This month brings us to the start of a new financial year and hopefully the economic outlook is on the improve for small business.  However, with a Federal election due in a few weeks time, current business activity levels will probably be unchanged until after the election. 

It is a good time to look at your advertising remembering that the cost of having a website online for a year is about the same as a small 1 minute advertisement in the local newspaper.  If you do place an advertisemenmt in the paper, remember to include your website address to let readers know where they can find more information about your business products and services.

MEMBER NEWS

Gympie Family Dental – We have recently completed re-development the Gympie Family Dental website.  The site has been developed using a customised Genesis WordPress 3 release to provide a professional content management system and facilitate SEO for additional information to be added to the site.  Visit the site now to find out more about the painless microdentistry services offered by this Gympie Dentist.

Hartbeat Training & Consultancy- minor updates have been completed for Cindy Hartwig to add information on the latest training courses including GP and Nurse CPR training courses and on Gympie Training Rooms for hire.

INTERNET NEWS

WordPress 3. WordPress Version 3 was released a few weeks ago.  Some of our WordPress clients may have noticed an alert advising to upgrade to the the latest version with a link to perform an automatic upgrade when logging in to their CMS.  In most cases, the WordPress automatic upgrade is faultless but sometimes complications can occur due to site software and plugin conflicts or other bugs.  For this reason, we recommend that clients do not attempt the version upgrade themselves (at least not without undertaking database and theme backups first).  We will be implementing a free version 3 upgrade program for all of our client sites in the near future (as we expect that there will be a minor point upgrade to correct some new Version 3 bugs in the next couple of weeks).  Our upgrade program will include a full site backup to enable us to do a site rollback in case of any complications (we have learnt this necessity from experience with one of our own network sites – it is almost impossible to recover from a failed upgrade without a backup).

Backlinks & SEO – site owners should be aware of the importance of backlinks and SEO for website promotion to improve the placement of your website in search engine results pages.  We regularly undertake link building programs for our sites as well as basic link building services for our client sites.  If you would like to build some more links to your site, try the free version of the online link building program at www.imautomator.com as it will build links to your pages.  We use the “Pro” version for our SEO work and can offer a full linking program on a service basis – contact us for more information on paid linking services.

Antivirus Program - Microsoft Security Essentials.  Most reviews of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) have been favorable and the extent of protection is seen as relatively significant for a free product.  We have trialled several free antivirus programs including AVG and Avast and the current version of MSE compares favourably with these.  Microsoft is about to release a new Version (V2) with improvements in firewall & browser integration for online security.  The new version will be even better and is now our recommended free software for protecting your computer from virus and malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx?mkt=en-au

Mobile Website Versions - In our June Newsletter, we mentioned that we were preparing a development system to be able to incorporate mobile versions of our WordPress websites for handheld device users.  Although this may seem a bit futuristic, any doubters as to the potential that mobile brings to the e-commerce industry need only look at the recent second-quarter earnings report from Amazon, that revealed their worldwide mobile commerce sales in the past year surpassed $1 billion (Source: www.websitemagazine.com).

HANDY SOFTWARE

We regularly receive requests for information on image software and what is necessary to put photos on the web.  Digital cameras and photos are very convenient and it is necessary to learn how to “process” them for use on the web as a photos straight from the camera are much too big.  Processing a photo is called “optimising” and this can be simply reduced to a 2 step process:

1. Reducing the photo dimensions – This is making the photo dimensions smaller.  A typical photo may be up to 4000 pixels wide from a good camera and this needs to be reduced to fit the space available on the webpage usually something between 300 and 600 pixels wide (at 72DPI).  The photo may also be cropped to remove unwanted edge areas first before size reduction.
2. Once the photo has been resized, it is then further optimised to reduce the filesize by “compressing” the image.  This process is basically a percentage reduction in the image quality to minimise filesize to achieve acceptable download speed – the resultant image is  a balance between photo quality and filesize (site & page load speed is becoming more important as Google is measuring site speed as a factor in it’s algorithm for determining results ranking now – we have always treated page load speed with more importance than others and we still design page load time for dial up users unless a client specifically requests otherwise).

Some cameras may come with image software and there is a lot of image editing software available for processing images and a few online sites also provide provide that capability.  We have received recommendations for the following:

Online photo editor:

www.pixlr.com/editor or www.piknic.com – these websites allow you to upload a photo and use their systems for editing and optimising and then saving the new image back to your PC.  Online systems may be OK for occasional use but uploading/downloading may become time consuming if you have several photos to optimize.

Free Software:

Paint.net –  http://www.getpaint.net (take care – the big download buttons buttons are for paid software). This program is not the old Windows Paint program – it is an advanced, layer capable photo editor capable of complex photo editing.

Irfanview – www.irfanview.com - capable of editing, enhancing and optimising photos

Fly Free Photo Editing & Viewer Software – www.5dfly.com/free-photo-editing-software - capable of editing, enhancing and optimising photos with batch processing and upload Flickr/Google/Facebook.  This software would be very useful for Facebook users.

All of the above would be good for preparing images to be sent by email.  We still get questions from people trying to send large attachments to friends asking why their email bounces (some ISP’s have a 10MB limit on their email gateway).  If you need to send large files(anything over 5MB is a large file for email), it is much better and quicker to archive them using Winzip or 7Zip and then send them by a free file transfer service like www.yousendit.com

MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS
(send us an email to advertise here for free)

When choosing your first metal detector, it is a good idea to do some research on the Internet to find out the various brands and their features available in Metal Detectors. If you are a newcomer to the metal detecting hobby or profession, you need to make certain that you find the right detector unit for your needs. When buying a metal detector, you need to be aware of the following considerations:

Cost

It is important to make sure that the detector you buy has the features you need and this means that it probably won’t be the cheapest model available, probably something like a Garrett GTI 1500 Metal Detector. Cheaper metal detectors may be substandard and may not perform well so they probably lead to you not being satisfied with your purchase. Regardless of the nature of your metal detecting experience, it is better to buy a unit with the functionality you need to avoid disappointment alter on.

While it is better to buy a unit with extra features, it is still important to know what features you really need and to stick with those features and stay within your budget Ideally, you should be able to buy the detector with your required features within your budget. Therefore, your choice should not be too expensive or too complicated. You will always be able to upgrade to a more fully featured unit if you end up finding that you need better features than what may be available with the unit you buy. There are several options for upgrading your used metal detector including locating dealers who offer trade-ins, online classifieds and local newspaper classifieds.

