Ben Lloyd

Web content copywriter / Tech copywriter / Travel writer

United Kingdom

I specialise in computer technology topics including CRM, ERP, Augmented Reality and general computing for brands like Nominet, Three Mobile, Oracle, HP, SanDisk and LogMeIn. I have also written on less-technical topics for major names including Allianz, the Post Office, Motley Fool, Deltek and Trustpilot.

Mail me: [email protected]

See also: https://www.journeyintodarkness.co.uk

Portfolio

Oracle

SlideShare
Movember Your Data! Get Your Data In Shape

Marketing data needs to be carefully pruned like the finest of mustaches. Despite the promise of digital delivery and the driving need to present more engaging...

Business2community
08/28/2014
Why All Departments Must Engage on Social Media

For a business to become truly socially enabled, social media listening techniques need to be implemented across your entire enterprise. The marketing department may well be listening to the market and tracking sentiment already, but the same skills and techniques can be applied by every department including (but not limited to!): Product development.

Oracle
Listen | The Social Influencer | Oracle

Listening is the first and most important aspect of "social business" Any relationship expert will tell you that listening is more important than talking when trying to build rapport. So although social media and electronic communications involve a degree of disconnect, you still have to listen to your market before saying anything.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot
Countdown to Christmas: Get Ready Now for Your Most Profitable Christmas Ever

The Christmas rush is crucial to the success of ecommerce retailers - follow these instructions to get your business ready, using customer reviews to boost sales. There are fewer than 100 shopping days remaining = meaning very little time to get websites/emails/stock levels/staff and reviews in place for the rush.

Trustpilot eGuide
The Pitfalls of Online Reviews

Online reviews are now essential to most shoppers’ purchasing decisions - and that’s exactly why you cannot afford to ignore them any longer.

Claranet

Claranetsoho
Office 365 Business Scenarios: the cost of communication breakdown

The modern business is agile in operations and strategy, often using a distributed network of consultants and freelancers to provide project-specific services. This flexible workforce is invaluable for keeping operating costs low, boosting productivity and preventing resource wastage - but it is also the source of frustration for businesses that do not have a robust, communications platform in place.

Gamma

Gamma
11/11/2014
Don't Turn a Drama into a Crisis: Business Continuity Planning

These four scenarios will help with your own business continuity planning exercises to keep your organisation running in case of a disaster. Local outages are an occasional yet damaging fact of business life. However, with careful business continuity planning you can avoid a local problem escalating into an organisation-wide disaster.

Kroll Ontrack

The Kroll Ontrack UK Blog
04/12/2017
The Complete Guide to Windows 10 Creators Update - Kroll Ontrack UK Blog

Windows 10 Creators Update is set to ship on April 11 th. You've probably heard about the new features, but how do you use them? This guide will take you through the basics and help you get started. If your PC is already running Windows 10, you should not encounter any problems with the new Creators Update.

The Kroll Ontrack UK Blog
05/05/2017
Protecting your data in Windows 10 Creators Update - Kroll Ontrack UK Blog

Windows 10 Creators Update has been in "the wild" for a few weeks now, bringing with it a host of tweaks and features intended to help PC users become more productive. But despite all this "newness", some things remain unchangeable - like the importance of protecting your data.

The Kroll Ontrack UK Blog
04/07/2017
What to expect in the Windows 10 Creators Update - Kroll Ontrack UK Blog

When Windows 10 shipped, Microsoft promised us that this would be the last "Big Bang" operating system release they ever made. From that point on, we should only expect to see a regular stream of incremental updates, in much the same way service pack updates appeared in the past.

Adjuno

Adjuno
02/20/2017
How Are These 9 Industry 4.0 Technologies Going To Transform Production

Industry 4.0 represents the most significant developments in production since the last industrial revolution 200 years ago. Advances in technology and the speed with which these developments have appeared, means that the results of the fourth industrial revolution will dwarf all that came before it.

