Marketing Eye

Sunday, 31 July 2011 13:15

A holiday is good for business

I've written pages and pages of notes whilst lying by the pool. I have recorded podcast after podcast in my hotel room whilst awaiting dinner engagements, meeting up with friends or going to the beach. And, I've written a new business plan, marketing strategy and information memorandum - all in one week.

Now, that may not seem like a holiday to most people, but as an entrepreneur, having a holiday is more about letting my body relax and freeing my mind from any stresses. If ideas and innovations flow from being in this relaxed state, then jotting down some notes, really isn't too difficult at all.
Monday, 18 July 2011 21:10

Why online marketing fails

Being a statistic for failure isn’t much fun-let’s face it. I don’t like the idea, and I bet you aren’t too keen on it either. And when it come to small business, or any business or cause for that matter it is best to avoid it like the plague. This leads me to wonder why so many businesses out there do not invest in a solid online marketing strategy of an effective website.

Put simply- no business will survive without a good website. However, what is most surprising to me is not how bad some websites actually are but in fact how easily these website short comings or problems can be fixed.

Having had a browse around various small business websites recently it occurred to me the magic a good website can do for a small business.

Published in Marketing
Monday, 18 July 2011 00:06

GOALS VS ACTIONS

A new year means many things to many people. If you are an entrepreneur and it is a new financial year, your goals will tend to be around business. Alternatively, 1st of January tends to be a combination of personal and professional goals.

As I look back on the year we have just had, I smile. Why? I think it is more to do with growing – as a person and as an entrepreneur.

We are more than 2 weeks into the new financial year and already the business side of things is getting in the way of marketing the brand and driving sales. Is your business any different? Are you being overcome with day-to-day activities that are absorbing all your energy and time?

Marketing is one of those areas in the business that needs to be placed on the agenda. It has to be on the Minutes of Management Meeting's week after week. If not, it is far too often, placed to the way-side.

"What I gleaned from viewing “The Social Network” was bigger and more important than whether the scenes and details included in the script were accurate. After all, the movie was clearly intended to be entertainment and not a fact-based documentary. What struck me most was not what happened – and what did not – and who said what to whom and why. The true takeaway for me was that entrepreneurship and creativity, however complicated, difficult or tortured to execute, are perhaps the most important drivers of business today and the growth of our economy." Eduardo Saverin.

Published in Marketing
Thursday, 14 July 2011 00:38

The Power of a Good Testimonial

“Before we engaged Marketing Eye, we had alot of great ideas and concepts, but they were going in every direction possible. Then we hired Marketing Eye as our marketing managers, and they put all of these ideas together and added their marketing experience, to develop a strategy that is finally getting implemented."

Wednesday, 13 July 2011 05:09

Bribe or clever marketing?

Is it a bribe or clever promotion?

'Super Saturday' they call it. Woolworths is giving away $1 million dollars to shoppers through an instore promotion on Saturday between 10am and 2pm. Every 15 minutes, average and not so average Australians shopping in Woolworths have the chance to win $25 Gift Vouchers. The snag is, you have to be instore to win it.
Thinking you know how to grow your business, and actually doing it is two very different things.

MANY ENTREPRENEURS are AWESOME at coming up with ideas - and good one's at that. But how many of us are actually able to execute our ideas in the way that we wanted to?
People often ask me why I write a blog when I am so busy that I struggle to find enough hours in the day. The answer isn't EGO - yes, I do love that so many people read my blog, but most of whom do, I have never met and probably will never have the opportunity to.

It's not because I am bored or I think that I am an exceptional writer - because I have never had a bored moment in my life (it's my dream to be bored one day) and as for the writing, I only write well when I put effort in, and this blog is more a rambling of my thoughts, rather than something that I have placed alot of emphasis on.

The ONE reason I write this blog is to CONNECT with my target audience and to communicate with other marketers who have interesting ideas on marketing or who have a point of view.
Having worked in the sustainability sector for the past 10 years, marketing businesses 'green' credentials and promoting a greener way of doing business, running your business and getting consumers to understand that making a small change in what you do can mean a big difference to the environment - it's no surprise that the new carbon tax is something that I am becoming increasingly familiar with.
Published in Management
Ok. You've got a good brand. Actually, you have an AWESOME brand. You are in love with it and it seems, so is everyone else.

You have a website. It wasn't exactly what you wanted, but it does a pretty good job. Doesn't drive leads how you thought it would, but as a brochure, it's not too bad and it has all the information your customers need.

You have some great ideas. Well, more than great - your ideas are not too far from some of the one's that Albert Einstein came up with, just no-one knows it yet. Or at least you like to think so.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
Tuesday, 05 July 2011 05:40

Building an online identity

Some people are more famous online than off. Some became famous just because they made themselves a STAR. Others, can't quite figure it all out.

If you are the latter, than spare a thought for the millions of other people that are in the same boat.
How many people have you heard, started their businesses from their kitchen table? I have heard many tales of people who started their businesses from their kitchen table, but other than foodies, I have never heard of someone who started their business from playing it ingredients in their mother's kitchen on the stove.
A sigh of relief. End of financial year has come and gone yet again. The pressure cooker in the last week, has everyone exhausted, so I can imagine there will be a few people out tonight, enjoying a few beers or wines, celebrating the end of the financial year.