Thursday, January 29  

Shhhhhhhh - don't tell Mel!

Jo and Bianka read this blog every day - quite often to catch up what's happening in the office! Mel doesn't read it much as I think she hears from me enough at home. (So Jo and B, don't tell Mel about the below!)

I'm writing this in an Internet cafe in King St, Sydney after having dinner at a place called Kingley's Steakhouse and Cigar Lounge. And the meal was fantastic.

* Started off with bread and a glass of wine.
* Then Smoked Salmon Salad. With a glass of beer and a wine.
* Then a superb well-cooked steak. With a glass of red.
* Then baked cheesecake with a glass of Noble One dessert wine.
* Then cheese and biscuits with a glass of Penfolds Grandfather Port.
* Then flat white coffee with an after dinner mint.
* Then a Monte Cristo No. 2 cigar with a Laphroaig whiskey.

A magnificent meal!

It was a magnificent meal and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I hadn't planned to go in and have such a big meal. It was just that I was wandering past and the sign caught my eye. I actually saw the "Cigar Lounge" part and imagined the aroma of a good cigar.

Consumers don't buy on logic.

It wasn't logical for me to have a meal like that - I probably added 2 kg and knocked a year of my life expectancy!

But we all buy on emotion. And the simplest things can impact on emotions.

Offer your products or services on an emotional basis and you'll sell more.

Cheers.

Brendon

Sunday, January 25  

Does your business need a Web Site?

Glad you asked!

I've just popped a free report onto this site on this very subject. Click here for the free report (it's a pdf file), or visit here for more information.

Hope it is of some interest.

Brendon

Saturday, January 24  

Doing business

I've gotta drink less! I know I may have written something about this previously, but I simply can't remember where. It may have been here, it may have been an article, it may have been in my fabulous kit that I'd be very surprised if you haven't purchased already!!

If you have read the following sort of stuff before from me, then don't blame me. Blame beer. Or my mother-in-law. Either one. I'm not fussed!

Deals offered

On Thursday a business colleague rang me and offered a deal. It was for me to take a chunk of a busness and do the marketing for a company. After a quick chat I had identified the following -

* the company has many partners,
* some of those partners are related,
* there is infighting about how the business should go,
* the company has been going for a few years with barely any sales, and
* they have no money left for marketing.

I said "Thanks, but no thanks." (Lots of partners, infighting and no money. Not for me.)

On Friday a guy emailed me after finding this web site via an online directory search. He wanted to know if I'd give him a job to continue to develop a revolutionary online advertising thing he's been working on with a New York web studio.

I emailed him back and said "Nope, that's not our core business." (I don't know the guy. His email was basic. He'd found us through a web search, which means he was trawling for anyone. My gut said "No.")

The same day a guy emailed me and then telephoned me about an opportunity he'd like to develop after reading my kit. He gave me his credentials and sounds like a good possibility.

I said "I'll review and consider it." (This was an approach made after some research. the guy was credible, established and knew what he was doing.)

We have a guy who designs some sites for us. He's a terrific designer and very easy to work with. We'd identified his talent from some work of his we'd seen and approached him from that. We made a deal.

Business is about making the right calls

I'll get offered a lot of different deals over the course of a month. I also need to identify the right people for a particular job a lot of the time. I need to be making quick calls on a variety of issues. I need to very quickly identify the market shifts. I need to figure out how we can move this business forward.

As businesspeople we can't get bogged down. one of the guys I said no to (the New York guy) was too happy about me saying no. He emailed back some smart comment. Which instantly proved that he's an amateur and not the sort of guy we'd want to deal with.

The sort of people we want to deal with would go, "Okay Brendon. Thanks anyway." And move on. It's business. It's not personal.

As half decent businesspeople we need to be making every minute of our working day count. Someone said to me today that we were lucky to get such a good designer. Luck had nothing to do with it. I was actively looking and identified this guy's talent. I then made the apoproach. I then developed the relationship to ensure this guy liked us.

None of that was luck. It was good strategic business work.

My point is this. As businesspeople we (you and I) are doing deals all the time. We might not always recognise them as deals, but that's what we're doing.

Don't undervalue the importance of your deal making skills. And keep looking for deals every day. That's all business is.
And don't be afraid to contact someone and offer a deal. "Howdy. I have an idea that I think could make us both money................" Now that's a great way to start a sale/deal.

Have a good day.

Cheers.

Brendon

Friday, January 23  

The father-in-law returns!

