THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

Love this very 2010 retelling of the Christmas story (especially Mary's email to Joseph ;-)

Rewarding Mobile Customers

A great way to drive traffic to your online applications and off-line venue at the same time, is to make a special offer to those customers who have downloaded your mobile apps. One shop in Lawrence, Kansas, USA offers a free coffee when you show them a certain page of their app on your mobile device. Can you offer customers a discount or exclusive access through your iPhone and iPad apps? Create a marketing strategy today that will result in an increase in both offline and online customers. Comment below if you need help with that, or have questions.

iPad Reverses Your Direction

Before I had my iPad I had to take my life to my computer, now I bring my computer (iPad) to my life. For example, if I saw an ad or an article and I wanted to check it out online, I would cut out the paper and put it on my desk so that I could research it next time I sat down to do my computer work. Now, I have my iPad with me - in my handbag, on the coffee table, I even take it to bed with me. Now technology follows my life, not the other way around.

The benefits are especially obvious when I'm with clients. I don't have to take them away from what they are doing, I can show them any online resources right where they are - and they love it!

See why Mercedes Benz got increased sales when they started using the iPad in dealerships. (Hint: Instead of trying to drag their customers towards the technology, they took technology and headed towards their customers).

iPhone App Puzzle

A friend of mine, David Johnson, has just released a new iPhone application called "Tri-me". It is the most addictive activity I've undertaken for a looooooong, long time.

The most frustrating, and gratifying, thing about it is that it is so simple - or it should be.

Every time I complete a level, I have about two seconds of self-satisfying gratification, before the overwhelming urge to start the next level kicks in.

Then I'm in real trouble again.

Tri-me, which is available in the iTunes store, costs less than a very cheap cup of coffee. But it lasts a LOT longer.

Apparently there are 41 levels. I am stuck on level 16.

My advice is to head over to iTunes or search your iPhone app store and try Tri-me - you're gonna love it ... and also hate it!

And if anyone knows any hints, tips or blatant cheats to get me past level 16, please leave a comment!

New Payment Widget

Receiving credit card payments from your customers just got even sexier with the release of Xilo's new iCharge JX.

The payment widget is completely seamless. You have full control over design elements. And processing is done on the gateway's secure server, so you don't even need to have SSL certificates (although your clients may be reassured if you still do).

You can take a test drive on Xilo's website and apply for a free trial.

Profitable Email Tool

It wasn't the catchy motto ("share the monkey love") that got me interested, although, I'm sure you'd agree, it is interesting.

I started using MailChimp late last year and I'm very impressed with. It makes building a list of subscribers and sending regular emails to them super easy. Not only that but you can also profit from letting other people know about MailChimp. There's a free option - which is perfect when you're starting out and learning how to use the tools to maximise profits. And there are a couple of paid options that you can upgrade to later.

As Molly Meldrum would say "Do yourself a favour" and check out MailChimp.