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The Aussie voice in Silicon Valley
2008-02-20 02:44:00 An Interview with Viki Forrest, CEO ANZA Technology Network"If your not thinking global from day 1 your going be left behind" market introduction programs.Viki talks about why the current Silicon Valley climate couldn't be better for Australian and New Zealand technology companies planning on moving to the US and what entrepreneurs can expect from the up-coming "Success in the US" tour of Australia and New Zealand.Vlog#19by DianaManfrediAccording to Viki Forrest, since the launch of ANZA Technology Network (www.anzatechnet.com) in 2001, the organization has touched thousands of companies and actively assisted over 300 companies with its range of innovative More About: America , Voice , Startups
Aussie Startups: Standing out from the crowd? (Brad Howarth)
2008-02-20 02:26:00 Brad Howarth writes for Australian Anthill on how to stand out from the crowd - for the right and wrong reasons - when pitching in the US: "Part of my job is to listen to the stories people who have built technologies and companies, and then translate those to be understood by the people who read the publications and websites I write for.It's something I've already done a lot of, having chosen to partly specialise in writing about Australian entrepreneurial start-ups. At times it is a gruelling task. Why? Few Australian start-ups have any idea about how to actually explain what they do - let alone the capacity to do so in a way that is relevant to the listener.Entrepreneurs tend to gloss over the communication component of building a company, focusing instead on perfecting the technology and building the business. But what hope do you have of receiving assistance - from investors, partners, customers or even the media - if you can't articulate what makes you special, unique and r... More About: Brad , The Crowd , Startups , Standing , Aussie
New Sydney radio shows turn off listeners
2008-02-19 12:20:00 Loving mass media again... they still believe pumping out the same old garbage will keep next gen-y-er's interestedTodays media consumers are more and more sophisticated and are interested in niche, personally relevant content. How can the mass produced britney spears "we're better than you" compete?To woo the new media consumers, its about getting on their level, and being equal, rather than trying to leverage old world top down authority to keep the kids interested...From NineMSN Entertainement NewsNew radio partnerships are struggling to woo listeners, the year's first radio ratings survey shows.Radio station 2UE, which completely revamped its daytime line-up following John Laws' departure last year, has clearly failed to win back listeners, slumping to eighth position.The station, led by Mike Carlton and his new breakfast partner Sandy Aloisi, was down 1.7 points and well behind longtime leader and rival, 2GB's Alan Jones.Carlton and Aloisi's show was down 0.8 points to be... More About: Sydney , Turn
Test your web design in different browsers
2008-02-18 16:09:00 Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers.http://browsershots.org/ More About: Browsers , Web Design , Design , Test
Dear Future Me
2008-02-18 15:59:00 Ever wanted to email your future self? No? Well thats ok... it seems some bored teen programmers built a time fravel portal for todo lists.http://www.futureme.org/I want to email myself in like 10 years, and by then have totally forgotten about it, and be all spooked... yay... More About: Future
Poverty
2008-02-18 15:54:00 Half the world ? nearly three billion people ? live on less than two dollars a day.The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined.Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen.1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).Just got me thinking,,, More About: Poverty
Irony is dead, the last gasp of newspaper industry
2008-02-18 14:56:00 You have gotta love big media... (From NY Times)"Four large newspaper companies are joining forces to sell advertisements on the Internet, hoping that the combined heft of their Web sites will encourage large advertisers to spend more money. Each of the four companies ? the Tribune Company, the Gannett Company, the Hearst Corporation and The New York Times Company ? is transferring a portion of its online ad space to quadrantONE, a new company that will be announced Friday. The purpose of the joint venture, which will be based in Chicago and will hire 17 people [commitment!], is to let national advertisers place ads on local Web sites with a single phone call [phone call!]."LOL!!! Boy did these guys miss the boat... But it goes on..."In total, quadrantONE will be able to reach about 50 million unique visitors a month, its executives said, citing Nielsen Online data. "We want to control our own destiny," said Lincoln Millstein, senior vice president for digital med... More About: Industry , Irony , Dead , Newspaper
8aweek To Help You Kick That Internet Time Wasting Addiction
