Alert: Receiving spam about the TrackR and TrackR Bravo device.

I received a couple of spam emails today promoting the TrackR device. The emails strangely enough were sent from France, yet the address on the emails was Santa Barbara California in America.

My approach is if businesses spam to get attention then it's best to disregard the company's products. If they're not prepared to use ethical marketing practices then what else will they be prepared to do or not do. Certainly not worth the risk.

The best thing to do with spam emails is to hit the delete key.

Kelvin Eldridge

The sharing economy, Uber, AirBnB, now looks to be joined by Ford.

When I read about the sharing economy I tend to shudder. Whilst I think there are some great opportunities, the real problem is there's a lot of media coverage, but in most pro type articles it's all about spreading the word. The general public starts thinking of this sharing stuff is OK. It must be because the media tells me so.

The reality is far from it. If you're thinking about participating or using any of these services, you really need to check out your rights and obligations. When you get into a UberX vehicle in Australia the driver is often not obeying the law and that means you probably don't know where you stand if there's a problem. That AirBnB property you're about to stay in. Are they breaking the law? What's the insurance cover? Is there any? I honestly don't know and I suspect most people won't as well. Even my own home insurance policy has a clause it doesn't cover workmanship and who doesn't do some work around the home.

Ford have just announced trials of car sharing and you'd expect Ford will have covered all the issues, won't they?

http://www.cnet.com/news/ford-rents-out-your-ride-in-new-peer-to-peer-car-rental-scheme/

Legal and insurance issues really are major issues. As an example Telsla appears to be handling the issue of autonomous cars by making them semi-autonomous.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-electric-cars-soon-to-sport-autopilot-functions-such-as-passing-other-vehicles-1431532720

So when you're thinking about the sharing economy make sure you look after your own interests. Whether you're a provider or a user of the services the only person who will look after you, is you. The large companies need to look after themselves first and foremost and their interests may not always be the same as yours.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Are you paying more buying on the internet instead of buying from a local store? Here's an example for Marc Newson unbreakable drinkware.

I found this rather interesting. I popped into Facebook this morning (not a regular user of Facebook) because I wanted to check an old message from last year. At the right I noticed this ad.

I'd been searching for an unbreakable tumbler and I'd previously found the local David Jones in Doncaster stocked this item for $8.95. Wow I thought, $39.80 that's quite a difference, but let's see what it's for. It turned out the $39.80 was for four tumblers, which is $9.95 per tumbler. Delivery is free. Shipping is 3-7 days but the site has no contact details should there be an issue.

The requirement was for one tumbler, or perhaps two if they were difficult to get. Buying online via this ad would have ended up costing more and getting more tumblers than required.

Interestingly all the leg work had been done and the product found at David Jones. The Facebook ad piggy backed on my previous search effort using a technique known as remarketing. That's when ads follow you on the internet and you keep seeing the ads. In this case the ad was for a competitor to David Jones. If you're not aware of the advertising techniques used on the internet, you may end up being "remarketed" to and end up paying more than you need. Make sure if you click on the ads you then do further research.

For those interested, the online search time to find a suitable tumbler was quite a while. Yes I didn't have to leave the comfort of my chair, but it did get frustrating as finding a suitable product online wasn't as easy as expected. A trip to the local shopping centre provided three options quite quickly with prices of $2, $6 and the $8.95 product mentioned.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

SEO Company Melbourne test by reverting to a previous version of the main page.

I thought I'd share this test without first knowing the outcome. With the SEO Company Melbourne site I continue to make changes and test the outcome. Recently I changed the main page of the www.SEO-Company-Melbourne.com.au site, but unfortunately for a search for "SEO Company Melbourne", the page went from position 8-10 to position 18. I suggest to others that if they make a change and the change has a negative impact in Google ranking, they should consider reverting to the previous version.

Now of course the problem may not be the page at all. Google may have decided to change the importance of external factors, so really it is just a matter of test and see. The SEO Company Melbourne site is a test site so changes have no real business impact. As always you should consider the overall effect on your business of any changes.

Tests like this usually take around one to two weeks. Once the result is known I'm happy to share the result with clients.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Alert: Referral spam sites best-seo-offer.com, 100dollars-seo.com, buttons-for-your-website.com, semaltmedia.com.

You're checking your logs and you notice some traffic hitting your site which pleases you. It's great to see someone referring to your site. You decide to check out the source of the referrals out of curiosity. Yep. You've just fallen for referral spam.

