Several weeks back I was asked to write an article for a then 'soon to be launched' new business blog for 99 Designs.

Coincidently, around this time, I had several spirited discussions with a friend over an article on E-Commerce that had appeared in one of Australia's major business newspapers.

I was frustrated by the overly one sided tone of the story, effectively stating that E-Commerce in Australia was growing very slowly and that major retail brands and their landlords had little to fear 'now' at least from the growing threat that online shopping would one day become.

Now, while the one sided nature of this story shouldn't have been a shock (its source information was provided by parties directly connected to big retail) I did feel that the alternative point of view, that is that online retail is growing rapidly (in some verticals significantly faster than is being reported) and that it is a much larger threat to traditional retail in the short term, is not being reported.

At least thats how I see it.

I decided then to focus my story for the 99 Designs Business Blog on the very real and very immediate threat to traditional retail that online shopping presents.

The article follows...

Customers will shop anywhere, anytime.

It’s something all business owners know, and has given rise to all sorts of weird and wonderful ventures. But, a business located in one place and only open sometimes is missing out on a world of potential customers. An important distinction is beginning to emerge with the rise of online shopping: the retail experience is becoming divided based on factors such as utility and experience. Whilst online stores deliver great utility (pricing, availability, etc), they tend to lack experience. The traditional touch it, feel it, surround yourself in it, sensory aspect of the shopping experience is sorely lacking online… but for how long?

Currently, physical retailers who focus on enhancing and delivering experience by making their customer service a key value proposition continue to buck the online trend and bring customers back, but it appears that soon it will not be enough.

Lets look at bookstores. For all the media hype, niche and independent book stores still continue to do well. Example: Tattered Cover in Denver Colorado just celebrated their 40th birthday, and deliver a “book buying experience” including specialist catalogs, cafes to meet up in, and author talks and signings. However facts are facts, booksellers days are most certainly numbered as online shopping begins to flex its muscle, and its only the traditional players that ramp up the experience meter that stand a chance.

According to Hitwise, currently 7-8% of all U.S. shopping is conducted online, with other major markets (UK and Australia) showing dramatic growth and similar figures. This growth is due to the customer exposure provided by online shopping opportunities, despite recent attempts everywhere to quash online shopping’s impact on traditional retail. In this climate, pure online retailer upstarts such as ASOS plan to challenge the supremacy of big box retail players. Playing the utility card by adding safety incentives such as unconditional returns and by focusing on customer service, online entities are pushing the boundaries of what people would consider buying online.

For the time being, retailers embracing both online and traditional storefronts are perhaps best positioned to ride this wave. Australian retailer Haul maintains a highly integrated online and physical store presence allowing them to take advantage of a global reach for their online operations. This translates into a good volume of sales coming via that channel, while still maintaining a local grassroots customer engagement via their physical store which helps them build buzz and street credibility: keys to the success of their service offering.

Keep in mind, it may be slightly premature to declare main street completely dead in the water. A recent report titled “Main Streets Across the World” by Cushman & Wakefield showed that 81% of countries surveyed had retailer rent prices increase in the last year. It will be interesting to see if physical demand remains strong in the face of the growing online presence, or if statistics are just lagging behind reality.

Small businesses need to realise that the benefits of global choice for customers also translates to a global customer pool for them. Looking forward, be ready for a rise in flagship retail stores complimented by robust online platforms (pioneered by companies such as Apple). Additionally, for niche retailers with limited product ranges, developing an online shop with global reach with a local storefront is their recipe for success.

Using techniques to place emphasis on paying for experience to offset the “try here, buy there” trend will be one of many ways to flourish. Examples of this are already being modeled by retailers selling ski boots where a “fitting fee” is charged to customers wanting to try on boots that is refundable against purchase.

The fact remains that whilst the verdict is in and online shopping is here to stay, the current impact on the physical retail is still being significantly understated (mainly by those interested in maintaining the status-quo). It is safe to say that a move towards online buying (as a percentage of overall retail spending) will continue to outpace expectations, and the day that online shopping will overtake traditional main street is coming much faster than many think. Physical businesses best begin learning the online world if they wish to grow and maintain their current relationship they so enjoy with their physical customer base!

The complete version of the above story including reference links and imagery can be found on the 99 Designs Business Blog

http://www.twitter.com/whodeani

Yesterday, it was announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that I have resigned from my role as Managing Director of AdEffective Limited.

The full release can be downloaded from the ASX website here.

As the announcement states, I have resigned from my role with AdEffective to focus on on a variety of unrelated investments that now require more of my time.

