from the desk of sean heylenwe have a new website
Plumbers often have the worst plumbing, but we are determined not to fall into that trap. So, we are re-launching our own website to better reflect our new branding and simplify our key messages. I think our team have done a terrific job, but I am interested to hear your feedback so here’s a little incentive: provide us with some constructive feedback and you will go into a draw to win a Kosmea “Detox Skin Kit” and “Miracle Duo” gift box, along with a voucher for dinner at Cos Restaurant. Something in that for all the boys and the girls! darwin – the new frontier
As you probably know, Deadline Media has been growing quite quickly over the last few years. We are keen to keep growing and explore new markets and have made a strategic decision to put our feet in the water as it were, in the Northern Territory. Thanks to a referral from one of our partners – Hayes Knight SA – we are starting work on a website with Top End Pest Control. Kate and I recently returned from our first business trip to Darwin and have tentatively scheduled the next for September. So, if you know of anyone up there that might like to meet with Kate or myself for a chat about their online strategy or general communcation needs, please let us know. Any referrals will be gratefully received and, of course, we’ll show our gratitude over lunch at Cos Restaurant or The Chesser Cellar.
recently completed projects
Papyrus Australia | website development
 view site
API Home Loans | website development, re-branding, application forms and software
view site
TIDD Travel | website platform migration view site
Diabetes SA | online product catalogue with shopping cart and secure payment gateway
view site
projects in progress
Defence Reserves Support | Office of Reserve Protection info cards, promotional wine labels and boxes Council on the Ageing | website development, almost ready for CMS training and go-live! Complete Fire Solutions | planning session held and beginning website development Chevron Glass | planning session held and beginning website development Australia India Business Council | website development, training session held in Sydney recently and almost ready for go-live! Detpak | website development, design templates provided by third party In Business Magazine | hosting migration Rollout Grass | online product catalogue with secure credit card payment gateway Trims | website development Architectural Hardware and Doors | online specification and estimation software migration and upgrade Kendacraft Jewellery | website development, interface concepts in production
opinion pieces
we offer 3 this month as everyone seems to have an opinion....
#1 “The problem with content” by Sean HeylenThe main problem with website content is that it has to be created. To be honest, many of our clients struggle a bit with this aspect of the website development projects we undertake with them. The main problem is that it is quite time consuming and not everyone wants to spend days on end writing and editing copy and sifting through images. For example, just to get the copy for the “portfolio” section of our new site in order, I spent about 5 hours writing. Not the best Sunday morning I’ve ever had, but if you want something done properly… Sound familiar? Well the solution to this problem is pretty simple: get someone else to do the content for you! This might mean paying a professional copywriter and/or photographer if budget allows, renting franchised content, or having a number of the people in your organization that are interested in contributing to the website write something for you. Then all you need to do is proof it. So, in line with that theme, I am introducing a couple of articles written by my team for this edition for the Deadline Newsletter. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep it up in the future. The first one below is a philosophical discussion piece written by Timo Bishop – our senior web developer. The second article is a spotlight piece about the rise of mobile marketing and integration thereof with the web, written by Peter Lugg, one of our talented web designers. I think they have both done a great job, and they sure have lightened my work load! I hope you enjoy their work.
#2 “GeekSpeak – Visionaries and Builders” by Timo Bishop
 Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? Coming from a self-confessed “geek” I suppose this doesn't seem to be an unusual comment. What fascinates me lately however is the bigger picture of where web development has gone over the last ten years.
Yes, geeks do think the internet is great because they have an understanding for what is under the hood, they know what makes it tick and can rewire it if they needed to. However I don't think many of us consider that it was not the geeks alone who made the world wide web what it is today. To put it simply, if it were not for business and entrepreneurs the web would still be a play-thing for computer hobbyists and programmers.
It then occurred to me that this was the whole reason I have remained a developer. In 1996 the record label I worked for saw it simply as a way to communicate to the masses cheaply. Later they realised they could sell tickets to gigs and cds. Eventually it provided a way to reach their market on a person-to-person level by creating an online community. Without these ideas there would be no internet the way we know it today. This may seem obvious but bears re-stating. I've seen it happen all too often - when a business hands over the responsibility of their website to a webmaster because they see it as a purely technical object they run the risk of preventing the potential development of their business as a whole.
What I am saying here is that programming isn't so different to building a house. The programmer uses coding as bricks and mortar. Programmers do not pretend to be architects; they rely on plans to work with. Where do the plans come from originally? Well, if you have ever imagined your dream home, those plans will start with you.
I don't pretend to know how to be a carpenter or architect, I am pretty much useless with a cordless drill – but I do know what I want as the end result. Once I convey my dream and the plans are drawn up the builders come in and make it a reality. If during the visualisation stage I was preoccupied with the “can't dos” of the builder I may have modified or compromised my dream. If I am somehow overwhelmed by the “secret knowledge” the builder possesses I will lose confidence and could possibly never mention some of my ideas for fear of embarrassment or revealing my lack of knowledge. Guess what? This is the process of progress, and you would be surprised what could still be created if there was more de-mystification of all things technological.
Do you own a website? I mean OWN a website? Is it yours? Did you help build it, or did the builder come in with some off the shelf plans he has been using for the last ten years and you bought them? Ever had what you thought was a crazy idea and you were afraid to mention it because you thought it would be impossible or just plain laughed at? If you have – then we need to talk. You never know, that idea could take your business to another level. Who knows? I don't pretend to, but I do know that nearly everything can be realised in one form or another in an online environment.
I also know that without business taking on the world wide web the way it has over the past ten years the term “geek” would by in large be totally foreign to most people. Don't be fooled – we know our stuff, but it is a trade first and foremost, just like any other, and it is not rocket science. So next time you consider the world of geek, think about where the geek would be were it not for business or the dreams of individuals. Communication between the visionaries and the geeks has been and will continue to the key for exciting web development.
#3 “Spotlight on Mobile Marketing” by Peter Lugg
 Where do you take your mobile phone? The answer is probably “everywhere”! As mobile phones are seemingly turning into the remote control of our lives, there has not been a better time to consider the new medium of mobile marketing. Mobile phones offer marketers access to one of the most personal mediums ever.
The beauty is that mobile phone users have the ability to control the information they receive, view and store on their mobile. Much like the web, except without a desktop or laptop computer. Marketers have an opportunity to become part of the personal network of information which a mobile user chooses to allow onto their phone. Via the mobile medium, SMS and mobile webpage promotions have met much success utilising ethical ‘opt in’ campaigns. The key feature of a successful mobile campaign is that the recipient elects to ‘opt in’ and receive information, promotions, coupons and special offers. Using a range of possible advertising mediums, online, in brochures and magazines, on billboards or radio, you can deliver a ‘call to action’ where potential customers respond with their mobile phones to ‘opt in’ and receive your promotions, thus creating a relationship the customer has chosen to instigate. By ensuring the power of the SMS medium is put to use in an ethical way which doesn't encroach upon users' privacy, you can create a successful of campaign. Contact us at Deadline to find out more about how we can help you with your mobile marketing campaign. reference article
Following on from my brief opinion piece above about the problem with content, here is another point of view on a related subject, from one of the gurus of usability and online information design, Jakob Nielsen. “Bad content, bad links, bad navigation, bad category pages... which is worst for business? In these examples, bad content takes the prize for costing the company the most money.”http://www.useit.com/alertbox/bad-design.html
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