ROI: The 800 lbs Gorilla in the Corner pt 2

Image via WikipediaA surprising question appeared on a business forum recently: Do I need to get business cards?
The poster said that his business was entirely online. He had no face to face contact with his customers. The only communication was by order and email, with an occassional phone call to clear up immediate problems. He didn't see why he needed business cards - and his arguments were pretty sound.
The question must have astonished most of the forum. No one replied for nearly 3 weeks.
Finally, someone posted that business cards had helped build his business. He included business cards in all packaging along with the invoice, and passed them out whenever he met someone. The business cards helped his customers remember his business, or to find his online store.
The discussion ended there.

The question is valid though: Does a small wholly online company need business cards?
Marketers will say emphatically Yes. Invoices with contact information are good. Most people put them away after they're paid. The only time an invoice gets any attention is at tax time.
People handle business cards differently. They're usually put into a card file on the desktop. Whenever the person thumbs through the cards looking for something, they momentarily see each business card. Even though it's just a fraction of a second, that's enough to remind customers of the business.
For that small moment, the Customer will remember the purchase. They may even return to the website - and buy something else. That's enough. The business card has paid for itself and more.
5oo business cards cost about $100, or about 20 cents a card. If the merchant makes $5.00 on the purchase, that's an ROI of $5.00 (- not counting the original purchase -) for 20 cents.

Let's have a little fun with the numbers.
If that were the only purchase anyone made because of a business card then the guy spent $100 to get $5. That's assuming he got rid of all 500 of the cards. If he did put all 500 cards into potential future Customers' hands, the chances of him getting the one sale is .. 500 to 1.
That's pretty good odds. - Sorta.

How many Customers have to buy something for him to break even on the business cards? $5 per sale. He needs to make $100. That means he has to make 20 sales to cover the cost of the business cards. - What are his chances of that? 20 out of 500, or .. 25 to 1.
The odds are getting closer. But most people would make a bet if they knew there the odds were 25 to 1 in their favor.
What if he only passed out 100 cards? That's 5 to 1.
Or 200 cards? 10 to 1.
The odds are still in his favor. But where does he decide he's willing to make the bet. He's betting his business and income, remember?
The potential ROI on his business cards depends on how many cards he puts into potential customers' hands.

There's a joker in this deck of cards. What he makes depends on how quickly he gets the cards out. Let's say he finds for every 10 cards he passes out, he makes a sale.
If he passed out 100 cards, - That's 10 sales. - or $50. He hasn't paid for the cards.
If he passed out 300 cards, - That's 30 sales. - or or $150. He's paid for the cards, but hasn't really made much.
How long will it take him to pass out 300 cards? A week? A month? A year?

If he made $50 ($100 for the cards. He made $150 from 30 sales.) from 300 cards in a year, that hardly makes the cost reasonable. He could make more money from doing something else to promote his business.
Thinking about ROI means thinking about thinking about how long it will take to recoup the investment.
If his online store made 1000 sales in a year, and only 30 of them resulted from the cards, is that a worthwhile investment?

The answer is .. Yes. -- Why?
After the cost of the cards, he only made $50. Then again, he sent out 700 invoices that didn't have business cards, didn't he?
There are maybe 700 of his Customers that never got a card. And he could have handed out cards in other places.

But none of these numbers are the real reason he should have a business card. The reason he should have a business card is Customers' expectations. A business card with the invoice supports the perception of the business.
If he meets someone, handing out a business card is expected. People question of he's really in business if he doesn't have one.
A business card supports his reputation. There is nothing more valuable to a business -especially a small online business- than their reputation. It reflects upon the perceived integrity of the business.
But how do you put a value on reputation? It's part of his investment in business cards.

There are significant factors in ROI that can't be expressed in hard numbers.
How valuable these factors are to a business depends on the nature of the business.
If the owner assumes that Customers will come to the site one time to either make a purchase or not, then there is much less value to distributing business cards to help establish reputation. There is still some value since one-time Customers may refer others.
If the company expects to sell repeatedly to Customers, then the value of business cards to establish reputation -and to bring Customers back- is much greater.
More depends on the long-term plans of the business:

• Does the business plan to add more products?
• Will the new products be more profitable?