I continue to be a substantial shareholder in AdEffective and will work with the company to create new ideas and interesting concepts and opportunities.

As for my other interests, I will provide a more detailed update on 'whats next' for Whodeani over the coming weeks.

For now however, I can say my short term focus will be on opportunities in music, movies, fashion and hospitality.

Yesterday, AdEffective Limited launched the second of its three major online advertising platforms, Yieldom.

Yieldom is a new online advertising platform for managing, monetising and reporting on parked domain names and domain portfolios. It combines detailed reporting with ‘best of breed’ monetization sources – including AdEffective’s recently launched Footar platform. The proprietary platform improves yield on traditionally low-value parked domain names and/or domain portfolios.

The highlights of the launch were as follows…

• Yieldom formally launches in the US, 2 February 2011 at DOMAINfest.
• Yieldom launching with a portfolio of 20,000 domain names, growing to 150,000 shortly after launch.
• Yieldom is launched in partnership with Park Logic and Distribute Your Articles.

The Yieldom domain solution has been developed to better monetise the approx. 80% of domains that do not generate sufficient traffic to cover their annual registration and hosting costs. Yieldom customers will enjoy an instant insight into the true value of their domains while generating significant upside through industry leading monetisation and optimisation.

“At today’s launch, the Yieldom platform has over 10,000 domain names live with another 10,000 due online in the coming days,” said Dean Jones, Managing Director of AdEffective Limited. “By the end of February, we will have 150,000 domains running on the Yieldom platform.”

Yieldom is a wholly owned technology of AdEffective Limited, a publicly listed Australian company on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:ABN).

The full market update can be downloaded from AdEffective's ASX website here...

http://www.asx.com.au/asx/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=01147896

With the 2010 calendar year now complete, I thought it appropriate to provide the market with an update on the performance of AdEffective over the past year, our tracking for our operational business and most importantly, an overview of the exciting opportunities ahead for the 2011 calendar year.

In 1999 the Company made its debut on the ASX; recently it underwent a reorganisation and relisted in late May 2010, changing its name to AdEffective in December 2010 (ASX: ABN).

In 2010 AdEffective also acquired several businesses and commenced development of three innovative new online advertising technology platforms focused on delivering increased yield. The first of these platforms – Footar, was launched in December 2010, with the second platform, Yieldom, set to be launched next week at DomainsFEST in the US.

Earlier today, AdEffective released to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) AdEffective's Investor Presentation including an address to shareholders from myself.

The address and attached presentation covers 3 things namely,

1) a brief overview of AdEffective and the online advertising industry in which it operates;
2) AdEffective’s products and services; and
3) what shareholders and interested parties can expect from AdEffective in the future.

The full address and investor presentation can be downloaded from the ASX website here.

http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/companyInfo.do?by=asxCode&asxCode=abn#...

The global online advertising space is growing rapidly and AdEffective’s depth of unique technologies, platforms and management experience puts it in an excellent position to continue growing over the next 12 months.

Needless to say, now that the significant task of re-structuring and re-building the company is behind us, and now that we are well down the path of launching our 3 new online advertising platforms, I am very excited about what the future holds for the Company.

A short post to let you know that The Swish Group has successfully changed it's name and stock code AdEffective Limited.

From today, AdEffective Limited will be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange via the new code ABN.

You can find the AdEffective profile on the ASX here...

http://asx.com.au/asx/markets/priceLookup.do?by=asxCodes&asxCodes=abn

There is also a new website for AdEffective which can be found at...

http://www.adeffective.com

It's fair to say that I am excited about the future of the company now that it has all but completed the fairly substantial re-structure that started almost 12 months ago when I was invited to head up the company.

With one new technology platform already launched (Footar) and 2 more on the way, I'm looking forward to 2011.

All the best for the festive season and of course for 2011.

As many of you would know, around this time last year I was invited to take on the role of Managing Director of The Swish Group Limited (ASX:SWG).

Since accepting the role I, along with the board of directors and senior management have been busy for the early part restructuring the company and getting it re-listed.

Since re-listing in May 2010, the key focus has been on developing the online advertising parts of our business and a range of new technologies.

Today the company was pleased to announce the official launch of the first of these technologies into the marketplace, an innovative new online advertising platform called Footar (short for ‘Footer Toolbar’).

Footar is the first of 3 new advertising platforms the Company is launching over the coming months.

Footar is a fully customisable ‘digital’ search, content and advertising delivery platform that is launched via java-script, and anchored to the base of a web browser by a technique known as ‘absolute positioning’.

