Facebook Now Uses Hashtags – what does that mean for the business owner?

Morning All

Some of you may already be aware, but about 18 hours ago Facebook announced that they are allowing for hashtags in Facebook to be clickable!  But what does this mean? What are hashtags?  and how can we use this to benefit our businesses and specifically in our marketing?

Better get used to #hashtagging folks… it is going to change the way we Facebook

Although Facebook is known to have popularised the method of tagging content, which basically means adding an “@” in front of a name or a group to give them a “shout out” almost, it was Twitter that really went above and beyond through the creation of hashtagging.  Using a “#” in front of a word or saying is a simple way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic and to begin a conversation.  For example, if you search #Arrow (or #arrow – it’s not case sensitive), you’ll get a list of tweets related to the TV show… but you won’t get tweets that say “I shot an arrow today” because “arrow” wasn’t preceded by the hashtag.

So why is it so important and such a game changer that Facebook has now allowed for clickable hashtags within their own social media?  Simple.. the hashtag has proven to be a handy system for social networking users to search, join and participate in online conversations as events unfold in real-time, such as political debates, television shows and sports.  It also becomes an easy way for advertisers to reach specific demographics and audiences.

It has been long thought that Facebook was behind the game where hashtags are involved, many marketers use the hashtag functionality in Twitter to launch products and services… and now the mind boggles as to what we can do with hashtags on a site with a greater reach of 1 billion+ users in comparison to Twitter’s 200 million active users.

Marketers and business owners are going to need to be smart about how they use hashtags in an marketing campaigns so that they don’t amount to wasted time and money – or worse, harm the brand.  This is because “Every day, hundreds of millions of people use Facebook to share their thoughts on big moments happening all around them,” says Facebook’s Greg Lindley. “Whether it’s talking about a favorite television show, cheering on a hometown sports team or engaging with friends during a breaking news event—people on Facebook connect with their friends about what’s taking place all over the world.”

When you click on a hashtag in Facebook it will create a new page – and you will be taken to a results page that looks like this:

#sanfrancisco

**courtesy of webpronews

So as you can see – it literally clumps all conversations about San Francisco together, making it really easy to join a conversation.

This is going to be a relatively easy leap for business owners and marketers to use Facebook hashtagging as part of their campaigns… as they are already doing it for Twitter – but the main difference is that it will hit a much larger audience giving your chosen topic a lot more airtime.  Which means that it will allow campaigns to flourish across multiple social networks.

There are a couple of hashtag strategies that you can implement – branding being the most popular.. for example if I was to run a branding hashtag strategy for nexus I would simply use #nexus, but say I wanted to promote my content around Facebook hashtagging I could sponsor the hashtag #facebookhashtag as a trending topic and then my tweets or now Facebook statuses would be seen first amongst my peers.  You can also use hashtagging for crowdsourcing – which literally means your fans share content, or even gaining follows and link backs with hashtag competitions.

When I take a look at the way these clickable hashtags are going to work in Facebook, one advantage that is screaming out to me, is that they are almost creating a website for you.  You will literally be able to use tagging and hashtags together to really boost your marketing.

A word of caution though – if you do decide to use hashtagging as a campaign, be aware that users can “hijack the brand” – they can turn what you think is a great campaign into a deep dark chasm of negativity around a brand.  I am sure we can all think of some tweets and hashtag comments that have gone very wrong.

Facebook says this is the very first step in a broader “public conversations” initiative.  I as a marketer, am very excited at this prospect, but I will definitely be doing my homework and due diligence to ensure that I can take full advantage of the huge reach that Facebook mow offers all business owners and marketers.

Good luck folks – this is set to change the way we reach people! #excited!

Cheers

Naomi

How to grow my small business?

Hi All

There has been one question that has been haunting me over the last couple of weeks… am I a “plumber with a leaky tap?” – and no… I am not actually a plumber – but the CEO of a marketing and advertising agency in Melbourne, Nexus CG.

do I let it continue to “leak” or should I do something about it?!

You see… what has prompted this question is a little bit of “self evaluation” – I am 31 years old… and am I where I thought I would be 3 and a half years ago when I started this business with my business partner… and mother… Sheila?

In order to answer this question I have to take you back to those days and what was happening, what is happening now – and try to figure out – have I reached my goals – or do I know theoretically what I “should” be doing and just not “getting around to it” – or is there a deeper problem?