Features

The major metal detector manufacturers usually offer a range of detectors from simple to advanced fully featured units. Some manufacturers also have very high end detectors for specific uses and these often very complicated units usually come with built-in programming that make them easy to operate. These high end units may not be suitable for novice metal detector users as the ability to use the extra functionality may require a lot of field experience. Higher end units are more expensive as they usually offer more functionality. To stay within your budget, only buy a metal detector with the features you need. Select your unit based on what you are going to use it for so that it meets your needs. If a basic detector can satisfy your metal detecting needs, there is no reason to buy a more expensive unit with many or complicated features.

Weight and Stability

Older metal detectors were very heavy to carry because of the heavy batteries and signaling systems. Now with advances made in battery and computing technologies and other innovations made by detector designers and engineers, current metal detectors are much lighter, more stable and much easier to use. Therefore, before making a purchase, it would be best to test the metal detector to see if it fits your size requirements or read the technical specifcations to ensure that the unit is a light weight with an adjustable reach mechanism. Check the weight and length of the unit in the Manufacturers specifications to determine whether it will a suitable unit for you to use. The unit should be lightweight and have adjustable length to suit your height etc.

Before deciding to buy your new Garrett Metal detector, make sure you have careful of consideration the factors listed above because they will help you decide which detector gives the best value and is more likely to satisfy your needs. Avoiding disappointment in your metal detecting activities will rely on the your ability to select the right detector based on these factors.

Coffee Machines &
Coffee Maker Reviews

Jura, Saeco, Capresso, Gaggia

The Coffee Machine Pro website has been created to provide information on the latest coffee machines and help people make an informed decision before they buy a new coffee maker.

Drinking coffee is a pastime of millions of people all over the world. Coffee machines make it possible to meet the demand of all these people. Without coffee machines, it would not be possible.

The first coffee machine was invented in 1818 by Mr. Laurens. The machine was continually modified. New versions of the coffee machine continued to emerge until 1960. This is when the first paper filters for coffee machines were put into place. This simple change created an unbelievable increase in coffee machine sales. People had always wanted the product, but didn’t like the time it took to clean up and prepare with the cloth filters.

Coffee machines have changed in design as well. The early ones were just created to do the job; no one really cared what they looked like. Today’s coffee makers come in all colors and sizes to accessorize nicely in any kitchen. There are also many different brands of coffee machines, as each has their own unique looks to attract consumers.

Coffee Machine News From Google

Gympie Life Newspaper

Karen Berry
Shop 7, James Nash Arcade,
173 Mary Street
Gympie, 4570

 Gympie Life Newspaper.

If you are looking for the best value newspaper advertising Gympie, call in and see Karen Berry at the Gympie Life Newspaper.

The Gympie Life features local businesses, attractions, people and sports. Being a community newspaper, the Gympie Life believes it has a duty to report on what affects the community — whether good OR bad.

The classifieds in the Gympie Life are only $2/line… the cheapest classifieds in the region… and the best!

The Gympie region was first settled for grazing purposes but became famous in 1867 when James Nash dicovered gold in a gully near where the current Town Hall stands today. At that time, the Queensland economy was severly depressed and it has been said that the gold dicpvery saved the State from bankruptcy. Gympie celebrates the 1867 gold dicovery every year with the Gympie Gold Rush Festival. The city was briefly named “Nashville” after the discovery by James Nash but was changed to Gympie in 1868. The City’s name “Gympie” comes from aboriginal word “gimpi-gimpi”, a tree (Dendrocnide moroides) with large leaves that cause painful stinging on skin contact. 

GYMPIE POPULATION
The Gympie region has a population of about 48,000 people (46,371 at 30 June 2008 with an increase of 1,084 people or 2.4% growth over the year). By 2016, the expected population will be between 50,960 and 54, 790 people. The average rental for a 3 bedroom house is about $100 a week cheaper than Brisbane prices and there are roughly 4000 businesses operating in the region.  The Gympie region has a gross regional product of around $1.5 billion with the two largest industry sectors being manufacturing and primary production.

The Gympie region has one of the best climates in Queensland.  The mean maximum temperatures range from 31 degrees in summer to 22 degrees in winter.  The mean minimum temperatures range from 19 degrees in summer to 7 degrees in winter.

The Gympie Region has also recently been included in the Great Sandy Biosphere which has been recognised by UNESCO for its outstanding natural beauty and high levels of biodiversity.

Gympie’s proximity to the major growth areas in south east Queensland (Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast) means that the region is subject to development pressures which will require the implementation of careful and consistent planning controls to maintain the present lifestyle choices for residents.  The region is home to a number of major companies such as: Nestlé Australia Limited, Nolan Meats Pty Ltd, J Smith & Sons, Laminex Industries, Carter Holt Harvey and Hyne Timber.

GYMPIE REGION INDUSTRIES

Timber & Timber Processing
The Gympie region is a major centre for the Queensland timber industry supplying about 60% of Queensland’s pulpwood and more than 25% of Queensland’s total hardwood timber output.

The region is undergoing an exciting phase in the timber industry with many companies investing in new capital equipment which will add value to the timber processed making Gympie a major regional centre for timber industry in Queensland.

Tourism
Tourism in the Gympie Region is underpinned by the Region’s historical, environmental and wilderness attractions. Major attractions include, The Valley Rattler Heritage Steam Train, Gympie’s gold mining heritage, easy access to Fraser Island, beach and coastal areas, including Rainbow Beach’s coloured sands, surfing, boating and fishing, National Parks and State Forests with drive and walking tracks, bird watching as well as the City of Gympie and the hand feeding of dolphins in the wild at Tin Can Bay.

The Gympie region is becoming increasingly popular as a tourist drive destination, primarily for the South East Queensland market being within a 1.5 hrs drive from Brisbane. Tourism spend is estimated at nearly $30 million in the local community per annum in the Gympie Region.

Agriculture
Agriculture and agribusiness is an important part of the local economy with agriculture adding $60 million in gross value product. Major crops include dairy, beef, pineapples, French and runner beans and macadamia nuts.

Seafood
Hundreds of tonnes of seafood are produced out of the fishing port, Tin Can Bay. Seafood products include scallops, prawns and crabs as well as finfish.

Beef and Dairy
Cattle studs and a fully operating sale yard operate near Gympie. Dairy has also been a traditional industry in the area.

GYMPIE REGION INFRASTRUCTURE

Road
Businesses are serviced by the location of the National Highway One (Bruce Highway) which runs directly through Gympie. This offers a direct road link to Brisbane, major southern markets and international destinations as well as important Queensland population centres to the north. The proposed major upgrade to the Bruce Highway will significantly improve travel times between the Gympie Region and the South East Queensland market. Importantly the city falls inside two hours drive to Brisbane, this makes Gympie a very attractive operational base for producers of perishable goods.

In addition to this north south access, the Wide Bay highway links to the Bruce Highway 10 kilometres north of Gympie and provides access inland to the South Burnett, Toowoomba and inland New South Wales.