We now have a significant factor that affects many more significant factors. In order to understand the value, how do we quantify these factors?
Incorporating a little fuzzy logic may help. There is an old marketing adage that it costs 6 times as much to keep a Customer as it does to find a new one. That means the $150 he made from the business cards is worth .. $900. He only made $5000 for the year. Suddenly, the value of the business cards is worth nearly 20% of the revenue.
It is using fuzzy logic, but the difference of $650 can be seen as the long term value of the investment in business cards.
On a card by card basis, the $100 spent on each card represents an ROI of $900. The cards that cost 20 cents each have returned $1.80 per card (- really $3.00 because only 300 of 500 cards were distributed.)

There are many other factors. Some can be quantified, and some can't. Determining the quality of these factors depends on the priorities of the business.
Assuming again that the company made $5000 for the year:

• How many visitors came to the site? We know that 1000 people bought products.
• How many times did repeat Customers return to the site?
• How many times did visitors come to the site before buying?
• Why did people return to the site?
  

For web design, software training, community building, and web programming a similar sort of analysis can be made. Hard numbers can be put to some things. Some things are difficult to express in numbers. Overall, the value of these unquantifiable aspects is qualified by the goals and vision of the business.
We'll explore a few of the specifics in another article.

SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey.

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Why some businesses stay small

Image from WikipediaHogan's Heroes is still popular in Australia. Frequently in off-prime time advertising, you'll see commercials for DVD sets of past episodes. It's been the same ad for more than 5 years. Must be doing pretty well still.
Hogan looks around the room. "Look. I came up with the idea to steal it, right? -- Well, the rest is just detail." - He could be talking about parking a Tiger tank behind the barracks...
Bob Crane's (Hogan) wife was Col. Klink's secretary in the series. You can almost hear her say, "He's just like my brother. He has all sorts of great ideas."

Dr. Greg Chapman PhD, business coach and university lecture -also a Telstra Business Awards judge- , has authored a new book about Australian small business "The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

AUSTRALIAN small business, in many respects, is recognised as the backbone of the economy. According to government statistics, there are more than 1.88 million small businesses, employing 3.6 million people. Their combined capitalised worth is $4.3 trillion -- more than four times that of the Australian Securities Exchange. (The Australian)

Dr Chapman's book and Col. Klink's secretary are talking about the same things.

SEO and SEM is a part of the expansion of a business. Even successfully applying a few techniques can put pressure on a business that it may not be prepared for.

Why do small businesses stay small?
My first reaction is deterministic: They choose to stay small. One way or the other, it's a choice made by the owner(s) of the company.

Some businesses choose to stay small consciously in order to be more involved in projects and to offer better service and response to their customers. There's a sort of critical mass here. The profits must be enough for the business to survive and prosper. That means the business has an established reputation within a region or profession. If either of these factors is missing, then the choice to stay small is only going to lead to the business closing.

In some cases, there may be no choice. The business must stay small because of limited resources. The qualifications of the owner are the reason the business works. Or the business may be based on some legally or physically limited natural resource, such as water. The business is defined by the resource, not the market, and that sustains profits.
Expansion means stretching those resources or lowering standards. If the business is based on the owner's qualifications, even adding a second truck could mean those standards will not be maintained. To expand means making compromises the owner is not willing to make.

Planning
As Dr Chapman points out, most businesses fail because of planning - or more correctly, the lack of it.
If you ask most small business owners though, they will cite financial reasons. At a given point in the growth of a business, this may be a valid reason.
Most often though, that point has been reached because of a lack of planning and good financial management. Few small business owners are skilled at maximizing the value of their assets, receivables and cash flow.
On the ground, too often the business is financed using credit cards. Small business owners will say over and over, "You have to spend money to make money." - not to explain why they've invested in marketing or financial planning, but as an excuse for why the company has not grown. The saying is followed by: "And I don't have the money!"

Two ways of saying the same thing: "90% of businesses don't have a plan. 90% of businesses that have a plan succeed." and "Only 2% of small businesses have a plan for their business."
Which brings us to..

Goals
Planning for a small business is critical. But not grandiose. It's incremental:

• Set goals,
• Take a step,
• Evaluate it,
• Then based on the results look to the next step.

Too often small business invests in a new project because someone told them it was a good idea, or they feel pressured by recent circumstances. The volume of business grows, so they add a new truck. When the momentary volume falls off, the business is stuck with a new -now non-producing- expense. There was no Goal, and the business is forced into the Evaluation phase. The only evaluation is less money.
The business is forced into the cycle of Planning without any Plan to work with. The business capacity has expanded, but there is nowhere to use it - until another rush of business.

