It is only a slight exaggeration to say that I purchase everything online. I don’t go shopping ‘down town’ any more. I don’t really see the appeal. If I go to the local shops:

A. they won’t have what I am looking for – of course they will offer to order it for me. “How long will that take” I enquire. “Two weeks” is the typical response. Do they not realise that most reputable online shops will deliver to your door in 2 – 3 days now. By purchasing in town I have wasted time going to the shop the first time and I then will have to wait 2 weeks for the product before having to make another journey into town to collect the product. This has taken up a lot of additonal time not to mention added expense in petrol and parking fees. Why would I do this to myself when I can make the order online in 5 mins?

B. I am stuck in a long queue - I hate queues. I even hate the way queue is spelt. Queues cause rage to build and time to get eaten up. Christmas time queues are worse than death and are to be avoided at all costs. Queues for parking, queues for elivators, queues for toilets, queues for the till – queues everywhere. There are no queues online.

C. I will get ripped off – Prices in Irish stores are far too high. A brick and mortar store cannot compete with an online store for value for money. The virtual store does not have the same business overheads as a real store and therefore it can offer considerably lower prices.

The online world offers me cheaper prices, a wider selection, quicker delivery, and delivery to my door. Why would I ever want the hassle of shopping down town again?

I guarantee you that I am not the only person who thinks like this. With more and more people growing up with the Internet and a Broadband connection in their house, the trend towards virtual shopping will continue. In a future post I will take you through a year in the life of yours truly shopping online.

When I am not chained to my desk in the JumpStart dungeons I enjoy a pretty active life. Sitting on a chair all day is ideal for developing that hunch back look, and at times I think I am morphing into some sort of cave troll. I have tried to slow this reverse evolution from man to beast by swimming, cycling and running whenever I get some free time.

Triathlon has been the fastest growing sport in Ireland over the last few years. It seems to be the cool thing to do at the moment but for those of us who were triathlon-ing 10 years ago, we can remember turning up to triathlons with less than 40 people in them. Oh those were the days! There were no races selling out, you could enter on the day, and the entry charges were virtually non existent. 10 pound would get you your entry fee complete with goodie bag.

But like everything, things move on and now many of today’s triathlons are run for (large) profit by event managment companies and they sell out straight away. The triathlons are certainly not cheap any more but it is still great to see so many people taking part in the sport.

The growing success of triathlon has given rise to jobs across Ireland. Each of the businesses below have gained from its growing popularity

• Sports shops / Triathlon shops
• Event managment companies
• Timing chip companies
• T-shirt manufacturers
• Training holiday organisers
• Personal trainers

At JumpStart, we have also gained from triathlon’s growing popularity by recently creating an online ecommerce site for Trizone based in Athlone. When you can combine work and something you are naturally interested in then it doesn’t quite seem like work.

So here comes a list of some of the free software that you can use to reduce the costs on your computer at home or for your business

Skype – This phone service can DRAMATICALLY reduce your phone bills. You can make free Skype to Skype calls. You can also ring mobile and landline number for a greatly reduced fee. If your business makes a lot of overseas calls then you should really look into using Skype – www.skype.com

AVG – This is a very popular free antivirus product for your PC. This software is not for commercial use so beware! free.avg.com

Openoffice – This is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. If your computer already comes with Microsoft Office then you should keep it, but if it doesn’t then it is well worth checking out this piece of software. Populating an entire Office with Microsoft Office can be very expensive. For small and start-up businesses this cost can be avoided. www.openoffice.org

Filezilla – This is free FTP software. It allows you to exchange files over the Internet. FTP is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the Internet or to upload a file to a server. www.filezilla-project.org

Link Sleuth – This piece of software allows you to check a website to make sure that there are no broken links. Nothing annoys site visitors more than navigating through a website that constantly returns ‘page not found’ when clicking on links. Use this toll to identify your broken links. http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html

GIMP – This is free photo editing software similar in capability to Photoshop. This software allows you to design your own posters, brochures, business cards, logos etc. for your business. It allows you to take the power of image authoring into your own hands. This can help reduce your design cost. www.gimp.org

Firefox, Chrome, Opera – These are free Internet Browsers. They are alternatives to Internet Explorer. Firefox is the next most popular browser after IE and has been a long term favourite of many regular Internet users. Each browser has many different add-ons that can help make your computer life an easy one.

Sources of Free Software – Every year, new software comes on the market. Many of these products are for free. So where do you find out about these new software products? Check out the following websites and you will be made aware of new free software products that make your life easier.
www.filehippo.com
www.snapfiles.com

What does everyone thing of our new improved JumpStart Blog.

