Wasting time sorting through spam?

SpamHow much time are you and your staff wasting on spam every month? What is that costing you? If you’re like me you receive over 100 emails per day – and well over half will be junk from people you’ve never before met trying to sell you something pretty dodgy. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? “Nearly 80 percent of e-mails sent worldwide are spam, and research has shown that junk communications can cost billions – and not just because companies have to buy extra computer capacity to cope with the influx of e-mails. The time employees spend deleting junk e-mail costs companies nearly $22 billion a year…” [Source] According to a survey commissioned by McAfee, 49% of Americans spend more than 40 minutes per week deleting spam. 14% report that they spend as much as 3.5 hours per week. [Source] I was recently contacted by the daughter of a gentleman on this mailing list because, probably like you, she’d had enough of spam.  Of well over 100 emails per day, the vast majority would be the aforementioned… annoyance. She wanted a solution whereby the spam would be wiped out before it even reached her computer.  That way there was no need for her to use any spam filtering software on her computer. We moved her website and email accounts to Webnerd and enabled our complimentary spam-filtering service for her.  Apart from some slight changes to her staff’s email settings, the move was uneventful and seamless.  The website experienced no downtime at all. Yesterday, a total of around 140 emails arrived at our mail server for Andra’s email account.  Our spam filter identified 95 (70%) as being spam and deleted them.  She was left with a much more managable 45 emails for the day. You are far too busy doing business to be worrying about spam.  But I also appreciate that you’re too busy to be thinking about moving your website and email accounts to a new provider – even if it is Webnerd. To make it worth your while I will move your website and email accounts to our server for free.  We’ll do all the work.  Then we will: filter all the spam that we can detect; check your incoming email for viruses; do all the work and shoulder the worry to ensure that your website is online at least 99.9% of the time; and we can even set up clever stuff like automatically copying your incoming email to your Blackberry. Our new hosting plans start at only $27/month (inc GST). Outsource your website and email hosting worries to us. Email or call now for a no obligation consultation so that we can tailor a solution to you. Testimonial from Andra:
“Spam was driving me crazy.  My previous web host was unable to offer any explanation or solution to the copious amounts of spam I was receiving.  Meanwhile, my busy consulting business was suffering as it was taking anywhere up to half an hour at times to download hundreds of spam email every day.  Not to mention, I was sick of how obscene most of the spam was.  I contacted James at WebNerd and he was able to offer an analysis of how much spam I was receiving and an immediate solution, whereby spam was stopped at the server, rather than being downloaded into my Outlook inbox.  It was simple and straightforward and has been an enormous relief.” — Andra Bite, Andra Bite Consulting

“Would you like $54,000 passive income with that?”

** Thank you to those generous people who sponsored me in the “Hike for the Homeless” walk last week.  I am told that $6,263 was receipted (with more dribbling in).  This money is being used to pay for the running of the 139 Club, a drop-in centre offering support for people in adverse personal situations. **

MoneyHave you ever thought to yourself, “If everyone in Australia gave me a paltry $1, I’d be a multi-millionaire”?

It might have then occurred to you that you don’t really need $20 million dollars.  So you fantasise: “If even only 52,000 gave me a paltry $1 per year I’d have $1000/week to easily pay the bills… and then some.”

The logistics of collecting $1 from 52,000 people might be a little daunting at this point but you might starting thinking that this is starting to enter the realms of possibility with a little extra thought.

So then you think: “Okay, I might be able to convince the average person or business to part with $30/month (or $1/day) for something they’re interested in or need.  If I had 150 customers I’d generate $54,000 per year!”

150 x $30 x 12 = $54,000Then the complexities of income verses profit come into it and you might decide that you actually need $30/month in profit.  No problem, really.  Just something to factor in.

Do you think that you could find 150 customers to pay you a little over $30/month for something they want or need? Perhaps an online service with no physical component? It could be an online course, membership site or some other Internet-based service like online survey hosting. Or maybe an online shop selling physical products (with a $30 profit margin) on a subscription model.

