Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year
All the staff at CleverLink would like to wish you, your family and loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous Year in 2009.
CleverLink will be closed from lunchtime Wednesday 24 Dec 2008 to 9am Monday 12 January 2009. During this time, our staff will periodically check our emails to make sure our client's needs are met. However, if you have an very urgent matter please call our Mb: 0416 253 837 or contact us
When we return; we will continue to provide you with:
- Weekly CleverTips, published each Friday
- Training programs (See our events section)
- Networking opportunities at our NEWLY created Business Expresso!
Have a joyful Christmas and a Successful Year 2009!
We have compiled a list of christmas gifts, to view this range click here
Launching Business Expresso!
CleverLink is pleased to announce a new initiative: “Business Expresso”. To begin in January 2009.
Business Expresso is an ‘express’ style business network gathering for busy people who know the importance of communication in business!
While it will be informal and relaxed it will also be an effective way to generate ideas and discuss strategy with others. The idea is to bring business people together over a cuppa, build business relationships and grow your business in an environment of encouragement and support.
Who should attend? Business owners, managers and those who wish to learn from and network with people who are as serious about business as they are.
What will it cost to attend? $5 to cover your espresso, latte, hot chocolate, tea etc - and the occasional information handout.
What can you expect? Networking with like-minded people in a relaxed & supportive environment. Informal mentoring from our team, discussion about business success strategies, marketing, digital marketing, etc. We may offer free trial products, books, business tips, etc
Where? CleverLink office. Suit 7/104 Railway St, Corrimal, NSW, Australia
When? First ‘Business Expresso’ to be held at 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM, Thursday 22 Jan 09 and every last Thursday of the month
Want to join us? Contact us or, ring us on 02 4284 3600 or just turn up!
Want tips and strategies to build your business during a downturn? Yes! We have some solutions!
Camtu Pham, our founder, will be delivering a keynote speech in Manly, NSW this Friday 19th on this topic. Some key ideas will include
- Marketing tactics in a downturn
- What opportunities are presented by economic downturns
- Why you should ramp up marketing in a downturn
- How small businesses can thrive in challenging times
Camtu will cover 7 strategies to help you thrive in a challenging time, motivate your audience to stay positive and take key actions to get results.
Unfortunately, this is private function so we cannot invite you on this occasion. See our upcoming events for more events
Camtu is a keynote speaker and you can see her topics and profile at our speaking & training page -
http://www2.cleverlink.com.au/service/training.htm
Contact us if you would like to invite Camtu to speak at your conference. seminar or planning day
CleverLink extends its support to new ‘selective school’ – Elizabeth Macarthur High School (John)
We recently launched a brand new website for the Elizabeth Macarthur High School to help them with the right image for a partially ‘selective' high school. School Principal Tina Barnier recognised that to be able to attract top students from within the area the school would need a quality web site; one that would inform prospective students and their families as well as assist the school in managing extra administrative functions.
The site is hosted on our Content Management System (see our Online Tools) and this means the school can update their website anytime – anywhere!
We are pleased to have been able to sponsor two prizes for the school’s presentation evening which was held on the 10th December. The CleverLink Computing/Technology Award was won by Aidan Maher and the CleverLink Graphic Design Award was won by Alexandra Maher. Congratulations to both of these fine students.
Industry News: Digital Services
A recent survey* has revealed that Australian businesses invested more than $17 billion dollars on digital services in 2008. The Digital Services Index defines and measures digital services using the following three categories:
- media related content, services and applications;
- marketing and related professional services;
- technology software and hardware; and infrastructure, hosting and connectivity.
Why do businesses invest in digital services?
According to the report,
50.3% say they invest in digital services because of corporate strategy.
14.1% use digital services for competitive leadership
11.7% use digital services for diversity reasons
10.4 % use digital services for catching up with competitors
1.8% use digital because of dissatisfaction with traditional marketing
11.7% have other reasons
*A survey by Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA), IBM and Hydro – published in Image & Data Magazine, Nov – Dec2008 issue.
Client Spot Light
Aunties & Uncles
Aunties and Uncles is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to help build better lives for children in need. They provide a support service to families by creating an extended family; someone a child can turn to or have a weekend or holiday with, especially at highly stressful times in the child’s life.
Our client asked us to design a website that that was simple, professional and welcoming; A site that is attractive to sponsors, easy for people to navigate - and a place where children can stay in touch with the organisation through interaction in Kids Corner.
Feel free to visit the Aunties and Uncles website now and find out how you and your family can become a second family to children in need in 2009 - or simply make a donation!
If you would like to talk to us about your Web Design & Marketing needs, contact us
Up Coming Events
Upcoming events:
Business Expresso @ CleverLink
CleverLink will be host to two seminars in the next few months:
- Seminar 1: 17th Feb 2009: Be Seen on Search Engines. Especially Google!
- Seminar 2: 24th February 2008: Online Tools for Your E-Business Success
Places are limited, so if you are interested in attending, please Contact Us or register through our website http://www.cleverlink.com.au
If you are interested in booking Camtu Pham to speak at your next event, please Contact Us today!