Rail
Much of the Gympie region produce is transported via electric rail from the QLink Depot which is located near the city centre. Passenger rail is serviced via Gympie North station. The tilt train (Queensland’s express passenger train) runs a daily service.

Air
The Gympie airport has some minor freight capacity and Maroochydore Airport is only 85 kilometres away and supports all major domestic commercial airlines. Brisbane international airport is 150km from Gympie.

Telecommunications
A fully developed modern telecommunications network exists across the region.  Fast Broadband (ADSL2 at up to 20 Mbps) is available in selected locations across the Shire.

Energy and Electricity
Energex is responsible for energy supply and businesses can negotiate with this organisation as to their particular requirements.

Gas
Domestically, gas is presently available in the region through bottles and tanker refilling, or by exchange gas bottles. Gas supply is available from major suppliers.

Water
Reticulated water is available in Township areas throughout the region. The principal water source is the Mary River with Lake Borumba providing the major storage.

Industrial Estates
There are seven designated industrial estates for business and light industry in the Cooloola region. The zonings are generally for light industry. Industrial land is also available at Rainbow Beach and Imbil.

Star Club Print & Sign Centre.
Shop 3, 2 Channon Street
GYMPIE QLD 4570
Phone: 5483 6477

Star Club Print & Sign Centre.

If you are looking for Printing, Signs and Marketing Materials in Gympie, call in and see Justin Brown at the Starclub Print and Sign Centre.   

Justin can print just about everything you need in your business:

Flyers, business cards, letterhead, books, magazines, newsletters, reports, catalogues, manuals, carbonless invoice and quote books, envelopes, brochures, plans, posters, stickers, with compliment slips and more.

Starclub Print and Sign Centre make all sorts of signs including:

Vehicle signs, shop signs, posters, A Frames, pull up banners, stickers, corflute signs, metal signs, banners, point of sale signs and more.

 Call in and see Justin to find out how he can help your business with signs and printing in Gympie.

A B Images
Gympie
Ph: 0438 134 342

Emershay Photography
Gympie
Ph: 0411 984 252

I Shoot You – Photography
Imbil
Ph 5486 7427 / 0415 646 620

KC Photography
Gympie
Ph:  0415 646 620

Mandy Hughes Photography
Gympie
Ph: 5483 5488 / 0408 827 464

Photography by Bambi
Gympie
Ph:0417 611 932

Ted Vanderton Photography
Tin Can Bay
0435 042 016

Thomas Studios,
Gympie
Ph: 0405 474 561

One of the greatest wedding traditions is the hiring of a wedding photographer to complete a wedding photography package to document your special day.  For most people, they will only experience getting married once in their lifetime and they would like to have the memories of the day documented by wedding photography.  Having the right person doing your wedding photography on your special day will go a long way towards creating the memories of the day that you desire.

Posed Shots

Some of the most beautiful examples of wedding photography are the posed shots that are used to document the major players in the wedding party and show how everyone looked on the special day.  There are generally several shots of the bride alone in different poses, showing off her wedding dress from different angles and the expression on her face reflecting the happiness of the day.  There may also be several shots of the bride and the groom together in different settings and locations to showcase their unity and how well they look together as a couple.  In some cases, these posed photographs are taken hours or even days before the actual ceremony.

Some of the posed shots for the wedding photography will be taken either just before or just after the actual wedding ceremony.  These photographs include pictures of the bride with her bridesmaids, the groom with his groomsmen, the couple at the altar, the couple with their parents, and the entire wedding party together.  Some people choose to have their wedding photography taken before the ceremony so that everyone still is pristine with hair and makeup in place, but some others choose to have the wedding photography conducted in the interlude between the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception.

Candid Shots

When it comes to wedding photography, many people like to have candid shots of their wedding as well.  Photographs of the bride’s parents on the dance floor swaying to a love song or the grandparents of the groom holding hands as they listen to the toasts provide an intimate look into how the wedding of the couple has affected the many people around them.  The candid shots may also be of the bride and groom in different positions, such as feeding each other wedding cake, raising their glasses in appreciation of a toast, or gazing into each other’s eyes.  Wedding photography is a great way to catch the moments of the day and provide a visual reminder that you can enjoy for many years to come.

If you are looking for a photographer in the Gympie region,  you can do a a simple Google search or check in the Gympie Business Directory

We have another financial year drawing to a close with less than 2 weeks to the end of June and it has been a fairly tough year for most small businesses thanks to the global financial meltdown. 

We have been able to maintain our annual hosting and domain registration fees again this year and looking back, we have kept our prices frozen now for a number of years due to decreases in data and infrastructure costs and our ability to offset some of our hosting costs through Google Adsense advertising.   We will continue to freeze prices for our existing and new clients for the 2010/2011 financial year and continue to build our directory networks to benefit clients.

As it is the end of the financial year, remember that it can be a good time to make last minute stock purchases for tax deductions etc. 

MEMBER NEWS

Chris Kath from Bamboo Refined has recently upgraded his website to use the WordPress platform to take advantage of content management and better SEO functionality built-in to the system.  Chris is continuing to expand his eco-friendly bamboo flooring services with specialisation in the installation of his bamboo flooring products.  Chris’s website is currently on page 1 of Google for the keyword phrase ”bamboo flooring queensland” and the new site will make it easy for him to add new content and assist in improving his rankings for other related keywords. 

If you are thinking about installing hardwood flooring, give Chris a call on (07) 5484 3663 to find out about the benefits of using eco-friendly bamboo flooring products.

My Way to Happiness – It Gets Better

Julie Gear has published an update to her successful first book and it is available online now from her website at www.mywaytohappiness.com.au

Julie wrote this book to deliver her message, describing how she has developed positive changes within herself. These changes have been small and large. Julie does not claim to have all the answers but, certainly, she explains the essentials that have made her a better person inside and out.

There are lots of self-help books on the market, but My Way to Happiness—It Gets Better stands out because author Julie Gear shares her success story in simple, easy steps. She doesn’t claim to have all the answers but instead wants to show how her self-development work changed her life. This book can be beneficial for teenagers, new moms, people with depression, those losing a loved one, or just simply for people who are searching for better answers.

INTERNET NEWS

Websites for Mobile Devices. We subscribe to a range of industry newsletters to keep up to date with the latest news in website development and we are seeing increasing talk about mobile websites or more correctly, having a version of your website that is designed to be accessible by mobile devices like the iPhone.  We are in the process of developing a system for clients with WordPress websites that will enable us to create an addon mobile version of your current site that will make your site readily accessible to these devices.   The new system should be available next month and we expect that we should be able to provide mobile versions of current WordPress Client sites for about $100.

