Marketing Eye

Expert Marketing Blog - Small Business Marketing - Page 7

Want a marketing consultant in Atlanta? BEWARE. You may not get what you think.

Want a marketing consultant in Atlanta? BEWARE. You may not get what you think.

A marketing consultant is not necessarily a marketing consultant.

From one to another, they are completely different. Some have great skills in strategy, others in tactical development and execution of marketing plans. Some are great at communicating but not fully across social media or what role advertising plays in the digital age.

In the past year, I have travelled the world talking to marketers and each one has something different to offer. They all have honed their skills in one area or another.

I first started my involvement in the marketing industry 21 years ago at an advertising agency that was quite small. I remember watching the owner of the business operate and being completely fascinated by his skills and creativity. He had started his career as a window dresser for a big retailer and way back in the early nineties was making more than a million dollars profit out of 5-man agency. Incredible.
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How to keep your old books in one piece: a must read for entrepreneurs

How to keep your old books in one piece: a must read for entrepreneurs

After flying in from Atlanta, I was walking along the canals in Amsterdam enjoying the chilly breeze and freshness in the air when  I came across this piece of art. A park bench made out of old books.

It is a piece of art and each book has a story that it wishes to tell. Each book was put together by people who loved what is inside and wanted to share it with others. Each page is full of dialogue from authors all over the world, wanting to explore their inner most thoughts, passion, and view on something that they believe is meant not just for themselves but for others around them.

We each have a story to be told - don't we? As I sat in a coffee shop with my friend Huib today, we discussed some interesting life stories that people have shared with us in public forums. What we believed was a good story and some that we thought could be told in a different way, or perhaps should not be told at all.
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Up close and personal with marketing industry veteran

Up close and personal with marketing industry veteran

As an ex-journalist, interviewing people of all backgrounds and walks of life is second nature to me. I've interviewed police officers, politicians and met the Prime Minister, but have never been asked to have a sit-down interview with my former news organisation's owner (who would be Rupert Murdoch himself - eep!).

Today, I'm on day two in the marketing industry and have been given the chance to pick the brain of Marketing Eye founder, Mellissah Smith – it’s a slightly daunting ask, especially when you consider that she was little older than I was when she first branched out and went solo in her first agency.

“I’ve been in marketing for 20-odd years and was 25 when I started my first agency – what inspired me to start was an account opportunity falling in my lap,” Mellissah said.
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1 billion users on Facebook - only 1.3 billion to go.

1 Billion Users. Now that is a really big number. HUGE!

If you think about the fact that there are only 7 billion people reportedly on the planet, Facebook has a staggering 14% as friends.

In July 2010, they had half that. 500 million registered users to be precise. So, how in 26 months have they increased to double that size excluding China, because its banned there?
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How does a marketing company market themselves?

We've all heard about 'why companies fail to grow' with literally thousands of books, blogs, articles and shows talking about why businesses have failed to grow or have had a sudden death.

When you ask someone who has had a business fail, why, they usually give you one reason. We all know that there is never one singular reason why a business fails, it usually is combination of things; market size, competition and demand all feature highly on external factors while operations, leadership, complacency, technology, marketing and lack of investment feature highly as internal reasons.

But the real story that we all should be following is 'why businesses grow and succeed' because in that, there are lessons and patterns we all can follow.
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Prospecting leads to the gold clients

This story is published in Australia's leading newspaper in Sydney. We thought it may be interesting to our marketing blog readers;

By Christopher Niesche - smh.com.au

EVERY small business should have a prospect list - a database of existing and potential customers where the business can focus its marketing efforts.

But it needs to be more than just a list of names and email addresses. It has to contain people who are in the target market for your products.

Here are tips on how to build up a prospect list.
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What marketers can learn from taking their clothes off

What marketers can learn from taking their clothes off

Recently, I ventured out to a Turkish Hamams as part of an off-site adventure organised by a conference that I attended in Istanbul.

As I readied myself for the excursion, I packed a bathing suit, took off my makeup and put on some comfortable clothing attire. That's what you do, right? Well, almost.

The bathing suit is not required. In fact, if you bring it along, and you go to a traditional hamams you may be confronted with an old Turkish woman telling you to put the bathing suit away "not needed". Then what do you do? You are there for an experience, right?
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Direct Marketing: How Direct Are You?

If you have ever marketed even one of your products or services, you’d know what they say about Direct Marketing (DM). There are so many different views about DM amongst the marketers today that it’s difficult to understand whether it’s worth all the time and effort at all. It’s confused, abused and misused by several marketers.

