Sediment Control Boring For Almost Everyone....Except For Pete, The Super Nerd!
We're doing some work on a site for sediment control at the moment.
2 things strike me about this site:
1. Sediment control isn't very exciting to me. But for the guy whose site it is, it's seems terrifically exciting. 2. It's so much easier when the client trusts the web developer. This client has been a breeze to work with.
The client trusts me for a very good reason - he's my brother, Pete!
We spend so much of our time justifying and reporting stuff that sometimes we spend more time on that than they actual work.
It's needed a lot of the time, of course.
But without the added work required for reporting and explaining we've been able to whip through this work very quickly.
As regular readers know, I'm coolness personified.
Seriously, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and James Bond all come to me for coolness tips.
To keep up this persona, I'm thinking maybe an iPhone is the phone for me.
I didn't know it but there are tons of iPhones in Australia now - all unlocked and all perfectly legal to use with local networks (I think it voids the iPhone warranty though).
Note: I just mentioned to Mel that you can unlock an iPhone and use it on any Australia phone network except for '3'. She said "Which 3?"
At $1,000 AUD or so the iPhone is as much as the Nokia.
I'm looking at getting a new phone and must say the Nokia N95 8GB has really taken my fancy.
Digital music player & radio
5 MB camera
Full-screen video playback
And oh yes, it's a phone!
The Nokia N95 8GB sounds great (and I say the 8GB because apparently there's a standard Nokia N95) and I'd love to hear any feedback from readers if you have one or have used one in the past.
It's amazing how easy things are when you have the right tools.
A friend's daughter is learning to read better than ever before now she has the right tools and information.
My friend did the usual mum things, but once she got some specific learn to read info it was a whole lot easier.
Having The Right Tools
It got me thinking about a lot of things we do. Much of our expertise is related to having the right tools - software, equipment, experience, etc - and using them.
You might remember, from this post, that during a Fun Run with the same organisers back in October, I won the major prize of a 5 night stay at a health retreat.
Mel is off to the Golden Door Health Retreat at the end of the week - as a result of that win she is fiercely loyal to the race organisers.
We had to stay to the very end of this race's presentation, not only in the hope of winning, but because she wanted to be seen to be supporting the race organisers to the very end.
If you're a regular reader, like you should be, then you might remember that last week I mentioned Australian motivational speaker and all round nice guy Craig Harper.
I do the right thing by Craig and tell the truth (Scouts Honour!) about when we got together and had lunch. I mean, would I lie about something like that??!
Honesty Schmonesty!
And Craig's the one always talking about honesty, blah, blah, blah.
I get honest on his ass and say he's a "wee little nancy boy" and that him and his mate Johnnie are "2 weedy look punks from the big smoke".
What's so wrong with honesty??
And look what's happened now. Little sensitive Craigy Waigy has just sent me a letter. Boo Hoo ya big baby!
It’s been a while and seriously, I’ve missed you. I always feel better about myself after seeing you. I think it’s a contrast thing. Like the good looking girl who hangs out with her ugly friend.
By the way, how did you get your gut so big and your arms so skinny all at the same time? That’s freaky. You’re a physiological marvel. I might commission the CSIRO to do some kind of study on you.
Anyway, did you finally get your shoulder back in the socket after our arm wrestle? Hope so; it looked pretty painful. Next time I won’t use both fingers, I’ll just use the one. My pinky.
Don’t worrying about crying in front of (your son) Jack; it’s good for men to express emotion. I just wish you didn’t express it for so long, or with such volume.
I also hope that nasty rash of yours has cleared up too – that didn’t look good either. Have you been using the cream? Just remember Champ: cream twice a day, loose fitting cotton shorts and walk like a cowboy. We’ll call you ‘Duke’.
And while I’m handing out advice, you may wanna hit the gym. A lot. Although I strongly oppose performance enhancing drugs, I think that you may have a pretty strong case for some chemical assistance.
By the way congratulations on having a site that’s almost as good as mine. Really. For a man with as many issues and challenges (that’s what we call them now) as you, you’ve done great.
