Certification and the futility of not selling out

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral, Google Ads

Thought 1: Bodybuilding has always struck me as an odd activity. At a very basic level, it’s about people wanting to look good and feel good about themselves.? taken from wikipedia Most young (and not so young) men would be happy to look like that. But if the aspiring bodybuilder decides to take it to a more competitive level, odd poses, … Read More

WARNING: Health alert for Software Developers

Posted by Dave CollinsDigital Marketing

There are many talented software developers in the world, and many people with great business skills. And while there are some lucky enough to be both, they are a tiny minority. Hence the number of great software products that never become great businesses. Software developers fall into the extreme-high-risk category of contracting Developer Syndrome. Although at first the symptoms may be … Read More

What happened to clarity? What happened to honesty?

Posted by Dave CollinsMarketing

I recently returned from the Business of Software Conference in Boston – the most interesting event I have ever attended. The hotel we were staying at, like many, is keen to jump on the Green bandwagon. Yet the card in my bathroom seemed to be lacking in clarity. Apologies for the image quality – this was taken with my BlackBerry. And … Read More

The web is dead?

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

Yes it is, according to Wired in The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. “Two decades after its birth, the World Wide Web is in decline, as simpler, sleeker services — think apps — are less about the searching and more about the getting… You’ve spent the day on the Internet — but not on the Web. And you … Read More

1 + 1 doesn’t have to be 2

Posted by Dave CollinsMarketing, Website Usability

We’re short of time, so I’m going to try to keep this quick and simple. Website X gets 20,000 visitors a day. 8,000 of the visitors remain on the website and click at least one link. 40%. 500 of them spend a significant amount of time on the website and engage with the content. 6.25%. 20 of them sign up. 4.0%. Website … Read More

Paessler’s PRTG 8 and a new licensing model

Posted by Dave CollinsDigital Marketing

One of the less-than-ideal aspects of buying software today is the inevitable license tangles and restrictions. Like it or not, you’ll invariably pay for aspects of the software that you won’t ever use, just to get the features you need. Until now anyway. “With the upcoming release of PRTG 8, Paessler takes a revolutionary step and completely simplifies its licensing … Read More

Finally some good news on the economy

Posted by Dave CollinsEconomy

The State of SMB IT Survey September 2010 is now available for download, and it has some cautious but good news: “After weathering the economic storm of 2009 then treading cautiously in the first half of 2010, small and medium business IT professionals are slowly but surely navigating the course back to “business as usual.” While the global economic outlook … Read More

Amazon go PPC

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

“Amazon Product Ads provides a new, highly targeted advertising channel. Amazon’s world class shopping experience and product pages ensures you only pay for qualified customers. You don’t pay for customers to read about and view your products on Amazon. You only pay when they click on your ad to go to your Web site.“

SEO is dead. Again.

Posted by Dave CollinsSEO

Every few months, someone else has a new angle on why SEO has died. In fact a search on Google for SEO is dead produces over 5 million results. Note that a search for SEO is hard produces over 20 million results. That boosts my faith in humanity. The latest flavour of “it’s the end of SEO as we know … Read More