If you’ve been wondering what’s been going on here at “Maximum Results Copywriting” with the blog…

…lack of posting, posts disappearing etc…

…well unfortunately the site got hacked.

If you found your browser being hijacked and directed away to another site…

…or you were alerted to a virus threat…

…many apologies.

After being alerted to the problem I investigated ways to solve the issue.  Not being terribly tech savvy, in the end the easiest thing to do was completely “Nuke” the site and start again.

So, I’ve been reinstalling everything…

…plus trying to make sure that site security is improved.

The one saving grace to all of this is that at least I had a clean backup of data.  Unfortunately it wasn’t totally up to date…

…hence the “lost” posts.

Once again, apologies for any problems…

…and normal service will be resumed shortly!

As you will probably have noticed (unless you’re new to this blog…in which case a warm “Welcome!”)…

…there’s a whole new look to the place!

I finally decided to bite the bullet…

…and get myself a premium theme for the blog.

I’d been thinking about this for a while, both for aesthetic reasons and to improve functionality.

Problem is there are a lot of great themes out there, many of them free, so I ended up paralysed by indecision.

Fortuitously…

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As well as being “Australia Day”, today is also Chinese New Year, Korean New Year, Tet in Vietnam and Republic Day in India.

In the Chinese calendar, this is the Year Of The Ox.  According to Wikipedia, the Ox represents prosperity through fortitude and hard work.  Sounds like that could be very appropriate for the year ahead!

May I wish you “Kung Hei Fat Choi”  (“Best Wishes And Be Prosperous”)!

…if you’re in Australia (and I guess there’s no reason why everyone else can’t join in the spirit of the day!).

The anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, this is a day of barbecues, family get-togethers, fireworks and celebrations of all things Australian.

Originally, I was not terribly impressed with the words of the Australian National Anthem.  But over the years, “Advance Australia Fair” has grown on me.

So here it is, in full…

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…Happy Holidays!

Whatever you’re doing today, best wishes to you, your family, friends and associates.

Hope Santa was good to you and have a wonderful day!

…in today’s UK “Daily Telegraph” I notice that the movie “Mama Mia!” has just become the biggest grossing movie at the UK box office of all time (passing “Titanic” and “Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone”.

So how does this fit in to our ongoing discussion about movies and what they say about the social mood?

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One of the guiding principles of Direct Response Marketing and Copywriting is to listen to your audience and get feedback where possible.

I’ve just added this blog to “Blog Catalog” and over in the left hand column (sidebar) you’ll see a little button with “Rate My Blog”.

It will take just 2 clicks to give your opinion and I would welcome your feedback.

(Re the rating scale, 1= “Kev, this is terrible!” to 5 = “Kev, this is the best!”)

And if you have the time to leave a comment, that would be much appreciated.

I’m interested to know what sort of topics and posts you find most interesting and useful.  For example, what do you think about the “Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” series of posts?

Today (Sunday Sep 7) is Father’s Day down here in Australia.

Have a great day Fathers everywhere and a big “Thank You” (to Mums as well)!

Today (Sunday, 15 June) is Father’s Day in many countries (including the UK, USA, Canada and many others.  Interestingly (to me, anyway!) down here in Australia (and New Zealand) Father’s Day is celebrated later in the year on the first Sunday of September.

According to Wikipedia, the first modern Father’s Day celebration was on  July 5, 1908 in Fairmont West Virginia.  The origins are unclear.  It’s variously suggested that the first Father’s Day was a church service memorial for local men who died in a mine accident or as a natural complement to Mother’s Day.

Of course, many cultures have had festivals or holidays to celebrate the Masculine Spirit.  One interesting one is in Germany where they have Mannertag (or “Men’s Day”) where guys get together and do all sorts of blokey things like pulling wagons around, drinking beer and eating sausage.  Most excellent dude!

In the USA, Father’s Day was officially recognized as a holiday (celebrated on the third Sunday in June) in 1972.

IBISWorld estimates that Americans will spend US$11 billion on Father’s Day gifts in 2008.  This is about US$7 billion less than spending for Mother’s Day.

For me, Father’s Day is always a little sad.  My own father passed away about 9 years ago.  Regardless of that, a big “Thank You” and “Happy Father’s Day” to Dads everywhere!