Establishing an online presence by applying SEO/SEM can be one of those steps. Within a Plan, SEO can help a business accomplish its goals. Without a Plan, the business may see SEO as just another expense, and abandon the effort before it bears fruit.
One of the keys is to have some means to evaluate the success or failure of SEO. Most of the time, that means placement in the SERPs.
When a reputable SEO Specialist tells the owner that they can't guarantee placement in a week or a month - that's all they hear. Sometimes, a little work is all it takes to get into the top 1-3 or 4-6 listings. To maintain that placement though, and usually to establish it, takes a few months if not a year or more.
What's frustrating for SEO Specialists is to find that the company has not incorporated the successful placement into the Goals of the company. Which brings us to the next topic...

Utilizing Resources
Resources are not just money or equipment. The most valuable resource a business has is its employees.
Small business owners find it difficult to transition out of the "founder mind-set" in which they micromanage others and do everything themselves. At all levels of business, one person may lack all of the talent and skill-set to grow a company. It's rare to find one individual with all those skills. This mindset limits the growth of the company to one person's capacity for work.
Learning to respect others for their skills and abilities is a critical element in growing a business.

The old saying goes, "Get good people. And let them know how much you appreciate them."
Another common problem for small business owners is the failure to communicate with employees. The small business owner is defensive and fails to share with employees how they fit into the big picture. The business fails to enroll employees in the company's success.
Too often, a small business owner is offended to find that someone working for them has skills they lack instead of being delighted to find this person has added much more than expected to the company.
Small business owners that do not grow do not look at their company as a portfolio of skills. There is no team concept. Many are unaware of the skills and experiences are required to run the company, much less grow the company.

On the ground, employers in Australia too often see hiring someone as giving them some sort of gift. The employer is not hiring a valuable person to contribute to the value of the company.
The question was asked on an Australian employment networking site recently: "If the guy didn't hire you to add something to the company, why did he hire you?" - It's a valid question for both employer and employee.
Small business owners cannot grow their company without knowing what skills are needed. If the owner is unaware of the skills (and assumes s/he has to have all of them) how can they appreciate the person being hired?

Unlimited Resources
Even a small business can offer a wide range of service and product, even if they don't provide the service or manufacture the product. How?
For the products, the answer if simple: find a supplier. Even if the business is service-oriented, offering quality products makes the service much more valuable. The answer is the same for a service: find a supplier of the service. Whether the small business is product- or service-oriented, having ready answers for customers is always appreciated.
For small business owners in Australia, this means calling their mates.
Mateship is a wonderful part of Australian society. But in business it fosters mediocrity. Mates will refer business to someone they want something from; which means the referral from a mate may never be forthcoming.
If a mate takes a quality and professional attitude towards the service, there is no reason not to call them in. Otherwise, network to find someone who adds to the quality of your own business. Australian small business has been slower to learn that fact than large business.

Market Driven
Small business owners see their products or services as first-rate. They work hard to maintain the quality, and are rightfully proud of what they do.
A roadblock to growth is to fail to look at the business from the Customers' view. Customers don't want a custom-made doll because they are impressed with the quality of the fabric. Customers want a custom-made doll as a special gift for their children, or because they want a blond doll to fill out a collection.
The wants and needs of the Customer are what sells the product. It's reassuring to the Customer that only the best fabrics and sewing techniques are used, yes. And those facts may make the Customer choose one manufacturer over another. But at the end of the day, if the child weren't having a birthday, or they already had a blond doll, the Customer wouldn't even be looking for a doll.
For the company to remain product-focused business and ignore the definitions of market demand leaves alternative distribution channels or market segments for someone else. The company's focus is directed inward, not by the needs or wants of their Customers.

Keywords define the Market
SEM uses keywords to define these market segments. The keyword analysis may suggest new distribution channels for the company's services and products.
One of the keys to successful internet marketing is permanent links to a site and deep links to specific pages. Linking strategies abound today, but the basics still apply. And SEO Specialist will find complementary services and products in the course of their research. The linking strategy can be seen as a first step, incrementally, in a broader strategy of channeling and partnerships.
Any good marketing effort includes polling the company's past and current customers. Too many opportunities are missed by small business because their focus is inward. An inward focused business ignores one of the most valuable resources of marketing information: their own customers.
Customers may suggest product enhancements that hadn't occurred to the owner. Customers may reveal trends in the market that the inward focus missed. Other companies will find those trends and enhancements, and business market share will ultimately shrink.
Successful businesses, large and small, constantly change and expand by actively listening to their Customers. SEO/SEM can keep a company aware.

