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!
Reviews are the essential piece of the puzzle
Over the past month I've been planing an overseas trip and whilst all of it has been done online, I have found myself occasionally drifting into the occasional desire to actually speak to a human being, like one would have done in the not too distant past. What I...
Want to refer a great business? We make that so simple
Since NoCowboys began in 2006 our focus has been providing the best information for Kiwis to make informed choices before commissioning a business or tradie and now you can share your favourite businesses with family, friends, acquaintances, or, well anybody really!...
Why do we leave feedback?
Each year a company in the US publishes the results of an annual survey examining online reviews and consumer behaviour. It's always a fascinating read and it continues to affirm how essential reviews are to consumers making online purchasing decisions. This year's...
We are not all leaders but not all of us know that
Following the deadly climate event unleashed upon Auckland and current mayor, Wayne Brown's much criticised leadership 'performance' I have been thinking about leadership, leaders, and the people who are incredibly good at leading and those who, well, aren't. In doing...
Tune out, turn off, drop out – how to remove online anger
There's been a lot of discussion about online abuse in the past week, since the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern resigned and it is a sobering reminder of what online is, what it could be, and what it shouldn't be. It's important to remember that online is a human...
What are NoCowboys points of difference?
We didn't invent online reviews but we did pioneer their use and acceptance here in New Zealand and our platform is not only respected but trusted. We keep improving our services to keep in step with online developments so that Kiwis can choose the best tradespeople...
What to look for in online reviews
Every now and again we will get enquiries from Kiwis using our site or seeing NoCowboys reviews online. I thought it would be useful to point out a few important factors about online reviews and ours, in particular, to make the process of reading them easier. How are...
A little less conversation, a little more action, please
Around this time of year there is the usual slew of summaries of the worst and the best of the preceding twelve months - movies, TV shows, albums, political events, sporting successes, personal glories or failures. They tend to segue seamlessly into the obligatory New...
A cautionary tale – read the reviews first!
If ever you needed to be reminded to read the reviews before taking on a business to do work for you, a recent story on www.stuff.co.nz puts it into full focus. Christchurch business, Saxon Appliances is closing its doors after many years in business and Stuff...
Growing your own food – win win!
I grew up in a New Zealand where practically every home had a garden that supplied a healthy and consistent crop of fruit and vegetables. Gardening was not a hobby but an accepted necessity and now as we find ourselves subject to the financial squeeze brought on by...
Processing criticism leads to productive outcomes, if handled properly
We've all experienced criticism, it's part and parcel of human interaction but it's worth noting that there are stages of processing that feedback and how it is a journey toward resolution and something more valuable - acceptance. A recent article by Esther Bintliff...
Stay safe when shopping online
Online shopping is not even the new normal - it's just the normal. The past few years of the Covid pandemic has further increased consumer online spending to the degree whereby consumer behaviour has radically shifted. That means it pays to heed a few tips and...
Plasterboard supply chaos easing
The plasterboard supply debacle that has hindered the building industry and caused needless delays is slowly dissipating, signalling good news for Kiwi builders and consumers. As reported by Nicholas Pointon in RNZ this week, "The plasterboard shortage has eased...
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...
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...
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...
Vector has a way to go to restore its reputation after storm disables network
It was either Oscar Wilde or Donald Trump who said you never really appreciate a thing until it’s gone. For the past week, over half of Auckland's homes have had their power supply disrupted by a vicious storm that hit the region for six. A lot of people got to...
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...
How online reviews help increase SEO
Some people think of it as the holly grail, some people know all the ways of making the most of it, and some people don't really understand it at all, but SEO - (Search Engine Optimisation) is not overly difficult to comprehend and there are lots of ways that you can...
Taking care of your house in the summer
If you want to make sure that your house in is in the best condition possible, then every season there are particular things that need your attention and summer is no different. We've trawled through a number of excellent articles online you give you some fantastic...
Stay in control by encouraging feedback for your business
When 97 percent of consumers are going online to find reviews before even considering contacting a business you want to make sure that you have a review strategy in place - and there are more benefits than you could imagine. Often business owners think that they have...
How to spot fake consumer reviews
In life and business, indeed in everything we do, trust is a valued and desired commodity. Now that reviews are part and parcel of consumer choice online, it's worth knowing that not all reviews are the same and that some sites do not monitor or remove suspect and...
Top tips for getting the most out of your summer garden
Summer is a fantastic time for gardens - fruit trees bursting with sweet, juicy nectarines, peaches and apples, the vege garden and vines filled with seasonal produce. It's the best time of the year for being in the garden too - sitting on the deck with an umbrella...
The 5 best ways to get your business seen online for 2018
Every business wants to be seen where everyone is looking – that’s been the basis of marketing since shop owners in ancient Greece and Rome daubed messages about their businesses on what were the equivalent of modern day billboards. Even back then – word of mouth was...
Some great tips for New Year resolutions
Human beings are always changing, striving, seeking to improve and adapt. It's part of our DNA. Like Christmas, New Year is rife with traditions and one of the greatest is creating resolutions to meet the upcoming year head on. With origins stretching back to the...
Keep your home safe and secure while you’re on holiday
Christmas and New Year are the main holiday times for Kiwis - going camping, road tripping, visiting family and friends, or travelling overseas - but it's also the time when we leave our homes unattended. With a little bit of attention and effort, it's possible to...
Word of mouth isn’t enough if you don’t have online reviews
Back in the day we put a listing in the Yellow Pages, chucked the odd flyer through letterboxes and relied on satisfied customers spreading the good message through word of mouth. That was fine then because that was before the internet exploded and became a necessity...
The Kiwi Christmas tree
We may not get snow and a roaring fire like those in the Northern Hemisphere but a Christmas at the height of summer is made all the better by the Kiwi Christmas tree in bloom. We are blessed with so many beautiful and majestic native tress but the Pohutukawa is a...
A few tips on how to look after your Christmas tree
One of the best things about Christmas is a beautiful tree adorned with decorations but it's worth knowing that trees - real and fake - can also be a fire hazard. There's also a few ways of ensuring a tree lasts longer and is in tip -top condition. Here's a few tips...
Reviews tell a story – don’t just look at the numbers
Authenticated reviews are a consumer's best friend when it comes to peace of mind about contacting a business, or not! But it's important to read them and look out for some tell tale signs - here's a few tips. Reviews tell the story of a business - don't just read the...
A further word of warning about scammers
Everybody knows about scammers, fakers, peddlers, and fraudsters. Unfortunately, it's a common feature of the internet. But it's easy to spot and always best to go with your first instinct - if it's suspect - it is. For over a year NoCowboys customers have been...
Increasing the value of your reputation with video reviews
Online consumer reviews can make or break a business. Transparency and immediacy means that consumers want to see reviews before they will make contact with a business. No reviews? Lost customers, and no business can survive if they are not actively marketing...
Consumers are looking for online reviews more than ever before
The latest research by BrightLocal says that more than ever consumers are actively seeking online reviews before deciding which business to contact. The research establishes just how essential an online reputation is for every business, big or small. Since 2011 the...