Google Caffeine - Google has officially announced that their new web indexing system “Caffeine” is live on all Google pages. Google Caffeine is the name for the new method that Google uses to index web pages to index new web pages faster. This means that new content on your website will be shown more quickly in the search results.  We believe that Googles preference is to be able to show the most up to date infomation in search results and therefore using WordPress and adding new, keyword-related content regularly will assist in getting better results placement.

Google Statistics – Americans conducted 15.9 billion searches in May, up 3 percent from April. Google Sites accounted for 10.2 billion searches (up 2 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.9 billion (up 6 percent) and Microsoft Sites with 1.9 billion (up 6 percent).  This shows Google is still the dominant search engine with about 65% of search volume and more importantly, confirms the trend of continually increasing usage of the Internet to find products and services. 

Don’t get left behind – order a Gympie WordPress website now and we will add a mobile wordpress version as a bonus for any new WordPress site (offer available from 26th July 2010 to 31 August 2010).

HANDY SOFTWARE

Acronis Drive Monitor 1.0.0.187 – If you want to keep tabs on your system in order to maximize its safety and security, we recommend Acronis Drive Monitor.  Acronis Drive Monitor is a free, downloadable software application developed by Acronis to monitor server, workstation and PC hard disk drives.  We have been using Acronis Trueimage backup software for a number of years to protect our data and have found it be excellent software.  The Acronis Drive Monitor is a free tool they have produced to monitor your system and notify you of any predicted hard drive problems – read more here:
www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/drive-monitor/

MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS
(send us an email to advertise here for free)

M1 First Aid  & The Gympie Safety Shop Michelle is currently running a special on “Steel Capped Safety Boots” Mention this advertisement and get a free pair of socks (Note: only available while stocks last) Order through the website or Ring Michelle now on 07 5482 1021

There’s a new super honey that’s been discovered down under. It’s actually being used in hospitals around the world to treat skin disorders.

 It’s no secret. Seaweeds have earned an enviable reputation as masters of skin oxygenation. They’re rich in vitamins A1, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E, K, pantothenic acid, folic acid, niacin and deliver 60 trace elements and 12 essential minerals.

So what do you get when you cross this new super honey with seaweed?

Manukasea Magic – A new standard in affordable skin care that revitalizes and refreshes skin like nothing else and you won’t believe the price.

Manukasea Magic soothes and de-stresses, revitalises and refreshes. Contains antioxidants that guard against free radical damage. More attractive, less wrinkled skin.

Manukasea Magic stimulates blood circulation and healthy skin cell renewal while tightening pores and saggy lines.

Manukasea Magic strengthens and replenishes lost minerals while refining texture. Lifts and firms the skin for a tighter, more youthful, firmer appearance.

Manukasea Magic has:

• NO Parabens
• NO Sulfates
• NO Synthetic dyes
• NO Phthalates

Find out more about Manukasea Magic or click the image below for the Manukasea Shop:

The Internet has really changed the way that many of us do business, and if you are currently running an Internet business, you probably understand exactly how important it is to get targeted traffic to your website. Although there are many different ways that you can do this, using an online business directory can help to focus your visitors a little bit further, and to send you prospects who are already looking for your products and services and ready to buy what you have to offer. Here are several different ways that you can use online business directories in order to increase your online business activity.

One of the ways that this is done is by getting listed on highly visible local online business directories that already have favor in the eyes of the search engines. The reason why this is the case, is because many people use search engines an increasing basis daily to find local businesses, products and services. Although at times, this will mean that they will find a phone number and call direct, there are many times when a local business directory website listing will lead them directly to your website. When you are listed in these online business directories, you stand a much better chance of snagging those leads.

Another way that online business directories can benefit you is that having a listing on one of these directories can increase exposure for your business website to the search engines, and provide valuable backlinks to increase your search engine rankings. Most of us that regularly receive business from the Internet are at least a little bit familiar with search engine optimization and the value of backlinks. These local business directories e.g. the Gympie Business Directory, are often highly favored by the search engines and will help your website to be indexed and give you the opportunity to move up through the rankings for your specific keywords that you are targeting.

If you would like to utilize these local directories even further, it is often possible for you to pay for additional listings and backlinks in order to move to the top of the rankings. Some may also have a network of directory sites offering the bonus of multiple listings and backlinks. You may be able to pay a set fee to the directory owner in order to have a prominent position on the page or a featured listing in the directory. Some directories also offer advertising, try contacting them directly and asking them if they have anything available for you.

Finally, you want to make sure that you are listed on as many of these online business directories as possible. There are some more prominent directories that you are certainly going to want to have your business details and website listed on but remember that you do not have to pay hundreds of dollars for full pages to get the benefits of listing local directories.  Even the minor directories where you can list for free can send you traffic through visitors that just happened to stumble across your listing in their searches.

Remember, everyone that comes to you through one of these directories is a potential customer or lead. If you utilize all of them properly, the resulting traffic can be quite beneficial. Although some of them may only send you people now and again, it is the sum of all of these directory referrals and the website backlinks that really makes a difference.

 Our newsletter is a little earlier this month to accommodate a short week for the Gympie Show.  Members are reminded that promotions can be advertised free in the Member Classifieds section of our newsletter.

MEMBER NEWS

Ray and Jenny Salmon are closing the Gympie Blockworks and are having a 50% off closing sale:

GYMPIE BLOCKWORKS

CLOSING DOWN SALE

All stock on ground half price

Starts 10 May 2010

Cash, Cheque, Visa, Mastercard only.

INTERNET NEWS

 I attended an SEO seminar held by the DEEDI (QLD Govt Dept) last week and have written a detailed summary of the seminar on the cooloolabusiness.com website ( click to read a detailed summary – Gympie SEO Course).  The seminar provided an overview of basic Search Engine Optimisation principles focusing on providing information for website owners on how to improve their search result ranking in Google.  The information included some practical advice for:

• businesses must have their own domain name and website (relying on a page in someone else’s site or directory instead of having your own website is only helping their business not yours)
• Domain names should include your primary keyword where practicable
• using better keywords in your website (didn’t really go into keyword research – I suggest clients should look at the Google wonder wheel)
• using title and description metatags with keywords (all pages must have a title and description and these should be unique and relative to the specific page
• Website content – pages should be on s specific theme related to the keyword and include contact details on all pages.  Didn’t really talk about page layout, H tags, keyword density, load speed, not using frames, removing css/javascript code to external files to improve page speed etc
• using video and Youtube (video is easier than you might think)
• Backlinks – didn’t emphasise the importance of obtaining links back to client sites

The seminar focus on simple on page factors really only tells half the SEO story but it is important as a foundation to obtaining good rankings.  Remembering that Google has the single goal of providing the best result for a users search (they don’t want the user to go to Yahoo or Bing because they didn’t find what they wanted as this would impact on their multi-billion dollar earnings), a site owner’s job is to provide the best site with clear information about their business to help Google place the site in the results list.  It has been written that Google tracks more than 200 On-Page factors and 500 million Off-Page factors. Some of the factors used in determining results placement including the age of the website (older sites usually get better ranking), the size of website (the number of pages), theming, and site authority.  The number of links and the anchor text used in those links is important for determining site authority.

