Marketing Entrepreneurship Business Blog for SMB's

Marketing Entrepreneurship Business Blog for SMB's

Date: April 2012 - Page 2

It's not often that a really cool and rewarding job becomes available, but with an exciting company like Marketing Eye expanding into the US - there seems to be an abundance of opportunities.

We are looking for a dynamic, really talented, Marketing Manager who not only can write a strategy, but can implement it with ease. A creative knack to keep our creatives in line would also be super handy, along with a firm understanding of social media, direct marketing, advertising, branding and promotions.
Published in Management
Thursday, 19 April 2012

The future of marketing

Imagine this. You are walking down the street to buy an ice-cream. You are thinking about what ice-cream you want to eat. Five selections come to mind, each with their unique selling proposition and price point. You select. You pay through mind authorisation. You are at the dispenser, and your choice pops out. You open the wrapper and start eating.

Published in Mellissah Smith
When I was younger, things were so much easier. I started my first business, Insomnia, when I was just 25 years old. I didn't have a care in the world and I had way more confidence in my capabilities than what perhaps was a reality. I truly believed that I could do anything, go anywhere and achieve what others may think is unachievable.

As you ride the wave of being an entrepreneur, one thing sticks out. No matter how enthusiastic and positive you are, there is a wave of excitement that at times diminishes. That does not mean that you give up or even want to give up - but it does mean that life is not all a rosy 100% of the time.

After chatting to one of the top Hedge Fund Managers in Australia last week about the state of the economy and where it is heading... I got thinking – is my business recession proof?

 The European market isn’t getting any better and in fact, it is expected to get a lot worse. Greece is battered by recession, debt and now a snow storm and the recession in the Eurozone is one of the deepest recessions on record.

 The US – well that’s another story. But debt levels are higher now than they were in the 1920’s recession. Much higher. No wonder people are stopping their shopping sprees and thinking twice before buying a new set of golf clubs or another pair of Jimmy Choos.

As small business owners, we have a lot to think about. If you are anything like me, I think about what I should do and often only get to do a few things off my list because there is always something else that pops up. Thinking about your business and how equipped it is to survive a further downturn is not only smart, but critical if you want to survive- yet while many of us think about these things, how many of us actually do something about it?

 While over-hyped valuations are still going crazy in the market similar to the dot com boom (Instagram!!), the property and the mining booms – we all know that what goes up must come down. But as small business owners we cannot afford to go down with the economy.

 Here are some things all small business owners should look at:

Ever wondered why you see the same number by coincidence over and over again?

While researches say that it is merely a case that our minds just recognises a number and attunes itself to it, could it really be more than coincidence?

My number is 8. I park always in a carspot that has an 8 in the digits, I feel lucky when it is a date with an 8 in it, any ticket I receive always has an 8 and the address of many places that I go to has an 8 in it.
Published in Mellissah Smith
Once I lost 1000 followers in a day. I quickly looked back at all my Twitter posts only to find that I didn't write anything that was particularly offensive or would warrant this type of dramatic reaction from my followers.

I genuinely thought someone had hacked my account but couldn't understand why. Who would waste that much time deleting followers.

But the culprit was someone I did not suspect. Someone I had a lot of trust in. It was...
It's old news now, but it has me thinking... how realistic is it for the average small business owner to aspire to such great heights?

You would have to have been sleeping under a rock to not know that Facebook has just finalised an acquisition of the 12-man band, Instagram, for a cool price of $1 billion, give or take a few dollars, in shares and cash.
Published in Mellissah Smith
"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere". Lee Iacocca

Many entrepreneurs are 'ideas people' or 'thinkers'. They sit down for breakfast and think about what they can do to change the world, improve their companies and inspire their people. Great ideas are good, but are nothing without being 'seen through'. There are many great entrepreneurs in history who had somewhat peculiar habits, but when it comes to strategy and the workings of how they made wealth and kept it, they each had something in common.

If you look at the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., you would note that while he gave away his money as wisely as he accumulated it, he was incredibly focused. He retired at 35 after accumulating more wealth than anyone in history. He detested ostentation and raised his children as if he were not a wealthy man. He had an obsession with costs and is known for his saying "It's the figures that count". To that point, he recorded in a notebook every cent he ever made. This recording of his monetary status was something that many buddying entrepreneurs would note about Rockefeller, and it certainly gives backbone to what many entrepreneurs may think about doing when it comes to not only accounting for their financial growth but also, documenting their ideas and how they see it through.

Rockefeller once said to a friend while driving on a country road observing a happy boy whilstling and convorting on a beautiful day, "That young man will never be a success in life." When asked why, he replied, "Because he is not thinking of driving his horse, and that his is business."

Rockefeller was a practical man with an abundance of common sense, an activist and a doer, rather than a thinker.

Too many entrepreneurs are thinkers. Not doers. Are you one of them?
"Be careful that the feet you stand on today, don't belong to the legs and arse you have to kiss tomorrow" : Quote from one very wise West Australian.

When I started out working, my friends were all in the same boat. They were starting out their careers too in journalism, advertising, television and marketing. Today, most of them are Directors of News, Television Presenters, Editors and Senior Managers. We all still keep in touch from time to time and support each other whenever and wherever possible.
How often as an entrepreneur do you really get down and get your hands dirty?

There are some things, that no-one else but the entrepreneur in a small business can do. It almost makes them indispensible although we are all trained to think that no-one is this.
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