Adjuno
08/15/2017
Projected trends for manufacturing in China by 2025 - Adjuno

Driven by the "Made in China 2025" mandate, manufacturing in China is set to undergo a massive transformation in the coming years and these 9 tasks have been identified as key priorities: Improving manufacturing innovation Integrating technology and industry Strengthening the industrial base Fostering Chinese brands Enforcing green manufacturing Promoting breakthroughs in ten key sectors Advancing restructuring of the manufacturing sector Promoting service-oriented manufacturing and...

Adjuno
12/12/2016
Practical Ways Retailers Will Benefit from the Internet of Things | Adjuno

The Internet of Things (IoT) is already revolutionising supply chains across a range of industries. IoT refers to the connected network of devices embedded with sensor technology which stores and shares data across multiple platforms, and a report released earlier this year by the IDC states that the revenue of the IoT market in Asia/Pacific alone, is forecasted to cross 853 billion US dollars in 2020.

Travelport Digital

Travelport
How airline eCommerce can leverage iOS (and Android) releases

Apple and Android are neck-and-neck when it comes to innovative evolution, and every operating system update generates a blaze of publicity. This competition is great news for the consumer, while at the same time raises the bar for all smart mobile tech providers.

Travelport
To Ancillary and Beyond

Confident, savvy travellers, high profile airline marketing and increased competition in the travel sector are having one very noticeable effect - downward pressure on headline ticket prices. For those looking after airline eCommerce this is a significant challenge; shareholders demand strong profits year after year and you don't want to let the side down under your watch.

Travelport
4-Star App Ratings - the Key to Increased Airline Revenue

What impact on downloads do you think it would make to have your airline app jump from a 4-star to a 5-star rating? The answer might surprise you. In fact, jumping from a healthy four stars to an impeccable 5 only increases the number of downloads by around 4%.

Parker Software

Parker Software ebook
11/24/2015
Black Friday: Thrive Don't Survive

A white paper that looks at how online retailers can turn Black Friday from a one-day hype fest into a year long success.

Falcon.io

Falcon Social
01/12/2016
7 skills every social media manager needs | Falcon Social

A successful social media manager needs to be able to do a lot more than 'just' craft a witty 140-character message. Despite the huge value created by an effective social campaign, it can sometimes be a struggle to convince the rest of the business.

Melbourne IT

Michael Page

Aerohive

Aerohive
06/09/2016
Retailers: Is Your Network Ready For Real-Time Analytics?

In our previous articles in this series, we looked at actionable data, how Wi-Fi is driving a connected retail experience, and how to engage customers through technology. In today's installment, analyst Miya Knights discusses investments needed to make these goals a reality.

Aerohive
06/16/2016
Can Wi-Fi Help Retailers Build New Relationships With Customers?

In our previous articles in this series on the connected experience, we looked at actionable data, how Wi-Fi is driving a connected retail experience, engaging customers through technology, and building the network for real-time analytics. In today's installment, guest author and industry consultant Craig Crawford, will look at actually how retailers can leverage Wi-Fi to create better relationships with customers.

Computer Data Source (CDS.net)

Computer Data Source white paper
Data centre reality check

Written to accompany a live webinar delivered by CDS, this document looks at practical ways to increase data centre ROI

Exponential-e

Currency Cloud

Cordis Solutions

Cordissolutions
A quick guide to Interoperability - Cordis Solutions - Blog

As the world's only supplier of packaged products using the SAP Gateway for Microsoft, Cordis Solutions know a thing or two about "interoperability". Here is our guide to interoperability and what it means to your business. At the most basic level, interoperability means having the means to link two or more individual systems to share data.

