For all you micro/small business owners, here is something for you (Australia only)
July 4th, 2009Ok, this is something a little different. I’ve got the opportunity to run a simple competition and have you win a pretty cool prize; one of three all-in-one wireless scan/copy/fax/printer units, the wireless HP officejet pro 8500 a909, RRP around AU$499.
(Since you’re winning this, and not paying for it, it shouldn’t matter, but it did get a pretty flattering review here; lots of features, environmentally friendly etc, etc)
Clearly, the good people representing HP believe that there are enough small business/micro business readers of this blog, and that you would value the opportunity to win a free all in one printer, so who am I to argue.
Now for the fun. We’re not going to make this complex; write in the comment space below and tell me what the top three topics are that you think I should write more blog posts about, and most importantly tell me why. I’ll select the top three and each will get one of these wireless all in one gadgets. Can’t be too hard. I’ll notify the winners by email and they’ll get delivery directly to their doorstep.
Closes in exactly one week - 11 July 09.
Good luck!
July 4th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Fantastic prize! I’ll be back to enter the competition, but just wanted to let you know that when I click “Archives” at the top of the screen, I get the following: “Could not open cache file ‘2009.dat’”
July 5th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Thanks Mandy; I’ll have a look at that Archive issue. That’ll be he Sunday morning gone I think….:(
July 5th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Hey David,
The three things I’d like to see are:
1. Classifieds & YellowPages (print + non-print) advertising - your thoughts. Why? Because I initially thought print was a waste of time but am now seeing it can be very useful. I’d like to know what you think about it all.
2. The different ways in which you can market online, pros + cons. With infome we’re really pushing hard to get our name out there online and offline and it’s always hear a few more ways, or a few ways to refine what we’re doing.
3. Collateral. What are the sorts of things you think every business should keep around to give to customers? We’ve been thinking about handing out info not from us to our customers (e.g. maybe we hand them some free ebooks we find useful).
Thanks David!
July 5th, 2009 at 9:44 am
David,
My three things:
1. LEVERAGING NEW MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR MARKETING PURPOSES
Saw a position advertised on seek.com.au yesterday for a ‘Social Engagement Coordinator’ for one of Australia’s biggest publishers, and have seen a lot of similar roles advertised recently for businesses of varying sizes.
The key functions to this position include enhancing an organisations national brand awareness / reach using social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.
Would love to hear your thoughts on how you think sites like this (and permanent roles dedicated to utilising them) will evolve as marketing vehicles for businesses.
2. THE LANGUAGE OF MARKETING
I am always interested in how the ‘language’ organisations use affect the success of their marketing campaigns.
For instance, complaints were recently made to the Ad Standards board for the language used in one of Rivers’ (clothing company) print ads, saying it made light of ‘mental illness. See http://www.bandt.com.au/news/62/0c061d62.asp for more info.
The simplistic, ‘no-nonsense’ language used in their TVC’s to date and other advertising has otherwise been effective so would be keen to see how issues like this affect the overall strength of their marketing campaign.
3. ONGOING USE OF PRINT
By implication of extended use of interactive mechanisms (including those I mentioned in point 1 along with more and more use of e-Publishing, PDFs, blogs etc) I am wondering if print is on its way out?
Environmental factors also encouraging businesses to further utilise emerging technologies also discourages the use of print.
What do you think will happen to print in the longer term? Will it simply become redundant or will we create more environmentally savvy, contemporary ways to use it for (specific) marketing purposes?
Good competition! Hope you get some useful and interesting responses.
Cheers,
Jen
July 5th, 2009 at 9:50 am
GREAT start guys. If you have even more/better ideas later in the week, simply enter another comment; no restrictions on that.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hi David, hope you are going great.
Here’s some topic ideas:
1. How do I stop people from stealing my ‘million dollar ideas’ ?
2. How to find a collaborator. Say you are a Steve Wozniak: how do you find a Steve Jobs?
3. How to stay motivated when the times are tough.
4. Eliciting constructive criticism. Much feedback is either too polite to be informative, or too aggressive to be truly constructive. What can we do to elicit great feedback.
Take care!
lb
July 10th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
1) How micro/small businesses can use Twitter and other social networking services to benefit their business. Despite some initial hesitation, I recently signed up for a Twitter account. (I haven’t started on Facebook…yet.) I discovered your blog through Twitter and can see more and more businesses, large and small, are becoming involved. I’d love some ideas on how very small businesses can make the most of social networking services - without a huge time cost.
2) How do I know which marketing methods are most effective for my business? What are some simple methods that can be used to measure and analyse the effectiveness of different strategies? I’m always looking to get the best possible return on my investment.
3) What makes for a great business website? What are some common mistakes to avoid? Like many micro businesses, I have a website but I have to do much of the work on it myself. Any tips would be appreciated!
July 11th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Hi David,
The three things I would like to see more of are:
1) MARKETING FOR AUSTRALIANS
I realize this blog has the potential to reach people from all over the world, but I would like to see more about marketing specifically for Australian markets. This is the market a lot of small businesses are specifically catering for and are not looking to go global. Therefore, the latest trends, the way Australian consumers and businesses operate, and anything else Australian orientated would be great to understanding our market.
2) THE SMALL THINGS
The significance of the small things. From the colour of signage, to service consistency, to offering extra incentives to customers, what are the small things that make a big difference?
3) “WORD OF MOUTH,” BUT HOW TO UTILISE IT?
Word of mouth is the cheapest form of advertising and generally customers do it of their own accord. But how does a marketer utilise, and increase the amount of, this natural resource?
Cheers,
Belinda.
July 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
1. Twitter: A B2C tool only? The jury still out on Twitter’s value as a B2B marketing tool. Is it an interesting curiosity or a serious B2B tool - leading in to 5 practical ways to use Twitter in B2B marketing.
2. Is Bing Just Bling for the M$ annual report? - As a search marketer should you take any notice of Microsoft’s latest attempted assault on the Google monster? How can a search marketer leverage Bing’s novelty ? (ie the state of pay per click or other search marketing on the new bling search engine)
3. Online Brand Impact - Search Marketing’s best kept secret. Improving your web design and quality of the look and feel of your website and your brand online has been shown to have a massive impact on conversion rates, leads, inquiries & sales. Why then, do so many businesses continue to pump money into SEO and Pay Per Click, before investing in the foundation stones of brand and professionalism online?
July 14th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
(btw - reflecting, mine may have been too specific ie single post topics - not sure if you were preferring broad / general topics, but they are all current & topical which was the “why” for each).
December 17th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
. Small Business owners are largely forgotten. Thats why I only focus on them. I have experience several members of my family file bankruptcy due to small business failures. I also I suffered through 2 destroyed businesses due to failure however, in my failings I have learned some of the secrets to success. (Who can say they know it all?)
What I like about small business owners is that they are not afraid to take huge risks and lay it all on the line. But, I agree they do need a lot of help with their marketing. I think having them go the social media and email route is not only the least expensive but its also the most effective. Thanks for the stats!
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