This We Know

Building Your First Website With WordPress

April 23, 2019April 26, 2019Web Development

As the world’s most popular content management system, it’s estimated that over 30% of all websites are now built on WordPress. If you’re an inexperienced web developer who wants to build their first website, then WordPress is a great place to start!

However, WordPress isn’t all fun and games. You do need to make sure that you do a bit of research and learn about the platform and what it offers before you start, otherwise you will almost certainly run into problems. The following should help guide you through the basics of building your first WordPress website:

Choose between WordPress.org and WordPress.com

The first thing that you need to do when building a new website is choose which WordPress platform you want to use. WordPress.com lets you sign up and start building a website immediately. While it is certainly the simpler choice, it has a lot less flexibility and it can become a lot more expensive than WordPress.org.

This is because WordPress.org is basically software that allows you to host your own website. If you use WordPress.org, you will have to go through a lot more steps to get your site up and running, but you will have a lot more control over how you customise and design it. WordPress.org is definitely the better choice for anyone who wants to make money off their website.

The rest of this article will assume that you have chosen to use WordPress.org.

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3 Reasons You Should Always Use An Expert Digital Marketer

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019Marketing

If you run or own a landscaping or landscape design business like Landscapes WA, the chances are that you don’t have time to stay up to date with all of the latest advances in digital marketing technology. The digital world is evolving at a rapid pace, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most competitive spaces on the planet.

If you want your landscaping business to remain competitive, then you need to make sure that you’re maintaining a strong online presence. There are many ways to do this, including through a high quality website, through social media and by using things like search engine marketing. A high quality digital marketer can help you do all of these things, especially if you’re not very technologically minded.

Our top three reasons why you should always use an experienced digital marketer to promote your landscaping or landscape design business include:

Digital marketers know what they’re doing

Being familiar with the digital space and how it works is a crucial part of digital marketing. Since professional marketers spend their entire working life in and around various aspects of digital medial, they need to make sure that they’re staying up to date with advances in things like search engine technology and social media marketing.

When you employ an experienced digital marketer to work with your business, you can rest easily with the knowledge that they will do the best job possible. You won’t have to spend hours of your own time researching the latest online marketing techniques, and they will probably be able to show much better results in a much shorter space of time.

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Why A Business Should Use A Professional Car Mechanic

October 11, 2018February 11, 2019Business Advice

DIY mechanics can save you a lot of money. However, they can also lead to a huge range of problems, especially if you don’t have a lot of mechanical knowledge. If you’ve got an old car that’s not worth a lot of money, then DIY mechanics can be an acceptable option. However, owners of newer or luxury vehicles should always use a professional car mechanic for all repairs and maintenance.

Although something like a Mercedes Benz service can be expensive, according to MB Star Motors it’s worth paying the money to get it done properly. Using a professional car mechanic has a whole range of benefits, including:

They Will Identify Small Problems Before They Become Big Ones

Often, it’s hard to find small problems with your car unless you know what you’re looking for. An experienced mechanic who services cars for a living will know exactly what they should be looking for, which will help them spot problems. Fixing these problems before they got too big can save you a lot of time and money in the long run, especially if you’ve got an expensive car.

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AdWords vs SEO For Law Firm Marketing

August 31, 2018February 11, 2019Legal Advice, Marketing

People throughout the world need lawyers on a daily basis. As a law firm, you want them to employ you, right? However, people can’t employ you and make use of your services if they don’t know that you exist, which means that it’s absolutely essential to build a strong online presence. A strong online presence will help more people find you, and can put you at the head of the pack as one of the leading law firms in your area.

Making sure that you appear in the search engine results when people search for lawyers and lawyer related keywords is a major part of building a strong online presence. You can do this in two ways – through Google AdWords, or through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). In this article we will compare the pros and cons of both.

SEO

SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the act of making your website appear highly in the search engine results pages for certain keywords or subjects. It is relatively cheap, it is effective, and it brings results. However, it also takes time to get yourself to the top of the search engine rankings pages.

Pros:

SEO is relatively cheap compared to AdWords, especially for law firm marketing.
It isn’t all that hard to get yourself to the top of the search engine results pages, especially if you focus on location based keywords.
SEO brings results. The majority of people click on one of the first couple of results on a search engine page, which will send them to your website if you rank highly.

Cons:

SEO takes time.
SEO takes a fair bit of work, especially creating content and building backlinks.
Competitive keywords like ‘lawyer’ or ‘law firm’ can be quite difficult to rank for.

