Aussie Web Directory

If your website was one of your sales staff would you be happy with his results? A good website design should deliver you quality leads and generate a return on your investment - not just than just sit there and look good.

Remember that website design is a marketing activity not a technology decision. So many people seek out a web developer as their first port of call when they need a website. But that’s putting the cart before the horse.

Your first activity when contemplating a website should be to think about your marketing objectives and what job you need your website to do for you.

To do that let’s revisit the sales person analogy. If your website was a sales person what should its sales process be? How will it get customers to engage with them and your company. Thinking about this analogy forces you consider what information and functions your website needs to get you real sales results.

For a start, You need to arm your ‘online salesperson’ with information to they can appear knowledgeable about the benefits of your products and services. He needs to be able to succinctly articulate what your unique selling proposition is.

You need your salesperson to acknowledge that customers are different stages of their buying process and therefore have different informational needs. For example, provide product comparisons for people who haven’t yet decided on the right product, but also provide in depth product information for those who are further advanced in their decision process.

You need people to trust your online salesperson too – so consider what do you need to do or say on your website to engender trust. Even the aesthetics of your website can contribute to trust. A shabby looking website from 1992 isn’t going to help your image.

Not everyone will buy or engage on their first visit. Your online salesperson needs to provide a reason for the customer to come back. Constantly updated content gives people reason to return. Make sure your website is a worthy destination. A website that never changes is like a retail store that doesn’t change their window display. It makes people think they’ve already seen everything you have to offer and they won’t bother to come in.

At some stage in the process, your ‘online salesperson’ needs to ask the customer’s name and contact details. To do this, you usually need to give them the promise of something in return (eg. early notification of specials, a free assessment). This is a critical point in your sales process. Now your visitor isn’t anonymous – he has a name and you know how to contact him and have permission to do so. At this point, you can call them an actual ‘lead’. Yippee.

Once your online sales person has promised something they have to deliver. They need to follow up on their promise. If you promised email notifications of sales, make sure you do it. Take every opportunity to re-engage with them. That means more opportunities to communicate with your customers and ultimately make sales.

If you actually want to sell your products online, at some point you need to facilitate the sale. Online shopping cart facilities make this easy. Design your sales process so that it provides a good shopping experience. No-one likes waiting in a checkout queue and similarly online shoppers don’t like clunky purchase processes.

So when you’re ready for a new website - remember, the brief to your web designer should read more like a job description than a shopping list.

Jane Davies is founder and Director of Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions and specialises in online marketing in Brisbane. The core philosophy is to create and design websites that deliver real marketing results rather than just sit there and look good. Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions also advises clients that online marketing be used as part of a broader marketing plan.

Brisbane is Queenslands capital and a fabulous place to visit. But what to do when you get there? Here’s some suggestions:

Sightseeing bus tour
The best way to find your bearings in any new city is to do a “City Sights” tour. Brisbane has a “City Sights” tour which operates in the day time. There is also a Brisbane Lights Tour which showcases the spectacular night lights of Brisbane.

Stay at a boutique hotel in Brisbane
While Brisbane does not have a massive amount of heritage buildings, a few of them have been beautifully restored as boutique hotels. These typically have modern amenities and luxury facilities. Boutique hotels have more space than other hotel rooms with a special ambiance not found at other Brisbane hotels. Situated in the heart of the city, the heritage listed Royal Albert Hotel is one of the best located of the boutique hotels in Brisbane.

Steak-out at the Brekky Creek Hotel
The Brekky Creek Hotel (officially the Breakfast Creek Hotel) is about 15 minutes from the heart of the city by car. If you want the best char grilled steak in Brisbane, the Brekky Creek Hotel is the place to go! Choose your own steak from the array in the window, and sit in the Spanish beer garden while the chefs go to work. The trimmings, which haven’t changed for 40 years, include salad, bread roll and a jacket potato, but they like to leave enough room for your steak!

Australia Zoo
Just one hour from the heart of Brisbane Australia Zoo is more than a zoo. It is home to many communities of crocodiles, koalas, tigers, leopards, snakes, and elephants. Become a Wildlife Warrior by hand feeding the elephants. Watch the Crocoseum shows where you may see Terri, Bindi and Bob feed the crocodiles.

Lone Pine
A great way to see Brisbane is to catch a boat from the city centre along the majestic Brisbane River to Lone Pine.
From echidnas to emus, wombats to wild lorikeets, kangaroos to koalas, Lone Pine is one of Australia’s oldest and best known animal sanctuaries. After spending a few hours cuddling a koala and hand feeding the kangaroos, you can return to the city by boat or bus.

Wheel of Brisbane
Erected in 2008, the Wheel of Brisbane has become a land mark for Brisbane. Sit in air conditioned comfort with views around Brisbane as the world rotates below.

