News from the upside!
Welcome to The Upside, your destination for uplifting stories and positive news from around the country. In a world often filled with challenging headlines, we aim to bring a refreshing perspective by celebrating the inspiring moments, acts of kindness, and achievements that showcase the best of New Zealand. From heartwarming community efforts to breakthrough innovations,The Upside is dedicated to spreading optimism and highlighting the bright side of life. Let’s shine a light on the good happening all around us!
Christmas Rules, Inspirational Kiwi Comedian, Strong Economic Signs
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Strong signals of brighter economic future Every day at NoCowboys we talk to tradies and business owners up and down...
Cyclist Blitzes Record, Best Amongst Worst, and School Band Amazes
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. The best amongst the worst This week's horrific attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney illustrates the pointless violence...
Stolen Egg Passed, Iconic Car Restored, and Amazing Generosity
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Stolen egg passed in custody What are the odds? Last week we ran a story about a Faberge egg that was looking to reach...
Surprise Visitor, World’s Costliest Egg, and Team Smash Charity Record
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Seal visits pub Last weekend a pub in Richmond at the top of the South Island had a rather surprising visitor. Sprig +...
Charitable Athletes, Cross Returned, and Amazing Wrestler
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Cross from burned church returned 44 years later In 1981 a fire destroyed 87-year-old St Patrick’s Catholic Church in...
Amazing Discovery, Titanic Watch For Auction and Work Performed After 300 Years
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Amazing discovery on Otago beach The most incredible and rare things can be found on beaches and one New Zealander has...
Michelin Visits NZ, Fedora Man Revealed and Kiwi Legend Recognised
Michelin stars on horizon for Kiwi diners For the first time in Oceania, Michelin inspectors are dining anonymously throughout the country and possible stars may be awarded to Kiwi eateries for a guide to be released next year. When I read this story, it surprised me...
Well Travelled Surfboard and All Black and Fan’s Friendship
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. World Cup medal connects player and fan This is a rather special story concerning a Rugby World Cup final, an All...
Nonu Breaking Records and MPs In Car-alition
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Four MPs in a car-alition The fighting, name calling, and turmoil that often dominates our parliament is very often...
Bystander Saves Boy and Strangers On A Plane
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Hero bystander Being a part of a society sometimes requires us to do difficult things and oftentimes the danger of...
OCR Cut, Clever Cat Burglar, and World Record Cyclist
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. OCR cut cause for optimism On Wednesday the Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points to 2.5%,...
Father and Son Moment and Fantastic Singer of National Anthem
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Father surprises son at All Blacks test Before last week's test kicked off between the All Blacks and Australia at...
Incredibly Generous Builder and Stupendous Toy Collection
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Builder saves couple's dream After losing nearly $100,000 in deposits to a building company that entered into...
Picking a restaurant because of a negative review
Earlier this year I was in Christchurch and was looking for a diner to eat breakfast at. Christchurch has a number of great breakfast diners and I wanted to find one I hadn’t been to before. So, I Googled it and there were a few options – all not too far away and all...
Marketing a reputation in boom times and bust
Marketing is a vital element to every business’ success and viability. Like other essentials, it needs to be nurtured and more importantly – it requires a commitment – to ensure that a business’ name, brand, and services are continually present where they are most...
Are our phones making us a better species?
It’s strange that we still call them mobile phones. Using them as a device to make actual ‘phone calls’ is the very smallest part of their function and use. In reality they are extensions, connections to nearly any sort of information at any time – only hindered by...
Creating space around the home
Now that Daylight Savings is here and we have an extra hour of evening light up our sleeves, it’s a great time to think about making sure that our homes are ready for all of the glories of long, balmy summer days. Think about pruning what you don’t need Just like with...
Heroic 13 Year Old, Fastest Man Alive, and Kiwi Teen Runner Breaks Record
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Teen runner blitzes record Ever since Roger Bannister broke the for minute mile in 1954, athletes all over the world...
We can’t afford to mess with the truth
No matter which country you live in some things stay the same – the professions that top off the lists of most distrusted professions. Across the board it is politicians and journalists that take top spots (or bottom spots) in polls regarding trust and reputation....
Google it . . .
Not so long ago there were a number of search engines competing for consumers’ attention. Today that’s not the case and one search engine holds a solid monopoly – so much so that its name is now the popular terminology for online searching. Want to know the time in...
125 years – and the fight goes on
This week marks a special milestone in New Zealand history – 125 years since women were granted the right to vote. While it may seem ludicrous now that there was ever a time that women needed to fight so hard and for so long to be granted a fundamental right that men...
Losing keeps winners winning
By virtue of its phenomenal ratio of wins against losses and draws, the All Blacks are the most successful team in sports. The New Zealand rugby public has become so used to their national team beating other nations in test matches that losses are considered too much...
When tarnishing a reputation isn’t the right thing to do
In the history of All Blacks rugby it’s harder to find a more hard done by player than Keith Murdoch. His dismissal while on tour in the UK in 1972 for punching a security guard at a hotel in Cardiff is remarkable, not only for the severity of the punishment he...
Record Breaking Toddler, Death Defying Climber, and Sailor On Cusp of Historic Feat
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Toddler sinks Guinness records Snooker is a difficult game, made easier by a tonne of practice but one wee fella in...
The dangers of relying on word of mouth alone
For a while I have been thinking about one of the more remarkable statistics about online reviews that has been steadily increasing in the past few years. I thought about it again after reading a news story about a roofer in Dunedin who has allegedly done a runner and...