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Settlement Agreements

July 19, 2018April 23, 2019Legal Advice

All good lawyers, specifically good commercial lawyers will tell you it’s a fact most cases settle before they ever come to court. This is both a necessity and the logical outcome of the judicial process. It is a necessity because if every case were to continue through trial and a decision by a jury or judge, the judicial system would quickly be overwhelmed. It’s a logical outcome because the very nature of the legal process is designed to illuminate strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case and give them incentives to settle.

Furthermore, settlement allows parties to exercise more control over the terms of the settlement and have access to remedies that might not be available from a trial court.

But what kind of settlement ought to be achieve? And what type of process should govern settlement negotiations. Here are some tips:

(These 6 tips are based on the Ethical Guidelines for Settlement Negotiations produced by the American Bar Association)

Purpose: The purpose of settlement agreements is to satisfactorily resolve any disputes the client may face. The attorney represents the client both legally and financially and must always be acting in the client’s best interest.

Honesty: A lawyer’s conduct in negotiating a settlement should be characterized by honor and fair dealing.

Communication: Good lawyers must consider and discuss with the client promptly any and all alternatives to resolving the dispute outside of litigation. Without assistance from lawyers, clients often are not aware of potential alternative methods for dispute resolution. A lawyers desire to convince the client of the lawyer’s support for the client’s position ordinarily will not justify delaying efforts to discuss early settlement. As negotiations progress the attorney owes an obligation to constantly communicate the status of the discussions as well as the subject matter of the negotiations to the client.

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How Can An Accountant Save Me Money?

May 19, 2018April 23, 2019Business Advice

When it comes to running a business, forking out the money to hire an accountant can actually save you a lot of money in the long run. Although many small businesses can’t afford to hire someone full-time, even hiring a bookkeeper for just a couple of hours per week can make huge differences.

There are numerous ways that an accountant or bookkeeper can save you money. They can make your business run more efficiently, they will help you minimise your tax bill as much as possible, and they will be able to identify potential problems in your business model before they become major. Some of the main ways that accountants can help you save money include:

Via tax deductions or offsets:

Although you may not realise it, you may be missing out on a lot of potential tax deductions or offsets by doing your tax return on your own. Employing an accountant to both manage your books and complete your tax return can help you minimise these losses.

However, it is important to make sure that you use a seasoned professional who knows what they are doing. Try and find someone with experience relevant to your business, and don’t be afraid to pay a little more for someone who knows the rules inside and out.

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Why Your Business Needs a Commercial Lawyer

April 27, 2018April 23, 2019Legal Advice

Many Australian business entrepreneurs hire lawyers only when a problem crops up. It’s much wiser to seek the services of commercial lawyers as they can identify potential problems before they occur. It’s natural to be extremely busy with financing, loans, hiring staff, marketing etc as you launch your new business. In our minds, these issues often take precedence over legal problems which don’t seem to be of immediate concern. However, the truth of the matter is that smart business planning involves preventing problems before they occur and this includes working with a business lawyer right from the start.

Even if your business is a small one, many legal problems could crop up in the early years and interfere with successful operation. In general, commercial law is complex and so is the language that is used with it. A reliable business lawyer can help you understand your options and select the ones that correspond to your business requirement. Dealing with legal issues can be frustrating, exhausting and demoralising. Your lawyer will be on your side from the time of inception of the business and will help you create partnership agreements in case of multiple owners. Lawyers can also help with drafting employer, contractors and other business agreements. While these may seem like extra work during the early days, the contracts become very important as the business becomes valuable. Even if you are an efficient problem solver, it always pays to forestall legal issues before they turn into problems. Business owners cannot be expected to be familiar with every facet of Australian commercial law.

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Do You Think Your Lawyer Has Overcharged You?

April 19, 2018April 23, 2019Legal Advice

While the majority of workers in the legal industry will deal with clients in an ethical manner, there are those who might take advantage of their clients. The average person relies heavily on the expertise and skill of their lawyers, to make sure that they do not wind up in serious legal trouble. They also depend on their lawyers to disclose costs, and deal with them fairly regarding fees. Since the costs for legal matters can become exceedingly high, there are laws in place to protect clients.

These laws are intended to allow sanctions against any lawyers who charge overly high fees. Costs are also able to be reviewed by independent bodies. Under some circumstances, agreements regarding costs can even be set aside.