Hugs and Kisses, Your Buddy, Craig =======================
For More Advice Like That....... As If You'd Want It
For more advice like that (as if you'd want it!) check out Craig's blog at www.craigharper.com.au.
But don't visit it too often or it might become even more popular than this one. And we can't have that ;o)
So I wrote about it in the SitePoint Tribune newsletter I write. The newsletter has 140,000 subscribers and many of them would be interested in what Dean does.
Now here's the best where Dean shows he knows what he is doing.
Dean leverages the mention in the SitePoint Tribune to build his own credibility to his audience even further.
A Simple Strategy
It's a very simple strategy that you'll see smart marketers use.
If an independent and credible source mentions your product/service/quiz/whatever then it makes perfect sense to shout that from the rooftops.
It's basically seen as "social proof" - that is, if someone in authority/credible thinks you're great then other people will think you're great because others do.
Huge Crowd Stopped = More People Stop
It's the same reason people stop and look at a busker with a huge crowd around him on the street - he must be good because everyone else has stopped.
What Dean has done is further aid the perception of being expert by subtly getting in the mention that SitePoint featured his quiz.
Simple stuff that builds credibility in the audience's mind.
And further proof that Dean knows what he is doing.
Look, I don't want to beat around the bush. I'll tell you straight.
Compared to me, pretty boy personal development motivational speaker Craig Harper is, well, ummmm, eerrrrrr.........................a wee little nancy boy.
I had lunch with him and his mate Johnnie in Melbourne a few weeks back.
The boys got a bit jealous when I took my shirt off and flexed a bit during lunch.
Sure, we were sitting outside on the footpath and it was 4 degrees, but I was HOT!! If you know what I mean.
I heard a few gasps (of delight I'm pretty sure) and I got more than 1 or 2 passing looks (heh, I'm an attractive guy, what can I say?) - and it doesn't matter if they were guys looking.
Still counts as a look.
Attractive is attractive.
The final straw for Craig was when I beat him in an arm wrestle - maybe it was because he was giving himself a manicure at the same time as arm wrestling, I'm not sure.
Anyway, these 2 weedy look punks from the big smoke (seriously, how can guys built like matchsticks run a freaking personal training centre???) are in for another beating from Brendon.
I did a speech today to a group I've spoken to a couple of times before - it was just okay. Not that good, not a complete disaster.
I used a PowerPoint (which I don't often do) and sure enough, the projector wasn't working.
So we then went to a TV screen.
Then half way through we lost the power to the computer.
Jack Sinclair Dating Service
In my speech I showed some video and photos of my son Jack.
There were 10 beautiful girls from a local school at the function - in part of the speech I said:
"I want to make it absolutely clear to the girls from the college here today - Jack is single and available and I'm quite happy to give his number out to whoever asks."
As a business who have had a lot of success with search engine rankings, we rate Aaron Wall's SEO Book as the best and most up-to-date book on getting great rankings.
But that's about to stop.
The SEO Book Will Be No More
Aaron has just emailed me to let me know that as from of midnight tomorrow (February 20) He's going to "change the SEO Book business model away from selling a downloadable ebook, and toward selling a web based information product backed by a community forum that helped turn it into a service more than a product."
The Anatomy Of The Dumbest Web Site In The World (Or How To Stop People Buying What You Sell)
I was quite excited this morning to read the blog of the guys over at Made To Stick.
You see, they had written about a new business model being implemented - Cheaper By The Chapter - and how their book is the guinea pig for the new model.
That is, you can buy just 1 chapter if you want. Or 2 or 3 , etc.
A brilliant, brilliant concept.
A crap, crap execution.
The process to buy the book is clumsy, annoying and actually doesn't even work! Let's Take A Look
"Great idea," thought I. I'll buy a chapter and see how it works and then maybe blog about it here and write about it in the SitePoint Tribune (with 140,000 subscribers).
No drama - these things happen, I'll try again later.
2nd try: Another pop up, different error. 3rd time lucky - I'm in!
Woohooooo! Or so you'd think.
