To many of you, this may come across as a pointless question. However, in an admittedly unscientific poll by Google, only 8 percent of people could accurately explain what a web browser actually is. So Google has created a web site that explains what a browser is and how to optimize the one you’re using….
I saw earlier today that PADI announced the formal agreement between PADI and the Boy Scouts of America. If you are a PADI professional, it’s time to get to work on this beautifully captive market. To those of you who have already been working with Boy Scouts, you are the leaders! SCUBA Diving Most Proposed…
Recently, the PADI Instructor News blog mentioned managing your reputation on Yelp. Between the abundant user reviews in my location, an easy to use interface and their incredible iPhone application, I have been sold on Yelp for several years. If you haven’t been to Yelp, be sure to check it out (after you’re done reading…
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you know someone who has battled breast cancer or not, the numbers are startling: one in eight women (and one in a thousand men) will be diagnosed with breast cancer and of those, 23% will not survive. I am proud to say that several incredible women I…
No offense to Ocean Reef (I’ve used their SCUBA gear in the past and been impressed and I’d love to try their SDVL), but I personally strongly dislike the concept of their new Underwater Cellular Phone. The concept is that, using one of their SCUBA diving full face masks and a surface-buoy tether system, you can…
According to a study by Forrester Consulting, “Only 32 percent of marketers know how customers behave across channels and only 37 percent know what channels their customers prefer to use.” Some other interesting tidbits from the study: 92% of online consumers have opted-in for email marketing, making it the most popular channel for permission-based promotional…
Just a couple of quick SCUBA diving related news updates: In my article yesterday about PADI announcing professional renewal pricing and choosing to not send a CD-based SCUBA Instructor Manual (which I like), I mentioned that the auto-renewal pricing was higher than regular online renewal. Megan Denny at PADI emailed me to let me know…
PADI recently announced the new instructor renewal pricing, which (aside from paying more on auto-renew) I think is great. The best part is their distribution of the new Instructor Manual as well. In the past, as a PADI SCUBA instructor, you had a few choices when it came to your instructor manual: Hand-modify your manual with the…
Back in August, SDI announced they now offer Divemaster online. Although I have grown up on and thoroughly enjoy the Internet, I have to stop to ponder how much online interaction is too much. Quality As an instructor who has trained and certified quite a few Divemasters (and heck, was even one myself for a…
I still get into chats with people who don’t think all this Internet technology stuff will “catch on”. This is a great video from The Economist that goes over some incredible stats regarding Internet usage that every business owner should really pay attention to. The idea that mobile Internet usage will be the majority method…