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Question

The internet represents a vastly more environmentally friendly vehicle for information dissemination. Are Australian eco-centric organisations FULLY using the power of the internet to reflect their mission of helping the global environment?

Author: Matthew Trevor

I think there's a bigger implicit question here: is anyone fully using the power of the internet right now? :)

Anecdotally, I find that most people I know of are aware that we, as a species, have an impact on the planet - although opinions differ concerning the extent - and are willing to try to minimize that impact, as long as they can find ways to integrate it into their current lifestyle. Many are willing to put some effort into identifying ways they can do so, so the increased availability of information on ways they can achieve this is a big win, as it is for all aspects of education in general. As for the effectives of eco-centric organisations utilising that greater information availability, it might help to dissect some of the bigger and more adeptly done examples currently available.

Informing

Greenfleet1 is a non-profit organisation that provides a carbon offset program through the planting of native Australian trees. The main focus of the site is on the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions; most of the information on the site discusses the importance of doing so, with links to government, scientific and public bodies that provide supporting evidence and discussion. They provide a calculator that produces a rough total of a household's annual greenhouse emissions, which it equates to the number of trees required to offset those emissions. Through a subscription service, members can make an annual donation that will cover the planting of those trees. An image gallery is provided that shows evidence of the ongoing reforestation efforts, and is a nice way of providing that necessary feedback to ensure members that their donations are being used effectively. The organisation is certified under the Federal Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ initiative, which helps to establish their legitimacy, as well as showing their willingness to work within an established and agreed upon framework for change.

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Question

There is debate on the merits of blogs. What factors should a business consider when wanting to develop awareness and interaction through a blog environment? (In other words best practices and things to avoid and why)

Author: Derek McDonald

The Blog, a website maintained by an individual who writes topics (posts as they are called in blogging terms) on what they are interested in and to have their 2 cents on issues. Still, today most of the blogs on the internet are run by individuals or at most 4 or 5 people that share a common interest. The most common type of blog is an online diary of the happenings of a person’s life. In addition to the textual version of a blog there are a few other types of blogs on the internet, they are;

• Artlog (Art)
• Photoblog (Photography)
• Shetchblog (Sketches)
• Vlog (Videos)
• Podcasting (Audio)

Podcasting has become more popular in the recent years with the release of the iPod on the market, although you do not actually need an iPod or MP3 player to subscribe to a podcast.

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Synergies for Start-ups through India

Author: Roop K Bhadury

dotRED, a company that is two and a half years in the making and all of four months new took a rather bold decision very early in the piece and decided to set up an India office almost right away.

Roop, our CEO, headed off to Lucknow, India when dotRED was just a few weeks old, leaving management in the more than capable hands of its dynamic core group. Over the next seven weeks the India office started taking shape and as things stand, our office is being fitted out and we expect to commence operations with a 15 person team of marketers and engineers by the end of September.

While it was somewhat challenging to head into India so early in our development as a company. the matter was helped along by the fact that Roop is originally from India and had access to networks that might otherwise be hard to comy by for smaller Australian organisations looking top set up shop in India.

The India operation gives to dotRED the opportunity to compete aggressively on quality as well as price in the South Asian/Asia Pacific markets. We are able to combine the skills of our Indian team with our local knowledge and skills on the ground here in Australia to offer truly compelling solutions to businesses.

We are excitedly looking forward to dotRED (India) commencing, while we, at dotRED (Australia) get our product strategy underway.

If you are a manager considering leveraging India for your business, just consider the following before deciding:

• Local knowledge - do your research
• Local partners - six degrees of separation!
• Local skills - hire the best

What issues face businesses when considering online advertising campaigns? How has the online environment changed in the last 3-4 years and what issues and business considerations have been created by this evolution?

Author: Mark Brown

Even though it's been around for a while now, online advertising is still a challenge to many companies. Unlike more traditional forms of advertising, which people understand almost intuitively, the online space is still very much in a state of flux. New advertising formats are emerging and being tested all the time. Search advertising has probably been the most visible growth area in the past few years, yet surprisingly a lot of companies are still not familiar with it. In fact, Google estimates that only 10% of Australian businesses have a website, so the scope for growth in this area is significant. Payment models are constantly being questioned, with cost-per-click now firmly established. However, increasingly the debate is growing over cost-per-engagement and alternative metrics. Of course, the latest challenge has been the Web 2.0 phenomenon and in particular, how to tap into the vast social network landscape. Advertisers and marketers are scrambling to figure out how to take advantage of opportunities in this space. Companies that understand the relevance and value of this new media world will have a distinct advantage.

What are the challenges and considerations to creating a strong Google Adwords Campaign with a budget of $200/mth over 12 months?

Author: Upesh Thapa

It seems most traditional businesses are starting to adapt digital advertising and now realising the real need or concept of Google. In addition to existing online businesses/advertising, usage of Google AdWords campaigns seems to be increasing each year.

With more businesses on board to Google AdWords, one major challenge is, keywords are getting competitive where more advertisers want same keywords due to the businesses' nature, thus an increase in keywords price. To overcome this, I feel it is important to be up to date with internet users' searching and keyword appealing patterns.

To be able to create and maintain strong Google AdWords Campaigns' for a budget of $200/month in a 12 month period, you would have to consider researching and analysing sectors on where potential customers spend time on internet. This will give you a good understanding on keywords likely to be used. Given that the budget is small (i.e. $200), I would be looking for keywords that cost minimum and non competitive yet likely to appeal internet users.

How does internet adoption and effective usage/implementation in the commercial sector in the UK compare to that in Australia and has this had any impact on the commercial / advertising landscape?

Author: Joe Burton

I would say the UK populace on a whole is more web savvy than Australia with a more open mind to web business. Online shopping in the UK seems far more common place and accepted as a way of sending and receiving gifts and making general purchases i.e. eBay, Amazon, etc. Companies in the UK seem more willing to spend more of their annual marketing budget solely on Internet Advertising and appreciate its value, where as in Australia I get the impression the focus is more on traditional advertising forms such as print and TV. So I guess the Australian market is still growing and somewhat behind the UK in embracing the Internet and all its commercial opportunities, so you could say in that respect there is more opportunity in Australia, it's just a case of getting the right sales angle. I personally believe it's more about a Psychology of a people and the Australian market isn't properly understood and hasn't been thoroughly researched, again unlike the UK where people will spend real money and time researching their market and building requirements, perhaps it's just a case of seeing the bigger picture and not expecting immediate returns.

Something New

Author: Roop K Bhadury

There’s always something going on at dotRED. We’ve recently added six new members to our team and the office is starting to look a bit like the United Nations, with Germans, Indians, Englishmen, Nepalese, and Australians all trying to understand each other’s eating habits. This melting pot of perspectives is adding a lot to our thought processes and the way in which we conceive our product offerings.

India Office

Author: Roop K Bhadury

Our office in India is taking shape and when it’s finalised in September ’08 we’ll have an even bigger engine room to drive our projects and innovation processes.