Elton Boocock Information

Since starting his own business at the age of 24, Elton Boocock has made his mark for instinctively knowing what it takes to make a business a success.

Elton's company, Urban Media, is recognised for unfailingly delivering high standards both in terms of the websites built and the customer service offered. Originally, working with Audio and Video, Urban Media rapidly recognised that the internet would be the key delivery medium for such items. The company quickly established itself in the new market of website design and by working with the first version of 'Flash', Urban Media were considered to be at the cutting edge of new media. Consequently, Urban Media immediately attracted the attention of marketing companies and blue chip clients.

Although Elton achieved a high level of success through Urban Media he wanted to do something new. Three years after setting up Urban Media, he launched the Haulage industries biggest website: uk-trucking.net. The site was an extraordinary success with over 5 million visitors per month using the site to locate information, news and services. Advertisers on the site included the major truck manufacturers, fuel companies and tyre companies and the national press and trade journals regularly quoted it.

However, after 3 years of operating the site, the whole of Elton's initial £125,000 investment had disappeared. Irrespective of there being high profile advertisers on board, Elton pulled the plug on it having realised that Urban Media was acting as a financial crutch to the hugely popular, but sadly loss-making uk-trucking.net. But every down has an up as the failure proved to be the catalyst in making Urban Media the phenomenally successful business it is today.

Before the uk-trucking.net experience, Urban Media had focused their attention, in the same way as most current website design companies, on fantastic looking design and at the time (before social media and paid advertising) organic search engine optimisation. The theory behind this was to drive lots of visitors to a website and make the website look good. After the uk-trucking.net experience, Urban Media realised that this simply was not enough. The uk-trucking.net website showed that you could have millions of visits, but still make huge losses. What is paramount therefore is to monitor the effects of the real results and ensure that the website made money.

Using this bruising experience, Urban Media established what really made a website a financial success. Over the next few years, Elton studied everything from business books, to sales and marketing and became proficient in asking difficult questions about why a website owner spent valuable time and money on unproven 'tricks' to success. He rebuffed the fashion trends and concentrated on looking for real results.

This down-to-earth approach coupled with a genuine passion for helping others was a key aspect in Elton receiving the prestigious National Education Business Partnership 'Best Business Partnership Award'. This was a huge achievement as Elton was in competition with many Blue Chip companies to take the top award.

The same drive, passion and business acumen were the reasons he was asked to assist Peter Jones (Dragon's Den) to select 28 students to form the Pathfinder intake of the first 'National Enterprise Academy'. Elton interviewed all of the shortlisted burgeoning entrepreneurs asking the same opening question; "how many business ideas did you 'can' on the way in today?" as he believes that the skill of an entrepreneur lies as much in which ideas you don't adopt to those you do. Elton later taught the successful students that being an entrepreneur is a double-edged sword i.e. both a gift and a disease!

Elton was further recognised when he was asked to assist the government with 'designing' the Diploma qualification, helping those who did not fit the archetypal model for current learning systems. The Creative and Media Diploma, in which Elton is involved, has been designed to help the more hands-on student to achieve excellent results in an area that is relevant to their chosen career. Urban Media, and Elton specifically, are very engaged with local students taking the qualification and Elton provides work experience, mentoring and in-school motivational talks to support them.

Elton is also responsible for organising the Urban Allstar Rally, a charity event that sees teams driving an old banger from High Wycombe through Europe and back to High Wycombe, tackling a number of challenges along the way.

Urban Media remain at the cutting edge in terms of internet and more recently, new media technology such as Facebook and Twitter, but what really makes them stand out is their incomparable focus on return on investment. Elton says: "Google positions, creative design, clever database interactivity, social media and in fact whatever comes next, are all just tools. The minute we begin to measure them in relation to success, we are missing the point. Most businesses are in business to make money. Let's measure that!"

When talking to Elton, you get a real sense that much of this is history and it is the future he is more interested and focused upon; a future where he believes he can help even more people. Recently he led a team of business owners to deliver a massively successful business to business exhibition - Wycombe Expo - in which he detailed a vision for over several years.

The company have been so successful that they have recently launched the ultimate Customer Relationship Management solution, Highway. It was designed because Urban Media couldn't find anything available that offered the toolset that they needed to help clients in the way that met their extremely high standards.

If your website is underperforming or you simply feel that it could be doing more, or if your viral marketing is not delivering the results it should, then Urban Media are the guys to put it on the right path and manage its ongoing success. They also offer regular free training seminars giving you the chance to evaluate where you are, where you are heading to and how to improve. To find out more, click the Urban Media website link at the side of this feature.

Wherever your business may be in the Denham, Gerrards Cross, Chalfonts, Stoke Poges, Fulmer, or Farnham Common areas of Buckinghamshire, let Urban Media help you make it a success. Call 01494 538441 today.

It is to your advantage to mention thebestof Gerrards Cross when contacting Elton Boocock so that they can give you the best of service!

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