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Listen in as Simon chats about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) with Tim Martin from NET:101. Hear their opinions on SEO in 2015 and the value of technical SEO, quality content and social media. Both Simon and Tim have been involved in digital marketing for the last two decades and have seen many changes over that time. They touch on the tricks used in the early days of SEO, when a whole industry grew around manipulating Google and other search engines with ‘keyword stuffing’ and then later 'link building’ techniques. Tim and Simon then discuss the digital landscape in 2015 and how to respond when a client asks ‘Is it possible to get my site SEO’d quickly?’ Technical SEO still has a place today but really is about optimisations of your website that can be made in addition to the production of great quality content. Some of the technical topics touched on in this episode include: Clean website code, how to check your code is clean and valid, easy for search engine spiders to index, and visible in all browsers Page metadata such as titles and descriptions - additionally how to make the meta title and meta descriptions enticing to search engines and users Structured data - use markup in your webpages to tell Google the specific information around your product or event such as event dates, prices etc Page load speed - Google value user experience. Having a fast loading web page is a good experience for users - Google is now using page speed Secure, encrypted connections over SSL - again Google values user experience and security. Having a certified encrypted connection is another indicator used by Google when determining page rankings. The guys then touch on how to use Google tools such as Analytics and Webmaster Tools to understand your customers, generate ideas for producing great content and optimising your website. Google+ page is another ‘result’ in the search engine, especially for local businesses. Google+ is a big consideration for local SEO as Google uses the info in the plus page to develop the search result on the RH of the desktop page and the mobile page. The episode wraps up with how to develop a SEO strategy to fit in with your overall digital marketing strategy. People in this episode: Tim Martin is the founder of NET:101 produces great Social Media and Digital Marketing courses at net101.com.au Simon Pilkington develops and delivers Google Analytics and SEO courses for NET:101

This week we meet Aggie Mayshak who started her business Aggies Organics just two months ago. Aggie's passion for raw organic vegan treats coupled with some help from her friends and family has helped new her business take off! Aggie started her business at the Torquay Nightjar markets in January this year. At her first market her stall was in a dark corner of the nightjar and she had no lights - but word soon got around that there were tasty organic treats to be found, and people were seeking her out! In the last couple of months Aggie's business has grown quickly. Originally Aggie had wanted to open a cafe, however as word spread Aggie has been approached by many cafes and coffee shops in Geelong, Surf Coast and the region who want to stock her treats- which allows Aggie to grow her business without the overhead and commitment of leasing and running a premises. Social media has played a big part in Aggie's rapid growth, especially on Instagram. Check out her feed for pictures that'll make you drool! Links from the show: Aggie's Organics on Instagram and Facebook Aggie's Organics Website New Apple Watch and Macbook Tomcar sells car with Bitcoin

On the Yellow Click Road this week we were joined by the Head Brewer of Blackman's Brewery in Torquay - Renn Blackman! Renn shared with us the story of Blackman's Brewery which is a restaurant, bar and in-house micro brewery that has been amazingly successful and embraced by the local community since it opened only 7 months ago. Listen to the interview to hear about Renn's background, starting out as a brewer in Perth and then travelling across Europe with his partner Jess, learning all about the art of brewing high quality beer. Renn and Jess have done a lot of innovative things to grow the business from a pop-up laneway market to a fancy dress Oktoberfest party and going all-out for local events - the Hook and Vine Festival and the Drink Art Food Torquay Festival. As a special Renn also invites all listeners to join him for the Brew day of his new Bells Pro Pale Ale, which is a beer he is making especially for the upcoming ASP World Tour event - the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. The brew day is happening on the morning of Wednesday 11th of March 2015, to find out more about this innovative startup go to the Blackman's Brewery website. Also in the interview Craig gives updates on the progress on the Dolfi on Indigogo and the Warrior watch on Kickstarter.

