Blog archive 2009
Season’s Greetings and Happy News
Our latest newsletter ‘Seasons Greetings, Happy News and Festive Break‘ is out now. We’ll be taking a short break over the Christmas holidays so please note our office closing ours will be from 5pm Weds 23rd December to Mon 4th Jan 2010. Wishing you all very merry holidays and a happy New Year! ... read more
Cutting Costs and Carbon Newsletter
Our latest newsletter ‘Cutting Costs and Carbon‘ is out now. If you are one of our monthly subscribers to Green Hosting here you will find a way to cut your hosting costs next year. We’re also planning on cutting our carbon in 2010, why don’t you join us. Read our newsletter to find out more. ... read more
Midlands Green Pages launches
Great news for the good people of central England. Newly launched this week is the directory of midlands eco businesses large and small, the ‘Midlands Green Pages‘! At Midlands Green Pages you will find green services and products of all kinds from jewellery, gardening and woodland burials to training courses, weddings and B2B. Of course, ... read more
Cutting 10% of emissions in 2010
Here at Make Hay we’ve just signed up to the 10:10 project. The project to cut carbon emissions in the UK by 10% in a single year. Why? Well, as the folks at 10:10 explain: “…while politicians argue about targets for 2050 and 2020, the scientists say world emissions must peak and begin to fall within the next few years. That means we need ... read more
Nottingham & Notts Parent Partnership Service – New Site!
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Parent Partnership Service supports parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The previous PPS Notts site was out of date and using old technology. They needed a new site which they could update frequently to ensure they could share news of their activities and events, volunteering ... read more
Domain scam…again!
Please be aware of any letters or invoices you receive asking you to renew or transfer your domain name. There seems to be yet another round of false reminders from a company called ‘Domain Renewal Group‘. Their paperwork is suspiciously similar to the previous company (Domain Registry of America / Europe / Canada) we warned about in our ... read more
5 Years of Green Business
This month Make Hay turns 5 years old. The time has flown so fast but at this milestone it makes us very happy to take a look back and a look around, to reflect on how we’ve grown and how responsible business is becoming more mainstream. There’s still a great responsibility for the business world (including us) to increase and improve our green and ... read more
Social Enterprise Support Centre – New Site!
The Social Enterprise Support Centre provides support and consultancy to the social enterprise sector and are one of our longest-standing clients. We’ve worked alongside them as they’ve grown and developed over the years, providing web design, newsletter services, green hosting, support and training. Now SESC have moved forward into another new ... read more
Important: WordPress Security Exploit
This is very important information for anyone using WordPress for their website or blog. It has come to our attention that there is a new security exploit attacking WordPress sites using old versions (i.e. versions before 2.8.4). This new exploit seems to create a ‘fake’ administrator (which you cannot see) within WordPress which may change ... read more
‘Getting’ Green Business Newsletter
Our latest newsletter ‘Getting Green Business‘ is out now. In this issue you’ll find a handy way of adding your Make Mail newsletter sign-up form to your Facebook page, news of a green directory and an international site connecting sustainable businesses. There’s also a link to a handy free image editing tool and an article about how ... read more
How to really not ‘get’ green business
This week we received an e-mail which was such a perfect example of how not to ‘get’ green business I had to share it. The e-mail was from a salesperson who suggested we would be interested in buying his products because we are a company who sells “solar promotional products”. We don’t, and never have, sold solar goods. His ... read more
Resource Efficiency Grants for East Midlands Businesses
The folks at Business Link are providing a free consultation and diagnostic service on resource efficiency for small to medium businesses in the East Midlands. Following this your business may be eligible for a grant of up to £10k to help you improve your environmental performance. Resource efficiency is about managing energy, water and materials to reduce ... read more
Make Mail on your Facebook page
Make it easier for your clients to sign up to your Make Mail newsletter by adding a subscribe form to your business page in Facebook. Take a look at Make Hay’s page to see an example (and become a fan whilst you’re there). If you’d like to add your newsletter sign up form to your facebook page, let us know, and we’ll help you ... read more
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust – New Site!
We are very happy to launch today the brand new Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust website. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is part of the national Wildlife Trusts network and the leading conservation charity in the area. For a long time they had been using FrontPage to update their old website, which had grown organically and become cumbersome and difficult to ... read more
Fashion Labels Using Make Mail
Organic t-shirt company, Albert & I, and fair trade jewellery shop, Jungle Berry, are two of our newest Make Mail clients. They’re using the stylish newsletter system to spread the word about their beautiful clothes and accessories. There are many good reasons for using Make Mail to handle your e-mail marketing. Here are just a few: Your ... read more
Gardening in a Changing Climate – New Site!
