Newsletter Vol. 7, 2006

Isn't it a busy time! So, I will endeavour to keep this edition of our news very brief. If you don't read anything else in this newsletter, make sure that you read about the Imagine organisation.

If your website is hosted by Destra, you may have heard that they are selling the web hosting part of their business to BlueFreeway (see the News section). I don't expect a change in their level of service, but we will certainly be keeping tabs on any price increase, and will have other viable options ready for you if necessary.

May you have a joyous Christmas - make sure you take time to enjoy it and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

Best wishes,
Heather Maloney

Your Christmas Present!

We have recently been introduced to one of the fastest growing Australian companies - Imagine Essential Services - a publicly listed Australian organisation reported in the Financial Review as inventing a new industry: broking essential services (e.g. electrcity, gas and telephones) for Australian SMEs.

Below are just 2 examples of the savings recently achieved for SMEs through Imagine:

  • Beauty Salon - Mosman
    Landlines - before $212/ month - after $111/month - saving 47% ($1,200 pa)
    Energy - before $5,108 / yr - after $4,598 - saving 10% ($510 pa)
    Insurance - before $3,783/ yr - after $2,959 - saving 21% ($824 pa)
    Total $2,534 savings pa at no cost.

  • Plumber - Turramurra
    Landlines - before $367/month - after $213/month - saving 42% ($1,850 pa)
    Mobile - before $1,883/month - after $637/month - saving 66% ($14,950 pa)
    Total $16,800 pa at no cost

Membership with Imagine is free, and they work on a win-win-win model. The SME wins by achieving savings on their essential services at the same time as receiving higher quality service from the providers, all these at no extra cost to the SME. The providers win by achieving greater retention of customers (because the service being provided is better). Imagine wins by receiving a brokers fee from the Providers. As the number of Imagine member businesses increases, the negotiating power of members will also be increased.

But don't take our word for it - visit: www.imagine.com.au to read all the details, or get in contact with Lai Fui Gray and her team on (02) 9972-0216 or 0414 760 014 or by email at lai.fui@imagine.com.au. Lai is an excellent Imagine Adviser who will help you to achieve even further savings on many additional services, aside from your telephone, gas and electricity bills.

We'd love to hear about the difference Imagine makes for you!

Online Advertising - Fantasy Sports Game Sites

Did you know that Coke, Toyota and other large companies are spending advertising dollars at websites that host amazingly popular, free and paid, fantasy sports games? The article is listed in the news section.

"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
- Charles Dickens

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him "Immanuel" - which means, "God with us".
Matthew 1:23

Second Life

In case you've missed the buzz... the web has taken on a whole new world of it's own, complete with its own currency. The Second Life website allows people to rent their own space in this online world, create a 3D image of themselves (or how they would like to look), and move through a graphical online world, including by flying, having "another life". I recently read an article about a business person who gave a presentation (by typing his message and invoking facial expressions and arm gestures throughout) in Second Life about his area of expertise, and how he took online questions throughout the presentation. It seems the presentation was just as demanding to execute as it would have been in the flesh.

Mind boggling... as is the fact that nearly 1.8 million people have joined (at time of writing), and businesses are starting build showrooms within this cyber world. Fad or a new phase of the internet?, only time will tell.

Contact Point - Helping businesses to reach their potential through Information Technology