We’re talking pretty small numbers here (150 and $30) but, through the magic of primary school level multiplication, it adds up very quickly.  (And, consider that the number of customers required plummets to 50 if you generate $90/month profit per client.)

Come on, stop imagining that this is too hard and give it a bit of thought.  What do you know that you could teach via an online course?  What online service could you set up (or resell)?  What are you passionate about?  Could you make a membership-based website on that subject?  (Have you been dreaming about it for years and not done anything about it?? You know who you are!)

Feel free to send me an email and bounce ideas off me. I’ll share with you what I’m doing. I’ve already started: 148 customers to go!

Will you help Brisbane’s homeless?

If you know what it’s like to go without sleep, consider Brisbane’s homeless. They often bed down on bare concrete or in wet gardens.

Informal shelter for homeless people in Newstead, Brisbane Australia.  Photo by Craig Jewell. Informal shelter for homeless people in Newstead, Brisbane Australia. Photo by Craig Jewell.

Hike for the Homeless LogoThe 139 Club Homeless Shelter is located at 505 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. My cousin Jason volunteers at the shelter on a regular basis. They are holding a walk to raise much needed funds this Saturday (30th August) at 2:45pm. It is a scenic 6km walk from the 139 Club taking in the Story Bridge, riverside walk, Goodwill Bridge and Botanic Gardens. It will finish back at the 139 Club.

I am writing to you to ask you to sponsor me this Saturday.

If everyone reading this (including YOU) donated just $5/kilometre ($30 total), we would raise over $1000!

There’s noone on my mailing list who doesn’t have it better than any of Brisbane’s homeless and cannot afford $30 (or more)

To sponsor me, make your donation in either of the two ways:

  1. Put it on your credit card (Note: you do not need to be a PayPal member and you do not need to join up – see the link under “Don’t have a PayPal account?” on the left)

  2. Do a direct deposit (Account name: WEBNERD; BSB Number: 304-123; Account Number: 900529-9).  Please include your name as the “reference” and email me to let me know that you’ve done it.

Donations over $2 are tax deductible.  If you want a receipt, please email me letting me know how much you donated and your postal address).

If you would also like to participate in the walk, let me know and I will send you the information.

Donate Now

Bovine Mentality

Picture of a cowAs humans we naturally conform to group norms. We see it in teenaged social sub-cultures, in financial market movements and in consumerism. The Emo, the Mum & Dad Stock Trader and the Fashion Victim all follow their herds. For example: When you decided on your Internet Service Provider did you base it solely on Bigpond’s homage to the dumb Aussie Dad; on Optus’ footage of African wildlife; or, on Dodo’s tight t-shirt wearing blonde models? Chances are you asked a friend, “Who do you use?” (and, if you’re male, chose Dodo anyway…) Group Mentality (or, as I prefer, Bovine Mentality) is a part of human psychology that makes us feel more secure in making decisions when we know that someone else has made the same decision. What if you could use group mentality to your advantage in your business? What if you had your own herd? The reality is that if you’ve had one happy customer you already have a herd. It’s now up to you to show this to your prospects. Group mentality will naturally kick in if you can show your prospects how you’ve helped other people. The easiest way, of course, is to collect testimonials and ensure that your prospects see them. The best testimonials identify the problem that the customer faced and then explains how you solved that problem for them. Here’s an example:

“WEBNERD, run by James Quinn-Hawtin, has provided a website and corporate identity solution that is second to none. Before finding WEBNERD the task of conveying the feeling of Smooth Latin Groove on a website seemed an impossible one. But with meticulous planning, analysis and a genuine interest in our business WEBNERD exceeded my expectations. I am so happy with the service provided by WEBNERD that I consider James my right hand man.” Ian Corbett Director Smooth Latin Groove

<END: Shameless Plug>

Action Item: Collect at least five testimonials and publish them to your website by this time next week!

Who is the Sexiest Web Designer?

Who is the Sexiest Web Desginer?

