Things I do
Our Internet Secrets – 4 day internet marketing conference
Jun 8th
Andrew and Daryl's bestseller
I just spent the last 4 days at an internet marketing conference on the Gold Coast called Our Internet Secrets which was hosted by Andrew and Daryl Grant.
Our Internet Secrets blew me away in terms of quality of content and how thorough and patient Andrew and Daryl were in their delivery.
If you’re ever interested in learning the basics of internet marketing I can’t recommend this conference enough.
Over the course of 4 days we covered:
- How to research a niche using the Google Keyword tool, clickbank and the youtube keyword tool
- How to access the existing products being offered to the market and how to understand what the customer is looking for and identify gaps
- How to capture a point of difference and position a product that stands out from the competition rather than directly competing
- How to design, research, product and price a product quickly and cheaply across a variety of media (text, video, audio & software)
- How to write an effective sales letter including specific copywriting techniques
- How to create a website and make all the tech stuff work
- How to drive traffic to that website using Google adwords, SEO, blogs, forums etc
- How to monitor your website and fine tune it to boost results ($)
- How to establish yourself as a credible expert in your niche and take your business to the next level
- What a membership site is and how it works and how to make one
- Other techniques to generate publicity (and traffic) such as speaking from the stage, best selling books, free publicity from the press
We also touched on the psychology of success and how to identify and eliminate mental blockages if you have them which was not something that I expected to be discussed but I was very impressed with how well this was covered.
A final point worth mentioning is that this was a sales conference and Andrew and Daryl and the other speakers were selling back-end products throughout the process however it was an extremely soft sell and they did an excellent job of providing high quality content that made the (brief) sales pitch very acceptable. I didn’t buy anything.
So if you ever want to boost your knowledge around internet marketing, check out the Our Internet Secrets events as it’s a great foundation.
And a big thanks to Yaro Starak for the free tickets. 
Orange Dot Pty Ltd
May 29th
August 2008 – Current
Orange Dot is a company that develops accessible technology devices. It was founded by Rhys Cooper and myself to develop an accessible mobile phone interface for people with disabilities.
Rhys is the creative genius who knows an incredible amount about accessibility and what the disability space needs and I’m the nay-saying accountant who writes business plans and stifles Rhys’ dream.
To date we:
- have won the mega pitch panel prize (August 2008),
- recruited two kick arse non-executive directors,
- argued a lot,
- raised $30,000 in angel investment,
- lodged patent applications,
- completed a working prototype,
- won the MEX mobile user experience award for the freelance category in London,
- have released the first prototype for real world user testing; and
- enabled a disabled person who had lost power in his home to get help.
Orange Dot will be releasing it’s first commercial product, the Doo Phone in June 2010.
The Doo Phone is designed for people with visual impairments, limited dexterity, intellectual impairments or someone who just wants a really easy phone to use. The Doo Phone is a software interface for a Windows Mobile based smart phone. You can find out more about the product by visiting the Doo Phone website.
Check out www.orangedot.com.au for more info on the company.
The Hive Brisbane
Nov 8th
April 2008 – Current
The Hive is not-for-profit organisation that creates monthly events to connect entrepreneurs in Brisbane (it’s also in Melbourne and Sydney).
The organisation’s aim is to foster the local entrepreneurial community. Being an entrepreneur can be a very isolating experience and to counter this, each month The Hive team pulls together an event featuring a successful entrepreneur as a guest speaker and encourages attendees to relax and make real connections with like minded people.
100+ people show up.
I am a Brisbane director and each month I work with my friends Mike Boyd and Walter Haas to make this event happen.
It’s a lot of fun being part of something that creates so much value for so many people. Some of the people we’ve featured as ‘guest entrepreneur’ are:
- Mike O’Hagan from Mini-movers
- Phillip Di Bella from Di Bella Coffee
- Alborz Fallah from CarAdvice.com.au
- David Milne from Noodle Box
- Martin Duncan from Freestyle Tout
If you’re in Brisbane, feel free to show up to an event. They’re held on the last Tuesday of each month. Check The Hive website for details of what’s on. Or join the facebook fan page. Or check us out on twitter @thehive and #hivebris
