:00 PM tonight for an evening of Friday-night entertainment featuring mash ups of some of your favourite sports personalities and shows (Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker on Masterchef, anyone?) as well a look back at some of the amazing celebrity Sport Relief challenges that have taken place over the last few months, beginning with Eddie Izzard’s incredible pledge to run round the UK – the equivalent of 43 marathons in 51 days! (You may remember we blogged about this way back in August 2009).

Eddie has already raised more than £300,000 and you can still sponsor him via his Sport Relief page or his lesser-spotted JustGiving page. What’s even more amazing is that we’re seeing lots of people setting up a wide variety of JustGiving pages - not just for Sport Relief or running events - citing Eddie as their main inspiration!

Equally impressive is Lawrence Dallaglio’s Cycle Slam, which saw the former England rugby captain and a team of friends including Lee Dixon, Ally McCoist and Les Ferdinand set off from Rome on the 12th February and arrive in Edinburgh on the 12th of March after taking in all of the stadiums from the Six Nations Championship. Lawrence also threw down the gauntlet (or should that be cycling glove?) and invited you to join him on a leg of his challenge. Hundreds of you accepted, meaning all involved are now tantalisingly close to reaching the overall target of £1 million. Will it be reached tonight? You can sponsor Lawrence on his JustGiving page here.

There were not one, but two £1 million pound cycle challenges this year, the second being David Walliams & friends’ ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End, which has raised £1,006,509 and counting. What’s particularly interesting about this challenge is the innovative way in which team member Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones decided to use his JustGiving page (and he should know, right?). Instead of opening up his page to donations of any size, he asked for only donations of £100 and only from companies. So far he’s raised £89,797, which just goes to show sometimes it pays to find your fundraising niche.

Elsewhere JustGiving’s all-time top fundraiser Phil Packer and BBC news presenter Kate Silverton took on the Three Peaks Challenge. You can read more about their adventure and sponsor them on their Sport Relief page.

And that’s just scratching the surface. To see more of the celebrity fundraisers raising money for Sport Relief take a look at the top fundraisers on their charity profile.

But it’s not all about celebrities. On Sunday thousands of people will rise to the challenge of doing something fun and active to raise money for charity by running the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile. The JustGiving Help Desk’s very own Gillian Turton is one of them. Here’s what she had to say about the event:

After watching the amazing efforts of Eddie Izzard last year and also finding out that one child dies from malaria in Africa every 30 seconds, I wanted to help raise some funds this year. I found out that a mosquito net cost £5.00. I spend at least five times this amount on a night out to voluntarily feel poorly the next day so it was time to help.

After seeing the adverts on TV, I logged on to the Sport Relief website to sign up for a mile. Having not run for more than 30 seconds in about five years, “Surely I’ll be able to manage a mile”, I thought. I was then confronted with the options to sign up for 1 mile (“the family mile”), 2-3 miles or 3-6 miles and I knew I had to push myself a little further than the family mile that is mostly for children or face the jokes from my friends and would-be sponsors. So I paid my £5.00 entry, bought my Sport Relief socks and set up my JustGiving Page with a funny story and even funnier photo.

And here I am, Friday afternoon, having done a little training and already exceeded my target of £100, all set for the jog down the Embankment on Sunday! Having heard rumors that a few celebs may be there, I am getting rather excited. I just hope I don’t get any five-year-olds sprinting past me, oh the shame!

howardlake: I've favourited a YouTube video -- The Future of Publishing - created by DK (UK) http://youtu.be/Weq_sHxghcg?a

A financial adviser wearing fancy dress while raising money died when he hit his head after being punched, a court hears.

A fresh dig at the site of the Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard is to take place.

Sorry some of my recent posts have been re-posts…but when stuff is worth sharing, its worth re-posting! Anyway here is a post from Future Fundraising Now on why things can get off the mark in meetings…oh its so true! A great article in Inc. magazine asks if you’ve ever invited employees to a meeting just so they wouldn’t [...]

A Fife student is attempting to become the youngest Briton to conquer the highest mountain on every continent.

Highlander star Adrian Paul's children‘s charity The PEACE Fund has been named one of 33 finalists in the Show Us Your Goodness Contest sponsored by Canada’s Snack Alliance Corp. The Peace Fund has an opportunity to win up to $20,000 to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

The general public is being invited to vote for their most inspiring “People’s Pick” award in the Riceworks “Show Us Your Goodness” charity contest, which will award the winners $60,000 in shared prize money.

The company behind the popular contest is Snack Alliance Inc ., the maker of Riceworks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps. The contest is part of a social media campaign that invites consumers to vote online for the charitable program they believe has gone the extra mile to “serve the greater good.”

“The viral aspect was amazing and we unexpectedly received more than 2500 submissions, which meant we had a difficult time to select the most deserving 33 charity semi-finalists,” says Tricia Ryan, Director of Marketing for Riceworks. "Still, we tried to be fair and visit all issues – health, aging, children, animals, homelessness – in our selection process.

“The nominations really opened our eyes to the selfless and generous nature of all those who support causes that are close to their hearts.”

This voting phase continues until April 30, at which time a select panel of six judges will vote for the top three finalists to win $20,000, and $5,000 each respectively, while the remaining 30 semi-finalists will share $1,000 each as part of the Sponsor’s Choice Award.

Click here to cast your vote for The Peace Fund.

Related past articles

• Adrian Paul Launches PEACE Fund Charity Auction For Haiti
• World Magic Awards To Feed The Children

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Copyright © 2010 Look To The Stars. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would contact us.

Written by Tim Saunders

Teen star Demi Lovato used Twitter to appeal to fans to urge their parents to take part in the 2010 US census this week, joining Eva Longoria in encouraging participation.

