I had never met Aussie entreprenuer  Steve Sammartino and Romanian whiz kid Raul Oaida before I handed over $500 to become a patron of #SAMP after spotting this tweet from Steve in March 2012.

Anyone interested in [...]]]> The #SuperAwesomeMicroProject is a Life Size Lego Car Powered by Air.  Watch it in action:

I had never met Aussie entreprenuer  Steve Sammartino and Romanian whiz kid Raul Oaida before I handed over $500 to become a patron of #SAMP after spotting this tweet from Steve in March 2012.

Anyone interested in investing $500-$1000 in a project which is awesome & a world first tweet me. Need about 20 participants… #startup

— Steve Sammartino (@sammartino) February 29, 2012

22 months later Steve and Raul have created a Life Size Lego Car Powered By Air, but that’s only half the story.

The other half of the story is how 40 patrons came together using the power of the Internet to take an idea from a Romanian whiz kid and make it into a reality.

I love the way Steve describes it:

The is why I love working on and with the Internet every day as a business person and end user.

The opportunities are limitless.

Super Awesome Micro Project photo gallery

Whilst some businesses have been quick to develop new business models with the aid of technology, others have been slower to adapt their more traditional ways of doing business.

In episode 5 of the Beers, Blokes and Business podcast Sean Callanan, Steve Sammartino, Jim [...]]]> Significant digital disruption has occurred in the retail industry.

In episode 5 of the Beers, Blokes and Business podcast Sean Callanan, Steve Sammartino, Jim Stewart and myself share our collective experience on the various retail models which have developed in the digital economy.

Listen to the episode or subscribe via iTunes or non-iTunes.

We’d love your feedback.

I share how my experience of working at McDonalds, studying a Civil Engineering/Business Administration degree and then stumbling across this thing called the Internet in the early 1990s led me where I am working today.  Not exactly a textbook “career path” – if [...]]]> Episode 4 of the Beers, Blokes and Business podcast is out.

I share how my experience of working at McDonalds, studying a Civil Engineering/Business Administration degree and then stumbling across this thing called the Internet in the early 1990s led me where I am working today.  Not exactly a textbook “career path” – if there is ever such a thing.

Have a listen in to myself together with Sean Callanan, Steve Vallas, Steve Sammartino, and Scott Kilmartin.

Listen to the episode or subscribe via iTunes or non-iTunes.

We’d love your feedback.

This week’s topic looks at the wide variety of ways to manage a project, whether you’re doing something solo, start-up, as a small business or at the big end of town.

The blokes sitting around the microphone for this episode are: [...]]]> We’re up to episode 3 of the Beers, Blokes and Business podcast already.

This week’s topic looks at the wide variety of ways to manage a project, whether you’re doing something solo, start-up, as a small business or at the big end of town.

The blokes sitting around the microphone for this episode are: Sean Callanan, Steve Sammartino, Jim Stewart & myself.

Listen to the episode or subscribe via iTunes or non-iTunes.

We’d love your feedback.

That spare time you have when commuting, exercising and other down time activities is the perfect time where you can stimulate your brain through your ear buds.

Therefore, I have banded together with a few mates to “tape” [...]]]> Podcasts (which is a fancy way to describe time-shifted radio) are coming back in a big way.

That spare time you have when commuting, exercising and other down time activities is the perfect time where you can stimulate your brain through your ear buds.

Therefore, I have banded together with a few mates to “tape” our regular (normally private) conversations that we have over a beer with the aim of sharing our collective knowledge and experience with others.

Sean Callanan the SportsGeek is the instigator of the Beers, Blokes and Business podcast and has rounded up the following motley crew: Steve Sammartino, Jim Stewart, James Noble, Luke McCormack, Steve Vallas, Scott Kilmartin and myself.

The first podcast topic is about the importance of learning how to learn - we’d love your feedback.

We plan to publish a new episode every week.

Listen via iTunes or non-iTunes podcast apps.

Read my full article at PowerRetail for my insider account of Google’s dramatic entrance into the FMCG online retail market.

