Conference and Convetion Centres in Hobart

We’re testing whether it’s difficult to get a good ranking in Google in a short period of time.

We’ve created a single-page website about conference venues and wedding function centres in Hobart, Tasmania.

Empress Trees had their domain name stolen

OK… so maybe the registrar didn’t advise the business owner that the domain name was expiring. Regardless, Empress Trees Australia are now at a new web address empresstreesaustralia.com.au

Luciano Jewellers in Sydney’s Inner West

Luciano Jewellers in Wareemba, NSW, have great ranges of beads, earrings, bracelets and bangles which can all be purchased online and delivered direct to the customer’s home or workplace.

They have just set up their free register55 online retail store. They have a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop at 290 Great North Road and now sell jewellery and watches products including Inori, Moress, and Seriously Twisted.

 

Gifts, Books, and Jewellery

On Eagles Wings Gifts & Books in Deception Bay, Queensland, have just set up their free register55 online retail store. They have a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop at and now sell jewellery products including Faith Insignias.

They have great ranges of charms, neck chains and pendants, bracelets and bangles which can all be purchased online and delivered direct to the customer’s home or workplace.

Charms in Campbelltown

Divine Collections Jewellery & Gifts in Campbelltown, NSW have great ranges of beads, earrings, bracelets and bangles which can all be purchased online and delivered direct to the customer’s home or workplace.

They have just set up their free register55 online retail store. They have a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop at Level 3 MacArthur Square Shopping Centre and now sell jewellery and watches products including Inori, Moress, and Seriously Twisted.

register55 re-launches the Australian retailer website

register⁵⁵ (one of my “little” projects) has just re-launched our website that offers any Australian ‘bricks and mortar’ retailer a free online store. It’s hard to believe, but there are still wholesalers and distributors that are in denial that the internet is here… and it’s not going away. They firmly believe they can protect their turf, simply by ignoring that which is plainly obvious.

Any retailer in Australia can set up a fully-functioning website shop that actually makes sales. Best of all, there’s no effort needed by the retailer. They don’t have to hold stock, process payments, or pack and post purchases.

Most of our suppliers are located in Sydney and Melbourne, but we’re expecting to be soon shipping from as far away as Perth and Brisbane. So far, our most remote retailer is in Newman, West Australia – that’s 450km south west of port Hedland in the Pilbara!

Boulevard Pharmacy online store in Newman WA

Boulevard Pharmacy in Newman, WA, have just set up their free register55 online retail store. They have a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop at Shop 19 Boulevard S/C Newman Drive and now sell jewellery and watches products including Circles of Life, Faith Princess, Inori, Moress, and Seriously Twisted, supplied by Seriously Twisted Jewellery and Faith Insignias.

They have great ranges of Bracelets and Bangles, Necklets and Pendants, Earrings, Charms, Chains, and Beads which can all be purchased online and delivered direct to the customer’s home or workplace.

Managing an online reputation

I recently had a call from a guy who was concerned that the main listing when Googling his name was about a appearance he had to make in front of a Government regulatory body, and telling them he wouldn’t work in the financial services industry for at least 5 years.

He was worried (I think) that this might damage his professional reputation. He’s probably right given that many recruiters now do an online search for a potential candidate, by name, to see what they find.

His call prompted me to Google myself. I do online marketing, but if you search for John Cuthbertson, you’re likely to find my ‘hobby’ photography website. I’m quite happy with people knowing I do photography, but as a day job, I really need to raise my online marketing professional profile. So I’ve started working on it… and I’ll keep tracking my progress here.

I’ve also set up a new online business offering online reputation management services. After thinking about it, I’ve come to believe it’s search engine optimisation (SEO) in reverse. Rather than targeting long tail keyword searches (the most effective marketing strategy I know of, given the high conversion rate), online reputation management involves niche marketing, targeting a single phrase i.e. a person’s or business’ name.

The slowest elephant

In order to not leave any members behind, the herd only moves as fast as the slowest elephant.

In actual fact, I have no idea whether this is true or not, but the concept certainly fits well with business.

For some reason, the status quo is usually “do nothing”. The less conservative partners (or decision makers) have to prove to the more conservative players that a change should be made, or new strategy attempted.

Sometimes this is on gut-feel, sometimes on demonstrable statistics (for whatever they are worth), but most times, on a bit of both. The demoralising thing for the innovators is they have to drag their feet until the rest catch up.

When the world is focussed on moving forward at an ever-increasing pace, an opportunity can be missed, or even worse, the motivation lost to push the changes through.

How can you change the status quo in your business?

Back yourself!

I’ve long believed it’s not about being right, it’s about being the most convincing. Others won’t question you if you sound like you know what you’re talking about, and there’s a chance they may embarrass themself if they need to argue their point.

After posting the short Seth Godin video, it occurred to me why he makes such an impact. Seth backs himself. He has the nerve to say that which many of us are often already thinking, but not sure enough of until we hear it from someone else’s mouth.

That’s not to say I don’t stick my neck out…but perhaps, I should do it more often.

