Default to Australia campaign

Hi Everyone,

Perhaps the Australia Day weekend has gotten to me, but in my latest newsletter (only available to those on the JustLocal mailing list) has a tip which I thought was worth sharing with all Australians.

Perhaps we should even start a campaign. The "Default to Australia Campaign".

The following is a copy of the article.

A tip to find Australian treasure on Google

Have you searched Google to find you get thousands, if not millions of results returned.

I've often wondered about the value of selecting pages from Australia when using Google. Working on the JustLocal book project has made me realise just how valuable that option is.

However since I have to click one more time, I tend not to do it.

Do you feel the same way?

Here is a technique that will help.

Go to www.google.com.au
Select pages from Australia
Click Google Search

Yes it may sound weird to search on nothing, but notice what you now have in the address area. This is the web address for Google with pages from Australia selected for you.

Bookmark this page, or set it up as your default page. Now when you go to that page, pages from Australia will be selected for you.

Now this may seem like all you have done is save yourself one click. But in fact you have done much more. You have now biased your search results so searching for businesses from Australia is much easier. Who knows. If we all did this I wonder how much it might boost the Australian economy.

I think this is a technique to treasure. Do it now. Don't want until later, or you may not get around to doing it.

Now this is a fantastic time saver. Instead of getting millions of entries you will often get thousands and sometimes hundreds of entries. From what I read, it appears even Google feels people are often more interested in search results from their own region.

Using this approach if you search for nearly any of the authors on the JustLocal book page by name, they will be first, or on the first page of results.

If you really can't be bothered, and we do tend to be a bit lay back in Australia, then here is the link for you.

http://www.google.com.au/webhp?hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&cr=countryAU

How do we know this small change will make a difference?

Based on results from the JustLocal logs, if we all made this small change to search in Australia first, 2 to 3 times more people would end up finding Australian sites without the clutter of sites from all over the world.

So who's with me.

Shall we join together and help build a stronger Australian economy.

I hope you have enjoyed this article as much as I have writing it. And yes my default will be pages from Australia from now on.

Enjoy - Kelvin

Which Google are you using?

As an Australian using Google I've often noticed a few quirky things with Google.

The results change depending on how I access Google. Weird I know, but it really does happen.

It is almost like as an Australian I can use Google to look out from Australia, or I can use Google as though I am looking in from somewhere else in the world.

The real trick is to notice when you are using Google Australia, and for want of a better description, Google not Australia.

The difference is if you are using Google Australia at the top of each page you can select "pages From Australia". If you are using Google not Australia, then "pages From Australia" does not appear.

Does it really matter. Perhaps not, but since you get different results, it may be important depending on what you are trying to achieve.

If for example you are in Australia and want to market your product to the rest of the world, then knowing what they see when searching Google, may be pretty important to you.

If you are in Australia and want to limit your selection to pages from Australia, then not having that option means you can't use that feature.

So how can you access Google Australia and Google not Australia if you are in Australia.

If you want to go to Google Australia and you are in Australia, you can type in the address www.google.com or www.google.com.au and you will go to Google Australia in both cases. In fact, you will notice if you type www.google.com you will see the address change to www.google.com.au automatically.

How then do you access Google not Australia?

Often if you use the toolbars in your browser you will find they don't use Google Australia.

The trick is to find the browser that has not been fully set up for Australian conditions by the developers.

In this case let's use Firefox 2.0.0.11. (This doesn't work in Internet Explorer 7.)

If you type in "hp recyled toner cartridges" into the Google search field at the right of the address area you will see the Google page has the option "pages from Australia". Thus this uses Google Australia.

One of our JustLocal pages which is www.justlocal.com.au/nationaltoner/index.php is third in the list of results.

Now type "hp recycled toner cartridges in the address area and press enter.

This time we see no "pages from Australia" so we are using Google not Australia.

Our JustLocal page now appears on the second page of results as the eleventh result.

Not a really big difference, but still there is a difference.

Let's take a more striking difference.