Sites such as best-seo-offer.com, 100dollars-seo.com, buttons-for-your-website.com and semaltmedia.com now appear in the analytics for a number of my sites and they don't excite me at all. They're simply referral spam designed to promote the sites. Whilst I'm not exactly sure of the mechanism used, I suspect it's simply a robot reaching my sites. No real value at all and designed to trick me and other webmasters. Hopefully the likes of Google and other search engines are onto them (I'm sure they are) and don't credit the sites with activity from this less than desirable activity.

If you see any of these sites just ignore them. You can filter them in your analytics but that doesn't mean the sites are gone, just not seen. I've read you can use the .htaccess file on your site to block or redirect the requests, but it's hard to say if it's worth the effort.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

PayPal Here reader experience.

I decided last night to go out and buy a PayPal Here reader from Officeworks. The price has dropped to $99, and whilst not generally required due to how I run my business, the reader does provide a resource that I would have liked in the past. I also noticed the current price on PayPal's site is $99. The previous price was $139, so I suspect Officeworks is matching the price, and unless PayPal puts their price up, it may be the price for the reader going forward.

Generally I invoice clients and I find the majority of clients are very good. One client I'd known for a while was going to transfer the money over the weekend. They never did. It's really my fault as this client had become a friend, but in the past had been a bad payer. So lesson learnt. In similar situations the PayPal Here reader can avoid this type of issue. Payment on delivery is a great way to ensure you get paid and really minimises the risk.

Another trend I've noticed is people are carrying less cash and prefer to pay via credit card. Having a mobile credit card facility means payment can be done on the spot. This can be done via a web page, but the PayPal Here reader provides a quicker and thus more professional presentation. In addition the fees are slightly lower.

For anyone going down the PayPal Here path I'd highly recommend they set up the app before they purchase any equipment. I was part of the original PayPal Here device release and it took weeks to get approved and my PayPal account was locked for weeks. I submitted a considerable amount of information and actually gave up. Sometime later my account was unlocked and the facility working. Not a pleasant experience at all, but at least I had everything working again. To me there is some risk using PayPal, but that's for another time. For me, in the way I wish to use PayPal, and taking the precautions I do, PayPal will suffice.

Setting up the new PayPal Here reader wasn't too difficult, but it wasn't just plug in and go either. The mobile phone didn't pick up the device so I had to work out how to force the two to see each other. After this I had the device connected. Next I needed to update the device as instructed. Again whilst not ideal, not a big issue either.

OK. The first test. I paid $2 from my credit card and the payment went through. I went to enter the customer details for myself but PayPal didn't like my email being the same as the merchant account. Go figure. So I decided to not test the invoice feature. I did receive the receipt. PayPal already knew the email address which I thought was weird. The next test was to reverse the payment via my notebook's browser. This worked well however one major concern was no email was received for the reversal. That's going to leave the customer wondering whether or not you've made the reversal. Not good really.

Next I decided to test American Express. It appears American Express is not accepted. I did want to test the magnetic card reader so I then tried the Mastercard. This failed and I was told to insert the the card. That makes sense, but it does mean I still haven't done a successful test using the strip reader.

I liked the original reader which plugged into the earphone socket as there was no power required. The original reader however was very flimsy and also couldn't handle inserting cards, so from that point of view the new reader is better. The new reader also feels more like a device the customer can enter their pin number into, which should provide greater confidence in terms of keeping their pin number secure.

For those interested in the fees, the cost is 1.95% if you use a credit card, but if you manually enter the details that increases to 2.90% + 30 cents. I've read previously that PayPal keeps the 30 cents on reversals, but in this case using the reader, the full amount appears to be been reversed so I'm not out of pocket. I get the odd payment by cheque from home users and whilst PayPal costs more, the time and cost of going to the bank to deposit a cheque is a hidden cost and often exceeds the PayPal charge.

Having to keep the device charged when I use it infrequently is a concern, but something I'll simply have to get used to. I'm looking forward to using it with my first live customer. I'll update this post to let people know how I go.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Now with convenient credit card facilities;-)

Update
I processed my first client purchase recently using the new PayPal Here reader. One thing I did notice is the quite long delay turning the unit on and being ready to process their credit card. I later performed this test and found the time to be around one and half minutes. When the customer is waiting with their card in hand, that length of time feels very long. You may need to work out an approach to minimise this delay.