Bridges
Brisbane has two relatively new bridges. The Goodwill Bridge connects the Botanical Gardens and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to Southbank. This bridge was named after the Goodwill Games hosted by Brisbane in 2001.
The Kurilpa Bridge opened in 2009 and links Roma Street Parkland to QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre), the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art). Kurilpa is the Aboriginal word for West End and means “the place for water rats”.
Both bridges have a reasonable amount of shade and are architecturally significant in their own right. It is a matter of time before the Kurilpa Bridge is nicknamed the Spiderweb.

Southbank - Botanical Gardens - Roma Street Parkland
Starting in Albert Street, walk down to the Botanical Gardens in Alice Street and explore the lakes and forests, or walk along the river through the mangroves. Walk up the hill through QUT and across the Goodwill Bridge as you admire the Brisbane River and city skyline. At Southbank you can walk through the 17 hectares of sub-tropical landscaped gardens and rainforest, swim in the city beach while enjoying the stunning CBD and river views. Walk along the Southbank Arbour, a spectacular steel framed structure constructed to support the bougainvillea vines which provide continuous shade. After crossing the Kurilpa Bridge, you will find the lush Roma Street Parkland. Roma Street Parkland is an oasis in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD, set over 16 hectares of green space and is the largest urban subtropical garden in the world. The Forest and Fern Gully offers the chance to explore a subtropical misty rainforest in the centre of Brisbane!

Exploring the river
An easy way to explore the Brisbane River is by City Cat. Explore the university grounds at St Lucia, stop off for a XXXX (beer) at the historic Regatta Hotel (where you can smell the hops from the XXXX brewery), and stroll through the Sunday markets at Riverside. Other good stop offs especially for lunch include Bretts Wharf and Bulimba.

Cycle along the river
There is an extensive network of shared cycle and pedestrian paths along both sides of the Brisbane River and elsewhere. This is a great way to see the city skyline and river, and healthy as well! Valet Cycle Hire will drop off your bikes to your Brisbane Boutique Hotel with suggested bike tours. The Brisbane City Council plan to have 150 bike parking stations across the city where bikes can be picked up and dropped off at little or no cost.

There’s a variety of boutique hotels in Brisbane. For a list of boutique hotels in Brisbane and other hotels in Brisbane, visit hotelsinbrisbane.com.au

All fundraising groups must first decide what type of fundraiser they want to run. There are so many different fundraising companies offering their products and services these days, it can become a confusing and daunting experience to try to establish which company will best serve the needs of the group.
The first step for the group is to determine what they hope to accomplish with the fundraiser. After their goals have been clearly established and agreed on by everyone involved, they should set out to ascertain which fundraising company will best suit their needs and assist them to achieve the desired result. Each member should be asked to research fundraising companies and report back to the group on their findings.

Most fundraising groups want to achieve exactly what the name implies - they want to raise money, and most members of these groups are already busy people who don’t really have much time left to give on a daily basis. So it makes sense to try to avoid any fundraising ventures that take up excessive amounts of time, and also ones that require too much money or payments up front. The last thing a fundraising group needs is to run a high risk, time consuming fundraiser which could in the long run cause the group to actually lose money on the venture. It’s best to keep the event simple, manageable, and cost and time effective.

Deciding what time of year to run the fundraiser is an important part of the process. The group needs to do its homework and ensure that no other major events are taking place at the same time. For example, a school might want to run a Christmas fundraiser, but holding it too close to exam time might prove detrimental to a successful outcome.

Planning of the fundraiser is paramount. To make sure that everything occurs in an orderly fashion, the tasks should be delegated as much as possible. Each member of the group should take responsibility for at least one task. Setting deadlines for each task is a good idea, and extra time should be allocated to allow for mishaps and hold ups. This is because when the inevitable occurs and problems arise, the fundraiser can still progress smoothly and finish on time and as planned.

The group should create a budget for the fundraiser and stick to it. The event will need to be advertised, and this includes flyers, posters, brochures and newsletters. There should be an overall printing budget, which should include photocopying costs. The group should try to find a printing company who is willing to donate the printing costs, or perhaps reduce the costs in exchange for a small ad of their own on the advertisements.

At the conclusion of the fundraiser, the group should send out thank you notes to everyone who was involved and helped to organise the event, including those who donated time, merchandise or money. A detailed report on the success of the event should also be distributed to all members and their families.

If you’re looking for new fundraising ideas, Gold Star Gifts and Stationery are a Brisbane based fundraising company who supply quality novelty stationery and gifts to fundraising groups Australia wide. They offer tremendous rebates and free delivery, and supply everything that’s required to run successful fundraisers, including all brochures, order forms and final tally sheets. They can be contacted for a free information pack via their website.