Why am I doing this in a blog that is open for speculation, criticism and even cynicism? Simple… it is how I started this business – open and honest to the public in order to hold myself accountable – plain and simple – and if anyone can learn from my challenges then even better.

So what has led me to the “self evaluation”?

Well I have just come out of hospital for the same operation that I had 3 and a half years ago – that prompted me to start this business.  I wanted a fresh start – to be able to build something for myself and my family that we can have an element of freedom of choice and the ability to leave a legacy.  In order to do that I needed to rid myself of some very toxic things in my life…

• an ex-boyfriend, that I probably should never have been with in the first place
• living in Canberra in a role that I probably should never have accepted in the first place
• some friends that just wanted to go out and get drunk… who I probably should never have fallen in with in the first place
• A work situation - which I probably shouldn’t have let get as far as I did….. in the first place.

…. seeing a pattern here?  I was making some very bad decisions based on some very bad reasoning… I was unhappy.  It was time to create a life that made me innately happy being me.

So I did… the creation of “Nexus Coaching Group” – as it was known then was created – whilst lying in that hospital bed over three and a half years ago.  So no wonder I was starting to “evaluate” matters whilst lying in that very same bed for the very same operation all these years later…. here is what I have discovered so far:

• my love life is the best it has EVER been.  I have met the love of my life and I am “different” with him – I am kind, I am warm, I am open… and most importantly – I have found “that bliss” that people talked about, that I never understood.  It wasn’t always this way – we have had to work hard at our relationship, but everything we do we do as a team, and I am excited about what this team can and will create.  Mushy I know! (but notice… I am not apologising for it… more change)
• I am not living in Canberra… I am living in Melbourne.  Up until this operation I was living with the best gal pal ever… Kim… in Elwood – but since then we have both decided to move out.  She has moved in with her boyfriend who she met one week later than I met mine… after going online dating together – weird huh? I am living with mum, until mine and Krish’s place is ready to move into… exciting!
• friends…. hmmm… ok, not nailing this one so far… but working on it… will shed more light shortly.
• I love my work! BUT…. it isn’t growing in the fashion I thought it would.  Surprise, surprise… all of the “formulas” that I have followed have only gotten me so far…. herein, lies my challenge!

So the two things that are not working “as well as I would like” is the “friends” component and the growth of Nexus.  Maybe I can look at them both in the same light.

In one particular friendship I have… I am trying really hard.  I am doing everything a friend should do… I am texting, I am calling, I am Facebooking… and I am constantly getting the same responses… nothing, or one word short replies. As hurtful as this is, I thought… come on Naomi… make this work – don’t give up…. so I continued – I was doing the same thing over an over again and hoping for a new outcome?! definition of insanity right there. I then looked at one of my other friendships… Kim… we are always there for each other, there is no drama, we miss each other, and we genuinely want to hang out… but I don’t feel that I need to follow “certain rules” to have this friendship… it is easy and successful – I just went about it in my own unique way.

So how can this help the growth of Nexus?  Well no surprise here, but when I got into business I bought very heavily into “modelling others’ success” and I have to admit – it got me further than the average business starter…. but not as far as I want it to go.  So I kept doing the same thing over and over again – hoping and believing all would change… that was what the “formula” said… but it wasn’t… it’s NOT working.  I am working with the same sort of customers time and time again… but we want more… we want that freedom that we once dreamt about – and in order to achieve this I believe we need to look into a new pool of customers, look at a new way of doing things… and ultimately looking BIGGER at the things that we are doing.

I was told about a conversation recently about a new business starter that was speaking to a friend of mine… she told him that she has started a new business and instead of handing out business cards, she is going to hand out her own book.  Great! I thought… this is the start of a very well known formula…. when my friend asked this business starter to give him a 30 sec run down of why her business was better than others (as he doesn’t have time to read the book), she walked away… the formula is floored, as are so many others….

So… no more formulas for me… I am going to work with my business partner in a whole new way – we are going to look BIGGER than ever before, and there are going to be some massive changes, and some risks that we are going to go through together… that’s my promise to myself, my business partner and our employees… I am ditching the formulas that are holding us back and I am going to create our own unique way…

As for my friend… who knows… but that formula of doing all of the work is now ending as well.  It breaks my heart that this could be the end of “a beautiful friendship” that I held so dear to my heart – but I cannot and will not flog a dead horse for any longer… that’s my promise to me!

let’s hope this is the case….