Cheaper petrol at Liberty on Albert Street and Liberty/United on Bell Street/Chifley Drive (near Northland) in Preston

Isn't it amazing. You know the petrol prices have gone up and you're about to drive into your regular brand of petrol because your tank is almost empty. However the petrol station has now changed to another brand so you drive on.

You're about to turn left to go down the street where you know another of the brand's service stations are but again you think, really can't be bothered. Just as you reach the street then on the corner is a Liberty service station with petrol still at the old price. Yahoo you think to yourself and fill up saving around $10 for a tank of petrol.

Then you drive off and notice a number of petrol stations (Liberty and United) on Bell Street also have the low price.

As we drive into on the prices are all at the new high. How lucky is that! Sometimes waiting just a little can give you a better deal.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Alert: Make sure you set your default photos in Facebook.

I went to an insurance broker's Facebook page this morning to check some contact details. I clicked on the About link to check their contact details. I was then looking for their address so I clicked on their business link which took me to a page where I was asked to suggest a photo. There were two photos. One was their business logo and the other was the following photo.

Now I know insurance brokers believe your business can go bust if you don't have the appropriate insurance, but I don't quite think they mean it that way.

I've never seen this before so it really is a reminder to check everything that can be set in Facebook. I'm sure the broker would be shocked should an inappropriate photo become their Facebook image. I honestly don't know how Facebook will use these photos. As a test I decided to say yes to the less desirable photo (from the business point of view) and no for the business logo. Nothing happened so really not sure what Facebook is going to do. In any case having the general public suggest photos for your business is simply something that I don't think Facebook should do. Even seeing this photo for an insurance broker is not appropriate and can harm their reputation or put off potential customers.

According to the text on the page Facebook lets me know, "This Page is automatically generated based on what Facebook users are interested in, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with the topic." That doesn't inspire me with confidence.

Make sure you review the default photos for your Facebook presence and set what you can. Facebook will still do what it does but at least you've done what you can.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Free for community use advertising section at the bottom of each page has been removed for the moment

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what is necessary in business. When I designed JustLocal I incorporated my desire to give as I go as part of the design of JustLocal to help the community. I don't like the businesses that grow and take over the world and then as the owners reach retirement they decide to give back. The accumulation of wealth from so many to give back at the end simply doesn't feel right to me. It does work, but still it doesn't feel right.

So I decided to work out how much time and space I could give for free community use and felt 5% would help and at the same time not hurt too much. Unfortunately my idealism has meant far more time than I could afford has been put into helping promote others. Nothing is expected in return. Only once has a charity done something to surprise me and provided a link back to the site.

To succeed with JustLocal I need to focus on where I believe I can make the most difference and that is assisting small businesses. It's a tough life in small business and we all appreciate a hand.

So as much as it really makes me cringe, I believe it is best for my long term of helping the community to remove the free advertising and focus on my niche which is to assist small business. Often businesses working from home that can't be found by locals. Businesses that don't have the funds to be seen.

When the time is right the free for community use will return. It's simply not the right time, right now.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.cocal.com.au
Helping locals find and use the services of local businesses.

Pilates Melbourne test and information site live.

Pilates Melbourne is a site I've set up for testing, but when I set up a site that's visible on the internet, I always like to include some useful information for those reaching the site. Initially I put a call out to those offering pilates to create a mini-directory, but not unexpectedly there was no response. I find it amazing how people expect to get business when they do nothing, but hey, that's their choice. You and I will work hard and assist clients who find us through our efforts. I'd much rather deal with a proactive supplier that values my business than one who simply sits back and expects the business to land in their lap.

Unexpectedly I found that since I then had to go down another path, I actually found that path very interesting and potentially useful for small business. Now the site is called Pilates Melbourne, but really what I've written applies to any location based business. This was a great opportunity for me to delve deeper into Google search and in particular Google maps. What I found was really interesting and I feel valuable.

Feel free to check out the Pilates Melbourne site which you can find at www.Pilates-Melbourne.com.au.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Connecting locals with local businesses.

Get Windows 10 prompt appears in Windows 8.1

I was alerted to a prompt that people are now receiving in Windows 8.1. Microsoft have an update (KB3035583) which when installed, places a Windows icon in the system tray area. When you click on the icon a Get Windows 10 screen appears.

This isn't malware, but we do wonder if malware writers will produce malware that displays the same screen. That would be a concern. This screen isn't expected and the approach hasn't been done by Microsoft before to my knowledge.