David Delaney is an author on the JustLocal book page www.book.JustLocal.com.au. David's page promoting his book of poems is www.justlocal.com.au/clients/book/david-delaney/. I'm not writer, but I find his work very moving.

Now if you search using the Google's search field at the right (using Google Australia) there is David Delaney's book page on JustLocal in seventh position on the first page of results.

Now if you search using the address area (using Google not Australia) you won't find David on the first or even the second page. He appears on the fourth page in position 32.

Appearing on page 1 or 4 of Google results may affect sales via the Internet, or perhaps reduce your visibility internationally.

Now do I know where Google not Australia is actually getting the results from.

To be honest, I'm not really sure.

But I did manage to test the cached version of www.google.com and obtained the same results. So there is a good chance it is www.google.com. (Actually this is good trick to know. Search for google and then click on the cache link and do the search from there.)

There is a bit of humour in all of this.

Many people including myself proudly say their site is number one in the world.

This now begs the question with Google, from where in the world?

Enjoy - Kelvin

TIP: Another browser which makes this situation very easy to see is Opera. If you use the built in search engine it appears to use Google not Australia. Changing Opera to use Google Australia as the default is very easy.

FREE ADVERTISING

Imagine getting free advertising!

Well, that is exactly what will happen when you donate new items to OnlineBidz so that they can auction the items and give the proceeds to charity and NFPs.

Not only is your donated item tax deductible, but your company details will be promoted in the description of the article as the business making the donation, your business will also be advertised in the Online Bidz monthly newsletter and on the Online Bidz website.

What a fantastic opportunity for all! Contact chris@onlinebidz.com.au or call Chris on 0412 745 003. Check out the Online Bidz site via the JustLocal page http://www.justlocal.com.au/.

Regards

Kelvin.

The Australia Day Treasure Hunt is on again.

Hi Everyone,

If you like National Treasure, you will love The Australia Day Treasure Hunt.

Barbara Gabogrecan has just launched The Australia Day Treasure Hunt competition.





This is a great competition to check out. Everyone who enters receives treasure valued at over $300. The main treasure chest holds over $11,000 in prizes.

For more information visit www.JustLocal.com.au/clients/treasure-hunt/.

Enjoy,

Kelvin Eldridge

NEWS FLASH: The treasure chest now holds over $12,000 in prizes.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Hi,

Russell Butler is the creator and maintainer of the FREE Australian English Medical dictionary, which is an add-on dictionary for OpenOffice.org.

For those in the medical industry or studying a medicine related subject, the Australian English Medical dictionary is an invaluable aid.

The dictionary is free and avaiable from the JustLocal dictionary page www.dictionary.JustLocal.com.au.

For those using Microsoft Word, if you would like a FREE custom Australian English medical dictionary to add to Microsoft Word, let us know. If there is sufficient interest we will see if we can produce one.

Enjoy.

Australian Open affects Victoria's regional tourism.

Hi,

I thought I would share this insight as it shows the impact a major event can have on another sector of the economy. A gain somewhere is often a loss somewhere else.

Last year (I can say that now we are in the new year) I visited the Grampians region in Victoria, to see if perhaps I could use the JustLocal service to assist the drought affected region.

The region had been pretty well devastated by the fires the previous year. Anyone who has visited Zumsteins to see a large kangaroo population will know how exciting it is. However on this occasion there was not a kangaroo in sight. In time I have no doubt they will return. They really are a magnificent sight.

I spent a few days in the area and even with the effects of the bush fire, it really is a beautiful and relaxing place. Our accommodation whilst modest, was very pleasant and very affordable.

What I thought was particularly strange was how Halls Gap was not overly busy, which of course made for a much more relaxing holiday. However it still made me wonder.

I asked a local business person and I said, "how come it was fairly quiet. I would have expected more people since the Australia Day holiday long weekend is the last and one of the best times to get away before the hectic year starts again".

He said, "it happens every year because of the Australian Open".

