Location, location, location. That's the adage that makes a success out of the place you call home and/or the house you own - or so some folk would have you believe.
It sure is true for Nutshell, located as we are in the North of New Zealand. Unlike those Kiwis living three hundred miles away in Canterbury, in the warmer climes of Auckland we do indeed count ourselves fortunate for our location - beyond belief and an overwhelming sense of relief.
The result of those 'quakes in Christchurch has just stunned us, as a nation, into a strong sense of inevitability; que sera, sera; the ceaseless media coverage at the local level has left us speechless and somewhat like stunned mullets. An endless and ongoing outpouring of heart-felt grief at the senseless loss of life and destruction that took place at lunch time, 12:51 pm on February 22, when the ground shook, violently, in the heart of a bustling Christchurch, one of the South Pacific's most picturesque of cities.
http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/
As the event sinks ever-increasingly into the background clutter of time and history, the news from the aftermath continues to overwhelm us locals; more than 10,000 properties now are to be abandoned and knocked down; destroyed. Entire suburbs swallowed in the relentless ooze of 'liquefaction'; their families and residents relocated 'someplace else' - like Auckland.
As the assault-by-media dies down we know way better than many other Kiwis that there is a world outside the immediate environment; we count ourselves very fortunate to have our customers living 'someplace else'. We have been heartened by the condolences that you have sent us; the notes and responses we share often containing a small mention of the disaster down South. It is appreciated.
As a New Zealand exporter of high quality, locally made leather products we want you all to know that we are fine; our piece of "down under" is intact. Life goes on.
"How may we help you?"
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Rising Cost of Online Advertising
When we started Nutshell in 1997 it cost pennies to advertise our product and services using PPC (pay per click) advertising; today it can cost lots and lots of $$$,.
Back then, when the web was a bright shiny new thing, many merchants, like us, were experimenting with this newfangled Internet environment. Trying to work out what worked and what did not work; a long and lengthy and very time consuming and laborious experience.
Along the way we learnt which 'keywords' worked best for our audience and which were a waste of time. We also learnt which combination of copy, words and phrases, were best to trigger millions of pairs of eyeballs enough to make that decision to click-thru and find out what it was we had to offer. At our cost.
We watched avidly as search engines developed methodologies for sorting the wheat from the chaff; weeding out those sites that were primarily 'spam' driven and offered little or no value to the growing audience of web-surfers. And we, along with many others, suffered from nasty folk who played the 'click-fraud' game of repeatedly hitting us, and driving up our PPC costs in order to make it uneconomic to advertise on certain platforms.
As the environment matured and more and more merchants discovered that they too could advertise their products and services in similar fashion, the costs rose and rose. It became expensive to do what we once did for pennies; it is after all an environment were the biggest dog gets to munch on the largest bone. Obviously web engines and promotional companies were quick to realize that not only was there a healthy dollar to be made, but also that some people were prepared to pay obscene amounts of money to have their listings at the top of every search result.
However, longevity does mean something - other than the continual drip, drip, drip of the marketing dollar.
Because Nutshell has now been in existence as a web entity for going on 14 years, it is likely that you will easily find us by a generalized web search, even though we no longer use that scatter gun approach of throwing dollars at online advertising.
We believe that good products plus great customer satisfaction...couple with the fact that we are still the only web merchant operating in the mobile accessory niche who offers a hand made tailor-made service, will continue to see us make new friends and find new customers, no matter where you are.
Thanks to all who have joined us on this ride into the future.
Long may it continue.
Back then, when the web was a bright shiny new thing, many merchants, like us, were experimenting with this newfangled Internet environment. Trying to work out what worked and what did not work; a long and lengthy and very time consuming and laborious experience.
Along the way we learnt which 'keywords' worked best for our audience and which were a waste of time. We also learnt which combination of copy, words and phrases, were best to trigger millions of pairs of eyeballs enough to make that decision to click-thru and find out what it was we had to offer. At our cost.
We watched avidly as search engines developed methodologies for sorting the wheat from the chaff; weeding out those sites that were primarily 'spam' driven and offered little or no value to the growing audience of web-surfers. And we, along with many others, suffered from nasty folk who played the 'click-fraud' game of repeatedly hitting us, and driving up our PPC costs in order to make it uneconomic to advertise on certain platforms.
As the environment matured and more and more merchants discovered that they too could advertise their products and services in similar fashion, the costs rose and rose. It became expensive to do what we once did for pennies; it is after all an environment were the biggest dog gets to munch on the largest bone. Obviously web engines and promotional companies were quick to realize that not only was there a healthy dollar to be made, but also that some people were prepared to pay obscene amounts of money to have their listings at the top of every search result.
However, longevity does mean something - other than the continual drip, drip, drip of the marketing dollar.
Because Nutshell has now been in existence as a web entity for going on 14 years, it is likely that you will easily find us by a generalized web search, even though we no longer use that scatter gun approach of throwing dollars at online advertising.
We believe that good products plus great customer satisfaction...couple with the fact that we are still the only web merchant operating in the mobile accessory niche who offers a hand made tailor-made service, will continue to see us make new friends and find new customers, no matter where you are.
Thanks to all who have joined us on this ride into the future.
Long may it continue.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Welcome to 2011
Happy New Year. A new start to yet another series of seconds minutes hours days and months...which will all add up to be 2011. What will it bring?
Doubtless, many things, but in the world of mobile you can be sure of one thing - many, many more mobile devices.
Already CES is behind us; an annual talk fest and show'n'tell that attracts media attention to this niche market like no other. A place where new devices are rolled out and expectant vendors watch carefully to see if the passersby react positively, it at all. Many of these 'new' devices will doubtless sink without trace - for a variety of reasons. Too big. Too small. Even too much "me too". Marketing will trumpet the advantages and advances. But in the end you, the consumer, will be the King maker; after all it will be your dollars that determine who will rise and who will fall.
Is smaller better? Are tablets finally going to 'come of age' and embrace multiple operating systems in a manner that makes sense to us all - handwriting recognition, long the preserve of Microsoft's mobile tablet platform may begin to appear on other devices driven by other operating systems. Or will it? I would not hold my breath on that.
Regardless of the different devices that will raise their collective heads above the parapet in the coming year, you can rest assured that Nutshell will be there in support, with our growing range of product offerings to provide protection for what, after all, are fast becoming increasingly sophisticated devices.
Doubtless, many things, but in the world of mobile you can be sure of one thing - many, many more mobile devices.
Already CES is behind us; an annual talk fest and show'n'tell that attracts media attention to this niche market like no other. A place where new devices are rolled out and expectant vendors watch carefully to see if the passersby react positively, it at all. Many of these 'new' devices will doubtless sink without trace - for a variety of reasons. Too big. Too small. Even too much "me too". Marketing will trumpet the advantages and advances. But in the end you, the consumer, will be the King maker; after all it will be your dollars that determine who will rise and who will fall.
Is smaller better? Are tablets finally going to 'come of age' and embrace multiple operating systems in a manner that makes sense to us all - handwriting recognition, long the preserve of Microsoft's mobile tablet platform may begin to appear on other devices driven by other operating systems. Or will it? I would not hold my breath on that.
Regardless of the different devices that will raise their collective heads above the parapet in the coming year, you can rest assured that Nutshell will be there in support, with our growing range of product offerings to provide protection for what, after all, are fast becoming increasingly sophisticated devices.
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