 More information on the launch and the full market release can be found on The Swish Group’s ASX profile.

Almost 2 months ago, I mentioned my new role as Managing Director of The Swish Group (ASX:SWG) and our efforts to re-capitalize the company and have it re-listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

Click here to download:

SWG acquires MP3, NiceShorts & TheScene.pdf (44 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

SWG acquires MP3, NiceShorts & TheScene.pdf (44 KB)

 You can also access the above announcement and all other Swish Group ASX announcements on the ASX website (http://asx.com.au/asx/research/companyInfo.do?by=asxCode&asxCode=SWG#headlines).

You would probably have realised from my numerous blog posts, tweets and fan page updates that I’ve been very active of late.

Back in December 2009 I made mention of the announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) that an agreement had been reached to recapatilise The Swish Group (ASX:SWG). I was also appointed Managing Director of The Swish Group at this time.

First and foremost my focus as the recently appointed MD of The Swish Group has been to work with the Board of Directors of the Company to restructure if and get it back on to the Australian Stock Exchange.

I’m pleased to report that the stated aim of having Swish re-listed moved one step closer last week with the announcement to the ASX of the Notice of Annual General Meeting.

The full announcement can be viewed here.

Click here to download:

The Swish Group NOM 310310.pdf (1.32 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

The Swish Group NOM 310310.pdf (1.32 MB)

It can also be downloaded directly from the ASX here.

Should 'all' the proposed resolutions be passed (and subsequent to this, the Company succeeds in raising working capital in the weeks following) then the Company could be re-listed as early as the middle of May, 2010.

For more information on The Swish Group visit the official website here.

Whodeani, aka yours truly, has caught a case of the ‘muso’ bug.

Those close to me would know that I have long harboured a desire to be more involved in the music business, less so from a performance perspective and more to with the whole creative process bringing musical ideas from just that, ‘ideas’, through to being released commercially.

Back in the mid 90’s I was heavily involved in the nightclub industry moving from being a DJ to then designing and managing a very popular nightclub in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne known as Jooce.

As outlined in an earlier post (Anatomy of a Hit), I got together with a couple of friends of mine and created a jingle for this nightclub that was then turned into a full length club track that was quite popular in its day (climbing to the top of the club charts and breaking the regular top 50 here in Australia.)

Since then my musical aspirations have taken a back seat to more ‘regular’ pursuits. That was until mid last year when I was ‘inspired’ to bring to market a track called ‘Tweet Me’, a track originally called ‘Release Me’ and created with some friends back in the mid 90’s.

The release of Tweet Me was a lot of fun, enough so that I have decided to significantly expand my musical aspirations ‘and’ output with a project called ’50 songs in 50 weeks’ (or as a good friend of mine refers to it… ‘The Final 5’.)

As the project name ’50 tracks in 50 weeks’ suggests, my aim here is to produce 50 ‘release ready’ tracks in 50 weeks… ie 1 track per week for the next 50 weeks.

The inspiration behind this concept of ’50 Songs in 50 Weeks’ comes from Stock Aitken Waterman, the UK song writing and record producing trio made up of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman.

With great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s the three are considered to be one of the most successful song writing and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top 40 hits, selling 40 million records and earning an estimated $103.78 million (source: Wikipedia).

Their standard method for creating the music was to first write the songs, next they would record the music with extensive use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers and then finally bring in a singer solely to record the vocal track.

Their remarkable ‘production line-like’ output and similar song structures had the trio being referred to as the "hit factory".

My thinking is to ‘2.0’ their model using todays relatively inexpensive music recording and production technologies ‘and’ potential global exposure via Social Media.

I’ve teamed up with Paul Brandoli (from Psyked) who I met through his work as producer/arranger on the Tweet Me project. Since Tweet Me, Paul and I have worked on 2 more tracks and are about to start a 3rd.

Am extremely happy with his work and more importantly how we are working together on these new tracks. Enough so that I have committed to have Paul work as producer/arranger and sometimes ‘writer’ on all tracks in the project.

We’ll notify you as the magical tracks come to life week by week and from time to time release snippets of the tracks we are working on. Exciting times.

UPDATE: With the planned re-listing of The Swish Group gathering momentum (and my role as The Swish Group's Managing Director occupying the lions share of my time moving forward), I have handed over the day to day management of the '50 songs in 50 weeks' project to Paul Brandoli.

Much has been done in the weeks since announcing this project and I am extremely happy with the work Paul has been doing. The project is in good hands.