Yep, the father-in-law got our of hospital today. It was meant to be last week. I think he may have talked the doctors into staying longer so he didn't have to come home to....................the mother-in-law!

Yes, dear reader, she is still in my house. Until Feb25. Did I mention that??!

The point. Here's the point.

We gave the hospital staff a nice gift basket of Tasmanian (that's where the parents bin law are from) goodies. Wines and cheese and chocolates. And they were very appreciative.

And just today Jo and I went and had a drink with a client for whom we've just finished some work. We gave him a Thank You card, a bottle of wine and chocolates to share with his staff.

We sent a bottle of champagne to a client who won a major contract just last week.

People absolutely love getting stuff. Whether it is a card, a letter, a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine. Just say "Thank you" and your clients will love you for it. And then they'll return.

But don't think of it as a cynical thing. It's just a nice thing to do.

The client Jo and I saw today is a great example. He's been a great client. A breeze to work with. very receptive and open. His staff are kind and nice. He took a chance on selecting us to do a job for him.

He has put food on my table, created work for the team here so I can keep them employed (!), and been just great. The least I can do is say "Thanks".

Say "Thanks" to your customers for being customers. They are the most important person in your business.

Brendon

Thursday, January 22  

I'm a big mouth idiot - confession time

Howdy. Hope your day is going well.

It's true. I'm a big mouth!

You see, yesterday I gave a guy some advice about his approach to someone who wanted a web site. Here's an bit of the email: If you know of any sites that you do like, perhaps send me the URL (she won't know what that is).........................

Speak in the clients language

That's him in italics and old big mouth me in bold telling him that his client probably won't know what a URL is (Uniform Resource Locator - The World Wide Web address of a site on the Internet). it's important that we speak with clients in their own language. Otherwise we confuse them. And a client who doesn't know what you are talking about will not buy from you.

We might all be experts in our own field, and it is easy to slip into the industry lingo, but try not to lose sight that the client might not know all the terms.

I should shut up!

That above paragraph makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about!

But tonight I received an email from a client who I suggest a "Direct Mail campaign" as part of her marketing mix. She emailed me to ask what a "Direct Mail campaign" was. And fair enough.

Because old big mouth here has not taken his own advice and make things as simple as possible for his client. I'd confused her. A direct mail campaign is basically just a letter. (It can get more sophisticated than that - i.e. make sure your letter has an offer, send a brochure, a response device (which is a way to buy from you) and a Reply Paid Envelope). But it's just a letter.

I should have said, "Send them a letter."

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, January 20  

Copywriting - worth every cent

I've been writing a simple brochure for a client all day and it's hard work.

You see, to write good copy you need to do a lot of research, surveys, talk with the customers and generally get right into the business. Only then can you get the 'feel' for the business.

And, like a lot of things where you really have to concentrate, even when I'm not actively writing the copy I'm still thinking about it and/or unable to really focus on anything else.

But it can be worth it.

I've seen some spectaular results with client's marketing copy and it can make a big difference to a business.

So examine what marketing collateral you have. Does it tell your prospect the things he/she needs to know? Or is it filled with lots of information you think they need to know?

Talk with your customer and then develop every bit of marketing around what they identify as what they want.

Cheers.

Brendon

Here it is Gael!

I spoke with a regular reader of this blog yesterday regarding the marketing of her products. I also told her that I'd be writing about her! So here it is Gael........

Gael and I spoke in quite some detail on the marketing strategies she had employed and how she was doing. She's on the right track and just needs a slight adjustment here and there.

Gael mentioned her web site and I made had a quick review. My response was very precise.

"Okay, you're doing this, that and the other. That's wrong. What you need to be doing is A, B and C. And how you do that is by doing this and this. Then you need to do this and this." I then quoted some stats to her and tried to demonstarte that the web site could be a major asset for her.

Despite my pretty blunt assessment and advice, Gael was thrilled.

She said something along the lines of "That's the exact sort of information I need."

And that's the thing. Quite often in business we need to tiptoe around and say bad things as nicely as we can. As I've gotten a little older I've become bolder (that was 'bolder', not 'balder'). I generally provide a fairly forthright opinion and offer solutions. I figure it makes me look like I know what I'm doing (I do), but for some it might come across as being too harsh.

Which brings me to my point

Our clients are no-nonsense people. They want the truth even when the truth can hurt. We've identified that these sort of clients are our best in terms of great to work with and ability to help our business grow.