Overview of Costs Disclosure Requirements

When starting a professional relationship with a legal representative, it is best to get the retainer in writing. This serves as the work contract, but it is not a prerequisite. However, ensuring that you do get it in writing is a smart idea. This will allow future costs to be compared to what the lawyers claimed they would be in the beginning.

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Setting Up A WordPress Email Campaign With OptinMonster

March 5, 2018April 23, 2019Marketing

Setting up an email list is one of the most important steps on the road to website success. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t realise just how important it is, and therefore fail to do so for a long time after creating their WordPress website.

Current statistics say that over 70% of people who visit your website won’t ever come back unless you can get them to subscribe to your emailing list. Once someone is subscribed to your list there is a fair chance of them returning sometime in the future and who knows – they might even become a regular visitor!

There are a number of very good options when it comes to setting up an email list that is directly linked to your WordPress website. Our favourite is definitely OptinMonster. Although it isn’t free, and can be somewhat difficult to get your head around to begin with, it is an extremely useful tool for all web developers once it is mastered.

What is OptinMonster?

The best thing about OptinMonster is its extreme versatility and the sheer number of features that it offers. Sure, you might have to pay for some of these features, but it will be worth every cent – I promise!

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The Important SEO Tips for Small Businesses in Australia

February 23, 2018April 23, 2019Getting Online, Marketing

Do you want to improve your business visibility online? Ever wondered why everyone prompts you to improve your SEO marketing techniques? It is because this technique is the foolproof way for you to tap into an ever wider customer market, knowing no geographical boundaries or limits.

Search engine optimisation techniques are the magic formula which let you attract, draw in and ensure customer conversions, and make a success of your business in a unique way. As the popularity and impact of SEO techniques are gaining momentum and fame, it is fast becoming the foolproof way to reach out to and penetrate a large potential market, and enjoy business and success for your company.

To compete in a highly aggressive Australian market, it is essential that you play all your cards right. Remember, even if your business has a good website and a social presence, but lacks the search engine optimization techniques to boost its business, then you will have no chance to gain any visibility in the market.

Want to know great tips on how to build up, develop and improve on your search engine optimisation techniques? Then read on…

Recognize SEO Importance

The first step is to make sure that you understand how important SEO is for your business. You need to know how relevant it is to the success of your business. To sum up the necessity of having SEO, you just need to understand that with no efforts in this field, you won’t be able to attract any visitors from the different search engines.

With no SEO methods, search engines will not able to categorize or rank your website for any business relevant keywords.

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Who Is Responsible For Fire Safety In Your Workplace?

January 15, 2018April 15, 2019Business Advice

Fire safety is a huge concern in workplaces throughout Australia, especially in the hotter, drier parts of the country. While fire protection equipment like fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems can help protect your workplace, effective fire safety is about more than just installing the right protective gear.

Ultimately, you can have the best fire safety equipment in the world, but if no one knows how to use it, it will be pretty ineffective. It is therefore extremely important to make sure that you understand who is responsible for fire safety in your workplace, and to make sure that they understand what their responsibilities are.

So, Who Is Responsible?

Under Australian occupational health and safety laws, the management of any business or company has the responsibility to make sure that all health and safety risks – such as fire – are minimised. If a fire does occur, there must be someone on site who knows where fire safety equipment is kept, how it is operated and what sort of fire safety gear is appropriate for different types of fires.

However, it is also the responsibility of employees to cooperate with a workplace’s fire management policies and procedures. In a lot of workplaces, these will include some sort of safety induction at the start of a job or when you enter a new workplace. This will often include an identification of where fire safety equipment is kept, and a brief explanation of how it is used. It is your responsibility, as an employee, to make sure that you take note of any safety information provided by your employer.

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Developing Eye-Catching Email Copy

October 15, 2017April 23, 2019Marketing

Email marketing is a major part of any large marketing campaign. It lets you connect directly with anyone who is interested in your business, your products, or what you do. Sending an email is a great way to deliver information directly to a lot of people, especially if you are finding that your website’s visitor numbers are dropping.

If done right, a marketing email sent out to your email audience can have extremely positive effects. The first (and arguably, most important) part of a marketing email is the words themselves. You need to develop email copy which is eye-catching, engaging, and which will encourage the reader to choose your email over all the others in their inbox.