I am not sure if this blog is going to be of any use to anyone…. but I hope it is… self evaluation will stop me being the plumber with a leaky tap – and ensure I know how to grow this small business… our way!

Cheers

N

 

 

Teleworking and creatives… do they mix?

Afternoon All.

It looks very appealing, but is “teleworking” really workable?

Is ‘teleworking’ the way of the world going forward? The lonely figure sitting in a cafe working remotely from her team, her office, her collaborative influence?

That’s what the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is after.  She recently announced that she will commit 12% of Australian Public Servants to a teleworking arrangement… what does this mean?  They will basically have the flexibility of working remotely, from their homes, their favourite cafes, from the Great Ocean Road…. basically wherever they want.

The cynic inside me wonders is there a hidden agenda here for the Gillard Government, is it to justify the enormous cost of the NBN to the tax payers by giving them a new “shiny thing” and new “buzz word” to focus on?  ”Working from home”, as we all know it, is nothing new. Large and small companies alike have been doing it for years… so why the new name and the new focus on TELEWORKING?  I would hate to assume the worst but it is hard to ignore.

Teleworking has worked really well in a lot of organisations. In fact, I am doing it right now whilst writing this blog.  I am sitting in my local cafe sipping on lattes and getting my creative juices flowing.  But will this always work?

In the industry that Nexus CG and myself belongs to, Marketing and Advertising, it’s all about being creative. And whilst I can be creative by myself sitting in a cafe writing a blog, if I was to develop a new marketing launch for a new product for example, would I really do as good a job by myself as I would with my esteemed work mates?  I doubt it.

You see what I’ve noticed about running a team of creatives is that they quite literally feed off each other.  They get more and more creative based on the people, the environment, the mood, the activity and the conversation around them.  They will always create something quite magical with their teammates in comparison to creating something on their own.  So for Nexus CG, I can’t see teleworking being a workable system for the majority of time.

This isn’t to say I wouldn’t be open to it. On some occasions I totally get the need to get away from the office to get a whole load of work completed. I do that every Wednesday; it means an uninterrupted day of work. But can I trust my staff to do the same thing?  Absolutely.  For me, teleworking can only work if you trust your staff - and if you don’t need that collaboration time.

What a lot of people seem to forget is that most businesses are started from home, or “the coffice” (cafe office)- and Nexus CG was no different. I started it from my mother’s house and it was a great way to keep costs low.  One thing that many people don’t realise is that you can become very lonely working by yourself. And that loneliness is almost catastrophic to the creative juices because you start focusing on the loneliness and not the creativity.

So maybe teleworking is for some industries and not others…. maybe teleworking is for some people and not others… and maybe we as employers need to look at each person’s situation individually and create a teleworking policy for them… not the company.

For me I would need to work through many considerations in order to either agree or disagree to the individual teleworking policy. These are:

• How much work experience does the individual have? The less experience the more likely they are to feel lost in a teleworking scenario.
• What kind of work is the employee doing?  Do they need to be around peers to do the best job possible?
• Insurance, where will they be working and will I need to “sight the premises” in order for my insurance company not to “crack the sads”?
• What are the implications of taking customer’s IP out of the office? Will our customers be ok with this?
• Will our customers see this teleworking policy as almost like “outsourcing overseas” and therefore lose that element of control and human interaction?  The whole notion of outsourcing their marketing is challenging enough for most of our customers.
• What kind of person is the employee? Do they create better work surrounded by a team and in a positive environment?
• What kind of environment will they be working in and is it “workable”? For example, a busy pub in Richmond is probably not ideal to hold customer teleconferences re their branding.
• There is obviously a massive cost saving for teleworking but is the money a good enough reason to potentially sacrifice the quality of work through creative collaboration?  I think not.

Thank you Julia Gillard for the “Shiny new buzz word” and thank you for trying to deflect from the real issue of the cost of the NBN. However for me and for Nexus CG, we will work on an individual teleworking policy… and not offer a blanket “12% of workers will be teleworking” because of that 12% who knows if it will actually be the making or breaking of their careers?

I care about my staff and their development too much to just simply add a metric to their careers in order to hide an agenda… surely we should be focusing on developing these people for sustainable growth in a workforce that is seriously struggling with skill shortages.  How will these people learn from experienced peers I ask?

Here are a couple of pics of Team Nexus CG. I would hate to lose this kind of collaboration and integration:

Would love your opinion on this one….