So even though the blunt approach might lose a few clients, if they leave then they aren't the sort of clients we want. Make sense?

Identify who are your best clients (and by best I mean best to work with, profitable, refer you others, etc). Then find more like them.

Have a good day.

Brendon

Monday, January 19  

How to attract more media attention for your show than you really want

One of the more popular shows here in Australia is one called "The Block". The producers drag 4 couples in and get them to renovate an apartment each in a block of apartments. The person who gets the most for their place at auction gets to keep whatever the place sold for above the reserve.

The rest just get fame and attention for about 15 minutes.

The show is just about to start. But already they have received more publicity than the previous series of the show did whilst it ran.

You see, it turns out that one of the guys on the show has a fairly recent conviction for being an accessory before the fact - of drug manufacturing.

Anyway, the media found out about the conviction and turned it all into a circus.

And the guy with the conviction (and his wife) then left the show. The amusing bit for me is they never expected the media to find out about the conviction!

A TV network has a hugely popular show. Trust me when I say every other media outlet is going to do just about anything they can to destabilise that show.

The media find out. They always do!

So I guess the question is this. If you were the media guy for the show would you be:

a) very sad this has happened,
b) very happy this has happened.

Being the cynic that I am, I'll go with b. There's nothing that attracts media like a controversy.

(The show's producers wouldn't have got these people on the show knowing full well what would happen, would they?? Nah! That's crazy. But if they did, would it be in their interests to leak the conviction? mmmmmmm!!!! Just kidding. I'm sure they didn't...........................................probably.)

Have a good day.

Brendon

Sunday, January 18  

Crooked underpants - and how people buy

I played a bit of table tennis today with the family. I beat Harry, my 9-year-old son, 21-0 in one game. Then I started mouthing off about what a champion I am. He may be 9, but a win is a win!

Harry was justifying to his brother and mum why he didn't win a point.

"My underpants were on crooked."

Yep, you read that right the first time. His underpants were on crooked!

Apparently, according to Harry, his underpants were on crooked. Which made them uncomfortable. Which restricted his movement. Which meant he couldn't play properly (the mind works in mysterious ways).

Humans are unique in that we can pretty much justify anything to ourselves. Anything at all.

And that leads to this point.

People buy on emotion. People buy on emotion and find 'logical' reasons to justify the purchase. After all, it makes no sense to buy a $250,000 when a $5,000 car will do the exact same thing.

It makes no sense to buy a $200 pair of jeans when a $10 pair will do the same job.

And it sure doesn't make sense to buy a $20,000 watch when a $5 watch will do the exact same thing.

But people buy the more expensive product time after time. And then they justify the purchase to themselves logically.

"It is an expensive car, but I've worked hard and I deserve it. It's an investment. It's a collectors item. It's a .........."

"These jeans look so good on me. And it will aid my image if people see me wearing this brand. And that will help my career."

"It's not just a watch, it's an investment in the future. These watches hold their value and they......"

Use emotive words and descriptions

People buy on emotion. So make sure to include emotion in your marketing and selling. Feeling words, rather than purley descriptive words.

It can make all the difference.

(And in case you are wondering, the mother-in-law in just fine. And the father-in-law gets out of hospital tomorrow or Tuesday. And yes, they leave on February 25. 38 more days. But who's counting?!)

Have a good day.

Brendon

Saturday, January 17  

My full report - all for nothing

Howdy. Hope your weekend is going well.

I made a presentation to a client on Friday. It was a marketing plan for her business for which she had paid me a decent consulting fee. Many hours of research and work had gone into the planning and, in our assessment, I figured out that the client wanted it to be just an action plan.

So I developed an action plan of just 3 pages. 3 little pages.

After chatting with the client for an hour or so about our planning she was happy. She said "Okay, let's start."

She didn't even want to see a page!

Which makes me think. Why do I do a full report with surveys, demographics, strategy, planning, etc when all the client really wants is "What do I do next?"

Giving your client what they want is critical for any business. Does your client really want all the extra stuff you provide?

Cheers.

Brendon

Friday, January 16  

A fantastic offer

I had a chance to read the newspaper yesterday and a small display ad at the bottom of the golf page caught my eye. A local golf course where I live (Gold Coast, Australia) is offering the following deal:

* 12 months Full Membership (unlimited golf)
* 12 months of weekly golf lessons with a golf professional
* Full set of Wilson 1200 Golf Clubs (Custom fitted) and a bag
* AGU handicap
* Discounts

All for $95 a month for twelve- (12) months. Sounds like an irrestible deal to me!

