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Marketing Eye Blog Articles
Why do 99% of the business cards I receive still not have any links to social media?
Business to business marketers are still falling short of connecting with their clients and prospects at every opportunity and it seems completely ridiculous that they still don't have links to LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Facebook, displayed on their business cards for everyone to see and connect with.
Business to business marketers are still falling short of connecting with their clients and prospects at every opportunity and it seems completely ridiculous that they still don't have links to LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Facebook, displayed on their business cards for everyone to see and connect with.
Published in Marketing
In today's New York Times, there is a full page advertisement that says:
THIS IS NO PLACE TO DREAM SMALL.
IN NEW YORK STATE, A BUSINESS CAN GROW
AS BIG AS ANYONE CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
THIS IS A PLACE WITH A WHOLE
NEW APPROACH TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
WITH THE FASTEST-GROWING TECH SECTOR IN THE U.S.,
ONE OF THE BEST EDUCATED WORKFORCES IN AMERICA,
AND OVER $1 BILLION IN INCENTIVES AND TAX BREAKS,
IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT OUR ECONOMY LAUNCHED OVER
50,000 NEW BUSINESSES LAST YEAR ALONE.
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE,
OR WHAT YOU DREAM OF BECOMING,
REMEMBER THIS:
NO ONE EVER CAME HERE TO TAKE A BACK SEAT,
PLAY SECOND FIDDLE,
OR MAKE IT SMALL.
THIS IS NO PLACE TO DREAM SMALL.
IN NEW YORK STATE, A BUSINESS CAN GROW
AS BIG AS ANYONE CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
THIS IS A PLACE WITH A WHOLE
NEW APPROACH TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
WITH THE FASTEST-GROWING TECH SECTOR IN THE U.S.,
ONE OF THE BEST EDUCATED WORKFORCES IN AMERICA,
AND OVER $1 BILLION IN INCENTIVES AND TAX BREAKS,
IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT OUR ECONOMY LAUNCHED OVER
50,000 NEW BUSINESSES LAST YEAR ALONE.
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE,
OR WHAT YOU DREAM OF BECOMING,
REMEMBER THIS:
NO ONE EVER CAME HERE TO TAKE A BACK SEAT,
PLAY SECOND FIDDLE,
OR MAKE IT SMALL.
Published in Small Business Marketing
I have to tell you... I really cannot get enough of this buzz that is going around this year. Everyone seems as excited as I am about life and business - that we all seem to be jumping up and down literally.
With all of this positive talk - anything can happen!
They say using positive affirmations to manifest change in your life works. Well, gosh I hope so!
It's Saturday and I am stuck in a hotel room in Atlanta working away on my computer. It's quite nice outside and certainly not what you would expect from Atlanta this time of year. It's warm, kind of TShirt type of day and the sun is trying really hard to stay out.
Getting through my first four days in Atlanta has been a breeze from a professional point of view. Yesterday I wrote on Marketing Eye's Atlanta blog how I had 13 strong leads by midday on Friday having only started on Tuesday. There has been no marketing, but we do have a decent website that delivers us with leads day-in day-out.
By the end of Friday, we had contracts signed and 14 strong leads. People are really ready to get started this year and make a difference to their business outcomes. With marketing changing so dramatically over the past few years, it is more prevelant than ever that small businesses need to outsource their marketing rather than try to do it all themselves. The skills required to be a modern marketing manager is now so diverse that you would need to be bordering on genius to be able to do everything - and as we know, marketers are not known for being rocket scientists.
Key to success this year is relationship management and connecting content with customers on multiple levels. Creativity is also key and if all of your competitors are walking one way, make sure you walk in the opposite direction.
For businesses focused on B2B marketing, don't be fooled that sales automation is just another buzz word. It's the smartest solution ever invented in sales and businesses that blink and miss it, will no doubt be on the bottom of the heap when it comes to competing against smarter more aware competitors.
Mobile is another area that businesses need to step up with and if you cannot read your website on a mobile phone, then you had better fix it immediately. As fast as they click on, they click off.
It's Saturday and time to sign out - but hope we have given you some things to consider.
With all of this positive talk - anything can happen!
They say using positive affirmations to manifest change in your life works. Well, gosh I hope so!
