It may have only been recorded as a 5.3 magnitude tremor that rocked Melbourne last night, but the subsequent media exposure was phenomenal.

I was sitting outdoors at a Japanese restaurant when it happened and at first I thought my friend was moving the table with his legs. When it was clearly not him, we both looked on in amazement.

Then, a Japanese chef came racing out and asked us if we felt the earthquake. We both said yes, and I told her that I thought it was exciting, "My first earthquake".

That went down like a lead balloon. Of course, in Japan, earthquakes are very dangerous and has killed thousands of people - so in rememberence of that, being excited by it, may not be in seen in the best light. I remember when this happened in Japan. It was incredibly sad.

Moving on from that, the earthquake certainly was "trending" on all social media and within minutes there was a picture up on facebook with a table and four chairs. One had fallen over. I then saw that same image posted on at least 100 facebook accounts. The world of viral marketing.

Do you find yourself chasing your tail when it comes to marketing your business?

Businesses that do not engage in a strategic marketing plan, often find that they are chasing their tail. They fly by the seat of their pants and have no real sales and marketing strategy in place. Instead of being proactive, and placing key performance indicators behind each and every marketing investment, they generally go with 'gut instinct' or what is available at any given time.

While being flexible to invest in marketing opportunities is always a good thing, it can be some small businesses biggest downfall.

It's nearing the end of the financial year or mid-year for those in the US, and its time to start looking back at what you have achieved in terms of building your brand, creating brand equity, increasing your sales performance and improving your customer relationship management programs.

Capitalising on your investment in marketing is not only a no-brainer, but it is also one of the clevest business decisions you can make.

Start the new year with:

Before meeting a girlfriend for coffee today, I popped into a Bookstore to see if they had the book Sweet Revenge by Tom Bower - The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell.

I had the day before went online to the Book Depository (www.bookdespository) to see if they had it. As I went to pay, the website came up with an error message and then my phone rung and that was it. I had moved on from that moment.

Happy to pay a few dollars more at an old-fashioned bookstore, I spent more than 45 minutes perusing the thousands of books that were beautifully layed out in the store. When I went to pay, I was pleasantly surprised that the store had given me a credit from 3 years ago, for $35. I had bought a few hundred dollars worth of books as Christmas gifts that year and when Avenue Bookstore gives you a voucher, it has no expiry date.

Imagine how happy I was! Not only that, I bought two other books; The French Dog by Rachael McKenna and The Best of Business Card Design by publishers Rockport and not only did I benefit from the voucher, they also beautifully gift wrapped the books.

The big bonus was that the price of book was exactly the same as it was on Book Depository and after freight, the same as it was on Amazon. No difference. Except, I was supporting a local business and experienced the enjoyment of browsing a real store, with real people, with my dog following behind and gift wrapping.

Before you choose to make a purchase of a book online, consider this story. There is nothing more enjoyable then spending time in a bookstore.

Last weekend, I travelled to Red Hill to a winery perched on the top of a hill, overlooking the most picturesque scenery outside of the European wine regions. It was simply spectacular. The view went for miles with the ocean as the perfect back drop.

Driving through the country roads, gave me time to think about the new direction of my business, Marketing Eye. There is so many things to consider when you are growing a business that is successful.

A few months ago, I was walking in the park. Seagulls were flying around above me. It was a weird place for them to be as the park is situated at least 10 kilometres from the ocean.

As I looked up, I decided to capture the moment.

The seagulls flew off and I began to think...

It's time. We are ready. The curtains have been drawn. In 3 weeks, I will be living in America to follow my dream of building a global small business marketing firm.

It's summer over there and winter here in Australia, so the weather is definately a big plus. Cost of living is significantly less which means I can buy more shoes. There is a god after all ;-)

And... the business is ready. Most importantly, we have dotted all of our 'i's' and crossed all of our 't's'.

So, what's next?

Many entrepreneurs believe that if you embrace failure on your path to success, you will succeed. In fact, most successful entrepreneurs have failed many times, but the difference between them and the rest of the world is that they don't internalize failure - instead they embrace it.

Failure sometimes helps us better understand what we are trying to do and how we should go about it. It sets a clearer picture for the direction that we should head.

"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love, than to be a success at something you hate." George Burns.

Is failure just part of the parcel? Do we need to fail in order to succeed? Bill Gates did. Michael Jordan did too.

If you are tweeter, and you follow Marketing Eye or Amanda Rose for that matter, you may have seen some dialogue about us joining force to write a blog about divorce.

Rather than put our stories together all at once, we have decided to put together a blog that will change over the next few hours. I will share my wisdom (or lack of) with you and Amanda, a well-known radio host, article writer, commentator and brand marketing consultant, will add her thoughts. BTW. Amanda and I have never met or worked together, other than communicating through a shared passion for social media.

Let's see how this experiment works!

If you feel that your spirit is being squashed down, then push as hard as you can and stand up for what you believe in.

Key to success is being able to withstand the negativity that may cross your path, and rise to any occasion with the same enthusiasm and depth that you had the first day you came up with your new business idea.

Magma Capital Advisory came to Marketing Eye without a marketing bone in their body – literally, with nothing more than a logo in a world of endless marketing possibilities - and a two week deadline for a ‘brand spanking’ website (so to speak).  

We’d scored ourselves a client specialising in debt capital and risk management solutions and a two week deadline.  

I'm a fairly positive person. I like to look on the bright side of things and rarely fall prey to thinking that something cannot be done. I see hurtles as being part of the big adventure and I never shy away from taking on a road block and working around it to achieve what I set out to achieve.

On Monday, I had a set-back. One could expect that from time to time this happens but this one was more personal.

It's the difficulty we face when at times we mix personal life with our professional life. Every person you touch whether they are a friend, colleague, acquaintance or client, has an opinion on you whether they like it or not.

There is so much being written about why people and in particular women, are not married.

For us singles out there, while we may be the ones who buy the books, read the articles, watch the movies and absorb anything that will give us answers to why we haven't gone down a traditional route - I am sure I can speak for most of us who draw in a deep sigh everytime we see a headline that remotely resembles where we are in life.

Every Saturday and Sunday morning, I take my dog for an early morning stroll around Faulkner Park in Melbourne.

Each weekend, I am faced with the same dilemma - where do I buy my coffee and croissant from? There are three cafe's nearby; Cafe Vue, Fleur Depot de Pain at the Blackman and one other on Commercial Road. I never remember the name of the one on Commercial Road, but I do frequent it quite a lot.

A young lady who is starting as a graphic design intern at Marketing Eye was showcasing her portfolio on Friday to me and this stuck out. What do you think?

The graphic designer is Rin Phakkhieo and I am sure you will be seeing alot from her in the future. She is quite talented and looks at everything in a different way - which is great when you are looking for a creative.