Irrestible!

And that's what every deal should be. Make your offer irrestible to the other party. What the golf course has done is offer things of high perceived value and low actual cost (the membership and the golf lessons). That's a great way to structure an attractive offer.

Cheers.

Brendon

Okay, no mother-in-law jokes today. I promise.

She's a wonderful, wonderful woman with a heart of gold. And a head of wood.

Oooooooops. See what I've done there? I promised you something and didn't deliver. And that is a big issue in a lot of businesses. We're all so busy that we start of with the best of intentions. But sometimes, sometimes things just don't work out the way we want them to.

And we don't do what we say we were going to. I know I've done it (and you thought I was perfect!).

Do what we say

Doing what we say we will is a fundamental part of marketing. If you do it you'll be miles ahead of the competition.

One of our clients - I'll call her Carol.....after all, that is her name - always does exactly what she says. She never, ever misses a deadline or a commitment. And because of that she is head and shoulders above everyone else in her competitive world.

(She's also about 6 feet tall, which really does put her head and shoulders above everyone else.)

It is a hard and tough world out there. We need every advantage we can get.

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Thursday, January 15  

Man lucky to escape firey end

Continuing on the theme this week.....................

You may have read the mother-in-law cracks below. Well, my wife found them very amusing (I think she thinks I'm kidding!). So amusing in fact, that she brought the mother-in-law into the office to read this web site. She also showed her the dragon photo.

The mother-in-law found it all highly amusing. Lucky for me I guess. After all, she'd only have to breath on me and I'd be a pile of hot ash in seconds! Dragon.

And now I'll continue on the theme of marketing hospitals.

I've mentioned the ambulance officer marketing for the Emergency Department. The next bit I want to talk about is research.

You see, we took some radio ads for the Emergency Centre. As part of that I implemenetd a research system where we interviewed almost every patient who came through the doors. We were trying to ascertain how they heard of the Emergency Department.

The results were rather interesting.

Just on 5% (from memory) found us through our TV advertisements. That would mean they are working well................except we'd never run a TV ad!

With surveys, people will tell you what they think you want to hear. Sure, you might get some decent information but be aware that people lie and they lie a lot.

I've always been a big advocate of ancedotal research. That is, just get out there and talk with clients. You'll be amazed at what you'll find out.

Have a good night. I'm off to dinner with the family.................did I mention my mother-in-law will be there? She's here for another month and a half........................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

Cheers.

Brendon

Communication is key

I think a lot of the stuff I write is just basic stuff. But a lot of the time people don't have the knowledge or tools to know, let alone do, the basic stuff.

I rang a manager of a sports personality here in Australia to discuss the sports personality possiblly launching a client's business and being involved in ad and media campaigns. This manager was going to get back to me on Monday. He still hasn't contacted me.

The chances of us using his client are now minimal because I know the manager is poorly organised, a bad communicator and doesn't care about me or my client.

In this day and age we have a lot of tools to keep in contact with people. Phones, faxes, emails, mobile, PDA's.......the list goes on. And today I installed a contact database for a client.

After showing her the functionality of this software, my client was thrilled. She could see the database saving her hours and hours of work. As well as helping to keep her more organised and working at top pace.

The software is called ACT! The latest version is 6.0.

If you need a database to track customers and prospects and help arrange your schedule, then buy it. It's a great bit of software and well worth the small amount they charge for it.

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, January 13  

I simply don't know what to say

Let me just say this right from the start. I'm thrilled to say that my mother-in-law will be staying another month and a half. ^%$#$%#@. Oh yes, I'm sure you find it all very amusing. Mother-in-law in my house for another month and a half. That'll make it 2 and a half months in total (in case you are wondering what my mother-in-law looks like, just click here).

Just kidding...............................My mother-in-law looks worse.

No wonder I'm in the office at 9.27 pm writing this!

Okay, let's keep this show moving!

I'm off to Sydney again tomorrow. Drivers license is packed (forgot it last time and couldn't get the hire car). And here's a free resource. I'm proud to announce the "Brendon Sinclair Traveling Checklist"!

Click here for the Traveling Checklist - just my little list for short (1-2) day interstate trips.
I'll add to it as I think/find more things.

It's a pdf file so grab the Adobe Acrobat reader if you need it.

