Think of your online presence as another physical store location that’s open 24/7. Hypothetically speaking, keeping the doors open will keep your business from losing an increasing large percentage of customers.

That age old battle - the ego vs the heart - is more relevant now than ever to us marketeers and anyone directly involved in business development. It dictates how you speak to the people you need to be speaking to; how you capture their attention and it applies to every communication you put out there – online, direct mail, posters, brochures, social media.

The thing is though, with everyone communicating to everyone else - shouting, pitching and bargaining for a share of the market - it can be hard, defeating and infuriating for those of us running ethical business operations to compete with ‘get rich quick’ and ‘lose 7kg in 7 days’.

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.

Each day I speak to more than a dozen entrepreneurs at a bare minimum. My job is to connect with entrepreneurs and understand their businesses, challenges and what they are trying to achieve.

Yesterday, I call came through from a man wanting some help with a marketing strategy. He had just started an online business and it wasn't doing so well. He needed a strategy but could do all the work in-house if we told him what to do.

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.

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.

15 years ago… big hair, ghastly makeup and daggy clothes. Here I am with one of my best friends, Nicole, in Cairns, North Queensland on a girls weekend away. 

At the time, I worked in marketing for a large retailer and Nicole worked for News Limited. We lived together and like most girls that age, we spent night after night talking about how one day we would do this and one day we would do that. We both had big dreams and were prepared to put in the hard yards to achieve them.

Whether due to lack of knowledge, time, budget or planning, many companies fall short of the mark when it comes to targeting the right audience.

It is essential that business owners, marketers or the person driving a direct marketing campaign know exactly how to define, segment and target prospects in order to maximise ROI.

Today, many businesses realise the importance of segmentation – the process of subdividing customers and prospects according to common attributes and characteristics relevant to a product or service.

In the past 4 months, I have learnt alot about beer. Too much, some would say.