My name is Mellissah Smith and I am an experienced marketing consultant with Marketing Eye. Today, I want to address a concerning trend that has been spreading across social media regarding the role of AI in marketing and the potential misconceptions surrounding its capabilities.

Taxonomy is commonly known as life’s biological filing system, but did you know that it also extends to marketing? Taxonomy in the context of marketing tends to refer to the classification of data and content. While the task of tagging and labeling is often reduced to monotonous and tedious work, taxonomy is your business’s best tool to improve your business’s content marketing’s find-ability, content marketing strategy, and content marketing distribution. Here’s what your marketing consultant needs to know. 

"The new girl is always prettier than the girl you took to the dance" Canadian-born Australian entrepreneur Jack Cowin once told me when I first decided to expand internationally. As my mentor he was right, and though I listened at the time, I did it anyway. 

In the end, we were both right. Expanding to the United States was singularly the bravest thing I ever did, and it has set me up for profitability in the company in US dollars while the Australian dollar remains weak. Our offices make money and it has been an absolutely amazing journey. I have met some phenomenal people, all of whom have added to my life.

It also lead to a bit of "excitement" in my life. I was at a stage where I needed something to lift my game and expanding into the US market did exactly that. 

Marketing Consultants or Marketing Managers are being kept on their feet these days with changes in technology, the economy, corporate responsiblity and the new green ethos that surrounds most businesses large and small.

When looking at a company, whether it is large or small, it is imperative that marketing consultants (or marketing managers) are across all areas of marketing. It's no longer about the 4P's as most Gen-X marketers who now hold the senior positions in marketing have trained on, and more about social media, customer interaction, mobile marketing, podcasts, blogs, online marketing, guerilla marketing, slideshare and of course word of mouth marketing.

What are you really saying to your customers?

Have you had a great conversation with a potential customer, been really optimistic about getting them on board, and then never heard from them again? Maybe that conversation wasn’t as great as you had thought? Impossible! You know your product inside and out, you answered every question they had. As hard as it may be for you to identify, there may be something small in the way you are speaking with these customers that is putting them off coming back.

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, 1^st 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.

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.

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?