Brendon

Monday, January 12  

Good people - get them as clients

I received an email from Marco a few days back. Marco's email will take me a good while to respond to and I told him I would respond by yesterday. Which I didn't.

If you read this blog as you should - everyday! - you'll know that it's been a little busy here lately. Marco was kind enough to email me and say he understands why I hadn't the time to respond and that he was looking forward to my response when I had time.

Marco is the sort of person you want as your client. Good and decent and understanding. One who realises that people priorities shift. That life doesn't always go as planned.

We seem to have the vast majority of our clients like that and I'm figuring out it's more by deisgn than luck.

Just this week I have suggested to some clients that they might be better served going elsewhere for the service they were getting from us. In my ongoing assessment of how I need to grow my business I recognise the type of people we need, and these guys weren't it.

We wnat clients who we can provide great value to, and who are good and decent and trusting.

Getting the right clients is half the battle. You can build a great business only with great clients.

Cheers

Brendon

Coffee and cake - a sophisticated marketing strategy

Thinking back on the days when I marketed hospitals, I'm reminded of the incredibly simple coffee and cake strategy we implemented.

My logic was something like this:

1. Ambulance officers are busy, busy people. In a chat with some of them one day they mentioned that they usually don't get a lunch break.

2. Working a night shift can be a very boring thing for an ambulance officer.

The strategy developed from that thinking was this:

Step 1: A small room was set aside for the ambulance officers in the Emergency Department. Here we had their lunch: paper bag containing a salad role, piece of fruit, candy bar and a can of Coke. We'd put probably 15 lunches there each day. Total costs: about $50 a day.

Step 2: Place a comfortable couch, TV, latest magazines and a cappuccino machine in their room. They'd come in at night with a patient, grab a great coffee, read some magazines, watch a bit of TV, shoot the breeze with the staff and go again.

Now, as simple and as silly as it seems, those strategies worked. If you have a frantic day and you're missing your lunch break and you pick up a patient to take to hospital, which hospital will you go to.

The one that has a nice lunch waiting there for you, or the one without?

Choice influences come in many shapes and forms. And a simple salad roll could be all it takes to make a sale.

Cheers

Brendon

Sunday, January 11  

And then it was off to dinner

After the saga of the father-in-law breaking his leg, my brother and his wife had my 2 sons for a sleepover. With my wife and mother-in-law at the hospital I decided to take my 12-year-old daughter Laura out.

We went and caught a movie - Love Actually. Typical chick-flick that had my daughter giggling in delight and me trying to stuff as many Maltesers in my mouth at one time. Actually, I try and stuff as many Maltesers into my mouth as I can no matter what the movie!

From there it was off to dinner where we went to a restaurant run by an old friend in a strip called Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.


Competition is fierce

The number of restaurants in this strip used to be quite small. Until some residential towers went in and the number literally exploded overnight. From competing against 4 or 5 others, my friend's restaurant is now competing against 30. And he couldn't be happier!

What's happened is this. More restaurants in the area has drawn more and more people in to the strip. Lots more. According to my friend, the strip is now recognised as a place where you get get almost any sort of food and people flock to the area.

His initial concern was that the competition would be cut-throat and everyone would lose out. But what has really happened is that the new restaurants have contributed very significantly to attracting more and more and more people in.

And with restaurants overflowing, everybody is happy!

Competition is not always a bad thing. Even if it is something as simple as making you provide better service to ensure you keep your customers, that's not a bad thing.

Have a good night.

Brendon

An unlucky break!

Mmmmm. Okay, I'll confess I've made a few mother-in-law jokes over the past 3 or 4 weeks. Maybe more than a few! After all, my mother-in-law (and father-in-law) has been staying with us for almost a month.

They were due to fly out on Wednesday. Note the past tense of "were due to fly out". You see, karma finally kicked in today. Here's what happened.

I happily took my 2 sons off to have a game of cricket at my brothers place. He has 2 young sons roughly the same age and they love getting together. My brother has a waterfront home with a sandy beach in front, a pool, an enormous backyard, games galore, toys galore.....it's pretty much boy heaven.

Well 10-year-old boy heaven anyway.

I was all set to take a wicket

In the backyard cricket test match I was bowling. And may I say I was starting to trouble my 9-year-old nephew with my spinning leggies! I was sure to get a wicket very shortly.

I was stopped in my bowling action by my mobile going off. I answered and the first words I heard were from my wife, "Honey, can you come home? Dad's just fallen off the ladder and broken his ankle."

