Articles

All of us would applaud moves toward greater openness and transparency in government, but is the bureaucracy ready to reveal all its cards by making hard-to-find data available in web and mobile device software applications?

Girls are not known for having a harmonious connection with bugs. However, for Skye Blackburn, insects have been an obsession since childhood. She even built a butterfly release and insect education business, Butterfly Skye, around this passion.

California-based Australian retail export advisor Chad Hetherington has met with hundreds of Aussie entrepreneurs all hoping to crack the lucrative US retail market. Of the products they offer, he says, less than one percent has a realistic shot at making it big in the Land of Opportunity. So what does it take to make it?

In this three-part series, contributing authors Gene Stark and Jeremy Samuel ponder why law firms aren’t better at marketing themselves. This third and final instalment explores the power of simplicity in communicating a message.

Chances are, you’ve had to make some changes to your company’s internal structure in response to the economic downturn and in preparation for the slow recovery that appears to be underway. As with everything in business, restructures can be done well and they can be done poorly. Here are seven principles to help you avoid unnecessary complication.

For those of you in Brisbane or Sydney, you may have thought you lived on Mars today with the eerie clouds of red dust over our skies - in fact both "Dune" and "Total Recall" have been referenced several times.

Combining his passion for drawing, construction and architecture through multimedia technology, Adrian Bold and his startup Bold Impressions creates Hollywood-style animation for the corporate world.

If you think it’s a tough market out there, try being a graduate looking for work. Persephone Nicholas offers Gen Ys some frontline advice on wowing prospective employers.

This week we were presented with further evidence that cleantech is rapidly gaining mainstream status in Australia with the launch yesterday of the Sydney Cleantech Network (SCN).

We’ve seen Facebook’s remarkable growth statistics and we’ve read sceptical remarks in the media. But how do real people actually use Facebook? And is all that tabbing, tweaking, clicking, checking, linking, liking, posting and perusing just part of a self-absorbed quest for attention by lonely people?

If you ever spot Dr Sam Prince in Canberra's John James Hospital, make sure you congratulate him for winning this year's 30under30 Award. The entrepreneur-in-disguise has founded two enterprises on national and international levels and won a string of awards to his name.

Companies can no longer hide behind the “official company line” or rely simply on media spend to influence the public’s thinking on any given subject. Take the recent tempest caused by on-air remarks made by conservative US television commentator Glenn Back when he called Obama “a racist”. Ignore social network-driven campaigns at your peril.

Climate change is already remaking the global economy. The changes that Australia has to make in order to become a responsible and competitive player in this greener global marketplace are comparable to the liberal economic reforms made in the 1980s, says Austrade’s chief economist, Tim Harcourt.

Good advertising should generate the same kind of buzz inside you as when your Dad used to arrive home from work. Mum knew everything you needed; Dad had just what you wanted. Like the keys to the car, or $15 for the movie ticket, or the magical ability to build a go-cart out of the washing basket and wheels off the lawn mower.

It looks like this recession-that-wasn’t-actually-a-recession is coming to an end. As a business owner, you are right to be proud to have survived a frightening 18 months, when so many others have gone to the wall. But beware. It is not a given that survival in the downturn will equate to success and riches in the upturn. Indeed, there is a strong risk that recession conditions have deceived you about the general health of your organisation.

Daniel Houden started software developing when he barely knew how to use Microsoft Word. Four years later he presented at the Microsoft Conference with his software product, Xchangexec.

Have you banned Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter in the workplace or are you actively encouraging staff to participate in online conversations?

Thinking about starting up a business? Or are you in the middle of the ride of your life, totally focused on making you business a success? Take a moment to read this – it may save you from making some of the more common mistakes that entrepreneurs make. When my business collapsed last year, I learnt 10 things...

Michael Keaton, General Manager Lego Australia & New Zealand, is taking a stand. He estimates a typical office worker could save around eight working days each year by cutting the number of emails they send and receive by 20 percent, writes Persephone Nicholas.

You’ve heard all the pros and cons for social networking. So, I’m not going there again. If you hate social media, run away. Now. However, for those of you who are hooked, there’s a whole new world of words and phrases that you need to be across. So, I felt it was time for a dictionary for our new, social media age.