Driving back from Hilton Head in South Carolina on the weekend, #24yrold asked me what I thought of the new branding for Yahoo! I hadn't given it much thought and had mainly seen press around the rebrand that was negative - aimed directly at Marissa Mayer.
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Marketing Strategy Blog - Page 67
I was recently asked my opinion on what are my thoughts on the election and its effect on small business by veteran journalist Jonathan Jackson.
Here is what I had to say:
"Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy.
There are over two million small businesses in this country, which provide approximately seven million jobs and comprise up to 20 per cent of the national economy.
With a Federal election looming and a new Prime Minister to be appointed (or, in Kevin Rudd’s case, a returning Prime Minister), small business owners will be eagerly and nervously awaiting party platforms that impact them.
I understand the pressure and considerations of running a small business more than most. I founded my first business at age 25, and in 2004 established Marketing Eye, Australia’s leading marketing consultancy firm for small to medium businesses.
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Here is what I had to say:
"Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy.
There are over two million small businesses in this country, which provide approximately seven million jobs and comprise up to 20 per cent of the national economy.
With a Federal election looming and a new Prime Minister to be appointed (or, in Kevin Rudd’s case, a returning Prime Minister), small business owners will be eagerly and nervously awaiting party platforms that impact them.
I understand the pressure and considerations of running a small business more than most. I founded my first business at age 25, and in 2004 established Marketing Eye, Australia’s leading marketing consultancy firm for small to medium businesses.
Late last night, I was watching some episodes of the television show Suits. It is my favourite show on television. I downloaded it from iTunes and watch 3 episodes each night that week and the week after. Unlike most people, I don't normally watch television. In fact, I don't even have one anymore. Instead, I rely on my ipad for entertainment and find that by downloading television shows every now and again it is as much television as I need.
#24yrold downloaded two television series for me. The first was Revenge, and I was so absorbed by it that I couldn't go out for an entire weekend, preferring to watch show after show with my dog by my side.
Then came Suits and I was mesmerized. You see, Harvey Spector and Mike Ross, are the lead characters and my own relationship with my number two in Atlanta is incredibly similar. It's really like looking in the mirror or watching a video of ones' self and seeing so many similarities that you actually learn a bit more about your #2 through a better understanding of the characters.
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#24yrold downloaded two television series for me. The first was Revenge, and I was so absorbed by it that I couldn't go out for an entire weekend, preferring to watch show after show with my dog by my side.
Then came Suits and I was mesmerized. You see, Harvey Spector and Mike Ross, are the lead characters and my own relationship with my number two in Atlanta is incredibly similar. It's really like looking in the mirror or watching a video of ones' self and seeing so many similarities that you actually learn a bit more about your #2 through a better understanding of the characters.
When evaluating the marketing budget of our company, it became apparent that printing was a significant cost. As such, when it came to printing our custom published marketing magazine, it was time to do things a little differently.
At first, my design department sourced quotes. They ranged from $18,000 up to $33,000 for exactly the same product. I was fine with paying $18,000 but not so fine to find my normal printers quotation significantly higher at $33,000. It literally had me stopping in my tracks and evaluating what I was doing and whether it was worth it.
Then, as if someone was looking down on me, a company was referred to Marketing Eye to do some of their marketing. It was an online print automation company that specialises in reducing the cost of printing so that marketing departments can reinvest the savings back into their marketing campaigns. I personally worked on this account because I was interested in seeing what they did differently. In the end, I became as passionate about their business, as they became of ours. On top of that, they saved us 45% of our printing costs.
Today, I thought I would give the founder of this business, Mark Alioto a call to talk about what they do differently at ECM.
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At first, my design department sourced quotes. They ranged from $18,000 up to $33,000 for exactly the same product. I was fine with paying $18,000 but not so fine to find my normal printers quotation significantly higher at $33,000. It literally had me stopping in my tracks and evaluating what I was doing and whether it was worth it.
Then, as if someone was looking down on me, a company was referred to Marketing Eye to do some of their marketing. It was an online print automation company that specialises in reducing the cost of printing so that marketing departments can reinvest the savings back into their marketing campaigns. I personally worked on this account because I was interested in seeing what they did differently. In the end, I became as passionate about their business, as they became of ours. On top of that, they saved us 45% of our printing costs.
Today, I thought I would give the founder of this business, Mark Alioto a call to talk about what they do differently at ECM.
If I could have a dollar for every time I didn't trust my gut instinct, I would be a very rich woman.
Like most entrepreneurs, I have failed more times than I have succeeded and every single time I have failed I have thought back to how I could have done things differently. 9 times out of 10, it was because I didn't trust my gut instinct.
