This micro- blogging service was launched in September 2008 and is unlike Twitter as messages are not available for public display. Over 70 000 companies use Yammer as a way to communicate. Only those with appropriate email addresses may join the respective networks. In February 2010 Yammer launched “communities”. This allows businesses to communicate with other groups such as clients, partners or suppliers.

The idea behind Yammer is to ensure that people inside a company know at all times what each person in the organization are working on. The founder of Yammer, PayPal’s COO, David O. Sacks, has created a platform upon which companies can improve internal communications. Research has found that people prefer short snippets of information rather than longer conversations. When information is documented it also makes it easier to refer back to points that otherwise may have been missed in a face to face conversation.

Yammer is certainly less invasive than instant messaging and does not require the effort and time that emailing involves. In fact this networking site finds itself in between the two, making it perfect and convenient for business purposes. It is less time consuming to check your Yammer account throughout the day when it suits you. Being bombarded with instant messages however is distracting and can become a nuisance.

Yammer allows for management to keep up to date with work that is completed or still being worked on. This helps to understand the progress that their business is making. It also means that fewer meetings need to be held because everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

With social networking evolving like it has over the last few years, it only makes sense that something like Yammer be created to assist the corporate world. We have all become accustomed to the terms “Facebooking” or “Twittering”. Soon enough companies all over the world will be “Yammering” each other information back and forth.

To find out more about Yammer or to sign up to Yammer, visit www.yammer.com

Landing Page Optimisation

One of the most critical factors in determining how many of your visitors will convert into sales or leads depends on the design and layout of your page and site as a whole. Without a well planned and thought out structure, you may as well throw your money down the drain. Landing Page Optimisation or LPO is a procedure within Search Engine Optimisation that aims at increasing conversions by analysing  and modifying existing key pages.

Relevant Content

Make sure that the link that the user clicked to get to the page is directly relevant to the content that is on the landing page. In other words, if your link is “Mozambique Honeymoon Specials”, make sure that you have got Mozambique Honeymoon specials on that page. Try keep word count on the page below to below three hundred as you don’t want the user to worry about what he/she is missing if they are going to skip reading the content.

Highlight important phrases and words

As many of the users will only scan the content on the page you need to make sure that certain keywords and phrases stand out from the rest of the words.

“Call to actions”

Once your user lands on the page, your goal is to convert the user into a potential sale or lead. By adding “call to actions” you are allowing the user to accomplish this. Make sure your call to actions stand out from everything else. Ensure using bright colours and enticing copy to attract the user to fill out the form or click the link.

Keep it simple

You want your user to instinctively know what to do next on the page. Keeping everything simple and minimalistic is the best way to avoid making the visitor think about what to do next.  Removing the navigation links (except the home link) will ensure you stop the user from wandering off. Make sure you remove other advertisements, distracting images and irrelevant text from the landing page.

Test, test and test again.

Create different versions of your landing page (eg. product.html, product1.html, product2.html) and run these through Google’s Website Optimizer. This will enable you to further optimize your landing pages by identifying which version of the page is converting more visitors. Once you have identified a version that is performing the best, start the whole process again. Landing page optimisation is all about experimenting with and analysing how users interact with your landing pages.

Despite the number of users, Facebook has recently been taking slack from many of its followers. It has slowly been increasing the amount of data that can be shared with “friends” on Facebook. Between December 2004 and April 2010, Facebook has increased the amount of items that are available for public viewing from 4 to over 8. This means that information that is put up on Facebook has gone from being available for viewing for Facebook users, to available for the world to see. Not a good thing if your mate put pictures up of that time you passed out drunk, hugging the toilet bowl.

Facebook suicide

There was recently a website formed, www.quitfacebook.com, that petitioned the privacy settings. The plan that was to follow was for Facebook users to “kill off” their social network profiles. Quit Facebook Day on the 31st May 2010 had almost 30 000 members who planned to say goodbye to the addictive site forever. They felt violated by Facebook’s privacy policy and settings. However not all of the angry users did delete their profiles.