Power Words
A Christmas Story: how important is professional copy really?
In America around 1939, a 35 year old advertising copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store was commissioned by his supervisor to create an original Christmas story – one their store could give away to shoppers at holiday time. Robert L. May was chosen for the job partly for his affinity for children's limericks, the form in which the first Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story was written.
The first Rudolph booklet, with illustrations by Denver Gillen, was distributed to two and a quarter million Montgomery Ward customers during Christmas of 1939.
Why was it such a hit? Well, it tells a story – the kind of story that never gets old, about someone who looks like they’ll never make it, but with courage, eventually makes it big!
The story was first written in the style of a long ‘limerick’. Poems like this are written in sensory language which allows you to ‘see’ the story in your own mind. And there’s something about the ‘music of language’ that resonates with adults and children alike.
Of course, before writing, poetry was the way people remembered stories and passed them down through generations. Now we have written stories and they use the same elements. Copywriting is also a form of creative writing and shares many of the elements of story writing and resonates with people just as stories do.
Good copywriting draws the reader’s attention and holds it. It allows the reader to feel familiar with the company and comfortable with the product by speaking to them one-to-one. Good copy responds to questions, answers objections and turns browsers into buyers.
The same elements that allow Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to continue to generate sales almost 70 years later are still used in copywriting to this day. That is some powerful copy!
Ref: St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture by Robert E. Schnakenberg & Wikipedia
If you would like help writing content that engages, contact us
Traditional Marketing
Do Mystery Ads work?
Is it more effective to tell customers your brand name right away in advertising - or is it better to create a little mystery, and reveal the brand name only at the end of the ad, once you have their attention?
One might think that it's better to create some mystery. (After all, who doesn't love a mystery?) Holding off the brand-name reveal might sustain customer attention, and make people focus on the ad for a longer period. Right? Well … maybe not.
Research is showing that a customer's memory for ads and brands is actually better when the brand name is presented early in the ad. (Think: "Nike's newest cross-trainer" vs "A great new athletic shoe!")
The reason? Researchers suggest that an early statement of the brand name helps customers more easily recognise what brand and product category is being advertised. And if they have a positive image of it, they'll read, view, or listen further. Subsequent information can then be encoded with this frame of reference in mind—giving you a better chance of making your message stick.
So even though creating an air of mystery in an ad is fun, and it might draw customers in, it's best to make sure you work your brand name into the mix right at the start as well.
The Point: Be upfront. Stating your name early in an ad encourages better brand recognition and message retention by customers.
* Source: Do Not Wait to Reveal the Brand Name. Baker, William E.; Honea, Heather; Russell, Cristel Antonia. Journal of Advertising, 2004.
If you would like to discuss your branding strategy, please contact the experienced team at CleverLink.
Science of web site building
As you may be aware, the construction of a quality website is quite an involved process. Internet surfers expect a smooth ride. To make sure they get it, there are many facets that need to be considered, so over the next couple of newsletters we will cover the keys to building a good web site, in more depth. To begin I have listed the 7 key areas that must be considered before building a quality web site - or the 7C’s!
- Context: this refers to the general look and feel of the site. It is a combination of the content, graphic design and overall impression you gain. An example of bad context would be a website directed to say, men’s health, and using a with brightly coloured flashing images. It just doesn’t mix – even in this modern age. It is important to have the correct context in your site right from the start so your visitors stay on the site
- Content: this is a combination of both the written text and also the graphics. Your site’s objective will determine what the right balance of graphics and text will be. Obviously, a photography site is going to have more images and less text, where an information site like Wikipedia needs to have more text and will then fit less images.
- Community: The internet is a perfect vehicle for community building. While the first that come to mind are Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, the most well-known for leveraging the community (who buy, trade and sell products to each other) to build their brand and expand their empire are Amazon and EBay.
- Customisation: Perhaps the most unique ability of the internet is the ability of companies to customise their sites for their users. This can be done on a geographic basis or even your members or non-members. This also refers to the ability of users to also customise the site to determine which “skin” they may use and also which content they would like to receive.
- Communication: The internet has allowed companies to communicate on a mass scale, individuals to communicate with the company and most importantly those individuals to communicate with each other. This means businesses can be the first to know how their product, service or branding is being received ( see www.thegh.com.au).
- Connection: Links, coming into and going out, from your site can be valuable from a search engine perspective. Google does rate your site on the number of links, the quality of those links, and web traffic occurring on those links. Be warned though that just creating more links may not help your site and in fact can hinder it. Ensure the links are quality. They must add value to your site or give information that is in some way connected to your site.
- Commerce: Functional & efficient e commerce sites can make all the difference between your site making money or not. We recently reviewed a web site which had a shopping cart facility but no check out facility!
The most important aspect of the 7C’s is how they fit together and the synergy created by the combination of these areas. This is where a professional web site builder really does earn their fee.