Trusting in yourself and your intuition is important, but if you are anything like me, you second guess what you think you should do and find reasons as to why you should do something a different way. It's not too indifferent from taking a risk. We are all reluctant to take risks but sometimes there is this thing inside us that tells us that we must do it - even though there a thousand reasons why we shouldn't.
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Like most entrepreneurs, I have failed more times than I have succeeded and every single time I have failed I have thought back to how I could have done things differently. 9 times out of 10, it was because I didn't trust my gut instinct.
Trusting in yourself and your intuition is important, but if you are anything like me, you second guess what you think you should do and find reasons as to why you should do something a different way. It's not too indifferent from taking a risk. We are all reluctant to take risks but sometimes there is this thing inside us that tells us that we must do it - even though there a thousand reasons why we shouldn't.
Only in Australia for a few days and I have had the pleasure to sit in on a workshop with a company that started just 16 months ago and has had a phenomenal rate of growth.
The Bond Street Group is a company that provides private and public institutions advice and support in enhancing outcomes through leadership, strategy, people and equity effectiveness. Their team is made up of senior professionals that have excelled in their given fields.
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The Bond Street Group is a company that provides private and public institutions advice and support in enhancing outcomes through leadership, strategy, people and equity effectiveness. Their team is made up of senior professionals that have excelled in their given fields.
A few weeks ago, we met with the delightful Jack Rehm and Karen Larkin of Midsouth Planning in Atlanta. The first thing that struck me about both Jack and Karen is how nice they are. Now, nice isn't a word that many people would like associated with themselves because of the connotations that it has, but its true. They are smart, thoughtful, considerate and nice.
It was a big step for both of them to take to hire a marketing company as it isn't something that they had done before.
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It was a big step for both of them to take to hire a marketing company as it isn't something that they had done before.
"Same bed, but it feels a bit bigger now" is the lyrics in the famous Bruno Mars song "When I was your man". An apt description of Marketing Eye's business expansion into the US market. It's the same company, but its a bit bigger now.
What started out as a step to expand the international footprint of our brand, has taken on a whole new dimension. Australian and America have long been tied and now more so than ever. The ebbs of the economy has led to an opportunity for Australian companies that are geared for expansion to leverage the strength of the Australian dollar, and affordable set up costs in the US market without breaking the bank. The downside, is US dollars are not worth as much, as the dollar loses its grip on parity.
We hit the road running in Atlanta and haven't looked back since.
In just six short months, we have embarked on changing the mindsets of many small businesses in Atlanta, that have been pressured by the Global Financial Crisis and are reluctant to ease their way out and invest in marketing.
As we know, many companies that increased their investment in marketing during this period grew significantly. It's just like when everyone is walking one way and you are walking the other. You all of a sudden stand out and people take notice of you. If they like what they see, then you make connections.
The past few months, we have been working with one of the most impressive companies in the US - Accretive Solutions. They provide consulting, staffing and outsourcing solutions to companies and have 11 offices throughout the country.
What impresses me most about Accretive Solutions is their people. If you ask any of their clients, they all say that it's their people that set Accretive Solutions apart from competitors. They don't hire juniors, and instead invest in people with experience and passion for doing challenging, interesting work.
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In just six short months, we have embarked on changing the mindsets of many small businesses in Atlanta, that have been pressured by the Global Financial Crisis and are reluctant to ease their way out and invest in marketing.
As we know, many companies that increased their investment in marketing during this period grew significantly. It's just like when everyone is walking one way and you are walking the other. You all of a sudden stand out and people take notice of you. If they like what they see, then you make connections.
The past few months, we have been working with one of the most impressive companies in the US - Accretive Solutions. They provide consulting, staffing and outsourcing solutions to companies and have 11 offices throughout the country.
What impresses me most about Accretive Solutions is their people. If you ask any of their clients, they all say that it's their people that set Accretive Solutions apart from competitors. They don't hire juniors, and instead invest in people with experience and passion for doing challenging, interesting work.
40. It's not exactly something that I have been looking forward to, but without realizing it, it is almost here.
My friends keep telling me that "life begins at 40". To be brutally honest, I am not so sure. How can someone think that is the case, when in your 20's you made all your mistakes but had the time of your life. In your 30's, you made some more, but they were far more manageable and life was pretty good. You had more money than in your 20's, more experience and had fewer issues. You felt as though you were more comfortable in your own skin and you came to terms with your flaws.
Then you started approaching 40. Somehow everything went back a few steps. Firstly, just when you thought you were comfortable in your own skin, you realized that there were a few things you wanted to change. For instance, your appearance. Do those wrinkles really belong to you? Have your eyebrows really drooped that much? Are your boobs really that saggy?
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My friends keep telling me that "life begins at 40". To be brutally honest, I am not so sure. How can someone think that is the case, when in your 20's you made all your mistakes but had the time of your life. In your 30's, you made some more, but they were far more manageable and life was pretty good. You had more money than in your 20's, more experience and had fewer issues. You felt as though you were more comfortable in your own skin and you came to terms with your flaws.