2008-02-17 16:17:00 New Y Combinator startup 8aweek aims to help you stop wasting all that time on random Internet sites. They offer a Firefox plugin that monitors the web sites you visit and how long you spend on each site. If you are on a user-defined "restricted site," the plugin will tell you when you've spent too much time there. The service also provides an interesting chart showing all the sites you visited the previous 24 hours and how much total time was spent there. Some users may be surprised to see, for example, just how much of their life is spent on Facebook. The company is offering the plugin for free; they want to make money by selling the service to businesses who want to limit the amount of time their employees waste on the Internet. 8aweek is very similar to RescueTime , another Y Combinator startup that launched last November. RescueTime montiors usage of both websites as well as desktop applications, so the products are not identical. But the products seem too close for comfort - I... More About: Addiction , Kick
Citibank blocks investors from removing money from one of its funds. A run
2008-02-17 15:53:00 As much as the big financial companies would like us to believe they're OK from the subprime fallout, this is quite alarming. Is this not that different from a traditional run on the bank?"Citigroup has barred investors in one of its hedge funds from withdrawing their money, and a new leveraged fund lost 52 percent in its first three months, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.The largest U.S. bank suspended redemptions in CSO Partners, a fund specializing in corporate debt, after investors tried to pull more than 30 percent of its roughly $500 million of assets, the newspaper said. Citigroup injected $100 million to stabilize the fund, which lost 10.9 percent last year, the newspaper said."Cripes!Source CNBC More About: Money , Investors , Funds , Blocks , Citibank
Wikipedia defies 180,000 demands to remove images of the Prophet Muhammad
2008-02-17 15:45:00 Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, is refusing to remove medieval artistic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad , despite being flooded with complaints from Muslims demanding the images be deleted. From Wikipedia... 'Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia with the goal of representing all topics from a neutral point of view, Wikipedia is not censored for the benefit of any particular group.'So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia's existing policies, nor the law of the US state of Florida where Wikipedia's servers are hosted, no content or images will be removed because people find them objectionable or offensive.'Nice work wikipedia... freedom of speech and freedom of expression may not be as dead as we might have expected. Source: Guardian.co.uk More About: Demands , Images , Wikipedia
A surprising look at celebrity culture
2008-02-17 14:38:00 Why can't you make it through the checkout line without flipping through page after page of pregnant celebs in Us magazine? Alison Jackson knows why. And she photographs the people you think you recognize doing what you really want to see. British artist Alison Jackson talks about her provocative explorations of celebrity culture. By making photographs that seem to show our favorite celebs (Diana, Elton John) doing what we really, secretly, want to see them doing, she's questioning our shared desire to get personal with celebrity culture. Fun ny and sometimes shocking, Jackson's work contains some graphic images. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/i d/210 More About: Culture , Celebrity
Who Is A Libertarian?
2008-02-17 14:17:00 A libertarian is one who rejects the idea of using violence or the threat of violence - legal or illegal - to impose his will or viewpoint upon any peaceful person.Generally speaking, a libertarian is one who wants to be governed far less than he is today.A libertarian believes that the government should protect all persons equally against external and internal aggression, but should otherwise generally leave people alone to work out their own problems and aspirations.While a libertarian expects the government to render equal protection to all persons against outright fraud and misrepresentation, he doesn't expect the government to protect anyone from the consequences of his own free choices.A libertarian holds that persons who make wise choices are entitled to enjoy the fruits of their wisdom, and that persons who make unwise choices have no right to demand that the government reimburse them for their folly.A libertarian expects his government to establish, support, and enforce th... More About: Libertarian
You are a Fascist and a Liar, Mr. Bush
2008-02-17 09:17:00 Keith Olberman rocks George Bush , Hard... More About: Liar
Crowdhacking Digg and Stumbleupon
2008-02-17 02:08:00 Ive been playing with this interesting site called Subvert and Profit, here's the blurb"Subvert and Profit runs an ever-expanding black market for votes on social media sites. We are simultaneously the easiest way to make money online and the cheapest form of advertising in the web 2.0 sphere. We are the crowdhackers, and we are very good at what we do."So sign up and check out this service Very Cool - Subvert and Profit More About: Digg , Stumbleupon
Bebo.com Explained - The worlds 3rd largest social network after Facebook a