Step 4: Once I'm in I get the dreaded "Create an account" screen.
You know the one - the one that says to buy you have to either login with your previously created username and password (like you're going to remember that!) OR you have to create an account. "Create An Account" = Less Sales
If you have that as part of your shopping cart, your sales go down, down, down (or they never actually get up, up, up because everyone bails out at this stage).
In the interests of research for you dear reader, I plough on. Heh, what can I say? I'm a hell of a guy!
So I go to create an account...... All For A $2.99 e-book Remember
Stop here for 1 minute:
Remember, all I want to do is buy a $2.99 pdf file.
I'm thinking to myself I've already wasted enough time on this, but, like I say) I'm a saint so I l keep going.
The Create an Account page has a staggering 10 mandatory fields!
(Every single mandatory field you have will generally reduce the % of people who bother to fill it in - but I do, because this whole thing is turning to crap and I want to see how it turns out.) Step 5: So I fill in the form. But I'm already annoyed.
Bugger!
My state isn't there, so I select the -. No problem.
Then I come to the country.
"US" is the only option allowed.
Because I live in Australia, I ignore that and push on and complete the form.
After all, nowhere on the site or check out process did I see it say they "don't sell outside the US".
Remember, it's a $2.99 ebook pdf file I'm trying to buy.
That's when I start getting the error messages that I have to choose a state and that my zip hasn't got enough numbers.
After a few minutes of editing stuff I gave up. Annoyed With Everyone - Even my Coffee Guy
Annoyed with Random House. Annoyed with the Made To Stick guys. Annoyed with the guy at the local coffee shop (my coffee this morning was cold - I am one angry man!).
So the moronsidiots people at Random House miss out on a sale.
They damage their brand.
They damage the brand of the Made To Stick guys.
Random House Have No Clue
Basically, they screw everyone over and waste their time because they have no clue how people buy and, amazingly enough with this web thing, don't think that people from other countries might actually try and buy from them.
And that is how you don't sell your book (and yes, I'm still angry!).
For our bike ride, Jack (that's him at right with his big sis Laura before the Noosa Triathlon) and I are going to get some 'uniform' cycling gear made up.
How it works with custom cycling gear (knicks and jerseys) is that you find a manufacturer and, either for a price or as part of the set up, design the knicks and jerseys and then make them.
Cheap or Expensive
I was told about a inexpensive manufacturer close to my office (about 5 kms away).
Another well know (and more expensive) manufacturer is about 15 kms away.
The 'inexpensive' manufacturer has a web site - it's absolutely terrible. It looks about 10 years out of date, the site is full of typos (I never have typos!) and there is nothing in the design that says "We're good at design".
The more expensive manufacturer has a very slick web site. Looks brilliant and gives great, up to date information. The welcome note from the owner makes him sound very sincere, ready to help and knowledgeable.
Despite the price difference, I'm far more likely to go with the more expensive manufacturer.
Assessed We'll Get Better Value For Money
The design is critical (sponsor recognition is very important) and we can't afford to compromise on quality. For a few extra dollars I feel sure we'll get far better value for money.
Higher Profit Can Lead To Better Quality
The more expensive something is the more profit the manufacturer makes, the more he can spend on marketing and customer service and quality materials.
If you're not hardly making a $ then you can't afford to spend big on marketing or customer service or the absolute best in materials.
It's About The Design AND.......
People judge your web site on a whole range of criteria.
Sure, the look is important.
But so is anything else that could impact on your potential customer.
Just yesterday a client told me she contacted me because she found my style of writing
Last week a client contacted me because she did a search for her product in the search engines and one of my sites came up # 1. Proven results were the clincher for her.
A lot of people get referred to us - a credible endorsement from a friend or colleague is critical in their choice influencing.
This patient was pissed (drunk) and fell over (PFO) and hurt himself - a very common description when you work in Emergency Rooms.
Give it immediately (stat) and then as required (prn) - usually talking about medication.
"Link love" means we need some web sites linking to another web site because that generally helps to boost the second web site's search engine rankings.
Jargon is inevitable in any industry - it's effective language to quickly and precisely communicate.