Cheers

N

Small Business and Marketing

HI All

“If people don’t know you are in business… how can you expect to STAY in business?”

Little ole me

I am sitting in my office having an amazing realisation today… you see 3 years ago I started Nexus CG with the help of my Co-Director Sheila – and up until about 18 months ago, I worked out of Sheila’s house, never drew a wage and we were quite literally doing everything from stuffing envelopes, to finding new business and creating operations manuals…and everything in between.

However, today, we both sit on the second storey of our beautiful office, and we can hear the creative discussions going on downstairs between our staff members – today we have 5 others in – and they are creating some magical stuff.  So it is really a great opportunity for us to sit back and take stock of what we have achieved in such a short time.

It, obviously, hasn’t all been tea and biscuits… or champers and nachos… it has been 3 years of working out what works and what doesn’t work- and being flexible and honest enough with ourselves to make the necessary changes in order to be successful.

This isn’t the same story for a lot of my contemporaries.. did you know that there are 100,000 new businesses in Australia every year, and of that 100,000 80% of them won’t survive.  I could almost put money on the fact that those 80% of failed businesses never had or implemented a:

• Business plan
• Sales Strategy
• Marketing strategy
• Marketing calendar of activities

… and they simply lay all of their hopes, dreams, wishes and money on the belief that ‘If I build it, then they will come”.  I would like to say one thing to this attitude…”Grow the f*** up!”  Why should people help you in your business, if you are not willing to put in the effort to help yourself?

Marketing and sales are not the easiest of activities… granted… but you have to do it in order to stay in business – no matter if you are an online business, a coach, a printing company or even a football club… no matter what you do, or who you are marketing and selling needs to be core of what you do until you reach a point where you can hire people to do this.  Another thing I would like to add… a couple of facebook status updates, does not a marketing strategy make!

So folks – try something different, stand out from the crowd of new businesses out there – don’t be one of the 80% who fail simply because you can’t be bothered to create some marketing – or get advice as to how to go about it.

We don’t get it right all of the time… but we are always trying new things to be different… here is just one of the things that we are implementing to “get noticed” by some new people…

So go on… give it a go… after all:

“If people don’t know you are in business… how can you expect to STAY in business?”

Cheers

N

Has Google Made Us Arrogant In Business?

Afternoon All…

I am not sure if you are all aware, but some of the staff and clients from Nexus CG, my housemate Kim, and I are training for this year’s Run Melbourne Marathon… I am specifically running the half marathon – which is a bit of a challenging slog I can tell you!

Anyway – this challenge has me up and running about 3 times a week, and this morning was no different. I got up, got dressed and started my run. About 3kms into the run I started to notice a little niggle in my right calf muscle, but as I have loads of problems with my legs, I chose to ignore it – as “it will go away”… but it didn’t – in fact, I had to suddenly stop as I was in agony! I thought.. “oh crap – what do I do now? I know… I remember a search on Google recently told me to RICE – Rest Ice Compress and Elevate – that’s what i will do” – Google, and therefore I, know everything.

As the day has gone on – my predicament has got me thinking.. what has created this arrogance that I believe that I can self diagnose through a search engine rather than go and see a doctor and get a team of experts around me to aid me in my plight to be better by the weekend so I don’t miss any runs? This got me thinking even further….

This is what I see business owners do all of the time. Now I am still a new business owner, only 3 years young, but there is something that really bothers me… When someone suddenly becomes a business owner, it’s like they become an overnight expert in ALL things business. They are suddenly a marketing expert, a sales god, a CPA or even an IT wizz – they believe that because they have downloaded a few special reports or YouTube clips that they know how to do all of these aspects of business better than the “real experts”.

Now this is the part that confuses me… suddenly they realise that their “calf muscle” isn’t getting better as quickly as they thought, or their business isn’t generating as much revenue as quickly as they thought so they finally go and see a doctor.. or a “real expert”, but when they sit with that expert they start to tell them what’s what, and what they are not prepared to do and what they are to prepared to spend.

Reality is that in Australia there are over 100,000 new business each year, and of those 80% of them won’t last five years. The businesses that don’t survive fail for many reasons – one of them is not surrounding themselves with a support crew of experts that know their SME better than the business owner does. Being successful in business doesn’t have to be lonely – it can mean bringing in people who do it better than you do, that are smarter than you… and who understand elements of business better than you do.