Resist the temptation when a friend or acquaintance offers to build a web site for you. It can cost you lost opportunities that will never come back. Use a professional, experienced provider who has skills in marketing, communication and programming.
If you would like to talk about how to best market your business,
Contact Us
Digital Marketing & SEO
Organic SEO vs. PPC at Christmas
Organic SEO campaigns can take months to develop, building your sites strength with links and honest content is a time consuming process.
PPC - The downside of using PPC to promote Christmas offers is that the cost per click will increase with demand; the upside is that you are guaranteed results. With more and more people turning to the internet to grab Christmas bargains. We will start to see customers demand for listings expand seasonally.
Organic SEO - Well this all depends on the product, competitiveness of the phrase and how specific your target market is… With niche key phrases that are name specific you can successfully optimise organically in a relatively short time. Organic SEO can work out the cheaper option in the long run.
So, to see a good return on your investment you would need to calculate the time scales, phrases and cost on each method. To do this, a good consultant is vital.
If you would like to make sure your site is being seen by e-shoppers this holiday season, feel free to Contact Us.
If you would like to learn more about what SEO can do for your online business, Contact Us today to discuss our Search Engine Optimisation service.
8 Best Tools For PR Professionals
Wire Services
The most common way to distribute a press release online is to submit the article to one of the 5 largest news distribution sites. They are:
Business Wire
Marketwire
PrimeNewswire
PR Newswire
PRWeb
Such a service will distribute your article to all the major news services, such as Google News, CNN, etc.
These sites do tend to cost a bit of money, an alternative is the free press release distribution service list.
Help A Reporter Out
Website: http://www.helpareporter.com/
One of the best tools out there, it offers a simple system which connects both journalists and PR professionals, giving both parties a beneficial experience. The only free resource where reporters submit queries directly to PR professionals.
Press Release Builder
Website : http://www.evancarmichael.com/Tools/Press-Release-Builder.htm
Great resource which guides you through the 5 step process, breaking down every step along the way, giving examples and instructions. The 5 steps :
- Step One : Choose A topic To Write About
- Step Two : Write The Press Release
- Step Three : Build A Media List
- Step Four : Email The Reporters
- Step Five : More Press Release Resources
If you would like to find out how SEO and digital marketing can help your business rise to the top, Contact Us
B2B & B2C
Website of the Week
TaskAnyone
This site is a reminder service that provides a way for you to assign tasks to anyone via email and continue to follow that person up until they have responded.
Flash: This site makes good use of flash in its ‘how to’ video
Plug-Ins: Plug-ins are basically a file that is downloaded into your computer that allows TaskAnyone to create pop up tasks on your screen
Toolbar Icon: Add their icon to your tool bar makes it easy to access
Storage: TaskAnyone saves your task information to its own website to access when it needs to send a reminder.
TaskAnyone makes great use of the various functionalities available for websites now.
If you would like to discuss how you can add functions to your website, Contact Us
Food for My Brain
The Fred Hollows Foundation – This holiday season, more people are opting to make a donation on behalf of a loved one as their gift. If you like to idea of giving something philanthropically significant, please remember that proceeds of the sale of Aim High Fly Fast go to The Fred Hollows Foundation. Sometimes people feel more comfortable if they can give something more tangible as a gift - and if you would like to make help others AND give a gift, my book may just be your solution!
If you haven’t read Aim High Fly Fast: Creating a Wonderful World for Yourself and Others yet and you would like to learn more about Camtu’s positive approach to success, go to the Food For my Brain site and take a look at her book, now! While you’re there, you can explore the other ‘brain food’ books on offer.
Go to Food For my Brain Web site to explore brain food!
If you would like to learn more about Camtu’s positive approach to success, take a look at her book, Aim High Fly Fast: Creating a Wonderful World for Yourself and Others
Positive Mind
Promise Yourself
“To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something special in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”
Optimist Creed by Christian D. Larson, 1912.
Clever Tool Box
Visual Communication and How you can use it to WIN!
8 benefits of how EFFECTIVE visual communication can help YOU and YOUR BUSINESS:
- Making a positive impression and holding readers attention: A well laid out brochure or resume WILL get read.
- Gaining respect: Yes - a good design and layout can convey professionalism.
- Creating 'BUY' emotion: How many of us are 'sold' by emotion? Too many!
- Generating FOCUS: A professional brochure, Web site or invitation can make people focus on what you are trying to convey.
- Creating good memories: A good logo can jump out to get people's attention and can sink into their mind and stay there.
- Tempting and referring: Badly designed marketing material usually ends up in the bin before it is read. Good design stays and get passed around.
- Calling for DECISIONS and ACTION: Visual power is enormous - it can generate desire, call for action and kill procrastination.
- Achieving your intention: Visual communication can help you achieve the above 7 points and of course your ultimate goals.
Go to our Graphic design page to read more tips and see examples of effective visual communication http://www2.cleverlink.com.au/service/brochures.htm
If you have interesting news or topics you would like us to cover, please email us and we will do our best to slot it into the format!