“A lot of you may not understand why I believe it’s important that the youth of today is informed about the 2010 census,” Lovato wrote. "The census isn’t something only adults should pay attention to. The significance of the information that’s counted and used to fund more schools, hospitals, the environment and many other important things for our community. The things we fill out on this census today will effect us for the next 10 YEARS… that’s a long time people!!!

“Even if YOU aren’t the one filling out the census, you could be the person in your household that makes your parents, and many other people aware of how serious this is and could possibly make a huge difference for your community. The great thing about this census is only good can come from it… so why not fill it out? Our generation can impact the future.. Because ultimately, our generation IS the future.”

Earlier in the week, Eva Longoria recorded a PSA to encourage fans to take part.

“Our participation in the 2010 census determines how funds will be used to support pre-schools, educational programs and build new schools.

“It will also support maternal and child healthcare as well as improve our highways, bridges and roads. Your participation in the census will help create job training programs and help improve emerging and disaster recovery services. The 2010 census – it’s easy, it’s important and it’s safe.”

Watch the PSA here.

Related past articles

• Joe Jonas And Demi Lovato Make A Wave For Charity
• Stars Come Out For Charity Cocktail Party
• Ricky Martin Leads All-Star Cast To Raise Charity Cash For Haiti
• Miley Cyrus Launches Charity Auction For Haiti
• Eva Longoria Launches Charity Chocolates With Elton John

Want to write for us, or help with our research? Find out more about contributing.

Copyright © 2010 Look To The Stars. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would contact us.

Khyra Ishaq fallout, bleak reality of social housing and plans for social enterprise

Today's top Society Guardian stories

Khyra Ishaq fallout: Birmingham sacks six social workers

Private investors lined up for for prisoner rehabilitation scheme

Improve or close, watchdog tells two NHS trusts

"Disgraced" Boris ally quits London authority

Madeleine Bunting on the Catholic church child abuse scandal

All today's Society Guardian stories

Other news

Birmingham City council director of children's services Colin Tucker explains why he sacked six social workers in an BBC audio interview. "We are here to safeguard children," says Tucker, "it's not just a job club."

Hundreds of pubs facing closure could be rescued under government proposals to fund "community buyouts," reports the Times.

Bleak reality of social housing

How bad is the social housing crisis? Well, a pitiful eight (out of 323) local authorities in England delivered sufficient new affordable housing to meet demand last year, according to the latest figures compiled by housing charity Shelter. Its impressive (and addictive) Housing League Table provides a report card for each council by comparing official estimates of housing need with average numbers of homes provided in each authority area in 2008-09.

There's a cluster of small councils in the north west - Pendle, Rossendale, Copeland, West Lancashire - and a handful of london authorities - Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden - at the bottom of the list. But so wretched are the housing figures across the board - roughly 70 councils failed to meet even 10% of the demand for affordable homes in their area - that reading the table as an exact proxy for council performance is probably unproductive. Demand may be rising but no-one's building.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, accepts that the recession has made housebuilding difficult. But he points out that councils have a responsibility both to identify housing need and ensure demand is met:

"These figures clearly show that councils must work far harder to ensure more desperately needed affordable homes are provided if they ever hope to meet the housing needs of their local population. With 1.8 million households on housing waiting lists and more than one million children living in overcrowded homes it is unacceptable that only eight councils have provided enough affordable homes to meet local need."

You can dig deeper into the data to get an insight into each area's particular challenges. Kensington and Chelsea, for example, delivered just 3% of affordable housing need. It had 6,687 households on social housing waiting lists at 1 April 2009 but only 597 lettings were made to new tenants. Just 39 homes - all housing association - were built in the borough last year. At this rate, it would take over 11 years to clear the waiting list, even were there to be no new additions. Why the need for social housing? The data shows that while the annual income needed to buy an average home in Kensington and Chelsea is £158,000, average annual income is £41,000.

But even the top ranked council - South Norfolk - struggles. It provided 313 new affordable homes last year, comfortably exceeding the estimated need for 121 units. But it still has 4,000 households on the waiting list, and at current letting rates it would take nearly eight years to clear. The solution? Find innovative ways of boosting housing delivery, says Shelter. It lists some here.

Tory plans for social enterprise

A Conservative government has got plans for the voluntary sector and social enterprise. Prisons, welfare and health will be key markets for social businesses, Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne told the Conservative third sector summit organised by ACEVO yesterday. Specifically this means: longer term public service delivery contracts; simplified commissioning processes, an emphasis on outcomes rather than processes, and the creation of a social investment bank (Social Enterprise reports that the Tories will invest £200m in this).

What do they want in return? Allison Ogden-Newton, CEO of Social Enterprise London, who blogged heroically all day, notes that Osborne had the following list of demands: "Delivering to scale, professionalism, and value for money more specifically greater productivity than we have had from the public sector."

The Financial Times focuses on Osborne's acceptance that there would be local "variations" in public services - that's post code lotteries - a concept which Osborne admitted represents a big challenge to the "political and media culture". They quote Osborne:

"A massive challenge for everybody will be explaining that if we want things done locally, then not everyone is going to get a uniform service... [government] by its nature, tries to offer uniformity and wants to regulate every process. We have to resist that".

Blogger Craig Dearden Phillips - a Lib Dem councillor - was impressed by the Tories, although sceptical that they will have the political will or mandate to carry any of it through. He writes:

"They get it. They seem to understand how producer interest in the public sector really does work against the most vulnerable. There's a healthy impatience with the absurdities of the public sector. A much bigger philosophical embrace of civil society than even the better Labour Ministers could manage. Indeed, their 'Big Society' idea is actually rather a good one - wish my lot had thought of it."

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