How do stand out from the crowd of 100,000 new businesses every year – you try something different, you protect your investment dollars by spending money on the support crew that will create a return for you – one thing I say to my customers all of the time is “just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come” – so creating a reason why they should come is important – and Google will only get you so far.

So gang… Google needs to be your back up – your disaster plan, not the support crew that is going to get you and your business raking in the cash, seen by thousands of potential customers, or the clever little bugger that will maximise your tax return. If you have already spent thousands of dollars starting up your business – don’t you think that you should find that little bit extra cask to secure your return – and not base your success on the whim of a search engine?

Oh… and one final thing… it’s all well and good going to the doctor, but listening to them and taking their advice is a whole new ball game. This is the same thing for when you start to pull together your support crew… listen to them, hear what they are saying, and most importantly… take their advice – they have done more than watched a YouTube clip or two ..

This approach may just make you turn from:

 

 

 

 

Into……………………………….

 

 

 

 

Just saying

Cheers

Naomi

Scrambled eggs with no toast is like marketing with no selling!

 

Morning All…

As I went for my morning walk with my housemate Kim this morning… we were talking about a whole array of tough political, game changing, worldly topics.  One of the topics was “scrambled eggs should never be served sans toast”... come on it was 6am after all! What did you expect?

Our theory on scrambled eggs with no toast is that it may do what it needs to do initially, but with out a doubt an hour and a half later you are absolutely ravenous again… at which point we gorge on food that possibly isn’t the best for us… see pic!

So by simply adding a slice (or two) of toast with our morning scrambled eggs… we can go through to lunch and not feel the need to binge on high sugar, high fat yet delicious and scrumptious snacks… At this point I felt the need to take it that step further and compare it to marketing without selling….

You see, I come across so many well meaning, enthusiastic business leaders and owners who are determined to get their bodies (I mean businesses) into shape through marketing… and unfortunately I am seeing that they are starting to gorge themselves silly on non effective, pricey, and unproved marketing activities instead of simply adding a “sales” activity.

Like scrambled eggs and toast… marketing and sales should never be separated – they should and need to start working together if your ROMI (return on marketing investment) is truly going to be seen.  If you are going to create a brochure… great… and whats the objective for that brochure and how is it going to make you money?  Create an online campaign… great…. what are you going to do in the follow up sales activities that is going to give you a return that you never thought possible.  Do a letter drop… ooh wait…. never do a letter drop – period!

So how can you add a simple equation of selling to your marketing?  All you need to do is everytime you create a marketing activity ask yourself these questions:

1. After the marketing activity is complete… now what? (TIP: the answer is NEVER another marketing activity)
2. Has my marketing activity driven any revenue?…. if the answer is NO – then you have yet to sell!
3. Have you earned the right?  What I mean by this is that sure you have done a great marketing activity… have you in fact managed to build great rapport with your customer to the point where they are begging to buy from you – and you don’t need to ask?  If not… INSERT SALES ACTIVITY.

So don’t be stingy on the toast… yes you will get some short term benefits – try to start thinking of the long term gain though, and that does not include spending copious amounts of money on sugary, fatty marketing delights!

Would love to hear your thoughts…

Cheers
N

To the “Nay Sayers”…. We Say No!

Morning All..

On Monday I had a really great conversation with someone who I would have to say is probably of the same “mindset” as I am… ambitious, driven, goal orientated and not willing to let anyone tell them “it isn’t possible”.  When I asked him what his “dream job” was he came back without hesitation and said “CEO”.. referring to the large company he works for.  This excited me and made me look at him with respect… unfortunately this isn’t always the case with people.

More often than not, if you tell people a goal you have, a dream, an aspiration that they believe is “lofty” they will do one of two things… they will either a) laugh as though you have made the funniest joke ever, or b) say “come on really… be realistic” – these people are those that I refer to as “Nay Sayers”.  They are the people who have boundaries blocking them from thinking big, from dreaming what they want to dream and they are the people who are responsible for “tall poppy syndrome”.

When I first started Nexus, the Nay Sayers said to me “why would you do that… why don’t you go back to a corporate job… less risk”… now those same people say to me “wow you are so lucky that your business is successful”… lucky??? no no… I gave myself the permission to think big, I had conviction of thought, I was unshakeable in my belief and ultimately I got rid of the Nay Sayers from my life.  There was no luck involved… just pure belief.

