Marketing Eye

Humbled by an employee discussion in our Atlanta office, I was pleasantly surprised that given the hypothetical situation of winning the lotto, all employees said that after a brief holiday, they would want to come back to work at Marketing Eye.

The engagement level on a day-to-day basis in our Atlanta office is very high – not to say, other offices are not the same. Company culture is everything and there are many reasons why it has a direct impact on bottom line.

There are a number of lessons learned from having a start-up in Atlanta that is inherently different from other offices we have.

The first being that all employees have chosen each other

Usually, a senior manager or myself makes the ultimate choice on who is going to join the team and in what capacity. Instead, in Atlanta, I have been over-ruled twice, and both times, I had to put my hand up and say that my choice would have been wrong for the team.

Published in Marketing

There is not a small business on the planet that hasn't heard of Twitter, yet many are still failing to execute a social media strategy that cleverly integrates Twitter as a social media platform designed to connect and communicate key messages.

Co-founder Jack Dorsey, a 36 year old tech titan, and now CEO of small business payment technology, Square, has built his billions on knowing what small businesses want and need. Square is the fastest growing small business payments technology in the world today, and through his small business meetings in Town Halls throughout the US, Canada and Japan, #letstalk, he is educating small business owners to talk and support each other, rather than work alone.

Five years ago, I was invited to play in a Pro-Am on the Gold Coast, and as a casual golfer, realized that I needed some coaching to ensure that I didn't embarrass myself.

Marketing automation has the fastest growth of any CRM-related segment in the last five (5) years and there is a reason why. Senior management have been desperate for years to have a clear picture of sales pipeline performance, which until marketing and sales automation came along, was unheard of - in a real sense. There were many inferior solutions in the market, but none that really hit the nail on the head quite like marketing automation.

Interestingly, after speaking with a number of marketing automation vendors in the past few weeks, it has become apparent that there is one clear contender for the top marketing automation spot - and that is Marketo.

Sunday, 20 October 2013 22:30

The ocean is full of surprises

I find inspiration in the most unusual places and at times that I never expect.

It still amazes me that every single day how much I learn. My thirst for information is insatiable to the point that I continually go out in search of new learnings.

Yesterday, as I sailed out onto the ocean, just on the skirts of Melbourne, Australia, I was in awe at how much I learnt from a couple of people who without knowing it, are continually teaching me new things. 

Published in Mellissah Smith
If you can't beat them - join them.

I am not sure about you, but I have often been completely dumb-founded by the way some employees believe the world revolves around them and working for an organization isn't a two way street. I am sure every entrepreneur and business owner can attest to having at least thought this at some point in their business life.

The truth I have learnt - the hard way, I might add - is that all employees have employers up against the wall.

We all know:
  • It's easier to work with what you have and less costly then employing someone new
  • Hire slowly, fire fast
  • One negative person can cause a virus
  • Performance is linked to employee happiness
  • Some employees feel "entitled" and there is nothing you can do about it other then put bandaides on it

With all of this in mind, smart employers are realizing that if they don't like being up against the wall, then they have to lay the right footprint to exceed employees expectations and deliver an environment conducive to productivity and excellence.

Published in Management
Sunday, 06 October 2013 16:14

Top 20 Entrepreneurs Blogs : 2013

It's a Sunday and rather than head to my nearest Starbucks to buy a NY Times, I decided to get all of my news online. Looking for some inspiration from other bloggers as I am about to embark on phase 3 of Marketing Eye's expansion and to be honest, I am nervous and excited at the same time. Any wisdom from my fellow bloggers is welcome. 

Another thing that struck me while looking for blogs is how out of date they are. If you type in a search in Google, you will get blogs as far back as 2005 that have never been written on again. Hope with the new change of algorithms that Google fixes this problems.

However, there are 20 very worthwhile blogs that are great weekend reads if you are looking for something easy to absorb, interesting, educational and business savvy.

TOP 20 ENTREPRENEURS BLOGS : 2013

JWT in Atlanta hosted their second CLEVER : Ideas made kinetic breakfast seminar this week with leading mobile marketing expert, Brent Hieggelke of Urban Airship as keynote speaker.

The presentation on "How 10 Brand Leaders Are Redefining Their Customer Relationships" talked to the crowd of about 30 or 40 people on how important it is for marketers to take mobile marketing seriously.

According to the invite;

"Mobile now sets the bar for brand relevancy, and Urban Airship is leading the shift from interruption-based marketing strategies to personalized, invitation-geared messaging."

Brent Hieggelke, a man that clearly knows what he is talking about, pulls from years of research done by his firm on best-practices for employing digital wallets, apps, location data, and targeted customer insight to drive meaningful, and profitable, brand engagement.

"Top power brands aren't just building consumer connections, they're redefining the context."
Over the years I have worked with literally hundreds of marketing people and I am never surprised by who goes on to become a marketing superstar and those who never make the mark.

Wanting to be successful and actually putting the hard yards in to achieve your dreams are two different things.

I read "10 Reasons Why You Will Never Be Successful" recently as published on www.addictedtosuccess.com and it really resonated with me. What makes one person climb the corporate ladder and not another, depends on how much that person really wants to make it.

I took the liberty of doing my Top 5 Reasons:

1.  Not willing to do the hard yards: People want everything yesterday and are no longer prepared to work hard for it and make sure that they have ticked all the boxes to get to where they want to go. Instead they believe "their own bullshit" and think they have already made it and are good enough - yet the proof is in the pudding that they are perhaps a bit short of where they would like to go.
Published in Management
Tuesday, 01 October 2013 07:46

Are you ambitious enough?

Last night I caught up with my good friend, recruiter Michelle Fish, a new friend Chocko Valiappa and a couple of other people. 

As we sat down and enjoyed a bite to eat and a glass of wine, I began to talk to Chocko about Ashrams in India. I have been wanting to go for some time and wanted his insight into which ones were the best to investigate. 

Chocko is a spirital man - and although he didn't say as much, I could tell. I gravitated to him and before long we talked about different aspects of spiritality. He then mentioned that he read handwriting. Within seconds I was writing on a napkin hoping that he would pass on some wisdom about myself that would enlighten me.

He said:

"I am level headed and connect well between my head and my heart"

"I need to celebrate my highs more"

"I have discovered myself, but not other people"
Published in Management