iPhone release in Australia gets closer

April 4, 2008

Another rumour in the long wait for the release of the iPhone in Australia, as taken from our iPhone Update page - who knows, maybe a million or so of those may come down under???

Big rumours coming in that Apple has ordered 10 million units of the second generation iPhone - which will be a 3G one.

If these rumours are true, that’s one step forward in seeing an Australian release of the iPhone sooner rather than later.

News.com.au has reported it.

Other rumours are that SingTel, owner of Optus, has stitched up a deal and will release the iPhone in Australia in September.

Seeing that Apple are lumping us in the Asia market (makes sense) this could have some truth to it - SingTel is the parent company, and Hong Kong Singapore-based owner, of Optus in Australia.

No word as yet coming from SingTel, Optus or Apple.

My Prediction: Steve Jobs will do his publicity act once again, by waiting for the centre stage on June 9th in San Francisco where there will be an Apple conference, to make some announcements.

Note: Over the weekend, I will be spending a few hours doing some research on all the rumours going around and will post some more details on Monday. I’ll also be doing an upgrade to the iPhone in Australia Watch page. Watch this space… :-)

Virtual Assistant Industry is Hot Right Now

April 3, 2008

Everywhere I look lately I’m seeing Virtual Assistants this and Virtual Assistants that.

Articles in mainstream media, blog posts and podcasts. Where has this all come from?

This growing interest in the Virtual Assistant industry is no doubt good for business - and it seems like the online small business collective has just “got it” … that using the services of a good virtual Assistant frees up your time so you can focus on what you’re good at and pay others to do what they’re good at.

But with such growing interest, there’ll be no doubt the bandwagon jumpers and those that will pass themselves off as VA’s when they’re far from it.

Home Office Warrior’s Home Office Virtual Assistant section has a good piece that helps explain how to go about getting the best virtual assistant for your needs.

The article - Will The Real Virtual Assistant Please Stand Up? - is high on discussing reputable VA’s and advising businesses to do their home work when seeking out their services.

My takeaway from the article…

You should ‘interview’ them, either via e-mail, instant messenger or telephone. You do this not only to make sure the possible candidate is experienced and professional, but to be sure they’re business personality works with yours. Even if they are a true, professional VA, it doesn’t mean they’ll be the perfect fit for your business.

The underline is my emphasis as I believe this to be right up there as to whether you have a successful time using the services of a Virtual Assistant.

I know there will be a time - probably sooner rather than later - that I’ll be looking for a Virtual Assistant(s) to do the tasks that, although important for the business to be successful, is not the best use of my time.

You can expect a Virtual Assistant Resource Feature coming to SmallOfficeAustralia in the coming weeks - I’m currently on a learning curve.

Rural Australia Still Waiting for Broadband

April 2, 2008

With the recent cancellation by the Federal Government of the $958 million Opel deal, all eyes are on the Government and their promised $5 billion input into broadband infrastructure.

Under the scrapped plan, nearly 900,000 homes in regional and rural Australia would have received wireless broadband, but the Government indicated that this was well short of what they were expecting - and personally, I thought, and still do think, that the plan to use Wimax was rather ill conceived.

Seeing that Opel has been rather quiet since winning the contract, one might suspect they’re happy to be rid of it - Optus, the major partner in Opel, says it has spent $9 million in operational costs since it won the contract last year. They say they will simply write it off for the March quarter. Hmmm… read full article…

welcome to smallofficeaustralia v2008

April 2, 2008

Okay. If anybody read my last post just do like I did and trash it. :-)

I’m back on the bandwagon with this “going local” thing and I plan to stick with it. Really!

I’ll let the coming posts and articles in the weeks to come speak for themselves, but basically I’ve had second thoughts, spoken to many fine friends, read a bit, seeked advice and basically have come to the conclusion that there might just be a business model (ie: I gotta eat!) to this thing AND still be able to pursue my passion.

From my new About Us page …

SmallOfficeAustralia is an online magazine dedicated to Australians running an online business.

The “Digital Economy” is a fast-paced and ever-changing environment that provides everybody, anywhere to be able to compete on a global scale like never before …

… and many Aussies want to join in on this phenomenon.

Offering an Australian perspective to the largely US biased “digital economy”, SmallOfficeAustralia is written for Australians by Australians who understand where we currently are, what we need to do to be able to better compete and who is willing to help empower as many Aussies as possible to achieve long-term success online.

Let’s see how far we can take this…

Cheers,

Martin Neumann
Publisher
SmallOfficeAustralia

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