We share a story to show what we are trying to change at JustLocal.

Hi,

For those of you not subscribed to our newsletter, I thought I would share an excerpt from the December edition of JustLocal News.

My aim with JustLocal is to encourage people to change just a little. A little change I believe is all it will take to make a better world.

I often have the following conversation with people I meet which shows them why I do what I do.

I ask, "do you have a favourite restaurant?"
"A restaurant that you enjoy going to."
"That gives you great service and looks after you."
"Do you tell others about the restaurant?"
"Tell your family and friends about the restaurant."
"Even take your family and friends to the restaurant."

I then say, "so you help to build the restaurant owner's business and they grow".

Then I ask, "has the restaurant owner referred anyone to your business. To any of your family, your friends?".

The answer is always no.

So the restaurant grows and the people I meet, well they give their energy to the business, but the business does not help them to grow.

That to me is okay. That is the normal business model we are all used to. The business being recommended deserves to be recommended. They look after their customers by providing excellent products and service and they are rewarded with profit.

Why is it that those customers who provide us with our ability to live and to provide for our families, are the last we look to assist?

Are our customers simply our meal ticket?

For me that can't be all that business is about. Those smiles and pleasant conversations I have had over the years with all the local businesses and not one of them has offered to help myself or my family. That is not how I work.

Next time when you are about to purchase something think of those you already know. Can someone you know that helps your business and thus your family, provide that product or service? Is there someone in your networking group, your family, friends, or contacts, that you can redirect your business to and help them grow?

Those who help you are why you are where you are today.

If my view of the world helps you to better see the world for what it is, then you too, perhaps in some small way, can start to create a better world.

Enjoy,

Kelvin Eldridge

Technoraticise your blog.

Hi,

Okay, I know there is no such word as technoraticse, but I couldn't resist. I'm in the process of joining Technorati and claiming this blog.

To be frank, Technorati is a completely new beast to me. I suspect like many people, I have heard of it for some time, but never really bothered with it. However, if it helps me to share the information about JustLocal friends, then I am into giving it a go.

The first part of claiming a blog is to either provide the user name and password for the blog, which in my opinion is just not on, or to provide a link in the blog using a temporary post which you can delete after the Technorati spider has checked your blog.

I decided to share the experience of signing up with Technorati with you. If it helps JustLocal it may also help JustLocal friends.

The following is the link Technorati requested I include in a post.

Technorati Profile

To include the above link I used the Edit Html option and simply copied and paste the link information provided by Technorati.

Now back to Technorati to complete the process.

The spiders did their work very quickly and the blog was claimed. A few more informational fields and the JustLocal blog was now Technoraticised.

I also opted to add the Fave link provided Technorati. I did this by adding the code before the </body> tag in the source code for the template. Spooky stuff, but quite easy if you know what you are looking for. I suspect the Fave link will be one way for other people to effectively vote for your blog.

The following now appears at the bottom of the blog so others can now easily add the JustLocal blog to their Technorati Favourites.



The JustLocal blog has now been Technoraticised.

Glad to be of assistance.

In this age of the Internet it never ceases to amaze me that all of us (including myself) take the hard work of others so much for granted.

We visit sites, collect what we need, and move on, never giving things a second thought.

I recently did a check of the first 500 people (alphabetically) writing to the OpenOffice.org support mailing list for assistance and 64% wrote once to request support from the volunteers. It amazed me to see they didn't take a moment out of their day to write a second time to say thank you.

Nearly every day someone drops me a line to say thank you and it is very much appreciated.

Today I received the following thank you.

"Thanks for making the spellchecker problem easy to fix, microsoft uk didn't want to know and neither did the vendor of office 2007 or the original installer of the OE on my system. Thanks once again"

Next time someone helps you perhaps pause for a moment. Show your appreciation. You never know how much it will be appreciated.

Thank you to all those who have paused for a moment in their busy day to say thanks. It really has been appreciated.

Have a great day - Kelvin.

JustLocal newsfeed information.

Hi,

I was recently asked a question as to where to find the JustLocal newsfeed so I thought I should explain the various news aspects of JustLocal.