2008-02-17 02:02:00 Bebo is the worlds 3rd largest social network, and is the most popular social network in Europe. WallStrip TV has a great episode on Bebo... More About: Social , Network , Worlds , Facebook , Social Network
The "Rent Money is Dead Money" Myth Debunked
2008-02-14 03:16:00 Myth #1: Rent ing is Like Throwing Your Money Away Buyers throw their money away for the first five years they own a home, because they simply give money to the bank for the privilege of borrowing money. Renters, on the other hand, pay for one thing every month: shelter. They don't pay interest to the bank, property taxes or maintenance fees. They pay rent. Smart renters also take the money they save by renting and invest it somewhere else. Since the average renter saves hundreds of dollars every month, they can afford to invest in stocks, bonds and other vehicles that have a better rate of return. Myth #2: There are Tax Benefits to Owning Contrary to popular belief, buyers do not get back the mortgage interest they paid throughout the year at tax time. Mortgage interest can only be deducted from taxable income. This essentially means that buyers pay a dollar just to save 30 cents. Furthermore, deducting interest has no tax advantage unless a buyer ... More About: Dead , Myth
Managing the Consumer Influencer
2008-02-13 22:26:00 In the golden age of branding, several guests at the party held sway: brand, PR, marketing, external relations (ER), research, and the agencies. On top of that, we had a few occasional attendees, such as consumer affairs, investor relations, and community relations.Today, in the golden age of consumer empowerment, we have the same party guests, but their sway is being challenged in a very big way by an aggressive, sometimes rude and abrupt new guest at the party: the consumer influencer.I'm talking about the loudmouths everyone hears and reacts to. These folks really move the needle when it comes to CGM (define) creation and spread. They write the power blogs, lead the communities, organize the forums, create the boards, upload the most viewed videos on YouTube, lead mini-revolutions on Facebook, and more.They may have accrued influence over time or have situational influence (e.g., they were first to try and review the iPhone, hence setting off a broader chain reaction). That i... More About: Consumer
10 Mistakes in Icon Design
2008-02-13 21:48:00 It is much easier to criticize somebody else's work than to create something cool yourself. But if you apply a systematic approach to criticizing, make a numbered list and prepare illustrations, it will be regarded as a fully-fledged analysis :)10 Mistakes in Icon Design
Effective Web Design
2008-02-12 05:28:00 1. Don't make users think2. Don't squander users' patience3. Manage to focus users' attention4. Strive for feature exposure6. Strive for simplicity7. Don't be afraid of the white space8. Communicate effectively with a "visible language"9. Conventions are our friends10. Test early, test oftenRead the full article with screenshots More About: Web Design , Design , Effective
Survival of the Fittest: M&Ms
2008-02-12 05:23:00 Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two M&M's between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round. I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world. Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment. When I reach the end of th... More About: Survival
If you can just avoid dying, you get rich
2008-02-10 12:53:00 Great essay from paul graham (partner at ycombinator) on how to get rich from a startuphttp://paulgraham.com/die.html More About: Rich , Dying , Avoid
Reble.fm - Play all your friends music, Free
2008-02-10 11:10:00 Reble.FM is a new startup from Y-Combinator (ths guys who brought your Reddit, Kiko etc)From the website"The Reble Media Play er lets you explore your friends' music as if it were right on your local computer. But we won't help you steal music. Listen all you want, but if you want to put it on your iPod?you gotta buy it. Think of Reble as the digital equivalent of going to a friend's house and spending the day listening to their music collection?but without leaving your desk. Or having to see your friend."Reble.FM More About: Music , Friends , Free
I wouldnt steal... (Video)
2008-02-10 10:03:00 Greens EFA, a coalition of two political parties that currently have 42 seats in the European parliament, have launched a pro-filesharing campaign named ?I Wouldn?t Steal ?. Their goal is to counter the anti-piracy propaganda put forward by the entertainment industry, and encourage people to download and share. Whenever you rent a movie, the multinational media industry forces you to watch their propaganda. They claim that [downloading movies is the same as snatching bags, stealing cars or shoplifting]. That?s simply not true ? making a copy is fundamentally different from stealing. The media industry has failed to offer viable legal alternatives and they will fail to convince consumers that sharing equals stealing. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in another area ? lobbying to adapt laws to criminalize sharing, turning consumers into criminals. They argue that their laws are necessary to [support artists], but in reality all they?re protecting is their own profits. ... More About: Video , Copyright
Vandalism or Art?
