Tag: Small Business - Page 10

Knowing where you want to go is easier to say than do. Many company owners have big dreams, but they are dreams that lack details or direction and therefore often go unrealised.

I had a dream and it wasn’t to run the biggest company. It was to run a company that recreates the expectations of an industry and that is exactly what I am doing.

At Singapore airport last week, I picked up a book written by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur named Business Model Generation.

If you are a small business owner, you would have had many occasions where you were ready to tear your hair out. There is so much to think about; finances, staff, customers, your product/service and of course marketing – bringing in the business!

How many of us spend time thinking about what our New Year’s resolutions are going to be and never let them see light of day?

I am an avid believer in planning and setting goals so New Year’s Resolutions are integral to my life both professionally and personally. In many cases, I actually follow them through because they are realistic, ambitious and achievable.

On New Year’s Eve I sat around with a group of friends of mine and pondered what our New Year’s resolutions should be.

I wrote down 12, everyone else wrote down 1.

Interesting!

The team at Marketing Eye starts back in the office on Monday 11 January 2010.

As the CEO, I have been working a few hours a day over the past week to get everything in order for the new year.

It’s been a particularly beneficial week with no disruptions and lots of time to think about how we can do things better.

Like most, I was not too shocked when on Sunday I heard on the radio that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt separated. It’s the news that I didn’t want to hear. I am on ‘Team Jolie’ and cannot bear the thought of this perfect couple with the most beautiful looking family on the planet would break up. The news had me in a tither. I quickly turned on the television wanting to know when, where, why and how this happened and there it was, for everyone to see. Headline news.

Next, I raced down the shop and bought every possible magazine that might have a story on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Afterall, they had separated right? Wrong!

One newspaper reported that they had separated and had gone through a divorce settlement  of sorts (they are unmarried) that saw their millions divided and the custody of their children shared.

Like millions of people, I was enthralled with the gossip that surrounded this duo and have spent at least $30 in the last couple of days buying every possible editorial that may have just a little bit of information on what actually has gone on.

Well, what has gone on is that this story has sold millions of newspapers and magazines worldwide and is highly likely to be made up. The story derived not from a reputable editorial, but from gossip newspaper who quite frankly cannot be trusted. They may have sold newspapers, but it has further enhanced in the minds of people who little you can trust the tabloids and how much of the stuff we read is made up.

Any story on Jolie-Pitt sells newspapers and everyone knows it! The journalists have no integrity or concern for what they or their families might think. What if their children read this on the newstands and all of a sudden got concerned that the unit they thought they could trust might be torn apart.

There is a message in this medium mayhem.

What do you have that sells newspapers? There is a few journalists out there that would like to know!

News can come in many forms and it might not be worldwide news or news that is going to have gossip magazines begging, but it might be of interest to business journalists or general news journalists who see what you are doing as unique and interesting.

You may have your product or service endorsed by someone famous, or perhaps you have a world first.

Read the newspaper and watch the news… you never know… it may just give you an idea of how your brand can become better known.

Every day small businesses are written up in newspapers and magazines. Next week it could be you!

There is much debate amongst my colleagues, friends and clients on what is an ‘effen great bloke’ because through Marketing Eye’s promotion of effen Beer, we have all been absorbed with the entries that have been rolling in for the competition.

Everyone has their own idea of what an effen great bloke is and I am sure by December 1, 2009, all of Australia will know what the general consensus is on the topic.

Whilst we all have an opinion, the reality is that there is no right or wrong answer. Afterall, it’s just an opinion.

Ask around your office and find out what each person in your office thinks about what an effen great bloke is. Then log onto www.effengreatbloke.com.au and enter. I am keen to hear what you have to say.

For your efforts, you may just win a year’s supply of beer for you and a mate.

It doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man. We all drink beer and if you don’t, it’s always handy to have beer in the fridge for when someone comes to visit and particularly if you are thinking about having a Xmas Party.

Mellissah Smith
Marketing Eye

Marketing Eye promotes brands we believe in. effen is a great tasting beer that is smooth and reminds me of a quality Belgium beer. Recently, it won an award in Melbourne for the best Lager at the Micro Brewery Showcase. Now the many thousands attending this event can’t all be wrong – right?

2011 – It has a great ring to it. There is something about how twenty-eleven rolls off the tongue that just gets me excited.

Like many of my friends, clients and colleagues, I have a facebook page. I use it to keep in contact with friends and of course for marketing. Before I had an iphone, I hardly ever checked my facebook page and would often give my password to friends who liked to know who was up to what, but didn’t want to succumb to the social media revolution.