Which brings us to the most important factor:
Implementation
Entrepreneurs often cannot execute their vision. They find it difficult to stay focused, jumping from one great idea or opportunity to the next. As often, a good run of business is just as distracting.

Integrity is the foundation of small business. It can be seen as a multiplier of the value of the product or service. That multiplier can double or halve the value of the business. The integrity of the owner or representatives is what makes a business valuable or useless in the eyes of the consumer; and other businesses.
Big business can absorb and defend itself against a bad reputation. A small business cannot.
Once a small business gets a reputation for reneging on agreements or poor service, it may as well close its doors.

A good idea is put forth. It's "new" and exciting. "I wish we had that." or "We'd have it made if we were..."
Instantly, other ideas or opportunities discussed within the company are forgotten.
A professional is called in to provide the service or product. A plan is put forth. Benchmarks are set to implement the plan - probably more planning than the owner has ever done for their business.
Agreements are made. Initial payments billed and paid. And the plan is put into action.
Then the circumstances change. The small business owner decides that this is not a plan they can afford, or cannot make the compromises from their inward focus.

Small business owners in Australia take the attitude that they can change an agreement on a whim, -- especially if mateship is involved.
Verbal and written agreements are equally vulnerable. Documenting progress is only useful if taking the dispute to court. Since the owner did not have a long term plan to keep the agreement in perspective, the goals of the agreement are lost.
There may be valid reasons, but small business owners don't seek agreement. Instead of communication and negotiation, the attitude is taken that they are "the Boss", and that's enough.
Although unprofessional and rude, the practice is common. The practice is so common as to be acceptable to many small businesses when dealing with other small businesses.

One good idea after another is begun, then cancelled. Money is spent. Time and money wasted for all involved.
Implentation depends on the integrity of the business owner The business owner -as the primary representative of the small business- must depend upon a plan to keep any effort in perspective. Planning provides the confidence to enroll employees in the success of a business, and to build a team to make the business successful.

SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey.

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Questions and Answers

One of my regular readers sent me a critique.

Your posts are very informative. You ask a lot of good questions, but don't seem to have the answers. - preferred to remain anonymous

Looking over my last few posts, there's something to the critique.
In my own defense, I've got to say I think asking the right questions is the best way to find the answers. That may sound like running to the high ground to some. That is how I think though. Despite training and experience as an analyst in technical work, I've learned my mind is geared right-brain. I'm an intuitive thinker. My Kiersey surveys confirm it.

Some of the questions I've asked were more to point out issues to be aware of, to see how they work out. For example, how Universal Search will affect SERPs and useability issues is open to conjecture at this point. We're just going to have to wait and see.
Many times, answers to questions would only be anecdotal. A case study might help clarify some issues, but realistically every website and business has different goals and requirements. The answers depend upon many issues like:

• The integration of the website in the business process;
• Is the company or website established itself on the Web?;
• The technical skills of the owner?;
  
• Is the website ready to be marketed?;
• What sort of marketing will be efficient within the advertising budget?;
• and many others both more general and more specific.

Case studies can be impressive. I'll probably include a couple at some point. But unless the case study involves very similar circumstances, they're only there for bragging rights.

Her critique is valid. It calls into question my problem-solving abilities; and my presentation of the company on this blog.
She wants to see definitive answers. That's a valid concern for prospective customers, and has come to be expected by consumers from those who purport to be gurus or experts.

Problem solving
Because I'm usually involved in technical problems where the customer doesn't know the terminology much less understand the concepts involved, I've use established methods to document my problem solving efforts.
For clarification of an issue, I'll use Is-Is Not lists. To illustrate the process, I'll use the 5 Why's system. Both methods are easy to understand and intuitive.

In Project Management, the 5 Why's method organizes and documents brainstorming sessions. In marketing, it allows my Customers to think like their Customers - Consumers.
Asked why Consumers should use their products or services, a Customer will go into some depth about the quality of their products and their qualifications to provide their services - but that is rarely why Consumers buy. Consumers buy because their products and services meet a Consumer need or want. Asking 5 Why's usually elicits much more marketable terms and scenarios.