The problems begin when we use jargon with people who don't know what we're talking about - in business that can make a big difference.
Don't Make People Feel Stupid
The last thing you want to do is confuse people. Because confused people feel stupid.
If you make someone feel stupid they almost certainly won't buy from you.
Cheers
Brendon
P.S: Just because I say it shouldn't be done doesn't mean I don't sometimes slip into jargon talk myself!
How Your Facebook Site Might Stop You From Getting A Job
Social media sites can be a great way to connect with others.
Just be aware that whatever you say now can basically be available forever.......and ruin your life.
"A survey released by Viadeo said that 62 per cent of British employers now check the Facebook, MySpace or Bebo pages of some applicants, and that a quarter had rejected candidates as a result."
One of the services we provide is a comprehensive review of your website.
For $495 Australian (about $450 US at present) we'll take a good look at your site in terms of showing you what you need to do to get to the top of the search engines.
Keyword research - knowing what keywords to target and why
On-site development - how to develop your site so it is as attractive as possible to search engines
Off-site development - (more important than what's on the site essentially) how to get the right links, content, social site utilization and much more
We'll point you in the right direction for some quality resources too.
He's a wonderful lad and I simply can't believe I'm lucky enough to be his dad.
Jack (that's him below in the yellow, not to be confused with Robbie McEwen in the new Silence Lotto jersey!) was watching the Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman documentary "Long Way Round" a few months back - the story of those guys motorcycling around the world from London to New York.
He said to me, "We could do that across Australia, Dad. Are you keen?"
"Sure," said I, thinking it would be a few years before he could get his motorbike license.
He Meant On Push Bikes
We chatted about it a bit and mapped out the route - 4,500 kms (2,800 miles).
A couple of days, after saying I'd do it with him, I realised he meant riding across Australia on push bikes!
But I'd already committed. No, not "I should be committed", but "I'd already committed"!
The Ride - Across Australia from Perth to Surfers Paradise.
The Distance - 4,500 kms
The Cause - We'll use the ride to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Australia
The Ride Ambassador - check out the web site ....our supporter is the best sprinter in the world (no arguments!). The pic above might be a giveaway.
I live on the Gold Coast, Queensland where property prices just keep on increasing. My mate Phil Spratt, cartoonist and caricature artist, also lives here.
Phil's just figured out how they price the high rise apartments.
When he found out about the ride he was quite impressed. Very shortly after I received an email from Ryan with a couple of graphics attached for us to use - check them out below.
All free of charge to help out the ride.
Of course if you'd like to use those on your site to help promote the ride and the cause we'd be very grateful.
Just right click and save to your computer. The link is www.perthtoparadise.com.au.
Over the past week or so I've had a ton of people email and call us after reading this report (it's a pdf file) I wrote back in 2004.
It's all still relevant today if you want a truly successful web site.....and of course there is even more stuff to be aware of (like social media).
10 secrets of successful web sites
The real secrets for a successful web site as developed by us after completing hundreds of sites and owning a hugely successful site ...click here for more
And no, there are no forms to fill in or emails to give.
You click and it opens up. Easy.
Brendon
P.S: Heh, that could be another secret for a successful site: don't annoy your visitors with roadblocks to stop them getting what they want quickly and easily.
One of my sons (13 yo Harry) has justed started a blog.
Today he wrote something that is a brilliant example of compelling content. By "compelling" I mean content that is really interesting and makes you go "Wow!"
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From Harry's Blog
Today in science a stupid kid up the back liked the look of some sulphuric acid and wondered what it might taste like and next thing you know he gets taken to hospital in an ambulance.
That should teach you all a valuable lesson - never put colorful poison near a dumb ass.
Mmmmm, looks tasty!
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I love that story for lots of reasons:
it's true
it's interesting
it's edgy - uhmmm, Harry, we can probably tone the "ass" language down!
it's controversial - he's having a bit of a go at someone
Anyhow, the takeaway is that you must make your web site or marketing information interesting.
Give it a personality. Give people a reason to come back for more.
