The fabulous Leeoyn Pavey of Envirotrend sent me through this fabulous cake to try. It has a hazelnut ganache which I didn't make (because of the kids) but I just replaced it with my go-to icing of sour cream and dark chocolate which still makes it one of the most sensational cakes I have tried. Read on for more details of Indulgent Chocolate Cake!
Read More"Social media has changed the way we do almost everything. We make buying decisions, find jobs, play games, listen to music and learn socially. But for business it’s clearly been a more challenging shift. Engaging in social media requires a fundamental change to the way businesses function and think. No wonder so many are slow to embrace social media and devote budgets to it."
Read MoreCongratulations to Jill of All Trades, winner of the Xero Knowledge Award at Xerocon Australia!
Read MoreHave you recently received a call from a helpful gentleman with an Indian accent who claims to be calling from Microsoft or from "IT support" to alert you to a problem with your computer?
It's a scam of course. And it's happening a lot at the moment. Be prepared!
Here at Chilli Chocolate Marketing we manage websites for a great and diverse group of clients. Some of the sites we built ourselves, some we didn't; some we host ourselves, some are hosted elsewhere. This has brought us into contact with a wide range of website-server tools and management platforms. We're sometimes asked what we prefer, or "what's good". Well that all depends on the requirements of course - use the best tool for the job, as the saying goes. But as a general rule we advise each of our clients to use website tools that are well-known and widely-used. That means that the client isn't tied to using one particular web host or website company.
If your website is running on some custom platform that no other company in the world uses, then you are locked in to your present web hosting arrangement. If anything goes wrong, there's only one place to turn for help: the person or company who originally made your website. That's not a good situation to be in, especially if that person is unavailable or is too busy to help.
We're big fans of open-source Content Management Systems not just because they're easy to use and powerful; we're fans because they're freely available and how to operate them is close to common knowledge in the website community. If your website is built using such tools, then you are able to pack it up and move it to anywhere such tools are supported if you need to - and that's pretty much everywhere. If your website is built and dependent on closed proprietary tools from one provider, that means you're tied to that one provider and only that provider can help you.
If you have any questions about this sort of thing, feel free to ask. Your website is your most important marketing tool, and we're happy to help!
--Simon
One of the challenges faced by anyone who works with websites is that of not knowing in advance what your website's visitors are going to use to do so.
The only sensible thing to do is to code to industry standards and keep fingers crossed that visitors are using standards-compliant web browsers. So what are we targeting?
Our friends at the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) and Mnet (hi guys) are collecting data for the 7th Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index Survey. Feel like helping out? Read on!
Read MoreTo manage an email campaign effectively one has to be familiar with the requirements of a number of different fields including graphic design, web programming, copywriting, database management, and statistical analysis. Whether you're handling all the duties yourself or managing an in-house or outsourced team, here are some useful bits of hard-earned advice about what to do behind the scenes before and after your email marketing campaign.
Read MoreBased just south of Adelaide in McLaren Vale, Chilli Chocolate Marketing is a boutique marketing agency with a particular focus on email marketing, customer retention, and relationships.
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