No matter how successful you get, no matter how many goals you achieve these Nay Sayers will always be around… it’s up to you whether or not you choose to have them in your life and it’s up to you to choose how to react to them.  This is what I call leadership.

I used to always think leadership was simply motivating people towards a common goal and it is… and more.  Leadership for me now is having the conviction of thought, control of emotions, an unwaivering belief in my abilities and ultimately being able to say that “oh so powerful” word NO.  NO to the Nay Sayers, NO to staff and even NO to customers.

I suppose I never got taught the art of saying NO… but it is the usage of this word that will either help you grow into that leader who inspires or simply.. not.   Saying NO to the people around you takes courage, takes strength, takes clarity of mind and most importantly it takes giving permission to yourself to think big.

If you are one of the Nay Sayers… think before you speak and judge… you may think the person in front of you will never make CEO… but that is your issue, not theirs- maybe instead of laughing or telling them to be realistic, ask them “ok, how are we going to get you there?”

Be part of the dream… not against it.

Cheers

N

Should Spiral Dynamics Be Used For Selling?

Afternoon All…

One of my absolute favourite topics is the theories around Spiral Dynamics and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  I was sitting with two colleagues having lunch yesterday and we got onto the topic of the difference between the two theories and how society can fit into to either one of them.  We then started to question the sales technique of using (in particular) spiral dynamics to convince people to part with their money and give it to the seller.  This got me thinking…. should something as important as understanding human dynamics and behaviour be used to manipulate people into buying – or is it simply “smart selling”?

For those of you who don’t know what Spiral Dynamics is – here is a brief overview…. Spiral dynamics argues that human nature is not fixed… and that humans are able, when forced by life conditions, to adapt to their environment by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models  of the world that allow them to handle the new problems.  Then each of these models transcends the previous model allowing them to “move up” through the levels within spiral dynamics – and these levels are based on a core value system that is sometimes referred to has vMemes – don’t get thrown by that – just see it as a value system.

So Spiral Dynamics is used to explain where culture, societies, people and even mindsets are situated –  and the only way to move up through the  7 levels – or 9 (depending who you listen to, or read about) is to learn new skills and develop your mindset.  The levels look like this:

Level 1 – Instinctive – Needs are: food , water, shelter, safety etc – i.e survival

Level 2 – Animistic – Needs are: Social, family, tribe, honour, respect elders, ancestors, spirits i.e lives for past

Level 3 – Egocentric – Needs are: Pschological, power driven, exploitative, priviledge i.e lives for now.

Level 4 – Absolutistic – Needs are: Abstract, purposeful, authoritarian, dualistic, dogmatic i.e lives for future

Level 5 – Materialistic – Needs are: Entreprenuerial, strategic, growth and success. i.e Lives for gain

Level 6 – Humanistic – Needs are: Community, harmony, liverty, equality i.e lives for cause

Level 7 – Systemic – Felxibility, spontaneity, competence, balance i.e lives for Synergy.

Levels 8 and 9 are about targeting the “greater good” and those in these levels are living entirely for others… i.e the Dalai Lama.

So how are people using this as a sales tool?  There are people in todays market place that use this theory as a way of selling products and programs… and they do it like this….

They start of by explaining Spiral Dynamics, and they talk about examples – this is a direct quote from something that was said in a room I was in once… “The average australian employee mindset is at level 3 – but if you want to be successful in business you need to be level 5, I can only see and recognise 3 level 5s in the room (this was a room of about 100 people)” this then went on futher when this person was selling from the stage and used “I don’t want to spend my time with the employee mindset or level 3s – I want to spend my time with level 5s” and this where those in the room who are desperate to have successful businesses convince themselves that the only way to get to level 5 is to buy the product or program… almost the “blue pill to level 5 thinking”!

Now I am all for using NLP, human behavioural understanding to ensure that you are able to talk about services or products in a way that you can align with your customers or potential customers… however, I am not sure how ethical it is to utilise something that is a conceptual theory to manipulate a crowd to believe that if they don’t buy something they will never progress or develop… I personally believe that anyone can work their way through the levels as every human can adapt to situations and evolve their own thinking…

I know this is a heavy blog… but would love to know your thoughts…

Should Spiral Dynamics be simplified and reduced to a common sales tool?

All Together Now… 1, 2, 3…. HOW!?!?!?

