Thirroul Guru was created in early 2015 by me, “Peter Spencer” I thought the town lacked cohesion and needed to be showcased somehow! The idea was to bring this fabulous town together through a local website, social media & beautiful photographs. A place where people could visit to find out more about Thirroul, the local shops, business services and community events.
The name “Thirroul Guru” was created from the domain extension “.guru”, which I stumbled upon due to other domain names not being available at the time. Which I thought was quite “bold” and catchy at the time but suited what I was about to begin! As you may know, the word “guru” means: “an influential teacher or popular expert”, which I claim not, but I will try my best to showcase this town I love.
Most people who know me know I love photography and have a talent for creating and learning new things, so this challenge would be right down my alley. My working history spans many decades; I initially started in the printing industry, then worked as a professional photographer and ran my own business. But this adventure Thirroul Guru would be for love, not about me or money, the pleasure of meeting people who also share a common interest for this town, whether in business, an individual or part of a community group.
To showcase “Thirroul”, I need a website, not just any website. I created a custom website with help from my friend Tim. I wanted a website full of beautiful photos & up-to-date local information, a website that would bring everything together this town had to offer.
From the beginning, I had underestimated this task; the website involved “hundreds of hours” to create; as you might know, Thirroul has many local businesses, 150+ constantly changing and growing… the content needed to be fresh and accurate to rank in google results. But a website means nothing without a local following social media posts. They must be new and exciting and tell a story to attract a local audience.
Thirroul Guru has been a passion of mine for many years now, and throughout those years, there have been many milestones I have achieved. The “Thirroul Guru Printed Maps” promoting local business and encouraging people always to shop locally was a great success. The first maps were printed in 2016 with support from local Thirroul businesses promoting Thirroul Village Shopping areas, displaying maps at shopfronts and local tourist spots, including the information centres at Bulli Pass & Wollongong. With this success, I continued for many years, releasing two more maps in 2017 and 2019. During this time, I also introduced local stickers for shops & cars & interview many local shop owners’ you can read those stories in my blog titled; “Shop Insights.”
I also pride myself on keeping my website content and photos of shopfronts up-to-date, which is no mere feat considering the number of articles listed on this website.
Over these years as “Thirroul Guru”, there have been many proud moments, but success is only driven by passion and being “one person” can sometimes become overwhelming. Still, life keeps evolving, and new challenges are arising, making me stronger with recent times to reflect. I want to thank everyone who follows me, likes my posts and visit this website; I look forward to what the future may bring.
Kind regards
Peter Spencer – Contact
Read more: about Thirroul