That’s right: there are the haters and then there are the DM lovers. Some are the in-betweeners (no reference to the teen TV show). Whatever it is, as a small business you need to know where DM stands in the digital age of 2011.

In his book, The Complete Guide to Direct Marketing, Chet Meisner refers to an Orlando newspaper which ran a hateful story about direct marketers. The headline was “Spammers, Telemarketers Share Secrets in Orlando”. According to the story, direct marketers were “making way too much money to stop the suppertime phone calls and endless emails.”
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Happy Birthday Google!

It's time for celebration, or is it? It's Google's 14th Birthday and while one part of me wants to celebrate how much Google has made my life easier, the other part wants to pull back the curtain and see how I can control this addiction.

And addiction it is. Think about how long you can go without 'Googling' something or saying the world "Google". Try going a week. I have. It's impossible!

It's hard to imagine what life was like without Google?
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Is your marketing strategy stale?

If you are finding it hard to keep up to the latest in marketing techniques, you are not alone.

Most marketers, let alone small business owners, are struggling to keep abreast of the new developments in technology, buzz words, Google algorithm changes, content trends and more. Why? Innovation has been put on steriods and every technology guru is hoping to become the next Mark Zuckerberg and bank a few billion or at the very least, get their faces on the cover of Forbes.

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Why social media will put your marketing strategy on fire!

Social media has hit a new high. It no longer is something that businesses can think about including as part of their marketing strategy. It now is something NO BUSINESS can afford to not include.

During the week, I had a conversation with another provider for one of our clients. They are basically graphic designers who have done the odd website development. From my conversations with them, I am almost certain that the website developer is either a freelancer or a graphic designer who has learned to use Wordpress. There are some things that are really obvious in the work they have just completed.


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14,061 Twitter Followers To Talk To -Update: 41k to talk to

Today, I learnt that I am not average. No, seriously. Really, I am not average. Well, at least on Twitter I am not average because the average Twitter user has only 126 followers. In total, Marketing Eye has 14, 061 with two accounts. One that focuses on the Australian market and the other that focuses on the US market with an emphasis on Atlanta, Georgia.

There is nothing wrong with being average may I add, but as a business that is focused on helping other small businesses grow, it is important that Marketing Eye stand out from the crowd. Average is not an option. The same as everyone else, is also not applicable. For Marketing Eye, we have to be outstanding at everything.
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Can clients find you?

A company has a problem. They don't like their accountant. Their financial planner just got hit by a bus. The business just got a lot bigger and now they need some HR advice. They don't have a marketing person per se and the owner knows that they are not going anywhere without someone focusing on the company's brand and lead generation campaigns to support their sales team.

The problem has been identified. It now needs a solution. So, what's next? They look for one.

How?

First, they think about who they know. It use to be a case of people they have met or friends of friends, but now there is a not so new revolution to add to the equation. Social media.

Social Media

In the past two weeks we have made almost $200,000 from our social media accounts. It's because companies that we may not have met face to face, but know us through social media and in particular, twitter, linkedin and the company blog, have a problem and the first person they have made contact with is the person they "know" online. You know the one. The person that continually reinforces their expertise in a particular field through showcasing their knowledge, case studies, influence and opinions.

Social media is likened to the old-fashion term "farming" because it takes time, but the investment is worth it in the end if you do all the right things. Farming makes it easier for clients to find you and relate to you and your business. Social media has provided a short-cut in the farming process  but be assured that "farming" is not "prospecting". It is relationship building and you have to be willing to give more than you get.

So, remember next time you go to write on your twitter account that you went out and got totally trashed, but the next day want to be the consumate professional accountant who is looking for new business opportunities that your lifestyle choices may not be what your clients are looking for in a service provider.
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Are marketers taking their own advice when it comes to social media marketing?

There are many studies out there that confirm that there is a direct correlation between how successful a company is and how well they use social media.

We also know that brands can profit dramatically from a well executed social media strategy backed by a campaign that is creative and has the audience in mind.

So, why then do marketers continue to ignore the fact that certain days of the week and times of the day, are not as effective as others when it comes to executing a social media campaign.
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A knock on the door, saw an entrepreneur of the future make her first sale

How many famous people have you heard started out as entrepreneurs selling lemonade or doing the local newspaper run?

I have heard hundreds of stories over the years about how some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs started out as children, making first few dollars when they were still in primary school.
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