The creator and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and the rest of the team have nothing to worry about should more people decide to cut ties with the popular social site. Facebook is gaining a monstrous 35 000 users an hour. To break that down for you, that’s about 10 users every second, all over the world.

Privacy control on Facebook

With so many complaints about Facebook privacy settings there have been changes made to try decrease the amount of personal information and data that is available to the public. A privacy setting has been added to all content. It applies to contact details, photos and status updates. Facebookers can now decide whether or not they want to share their information with Facebook friends, friends- of- friends or everyone on the internet. Less information will be available to the public from now on and games applications on Facebook will have to ask the Facebook account holder for permission to access private information.

Over the last few months, Facebook has received harsh criticism from regulators. The European Commission and advocacy groups such as Electronic Frontier Foundation have made remarks and complaints about Facebook’s privacy settings. Facebook was accused of steering users towards sharing private information instead of keeping it private.

Mark Zuckerberg says that because so many new applications and features have been added to Facebook, it became almost impossible for users to control the privacy settings. They became complicated and difficult to use. Let’s just hope that they have overcome this hiccup and that we can continue posting those crazy weekend pics up without the rest of the world having a good laugh at us.

It is not immediately clear how much content will be hosted on local servers, but it is definately clear that speed is a big reason for the service becomming local. As part of the launch a partnership agreement has been signed with the SABC and e-tv. This partnership agreement will allow the SABC and e-tv to stream a variety of current and past content on the platform. This means that they can connect on another level with their tv viewing audiences.

It is great to see that Google is beginning to embrace South Africa and the hunger that we have for all things online. Hopefully in the future a lot more of the Google gadgets that are common place overseas will begin to trickle in to Sough Africa.

Net Prophet Bursary

The Net Prophet Bursary was established to assist those who have the innovation and desire to succeed but do not have the financial backing to do so. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur within the technology industry, then the Net Prophet Bursary is the place to go for financial help. Through a magnitude of pledges made by individuals, The Net Prophet Bursary along with its reputation and guidance, makes the most of crowd-sourced funding to make their innovative ideas of tomorrow become a reality.

The Net Prophet Bursary will benefit those with a high propensity to innovate in technology, yet do not have the knowledge required or the funds available to live their dream.

These Numbers Have Faces will help us with the application and selection process, identifying the best educational institution, coaching the individuals personally and professionally, and provide us with feedback in order to communicate to all the donors.

If you are a willing donor to this amazing cause, The Ramp Foundation has made it easy enough to pledge. By sending a tweet such as the one below, Net Prophet will contact you directly.

How to pledge to the Net Prophet Bursary

There are other great initiatives that the Ramp Foundation has started. Ideas such as the Net Prophet Conference and the RAMP Startup School are both amazing initiatives and will definitely help you in reaching your dream.

To find out how you can get your startup funded, visit the Get Funded page on their website.

• You can start up your business from anywhere
• Start an International Business – Not a South African business. (Change your view about your business to that of a global one)
• No Funding – Bootstrap & Monetize – If you plan and manage your business properly, you can continue growing without having to slow down, while you wait for funding
• Marketing the Stigma
• Branding: Be unique & personalize – Build your personal brand online
• Listen to your audience – They are the ones who will ultimately buy from you
• Force your audience’s attention to you (Don’t just live in the ‘Twitterverse’)
• Design is more important than tech (Design will differentiate you)
• Your customer is more important than everything else
• Tech is only half important (communicate to your customer, don’t geek speak to your clients)
• Stay on top of Trends – Just (But don’t be a copy cat)
• Diversify your income (existing customers will invest in other products from you, because they trust you)
• Limit your exposure to risk
• Smile & Enjoy – Have fun while you’re doing it

• Have a great team
• You need a good plan
• Be a good networker
• Build a ‘Great pitch’ (if you can’t deliver your message in 1-2 sentences, then it’s not simple enough for a funder)
• Have a good demo
• Be persistent (don’t give up)
• Remain passionate about your business
• Show potential
• Build products, not services (service  businesses don’t scale)

JD Internet Consulting took part in the mini challenge event on Wednesday 5 May 2010 at the Johannesburg Zoo. This mini event was intended to replicate the Sanlam Investment Management South African Challenge.