The Get Windows 10 screen enables people to put in their email address so they'll get notified of Windows 10 when it arrives and it will be downloaded ready for installing. It will be a large download of over 3GB so make sure you have appropriate data allowance. This may not be suitable for this using mobile data.

I'm not exactly sure why anyone would want to register for the Windows 10 upgrade. Windows 10 upgrade will be free for Window 7 SP1 and 8.1 users (legitimate licences) for 12 months when Windows 10 is released. I'm sure we'll all see the advertising when that happens.

The only reason I can see that Microsoft would install such software is to create awareness, so in a way Microsoft is installing adware on users' machines. Some people won't be happy, but others will appreciate the functionality.

When Windows 10 arrives I'd suggest people wait until their IT support people have installed and tested Windows 10. This will enable IT support people to better support issues that may become immediately obvious, as often occurs with new software.

There will be a huge push by Microsoft to get people to upgrade to Windows 10 and hence the reason the release will be free for 12 months. Whilst people may feel inclined to resist, it does remind me of the Borg in Star Trek. Resistance is often futile;-) If Microsoft succeeds they'll most likely reduce the user base of earlier versions of Windows so they can move forward and support the version of Windows they wish to support.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Good Food and Wine Show offer - $10 off ticket

I received an alert for the Good Food & Wine Show for $10 off a ticket from Westfield Doncaster. I must admit I was really quite lost. My first though where would Westfield Doncaster hold such as show. It took a couple of clicks on links to realise Westfield Doncaster wasn't actually holding a show. Westfield Doncaster were most likely simply involved in some way and making an offer.

For those interested in the Good Food & Wine Show I thought I'd pass on the offer in case it is of interest.

www.westfield.com.au/doncaster/events/ticket-offer-good-food-wine-show/16645

For JustLocal members if you're looking for a quality wine then check out the award winning wines from Wupy do.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

TPG Home Phone - Calls to the destination you have dialled are currently congested OCA0142

Now we all know that technology breaks down and that also applies to the home phone. Tonight we received a call to our mobile letting us know that our TPG home phone was not working. I decided to call our home phone number and received the following message.

"Calls to the destination you have dialled are currently congested OCA0142"

I keep an old telephone headset so I can remove any other telephone device and simply go back to square one with a simple device, a single handset plugged directly into the line. Picking up the handset and all I received was a set of beeps. The same beeps I'd heard on each of our wireless handsets, so not an equipment problem.

Next I decided to check the internet. Amazingly the internet is still working. The TPG sites lists there's "no issue reported". They certainly have that wrong. It makes me wonder why they bother having a Service Status page if the page never seems to be correct.

Next I decide to call the technical support line. In this case I get a message along the line, "we are currently receiving a larger the expected number of calls..." and then I get hung up on.

Ah well. With all the technology we have at our disposal TPG can still not keep us informed. I accept we'll always have issues with technology and things break down. That's life. However not being able to get through to report a problem are not seeing a problem has been reported on their Service Status page, well...that's just poor service. The real pity is I've found most telcos are the same.

The good thing is we do have back up technology with mobile phones. Always good to have redundancy built into your life so these things are more annoyances rather than major issues.

I suppose I should be thankful. At least I won't get calls tonight from telemarketers;-)

Kelvin Eldridge

Myaa newsletter spam.

I've received a Myaa Newsletter a couple of times now via email. I really don't know why companies spam. I only deal with legitimate companies and to me, any company that spams for business isn't a business I'd deal with. I highly recommend that you delete these emails and contact a local company or ask for a referral.

If you're thinking about spamming to get your message across and promote your business, then do think again. It really isn't worth it.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping local business

Are you sick of ads slowing down your internet experience?

I was reading an article today and the article mentioned many sites ran very slowly because of the additional sites they need to link to. One site had 45 additional sites that needed to be linked to. In many cases the sites are advertising sites.

It occurred to me that often the advertising sites use Javascript to provide their ads. I have ads on my site and the code uses Javascript. I decided to test my site by turning off Javascript in the browser. The result was the ads didn't display and the page loaded fast.

Perhaps a good way to approach this is to have one browser with Javascript enabled and another browser with Javascript disabled. If when using the browser with Javascript disabled you find something isn't working as desired, then open the other browser for that site.

Happy faster browsing.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

iiNet provide small businesses with the ability to provide Wi-Fi internet access at no additional cost.

I saw the following ad and thought it may be of use to some business owners, such as those who may own a cafe or similar business.