It's Saturday and I am stuck in a hotel room in Atlanta working away on my computer. It's quite nice outside and certainly not what you would expect from Atlanta this time of year. It's warm, kind of TShirt type of day and the sun is trying really hard to stay out.
Getting through my first four days in Atlanta has been a breeze from a professional point of view. Yesterday I wrote on Marketing Eye's Atlanta blog how I had 13 strong leads by midday on Friday having only started on Tuesday. There has been no marketing, but we do have a decent website that delivers us with leads day-in day-out.
By the end of Friday, we had contracts signed and 14 strong leads. People are really ready to get started this year and make a difference to their business outcomes. With marketing changing so dramatically over the past few years, it is more prevelant than ever that small businesses need to outsource their marketing rather than try to do it all themselves. The skills required to be a modern marketing manager is now so diverse that you would need to be bordering on genius to be able to do everything - and as we know, marketers are not known for being rocket scientists.
Key to success this year is relationship management and connecting content with customers on multiple levels. Creativity is also key and if all of your competitors are walking one way, make sure you walk in the opposite direction.
For businesses focused on B2B marketing, don't be fooled that sales automation is just another buzz word. It's the smartest solution ever invented in sales and businesses that blink and miss it, will no doubt be on the bottom of the heap when it comes to competing against smarter more aware competitors.
Mobile is another area that businesses need to step up with and if you cannot read your website on a mobile phone, then you had better fix it immediately. As fast as they click on, they click off.
It's Saturday and time to sign out - but hope we have given you some things to consider.
Published in Small Business Marketing
"If the pilot of the plane runs down the aisle holding a parachute - what do you do? You panic. If the leadership falls apart, what does everyone else in the organization do? They panic." Charlie from Florida.
In a business, when the entrepreneur captaining the ship panics, it causes everyone in the entire organization to do exactly the same. How often as an entrepreneur have you panicked or become stressed out, only to find your entire organization crumble, mistakes being made and people living in fear for their job or ability to fulfil your requirements? Unless subordinates have complete trust in leadership, it is impossible for a leader to be truly effective.
This is a common problem, particularly given the abundance of Type A personalities at the helm of businesses and in leadership in organizations of all sizes.
A good leader possesses a number of key features like a positive attitude, determination, honesty, integrity, fairness, humility, courage, creativity, discipline, vision and emotional intelligence to name a few. Combined, these features underpin a good leader - yet the after-effects of an anxious leader, or one suffering from stress, can undermined all the hard work that any leader may have put in to their business.
One of the key issues pertaining to leadership is their ability to effectively manage this anxiety at all levels not just from a entrepreneur but also manage how all managerial react to stressful situations. Being able to emerge from a situation of crisis or challenge, with a clear and concise communications strategy that is executed in a calm manner.
In a business, when the entrepreneur captaining the ship panics, it causes everyone in the entire organization to do exactly the same. How often as an entrepreneur have you panicked or become stressed out, only to find your entire organization crumble, mistakes being made and people living in fear for their job or ability to fulfil your requirements? Unless subordinates have complete trust in leadership, it is impossible for a leader to be truly effective.
This is a common problem, particularly given the abundance of Type A personalities at the helm of businesses and in leadership in organizations of all sizes.
A good leader possesses a number of key features like a positive attitude, determination, honesty, integrity, fairness, humility, courage, creativity, discipline, vision and emotional intelligence to name a few. Combined, these features underpin a good leader - yet the after-effects of an anxious leader, or one suffering from stress, can undermined all the hard work that any leader may have put in to their business.
One of the key issues pertaining to leadership is their ability to effectively manage this anxiety at all levels not just from a entrepreneur but also manage how all managerial react to stressful situations. Being able to emerge from a situation of crisis or challenge, with a clear and concise communications strategy that is executed in a calm manner.
Published in Small Business Marketing
Who out there is looking deeply into their sales performance over the past 12 months to help model a sales process for 2013?
As we look back at Salesforce records and reports and ascertain who made the decision to buy, postpone or sit on their hands, it's alarming how many people are doing the latter.
What happens in marketing and sales for that matter is that people don't make decisions. Many businesses are underperforming because they are unable to attach performance goals with real business needs.