Then you started approaching 40. Somehow everything went back a few steps. Firstly, just when you thought you were comfortable in your own skin, you realized that there were a few things you wanted to change. For instance, your appearance. Do those wrinkles really belong to you? Have your eyebrows really drooped that much? Are your boobs really that saggy?
Innovation was a popular word in the office yesterday and as I watched everyone talk about innovation in one way or another, I became enthralled with how excited everyone was just by using the term.
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Over the years, I have been dumb-founded by what former employees have written on their LinkedIn profiles about what they did while working at Marketing Eye.
The first one that had me gob-smacked was a French assistant, who wrote that she had developed and managed the Marketing Eye brand, building the company’s marketing strategy and executing it.
In reality, she was a personal assistant, who had poor English and was struggling to do any task at all from an administrative perspective. She didn’t write anything, had no contact at all with design or branding but was excellent at organizing my dinner appointments, assisting me with my wardrobe and in general being a great personal assistant, albeit one that could not write on an email on my behalf because of the poor English factor. She worked for me for a few months only which I did it as a favour for her boyfriend who was a good friend at the time. In the end, I had to tell him, that her English was so bad, I couldn’t afford the luxury of her impeccable taste in clothing, makeup and picking restaurants at that stage of my life.
The best decisions are often the hardest to make.
With the economy on the recover, many business owners are faced with the task of reshaping the future of their business and having to look from the outside looking in - while taking into account that the economy may take more time than anticipated to get to a point where businesses are flourishing in the way it did pre-GFC.
When making a personal decision that is tough, I always write it down. Its something that I do and I find is helpful when looking at the pros and cons. I also don't think too much about it. In fact, it is usually my gut instinct that comes into play and while it is important to consider factors that impact the direction of your life or your values, it is always your gut instinct that will ensure your decision making results in the best outcomes. It is tougher when it comes to how you feel, but if you can put that all aside, then quite often if you reflect in the future, you will realise that it is in fact that best decision you could have made at the time.
Business is not too indifferent from that.
“You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” ― Michelle Obama
Top 5 Tips for Making a Tough Business Decision
Instragram, the billion dollar acquisition of Facebook, is finally paying dividends. Just weeks after the launch of a new feature, Instagram video, the social media platform has exploded overtaking its main competitor in short frame video, Vine.
While Vine has been a novelty to many, it's 6 second video application has gone from 2.5 million Vine links on Twitter on June 19 to a massive dip of 900,000 links shared on Twitter, an alarming 64 percent drop, just one week later.
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While Vine has been a novelty to many, it's 6 second video application has gone from 2.5 million Vine links on Twitter on June 19 to a massive dip of 900,000 links shared on Twitter, an alarming 64 percent drop, just one week later.
A simple conversation can lead to anything. Literally, anything.
Like many entrepreneurs, gravitating to other entrepreneurs or business people is natural. Talking to a Neurosurgeon is not.
"It's not brain surgery" is one of my favorite sayings. The other, "it's not rocket science". It seems quite apt that I find myself in conversation with a neurosurgeon, whose gene pool is only bolstered by the fact his father is a rocket scientist. Was I intimidated. Hell yes! But how impressed I was to be having such an intriguing and relevant conversation with a neurosurgeon, was only interrupted by moments of wanting to be opportunistic. I had to literally stop myself asking if a sperm donation was a point I could include in the discussion. Now, what single woman wouldn't want to have a child with this gene pool?
Nevertheless, when I pulled myself together, I realized the synergies between business and neurosurgery isn't actually poles apart and much closer than one would think. As a marketer, we have certainly learnt a lot from neuroscience and consumer behaviour, but the outlook of how a surgeon views what they do, was what struck me as being something every entrepreneur can learn from.
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Like many entrepreneurs, gravitating to other entrepreneurs or business people is natural. Talking to a Neurosurgeon is not.
"It's not brain surgery" is one of my favorite sayings. The other, "it's not rocket science". It seems quite apt that I find myself in conversation with a neurosurgeon, whose gene pool is only bolstered by the fact his father is a rocket scientist. Was I intimidated. Hell yes! But how impressed I was to be having such an intriguing and relevant conversation with a neurosurgeon, was only interrupted by moments of wanting to be opportunistic. I had to literally stop myself asking if a sperm donation was a point I could include in the discussion. Now, what single woman wouldn't want to have a child with this gene pool?
Nevertheless, when I pulled myself together, I realized the synergies between business and neurosurgery isn't actually poles apart and much closer than one would think. As a marketer, we have certainly learnt a lot from neuroscience and consumer behaviour, but the outlook of how a surgeon views what they do, was what struck me as being something every entrepreneur can learn from.