The team members taking part and thus representing JD Consulting were Paul von Zeuner (Team Captain), Jonathan Houston, Nick Duncan and Megan Trow (the only girl on the team).

The challenge
The challenge was designed to introduce potential entrants to the main event, to the concept of Intelligent Sport.

The mini event itself was run free of charge while the main event has an entry fee of R 36 000 for the entire team which includes all the accommodation and meals during the event.

The schedule of the afternoon was as follows:
Teams needed to arrive and register between 14h30 and 15h30
Team Captain’s briefing 15h30 – 16h00
Event 16h00 – 17h30
Presentation and Cocktail party 17h30 – 20h00

When we arrived we registered and received our free t-shirts with our team number printed on the sleeve. JD Internet Consulting was team number 9. We were then also requested to be in a team photograph – one serious and one funny. We are looking forward to seeing how these photos come out

An introduction was then done by the event organisers and roll call was taken. The captains were then taken away for a team briefing. Once they returned we were given a chance to read the rules and get an idea of what was required of us. In terms of strategy, we tried to make a decision as to how we would become once we were given the maps.

How it worked
Each team had four members – no more and no less. The rules were simple. No crossing any grass areas – time penalties if you did. There were 10 questions we needed to answer – rated easy, moderate and difficult. Each question also had a corresponding clue. We had to attempt to answer as many correct questions as possible within the shortest amount of time. We were given two maps with the location of each question and its corresponding clue indicated on the map.. If you managed to get in before an hour then bonus applied. The cut off time for penalties was 1 hr 15 minutes.

No cell phones or GPS equipment was allowed on the course and the only pre-requisite on our side was to be dressed accordingly- in a running kit – shorts, t-shirts and running shoes. All the specialist equipment required during the course of the event was provided. One water point was also available, and water was also provided before the event.

Over a period of 2 hours the 17 teams that participated were challenged;

1. PHYSICALLY as they navigate around the course
2. INTELLECTUALLY as they solve mensa type puzzles
3. STRATEGICALLY as they decide on the most effective plan of action

All this with the added pressure of competing against the clock and the rest of the field, testing communication under pressure, collaboration and time management – all important skills that are utilised in the SIM SA Challenge and every day in the workplace.

The course was pretty grueling with lots of hills and there was definitely a fitness requirement. We did however learn a lot a from the experience and had fun at the same time and would definitely played the game a little differently if we were given the opportunity to do it again.

Prize Giving and Results
At the prize giving we were treated to drinks and platters while we awaited the announcement of the results.

The results were calculated and read from last place to third. The only team that received a penalty for crossing the grass was the Cotlands team (10 mins).

JD Internet Consulting came third with 6 correct questions and a time of 55:54 – a mere 47 seconds off the second place teams time. The winners were the team from Liberty with a time of 1:04:40 and 9 correct questions.

First Prize was a free entry to the 3 day event to be held in September in the Magliesburg mountains valued at R36 000 per team of four.

Next Event and More Info
The next free mini event is to be held at the Groot Constantia Estate in Cape Town on the 12th May 2010.

Contact Coll P Macdonald – Invent Hospitality/Challenger World for more information.

Tel: 0861 001053
Fax: 021 761 6418
Mobile: 082 895 0171

Also visit the site at www.simsachallenge.co.za

The theory behind LSI, however, is not of importance to us. All we need to know is how LSI works. LSI considers other, somewhat related , words on your site with regards to ranking. In other words, excuse the pun, words taken from sites considered to be “authority sites” are set aside in a database that Google references when determining how to rank that page on your site.

Hints and Tips for using LSI to your advantage

Firstly you need to work out what your hot topic words are.

You can do this using Quintura (www.quintura.com), Adwords broad-match keyword matching, Google’s new Wonder Wheel, use the Google Synonym Tool, or watch some of the little-known Google Tech Talks where they show their internal related keyword generator being used.

Once you have determined you hot topic words, you see how to rearrange your copy to have more mentions of the hot topic words closer to the beginning of the copy and how to mention them more than once without overdoing it.