I will be adding to our SEO article series with more information on the factors which will improve your website ranking as time permits.  If you have any SEO questions, send them to me by email and I will answer them for you based on SEO information provided by Jerry West of SEO Revolution and his “Google Best Practice Guide” (Jerry’s site has a lot of good free information on SEO apart from his paid newsletter, SEO tools and Google Guide).

In the meantime, read the first article in the series and the summary of the Gympie SEO seminar to get a better understanding of how to improve your rankings.

MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS
(send us an email to advertise here for free)

Freemasons Hotel Bistro is open all over the Show week-end. Monday to Saturday All you can eat 3 course buffet – Lunch $15.90. Dinner $17.90 Chargrill menu available Mon – Sat for $15.90 Sunday Breakfast 8-10am from $6.90 Lunch & Dinner – Blackboard menu for $15.90 plus a complimentary dessert with every meal Kids meals available for $7.50 includes ice-cream and topping for dessert. Lunch and Dinner specials for the week • Huge 500gram T-Bone steak on a bed of creamy mash with sauce of your choice just $15.00 • Tasty Oysters Kilpatrick – $8.00 • Tempura Prawns on crispy noodles with selected dipping sauces – $8.00 The Freemasons Hotel “Your one stop pub with everything under one roof”

Toby’s Kiosk  Ice Cream Vans for Sale

P.O. Box 428
Drayton North
Qld 4350

Phone:  0408 987 391

Toby’s Kiosk Ice Cream Vans for Sale

Toby’s Kiosk have Ice Cream Vanms for sale and can supply and fit out new ice cream vans to comply with Queensland Health Food Safety requirememts for mobile food vending vehicles.  Toby’s Kiosk also supply a range of soft serve cie cream machines and other food vending vehicle equipment.

Contact Toby’s Kiosk Ice Cream Vans for Sale  by phone on 0408 987 391

Freemasons Hotel Gympie.
20 Channon Street
GYMPIE QLD 4570
Phone: 5482 1377

THE FREEMASONS HOTEL IS OPEN

7 DAYS FROM 10AM. 

IT’S THE

 ’ONE STOP PUB WITH EVERYTHING UNDER ONE ROOF’

 BISTRO

From Monday to Saturday’ choose either the all you can eat 3 course Buffet ($15.90 for Lunch and $17.90 for Dinner) or one of our delicious meals from our Char Grill menu from only $15.90. Present your Seniors Card on Tuesdays & Thursdays to get the Buffet for only $12.

Children up to nine years are catered for with meals’ including the Buffet for $7.50 and a play area with three playstaions and dvd movies to keep them entertained. Kids under 4 eat free.

SUNDAY IS BLACKBOARD SPECIAL DAY

Check out our great steak cabinet and choose your own steak.

Prices from $15.90 for a 250 gram Rump Steak or try our Chicken Supreme; Barramundi; Prawn Skewers or Mixed Grill. 

All meals(except mixed grill) served with your choice of sauce; Idaho potato or chips; veges or salad. PLUS receive a complimentary dessert with your Sunday lunch and dinner.

SPORTSBAR & TAB

Sports Bar open 10am with TAB open 7 days a week -counter meals Monday to Saturday and raffles and bar promotions every Friday night. Counter meals are just $8- available 7 days or try a “Tradies Meal” for just $6.75 – available Monday to Friday. Tradies meal includes roast of the day plus veges plus a pot of beer’ glass of wine or softdrink.

DRIVE THRU BOTTLE SHOP 

MAY BOTTLESHOP SPECIALS 

CARLTON MIDSTRENGTH STUBBS – $ 28.99
100 PIPERS SCOTCH (700ML) – $27.99 
MONTANA WINES – $11.99 BOTTLE
OPEN EVERY DAY FROM 10AM~LATE

GAMING ROOM – KENO LOUNGE

40 poker machine Gaming room and Keno available- member draws are on Tuesday and Friday nights. There are daily promotions with great prizes to be won.

Cafe menu available in the Gaming Room every day from 10am to 8pm. 

NO MINORS (UNDER 18 YEAR OLDS) ARE ALLOWED IN THE GAMING ROOM. THERE IS A LOUNGE WHERE MINORS WHO ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A RESPONSIBLE ADULT MAY ENTER.

 O’CHANNONS IRISH BAR OPEN THIS THURSDAY FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHTS

In a nutshell, this seminar emphasised the importance of:

• selecting the right keywords for your domain name and website content
• having Title and Description metatags for each page and that they include your keywords; and
• continuing to build your website to enhance site value for your potential customers and Google.

To summarise the presentation;

1. You should have your own domain name and website – a single page website in someone else’s website is only really of value to that site owner.
2. Your website should be developed in “Open Source” e.g. standard HTML or WordPress for Content Management Systems (Do not lock yourself into a developer who uses a proprietary system like Microsoft Dotnet as you will have major problems and costs if you need find someone else to help with your website or even change hosting.  Ask your developer what system he uses and whether you can engage others to help you with the site if required)
3. Your domain name should include your main keyword where practicable and it may be worthwhile including a geo-location e.g. a domain name like www.gympiewebsites.com.au informs people that the business is about building website in the Gympie region.
4. Register additional keyword rich domains and redirect these to your website – I strongly disagree with this stategy as various sources write that Google does not index redirected domains. Redirected domains present duplicate content in the index and probably won’t be listed unless the domain owner does more work obtaining backlinks to, and promoting the redirected domain URL.
5. You can use free tools Wordtracker and Google Keyword Tool to identify keywords to develop your website. Google Suggest is also useful for obtaining ideas for new relevant articles to build into your website.
6. Attract customers by using the right keywords in your website contenet – focus on “buyer” keywords rather than broad match keywords e.g. “wordpress website developer in Gympie” instead of  “website designer“
7. Write content to outline benefits (incorporating your kewyords) rather than product features
8. Make your order/contact process easy – have your phone number and email address on each page
9. Search engines look at text and code only – they can’t “read” images, Flash or frames sites.
10. Use keyword anchor text and have “deep” links to internal pages in content
11. Create HTML and XMl sitemaps and submit to Google
12. Title Tag and Description requirements
13. Website success requires work – the addition of new pages (not just updating content on existing pages) will result in more frequesnt searchg engine indexing and better placement in search results
14. Review site statistics to identify search terms p[eople use to find your site (use Google analytics).
15. Use keywords in anchor text for backlinks to your site and internal links in content to other content pages

Conclusion

The presentation gave a reasonable overview of basic SEO steps that a site owner can implement to enhance seach results positioning.  The simple message is identify your market and use keywords they would use to find your website/products in a search engine and then continue adding new pages based on the keywords to your website.  However, the seminar did not cover all on-page factors and page structure but we had this scheduled for our next article which shouldn’t be far away.  It must also be remembered that the presentation was limited to SEO and did not include the more important aspects of Search Engine Placement through website promotion apart from touching on submitting your site to free directories and asking site owners who have mentioned your business for backlinks.  We will cover link building startegies in a later article.

