A massive investment boom focused on the mining sector has fueled the Australian economy for the past several years. Australia fared better than other countries during the Great Recession due to the boom. Only a mild contraction was seen during the global downturn from 2008 to 2009. In the first quarter of 2009, Australian GDP contracted at a rate of 0.7 percent, well above the contractions seen in the United States and Europe. Since then Australian GDP has expanded at a moderate pace. Two-thirds of this expansion can easily be attributed to the mining boom, however. This raises the question of what is responsible for the boom in the first place. Continue reading Australia’s Mining Boom Explained →

When thinking of Australia, for many of us, the beautiful city of Sydney comes to mind with its iconic opera house, or visions of the beautiful coral reefs fill our mind. One detail that is often overlooked about Australia, however, is that it is one of the major exporters of ores in the entire world. Although the country does rely on tourism, mining is surely Australia’s moneymaker. In 2011 alone, Australia exported about $120 billion worth of ores to other countries. This is because there are many mining regions in Australia that are abundant with precious metals, and improving technology has made it possible for mining companies to reach them. The following resources are Australia’s 3 most abundant ores that are mined. Continue reading Top 3 Australian Mining Resources →

When it comes down to small business customer service, some people would rather talk to another human being, without having to swim through layers of thick, impersonal technology to get there. Others may just have a quick question that an FAQ or chat session can answer in about a minute. How do you decide then, on how best to deliver customer service for your clientele? Don’t make decisions based on your own needs for efficiency. Figure out how to keep your customers happy. That’s always the most efficient choice. Continue reading 5 Questions To Ask Yourself When Building A Customer Service Plan →

Most business people don’t like to think of any added expenses if they can help it. Fair enough, but some outlays on new systems can prevent catastrophic losses. A good example is the outlay related to upgrading to new business phone systems. This is a case of technology to the rescue, rather than to the point of exasperation. Continue reading Get Rid of Your Prehistoric Phone System →

Fly tipping is a huge problem across the country. Despite being illegal and carrying hefty fines or even a prison sentence, councils up and down the UK are having to look into more innovative ways to put an end to the practice.

Image Credit

The situation has become so desperate in Birmingham that the council is now looking into using DNA testing to identify offenders. While this may seem like an extreme step to take, officials believe the practice could help to save the council a huge £800,000 a year in waste management charges.

Lack of prosecutions using current evidence collecting methods

Tony Quigley of Birmingham Council’s waste enforcement unit said that while old methods of gathering evidence have some success in court, there is a need for more concrete evidence to gain more convictions. Although the unit is still unsure as to whether the technology will help to catch more criminals, he thinks DNA testing is worth a try.

At present, Tony and his team visit fly-tipping hot spots, sifting through dumped rubbish and chatting to local residents to gather evidence; however, this method is seeing limited success. Out of 467 fly-tipping cases investigated last year, less than one-third led to any sort of prosecution.

In a bid to clean up the city, the council has also introduced ten HD CCTV cameras that automatically record vehicle registration plates; however, in a city as large as Birmingham, these do not even begin to scratch the surface of the problem.

The punishment

If convicted of fly tipping, a person can be sentenced to up to 12 months in jail or fined up to £50,000. They can also be ordered to remove the rubbish and remediate the land. While removing dumped items is usually straightforward, land remediation can be more complicated and often more expensive.

For example, land remediation through Ash Remediation would look into a number of pollution issues, ranging from whether any nearby water sources have been affected to whether the land needs stabilising to allow it to prosper in the future, depending on the severity of the crime.

Despite the grave consequences, nothing seems to be putting fly tippers off. Through the use of DNA, councils can hopefully finally prosecute more offenders and make fly tipping a thing of the past.

If you’re selling anything online then it’s that final conversion that you’re really watching. You can have all the top positions for all the keywords you want and you can be getting all the traffic in the world, but if they’re not actually going through with the conversion and hitting that ‘confirm’ button at the end of the shopping process then it’s all for nothing. It’s reported that an average of 50% of all shopping carts are abandoned so what can you do to make sure you get that final purchase? Continue reading How To Stop The Shopping Cart Being Abandoned →

In internet marketing, especially if you work from home. Time is absolutely essential. There are so many different things in Internet marketing that can come up and just consume your day that it is flat out ridiculous. Continue reading Just How Hard is it for An Internet Marketer to Design a Website? →

Pets are playing an increasingly important role in our lives, with cafes, day care services and hotels springing up to meet their needs. If you are travelling with your dog, it is important to plan ahead – preparing your pet for the experience may take some time. Use these handy hints to make your pet travel story a positive one. Continue reading Dogs on tour: top tips for travelling with pets →

If you have a new hospitality business, your main marketing tool is the internet; however, internet users and consumers are a lot more sophisticated than they used to be and it is no longer enough to simply place an advert. Your business needs to have a personality and a presence, so here are our top tips on how to market your hospitality business. Continue reading Top marketing tips for hospitality industry startups →

If you are a social media manager, take a vested interest in social networks, or simply have an account on one of the popular networks profile you will have no doubt heard about the privacy scandal surrounding Facebook. This centred around personal data entered on one’s Facebook profile which was being made available without users being aware. Facebook managed avoid legal action on grounds of privacy invasion because their privacy settings are ultimately transparent, if misleading. Continue reading Beyond Privacy: Are Facebook and Google Spying on Us? →