In Episode 23 of the Yellow Click Road Business Innovation show we were very lucky to get an interview with Vicki Penrice who is the Event Director of a brand new event that is launching this week on the Surf Coast - The Sustainable Hook and Vine Festival! In the Interview Vicki shares with us how she and 2 other mums came up with the idea for the festival over a glass of wine and it has taken 18 months of planning and preparation to make it happen. The event is on Saturday 28th March 2015 at Torquay Common from 11am and promises to be a great day out for the whole family with local restaurants, wine makers, breweries and entertainers all putting on a show as well as Chef Guy Grossi who is the Official Event Ambassador. Listen to the interview to find out more about the importance of making sustainable seafood choices and how the movement towards environmental sustainability is growing in Australia. To get Tickets to the Sustainable Hook and Vine Festival go to the Hook and Vine website or the Facebook page. Also in today's show Craig and Simon talked more about the benefits of using Google Apps for business email, cloud storage, access to Google tools like Google Calendar and video conferencing on Hangouts. Also Google announced that the are closing Google Helpouts and they have just started selling ".how" domain names.

On the Road this week we meet another Inspiring Geelong Entrepreneur - Dean Lucas who just launched on Kickstarter a brand new Rugged Watch for men - 'The Warrior' by Jorzaky watches. Listen to the interview to hear Dean's story about how he went from having the idea to launch Jorzaky watches, to designing and developing the Warrior and finally everything that is involved in launching a new product on Kickstarter, which Dean says has been some of his greatest lessons in business. Dean started his career many years ago as a watchmaker apprentice in Geelong. Once qualified he went on to build out Rip Curl's portfolio of Surf Watches in Torquay and then to Melbourne to work for luxury watch brands TAG Heuer, Zenith, Ebel, Louis Vuitton and Dior. After more than 20 years in the industry, he felt there was something missing and that's where the idea for Jorzaky watches was born. In the interview you will hear exactly what is that opportunity in the market that Dean discovered and how the Warrior provides the solution. He also shares with us the process of building a full Campaign to launch a new product and Brand, and what are the key skills and partnerships that have helped him get to where he is. You can find out how Dean's Campaign is going live at Kickstarter or visit the Jorzaky website. Also in Google Partner news this week Google have announced the Google Apps Referral Program for Partners agencies. This is a program where Official Google Partner Agencies like Yellow Click Road can support Businesses getting setup on Google Apps and also offer them $10 off for the first year!    

Lots of topics discussed on this weeks #YCR... from website sales through crowdfunding to shark tank! Simon has had a business and website for sale on flippa. The sale runs in an auction format, and when the auction ended today the highest bid was $1 below the reserve so the website didn't sell :( Lena Solis (who was the guest on YCR #20 last week) has launched Dolfi on Indigogo - and is absolutely smashing it! The campaign was launched on Tuesday and has over $200k in contributions already. Craig has a little joke for us and we ask listeners to tweet the punchline to our new twitter account... but nobody gets it! Shark Tank is coming to Australia. There is a rumour that some friends of YCR might be featured on the show - but we're keeping that under wraps for now. Also, in Google news, Google is getting into the hotel and flights booking business. Is this a good thing for smaller booking agents? We discuss the implications, and the potential for advertising with AdWords.

In Yellow Click Road Technology News this week we interviewed a very excited Lena Solis who was only days away from launching a Brand New Technology Product that she has been working on for many years - A Portable Ultrasonic Washing Machine called Dolfi! Dolfi is the Next Generation Washing Device that is great for travellers and for washing delicates using the power of Ultrasonic Technology. It has just been launched on the Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and Lena reached her 30-day Campaign target of $100,000 in just days. Listen to the interview to find out how Lena decided on the idea of Dolfi amongst other ideas she was toying with and why this product solves a real problem that she was having while travelling the world. Lena shares the struggles she had in getting products Engineered and Manufactured in Germany, Swiss and China, and why she finally decided to get the product made in Thailand. Also why did she chose the Crowd-funding platform Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter and most importantly for Entrepreneurs - what were the 3 things she underestimated most about the project! For anyone who is thinking of manufacturing products globally or launching products on Crowd-funding platforms, we hope you enjoy this interview, we thank Lena for her time and we welcome any comments or feedback below. To check out how the launch of the Dolfi is going, go to Indiegogo or to find out more about Lena and the Dolfi, visit the Dolfi website.