We strongly recommend using WordPress as a content management system for your website as it takes care of a lot of the above issues and makes adding new SEO optimised pages and content easy.  There is some knowledge and work required in setting up the initial wordpress website with optimal plugins but once the site is done, the owner can just login and add a new content within the SEO optimised framework.

Contact us at admin@cooloolabusiness.com if you would like a quote on converting your current website to WordPress.

PS we will continue with the second part of Gympie SEO article series (On page fators and page structure) in the near future and in the meantime, you should check your website against the advice above and make sure your website has individual title and description tags relevant to the content on the respective page.

OpenOffice.org comprises a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features of a modern office suite. Many of the components are designed to mirror those available in Microsoft Office. The components available include:

• Writer – A word processor similar to Microsoft Word and to WordPerfect. It can export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software.
• Calc – A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel and to Lotus 1-2-3. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data. Calc can also export spreadsheets to the PDF format.
• Impress – A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote. Impress can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files, allowing them to be played on any computer with a Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint’s .ppt format.
• Base – A database management program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with MS Access, Base can function as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL.
• Draw – A vector graphics editor and diagramming tool, similar to Microsoft Visio and comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile “connectors” between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to desktop-publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher. Draw can also export its creations to the PDF format.

You can download a lot of free templates from http://templates.services.openoffice.org to help you create new very stylish documents and books etc e.g. a quarter page flyer, a resume etc.

For new users of OpenOffice, we have a short online video for using free templates in OpenOffice Writer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

WOW!  Where did March disappear to?  It feels like I only sent the March newsletter a week ago but here we are again.  With Easter in the middle and the constant stream of website update requests, I didn’t achieve all of the goals I had set for the month but our plans for content syndication and network development are still on track. 

However, syndication has been “turned down a bit” as updates for Member listings in the Cooloolabusiness.com Gympie Directory are not being sent in by Members.  I urge all Members to check their listings in Cooloolabusiness.com and send us an updated description/profile with products and services for your business.  Having a good description will not only make it much easier to find your listing in Cooloolabusiness.com, IT WILL ENSURE GOOD BACKLINKS FOR YOUR WEBSITE as we proceed with syndication of your listings in our network.

MEMBER NEWS

We would like to welcome Jim’s Cleaning and Toby’s Kiosk to Cooloolabusiness.com.  Jim’s Cleaning are offering professional cleaning services in the Gympie region and a special offer for cooloolabusiness.com Members – read the offer in our Member Classified Advertisements below.

We have developed a new custom WordPress CMS for Toby’s Kiosk, a Toowoomba based company specialising in Ice Cream Van and associated equipment hire and sales.

INTERNET NEWS

We routinely receive calls requesting assistance with email accounts.  These range from forgotten passwords (an easy fix -we just re-set the password on the mailserver) to accounts blocked by large email attachments.

If you are having trouble downloading your email with Outlook (or similar email client), it could be that there is an email with an attachment that is causing the problem.  The solution is to use webmail to login to the account, review the emails and delete the one that is causing the problem.  We have found that the easiest online webmail program is www.mail2web.com - click for our information page on using Mail 2 Web.

Email was designed as a quick and simple communication system – not to send files over the internet.  Attaching files to an email can cause several problems:

• The attachment may be too big to pass through your ISP gateway resulting in the email bouncing back to you
• The attachment may be too big for the recipients mailbox again resulting in a bounce back with a message that the mailbox is full
• The attachment may block the recipients mailbox preventing download of email

These problems can be easily addressed by using one of the many free file transfer systems that are now available.  If we need to send a file quickly, we use www.yousendit.com, a website system that uploads your file and sends a download link to the recipient. 

HANDY SOFTWARE

File Sharing and Backup – We are trialing a new system at Dropbox, which offers free file storage up to 2GB.  The system gives you a small program to install on your PC that synchronises the PC Dropbox folder with the secure online storage and allows you to share sub-folders with other people who can either login to the folder online to download the file or use their own Dropbox program to access the file.  Click here to get the free Dropbox Program – 2Gb of free secure online storage is very handy to keep a copy of your critical files and make it easy to share files online instead of emailing them.

Acronis PC Backup – Have you ever had a computer crash and lost critical data or even important files? The cost of losing critical data can be huge to a small business but the good news is that this can be easily avoided by implementing a proper backup system.  We have used Acronis software since it was first released several years ago and it provides us reassurance that we have safeguarded our business data – a very inexpensive insurance policy.  The latest release is Acronis® True Image Home 2010 and is full featured and provides automated backup set via a scheduling feature.  It is currently on special at USD$49.95 till 30/4/2010 and comes with a free Plus Pack Add on which includes the flexibility to restore files, applications and an operating system to a different computer with dissimilar hardware(Plus pack usually retails at USD$29.99).  Click here to visit the Acronis True Image website where you can buy the special version or download a trial version to test the software on your PC.

OpenOffice – We mentioned OpenOffice software in our March Newsletter.  It is a very good, free product suite that is a true alternative to Microsoft Office.  Over 100 million downloads in just over 12 months shows just how popular and good this software is.  It has lots of additional functionality, templates ands clipart all available free for download.  Read more about Open Office in out software page at www.cooloolabusiness.com/software/openoffice-suite  and view the online video for using free templates in OpenOffice Writer.  

MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS

Jims Cleaning – April/May Special 

Mention this advertisement and we will give you a *20% Discount on any quoted residential or commercial cleaning service until 15^th May 2010.

House and Office cleaning starts from as little as $4 per/day, this price is based on a regular fortnightly clean on a standard townhouse or office, please ask for a FREE QUOTE for your cleaning job. Call 131 546 to contact your closest Jim’s Cleaning Professional in your area. Your local Jim’s Cleaner who quotes on the job will also be the one who does the job, we give you our Satisfaction Guarantee. Call now 131 546.

*Special applies to any one job from first time clients only.

