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Would you like to receive regular email updates of my ecommerce and marketing research, plus news of additions to the site? Subscribe today for free via the form in the right hand column of this page! November 10 2005 Over 680 million email usersAccording to Radacati's Q3 2005 Market Numbers Update there are approximately 686 million email users globally and email traffic is now around 141 billion messages per day. Unfortunately over 60% of that is spam. Radacati forecasts corporate anti-spyware to grow at a rate of 141% per year and for the wireless email market to expand by 42% yearly over the next four years.
November 5 2005 Replacing large blocks of text/code on pagesTime is money and repetitive tasks are not enjoyable. If you've ever been faced with the task of changing a common element in your page source code and you have a large site; you'd know exactly what I mean. Opening up hundreds of pages to change a line or a block of text chews up valuable time that could be spent on marketing or content development. Most web page editors such as FrontPage have limited search and replace functions, allowing you to only replace a single line. If you need to change a common block of text or code, I'd like to recommend you take a look at ReplaceEm, a freeware string-replacing utility for Windows. In my opinion, the application is simply awesome. It took me around 5 minutes to learn how to use the software, a couple of minutes to configure the run and then only a minute or so for ReplaceEm to do the work. To do the job manually would have taken me over 3 hours, if I didn't take a break. Not only that, but at the end of it, I'm sure I would have been brain dead. A big thank you to Boolean Dream inc for this software, an even bigger thank you for releasing it for free. In some cases, you can implement some simple strategies to reduce the need for future major search and replace exercises by using "include" functions. Further information on this can be found in my article on site upgrade strategies November 4 2005 Spending on online content up by over 15%The Online Publishers Association has released its Paid Content U.S. Market Spending Report for Q1/Q2 of 2005. US Consumer spending on online content increased over 15% to $987 million in the first half of
2005. The big mover of the period studied was the Entertainment and
Lifestyles category (up 48.8%) which bypassed Personals and Dating. In third
place was Business/Investment. Download the Full Report (PDF, 274 KB) Google and Yahoo updatesNotice some craziness in your Google or Yahoo rankings over the last few days? Yahoo Search Blog reported a "mild and quick" update for late on November 1, but the one that has many SEOP's and webmasters in a frenzy is the "Jagger" update on Google. Jagger has been an update in 3 parts spanning over quite a long time. Presently, Matt Cutts' blog states that Google is just about to roll out Jagger 3, most likely to occur this weekend. Matt is a software engineer at Google. So before you buy another house or change your career to something less stressful such as alligator castration; don't go away, the show ain't over yet :). (added note - November 12 - the new data set still hasn't propagated throughout the data centers as yet; seems that G is chewing it over)
November 3 2005 Kids, risk-taking and online businessHarris Interactive survey results published by BSA show that over half of 1,556 US 8-18 year olds stated that their school’s computer usage rules were stricter than usage rules at home.
35% said they are more likely to use a home computer to communicate with a
stranger, 24% to give out personal information online and 29% to visit sites
that they probably shouldn't on a home PC.
On the bright side, it seems there's an increasing number of kids who say
their parents know more about the Internet than they do. Oh joy, the blind
leading the blinder :). I'm kidding, it's an encouraging result.
"Computer Whiz" children used to make my life a living hell when I
had a mobile computer repairs service in the mid-90's :). The hardest part
was convincing some parents that Little Johnny is a being menace not
only to their own computer, but to online society in general.
Anyway, what's all this got to do with ecommerce? It's not unusual for
online business owners to work from home - and to let their children use the
same computer they run their business from.
This is a less than ideal situation, but we can't all afford to have
workstations for each family member. Even having children on the same
network can pose a serious threat. My guide - Anti
hacking tips for home based online business might provide you with some
valuable tips towards securing your ecommerce interests.
November 2 2005 $18 billion in online sales these holidaysUS online retail purchase this holiday season are predicted to reach $18 billion, according to Forrester research. This represents a massive growth of 25 percent over 2004. Forrester also states that over 2 million new households are expected to begin shopping online in 2005. Another point in the report that I've seen time and time again in recent months is in relation to free shipping - a huge drawcard for online shoppers. A new angle brought to light is that consumers are prepared to spend extra in order to qualify for free shipping - food for thought. Gentlemen, start your engines - and may this holiday season be not only joyous and peaceful, but profitable for you - good luck! Oh, by the way, have you read my only contribution towards holiday marketing advice? Be warned, it's coming from a real Scrooge! Read more of the Forrester Research report
Toxic blogging and nasty reviewsWe're all pretty familiar with the concept of blogs driving traffic to sites, but it can also really turn it away. I read an interesting quote from Peter Blackshaw, CMO at Intelliseek recently in relation to "toxic blogging" and it reminded me of recent incidents where emails from companies to clients had been published in blogs - and misquoted, not quoted in context or important information being left out. The results for the company can be very negative. For all of us who have blogs or a similar soapbox, it's wise to remember that freedom of speech does also entail accountability. The words of one of my lecturers from many years ago always come back to me when seeing these situations - he said something along the lines of "people want freedom, but not real freedom - real freedom has responsibility". Freedom without responsibility and accountability to our fellow man is just anarchy of the worst kind. On the other end of the scale, it's important to remember that the written word is easily reproduced and great care should be taken when communicating with clients. Let's face it; none of us are perfect and stuff happens - but when things do go wrong, it's important to address issues as best as possible. That's easier said than done when the pressure is on... and on for a long time :). I'll be writing a full article regarding unfavorable comments published on the web in the near future and how your business can handle them. The onus will be on simple strategies for hopefully defusing difficult situations - not hiring expensive lawyers; there's way too much of that in the world already. Resolution doesn't necessarily mean a long and messy conflict preceding it. Resolution should also mean a win-win situation. Until I get the opportunity to write the article, you may be interested in reading couple of other articles I've published along similar lines. The first was published earlier this year - dealing with aggressive clients in online business. The second is my ezine article from 2003 - when things go wrong in online business. LookSmart goes verticalLookWho? In case you don't remember the company, LookSmart used to provide MSN with web directory results - before MSN released it's own engine. Many forecast the rapid death of LS after the arrangement was dissolved in 2003. LookSmart have bounced back with a new look vertical search engine. What's it like? hmm.. well, you be the judge; but I don't think it will have Serge and Larry shaking in their booties :). Still, it's nice to see them hanging in there and defying the naysayers. Get all the latest news from Taming the Beast, current ecommerce development and internet marketing strategies, plus general web site promotion tips - subscribe to our free update today and have it delivered directly to your inbox!
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In Loving Memory - Mignon Ann Bloch
copyright (c) 1999-2007 Taming the Beast Adelaide - South Australia
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