Direct digital marketers are always under constant pressure to generate sales leads. Lead generation tactics have evolved over time and become more sophisticated, and marketers have been able to take advantage of the latest tools and platforms for cultivating leads. Regardless, generating high quality, sales-ready leads is a difficult objective. The great news for Mr. & Mrs. Direct is that good old email marketing, if done right, is still one of the most effective ways to generate, nurture and qualify ...

Sleek, black curved edges melding into a clear Perspex strip designed to house a single light. A bespoke amber arm, sitting off-centre, joins the ensemble to a raised circular base. No, it’s not some concept piece from a high-profile design house. It’s the LG Flatron IPS 236V.So, you may be thinking, it looks pretty but how does it work as a monitor? The short, simple answer: Brilliantly. The longer, slightly more complicated answer: Brilliantly, but with limitations.Although LG has other ...

Google’s on-site Analytics program has gone from strength to strength since the internet giant bought out Urchin way back in 2005. What started out as a basic web site analytics solution used by web site owners and marketers to better understand their users’ experiences, optimise content and track marketing performance has evolved into a source of real-time on site data thanks to the launch of Real-Time Analytics last week.Google acquired PostRank four months ago and it hasn’t taken ...

The US government forced Google and small internet service provider, Sonic.net to turn over private information gained from email accounts of 28-year old US citizen and Wikileaks volunteer Jacob Applebaum, the Wall Street Journal reports.According to Sonic, which attempted to fight the court order but found it prohibitively expensive, the government wanted the email addresses of people who had been in correspondence with Applebaum.The information was obtained through the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), a law passed in 1986 ...

There was widespread criticism of the South African government after it refused to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday. One thing the government couldn’t do, however, was stop the two spiritual leaders hanging out online.Using the “Hangouts on Air” function on Google+ the two Nobel peace prize laureates discussed peace, compassion and their friendship.The discussion also saw Tutu and the Dalai Lama poking fun at each other and making jokes ...

The 3DS is not doing as well as anticipated, meaning somebody out there is in with a much better shot at finally taking the handheld gaming crown from Nintendo. With the recent announcement at the Tokyo Game Show that the PS Vita will have an astounding 26 games available when it launches in Japan in December, Sony seems poised to exploit the opportunity.Here’s a rundown of the list:@field Army Corps of Hell BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend Browser Sangokushi Touch Battle Dark Quest

While many said they would not rush to buy Apple's new iPhone 4S, colossal US telecom AT&T says that over 200 000 pre-orders of the new smartphone have been confirmed since it began offering the phone on its site.The iPhone 4S is the latest updated model of the iPhone and was released last week, a day before the death of Steve Jobs. In the United States, the iPhone 4S will go on sale on October 14. Other countries include Australia, ...

Mitsubishi Heavy, a Japanese defence contractor, has been hit by over 50 separate computer viruses, causing concern that vital security information may have been compromised.One computer was infected by 28 separate types of virus, including ones that could have been prevented with existing anti-virus software, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun said, amid concerns over the security of defence information.In the wake of the information coming to light, the Japanese defence ministry plans to tell Mitsubishi Heavy to file ...

A columnist, critic, host, writer, analyst and panelist, Bob Garfield is an advertising legend who has written for publications including The Washington Post, The Guardian, the New York Times, CBS, CNBC, Sports Illustrated, Wired and Playboy. Garfield has been a columnist and critic for Advertising Age for 25 years. For the last 10 years, he has co-hosted National Public Radio's radio program, On the Media, as well appearing on various advertising panels in 31 countries on five continents. Over ...

In recent months, the web world was hit with a code exploit that affected many users across various web development platforms, from custom systems to Drupal and WordPress.org. This hack exploited a security vulnerability in the popular TimThumb image resizing PHP script, which allowed the hacker full access to any website running the older version of this script.An exploit of this nature, of course, didn't go unnoticed. Within hours of the exploit being publicised, developers and website owners alike ...