Gympie Meat Hall – call and see Gary and get 10% of any order over $100 by mentioning that you are a member of cooloolabusiness.com (by the way the cheese kranski is very good).

Destination directory (optional)

e.g. "dir/subdir", will be created if it doesnt exist

File

Clients are invited to use this file uploader to send large files to cooloolabusiness.com.  The uploader is part of our Dropbox account which provides secure online file storage.

To use the uploader, just leave the destination directory blank (it is optional anyway), click the browse button to select the file on your PC and then click the “Upload the file to my Dropbox!” button.  Do not close the upload page or turn your PC off before the file is uploaded as this will cancel the upload.  Large files will take some time to upload depending on the speed of your Internet connection.  The uploader will process files larger than 100MB however these will a while to upload – on a broadband internet connection, the upload time is usually in the range of 1-5 minutes per MB.

When the file has completed uploading, the screen wiill refresh and display a success message as per the image below:

If you have several files, I recemmend that you archive them into a ZIP file using 7ZIP or similar.  7 ZIP  is available free from www.7-zip.org

Click here if you would like to obtain your own free Dropbox – 2Gb of free online file storage is very handy to keep backup copies of your important files that you can access via the Dropbox program on your PC or by logging in online from anywhere.

Toby’s Kiosk

P.O. Box 428
Drayton North
Qld 4350

Toby’s Kiosk

Toby’s Kiosk Ice Cream Vans serve freshly made soft serve Ice Cream & Fruity Gelato.

All Toby’s Kiosk Vans are renowned for their quality, cleanliness and all products are freshly made. Our Vans are manned by friendly staff (all whom is licensed food handlers). Our Vans add colour, character and FUN! to any event…

Our Toby’s Kiosk Vans are available for hire for any function; school or charity fund raisers, public events, corporate events, any event that wishes to add some colour, fun and nostalgia in their presentations.

Call us to book one of our Toby’s Kiosk Vans for your next function!

Weeroona, an aboriginal word for ‘resting place’, is a community based organisation funded through the Department of Communities to provide a range of flexible, individualised support services to people with a disability and their families in the Gympie Cooloola region.

Jim’s Cleaning, Gympie Region

Demand is growing every day as more and more people run out of time to fit the household chores into their lifestyle, or simply choose to do other things instead!

We are all local people professionally trained, and security checked. As part of the Jim’s franchise Group we give a Satisfaction Guarantee on all our work.

Our local professional cleaners are currently servicing:

• Gympie
• Tin Can Bay
• Rainbow Beach
• Maryborough
• Hervey Bay
• Bundaberg

What Jim’s Cleaning Can Offer You!

Jim’s Cleaning offer free, no obligation quotes at your home or workplace, to give you an accurate price. Our professional services include: General Cleaning, Household Cleaning, Commercial Cleaning, Window Cleaning, Carpet Cleaning, Car Cleaning

Professional Gympie Cleaning Services

• Regular & Occasional Cleaning
• Domestic Home Cleaning
• Office Cleaning
• Commercial Buildings
• Builder’s Cleans
• Vacating and Moving In
• Ovens, Fridges & Windows

House Cleaning

Prices start from as low as $4 per/day to have your home cleaned on a regular basis. Our central 131 546 phone number will have you in contact with the closest available cleaner to your area.

Phone 131 546

Therefore, we have decided to write an article series on SEO to assist site owners to identify if their sites incorporporate the required elementary SEO design principles.  The first of these articles deals with an introduction to SEO and tells you how to check your site to see the basic on-page elements have been included. 

Read “What is Search Engine Optimisation? ” here.

Read our summary of the Gympie SEO seminar sponsored by DEEDI (Qld Govt) held in Gympie 5 May 2010.

If you have doubts about your site, you can send an email to All at admin@coolooolabusiness.com and ask for a free analysis that will assess the SEO basics of your site for you.

Stay tuned for part 2 – More on page factors and a basic website analysis.

For unwary site owners, this can mean paying good money for a website that has inbuilt design barriers that limit potential for Google indexing.  What may look good on the surface might have design omissions or worse still, use design practices like frames and iframes (inline frames) that can cause real problems for Google spiders.  To assist those site owners, we would like to provide some basic information on how to check your site for these barriers to proper indexing.

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of improving ranking in search engine results (search engine placement).  SEO seeks to improve the quantity and quality of visitor traffic to your website from "organic" search engines like www.google.com.au (versus SEM – search engine marketing which deals with gaining traffic through paid advertising e.g. banners and Google Adwords).

In this series of articles, we will focus on SEO and organic rankings and leave paid SEM for another series.

In simple terms, SEO practice involves an assessment of how search engines like Google work, what people are searching for and then making changes to a website to increase its relevance for the particular search term (keyword) and ensure that the website can be indexed "crawled" by search engine software known as "spiders"

As you can see, there are a lot of factors that come into play in SEO and the most difficult one is how search engines work. We have a basic understanding of the factors that they use in ranking websites through our membership of Jerry West's SEO Revolution but how these factors are rated in their "algorithms" is kept in absolute secrecy.

The main factors that Google uses in their search ranking process are broken down into on-page factors and off page factors.

The most important on-page factors are:

• Page structure and content – is it visible to Google spiders?  Page content can be blocked inadvertently via a robots.txt file or content may not be available due to the use of frames or have content embedded via the use of an "iframe" or Flash files.  It is hard enough to get rankings, why make it harder due to poor design practice or a lack of knowledge?
   
• DTD Statement – page code should have this Document Type declaration to indicate what coding standard has been used in developing the site.
   
• Content Type – metatag to assign the character set used in the page design
   
• Page metatags – "Title" - the title tag is the most important metatag in your page design code.  This tag is used by most search engines and is usually returned as the title of the Google search result.  There are specific recommended parameters for this code to maximise vlaue in Google indexing.
   
• Page Metagtags – "Description" – this is the 2nd most important tag and assist in where to place a site in the index.   The description is also usually returned in the Google search results as the text description.
   
• Page Metatags – "Keywords" – this tag is not used in ranking factors by Google due to past abuse, however it is still used by Yahoo and Bing and therefore should be included in your page design.

The DTD Statement is included at the top of the page code and Metatag information in the HEAD section of the page code which is not visible to visitors.  There are other metatags but these are not important for SEO purposes.

As they are not visible, most website owners do not know whether they have been included to properly enable Google to crawl and spider your website.

If you have a website, I strongly recommend that you check that these codes are included in your design.  You can do simple checks by:

1. Go to your home page and select View >> View Source from your browser menu.  The top of your page should look something like:

   <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
   <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
   <head>
   <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
   <title>Your Website Title.</title>
   <meta name="description" content="Your website description.">
   <meta name="keywords" content="your website keywrods separated by commas.">
   </head>

   There is likely that to be additional lines between the <head> and </head> codes but they are not that important for SEO purposes.