Verify your suspicions at: www.sexiestwebdesigner.com

“We shouldn’t be this excited about a website! Its wrong isn’t it?….”

We have just finished the design and development of a new website for Urban Office. Urban Office is a custom furniture and office fitout company featuring a team of licensed builders, interior designers and furniture specialists. They are awesome at what they do and they are the experts to talk to when you’re starting to think about moving or reburbishing your office.

Urban Office already had a website when its General Manager, Jim Hardy, approached me about an “overhaul”. I love this testimonial that Jim has written for me:

“We had a website built for us, by another web design company, just over a year ago and it was okay. It was there and our clients visited and even occasionally used it to contact us. Little did we understand the promotional control, flexibility and impact that our website could create until we met James at Webnerd. Changes in our industry have forced our business to consider our promotional methods (i.e. costs and effectiveness) and our approach to the changes within our clients own businesses. We needed to come up with a way of updating our clients and of providing information when and where they needed it while keeping our costs under control. Webnerd has helped up to create a new, fast and flexibile service, not just a website. James has proven that he can quickly understand the operations and needs of his clients and present options that create a promotional solution.

We shouldn’t be this excited about a website! Its wrong isn’t it?…. – Jim Hardy, General Manager, Urban Office

[Read more...]

The Ultimate Work Environment

I’m currently setting up a new office after a lengthy and exhausting move (during which I met my new, somewhat agitated neighbour at 1am, having woken her up whilst dragging a heavy desk off the tray of a hired ute).

As I now face the challenge of creating a work environment in which I will be comfortable and focused, I want to share with you Google’s really cool work environment:

“The culture at Google is very much like the old culture at Microsoft – back when the company felt like most employees were in their mid 20’s. These kids don’t have a life yet so they spend all of their time at work. Google provides nearly everything these people need from clothes (new T-shirts are placed in bins for people to grab twice a week!) to food – three, free, all-you-can-eat meals a day. Plus on-site health care, dental care, laundry service, gym, etc. Imagine going from college to this environment and you can see how much everyone works. People are generally in the building between 10am and about 6pm every day, but nearly everyone is on e-mail 24/7 and most people spend most of their evenings working from home.” [Src: Life at Google]

Sensory deprevation chamber to give Google employees relief from light and sound

Slides and poles (like those in fire stations) allow quick movement from floor to floor [Read more...]

Interview with David Wright of Simply Budgets

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity of interviewing David Wright of Simply Budgets. We discussed his software, his business, how he made $500,000 worth of sales within the space of three months and how his website is a critical factor in the success of his business.

There are some fantastic gems of knowledge and advice in this interview that have inspired me to re-shape some of my own online and offline efforts.

Listen to the interview (30 minutes)

Download the MP3 for your iPod or other MP3 player

Download the PDF transcript

Buy Simply Budgets

News: Teaching at QUT again

Just a quick note to let you know that I have accepted a position as Unit Coordinator of the E-Commerce unit at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

In this role I will be delivering a 2-hour lecture every week this semester, coordinating tutors, marking assessments and supporting the 150 or so E-Commerce undergradudate and masters students.

The majority of the students will be forming into teams of three and working on an e-commerce project of their own invention.  At the end of the semester they will also be undertaking an exam to test their understanding of the theory.

I do not foresee this to adversely affect current WEBNERD projects however I will not be contactable via phone at times on Mondays.

Find out what Google knows

Google has made some changes to its Adwords Keyword Tool that make it an incredibly powerful and free online service worth bookmarking.

In this 5 minute video I walk you through how to use it to discover what online users are searching for, what varying terminologies they use to search for essentially the same things, how many searches are made on the various search terms, and what level of online advertising competition currently exists for those terms.

This is a useful video for anyone involved in marketing, anyone who runs a business/company, and anyone thinking about starting a business or developing a new product.

Watch Video

Next week: How to save up to $100 on a .com.au domain name registration and how to get your own personal website up and running in one night.