Marketing Eye

Expert Marketing Blog - Page 68

It's fair to say that marketing strategies don't work by themselves. You can spend thousands of dollars having a marketing strategy written for your small business, but if it isn't implemented, it's not worth the paper it is written on.

I know hundreds of companies that have engaged a marketing consultant to write a marketing strategy and then are left miffed as to why it didn't work. Well, it doesn't work if you don't do anything with it! It's as simple as that.
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There are thousands of marketing companies in America. They range from one-man bands, to small and mid tier agencies, right through to large multinationals.

For small businesses, it is very hard for many entrepreneurs or business managers to ascertain what is the best marketing solution for their business and what will help them get to the next level.

As a business owner and entrepreneur, it is paramount to understand our competitors and do the complete opposite to what they are doing.

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It's no different to Justin Bieber, the Venture Capitalist, reportedly having earned $108 million over the past two years investing in tech startups like Spotify. Becoming complacent because you think you have made it or everything is going swimmingly well, could be your biggest downfall.
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If you are anything like me, Sunday morning, I always go down to my local cafe at 7am with my dog to buy a coffee and a fresh croissant. It gets rid of two things; my need for a coffee in the morning and my dog needing to 'do her business'.

Then, I come home, shower, and turn on my computer. Mainly I write, but at least for an hour or so, I work.

Unlike most people, I rarely go into my emails. That to me is a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job. Instead I look at the Marketing Eye website and think of ways to market our business.

I am THE SUNDAY MARKETER.

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There is a reason why this marketing blog has been neglected and it's not something that I particularly wanted to share.

And, to some extent, I won't.

However, today I received in the mail a book and it was a reminder that 'everything happens for a reason'.

I travelled around the world twice in six weeks for business and when you do such an exhaustive trip like that, twice, you immediately get a feeling that 'it had better be worth it'. Fortunately, it always is. Afterall, its a journey and when we embark on any journey with an open and honest mind, we move that step forward to realising whatever it is that we were meant to realise.

Both trips were different. Other than for the business aspect, they could not have been more different. The first trip was one of adventure, excitement, opportunity and putting in place things for the future that needed to be put in place.
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At Marketing Eye, as we are a marketing consultancy firm, there is never a day whereby everyone is in the office. The other day it was quiet - a bit too quiet. Everyone was working away diligently. So, I did what any leader would do. I said to everyone "we need to have some fun". And fun, we had.

We set up a photoshoot, which the young guys in the office instantly became photographers. Everyone was asked 'to act silly' and we all laughed, played around and were back at our desk in half an hour with big smiles on our faces.

It's amazing what small things can do for team spirit.
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Have you ever thought about what your website is really used for? Why people are visiting it in the hundreds, thousands, ten's of thousands?

One of my clients yesterday said to me that they Google searched an obscure term, and Marketing Eye came up. He was surprised, but I guess, not as surprised as I was.

A website, if it is search engine optimized, comes up on search engines. That is the purpose. Right? You invest all of this money, time and effort into ensuring that your website comes up trumps when prospects, clients and stakeholders are looking for your company or a company that provides your products or services.

But who else visits your website and why?
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There were 9.66m tweet in the first day of the London 2012 Olympics, surpassing the Beijing 2008 Olympics total in just 24 hours.

In fairness, Twitter was just a startup then, so our timelines were not flooded as they are today and there was no colossal 340 million tweet per day. But this microblogging site is mammoth when it comes to bringing us the news faster and and more efficiently than any other medium in sound bites that most of us can understand. It also gives us choice as to whether we wish to read more or not.
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Sometimes, life doesn't go as planned. And that is ok.

As we continue to embark on the journey of life, we will experience it in it's enormity. Sometimes we will be so happy, we will literally want to pinch ourselves. Other times, we will be grateful and know that we are lucky to be in the position in life that we are in. There will be times where we will be sad and disheartened, but those, we hope will be few and far between. They will only help us build character and learn what we want out of life and what we do not.

I have had a few days of being disappointed by someone else's actions. But that's ok. They are living their life and I am living mine and at the end of the day, it's their life to live and we can only choose our own paths and learn the lessons we need to learn from our own experiences.

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This super sexy Prada Eyewear Billboard in the Milan Airport was literally overcome with admirers. I watched for 10 minutes, as hundreds of people looked up and stared. Having travelled from Atlanta through to Milan, I was overcome with the number of quality billboards on display at the airport. Definately the capital of fashion in Italy!

It really is a knockout. What do you think?
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Travelling through Milan Airport from Atlanta the other day, I noticed this billboard. It reminded me of the movie, Step Mom, with Julia Roberts in the 90's where she was a photographer taking an impromptu shot of catering guy with a bunch of super glamorous models.

As always, Dolce and Gabbana is as stylish as ever in every aspect of their marketing. I really love this billboard and would love to look that good in that dress! Wouldn't you?
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Ever wondered why people soak up every word that a truly successful person says? Or why, they seem to do less talking than the person engaging with them in conversation?

Successful people are unique. They don't need to buy a Ferrari (I am not a car enthusiast so not sure what car to put here)  to show that they have money, nor will they order the most expensive wine in a restaurant. They typically do not wear obvious designer briefs and they never tell you how good they are or what accomplishments they have made.

Instead, they listen attentively, ask questions and put the spotlight on others.
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Retailers that have not adopted a strategic social media strategy that has as much weighing in their marketing budget as their traditional media spend, are at risk of not only losing marketshare but also staying alive as a business.

Retailers were slower to discover the benefits of using bloggers and affiliate sites to reach their target audience, but those who have taken seriously the trend that has absorbed the world in the past five years of social media engagement are seeing a lower cost marketing platform that is complemented by a more loyal and trusted customer base.
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I have a conspiracy theory relating to the latest blockbuster novel "50 Shades of Grey".

If you have spent any time at all reading any of the three novels in the series, you would realize that other than a basic storyline, it is all about porn. Albeit soft.

1.5 million people have already read this book. I have read it. My friends have read it. It is addictive and completely trashy, but let's face it - women love this type of stuff. Look at how successful Mills and Boons was and still is.

My theory though, having read two of the New York Times Bestseller Trilogy series, that the book was commissioned by a large chain or perhaps online sex store. Bare with me as I explain...
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