Cairns businesses and not-for-profit/community groups jumped at the chance last month to join free information sessions about making the most of the internet.

Two sessions called “Creating a website” were provided free of charge by Dive into Digital through the Australian Government’s Digital Enterprise Program (DEP) and both were booked out.

However we have another free session on February 11 at 5pm in Cairns so for anyone who missed out, you have another chance! Participants received practical tips for getting their organisation online and looked at things like how to buy a web address, develop web content and build, promote and maintain a website.

We’re also running another free session earlier in the day called “Marketing Tips” which includes the use of social media to create interest in your organisation. This is a popular topic because we talk about using Facebook and there are always lots of great questions from the audience.

Participants at either of these sessions may then be eligible for up to 4 hours free one-on-one followup mentoring sessions at their place of work/organisation.

Both sessions will be held at the ARC Disability Services Building in Manunda on Tuesday February 11; “Marketing tips” is at 9am-11am and “Creating a website” at 5pm-7pm. (Please note the sessions are on TUESDAY Feb 11; an incorrect day was given in the previous issue of SPLASH - don't you just hate that!).

Places are limited; visit http://bit.ly/DEPsessions to register for your free session or email info@diveintodigital.com.au or call 0422902664 for more information.

Many people I talk to are interested in building up their reputations in their business or area of expertise through blogging. You can establish yourself as a trusted and generous source of information about your business or cause by putting fingers to keyboard and creating good content to feed through your website, email newsletters and social media channels, with the added bonus of improving your search engine rankings. Bianca Board provides a great article about blogging via the Australian Business Women's Network.

Love coffee? Got some new apps to talk about? Want to know more about the digital economy? Then come to our Dive into Digital Coffee Chat -

Wednesday 12th February at 8:30am at Caffiend 
(5 Grafton Street Cairns).

An informal opportunity for business owners, self-confessed tech heads and geeks, interested others to get together and talk about the latest apps, the way businesses are adapting to the digital tools available, what’s coming up for us all with the roll out of fast broadband in the Cairns region - All welcome! 

Get ready to remember your PIN at point of sale - as of 1 August 2014, Australian credit and debit card users will no longer be able to sign for purchases.

See this article from Stephanie Zillman in Dynamic Business

According to Matthew White writing for Flying Solo, more people use social media as a highly influential and trustworthy forum to find product reviews from friends and even complete strangers. But bad reviews are equally, if not more influential, so it’s worth going above and beyond every time to create happy customers Read more at Flying Solo.

There's been a lot said lately about 2014 being the year of 'JOMO' - the joy of missing out. This is a backlash against FOMO - the 'fear of missing out' which sees some people glued to their smartphones in constant fear of missing a social opportunity.

In this article in the Huffpost, Poorna Bell quotes author Danny Penman as saying "...social media can take over your life...As a result, it’s a genuine joy to 'miss out’ because you’re getting your life back and not losing anything at all."