Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 67

Marketing maven, Tegan Addinsall, a senior marketing manager at Marketing Eye Melbourne came blasting through the front door of the office today with the biggest smile on her face. It was 7.30am in the morning, and although I was at work, I hadn't even put my makeup on and certainly hadn't finished my first cup of coffee.

"I love my job!" proclaimed Tegan. And indeed she does. Every day she comes to work with the biggest smile on her face. She is incredibly smart, and knows her "stuff" better than most. Sometimes annoyingly, she smiles and laughs so much that I want to hit her over the head with a book, so she can come down to my level (not really!).

We've all been in love at some stage in our lives and as St Valentine's Day approaches, it gives those with a romantic bone in their body, something to think about.

Over the years, I have been with some of the most romantic men imaginable. St Valentine's Day has been filled with surprises, flowers, love notes, jewellery, surprise holidays, art and above all - love.

In the past couple of years, it's been no secret that perhaps the one thing I want most in life, is a little harder to get than the rest of my bucket list. In fact, it seems to be the only thing that really eludes me.

I sat in my office and looked up on the wall. 

As I read each of my team members three (3) goals that each of them wrote down for the next two (2) years - I felt proud. Of the three, each of them have one crossed off as of February 1, 2014. What an achievement. I feel blessed that as a team, we were able to achieve this for them and they did it all within 3 months.

Then I looked at mine.

The other day, a few of us from the Marketing Eye team were at a client meeting and they mentioned that they buy all of their employees an ipad for Christmas.

You should have seen my employees faces! They were green with envy. It was as if they had all been given ferraris.

I thought to myself, "that's really cool" but not for a second did I think that they received something worth more than what my employees in Atlanta received. Perception is an unbelievable thing and more and more, companies are being encouraged to "buy" their employees happiness.

Many new age companies, with venture-backed operations offer:

When a business starts a new calendar year with have a business strategy in place, supported by a sales and marketing plan - CEO's expect results.

But what if the results are not forthcoming? What if key people have read the strategy yet are not "making it happen"? As we near the end of January, many companies are realizing that targets are not being met, and while some may scratch their heads, the real leaders are taking action.

It's a strange phenomena to think that we have two sides of our brain that decipher information in two inherently different ways.

The left side is logical, analytical and objective, whereas the right side is intuitive, thoughtful and subjective. With the latter being the one credited to creativity; some of us are fortunate enough to play in a creative field where idea generation, designs and looking to the future are all part of the parcel.

I get it... women have been left to the way-side in corporate and in life for many years, and now they are in a time where they can shine and take center stage with all the fanfare attached.

However, are we really that desperate to blow our own trumpets? Do we really think we are better than men? Do we really need to be all over the media saying how wonderful we are or at least think we are - just because we are women?

I am a woman and feel incredibly fortunate that I was born this way. In fact, rather than shed a tear for the glass ceiling, I am swinging from the rooftops thanking everyone who cares to listen for the fact that I am a woman and have been given many more advantages as such than my male counterparts.

First day back in Atlanta and I am excited! I cannot express to you how much I love my US team and how inspirational each and every one of them are.

It's been a phenomenal journey, one full of great surprises, obstacles that were easier than expected to overcome and an incredible amount of love and support that has led Marketing Eye's success.

Like all bosses that are a nuisance, I asked for a photograph of a couple of my team members who were sitting in a meeting with me this morning. They are quite use to it - as they know that nothing makes me more happy than to take their pictures and share it with the world.

This year is going to be great. Actually, better than great - it is going to be awesome!

I started the morning with a "pep talk". There are a few changes that need to be implemented and sadly, I have to divide my time more evenly with Australia, so I won't be here so much. 

It's that time of year where companies are back hiring new recruits.

As someone who is always too busy, I have left the on-boarding to our previous CEO and Area Managers, with my role being minimal other than an introduction.

However, like most entrepreneurs, January is a time to re-think your business in every way; finance, recruitment, human resources, marketing, sales, products/services etc.

This has given me an opportunity to see just what is going on and I have to say, we have some gaps. As a marketing and communications based company, Marketing Eye plays a pivotal role in communicating a company's brand and culture to employees of our clients. We develop and design on-boarding manuals, podcasts, corporate videos and interactive presentations on the company, people and history.

What I have realized is that we are not dissimilar to a mechanic who never finds time to fix their own car. 

With that, off came the gloves and I rolled up my sleeves to have a better insight into our on-boarding processes. 

Here are some clever best practices that we teach our clients and implement on their behalf:

THE INTERVIEW

• When writing an advertisement for a position, include a link to your website which talks about the company culture and the type of person that will fit in. This is great for the applicant and even better for your company as it sends people to your website and drives traffic and engagement.
• Ask applicants to like your company on social media. If they don't want to do this, then they are definitely NOT interested in your brand, culture or the future promotion of your company - so strike them immediately off the list.
• When an applicant comes for an interview, ensure that someone from your team rings them the day before, introduces themselves and talks to them about a normal day in the office. It's a great way to give the applicant an idea what it is like to work for your company and also shares with them an insight into the culture and type of people that they need to fit in with.
• Do something clever to get the applicant to remember your company like sending them an inspirational email with a famous quote. Ensure that it is written on a picture to give your brand  a "lift"
• On arrival at the interview, give them an iPad with a presentation and video of what it is like to work for your company and what type of people perform best. 
• In the interview, present your company like you would present the company to a client. Then ask for the applicant to talk about themselves; share insights that do not come across clearly in their CV's and ask them to explain why they think that they would be a good fit.
• When they leave, give them a company brochure and any literature related to your company that may be of benefit to them.