News - This is a menu item on all JustLocal pages. It is now set up to open the JustLocal blog which you are now reading. I write regularly write short articles on items of interest.

RSS newsfeed - Also known as the newsfeed, or sometimes referred to as the feed.

This is the facility we use to let people know about events and special offers being made available via JustLocal friends. A link is provided with each news item to take you to the post code page so you can click on the image for the JustLocal friend and find out more information from them.

RSS feed menu item - Not everyone has the latest and greatest browser. Whilst we do encourage everyone to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2 or their latest version of their favourite browser, not everyone can for one reason or another. The RSS feed menu item will display a web page with all the current news items which are available in our newsfeed.

The newsfeed button - This button, which we have pasted a rather large copy of the button above so you can't miss it, is found in the latest browsers. If you click on it, you will see our news items. (Sometimes you may have to hit the refresh button to load the latest news. Your default newsfeed reader may only check the newsfeed once a day.)

With newsfeeds you can subscribe to a site's newsfeed and the latest information will be retrieved for you on a regular basis. Under Windows Vista you can add the feed to your Desktop using the feed gadget and keep informed as news happens. I have my news set to update hourly.

Currently there is a single newsfeed for all of JustLocal.

As JustLocal grows there will be the main newsfeed available via the main page for JustLocal and a newsfeed for each post code page. That however will be some time in the future.

JustLocal News newsletter - This news letter is published approximately once a month and everyone on the JustLocal mailing list who has provided their details, is sent an email with a link to the newsletter. The newsletter is now only available to those on the mailing list. Those on the mailing get regular news, great tips and the latest offers.

The aim of JustLocal is to encourage people to visit their local businesses and to check out their sites for their news and specials.

The blog and newsfeed features enable us to share information on a regular basis in a convenient way. We look forward to the day where we no longer send emails to everyone. Those who are interest we feel will look forward to a regular stream of useful information and will receive that information because they want to receive it. Emails are a rather blunt way to keep people informed and with the ever increasing amount of email, I suspect most of it goes unread.

So if you looking for news, read the blog, check the newsfeed and don't forget to send us an email so you can regularly receive our newsletter.

Regards Kelvin

Credit: The original image used for the RSS feed button was made available by Wikipedia.

JustLocal News December edition hot of the press.

Hi,

JustLocal News, the JustLocal newsletter for December 2007 is now live on the Internet.

This month the newsletter contains:

1. A gift of knowledge.
2. An idea for a Christmas or Kris Kringle gift.
3. Information on how we are helping Australian authors and how you can too.
4. Last chance to promote your business on the main page of JustLocal for $3 or less.
5. How you can raise money for your favourite charity.
6. And I am even up for auction to raise money for charity.
plus more.

One of the tips in the newsletter we consider to be gold, for anyone who sends out newsletters as emails or PDF's.

If you would to read the current and future editions of JustLocal News let us know by sending us an email.

Regards Kelvin.

Kelvin Eldridge is up for auction for charity

Hi,

Yes someone is going win an hour of my time for $1.54 or less.

As an IT expert and creator of the JustLocal service, I am sure my knowledge and skills will come in handy. Somehow I can't help feeling my wife will even put a bid or two in. There a some tasks that I simply never get around too;-)

Some time ago I came up with an approach where anyone can now raise money for their favourite charity. All they have to do is give an hour of their time.

Please feel free to place a bid for my time and raise money for the YWCA Encore after breast cancer gentle exercise programme.

If you would like to use the same approach to raise money for your favourite charity or someone in need, please feel free to contact me.

You can bid on me at Online Bidz. You can will also find the JustLocal Charity Auction link at the bottom of the JustLocal page (http://www.justlocal.com.au/).

Have fun and have a go.

Regards Kelvin.

JustLocal blog is News.

The JustLocal blog has now replaced the News page on the JustLocal site.

Subscribe to the JustLocal blog using your RSS reader. Vista users can now have the latest news delivered direct to their Desktop. Those using the latest browsers will be able to easily keep informed.

Just as importantly the blog allows you to make comments and provide feedback. We look forward to hearing what you have to say as well.

We hope you enjoy this new approach.

Regards,

Kelvin Eldridge