General
Archived posts from this Category
Use customer service to battle online traders
Posted by MattE on 17 Dec 2011 | Tagged as: Business, consumer engagement, General, Marketing
I have been following some interesting discussions in several web forums about prices we pay in regular bricks and mortar stores compared to online and where the anti-online buying move and misrepresentation on both sides leaves the argument undecided.
Not surprisingly, methods to retain customers were raised, which of course raised the whole can of worms about pricing, how GST influences things so much, that items are cheaper to buy overseas, etc. Of course each of these factors has their merits and counter argument.
There were even proposals that traditional bricks and mortar stores needed to set up online versions of themselves – even to the extent that sales staff could be made redundant and stores operate merely as pick-up points. (Harvey Norman is moving to this is a very limited way – allowing online sales and in-store pickup.)
The secret workaround to slashing mobile global roaming charges
Posted by MattE on 28 Oct 2011 | Tagged as: Business, General, SMS
With the favorable exchange rate it seems every second person is heading overseas on holidays or business travel.
All to often however, people come back and get a nasty surprise – and I am not talking about health related ones 
Just as shocking can be the arrival of the next phone bill with a huge amount for global roaming costs, both for calls made and for those intrusive, well meaning relatives who just want to phone all the time to see ‘how things are going?’
It is not unusual for people to receive a phone bill of several THOUSAND dollars. This soon wipes any advantage of cheap holidays brought about by the high Aussie dollar.
Another business claiming I subscribed to their list
Posted by MattE on 25 Oct 2011 | Tagged as: Business, General
Sorry people at
Channel 1 Creative Media
Level 1 Chandler Arcade, 109 Boronia Rd
Boronia, Vic 3155
But I never subscribed to your list – I would never have any interest in what you have to offer so why would I have subscribed.
Computer backups vital for business and personal computers
Posted by MattE on 24 Oct 2011 | Tagged as: Business, General
In the past week I have had contact with several people who have lost files,or suffered other issues with computers that have caused much anxiety and in some cases, information, or pictures have been lost forever.
While backing up data would seem to be a self evident task for every business, even home computer users need to look seriously at backing up their data.
Take these statistics from a survey of small business in the USA – I am sure they would be similar here in Australia: Continue Reading»
Australia, asylum seekers and the solution
Posted by MattE on 06 Sep 2011 | Tagged as: General
The decades running debate on implementation, policy change, change of government and new policy exploration, high-court scuttling of policy and the opposition’s offer of assistance in formulating new policy, ignores the real solution for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive on our northern shores.
The issue is not one of of where to process this comparatively small tide of people, nor is it a question of should we be accepting what the naysayers regard as a great flood of illegals trying to jump the queue. The willingness of both sides of politics to accept 4,000 processed immigrants from Malaysia clearly shows we have the capacity to accept those who want to come and who meet the criteria.
The really issue is one of storage. Where to store people while their applications are processed. The reason for even needing to look at overseas alternatives is merely brought about by the fact that all of the detentions centres run by the Australian Government (and not just this government, but its predecessor as well) are overcrowded and prison-like.
Is the Blackberry a revolutionary force?
Posted by MattE on 23 Aug 2011 | Tagged as: General, SMS
Here is an interesting perspective on the UK riots and the rise in technology.
It’s one thing to trumpet color revolutions far from home, quite another to confront violence at your own front door. It’s one thing to trumpet the revolutionary potential of social networking devices at posh conventions and in advertorials, quite another to bear the brunt of rumors and hate mongering spread anonymously at the speed of light.
When London and other English cities were shaken by street riots between Aug 6 and 10, British Prime Minister David Cameron and officials in high places were quick to point the finger at Blackberry and considered closing it down. This begs the question: Was Britain hit by a Blackberry revolution?
Low social mobility combined with high degree of social networking is a recipe for a revolution of rising expectations, as can be seen in Britain where the rich-poor gap is wide and social networks are all the rage.
US attitudes stifling economic growth
Posted by MattE on 23 Aug 2011 | Tagged as: General
One can imaging that having been the world’s leading military and some would say economic power for over half a century imprints a certain amount of belligerence onto America’s economic attitudes, but also puts the USA into a very small and some would argue, backward club.
This club is so exclusive, it only has two other members: Liberia and Myanmar. This is the exclusive club who’s members have not yet adopted the metric system.
This propagates the USA’s bizarre way of expressing weights and measures. While pints get upgraded to quarts and gallons, pounds stay as pounds. What is 30,000 pounds in real terms? Why not express it as 150 tons (ore preferably, 136 tonnes)
Sales fatigue fuels retail slump
Posted by MattE on 25 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Business, General
I have said before that the constant wrangling over the Carbon Tax and the persistant nay-saying and negative approach by Tony Abbott is creating huge uncertainty in the market for consumers.
KMART managing director Guy Russo believes the carbon-tax debate is partly responsible for the slump in retail spending and that constant sales and discounting by retailers are confusing shoppers, making them distrust shelf prices and keep their hands in their pockets.
How to stop getting promotional fax spam from nofax
Posted by MattE on 05 Jun 2011 | Tagged as: Business, Communications, General, Marketing
I have been driven mad by unsolicited spam faxes.
Faxing is covered by the same spam legislation as email and SMS, but sadly this is overlooked by most.
After many optouts to nofax.com.au (who have no contact details on their site, despite the site being run by prospect marketing) I tracked down the right person to have my fax number removed from their entire database.
If you want to have your fax number removed from any fax with nofax at the bottom, contact:
How to reduce the cost of your mobile phone calls
Posted by MattE on 08 May 2011 | Tagged as: Business, General
In an effort to maintain profitability, Australian mobile phone providers have been massaging the way they offer plans to consumers.
For the consumer, while the deals may appear appealing with new handsets and included calls and data, the reality is consumers are falling victim to clever marketing and increasing call rates.