The best part of using these methods is they present topics which can be questioned.
At best, the results build Customer confidence. The give and take of questions becomes a team building exercise. The Customer becomes actively involved in the planning and process. Synergy builds. After all, my Customer is the expert in their field. I'm listening to the best expertise available: my Customer.
Synergy doesn't always happen. But it is always worth a shot.

Conflicting Styles
Because of the wide range of technical expertise in my Customers, I've developed two conflicting styles to present my SEO/SEM efforts.
One, is to just present my conclusions and state the steps necessary to solve the problem. Essentially: Just do it.
Personally, I'm uncomfortable with this style, but it is the only thing that can be done when the Customer's attitude or circumstances demand it. This approach is always problematical.

Marketing a website is not an exact science. It's a process. And involves a little luck.
Luck in this case is defined as where Opportunity meets Preparation. All I can really do is make the site as ready for the Web as possible; which includes offsite marketing as well as page design and content.
For Customers who demand to know exactly when it will all happen, the process is frustrating. The best I can do is present the efforts of me and my team in steps, and emphasize the achievements as they happen.

My preferred approach is to involve the site owner, either directly or through the assigned liason person(s), in the process. I prefer a dialogue between myself and my Customers. This empowers my customers as they learn. It's not possible to discuss everything in depth. I tend to emphasize the steps that the customer can see, just as for those who want a 'Just do it' style.
I've gotten two critiques of this style:
1) All you're doing is teaching your Customers what they need to stop employing you. - A very Australian perspective.;
and 2) You talk (or explain) too much. I tend to write long emails explaining issues and tying many concepts together. If someone wants to know what I'm doing and why, I'll take the time to tell them. I prefer educated Customers.
My preferred style comes from California. It has proven problematical in Australia, especially with small business owners.
This blog is my way of getting my thoughts out. It probably spares my Customers a lot of eye strain.

Do I have all the answers? No. Anyone who pretends to have all the answers is like SEO companies that offer guarantees - best to be avoided.
I'm not going to pretend to be omniscient or clairvoyant. The Web changes constantly. The best anyone can do is try to keep up. That's what keeps the work fascinating and challenging.
Can I support my conclusions? Yes, usually in some depth. In most cases, I can even document my thinking. Some issues are easy: Every site needs SEO. Other issues are open to experiment and conjecture: Is it better to have wide registration or PPC? The answer depends on the company's market position, long-term and short-term goals.
I wonder if I've answered my critical friend.

SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey. Sphere: Related Content

Computers are NOT refrigerators!

One of my part time vocations is fixing computers and networks. Either as a contractor or someone calls me. It's funny, but I've come to notice that people treat computers pretty much like a refrigerator.

• No one pays any attention to it if it runs right.
• They stuff things in, and only take things out when they have to.
• They almost always take out the same things.
  
• Things are only fixed when they start looking really grotty, and are obviously not working right.
• Repairs are done when things are too far gone to help.
  
• The puns about how both can propogate infections could go on and on...

Most of the time, it's really computer servicing. The desktop or laptop is loaded with spyware or low-level viruses. Too many people rely on Windows firewall, or blame it for their computer slowing down and shut it off completely.
They either don't have any virus protection, or it's hopelessly out of date. One lady's system popped up a message saying her AVG software trial was 176 days past due! -- She wanted me to install a new free spyware and virus suite her cousin pirated for her. (I didn't.)
It's rare that there is a hardware problem.

The statistics tell the story. But there are real day to day concerns.
Australians came to the Internet and computers late. They've only had a few years to learn. Present government programs are offering $3000 worth of free training - 7-1/2 days - to get users more aware of what their new computers can do. To many though, a decade of computer- and Internet-phobic messages from government and the media have taken their toll. A lot of the positives have gotten lost in the message muck.
It's far more fashionable to resent or even hate computers around here.
The cost of Internet access, and the poor quality, hasn't helped. $69.95 a month for 100mb over a 128mbps line is joke. (Keep watching, there are more and better coming!) What has been a cheap utility item for the rest of the western world has proven an expensive, terrifying luxury around Australia. -- As if every fridge came with a cholera coating...

To their credit, some are learning fast the hard way about the problems of being always connected via ADSL. Usually these are small business owners who've grudgingly come to rely on their computers.
A few are getting very skilled at managing their computers, too. The over-35 and over-50 Internet users are taking things very seriously -- almost too seriously. Some of those folks are gonna push cheap computer tech businesses out of business.

You can't help but imagine Australians' attitude of treating computers like refrigerators is very much like the rest of the world.