Could it be possible I thought.

So using the tools I use to monitor traffic to web sites I checked the Australian Open site. The site has almost no traffic during the year, but from mid January on there is a massive peak, and then after the event, the traffic again disappears.

The knowledge of the local people is directly mirrored by the traffic on the site.

I share this insight as knowing what events might affect your business is very important, particularly when you are starting off. Experienced business people know these trends. Those with less experience can now use the Internet to gain insights which would other take years of experience to obtain.

As for my new found business friends in the Grampians region, I look forward to the day I am able to assist them.

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

Amazing free offer for Camtasia 3.

For those who are interested I just found out that Tech Smith who produce Camtasia, is making the old version 3 available for free for PC Plus readers. The following article provides the information required to download and install this free version.

http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=199669

Camtasia is a product which allows you to record your activities on your computer and make that into a type of movie. We have seen the product regularly referred to by Internet Marketers.

We have for some time wanted to test this program so we can provide short instructional videos. For us this is a great opportunity to review this product.

It took a couple of attempts to download the 28MB program, but we were successful and I look forward to checking out Camtasia 3.

I hope others find this information useful.

Opera 9.2 Australian English language User Interface.

We have recently released the Australian English language User interface file for Opera 9.2.

To obtain the file please go to the following page www.dictionary.JustLocal.com.au.

Those who know the work I do, will also know I create and maintain a range of Australian English dictionary files used by over 100,000 Australians for spell checking in projects such as: OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Internet Explorer/ieSpell, Opera/Aspell and many others.

I use the prescriptive dictionary I created, which is known affectionately as the Kelvin version. (A prescriptive dictionary uses the most commonly used spelling where there are two ways to spell a word such as organise/organize.) The way I now spell is as a result of four years of working with the dictionary files.

From my perspective Australian English has its roots in British English. The Americans made some significant choices as a result of Noah Webster's work in the 1800's, but we have let time evolve our language, with influences from both the UK, US and other countries. Our version of English will continue to evolve and I like to think of Australian English as our language.

Updating the User interface file for Opera 9.2 raises some very tricky English issues and I would like to hear feedback from others.

To me there is no right or wrong with the language, just preferences.

The following are some notes I made whilst making the latest changes to the Australian English Opera user interface language file.

The spelling of words is based on the standard we use for creating the Australian English dictionary files. Further information can be found at www.dictionary.JustLocal.com.au. This means the following occurs.

• Since "online" is in the AOD, this is kept as is and so is "offline", even though it does not appear in the dictionary.
• Toolbar is kept as is, because it is listed in the AOD.
• The hyphenated versions of the words are used because the AOD has these entries.
  setup -> set-up, startup -> start-up
• The "our" version of words are used: color -> colour, favorites -> favourites.
• The "ise" variation of words is used such as "maximise". Both "ise" and "ize" are valid in Australia, however "ise" is the most commonly used variant and listed first in the dictionaries.
• The spelling of "dialog" becomes "dialogue". Even though the programming construct is a dialog based on the US spelling, we spell dialog as dialogue in Australia.

Any comments on these decisions is welcome. If there are inconsistencies in the user interface it is most likely an oversight and needs to be fixed, so let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Using a blog to promote a business

We decided to test the concept of using a blog promote a business.

The advantages of this approach are:

• Anyone can easily create a blog
• Blogs are free
• Blogs are a modern and acceptable means of sharing information
• Blogs can be set up almost instantly

A blog could be used as a complete website, or simply a component of an existing website.

We see many uses of blogs for the advertisers of JustLocal.

For example many community groups or individuals can now take advantage of the Free For Community Use section of JustLocal. However many such groups or individuals don't have a web presence. A blog could provide the presence they need to get started, and in many cases it may be all they need.

A blog can be used to keep users informed of new products and services. A blog could link to a website, or deeper into a website such as http://www.JustLocal.com.au.

Blogs provide a new, low cost approach for businesses wanting an Internet presence and is something we feel businesses should explore.