Seth’s last word on Social Networking?

Is this the last word on Social Networking? How much of it is hype…and how much will go the distance?

It’s easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, without thinking things through and applying some common sense. Seth Godin usually has something smart to say:

Blow up the big screen

I’ve just re-published some pages for Outdoor Events Australia who hope to get more customers through their website, particularly with the summer season not too far away.

Their main problem was a fairly common SEO mistake of not including their keywords in their paragraph headings, and repetition of keywords in the page meta data.

They rent out inflatable cinema screens – so get in touch with Dave if you’re around Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane.

The Human Cost of Traffic Flow

View Church Street – King Street Intersection in a larger map

There’s an intersection in Newtown, Sydney (the corner of King Street and Church Street) where the traffic turning on to King Street has to wait an eternity for the lights to change green.

When they finally do, the long line of waiting cars RACE through the intersection, knowing the lights stay green for only a short time (15 seconds, to be exact). For at least 10 seconds of that time, cars turning left are waiting for pedestrians, so the traffic is stationary.

I’m sure it’s all in the interests of keeping traffic flowing along King Street (also known as the Princes Highway).

There are so many near misses it’s scary. A few more seconds of green and waiting drivers would be less stressed, they’d drive through with patience, and the danger would disappear.

What would it take for a traffic engineer to think it worthwhile to take a look?

Cuthbertson not Carperson

I have lost track of the number of variations I’ve encountered of my surname. Just a few:

• Cupperson
• Custards
• Custardson
• Cusperson
• Cutherbertson
• …and the most imaginative – Carperson.

I think there’s a lot to be said for not naming your child with a first name that has ridiculous spelling. They’ll spend their life spelling it over the phone.

I have found the origin of Cuthbertson.

Professional photographer for hire

The photography website is now almost complete.

I’m interested in having assignments for small weddings, and promotional shots for businesses and launches.

To build up my portfolio I’m happy to consider doing a few assignments for free.

If you’re looking for a photographer based in Sydney, I hope you get in touch.

Plumbers and Leaking Taps

I have Swedish friend Freddie who’s been in Sydney for less than a year but is in the process of establishing his own plumbing business in the Eastern suburbs (Bondi, Coogee, Double Bay…that kind of area).

Anyway, we’ve decided to offer a prepaid service to have a plumber go to house and replace all the washers in all the taps, in one go. It seems that most plumbers can’t be bothered with such a minor task. It also seems that most people might think is strange to pay upfront. The thing is, we’re guaranteeing that the plumber turns up on time.

Hopefully, we’ll pick up a few jobs before too long.

We know what you want (or at least, we can find out)

I thought writing a blog could not be that difficult. Yet it’s weeks since I lasted posted anything.

I’ll try and be a little more committed to the cause.

I’ve decided to move the office “permanently” to Balmain. There are plenty of business ideas in the pipeline and Simon and I have decided to move ahead with printing some business cards. We’ll be offering internet and marketing strategic services. The description sounds a little complicated but the idea is this:

• We have a business contact us for a webiste quote and/or design
• We attempt to quote, but given the client’s “brief” is a little bit TOO brief (and from experience we know that the scope will only get bigger rather than smaller), we’re left scratching our heads for a few days
• When the scratching stops, we quote but probably have to inflate the price because of unknown (although more likely, just “undefined”) contingencies

We’ve decided not to provide website quotes up front. First, we’ll offer (for a fee, of course) to help the client prepare a detailed brief for a web developer to quote on. The benefits of a detailed requirements specification:

• The website (if they still believe they need one) will meet their business and marketing objectives
• The website will function in a way that the client needs (rather than in a way that the developer thinks is “cool”) and the website will integrate with the client’s other business activities
• The website can actually provide a return on investment. Obviously, we can’t guarantee sales (or other types of conversions), but at least we’ll minimise the cost/effort to make and/or fulfill a converted visit.

So…the client gets a website that works, whether or not we actually develop the site. We’re moving a step up the web development food chain. We’re happy for others to do the website development, but perhaps those developers might be happy for us to help them (and their clients) with defining their requirements.

Photography is a bit of a hobby

My photography website has been up for a while, but I though I might mention it.

All the photos are black and white and are from all over the place – Tasmania, Melbourne, Sydney, France, England…and other places in Europe.

They’d probably suit any cafe or restaurant fitout if photos were what you were after.

Web PR Tools for Corporates

We’ve just created a new website that provides Search Engine Optimisation for large companies and corporates. It’s amazing how many of the big businesses languish on page 50 of Google when you search for anything other than their company name.

We can help them with a bit of imagination and a whole lot of ingenuity.

Swiss Watch Jewel Bearings

I started a website in early April to sell Swiss watch jewel bearings for my brother-in-law Michael Presser who is watchmaker and restorer of vintage and antique watches,

Well, Simon has challenged me to a little competition. He’s set up a competing site, and we’re going to see who can make the most money from selling jewels, or at least, who makes the first sale. Hopefully, with free delivery worldwide, someone from the USA might make a purchase.