2008-02-07 12:22:00 Close up of the face image at the Turk Street mural. Photo by aperte Girl with the teddy bear. Photo by southtyrolean Graffiti by Banksy. Photo by Richard Cocks An area of the Rue Ordener in Paris has become a true museum of contemporary art. Photo by gilles_itzkovitchklein Source: http://you.presscue.com/node/152 More About: Vandalism
A global political apocalypse has arrived.
2008-02-06 14:03:00 Tyrannical governments have evolved. Just as human knowledge and science expand, so do the strategies and instruments used by rulers, elites and plutocrats. By learning from history and using new technology, they have smarter tools of tyranny. The best ones prevent uprisings, revolutions and political reforms. Rather than violently destroy rebellious movements, they let them survive as marginalized and ineffective efforts that divert and sap the energy of nonconformist and rebellious thinkers. Real revolution remains an energy-draining dream, as evil forces thrive. Most corrupt and legally sanctioned forms of tyranny hide in plain sight as democracies with free elections. The toughest lesson is that ALL elections are distractions. Nothing conceals tyranny better than elections. Few of us accept that their government has become a two-party plutocracy run by a rich and powerful ruling class. The steady erosion of the rule of law is masked by everyday consumer freedoms. Because peopl... More About: Political , Global , Apocalypse
Obese And Smokers Cheaper For Society
2008-02-06 14:00:00 A new study shows that overweight people and smokers aren't actually the big drain on the health care system we've thought them to be. Actually, it's the skinny healthy people!The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up the most expensive health costs. But because both the smokers and the obese people died sooner than the healthy group, it cost less to treat them in the long run. Emphasis added. Should society being try to help out those addicted to food and cigarettes? Yes, but we shouldn't do it because we think we're saving money.Source: The Consumerist More About: Society , Smokers , Obese
Search engine keyphrase domain name relevancy
2008-02-05 16:46:00 We have been experimenting with the power of search engine domain name relevancy.For example, in our business, we want to be top 5 in google for a whole bunch of keyphrases.This includes some fairly competitive search keyphrases that many other companies want to be in the top 5.Apparantly, one of the interesting thing about google and other search engines is that they place significant relevancy to keyword matching within domain names.So we have just purchasedhttp://www.SydneyWebMarketing.co m - Sydney Web Marketinghttp://www.SydneyVideoProduction .com - Sydney Video Productionhttp://www.SydneyAdvertisingAge ncy.com - Sydney Advertising Agencyhttp://www.SydneyMarketingAgency.co m - Sydney Marketing AgencyIn theory, this will help us jump our rankings. We have redirected these domains to our existing website, which most importantly does have lots of relevant content to these keywords.We will post an update in a week or 2 and let you know how effective domain name relevancy is for Search ... More About: Domain , Domain Name , Search Engine , Engine
A low cost of customer acquisition
More articles from this author:2008-02-05 16:32:00 How does your company acquire customers? How much do you pay in sales/marketing/operations for each new customer?What is the cost for each new customer your acquire from each of the different channels you use to get customers? What are the most profitable / cost-effective / scaleable channels of customer acquisition for your business?This is one of the most interesting things about marketing 2.0, its entirely trackable and measurable. For example you might track your blog website seach engine rankings online advertisingemail newsletterprosumers and fansbloggers and online journalists forums and online discussionsfacebook and social mediaword of mouthPublic RelationsTVNewspaperBusiness, Personal and Social Networkingand use this to understand the most cost-effective channels for your business. Shameless PlugIf you are interested in setting up processes and systems to track and report cross channel customer acquisition prices for your company, give us a buzz. We do this every day for ... More About: Customer , Cost , Low cost , Acquisition 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