As we look back at Salesforce records and reports and ascertain who made the decision to buy, postpone or sit on their hands, it's alarming how many people are doing the latter.
What happens in marketing and sales for that matter is that people don't make decisions. Many businesses are underperforming because they are unable to attach performance goals with real business needs.
Published in Marketing
Like many small business owners, I have been totally caught up in finalizing work for the year. For the first time ever, I have not bought a single gift. I am totally behind schedule.
But like millions of others, there are many options: shopping online, late night shopping or battling through the crowds in the lead-up to Christmas.
But like millions of others, there are many options: shopping online, late night shopping or battling through the crowds in the lead-up to Christmas.
Published in Management
Yesterday, I picked up my game. No longer walking around with the weight of the world on my shoulders, I changed the outcomes of the week, the month and possibly my life - all in a day.
Simply by getting eight hours sleep (a blessing!), having a dynamic new recruit from Atlanta in the Melbourne office, seeing the team excited about life and their work and watching everyone and everything grow in so many ways - I had an a-ha moment (think Oprah).
It was almost like an outer-body experience. Here I was, looking from the outside in and all I saw was highly motivated, excited people that were all ready to tackle the world head-on and believed so strongly in what they were doing and how they were doing it - that they sent some type of magical energy to every person they came into contact with - including me!
Simply by getting eight hours sleep (a blessing!), having a dynamic new recruit from Atlanta in the Melbourne office, seeing the team excited about life and their work and watching everyone and everything grow in so many ways - I had an a-ha moment (think Oprah).
It was almost like an outer-body experience. Here I was, looking from the outside in and all I saw was highly motivated, excited people that were all ready to tackle the world head-on and believed so strongly in what they were doing and how they were doing it - that they sent some type of magical energy to every person they came into contact with - including me!
Published in Marketing
Successfully revitalising a brand is every marketer’s dream but is no easy task, requiring persistence and hard work. Changing customer perceptions and providing clarity of the brand’s values is difficult, especially when it comes to transforming the target public’s entrenched mindset.
Marketing Eye wanted to change the way consumers perceived American Property Partners (APP). Was the APP brand clearly projecting the message it wanted to put forward to the general public? It is essential for portfolio managers to present themselves as reliable. After all, customers must trust them with their investments.
Marketing Eye wanted to change the way consumers perceived American Property Partners (APP). Was the APP brand clearly projecting the message it wanted to put forward to the general public? It is essential for portfolio managers to present themselves as reliable. After all, customers must trust them with their investments.
Published in Website Development
Atlanta entrepreneurs stand to gain additional insights on business growth and small business marketing through Marketing Eye’s new recruit, Lisa Homa.
The experienced marketing consultant has joined the Atlanta team, bringing to the role extensive knowledge in the advertising, finance, IT, human resources and research industries.
She previously held roles at global advertising giant Clemenger Group and also gained international exposure through her previous corporate and boutique work in Australia and the UK.
As Marketing Eye’s dynamic consultant, Lisa will work with small business owners and entrepreneurs to help Atlanta’s small- and medium-sized businesses boost their success and experience exponential growth.
The experienced marketing consultant has joined the Atlanta team, bringing to the role extensive knowledge in the advertising, finance, IT, human resources and research industries.
She previously held roles at global advertising giant Clemenger Group and also gained international exposure through her previous corporate and boutique work in Australia and the UK.
As Marketing Eye’s dynamic consultant, Lisa will work with small business owners and entrepreneurs to help Atlanta’s small- and medium-sized businesses boost their success and experience exponential growth.
Published in Marketing
While content management is 'all the rage' right now, smart marketers are not forgetting that while content may drive sales, visitors to your website or generate leads - it's sales process automation that keeps the sales pipeline full to the brim.
All small business owners are thinking about how they can attract more sales in the most cost-effective way possible without sacrificing the integrity of their brand.
All small business owners are thinking about how they can attract more sales in the most cost-effective way possible without sacrificing the integrity of their brand.
Published in Small Business Marketing
When in doubt, ask an expert.
Yesterday, I put in a phone call to Bond Street 180 business turnaround guru Daryl Wright and asked what he considered to be the most important things for small business owners to consider ahead of 2013. Here is what he had to say.