   OR
    

2. Use an online checkers that will simulate Google spider software and metatag analyszers.  Visit this site and check your website to see if it has been designed correctly for Google

   http://www.feedthebot.com/tools/spider/index.php

We have also added an online tool here to make it easier to check your site:

Spider Simulator Tool © SEO Chat™ URL Valid URL Enter Captcha To Continue To prevent spamming, please enter in the numbers and letters in the box below Report Problem with Tool.

If you are having trouble checking your site, we can undertake a free analysis for you – just send an email to Allan on admin@cooloolabusiness.com

Stay tuned for Part 2 – we will look at the other important on page factors (and we might even do a quick site analysis on a couple of other new Websites in Gympie).

Some long term Members may recall our old newsletter that we discontinued a few years ago. We have decided to re-commence a regular newsletter after discussions with some Members who would like to be kept up to date with our news.

In our new newsletter, we will bring you some regular sections including Member news, Internet news, handy software programs and member advertisements.

MEMBER NEWS

We have been "snowed under" over the last few months developing new sites and systems for our members. We are now specialising in custom WordPress development as WordPress offers many advantages over standard HTML design and other development systems. 

Our latest WordPress Member site is www.m1firstaid.com.au, a shopping cart system for Michelle at M1 First Aid & Safety Supplies that offers online safety product ordering (and not forgetting that we have developed a custom WordPress system for Version 3 of our Gympie Business Directory at www.cooloolabusiness.com).

With the completion of version 3 of the cooloolabusiness.com directory, we have introduced some new and beneficial features for our members. The most important feature is that each member is provided with an individual listing page that can display a Business Description/Profile as well as your contact details and a live Google map. We are happy to keep your listing page updated for you and urge all members to review their listing and send us a profile or description that tells visitors what products you sell or services you provide. Adding this information to your listing page will add a lot of value to your listing, make your listing easier to find for visitor searches and give you better backlinks to your websites. Also, in about 2 weeks time, we will be syndicating the content of these pages which will provide more backlinks and help your Google rankings – so please send us the descriptions to update your listing (you can email this to us or use the Listing Update Form provided under the Member Tab on the website)

We still provide our standard HTML design services for managing our Member sites and some new sites like the just completed re-development of the Weeroona website at www.weeroona.org.au

Our development services are undertaken in-house here in Gympie (not just outsourcing to other companies to do the work). We don't have to cold call or employ any special sales tactics to source new clients or development work – our workload in looking after our clients and their "word of mouth" referrals usually exceeds our time availability.

INTERNET NEWS

We have recently changed ISP providers. After relying on the excellent service provided by Westnet for the last few years, we found the we were starting to exceed the data bandwidth provided for our 20GB ADSL plan. Our options were to increase our bandwidth with Westnet or find another provider. After reviewing the plans offered (and researching customer service capability), we opted to "churn" to Internode. 

So far, the new ADSL2 50GB service from Internode has been very good. The "churn" changeover process was handled faultlessly and their customer service has been excellent (phone calls were answered without being placed in a lengthy queue and without the difficulties of trying to understand someone in a foreign call-centre). If your are regularly exceeding your download and need a better plan, I would have no hesitation in recommending that you include Internode as a potential provider – their website is at www.internode.on.net.

HANDY SOFTWARE

In each Newsletter, we will try to give you some information about some of the software programs that we use that you may find useful in your business. The program we have selected for this newsletter is one we used as a free version but found it was so good that we had to purchase the pro version. 

The program is Roboform, a small utility that manages your passwords - it is secure, remembers your passwords and other details you wish to store and can then complete these details in webpages and forms for you. We have found this software invaluable and time saving in our operations as we have a lot of passwords for membership sites and online systems that would take forever just to find sometimes. 

I recommend that you download the free version by clicking the image above.

(In our next edition – "Open Office" Free software that is comparable to Microsoft Office and we have an instruction video for members explaining how to use open office document templates).

MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS

Gympie Meat Hall – call and see Gary and get 10% of any order over $100 by mentioning that you are a member of cooloolabusiness.com (by the way the cheese kranski is very good).

Note: if you would like to have a classified advertisement in our next newsletter, please send the advertisement to admin@cooloolabusiness.com

Peppertrees on Smithfield is Gympies Home of Chocolate Fudge… Enjoy 30+ luscious mouth-watering flavours – all baked right here!

Call in and see Wendy and Stacey for their famous fudges, gourmet foods and decorator homewares & gift ideas.

Members are encouraged to ensure that their listings in the directory are current and that there is sufficient information published to describe the business, products sold and/or services provided. Please use the form below to send us information to add your listing.  The addition of a good description with product/service keywords is necessary to ensure that your business is found in search results for those products and services.  

Please use the form below to send us your updated details and business description so that we can give you the best listing that will maximise the promotion of your business and website. Members that take advantage of this free update offer will be given added benefits through stage 2 of our re-development promotion plan as we will be syndicating these Member pages through our directory network to provide additiional backlinks to these Member websites

• Gympie Business Newsletter – July 2010
• Gympie Business Newsletter – June 2010
• Gympie Business Newsletter – May 2010
• Gympie Business Newsletter – April 2010
• Gympie Business Newsletter – March 2010

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

http://www.cooloolabusiness.com/general/site-submitter/

and is password protected to limit use for our members only.

Member access can be obtained by sending an email to admin@cooloolabusiness.com.

All three Gympie heritage attractions will combine forces to present a unique experience, not just for steam buffs, but for all people, young and old, to experience the various uses of the power of steam – The Gympie Ultimate Steam Festival.

Visitors will experience a full range of heritage steam working across a range of industries with combined ticket prices giving entry to all venues for four days of exceptional value and entertainment.

The North Queensland Small Business Development Centre is the Townsville-based home of business support and innovation.

The North Queensland Small Business Development Centre is a not-for-profit organisation that provides free advice and assistance to small and medium-sized businesses.

Hartbeat Training & Consultancy operate the Gympie Training Centre for training in First Aid, CPR, Computer  and Safety courses.

Hartbreat Training provide first aid , occupational health and safety, Workplace Health and Safety, and related training courses in Gympie, Gold Coast, Tin Can Bay and Roma (Central West Queensland).

Gympie Meat Hall – Safe Food Accredited butcher shop manufacturing a large range of Gluten and Preservative free "Coelic Friendly" Smallgoods in the Smithfield Street butcher shop.

Gympie Meat Hall sell Quality MSA Beef and Deli lines including: wood smoked bacon, wood smoked hams, beer sticks cheese kransky and smoked chicken.