Get the subject line right:

The first thing that anyone sees when they open their email inbox is all of their new messages. Each of these messages is accompanied by a subject line which, ultimately, helps them choose whether or not the email is worth reading.

It is therefore extremely important to make sure that you get your subject line right. Even if you have average content within your email, a catchy subject line will still lead to a lot of people reading it. However, if you have a poor subject line, you will find that a lot of people don’t even open your email.

Keep it short, but strong:

People don’t want to spend hours reading an email. Keep your email copy to the absolute necessities. Once you have written a draft, go through and edit out any words which are not absolutely necessary. Doing this will help you create content which people can engage with, and will increase the chances of people reading your emails through to the end.

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7 Ways To Keep Your Social Media Followers Engaged

August 13, 2017April 23, 2019Getting Online, Marketing

There are lots of social media sites with each having different formats, visuals, and means of communicating with followers. To explain how to keep your social media followers engaged on each individual site would be impossible, but here are 7 ways that should cover most of them, especially the most popular ones.

#1 Post Regularly With News and Comments

Failing to do this means your followers will think you are disinterested in them, and they will soon go elsewhere. An active social media presence with updates appearing regularly will have followers checking your pages or profile every time they log in. More importantly it will encourage them to share your posts which can increase your follower numbers significantly.

#2 Mix It Up

On sites which enable you to use content other than text, take advantage of this. Posting videos, graphics, memes and audio are great ways to keep your followers interested in your posts and keen to share them with their friends.

#3 Answer Questions Quickly

This is a very good way of letting your followers see you are active and more importantly interested in helping them. Often a question will be answered by you which could turn a potential customer into an actual one.

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Top 4 Benefits of Using Linux Website Hosting

July 2, 2017April 23, 2019Getting Online

Affordable and reliable web hosting services may be hard to find, but every web hosting service worth his salt knows that Linux and Windows are staples. However, it is the former that has the bigger piece of the pie when it comes to satisfying the needs of online entrepreneurs and publishers. Here are some of the top reasons why it is favoured:

Easy Modification and Experienced Developers

Since Linux is an open source platform, programmers can easily teak, distribute and improve it through different stages of development. Plus, the industry is filled with quite experienced developers who are constantly working to improve its functionality and fix issues as they crop up. Since they are not part of a corporate culture per se, most Linux developers are extremely disciplined, experienced and motivated. In other words, when you opt for a web hosting service that offers Linux, you can rest assured your website is in good hands.

Unmatched Flexibility

If a web hosting service offers Linux then it means it can take care of a number of important tasks that a website needs to remain supported 24/7. This includes hosting business applications, multimedia applications and even blogging websites such as WordPress. Plus, since the platform can be modified at a moment’s notice, it can be updated if required and issues can be fixed as they crop up. In other words, you can rest assured that your ecommerce website will remain online 24/7 if this platform is supporting it.

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Court Fees Deter Average Australians from Seeking Litigation

April 20, 2017April 23, 2019Legal Advice

Australian citizens often do not appreciate having access to a fair legal system. Being able to have a hearing is something that should be available to everyone. However, the costs associated with legal trials is often a deterrent to people who do not earn high incomes. Steep increases in litigation costs are one factor that is making it harder for “average” Australians to seek their own justice. And then there are the alternatives for dispute resolution, which seemingly work to encourage people to forgo litigation.

A problem arises because there is a risk that people who have enough money, including government bodies and large corporations, have access to litigation. If they cannot use mediation to get what they want, this is a viable option for these groups. On the other hand, people without the monetary means are left accepting alternative dispute resolution (ADR) decisions. Even when your average person wants to pursue a matter with litigation, they often just do not have the money to do so.

It does save a lot of time and money, when people are encouraged to seek mediation to solve their disputes. It can also save people the hassle of entering a courtroom, and dealing with a full-blown trial. Using the high costs as a way to drive people toward ADR could be creating a two-class system in regards to the law. Read more on Alternative dispute resolution

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Why Your Website Needs Terms of Use

March 10, 2017April 17, 2019Legal Advice

If you are in the middle of setting up a website to conduct an online business, you may not have thought of the Terms of Use that are needed. Commercial lawyers like Lawyers Perth would tell you that these are needed to protect you as well as to inform users of your website what to expect when using your website. Any visitors to your website become potential customers or clients and so need to have everything made clear to them about what you offer and what they should expect.