It turns out that my father-in-law was up a ladder taking care of some household maintenance. Maintenance that maybe, just maybe, should have been done by me. I'm feeling a little guilty!!

The ladder wobbled and Paul (my father-in-law) took a tumble. Result: off to hospital for a pin and plate into his badly fractured tibia and fibula.

And you just know what that means? No flying for a while. I'm not sure how long just yet, but I'm assuming a week at least. Which means the mother-in-law stays longer. Terrific. Just terrific. Is that karma or what!

(She's not as bad as I make her sound................she's a whole lot worse!)

Part of my deep, dark past was marketing private hospitals. In marketing private hospitals you basically have 2 major marketing segments. The specialist doctors and the ambulance drivers.

Both of these groups make the decision on which hospital the patient goes to. So that's who you market to.

And here's how we used to market to the ambulance drivers. We'd have a party. A party for the ambulance people. And at that party would be all of the staff from our Emergency Department. These were the people the ambulance guys would deal with day after day.

And after these parties our ambulance admisson figures would go through the roof. And the reason was very simple.

Personal relationships

The ambulance guys would have a chat with the Emergency staff. They would get to know each other, understand each other a little and get a sense of who they were and where they were coming from.

And if you know a person you are generally more comfortable with them. And you're more likely to do business with them.

Simple. Let's say you're an ambulance driver who has just picked up Paul with his broken ankle. You have a choice of 4 hospitals to go to. Which one do you choose?

You choose the hospital you feel provides the best service. The hospital with the best staff. And that was our hospital after the parties. Because the development of the personal relationships contributed to the hospital staff being able to communication their commitment to quality. Easy.

As I said below in the example, business is about personal relationships. Get to know your customers and potential market. They'll love you for it.

Cheers

Brendon

Saturday, January 10  

Just one message thanks - otherwise I get confused

You need to identify and push the one key message of your business. Not 2 messages. Not 3. Just 1. And push that message all the time.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of advertisements, especially billboard ads, that clutter up the space with information. Way too much information.

Your audience is driving past at 100 km/hr. They don't have time to read an essay. Tell them your message then shut up! (And I mean that in the nicest possible way!)

Research shows that the more messages a billboard ad tries to convey, the less it is recalled. That's pretty simple. If there's too much the viewer is confused. When the person is confused they'll switch off.

So stop trying to tell a life story. Just find the benefit your customer identifies with and push that message. Good luck!

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Friday, January 9  

The power of personal relationships

The client I saw in Sydney yesterday is a successful businesswoman in an incredibly competitive industry. Not only is it male dominated, aggressive and cut-throat, but it is renowned for truning dreams to dust.

But my client has thrived and grown a wonderful business.

Why? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Here's what I've seen so far.

She's smart. She's savy. She's an incredible communicator. And then there's this:

She develops fantastic personal relationship. And when she does that she instills a sense of motivation and loyalty I"ve very rarely seen.

And here's a case in point.

My client had a Chrsitmas Party a couple of weeks ago. Despite only having met the client a couple of times, my wife and I were invited. So we flew down to Sydney and atteneded.

And what a great night it was. Food and fun. Wine and wonderful times.

My client treated us superbly and was very attentive. About halfway through the night's festivities my wife leant into me and said, "You make sure you do a good job for Trish!"

Through developing a personal relationship with us, Trish had instilled in my wife a sense of belonging, loyalty and commitment to her business. And that's amazing after just a few short hours!

And if anyone knows my wife......she's not a women to be messed with, questioned or crossed! Just kidding, my darling if you happen to read this ;-)

People like working with people they like. It's logical. Develop the personal relationships you want to build loyalty and commitment to your business.

Cheers.

Brendon

Resources and how best to use them

Howdy. Hope all is well.

I was reminded of something I sometimes lose sight of today, and that's that our clients often have the skill and knowledge to complete their own marketing but often just run out of time.

I've often noticed this with web sites. Many businesses have the skills and software to complete and manage web sites, but would prefer it to be handled by others. And often it's just because the web manager has the time to do it.

Web applications

A lot of web software applications have been developed that allow people to edit and update their own sites, but they are often slow to take off in the marketplace. Why? Well, I believe its because the business owner is better off out-sourcing that part of their business to someone more expert and better able to allocate time to it.

Work on your business, rather than in it. If you can get someone to do something better, cheaper and faster than you then you'd be crazy not to do out-source.

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Wednesday, January 7  

Guess who came to dinner?