Cordis Solutions
ArcelorMittal Case Study

A case study describing how Cordis Solutions were able to streamline the mergers and acquisitions processes for global steel giant ArcelorMittal

Payara

Payara
Payara Server data sheet

A data sheet explaining the features, benefits and technical specifications of the Payara Server product

Adjuno

Adjuno
08/11/2016
Manufacturing supply chain |Adjuno

To stay ahead in the consumer products industry understanding and capitalising on new technology developments within the manufacturing supply chain is vital. Customers vote with their wallets, so if your brand is unable to deliver a stand-out product or service, they will certainly defer to one of your rivals.Therefore, your supply chain needs to be optimised according to the types of products being sold and your customers' demands.

Adjuno
10/06/2016
Insurance Supply Chain | Adjuno

The insurance supply chain is heavily reliant on effective communications between supply chain partners and their customers. Insurance SCM technology is transforming service delivery by improving communications at every point during the claims fulfilment process. The rapid pace of innovation means improvements are being delivered more quickly and regularly with every technology development.

Adjuno
09/29/2016
Big Data | Supply Chain Management | Adjuno

Acquiring information to power Big Data programs is relatively straightforward, however extracting value from this is much more difficult. Without effective analytics to uncover insights and provide context, Big Data becomes virtually useless in helping to improve Supply Chain Management operations and the service offered to your customers.

Manx Telecom

Manxtelecom
Out with the Old - Why Legacy IT Hardware Could be Holding Back Your Business

Legacy IT is a huge cost drain, making your processes less efficient and eating into profit margins. Worse still, your old systems are also preventing you from using technology to deliver a competitive advantage. Vanson Bourne research published this week by Computer Weekly suggests that 90% of IT decision makers believe legacy systems are making their businesses less efficient.

Manxtelecom
Futureproofing Your Enterprise: Tomorrow's Tech Today

Will increase operational agility. Will reduce operational costs. Will scale in line with changing business demands. Will deliver greater operational efficiency at lower cost. Will improve data availability and enable the mobile workforce. Managed cloud hosting is the solution. This helps by .... Converting expenditure from capital to operational expense.

Deltek

Deltek
11/27/2014
Increase Your Profit, Not Your Prices In The A&E Sector

Growing your company relies on your cashflow and your profits - find out how to improve both with Enterprise Resource Planning. Every business faces one common challenge - how to increase profit margins so that they have the cash available to grow.

Arkadin

Arkadin
07/15/2015
Twelve Key Stages in the History of Unified Communications: 48,000bps, $100 per Hour, 4G and BYOD...

Web conferencing is now everywhere, but the journey from concept to reality has been a long one - here is the complete history of unified communications In this infographic we take a look at the history of unified communications; from the very first public video calling service in Germany in 1936 all the way through to the launch of high definition video conferencing tools such as Skype or Facetime and glimpse into what the future holds for seamless, unified, communications.

iomart

Redspire

Redspire
11/19/2014
3 Tenets That Make CRM Work

CRM - it's as easy as 123. The clue is in the name. CRM - Customer Relationship Management - is built on three principles: 1. Customers. 2. Relationships. 3. Management. CRM is not so much a tool, as it is an ethos that uses software to help fulfil its goals.

Adestra

Adestra
05/15/2014
CMO's Quick Reference: "Big Data", "Mixed Data", "Intelligent Data" - What Does It All Mean?

Data is the key to all successful Modern Marketing techniques, helping to identify new opportunities using all of the available information to hand. But like any new development, marketers have had to introduce new terminology to explain the specifics of each. Here we explain three of these new buzzphrases - big data, intelligent data and mixed data.

Firebox Training

Fireboxtraining
09/08/2014
Oracle ADF Training Tutorial | How To Drag & Drop Table Rows

Moving data between tables in your Oracle database can be time-consuming and labour intensive. This tutorial shows you how to configure your ADF environment to allow for drag-and-drop movement of data between tables, speeding the whole process up in future.

Fireboxtraining
08/22/2014
How To Install Python XY For Windows

If your programming projects ever require any kind of enhanced mathematical or scientific functions, you will probably need to install an additional library. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing the Python XY toolset on your Windows computer.