Please add comments, we would love to know how you feel about it.

Best Regards

Graham

Have you ever thought of advertising on Google’s Local Business Center? Have you ever even heard of this Google service?? For those of you that are blissfully unaware of this advertising opportunity here is how this service works……

Start by signing up your business at https://www.google.com/local/add/login. You must have a Google account to login. Once logged in, you fill in your company details and indicate to Google what business you are in. Then you must verify your new listing with Google. This can be done by phone, text or mail. An automated call or text will pass you on a 5 digit code which allows you to verify your listing. Now you are finished!

By registering your business with GLBC you will now start appearing in Google local business search results. For example, I have set-up JumpStart Marketing on GLBC. When I type in the search query ‘Internet marketing Nenagh’ into Google.ie our business will now appear in the local search results. Your business listing will also be available on Google maps. This allows you to increase your exposure in Google search results. This will drive more business to your website.

More and more people are searching for businesses using location specific terms. Signing up for this service will allow you to establish a presence on page 1 of Google search results. If you are an accountant in Dublin, a physio in Galway, a solicitor in Cork, a painter in Athlone or any profession anywhere, then this service should be of interest to you.

There is of course plenty of competition from other businesses looking to take advantage of this listing. Not all of these businesses can appear at once. Google will give preference to businesses that are more relevant to the search query. Therefore, make sure that you think hard about the keywords you use to classify and describe your business. Google also gives preference to businesses closest to the location that is specified. However, if Google feels that there are more suitable businesses a little further away then these will get display preference.

GLBC sometimes offer analytics on their platform. I say sometimes because it is not included as standard yet. There are reports from other bloggers though who have gained access to it so hopefully this analytics package will be rolled out for everyone shortly. The analytics will allow you to see how people interact with your new listing. Valuable statistics such as impressions and what actions are performed are given.

This service should be provided as standard by Search Marketing agencies.

Watch Google’s promotional video for this service.

Did you know that there are grants available for businesses looking to establish a web presence? Well now you do!

If you own a business and you are thinking of putting that business online then it is well worth checking out whether you are eligible for a web development grant from your local Enterprise board. It is possible to get up to €1000 from the Enterprise Board. This can be used to pay for your web design and Internet marketing set-up costs. There are various terms and conditions that you must satisfy but it is worth a go. As Tesco says ‘Every Little Helps’.

You should call down to your local Enterprise Board and ask for their advice. JumpStart’s local Enterprise board is in Tipperary and we have taken the information below from their website.

:: Web Development ::

The Board is in a position to offer grant assistance to a limited number of qualifying enterprises in the county to establish a web presence and maximise web marketing opportunities subject to the following conditions:

1. The maximum grant available is €1,000 or 50% of actual qualifying expenditure subject to a ceiling of €2,000, whichever is the lesser.
2. The scheme is restricted to qualifying enterprises only such as firms employing fewer than 10 staff and operating in the manufacturing, internationally traded services, non-farm tourism and crafts sectors. Retail and distribution is ineligible.
3. The approved grant is contingent on acceptance within one month of the letter of offer and draw down within three months of that date or 30 November of that year whichever is the earlier.
4. The approved grant will be paid on the basis of expenditure incurred post the date of approval/confirmation by letter of offer and vouched to the satisfaction of the Tipperary North County Enterprise Board.
5. Eligible expenditure will include design cost, digital imagery/photography, initial domain name registration and search engine optimisation. Grantees must engage Revenue registered contractors and in the event that the designer is not VAT registered, a delcaration from their accountants must be provided.
6. The Grantee shall acknowledge the support received from the Tipperary North County Enterprise Board on the site and in all media promotion of same. (Details and logos will be e-mailed on request.)
7. The Grantee shall participate in any training initiatives that may be deemed appropriate from time to time by the Board.
8. In the case of tourism enterprises, the Grantee shall satisfy the Board that the site has not been funded by Tipperary Leader Group or other sources prior to payment of the approved grant. The Grantee shall also provide evidence of registration with Bord Fáilte/RTO prior to payment of the approved grant.
9. Should the Grantee dispose of the business, or cease trading, within 2 years of receipt of grant aid, the approved grant will become repayable at the discretion of the Board.

The Tipperary Enterprise Board have an online application form which you can use. You can view this application form at – http://www.tnceb.ie/publications_app_web_development.htm

If your business has been the recipient of this grant then contact us and let us know how the process worked.