On this week's episode Simon grabs an Uber to go on location to This Is Coworking in Geelong. This Is Coworking is an event put together by friends of the show StartupCloud and Mirrors PR & Events to promote the benefits of working in a shared environment. Geelong has many professionals who may needlessly travel to Melbourne each day or work from home. Coworking offers a way for individuals and small teams to come together in a shared location and form a supportive community. Also on this week's show Craig reviews the hottest startups of 2014 according to Forbes magazine. Discussed are big names such as Uber (number 3, with another 1.2bn raised in December). Uber competitors Lyft and Relay Rides come in at number 7 and 14 respectively. AirBnB comes in at number 15 - lots of people in Torquay rent out their homes or rooms in their homes through AirBnB especially in the summertime. Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo is a company of note, as is file sharing company Dropbox. Listen in next week to hear more about Indiegogo and crowdfunding as we have a special guest on the show who is about to launch a very interesting crowdfunding campaign. Number one on the list is Zenefits, a cloud based human resources company. Zenefits enables US based small businesses to purchase health insurance through their platform and is facing regulatory challenges. See photos from the event here. On this week's show: Luke Mugavin / WorkPro Rory Flynn / Clever Digital Todd Hubers / StartupCloud Tammy Walters / Mirrors PR and Events

In the final episode of the Yellow Click Road Business Innovation Radio Show for 2014 we learnt all about PR Consulting from Johanna Baker-Dowdell of Strawberry Communications. Johanna is a Journalist and Author and has been working as a PR Consultant in her business for 8 years. Listen to the interview to find out what is PR and how to start a PR strategy for your business. Also how to choose media channels, how to find your primary audience and how to best tell your story. Johanna shared some interesting stories of PR campaigns she has done for clients and even how she launched her book on the Melbourne based Crowd Funding Platform – Pozible! We also announced that our first show for 2015 is going to be a live broadcast from the Outdoor Waterfront Co-working day - This Is Co-working by Startup Cloud! Show highlights: 04:42 What is - This Is Co-Working? 9:30 Introducing Johanna 13:26 How big should your business be before you take on a PR consultant? 18:33 What is PR? 19:20 How do you start a PR strategy? 21:20 How to choose what is your primary audience 23:34 How to work out what media channels are going to work best and why you should use multiple channels 26:45 Johanna shares with us how her book ‘Business & Baby on board’ was born and how she interviewed Janine Allis (Boost Juice), Kaz Cooke and Carolyn Creswell (Carmin’s Muesli) and then launched it on the Melbourne based crowd-funding platform Pozible! 35:15 Finally she tells a story of how she put together a campaign for a client who wanted to meet Oprah! Podcast Only Bonus Section: 38:25 What is a big thing that Johanna has learnt from her time in business? Johanna can be contacted for PR Consulting at the Strawberry Communications website, on Facebook and @johannabd on Twitter.

This week Simon is on location at York Butter Factory with Tim Martin, founder of NET:101. NET:101 is Australia's largest social media educator, offering one and two day courses in social media in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. We hear about Tim's journey pre-NET:101 and why he decided to set up the business, and also the ways in which Tim is successfully scaling the business by using outsourced services rather than employees and offices. Tim has been running NET:101 for four years. Previously Tim was working in online design and marketing, providing SEO and Google AdWords services via an agency model. Tim found he was spending a lot of time training clients as well as implementing digital marketing and decided to focus on training people to do the marketing in their own businesses. We discuss where Tim’s customers and clients come from. Tim used to use AdWords and SEO to bring potential clients to his site. He decided to focus on a content marketing strategy, providing large quantities of quality traffic to attract people to the website via Google searches. Tim also uses email marketing to keep in contact with his clients and inform them about future courses which may be of interest. Tim uses Google Analytics to understand where traffic to the NET:101 website comes from, and which segments of that traffic convert into customers and clients, booking courses online. A couple of years ago Tim decided that scaling NET:101 in the traditional manner of opening offices and hiring employees was not the route he wanted to take, instead taking an innovative approach to scale using outsourced services and continuing to work from home. Tim has structured NET:101 so that most costs are variable rather than fixed, allowing NET:101 to grow without increasing overheads. Tim now has a graphic designer and a Virtual PA (VA) in the Philippines, and all the businesses' software tools are Software As A Service (SAAS) packages available online. Tim travels a lot for work and pleasure and this business structure allows him to work from any location with an internet connection, and Tim can also scale his business up or down very quickly without having to ‘hire or fire’. During the interview we also talk about Tim's playful side. The NET:101 website hosts a satirical blog 'Robot in the Machine' which as well as being a bit of fun is a useful tool for pre-screening clients. The images on NET:101 show Tim holding a fish... we discover the official w