I've not checked or used the offer personally, but it does look like iiNet will provide the equipment and installation that will enable a business to provide internet access to their customers. If the cost is around the same as just having their own internet facilities, this may be something worth investigating.

http://www.iinet.net.au/business/small/internet/

Please check this out thoroughly yourself. I'm simply passing on and advertisement I saw which I felt may interest others. In the past I have used iiNet for one client and they were a good provider. iiNet it appears is being taken over by TPG. I don't find TPG's domestic service to be as good as it could be, but for the price, it's often good enough.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

ATO to require UberX drivers to register for and remit GST.

Now I didn't see that one coming. Over time in business we all learn the rules that apply to us but if it isn't in our area, often there's rules we don't even think about. I found the following article particularly interesting because it affects those providing "ride-sourcing" such as UberX drivers.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/19/australian_taxation_office_to_uber_drivers_cough_up_consumption_tax/

What is particularly interesting is those providing taxi services need to register for GST and the $75,000 threshold does not apply. If I read the rules correctly, that means "ride-sourcers" will also need to register for an ABN.

From the article "ride-sourcers" have until the 1st of August to register for GST.

This article isn't meant to endorse UberX drivers but simply to raise awareness.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Energy usage monitor and other devices available from Aldi on Saturday the 23rd of May 2015.

Some time ago I created the Energy Cost Calculator web app to assist in determining my energy usage and reduce our electricity costs. The result has been significant with an estimated saving of around $700-$900 a year. All that was required was some knowledge and then some changes in our electricity habits.

On Saturday Aldi is selling a few devices I've used to assist in reducing our energy usage. My favourite is the foot switch for $9.99.  The energy usage monitor is very useful in determining how much electricity your devices are using and that knowledge helps you plan and make adjustments. For $14.99 the energy monitor is a worthwhile investment. The four individual remote controlled switches can be purchased for around the same price at Bunnings, but they're also very handy for conveniently turning off appliances when desired.

Kelvin Eldridge
Energy Cost Calculator
www.EnergyCostCalculator.com.au

Computer Repair Melbourne site hopefully enables more people to find and use the services of Online Connections.

The Computer Repair Melbourne site has been set up to hopefully enable locals to more easily find Online Connections and use their computer support services. The internet is really quite a hard gig and it takes a lot of time, effort and even money to make sure your business is found on the internet.

The problem with the internet is often you're competing with businesses outside of your area with deeper pockets for advertising and that often means you lose when it comes to locals finding your business.

JustLocal was designed to help local businesses grow by making sure bigger businesses outside an area can simply use large advertising budgets to out compete local businesses. Only businesses in an area can advertise on a postcode page on JustLocal and as you can see with the design, all advertising spaces are the same size. Yes one business can purchase multiple advertising spaces, but even then the number is limited. The JustLocal design makes for a more even and fairer level playing field for local businesses.

The Computer Repair Melbourne site provides another site by which locals can find Online Connections. We wish this weren't needed, but until more businesses use JustLocal to promote their business, the size of advertising budgets will continue to matter.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Telstra significantly drops the price of prepaid mobile broadband data plans now called data passes.

Over the years I've watched Telstra as they've increased the cost of their prepaid mobile broadband data plans. Whilst there are a number of plans, the on I've felt is often the most useful for clients is the plan which provides and allowance of gigabytes which last for a year. That way if the person uses well under one month the data isn't lost.

When I fist purchased the 365 day prepaid data package the first time it was 10GB for $150. If it was purchased with an Apple iPad 2 (yes some time ago) you received 12GB. However let's stick with the 10GB. Telstra then increased the plan to 12GB for $180 and then increased this to 12GB for $200. Things were not looking good.

I was at the Apple store today and the Apple employee said Telstra had changed their plans so they were worth reviewing. I have to admit I'm very pleasantly surprised with the new plans which can be seen at https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/mobile-broadband/prepaid. The new plans are called prepaid mobile broadband data passes.

Telstra now have an even better offer of $50 for 5GB which lasts for 365 days. That's significantly less than the $150 for 10GB paid years ago. It's also a relatively low entry price. Yes there's a two year plan, but that's $140 and only marginally cheaper per gigabyte. Of course the plan you pick should always be based on your needs. I however don't like to tie up too much money for too long.

I have a number of old Telstra Wi-Fi hotspot devices sitting in drawers so they may end up coming in handy. The cost of a SIM card to get going is just $2.

Overall a very pleasant surprise from Telstra.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.