Web Sites

Advice: MyTwitBook – a parent’s guide to social media – Part Two

December 29, 2009

Last month, I outlined what social media is, and began to give you, the parent, a quick primer on some of the big players (if you can’t get a hold of last month’s Bellarines Best, just head to rebusiness.com.au for a quick recap). We covered SMSs, MySpace and the wonderful world of Blogging, but we saved the best till last…

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Advice: MyTwitBook – a parent’s guide to social media – Part One

November 27, 2009

Part One: Baby-boomers, Gen Y, Gen X, Gen *whatever* – one thing I know for sure is that the generations are slowly becoming separated by the tyranny of new technology – more so by the pace at which new technology evolves. For parents, the issue is two-fold: 1) where are my children going on the internet? and 2) what harm/good my children be able to do?

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Advice: Psst… what’s the password?

October 18, 2009

Passwords, PIN numbers and security access codes – they seem like the bane of 21st century living. It’s so easy to forget which combination goes with which web site or with which credit card. Remembering passwords is almost a skill in itself. But with more and more of our lives going online, the first and foremost line of defence against unwanted intruders is the strength of our passwords.

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Advice: How to turn web visitors into web customers

July 3, 2009

In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed his “hierarchy of needs” – food, safety, love, respect & acceptance – a series of 5 levels that were the building blocks for every human’s existence. In 2009, I’m proposing a new set of 5 ‘needs’ to be able to turn a web visitor into a customer.

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Advice: The ‘one percenters’ – a list of small things every business should/shouldn’t do

June 22, 2009

If the world of business was able to borrow just one phrase from the world of AFL Football, then I’d hope it was the concept of the ‘one percenters’ – the idea that it’s all the little tiny things that players do that win the game for their team. Get enough ‘one percenters’ going your [...]

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Advice: Twitter 101: A primer…

April 20, 2009

So… what is Twitter? Ah, the multi-million dollar question… Perhaps it’s easier to answer what Twitter is *not*, first:

• Twitter is not exactly like a chat program (MSN, iChat, Skype, etc), but it does let you communicate back and forth with friends
• Twitter is not exactly like sending an SMS from your phone, but it does let you broadcast news and other messages to many people
• Twitter is not exactly like a blog, although it does let you get to know people over time
• Twitter is not exactly like Facebook, although it does let you find people and see what they’re up to
• Twitter is not just a fad – it fills the otherwise empty niche of ‘real-time written communication’ – although it seems to be the mainstream media’s darling this year!

What Twitter *is*, is a free system of writing messages of no more than 140 characters, so that anyone in the world who is also on Twitter can *follow* you, and thereby follow the stream of messages you’re writing.

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Folio: Tinybeans.com logo

December 1, 2008

Working remotely with a client based in Sydney, the brief was to fully develop his business from his initial mockup, to a fully formed web application.

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Advice: Search Engine Optimisation 101

September 22, 2008

Search engine *what*? Yes, yes, sorry if I use too many ‘big words’ this month, but for a lot of businesses, ‘optimising’ your site so that it appears higher in the big search engines is well worth the effort.

So, up front: what is search engine optimisation?

SEO (*much* easier to write than ’search engine optimisation’) is the process of preparing your web site so that it ranks higher on the search results page of a search engine. The aim is to be seen before your competition – and even though it may or may not result in more clicks through to your web site, at least you were *found* – from that position, you can work on ways to increase your conversion/click-through rate. If you consider the reverse position, where your web site does not feature at all for a given search, then trivial things like your conversion rate won’t matter at all if no-one can find you.

So how the heck to we make sure our site is featured prominently for any given search? And how do I make sure my site is listed before my competitor’s site?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Read on…

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News: Introducing MyPerfect.com.au

August 22, 2008

Introducing MyPerfect.com.au – a locally built internet empire with global aspirations.

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Advice: A coffee and a blog for breakfast

June 20, 2008

How do you start your day? Coffee, tea or fresh OJ? Perhaps a slice of toast and the morning paper? For a lot of the population, it’s not only the morning wake-up routine, but it’s also their chance to get their daily dose of news and events.

Newspapers are still a fresh and consistent source of local and regional news and events, with their wide range of columns and inserts, but (you *knew* there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you?) newspapers are edited for the general population, with general interest and general topics that generally please everyone…

Let me show you a way to pick and choose your own topics of interest from around the world, and roll-your-own newspaper, so that you can start the day with your perfect selection of news, columns, and advice – and begin your day with coffee and a blog for breakfast.

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