Without this important document, you leave yourself open to being sued if the customer finds that your goods are faulty or if the instructions on your website are followed and they don’t get the result they expected. For the best result, the Terms of Use document should really be drafted by a lawyer so that it is specific to your business.

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12 Aspects of Business a Financial Planner Looks at

February 23, 2017August 7, 2017Finance Advice

According to experts Andep, correct financial planning is an essential part of conducting business successfully. If you are considering purchasing a business or starting up one from scratch, having a financial advisor will be a great help and can save you a lot of money. If you are new to business, you might be wondering exactly what role a financial planner would play in your business.

Here are some of the aspects of business a financial expert would look at to help you: –

Income protection
Identifying business goals and aims Continue reading “12 Aspects of Business a Financial Planner Looks at”

Have a Unique Product, Want to Sell Online?

February 22, 2017April 23, 2019eCommerce, Getting Online

Have a Unique Product, Want to Sell Online? Are Your Prepared?

Congratulations!!! After months of rattling your mind you have decided on a lucrative online business opportunity and have accumulated capital to launch it. However, without a professional digital agency, starting an online business would not be easy as it appears, there are roadblocks before you can achieve a break-even in terms of profit. So, here is a 5-step checklist to guide and steer you toward success.

Did You Actually Get a Feedback on Your Product Before Launching?

If you thought your family and friends found your business idea or product highly useful, think again! Feedback obtained from people who are emotionally close to you would appreciate every business idea that emerges from your mind. Seeking a nod from them is a disaster for your launch. To validate if your product/service is unique and sell-able, you must conduct a market survey. Connect with potential customers on the social networks such as Twitter, What’s App, Pinterest, Google+, and FaceBook to gauge their interest in your product or use customer insight survey tools, such as Client Heartbeat and Qualaroo.

Know Your Competitors and Customers

Research the market competition before you can pitch your uniqueness to your audience.

Use tools like SimilarWeb, Google Alerts, Google Trends, and LinkedIn to gauge what your competitors are offering, how they are delighting their customers, and which are the popular sites in your niche. Use this knowledge to make your product different from your competitors.

Often, entrepreneurs first gauge the market response by launching a prototype of the product/service. They use the forums, blog sites, and social media channels to encourage potential customers to participate in their survey by offering them free samples or holding a contest.

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Main Issues to Consider In a Commercial Lease in Australia

January 21, 2017April 23, 2019Legal Advice, Starting Out

If you are thinking of setting up a business, then either you have your eye set on a property or are scouring the market for the suitable commercial setup. If you don’t have the finances to buy the property at once, then you must surely be looking through different leasing options on offer. Commercial leasing in Australia for small businesses is quite common, and that is why there are many options available to accommodate the needs of different businesses in the segment.

While commercial leasing is a good option for anyone trying to setup a new business, there are also some important issues and regulations linked with the process. If you want to make sure that there are no legal irregularities, then you need to pay close attention to meeting all the requirements without error.

Some of the important issues related to commercial leasing for small businesses in Australia, include the following,

Rights as a Tenant

The lease details all your rights and related obligations as a tenant. If you want to make any changes or add any adjoining space to the property, then make sure that you have the right to do it, under the negotiation terms made with your landlord. Some important rights as a tenant that you would probably want to include in your lease documents include,

Use of any common area
Access to all areas of the premises
Use of certain facilities like toilets
Putting up additional shelving and partitioning
Putting up any sign on the property

It is important that you discuss all the details before signing a lease contract.

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How to Make the Most of Your Business Prospects

January 16, 2017April 18, 2017Marketing

Many people start off with high hopes of climbing the corporate ladder only to find as the years go by they didn’t get as far as they expected. There could be many reasons for this and appearance is one of them. You might think that there is no need to worry about your appearance when you have great business skills, but when you have wrinkles that age you prematurely it does matter. Some women even choose to have Botox treatment in order to remain looking younger.

The trouble is that most companies tend to look for younger employees who can be trained and stay with them for many years. This saves them the cost of constantly training new staff. They also want to present the image of a company with a workforce that is young enough to be up with all the latest technology. If, in your work you have to deal with the public a lot, looking older may work against you.

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Dividing Finances Equitably After Divorce

December 15, 2016December 8, 2017Legal Advice

Before you can get a divorce you need to have been separated for 12 months. Family lawyers will tell you that this does not have to be in different accommodation; you can be separated while still living in the same home if moving would cause financial difficulties. However, one way to prove to the court that you are separated is to have separate bank accounts.