We’re all going to Bonnie Doon!!
About eight years ago I had to attend a conference in Sydney and after booking a fare looked online for accommodation. I searched by location and made my choice on price. So long as I was close enough to the venue and the price was right, then I was happy, or so I...
There’s a sucker born every minute . . .
In a case of life mirroring fiction, a recent insidious email scam bears some striking resemblances to an episode of UK TV show Black Mirror, where a visitor to online porn sites is blackmailed and coerced into undertaking a number of criminal activities to supposedly...
Online reviews are tangible goodwill for a business
A recent news story about a campground operator in Gore, Southland got me thinking about online reviews, goodwill, and word of mouth. The traditional method of spreading goodwill about a business was analogue and worked perfectly well in the pre-digital age. One...
Smart Cow, Finding Da Vinci’s DNA, and Oldest Cave Art
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Oldest cave art discovered Beating the oldest example of human hand painting by 1,100 years, a recent discovery in a...
Forging a new reputation
A renowned writer once famously wrote that there's no such thing as a second act in American lives - meaning that it's not possible to change, to reinvent, to forge a new path. F Scott Fitzgerald's epigram isn't a truism and wasn't intended to be. Reinvention is part...
How the game is played matters most of all
Every four years the most watched sport on the planet serves up a carnival that decides which nation's team wins the FIFA World Cup. In just over four weeks, 32 teams get whittled down to one and along the way there is all the drama, beauty, desperation, and...
Online reviews take new business from zero to market player in 18 months
I speak to thousands of business owners each year – from sole traders with a crew of one - doing everything from the actual work, the invoicing, the quoting, the tax, the marketing, the bookkeeping, the advertising and everything else involved with running a business,...
Online reviews are a sure sign of a proactive business
One of the facets of being successful in business is adhering to the principle of proactivity – staying ahead of the game, being prepared, having plans and strategies in place to ensure that when anything happens there is a solution to take care of it. Oddly enough,...
Reviews and The Consumer Guarantees Act – know your rights
Nobody likes being taken for a ride, being sold misleading or faulty goods, or paying for services that aren't up to scratch. It is well worth knowing your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) 1993, not only for when things go wrong but also in instances...
Wandering Sheep, New Christchurch Supermarket, and First Superman Comic Auctioned
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. New supermarket takes off Offering lower prices and giving consumers a choice over the supermarket duopoly in New...
Ingenious ways to transform shipping containers into luxury homes
You can create a beautiful, relatively low-cost shipping container home simply by adding a touch of luxury to a shipping container. If you have decided that you would prefer a shipping container home rather than a small house with basic insulation, these ingenious...
Turning customer databases into more sales through direct marketing
In the second part of a series on how to increase profitability by a number of simple and cost-effective methods, we take a look ways of harnessing the value and power of a customer database. No matter the size of a business, there will be details of hundreds or even...
Small steps to increase profitability
Businesses are always looking for ways to increase profit and in this series we will be offering some tips on ways to do exactly that - without having to invest much at all. These pointers involve doing little things, that will steadily grow the bottom line. How to...
Feeling gravity’s pull – the power of online reviews
Push and pull - the connection between a business and its hoped for customers. What fills the gap? What drives one toward the other? What are the most effective and easiest ways to ensure customers are actively drawn toward a business as opposed to being reached out...
Adventurous Kākā, Street Signs Amuse, and Ancient Artefacts Discovered
Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer. Street signs lift the spirits Just before Christmas, six signs in inner city Christchurch caused a bit of confusion...
It takes real leadership to protect reputations
Reputations are organic and fluid. They can be made, unmade, and made again. But it takes real leadership in a crisis to make or break a reputation. A great case in point is the recent Australian cricket cheating scandal. Even if you don't know much about the...
Customer reviews – invaluable market research for every business
Customers are everything to a business. Not only do they generate revenue - happy customers will keep coming back and create a growing customer base through word-of-mouth and by contributing online reviews. But those reviews are far more than just markers of...
Protecting a reputation is all about honesty and transparency
If ever we needed guidance on how to deal with a reputation crisis, KFC's marketing department in the UK recently delivered an ingenious response to a potentially damaging logistics failure, that left many of KFC's 870 restaurants without their key ingredient -...
Online reviews go hand in hand with the evolution of the internet
It is worth remembering just how much the internet has changed how we do business and has radically altered consumer behaviour. Knowing how much it has revolutionised interactions and exchanges is key to increasing business and understanding consumers. Not so long ago...
Preparation is key to keep your home safe in bad weather
Kiwi summers aren't just about long periods of hot weather - because we are in the South Pacific, we are also susceptible to tropical storms. Whenever there are warnings of the possibility of severe weather events, it makes good sense to be prepared. Some great tips...
Taking control of a negative online reputation
A negative online reputation cannot be ignored. While a good reputation will attract customers and establish a business' future through boom times and bust, a bad reputation will do nothing but harm. But there is nothing to stop a business owner avoiding any future...
What are consumers biggest complaints?
In business it's critical to build a customer base while holding on to existing ones. Knowing what consumers are looking for in every transaction is a vital part of ensuring your business stays healthy and thrives. The most successful businesses do a number of things...
What’s the point of authenticating online reviews?
So here you are – you’ve just had a business finish up a job for you, and they’ve asked you to leave them a review on NoCowboys. You have a spare minute to do so, and the feedback will be beneficial to both the business and future consumers, so why not? You enter your...