Read my full article at PowerRetail for my highlights from the proceedings, including information about: eBay, Deb Sharkey, Australia Post, ClickFrenzy, Ruslan Kogan, Sheridyn Fisher and BuyReply.

Read my full article at PowerRetail where I talk about Apple, Burberry, Myer, Sephora and other retailers’ approaches to harnessing digital technology in their retail [...]]]> No matter how much online retail websites attract new customers, the traditional shopfront will always be a retailer’s greatest weapon – but both online and offline must be adequately catered for.

Read my full article at PowerRetail where I talk about Apple, Burberry, Myer, Sephora and other retailers’ approaches to harnessing digital technology in their retail stores.

These spam tweets use copied tweet content from my real twitter friends.  Darren Rowse reports he has had hundreds of spam tweets and other people in my twitter circle of friends are also groaning at the moras of tweet spam coming [...]]]> Over the last 24 hours I have received 50+ mentions from fake Twitter accounts.

These spam tweets use copied tweet content from my real twitter friends.  Darren Rowse reports he has had hundreds of spam tweets and other people in my twitter circle of friends are also groaning at the moras of tweet spam coming their way.

@twitterau we’ve had the #PBEVENT hashtag being hammered since 7am (hundreds of them). All are tweeting old tweets.

— Darren Rowse (@problogger) May 3, 2013

Omg this is enough to make me stop using twitter@jimboot @matfitzgerald @whatjanesays @seancallanan @joshrowe @thehoneybar @trevoryoung

— Yvonne Adele (@Yvonne_Adele) May 3, 2013

@joshrowe @yvonne_adele @jimboot @whatjanesays @seancallanan @thehoneybar @twitterau Forever in your debt – copped 50 spams today.

— Trevor Young (@trevoryoung) May 3, 2013

Here’s an example of an orignal tweet from Darren Rowse to me which has been duplicated and tweeted as their own by fake Twitter accounts.

Taking a closer look at one of the fake Twitter accounts it bears some interesting traits.  At a quick glance the photo and bio look real.  The duplicate tweet even makes the account appear as though they are tweeting with real people.

The fake Twitter account is following real accounts which all have a high follower ratios.

Is it possible that these fake accounts are simply being set up to sell real looking followers to folks who buy Twitter followers?

Here’s what can you do to slow down the Twitter duplicate tweet spam problem:

1. Report every single one of these fake Twitter accounts as spam
2. Tweet Twitter @support that this is a problem
3. Tweet your local Twitter country rep that this is a problem, for Australia that is @TwitterAU

The more data Twitter is able to collect on these spammers then the more likely that Twitter will be able to build automated systems to slow the Twitter spammers down in the future.

In traditional retail this usually involves me working on a sales person to give me something extra or the product I want for less than the sticker price. One technique I regularly use is to feign walking out of a store to drive better value for [...]]]> I love getting a deal when I buy things.

In traditional retail this usually involves me working on a sales person to give me something extra or the product I want for less than the sticker price. One technique I regularly use is to feign walking out of a store to drive better value for me.

While I am trying to get more value for less spend, the sales person is usually working on me to increase my spend through upselling.

These sales and negotiating concepts have been around for thousands of years in face-to-face transactions.  However, they are still juvenile for online selling.

Shayne Tilley provides some great online upselling tips which provide online retailers with practical ways to increase the spend of the consumer by promoting products that the customer may find valuable at different stages of the sales cycle.

Retailers must also consider the customers, like me, who sometimes don’t even get to the virtual cash register; the abandoned shopping cart. Industry sources suggest that more than 7 out of 10 shopping carts are abandoned – that’s a big number!

Many online retailers lack appropriate abandoned shopping cart strategies. That is, people who walk out of an online store because they didn’t find the right value mix; right product at the right price.

There are a number of techniques for dealing with customers who abandon their shopping carts, including using email and/or web site pop ups to:

• offer free shipping
• offer a discounted product price
• offer an additional free or discounted product
• remind the customer that they have items in their shopping cart
• and ultimately give them an opportunity complete their transaction with ease

Another perspective on this topic to consider is that some customers use shopping carts as their electronic wish lists and were not intending to purchase immediately.

What other abandoned shopping cart techniques have you seen that work well ?