One of the guys I had dinner with tonight was a client who is a highly successful businessman. He's worth millions. And then some. I wish everyone could have a chat with this guy.

He makes business (and great business) sound so easy. He's flaggergasted that not everyone can do what he does so effortlessly.

His is a very simple philosphy

If you want to do business with someone, then ring them up and say "Would you like to do business?"

That's pretty much his strategy. And as simple and basic as it sounds, that's really all he does.

Do you do that?

Cheers.

Brendon

Hint number 1 for travellers

Howdy. I'm in Sydney, Australia tonight after flying in this morning. I've just been out for dinner with the client I've come to see and another client and his lovely wife at a place called Otto. It's situated at Wooloomoloo (wish this thing had a spell check!) on the harbour in Sydney.

This joint is part owned by one of the big radio personalities in Sydney (guy called John Laws).

Even though this joint is expensive, and it's a Wednesday night, it was packed. No-one was getting in without a reservation.

The food was lovely. The wine list was okay. Nothing special. The service was okay. Nothing special.

The question I have to ask is this:

Is this restaurant successful because of it's apparent celebrity status because of it's connection to the celebrity?

The answer: (as usual) No idea. Maybe it influences people to book. I'd guess it does.

The client I'm working with has a successful business. We're looking to develop some strategies to develop it even more, specifically in terms of short term major expansion, and then developing franchises.

We've been tossing around the idea today of getting a celebrity to help brand this business. It makes sense for a number of reasons.

1. It works. People will remember the celebrity and the brand.
2. It can be a very cost effective way of gaining significant media exposure.
3. It can provide instant credibility as we expand the business into other geographical areas.

We may well go with a celebrity. We may not. But it's worth some thought, and maybe worth some thought for your business.

Ooooooops, almost forgot my tip for travellers.

Take your %^#$% driver's license with you when you fly and hire cars!

I forgot mine this morning and only just managed to get on the plane. And when I rocked up to the rent a car place, I was no chance of getting the car I booked. I would say "D'oh", but that was a little mild for the way i'm feeling after catching taxis all day long!

And if that's my biggest problem I'm doing okay.

By the way, if you're ever in Sydney, give this hotel a try. Manor House Boutique Hotel. A gorgeous hotel close to everything.

Have a good night.

Brendon

Tuesday, January 6  

The right tools for the job

I'm in the office late tonight. I'm off to Sydney tomorrow for a couple of days and I need to tidy a few things up. I didn't get home until 7 pm and then had to have my 1 km swim, go home for dinner and then go for a run. I had the run at about 9.30 pm and then came straight into the office.

(And no, I haven't had a shower yet. And yes, I do smell quite a bit!)

One thing I've been reviewing is a client's web site email newsletter strategy. You see, web site visitors sign up on his site via a program called Dada Mail. We then transfer the addresses into a web based template newsletter - called Constant Contact - site and send from there.

We do that for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is that Constant Contact provides great tracking information for each email campaign.

I used my Heart Rate Monitor when I went for a run tonight. Because I do endurance stuff, it's most beneficial for me to run at between 60-70% of my Maximum Heart Rate (Maximum Heart Rate is 220 minus age). So, at 37 my Maximum Heart Rate is 183. And 70% of that is 128.

To train best for endurance stuff, it is best if I exercise with my heart rate at between about 110 and 128. At that rate, my body can more efficiently can fuel the fire that is the exercise.

As strange as it seems, if I go at faster than 128 beats per minute when exercising then I do not help myself with the endurance sports. And it's the exact same principle for exercising for weight loss.

If you want to lose weight, exercise with your heart at the between 60-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate. At that rate your body has a chance to burn fat to provide the required energy.

Any higher and your body cannot burn the fat quick enough, so it stops and uses glycogen from your bloodstream and liver. So by exercising at high intensity you actually do yourself a disservice if you are trying to lose weight!

And yes, there is a point here somewhere!

The point is that you need to have the right tools for the job. If I exercise without the Heart Rate Monitor I do not do as good a job of it.

If I use an email newsletter marketing campaign, then I should have the right tools to measure the success or otherwise of what I'm doing. Otherwise I'm just guessing. And I'd be guessing that will waste my money.

Have a good night.

Brendon

Monday, January 5  

The selling of cricket

The nation game here in Australia is currently at its peak in terms of interest with the retirement tomorrow of one of Australia's national hereos. Steve Waugh.

His retirement has prompted a flood of cricket memorabilia sales across the country. The TV station that shows the cricket now has a nifty little sideline in selling various cricket products.