My Global Garden is one of our recently re-vamped and re-published sites, providing resources and information on gardening in a changing climate. We originally built the My Global Garden blog back in 2007 and as founder Debbie Anderson has built up the Global Gardening movement her online requirements have developed too. The new blog includes an extensive ... read more
Unscene’s Movie Trailer
One of our lovely Make Hay web design and Green Hosting clients Unscene Production Company have lots of exciting things going on for them at the moment. Not only have we just re-vamped their website, they have also just released the trailer for their very first movie! Unscene is a growing company, building up its reputation in Scotland for supporting ... read more
Marvelous May Freebies and Goodies
Here are a few little gems I’ve found to share just with you. Freebies and goodies abounds! Free Green Blog Listing Get your business blog listed for free in the Best Green Blogs directory. Find some fabulous green blogs to read there too. Magazine Trials and Green Energy Make Mail clients Blue Rocket Group told us about these two goodies this ... read more
Broadening Green Horizons
I recently read a great study on how consumers percieve green products and their decision making behind choosing green, or not. It got me thinking about how we as ethical businesses can reach out more into the mainstream by getting to understand the reasoning behind consumer choices. Having the support and approval of like-minded folk is fantastic but to ... read more
Attenborough Nature Centre & National Parent Partnership Network
We’re very happy to present two of our newly launched web design projects this month, Attenborough Nature Centre and National Parent Partnership Network. Attenborough Nature Centre Attenborough Nature Centre is a visitor and education facility situated within the beautiful Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire. The centre was opened in 2005 ... read more
Ethical Businesses Together Newsletter
Our latest newsletter ‘Ethical Businesses Together‘ is out now. In this issue find a brand new forum for ethical businesses to share views and ideas about doing business responsibly. We also talk about a great marketing kit from HubSpot, the kings and queens of online marketing. There’s news from some of our lovely clients too so check it ... read more
C8ter Cooking on TV!
One of our lovely web design and Green Hosting clients, Cate from C8ter, will be on ITV at 5pm tonight representing the East Midlands in the new cookery show Taste the Nation. C8ter are based in Nottinghamshire and produce delicious meals, buffets and artisan goods from local and organic ingredients. They are truly passionate about qood quality, healthy and ... read more
How to create greener museums?
Green Hosting client Greener Museums was founded by Rachel Madan, a sustainability consultant and coach with ten years of experience supporting companies to become greener. After working with the Tate Rachel found that most sustainability information is not tailored to the needs of the cultural sector. So, she set up Greener Museums for the museum ... read more
Ethical Business Guide
Make Mail e-mail marketing clients Green Rocket Group have created an ethical business guide which offers practical advice and guidance on how companies can operate more ethically and boost their bottom line. The business guide is free to download from their website at: www.greenrocketgroup.com ... read more
Organic GGG Tees for Guys and Girls!
Yes, they’re finally here. Beautiful and stylish organic Green Girls Global and Green Guys Global tees designed by our very own Green Girl Lee Tracy. Each of the 7 designs show a message for living a more sustainable life. They come in various unisex styles, sizes and colours. Every order gets a cotton applique patch and orders of two tees or more ... read more
Gedling Fairtrade Fashion Show 2009
What better way to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight than with a fabulous Fairtrade fashion show? Vicky here at Make Hay is a member of the Gedling Fairtrade Group who are hosting the fashion show on Wednesday 4th March at Redhill Comprehensive School. Doors open at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8pm. Enjoy live music whilst you browse the Fairtrade stalls and ... read more
Greenmetrics Launched
We’re very happy to announce the launch of one of our latest web design client projects, Greenmetrics. Greenmetrics works with businesses to incorporate environmental, social and economic performance into their business communications. Their services include environmental performance measurement, research and benchmarking, community engagement and ... read more
Link Love Newsletter
Our latest newsletter “Give a little link love” is out now. Valentine’s Day isn’t just for romantics, let’s all benefit from sharing a little link love. Read our newsletter to find a few easy and best of all free ways to do this. Get link love from us – Make Hay, Green Hosting and Make Mail clients can share their news ... read more
Elio Studio Opens
One of our recent web design projects, finished ready to bring in the New Year, was Elio Studio from the lovely Leonora Oppenheim. Elio Studio is a sustainable design and consultancy practice, providing services in bespoke design, consultancy and writing. They specialise in communicating environmental issues and bringing it into the mainstream via a ... read more
Eco Chic Wedding and Home Show
Make Hay web design client Ethical Weddings has joined forces with Greenfinder and Just The Thing to host the UK’s first Eco Chic Wedding and Home Show. The event takes place on Sunday 8th March at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens from 11am to 4pm. Going green shouldn’t just be for your big day, so as well as exhibitors and suppliers from the ... read more
What 2009 will bring
Happy New Year! This time of year is always buzzing with the excitement of new things, positive change and plans for the future and its no different here at Make Hay HQ. The first part of this year will see us re-launching our own websites and making the most of online opportunities to promote ourselves and our clients more than ever. We keep being told ... read more