This week on Yellow Click Road Simon and Craig are joined by Matthew Fletcher from Grant Guru. Grant Guru is an innovative business that provides free information on all available government grants in one easy to navigate location. There are more than 700 Australian government grants available at any time, totalling over $50 billion dollars. […]The post #16 Discovering Grants for Your Business – Matthew Fletcher from Grant Guru appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

On the Yellow Click Road Business Growth, Technology and Innovation Radio Show this week we were joined in the studio by Steve Arklay who started a new and innovative business last year that is growing rapidly – the VIP Bus! Steve starts by sharing with us his background from working at a Harley Davidson dealership […]The post #15 Having a Unique Selling Proposition – Steve Arklay from VIP Bus appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

Google have launched a feature on Google Maps called Google Business View which allows people to have a look inside your business with interactive 360 degree photos and on the Yellow Click Road this week we were joined by the only Google Trusted Photographer in Geelong – Dave Whiteside from Better Clicks.  Listen to the […]The post #14 Google Business View – Dave Whiteside Better Clicks Geelong appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

Dr. Caroline Taylor-Walker the owner of Surf Coast Home Doctor has just opened a new clinic in Torquay called Medical Skin Clinic. The clinic is a Doctor led Medical Skin Clinic that specialises in skin cancers and non surgical cosmetic procedures. Caroline starts of by sharing with us the story of  the Surf Coast Home […]The post #13 Passion in Business – Caroline from Medical Skin Clinic Torquay appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

This weeks interview is with Social Entrepreneur Simon Griffiths from Who Gives A Crap and Shebeen, both socially conscious businesses that support communities in developing countries. WhoGivesACrap is an eCommerce company launched in 2012 that produces and sells environmentally friendly toilet rolls by subscription. Half of the profits from Who Gives a Crap go to building toilets in […]The post #12 Social Entrepreneur Simon Griffiths – Who Gives A Crap appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

Innovation in Business is more than just being innovative in product development, it is about being innovative in everything you do in your business. On the Yellow Click Road this week we were joined by Deborah from Max Action Vehicles who were the winners of the Innovation in Business Award at this year’s Geelong Small Business […]The post #11 Innovation in Business – Deborah from Max Action Vehicles appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

Craig and Simon talk all things Startup and Entrepreneurship in Geelong. Do you know the difference between an Accelerator and an Incubator? Did you know we have both in Geelong – as well as an Angel Investment group? Simon almost gives details about 36T, the startup he’s entered into the ASTN Sports Tech Investment Pitching […]The post #10 Incubators, Accelerators and Angels – in Geelong! appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

On the Yellow Click Road Business Innovation Show this week we were joined in the studio by friend of the show, Katrina from Whitehill Wine Company, who is also the Event Organiser of the Drink Art Food Torquay Festival! The Festival is a weekend long celebration of artists, wineries, breweries and showcasing small business from […]The post #9 Showcasing Small Business – Katrina from Drink Art Food Torquay appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

On the Yellow Click Road Business Innovation Radio show this week we were joined in the studio by Aamir Qutub who, amongst other things, runs the Entrepreneur Meetup in Geelong. He shares with us why it is important to nurture a start-up economy and why this is especially relevant now in Geelong. We also spoke about […]The post #8 Geelong Entrepreneurs – A new Meetup Group by Aamir Qutub appeared first on Yellow Click Road.

We had a studio full of energy and positivity this week on Yellow Click Road we were joined by Todd, Alison and Phil from StartupCloud, Geelong’s coworking space and business incubator. StartupCloud is home to a community of startup business founders and professionals who find value in working in a shared environment. If you’re a […]The post #7 Serendipity in Coworking – Todd, Alison and Phil from StartupCloud appeared first on Yellow Click Road.