Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 39

A good friend of mine recently was branded a "washed up, has been - too old for the business" by a young twenty-something man who thought that he would be able to tarnish her reputation in the PR field and perhaps gain some of her clients.

When hearing this story, which goes beyond what I have just written and focuses heavily on the fact that she is a woman, I find myself compelled to re-educate anyone around me that believes that this behaviour and thought-process is acceptable.

The pressure of growing your business is insurmountable with the number of areas that each business has to consider.

As a company, Marketing Eye has been a company who believes that growth is imperative to keep employees engaged, stay ahead of the curve and invest in areas such as innovation and technology – but this is all not easily funded.

I came across a company recently that sparked my attention: Kabbage.

Life has many twists and turns and you never know what is around the corner. 

Marketing Managers want to be at the table when business decisions are being made. They, by sheer title, believe that they are being largely ignored over Sales Manager who bring dollars to the table and other senior management team members including technology. 

With planning on the agenda this week and new hires, it has become apparent that we have to look closely at the past to ensure that our business goes into the future with it's best foot forward.

I'm in heavy business planning stage right now and I am looking for a lot of growth and development within our business. Our products need further development before August, and our APP must be finished for our clients, licensees and employees so that training and development as well as the marketing dashboard is at their fingertips.

I'm a strong believer in technology and how it powers performance. I don't hide behind the fact that I believe that marketing needs to reinvent itself and allow robots in, while still maintaining the personal touch. It's a hard combo and no-one really has it right. Marketing automation was supposed to solve this problem but there is no program yet on the market that actually does this well enough.

The human touch is still over-needed.

To keep abreast of what is going on in our industry and to maintain our position of leadership, we are working more on innovation and technology, while teaching new staff, new ways in which they can work to better perform for clients.

A catalyst for this is change is needed every year in a growing progressive company. You can't deliver upon continual growth at the rate we are aiming for without making sure you are a step ahead of the market - always.

People buy-in is instrumental and at my own fault I have sometimes forgotten that inclusion when I have impulsively developed a new or innovative process. Fairly stereo typical of an entrepreneur who is creative, but not acceptable and sustainable.

If your business hasn't:

Developed a business plan for 2016/17
Developed a marketing strategy that is not the same as last year, for 2016/17
Audited your processes for constant improvement across all areas
Set  your sales goals and ensured all team members are across them
Invested in people management, development and growth allowing adequate budget for the year
Made innovation your number one motivator for staying on top
Bought a copy of Gazelle's and completed the two page template and shared with your team

July is the start of a new financial year and as a company, we have put a strategy in place to build the business further over the next 12 months and open in new markets to expand our reach.

I'd be lying if I said that there weren't quite a few things that have held me back as an entrepreneur, and been the catalyst to 'not being an overnight success story'. 

After 17 years in business, I have created my dream job. I work for no-one. I answer to no-one. I go to work everyday with enthusiasm because I don't have to go to work - I just love every single bit about my job.

For all of Australia and New Zealand, we have just started a new financial year. Companies that are strategic and have long-term goals, often already have a marketing plan in place, while other's may have been busy getting their last set of figures in for the year, and missed doing the planning that is necessary to catapult their businesses in 2016/17.

It's raining outside and our whole Melbourne team is meant to be playing tennis as a team bonding session. 

A few of us are not so sure, mainly because we are women and we have things to go to after work which require our hair to be "beautiful". Rain is not conducive of that.

Randomly, I pick up two tennis rackets from my office and a whole heap of balls and then grab Lisa O'Keeffe, and we start playing tennis in the middle of the office. Firstly, you have to have an office big enough - which we have, and secondly, you have to be prepared for anything to happen. Broken computer screens, lights, dints in walls, people being hit - in general chaos. But what is the worse that can happen? Someone gets hurt? How hurt would you become from a tennis ball? I pinch of pain never hurt anyone, or at least that is what we all agreed.

Turning your business into an overnight success is near impossible unless you consider Whatsapp or the few freaky businesses that come through the cracks.