Dita Von Teese Lingerie Fashion Parade

It was our great pleasure for my wife and I to be part of the L' Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival last night to witness a spectacular lingerie show featuring Dita Von Teese.
We would like to acknowledge Michele Hamdorf, CEO of Lime Door Brands for creating & delivering a magnificent vision. Congratulations Michele on for an fabulous parade, collection and after party.
We are very much looking forward to the next exciting chapter in the Von Follies collection. I had the pleasure of taken these pictures of the night and here are my favourite 8 shots. You can view the full selection here.

I used my new camera (Canon EOS 550D) that was recommend by my good friend David Mason from Cameras Direct Online

Amazon - a force to descend on Australian shores.

Media Release

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Offline retail is a tale of woe, but online retailing is going from strength-to-strength, with shopping online doubling in two years and Forrester’s tipping continuing growth¹. The news that Amazon is coming to Australia by setting up a data centre for its web services business ² and actively assisting Australian retailers to sell on Amazon.com, good or bad news for online sellers?

The Professional eBay and eCommerce Sellers Alliance (PeSA) predicts that it is a little bit of both for Australian online retailers.

“Retail is really moving into a multi-channel phase, with more paths to market representing more opportunity for online sellers. A new major market-place like Amazon ensures the dominant player here, eBay, will be sure to keep up their seller support services. All this is good news for online retailers and competition.” Says Shaun O’Brien, PeSA Australia President.

“The challenges is that major market-places bring more international sellers into the Australian market, most of which can sell at extremely competitive prices” Continues O’Brien. “Yet Quantium.com.au report that only 25% of online sales are offshore, keeping 75% here. That’s a massive opportunity for existing, and future, Australian online retailers.”

To ensure online retailers keep ahead of the game, PeSA run an annual Internet Conference event. 2012 will be the sixth year of the event, with an expected 600+ delegates.

There are over sixty content sessions, with keynote speakers from eBay, PayPal and Australia Post, plus leading online Australia entrepreneurs including:

• Ruslan Kogan – Founder and CEO of Kogan.com.au and Australia’s wealthiest entrepreneur under 30.
• Gabby Leibovich – Co-founder of Scoopon and Catch of the Day.
• Paul Greenberg – Co-founder of DealsDirect.com.au

The PeSA Internet Conference runs May 31-June 2 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Registrations for the 2.5 day event are only $495. A full exhibition accompanies the Internet Conference.

Full details at InternetConference.com.au

For further information, a media pass to the event, or to arrange an interview with Shaun O’Brien or Phil Leahy of PeSA, contact: Kimberly Palmer, Brazen Productions, 0403 937 347, kimberlyp@brazen.com.au

1.    Source: Forrester.com Report December 2011

2.    Source: Australian Financial Review, 21 January, 2012.

Beware of online filter bubbles

Please take 9 minutes and watch this important video.

The most affordable consultant your business will ever use

A new book called Get Your Business Online Now written by an eCommerce expert with more than ten years’ experience could be all that separates Australian small business owners from a successful long-term eCommerce strategy.  For the first time, Australian author Todd Alexander has compiled a simple but thorough guide covering everything from website design and functionality to marketing and branding, logistics and customer service advice and everything in between.  



Todd has also included advice from a range of Australia’s best eCommerce professionals including leaders at Bing, eBay, PayPal, Deals Direct, The Nile and a range of online agencies.  Todd has been a great help to me over the years and when I first started my eBay business. Todd provided information and assistance in the early days that helped me immensely. 

One of the biggest challenges facing any business owner today is finding the time to create an online strategy that is both cost-effective and a decent return on investment.  Get Your Business Online Now does a lot of the hard work for you and gives clear and direct advice on how to prioritise the thousands of options that are available.  What I like best about the book is it’s clear style – there’s no jargon or complicated theories, just honest and to-the-point information every business can implement.  The highlight at the end of the book is a nine month business plan that can help you boost your eCommerce success.  Even if you have an existing website, the book is an invaluable resource for helping you improve its performance.

Readers of my blog can buy the book for 10% off retail plus free shipping here .  You can read more information at the book’s website: www.gybo.com.au and Todd has also agreed to appear at the next Internet Conference   in May.  For $24.95, the book is the most affordable consultant your business will ever use.
 

Registrations pass 200 + only two days left for super early bird registration.

Registrations pass 200 + only two days left for super early bird registration.

With well over 200 people already registered, Internet Conference is on track to be the biggest yet. Our Super Earlybird rates end at midnight on WEDNESDAY, so if you've yet to book, make sure you do so immediately. If you have booked and paid for your ticket, but didn't register for a pre-conference workshop or the Gala Dinner, there is still time.

Pre-Conference Workshops:   We are more than HALF full for the session on social persuasion with John Lawson and a third full for the session on SEO Essentials with Ash Nawalla.  Learn more about these option workshops here.

Gala Dinner:  Our guest speaker for the evening will be media expert and personality, Steve Price. You may have seen Steve on Tuesday nights on The Project, or know him for his extensive media management career. Steve will be speaking about the changing media landscape in Australia and sharing tales of behind the scenes from his many years as a senior journalist. Learn more about the night.

If you've already booked for the Conference, but now want to attend a workshop or the gala dinner, simply email us.

Internet Conference is back on the sunny Gold Coast - which delegates raved about last year and which is a truly affordable destination for all. So if you've yet to book, you've got two days left to take advantage of the Internet Conference Super earlybird rate of only $395.  Read on to learn more or register online today>

Phil Leahy - PeSA Australia