Software Mad Men

Posted by Dave CollinsDigital Marketing, General

A search for speed up my PC on Google (predictably) produces a lot of ads featuring surprisingly happy women. In fact five out of the first ten ads I clicked: Clearly this segment of the industry believe that deliriously happy (usually blonde) women sell software, but why? Could it be that they’re trying to sell to women? Unlikely. An old Squidoo … Read More

2011 predictions for the gullible

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

2011 will be the year of… Facebook advertising. Right now it doesn’t work for many companies because people going to Facebook are going to see what their friends are doing while they should be working. Not to buy things. I believe that Facebook can and will change this. It’s their only realistic source of revenue, so they have a good … Read More

Lack of clarity = confusion

Posted by Dave CollinsDigital Marketing, Website Usability

After a recent (horrible) virus experience, I’ve taken all reasonable steps to protect my system. I use Google Chrome, and use the excellent NotScripts to protect my web browsing. One of the useful features of NotScripts is that when I get to a website, I have to allow scripts to run, and if I’m not sure about a domain, I … Read More

The world’s most expensive terrestrial broadband?

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

I just received an interesting email from our (second) broadband provider, with the following information: “100Mbps Internet connections We’ve just connected our first 100Mbps customer to our new Ethernet Direct Leased Line service. This is dedicated fibre delivered direct to the premises. It is aimed primarily at business customers and is the new very cost-effective 21CN alternative to legacy 20CN … Read More

blekko – an interesting alternative to Google?

Posted by Dave CollinsSEO

If you work with Google you most likely enjoy a love-hate relationship with them. You love the traffic they send, but you hate the way they move, rename, camouflage and smoke-screen the goal posts. Yet what choice do you have? There are alternatives, but if you combine all the traffic they might collectively send you each month, you’re still only … Read More

Forms that kill sales – 7 ways to kill your customers

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

True story – almost live. I just went to buy a useful product – I didn’t need it, but I wanted it. Here’s what happened. I clicked on the buy button, and was told that I had to set up an account. (Hurdle 1) Clicked on the link to do so, and was asked for my name and email address. … Read More

The SoftwarePromotions Interview

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

Nico Westerdale of Software Marketing Resource, BitsDuJour, Iconico and more has published his interview with yours truly: The SoftwarePromotions Interview Thank-you Nico!

Innovation can cripple your business

Posted by Dave CollinsDigital Marketing

Most (but not all) business sectors are driven by the need to innovate. Yet consumers and business are fickle. We want innovative tech devices, but get annoyed when our media streamer isn’t as reliable as our CD player. We want ground breaking features in our new cars, then get annoyed when the electronic seat memory positions can’t be overridden manually. … Read More