So on the day you separate, you should set up an account in a bank or other financial institution in your name only. Even if you have no money, you can often simply set up the account with a zero deposit or a low deposit of one dollar. After that, if you are on a government pension or benefit, you can to go to Centrelink and have them pay the money into your new account.

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Content Strategies To Boost Your Site’s Ranking

September 19, 2016July 24, 2018Getting Online

None of these are “sneaky” in the sense of being gray-hat SEO or even immoral – they’re perfectly square strategies to become recognized as an expert on your topic. But they’re all strategies beyond “blog and hope” and link-mining, too. Consider what each of these content ideas can do for your ranking:

Interview a famous expert in your field – can’t get the Google Juice away from your competitor? Why not invite them to speak on your dime? Do a podcast interview with a leading expert in the field of your site’s focus. Many experts in small fields seek greater publicity, and there’s nothing like an interview invitation to boost somebody’s ego. Now Famous Competitor is linked to your site inextricably!

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Misleading Product Promotion

July 18, 2016April 23, 2019Legal Advice

Misleading Product Promotion Leads Federal Court to Order Significant Fines

According to www.lawyerslist.com.au it pays for businesses to get advice from lawyers and be careful with the way they promote their goods and services. In the case of ACCC versus Reebok Australia in 2015, the Federal Court gave Reebok Australia a fine of $350,000. They were found as having falsely advertised their footwear in Australia. In addition to these fines, there were also restraining orders issued, an order to correct the advertising, and $45,000 in legal costs. This was paid to the ACCC. Of particular interest is the fact that Reebok’s parent company, Reebok International, had already been dealt with for similar conduct in the United States.

The Federal Trade Commission, which fills a similar role to the ACCC in Australia, investigated the issue of false advertising and dealt with it accordingly. Reebok Australia was fully aware of the problem with false advertising, but did nothing to bring the practice to a stop, as far as the Federal Court viewed the matter.

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How to Create a More Comfortable Office Environment

June 21, 2016April 23, 2019Business Advice

If you conduct your business from your home or from a small complex that includes an outdoor area, it’s a great idea to provide alfresco furniture for staff to relax on during their coffee or lunch break. Being outside for just five minutes is so refreshing that they will come back to work full of energy, not to mention much healthier for having been in the fresh air and sunshine.

The idea of creating comfort in the office may seem at odds with that of getting staff to work in a brisk, efficient manner. But if employees are uncomfortable at their desks, they will take a lot more breaks simply to ease the aches and pains they feel. In addition, it is much harder to focus 100% on any task if you are feeling physically uncomfortable.

Creating a more comfortable office is not difficult and your staff will be much happier and more productive. Experts tell us that it is not good to sit at a desk for hours at a time. Employees need to get up and walk around a bit and they can do this when they take business calls on their mobile phones. But they may not always want to walk, especially if space is limited, or if the call is a confidential one.

Instead of walking around – or as well as – provide an easy chair for them to relax in while they are taking calls or even talking to clients. This will give them a chance to move from the computer chair and sit somewhere else that is different and so uses different muscles. Their position will have changed at least six times, when –

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eBooks and iRecords – Director’s Duties in the Cloud

April 14, 2016December 15, 2016Legal Advice

Cloud storage, cloud accounting packages and similar applications for communication and recording of information have changed the face of business forever. Before you run off to your lawyers in a panic, please read some of the following information.

While these advances have been beneficial to company directors who can discharge their duties at greater speed and from almost any location, we should pause for thought about whether or not these advances can potentially place directors in breach of their duties to the company.

Financial Information

Good commercial lawyers in Perth can explain and advise on Section 286 Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“Corporations Act”) requires the company to maintain records of financial information that accurately reflect the financial position of the company. The records can be kept electronically on the proviso that the electronic records can be converted into paper records within a reasonable time after a request is made (s288).

Pursuant to s289 the company can decide where to keep its financial records, however if they are kept outside of Australia the company is required to keep sufficient information to allow preparation of accurate financial information inside Australia; and notify ASIC of the place where the records are kept.

The cloud implications of this are clearly the location of the records. More often than not, the cloud server on which your data is stored will be located in a low-cost jurisdiction, generally not inside Australia. Financial information, pursuant as defined in s9 Corporations Act includes all source documents, statements, entries and adjustments in books of account.

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How Web Design Techniques Affect Search Engine Rankings?