Fireboxtraining
10/14/2014
Oracle ADF Training Tutorial - How To Program View Objects

This simple demonstration allows you to access master views and drill down to their corresponding children. Before you proceed, you will need to ensure: You have an operational instance of Oracle 11g to work on. You have already installed the JDeveloper tools.

Better Working

Eque2

Eque2
02/11/2014
On Your Marks: Are You Ready for BIM? - Eque2 Blog

What is BIM? "Building Information Modelling (BIM) is digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility creating a shared knowledge resource for information about it forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle, from earliest conception to demolition " - Definition of Building Information Modelling - Construction Project Information Committee (CPIC).

Eque2
03/20/2014
Are You Ready to Go Global? Three Steps - Eque2 Blog

Many businesses are eyeing the opportunities to expand their construction operations into emerging international markets. Here are three tips to get you started. ' The global construction market is predicted to grow by 70% in the next 15 years.' Government Construction Summit 2013 The end of the economic downturn is expected to lead to a new boom in construction projects worldwide.

Tech Write

Tech-write
01/30/2014
Copywriting tip - 10 reasons your Top 10 blog posts suck

If you have used the Internet for more than five minutes, you're bound to have encountered at least one Top 10 blog post or article. Incredibly popular with sites like Reddit and Buzzfeed, these top 10 lists promise all kinds of awesome entertainment and excitement.

Tech-write
08/01/2014
Haters - Are they as important as brand advocates?

The age of social selling has brought with it an increased focus on "brand advocates". By creating a community of super fans, your business will benefit from "free" word of mouth advertising. And in reality, happy customers are good business. But is it possible that brand haters could help your

Tech-write
12/30/2013
MI1020 - When Microsoft got marketing right

After heavily criticising a Microsoft marketing failure, it seems only fair to praise them when they manage to pull off a success. In this case, I'm talking about the MI1020 viral campaign run in London to promote the new Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone. What was MI1020?

Workbooks

Sanderson Multi-Channel Retailing

Sanderson
11/26/2013
Portals: Your Customer Service Secret Weapon

Combining portals and business automation make for happier customers and more profitable organisations. " As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of 'do it yourself.'" - Marshall McLuhan.

Sanderson
02/20/2014
3 Biggest Food and Drink Manufacturing Disasters of 2013: What Went Wrong?

The UK has been hit by several major food safety compliance scandals this year - here are lessons from three of them. Every industry experiences its fair share of mistakes and product recalls, but the need for stringent food safety compliance means that breaches are often considered more 'newsworthy'.

Sanderson
11/28/2013
5 Tips for Getting Payment Gateways Right

Your multi-channel ecommerce success relies a great payment gateway - here's how to pick one Multi-channel ecommerce is reliant on a good payment gateway to ensure that transactions are completed to the satisfaction of both buyer and seller. So how do you identify the right payment gateway for your company?

Marketscan

Marketscan
11/27/2014
What Effect Could Data Protection Law Changes Have on Your Business?

Why you should consider data protection consultancy before the new data protection laws come into force By the end of this year, the Council of the European Union intends to ratify several changes to data protection laws, replacing the EU Data Protection Directive issued in 1995.

KnowTheNet.org / Nominet

Know The Net
06/18/2013
Filling the cyber-security skills gap becomes priority for the UK | Knowthenet - a great place...

It seems more than just a coincidence that the Government also reports concerns that a declining number of students studying computer science at university means that the skills shortage looks set to continue for up to 20 years. The National Audit Office (NAO) calculates that the number of computer science undergraduates dropped by 27% between 2003 and 2008, and there is no sign of this trend reversing since. Since cybercrime is already a huge problem, it’s a worrying trend.

Trubiquity

Trubiquity
Buyer and Supplier Collaboration

By: Karen Bieniek on July 5th, 2013 In today's complex and competitive manufacturing industry, building and maintaining strong relationships across global communities remains as important as ever. Buyer and supplier collaboration, though sometimes problematic, can be significantly beneficial relationship for both parties.

Sanderson Manufacturing