Another tip would be to create a separate page for each of the hot topic words and link to and form the internally and within your page text. A perfect example of this can be found on the DiscoverSEO site (www.discoverseo.co.za), where services are listed and then hyperlinked to the page focusing on that service.

Building links another way to build page rank through social bookmarking and manual link submission.

Checking the page rank of your website pages regularly is also important for you to monitor the progress of the SEO work you do on your site and to make the necessary adjustments accordingly.

That is the long and the short of LSI. All the best!

For more information on how DiscoverSEO can assist your business in extracting maximum value out of your web solution, contact us TODAY – (011) 807 6149 or visit DiscoverSEO – www.discoverseo.co.za

Ready to depart from the station

How you ask? Well, either you have the bank balance, or you have the connections.

For the moment, it’s the latter for me.

Thanks to Red Pepper Books being a member of the esteemed ABSA Rewards loyalty program, we were invited to be part of a, for many, once in a lifetime experience and total treat.

This exclusive occasion was only open to a select 72 people for the day (we were two of those).

It all begins…

08h30, we met at the Capital Park Station in Pretoria, the home of Rovos Rail and it’s departure point. Here we enjoyed champagne, canapés, great company and the opportunity to take some spectacular pictures. Next thing we knew, we were boarding this illustrious transportation device.

The train itself is beautiful and furnished with only the best. After about 30 minutes of exploring the train, we stumbled upon the bar, which was the last carriage, and also where the real party seemed to be under way. We found ourselves two seats at the bar, joined in the festivities and met some amazing characters. The drinks flowed, the conversation progressed and the laughter

Standing proud at the window

roared.

Next thing we knew, we were being ushered though for lunch. We were seated in the dining hall where everything was in it’s place and immaculate. The waiters came and took our orders and the wine began to flow. This was not just any wine, but rather some of this country’s finest, and the selection was endless.

Lunch was enjoy over a slow 2 hour stretch of five courses that exploded into a variety of tastes and the whole experience was enjoyed in the company of Rani from ABSA and her husband Ruben, who is about as passionate about photography as I am.

2 hours later, just as we were halfway though our 2^nd black coffee and cognac, the train came to a holt, and we were informed the we were now at our next destination. This being Makgopong Station in Naboomspruit. We then boarded two coaches and made our way to Legend Golf and Safari Estate. The ride took about 45 minutes, and as we drove into the estate, we were all in total awe of our surroundings. If the entrance was anything to go by, we could all guess that we were in for even more of a treat. Lined up in a row, were 7 game-viewing vehicles waiting for us to climb onto and ride off into the bush.

White rhino

As we entered the game viewing area, we were surrounded by a huge selection of game species. We saw Wildebeest, Springbok, Blesbok, Warthog, Zebra, and Rhino. We were then taken to Entabeni (place of the mountain), where a series of lions were being reared and rehabilitated to be put back into the wild.  This was a truly humbling experience. On our departure out of the park, we were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of some Cheetahs, just before they ran for cover.

Thinking the day was coming to an end, we were then taken deeper into the bush to a Pedi cultural village, for a further experience, where we were greeted by the sound of drums, clapping and singing. Not to mention another assortment of food platters and deserts, and a series of wines and malts to round off the day. We sat and socialized to the sounds of traditional music as we relaxed and unwound, even further.

At around Six o’ clock, we climbed back onto the game vehicles and headed back to where the coaches waited for our return to Capital Park Station in Pretoria. Sadly, this was the least enjoyable part of the trip, with a 2-hour bus ride to allow each of us to

Pedi drummers & singers

recover from all the overindulgence of the day.  After what seemed like a trip that would never come to an end, we finally reached the station, where we disembarked, said our farewells to each other, and climbed into the comfort of our own vehicles, as we headed for the highway and made our way home.

I would really recommend, that should you get the chance to experience the Rovos Rail, then take to opportunity to do so.

In closing, I would like to say a really special thank you to Red Pepper Books, ABSA Rewards and Rovos Rail.

(Additional photos available here)