December 15, 2015April 18, 2019Getting Online, Marketing

Captivating web designs always have a competitive edge over any other website design. It is essential for a website to be listed high in search engine rankings so that it can be easily found by the searchers.

Higher the ranks, easy the search

A nicely built website designed by web design professionals entwined with artistic designs and precise yet detailed information is the one desired for exploration. Imagine, who would want to mark his presence on a website that has incomplete information and a dull composition? The searchers need a reason to visit the website. Each website must have certain design structures in order to rank high in a SEO campaign.

Let us have a look on few of the web designing tips required to accelerate the search engine rank through search engine optimisation.

1. Increased Number of Pages

A large website can increase your chances of ranking high in search engines. So if you have a good number of pages added to your website as compared to your counterparts, you are likely to mark a top page ranking for your website. Make sure that your pages are relevant and do not deviated out of the context. Search engines like a huge number of relevant pages with information. Also, since you have a huge website, you can possible keep the visitors engrossed for a longer time, thus resulting in potential sales.

2. Include Graphic Representation

Only content and no graphics appear to be a boring option. You may have concocted a really good content and filled your website but it doesn’t serve the purpose of those who are more inclined towards exploring the graphics. If you are selling a product, putting up pictures with relevant amount of information will be more preferable for visitors to comprehend the essence of product. Read more on the importance of images here.

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Importance Of Online Presence For Your Brand

December 8, 2015September 19, 2016Getting Online, Starting Out

The traditional means of marketing have become quite dull to grab audiences’ attention. Digital marketing methods on the other hand are very impressive in bringing the audience close to any brand. Therefore, every brand that is part of the online world needs to ensure that they have maintained an appealing image in the eyes of the audience. Without a solid and easily recognizable online image, brands will be unable to attract customers and succeed.

Greater Business Opportunities

The world of internet is overflowing with opportunities for businesses to grow. A brand can easily reach out to its target audience through online platforms and even interact with their customers to build good relationships as part of its overall online reputation management. These opportunities cannot be utilized by traditional means, which is the reason a sound online presence is important for every brand.

Furthermore, due to the popularity of internet, consumers now prefer researching about a company online then go out and make the purchase immediately. If someone is looking for a good dine in place, they will first look for restaurants online. This provides business a great chance to entice customers with their appealing online image. Similarly, bad reviews on your brand can really mean losing business.

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How to Reduce Overhead Costs of eCommerce Business?

October 29, 2015September 18, 2017eCommerce

eCommerce is one of the best and most effective ways to earn windfall returns on investment. The online platform offers the perfect tool to attract great number of qualified leads. The digital arena is full of online marketing tools that can be harnessed to generate large number of online leads. Social media advertising, search engine optimization, online forums, press release sites, and business directories are just some of the few online tools that can be used to funnel maximum number of visitors to the site.

One of the greatest benefits of starting up an ecommerce store in Australia is that it does not require investing large amount of capital. With just a few hundred dollars, individuals can set-up an online store offering goods and services to the consumers. Moreover, the overhead costs are little as compared to running a brick-and-mortar physical store. And the best part is that there are various ways that entrepreneurs can cut online eCommerce costs thereby boosting online revenues.

Below we have listed 5 effective measures that eCommerce businesses can implement to cut overhead costs.

1. Streamline Supply Chain Distribution Process

Streamlining supply chain and distribution process is one of the best ways to cut online costs. Incorporating supply chain management measures such Just in Time Inventory (stocking just the required products), integrated supply chain methods, vendor managed inventory are some of the ways online companies can streamline their supply chain process and earn above average return on investment.

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The Fundamentals of Trademark Law

October 18, 2015October 21, 2015Starting Out

Customers Puzzled by Business Names:

“Trademark”- in simple terms, a brand indicator that lets customers know the basis of a good or bad service. Thus, a central role of concern in trademark lawsuit cases is played by the fact whether a customer is puzzled by the origin of a product or service.

The court came out with 7 factors in order to find out if customers were puzzled (or were expected to be puzzled) by the businesses’ names. The court carried out a balancing test to conclude if score was in support or in opposition to consumer confusion.

The 7 factors that they weighed which you might wish to think about when naming your business:

The Mark Strength

A mark is a business’s trademark (the name word, design or symbol that classifies the business, product or service) in trademark law. Marks could range from quite low and weak to very strong: generic, descriptive, suggestive and arbitrary. The more the mark is strong, the higher the protection it gets under trademark law.

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