A couple of tech companies are offering remote servicing: scheduled maintenance over the Net to keep systems running well.
A good idea, really. Once a month a tech logs in, checks the hardware and software, runs a few updates, then logs out after starting a virus scan. If there are any problems, there's a local phone number to call.
If you're not going to learn how to use a tool, at least hire someone to make sure it's running right.

People keep toys in their fridges and computers too.


SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey. Sphere: Related Content

Telstra takes to the mattresses (or blogs)

Telstra has drecided to join the rest of the blogging world. In the usual Telstra style, the new blogs are professional looking and full of user-unfriendly bugs. A massive array of corporate blogs, all carefully edited to put the company's best foot forward.
Too bad the company's policies prevent most of the country from joining the free world.

Buggy
Most of my customers are small businesses. SME's (Small- to Medium-sized Enterprises to the rest of the world); "small business" to the ATO. Considering that these businesses employ 85% of the workforce and are 96.4% of the registered businesses in Australia, I was particularly dismayed to find the new 'Small Business' blogger was the former soppy 'Lifestyles' blogger.
She goes on and on about her fascination of the insects she calls 'nerds', but the nerds at Telstra have their revenge: neither the RSS feed nor the Comments on her blog work. (She may not want the Comments to work.)
You can almost hear the gnomes chuckling.

You have to read the news like a conversation.
When the person blogging about small business in Australia keeps citing studies done by large retailers in the US; and calling Internet entrepreneurs "nerds", it's not hard to conclude she wishes she lived somewhere else. (Hint: She certainly needs to work somewhere else...)
One thing is certain: She has little or no idea what it means to develop the Internet as a resource for a small business in Australia.

Her first article was for 'Breast Cancer Day' at the Telstra Dome. Laudable, but hardly 'News you can use'. (A leftover from her former project?) She is far out of touch with the needs of small business in Australia.

A few of the other blogs have undefined RSS feeds, too. And Telstra wonders why it's losing money? I did find a useable feed on the homepage.

Comments
There are 4 separate blogs complaining about the regulatory requirement to keep CDMA in place until the NextG network is running properly. The blogs are full of people complaining about holes in service. The chief technical blogger advises getting a magnetic antenna; and one comment says it will make a nice paperweight.
No one dares complain about the fees. (I guess they leave that to the Dodo ad.)
Telstra whinges on to make its case. All Telstra has to do is explain that they want to cripple their competitors and are willing to leave 1/2 the population without reliable broadband.
Strangely, most of the Comments on these blogs seem to be Telstra shareholders. The shareholders want to know why Telstra shouldn't be allowed to make the same obscene profits as steel companies.

CDMA divine
Optus, iiNet, and other carriers in the G9 consortium built their business by sharing Telstra's CDMA network. This was mandated by regulations in order to introduce competition into the market. Only 10 years ago, Telstra was a monopoly. The only game in town.
When Telstra dragged its feet (for 7 years overcharging consumers for piss-poor broadband) on the issue of fibre cabling and then wireless internet access, 9 of these companies formed a consortium, excluding Telstra, and filed a competing proposal to do the work.
Here would be a chance for Telstra to let them know why they shouldn't mess with the Mother Country (..or Mother Nature, or God, etc.)
CDMA will go sooner or later. Telstra probably intended to handle the changeover as they did ADSL: charge heavily for the NextG service as it was grudgingly enabled. This is one case where the politicians should be applauded.

When you read these blogs as a conversation along with the other blogs on these topics, the Telstra gang seems to want to dominate the discussion to put the party line forward. The internet marketing of these blogs seem to be towards Telstra shareholders and employees, too, which skews the tone of the response.
I suppose all's fair in love and war, or business, but as an interested observer, you do get tired of seeing people ground up in the conflict.
Until broadband improves to the point small business can see the efficacy of the Internet, SEO and SEM will only be valuable tools for the privileged few.

Notes:
CDMA -- (Code Division Multiple Access): A technology for digital transmission of radio signals between, for example, a mobile telephone and a radio base station. In CDMA, a frequency is divided into a number of codes. A spread spectrum approach to digital transmission. With CDMA, each conversation is digitized and then tagged with a code. Also known as IS-95A or cdmaOne

Just a raw plug for my first SEO clients:
Short Cut Computers belongs to Steve Trim, a friend who actually paid me to learn this stuff and put it to work for him.
And Steve Trim's other business, Barcode Solutions., which will be my second project. Sphere: Related Content