Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 74

Often, I post blogs that have been written on this site onto Linkedin Groups that are relevant to either marketing or entrepreneurs.

Most days, I share my experience as an entrepreneur with a growing international business, on the cusp of something that is hopefully "big" but also has hurdles along the way. Many of these hurdles are the best reminders on how to improve business processes and be a better leader and/or marketer, or just to grow a thicker skin.

Yesterday, an obvious up-and-coming competitor posted some quite offensive commentary on a Linkedin Group. I thought for a while as to whether I would just leave it or if it had an impact in the group which affected what the perception of our brand may be. To that end, I had to respond. I didn't get into the nitty gritty, but it was an overarching response. The idea of Linkedin Groups is to share ideas, interact, demonstrate thought leadership on various topics and meet people who may potentially have something worthwhile to say that may a) change your life, b) improve your knowledge, and/or c) give you a good laugh.

There is potential to misuse the Linkedin Groups platform in ways that it is not intended for, like pitching products and services through making comments on other peoples discussions or by putting down an obvious competitor. So here's a "share" from last night:

It's that time of year again and as we all wind down for the festive season, it's time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead.

Most marketing strategies will be firmly in place for next year, but for those who have left it too late, there are a few things that you need to consider.

Marketing Eye is expanding and evolving… and you could be a part of our global growth.

We’re on the hunt for an experienced marketing communications manager to head a team in Melbourne.Because our work is so varied and diverse, we’re taking our time to pick the right person with the right mix of experience across a broad range of marketing skill sets. Our salary packaging is commensurate with experience and passion for marketing, and great performance will be rewarded with bonuses and perks. 

About 18 month's ago, I realized that I had a few unfulfilled dreams. A milestone in age was coming up, albeit a few years away, and all of a sudden I couldn't think of anything other than what I had achieved and what I wanted to achieve, which were becoming two very different things.

What I had achieved was for all to see. I was comfortable with my place in the world. In many people's terms, I had achieved a lot and for me, I didn't really have any major aspirations to achieve more than what I had. Well, at least that was what I kept telling myself. 

Then I received an email. It was from a friend in Dubai and they were touching base with me after a few years of no communication. We hadn't talked for no other reason other than the tyranny of distance and the lack of urgency in making contact. He asked "have you done all the things we had talked about that time we sat up until 3am in the morning, talking about our dreams". I thought back. It dawned on me that I had not. Sure it was 3am in the morning and I may have had one or two glasses of red too much, so my "dreams" were probably more outlandish than what I really wanted to do in life, but the answer still was the same. No I hadn't. And there was a few things that I said that night that I wouldn't mind crossing off my checklist.

Daily I receive updates on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin from people that have received publicity whether it is through an online blog or in the media sprouting how successful they are. The first couple of "pushes" of publicity, I applaud and genuinely think "good on that person". Then when it keeps coming in what can sometimes be "D-grade" versions of media that perhaps only a few people ever get to read, I start to think "oh, this person is looking for attention or needs people to think they are successful".

Which, might I add, may not be the case at all, but it is just my immediate perception if I don't know any better about the person.

For years, I have been fascinated by design in every possible form; shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation and visual appearance. Of particular interest is architectural design.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to walk the streets of Amsterdam with one of the Netherlands most famed interior architects, Flip Verbeek. He use to be co-owner of a company called Flow that has designed some of the most amazing interiors in buildings throughout the Netherlands. As we walked the streets, looking at building after building that had been designed by Flow and the talented architects in the team, I was inspired. The passion that this man has for design and visuals that are sustainable and complement the environment in which it inhabits, is contagioius.

So contagious in fact, that on my flight home from Amsterdam, I looked up www.realestate.com.au, found a property and days later, bought it.

The property will be the new home for Marketing Eye in Melbourne. It is located in my favourite street in the city, Greville Street and fits inside my inner-city bubble that I love to live in. While I won't be here so much to enjoy it, it gives me great pride to be able to find a building with the character and potential that the one I have just bought has.

This blog has been spurred by the many challenges in growing an international business leveraging  economies of scale and opportunities that are simply too good to pass by.

In the past week, I have been thinking alot about Linkedin. It has been the topic of many conversations and all for the right reasons. Daily I am asked about what social media mediums are best for b2b organizations and of course, there is no one answer because it depends entirely on a companies specific demographic, time constraints, strategy and of course, budget.

I wrote a blog on the value of Linkedin for small businesses and have spent quite a bit of time on this social media platform over past couple of days. It's interesting to see how people interact and reach out to each other. It is equally fascinating to see some people's comments that are purely self-serving or a bit over the top negative for no apparent reason.

Professional services firms are known as the "safest" b2b marketers, only second behind that of the medical industry.

Still stuck in the dark ages, many professional services firms still believe that 'good work speaks for itself' and "you need to find the clients pain" ensuring that they keep it "safe" when embarking on marketing of any kind, rather than looking deep into customer insights to drive leads and create more sustainable client relationships.

What professional services firms are forgetting is that while they may still be on track to achieving their sales goals, being complacent and not moving with the times, will make it almost impossible to stay competitve.