The prices some of these things go for are, to be frank, unbelievable. A simple photo with a couple of signatures will often sell for thousands. Simply amazing.

And it illustrates a great point.

Perception is everything. Value is in the eye of the beholder. And my favourite point.

People will buy just about anything!

Have a good night.

Brendon

Croc Hunter savaged by media

Australia's own Steve Irwin, aka the Crocodile Hunter, has caused quite the media storm by taking his one- (1) month old son, Bob, into a crocodile enclosure during a feed exhibition.

Everyone is taking a bite out of the Croc Hunter (that's 2 puns so far!) and his public image has taken a battering.

Steve appeared on a major Australian current affair show tonight to answer his critics. He was his usual passionate self and seemed quite upset at the controversy.

Stepping back and taking a look at what's happened teaches us a couple of things.

1. You have to be very aware and sensitive to the media. They can chew you up and spit you out in an instant.
2. I always assumed that Steve was a classic media manipulator with a great act - after seeing him struggle tonight it seems like he just might be genuine. By crikey!
3. His strategy to defend himself has been fairly effective - he got himself in front of the media with his supportive wife by his side. He said the "right" things. And he appeared to be genuine.

One avenue he hasn't used effectively is his web site. His media section hasn't been updated since 2000. A home page mention of the incident and Steve's thoughts, along with a media release, would have been very useful.

In the wash up of all this, my guess is you'll find a more wary Steve Irwin with, possibly, more public support due to his obvious love and devotion to his family.

Cheers.

Brendon

Sunday, January 4  

Goofing off - a major part of my strategy

Part of my day today has been spent sitting here in the office looking out at the Pacific Ocean, contemplating my navel and thinking of the strategies we'll employ in our business next year.

A new year feels like a fresh start, and we want to attack 2004 with gutso and enthusiasm.

Sitting here contemplating 2004 is important. It may seem like I'm about to doze off, but stepping back from the business to consider 2004 is just about the most important thing I can do. Being caught up in the hustle and bustle of the business means we can miss the big picture because we are too busy dealing with day to day issues. Every successful business I've seen has had a leader who has had long-term vision and focus.

So there you go. Sit back in a chair, close your eyes and dream. When someone asks what you are doing, you can safely reply "I'm developing the long term strategic vision for the business."

Cheers. I'm going back to sleep.........errr, I mean developing strategy.

Brendon

Yo Adrian - attention all Rocky fans!

A focus of the business this year will be the management side of our business. Aside from managing people, we'll also be providing training on presentation, dress, public speaking, etiquette (both business and social), etc.

I'm a strong advocate of creating a very positive first impression. Those first few seconds when you meet someone are critical and will basically set the tone for how you are perceived.

I was discussing this with a friend of mine and he was very dismissive of the whole first impression importance. His arguement was you can't judge a book by its cover (of course you can't, but the vast majority of people do).

Even Rocky knows it!

A few days after we had this chat he rang me up very excited. You see, he's a big fan of the Rocky series of movies. And when he was watching them he realised that if the film-maker wanted to demonstrate that someone was rich and/or powerful, they were dressed beautifully. If the person was meant to be poor, then they were dressed badly.

Sure, we shouldn't judge people by how they look. But almost everyone does. Very subtle differences tell people many different things (or they interpret them differently) - if you want to be perceived as being quality in almost any field, then you have to dress and act appropriately.

Dress better and you'll be treated differently. It's a gimme.

Cheers

Brendon

3 New Year Resolutions

And a Happy New Year to you! Hope it brings you joy and fun.

My 3 resolutions are:

1. Get fitter.
2. Kiss my wife more. She probably won't be thrilled with that - maybe I should have asked first!
3. Write at least an entry a day on this page, and on "The Latest" page.

The feedback I get from readers is just great and greatly appreciated. And the positive impact some of my articles and entries have is terrific and makes me feel very proud. And humble.

And I'll keep on adding articles.

New Newsletter coming soon

The next edition of the newsletter will be out in about 2 weeks. I want the newsletters to be really decent and vaulable, not just a bunch of dribble that subscribers sometimes get. So it takes a fair while to write. Hope you enjoy it.

That's about it for today. Have a good day.

Ooooops, forgot. I also just put another article up. This one started off as a blog entry, but just grew and grew. It's about scarcity, poker and keeping quiet. It'll make sense when you read it!

Cheers.

Brendon