Morning Everyone…

I have been getting quite a few phone calls and emails about how you are all enjoying my blogs… and I am thrilled – who knew that my strong opinions would ever serve me well…

Many of you don’t know that I have the ability to speak 5 languages… English (probably my worst language), German (fluently), French, Japanese and Persian Farsi (my newest and not quite mastered yet).. language is something that I have had a long lasting relationship with.. it fascinates me, intrigues me, encapsulates me and more importantly fills me with utter enjoyment.  Simply understanding how a language is spoken… and not just what the words mean really “floats my boat” – I see it as understand the “art of the language” and not just “what word means what”.

I think this is an important distinction in most areas of life… the “how” versus the “what”… and it so neatly brings me to the 4th thing that I really wish mentors, coaches, and so called “experts” understood… Business owners want the tools of HOW to do things… not just theory (what)…

For example I could learn the word for “love” in German…. “liebe” – but if I wanted to tell someone I loved them then suddenly I would go into overwhelm as I wouldn’t know “how” to construct a sentence to be able to express myself properly… but as soon as I learned the grammar, the nuances, the tonality and where to place the emphasis I would know exactly how to tell someone I loved them…”Ich liebe dich”, or “Ich liebe Sie” (dependant on the person and the relationship)… then what happens if I turn it into past tense “Ich liebte Sie”.  So as you can see, just having the word “liebe” doesn’t get you very far.

Just like being told “go and do online marketing”, “go and sell into corporates”, “come up with a new offline marketing campaign”, “sell it from stage”… is great information – but is worth didlisquat unless you know HOW to do these things.

I so often see business owners who have all the theories, all the “what” the “liebe”- have been to the seminars, taken the courses but never been shown the “HOW” – they don’t have a system in place to complete all of the action items and quickly, but very surely, they enter into the state of overwhelm… where they get lost, disalusioned and quite frankly… peeved at all the money they spent on hearing more theories…. and as I have too been put in that position… I say it’s time to take a stand…..

It’s time for these mentors, coaches and so called “experts” to take a very long hard look in the mirror and stop spouting “liebe” and start educating their clients in “ich liebe dich”….

So folks… stand with me… post a comment to show these “WHAT” sayers that we are ready to hear the HOW… the art of business….

Cheers

N

American marketing will be the death of small business in OZ

Morning everyone…

I have just got into the office after a gruelling hour in the gym with my PT.  During my torture session he was quizzing me on sales copy and marketing techniques… the techniques he was specifically referring to were tear sheets, faxes, long form sales letters and sending random emails… also known as spam.  He was asking me if they work… here’s the thing… all marketing works, as long as you target it to the RIGHT market and not the wrong market.  Sounds simple right?  Wrong….

This is the 2nd out of 7 steps that I really wish mentors, business coaches and so-called “experts” understood…“Don’t give them a whole load of rehashed american concepts that have NOT been tried and tested in this market”

The amount of times I have been to a “business workshop”, a “mastermind class” or even had a conversation with an “expert” who has tried to resell me the concepts of some of the great Frank Kern’s or Ryan Deiss’ marketing techniques has been phenomenal… and the best part is – they never change.  There is always the same formula for sales copy, there is always the process of landing page with a special report followed by autoresponders then there is the free stuff you give away… then the social proof then finally you sell something… I have to say, I get this process… most of us do… then the question that begs to be asked is… why is it not as successful as when the Americans do they same thing?

This is something I have thought about, tried and tested, and watched others in the market place do… not very successfully I might add… and the answer was staring at me in the face… for the same reason that American Sales techniques don’t work here in Australia…. we are a completely different breed.

So if this is the case, surely I am not the only one to notice that these methods are having limited success here in Australia… then why do the people we go to for expert advice keep rolling out the same rehashed version of marketing techniques….  Why can’t they come up with an awesome and rocking Australian Sales Copy formula… keep the sequence… but “Aussie it up” a bit.  Why do these “so called” experts recommend sending tear sheets out… when the Aussie market are known sceptics and “why oh why” are there people out there suggesting to their clients to send faxes to cold leads?!?!?   Seriously guys… lift your game!

Marketing to the Aussie market can be an absolute blast… all you need to do is think outside the box… have a little fun and be really comfortable and most importantly proud of what you are sending out to your list… and remember – have an open mind with different forms of marketing online, offline and social media – you will always have the best outcome when you employ all three in your marketing strategies.

So… Aussie it up folks… be proud of our quirky sense of humour, our healthy scepticsm on overall our ability to laugh at ourselves.

Cheers

N