I'm impressed that government has responded to the voice of the business community and I think that this single move may do more to restore the confidence of NZ's hi-tech entrepreneurs than anything else that's been offered to date.

We could still do a lot more to attract international hi-tech investment to NZ but we're a hell of a lot further down the road than we were before.

Most people consider me to be a staunch right-winger -- but I've got to say to National "why didn't YOU do this instead of just spouting endless rhetoric during your turn at the top?"

Today On 7amNews.com An epidemic of Foot and Mouth disease is sweeping Britain and parts of Europe, forcing authorities in the USA and other countries to be on high alert. But did you know that it's a disease which can, and does affect humans? Find out more...

How Dumb Is Salon?
The downturn in advertising dollars and resultant cash-crunch is really hurting many online publishers and I find it interesting to see that one of the oldest and most respected of them, Salon has announced that it's jumping on the subscription bandwagon.

Duh -- Salon!

Here was me thinking that Salon might be run by a bunch of smart people with an understanding of the Net culture. A publisher with Net-savvy. But no, it seems they're as stuck in "the box" as everyone else.

Further evidence of their backwards-looking attitude is the decision to introduce those huge banner ads which are becoming commonplace on the Web. Sorry folks, turning up the volume doesn't improve the quality or relevance of the advertiser's message. These big banners are no solution to the problem of non-performing Net advertising and Salon should know that.

It's a real disappointment to see icons of the online publishing industry turning off their brains and believing that somehow, even though it's a model which has been proven not to work by many (including Microsoft in the form of its Slate site), a subscription-based service going to rescue them from oblivion.

Come on Salon -- nobody (including you) could make the ad-funded model work so what on earth possesses you to believe that some how you can defy the odds and make a subscription model fly?

Readers Say (updated hourly) Nothing Yet IT recruitment agencies... - Eelko Have Your Say

Mind you -- I shouldn't really try to discourage them (or anyone else) from engaging in such folly because at a very basic level I guess they're competition to some of my ventures.

Speaking of which -- I've had a lot of email from readers asking "how did you manage to get 5,000 visitors to your new news site on its first day of operation?"

Well it's not rocket-science folks and I encourage you to keep an eye on what I do with this site over the next few months. I'll be applying many of the ideas and methods I mentioned in my recent series of articles on Net-based marketing -- plus a few new ones that I've been working on for some time.

So, how did I do it?

It's all about linking. How else (short of a massive and expensive advertising campaign) would anyone even know a new site existed or how to find it if it wasn't linked from other sites?

The link from Aardvark generated several thousand visits and I spent much of the first day locating and contacting other sites which I believed would be interested in the stories it was carrying. They were invited them to link -- and many did.

And, just for the record, the second day of the site's operation saw traffic more than double -- to more than 10,000 visitors.

If you've got a website you want to promote -- don't be afraid to ask for links from other sites but make sure that you have something worth linking to, and don't spam other sites with your request -- send them an email that is clearly unique to them. Make sure your email includes mention of several unique aspects of their site that clearly prove you've been there and are writing them an individual email.

Thanks But No Thanks?
If you want to become a millionaire in a very short space of time then it would appear as if the recruitment industry is the place to do it.

Well that's what I'm assuming after my recent experience.

When I launched the Aardvark Job Centre on this site I thought it would be a good idea to contact some of the local IT recruitment companies and invite them to submit a few of their vacancies to see how well it worked for them.

Surely they'd be interested in getting completely free access to Aardvark's daily audience of over 2,000 IT professionals -- just the people they're looking for to fill the positions on their books.

Unfortunately -- it seems that's not the case. Lacey Lee simply said "sorry, we don't need any advertising" while others said "we'll take a look when we get a chance" -- and nothing's come of it.

Have I missed something here or have some of NZ's IT recruitment companies gotten fat and lazy on the back of massive demand for skilled workers?

As always, your feedback is welcomed.

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There is 1 Vacancy In The Job Centre

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