Yesterday, I put in a phone call to Bond Street 180 business turnaround guru Daryl Wright and asked what he considered to be the most important things for small business owners to consider ahead of 2013. Here is what he had to say.
Here are the three things that SME's should consider for 2013:
Published in Small Business Marketing
“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” Jack Dixon.
I woke up this morning feeling a little bit down.The year has gone so fast – yet, I feel as though I have done so little. I have been chasing my tail trying to accomplish so much – yet, my ‘to do list’ seems to be getting longer and longer. There is so much more to be achieved, but with only 27 days left to the year, it looks as though I have literally run out of time.
Apparently, I am not alone.
Small business owners the world over struggle to fit everything in to their daily schedule – with this time of year marking a time where the scoreboard comes out and crosses begin to appear, with thick red markers firmly reminding entrepreneurs that they have not done enough hard work or scored the goals they needed to win the game.
But do entrepreneurs ever really ‘win’ the game? If you are anything like me, you keep changing the goal posts and every time you get close, you shift the posts just that little bit further.
Published in Mellissah Smith
Selecting the correct Christmas gift for clients can often be fraught with danger - while a thoughtful, heartfelt gift can strenghten and enhance your professional relationships, a poorly-executed and inappropriate present will have the opposite effect.
These days, selecting corporate gifts can often feel like a competition, with companies attempting to outdo each other in a extravagant battle of the budgets. That said, money can't buy class or creativity, so make sure you give from the heart and tailor each gift to your clients' interests. It is the thought that counts, after all.
These days, selecting corporate gifts can often feel like a competition, with companies attempting to outdo each other in a extravagant battle of the budgets. That said, money can't buy class or creativity, so make sure you give from the heart and tailor each gift to your clients' interests. It is the thought that counts, after all.
Published in Small Business Marketing
Many small business owners are reluctant to invest too much time and money into their websites. They simply don't see the value in it - that is of course, once you've passed the fact that they need to have one.
They invest in having a web development company develop a website and populate it with content and pictures, but many still don't ensure that they have search engine optimized their website on a regular basis or that they are updating content regularly that is relevant to their target audience.
It's easy to have a website - but not so easy to keep it up-to-date and relevant.
They invest in having a web development company develop a website and populate it with content and pictures, but many still don't ensure that they have search engine optimized their website on a regular basis or that they are updating content regularly that is relevant to their target audience.
It's easy to have a website - but not so easy to keep it up-to-date and relevant.
Published in Small Business Marketing
While it's no Huffington Post, there is more than 50 stories that are now live on www.marketingeye.org - Marketing Eye's online magazine.
Entrepreneurial stories on people like former Geelong footballer Michael Mansfield, Comcity's Jason Reading, Chris Reynolds from Champion Systems, Ryan O'Hare from Eutility and more.
Thought leaders on leadership, psychology, marketing and social media share their views and experiences. A really great story is on business turnaround specialist Daryl Wright from Bond Street 180 and you will also find a story on famous entrepreneur turn photographer, Tommy Mendes.
In all, its a good read and the best stories are on the entrepreneurs behind the brands.
I was surprised as I tweeted the website only a couple of times yesterday and we haven't really promoted it while we tweak a few things, and more than 1000 people where on the site last night at 11pm and it was going up at a rapid pace. For a moment, it made me nervous! Creating your own media can bring greater loyalty to your brand, only if it is done right and you have thought through what your audience wants to read about.
If you have a story that you would like to share, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Entrepreneurial stories on people like former Geelong footballer Michael Mansfield, Comcity's Jason Reading, Chris Reynolds from Champion Systems, Ryan O'Hare from Eutility and more.
Thought leaders on leadership, psychology, marketing and social media share their views and experiences. A really great story is on business turnaround specialist Daryl Wright from Bond Street 180 and you will also find a story on famous entrepreneur turn photographer, Tommy Mendes.
In all, its a good read and the best stories are on the entrepreneurs behind the brands.
I was surprised as I tweeted the website only a couple of times yesterday and we haven't really promoted it while we tweak a few things, and more than 1000 people where on the site last night at 11pm and it was going up at a rapid pace. For a moment, it made me nervous! Creating your own media can bring greater loyalty to your brand, only if it is done right and you have thought through what your audience wants to read about.
If you have a story that you would like to share, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Published in Small Business Marketing
