Monday, January 31  

Web Site Marketing Series

Web Site Marketing Series

Hello again. Web site marketing information is probably our most common request. Over the next week (starting tomorrow) I'll be writing an article a day on web site marketing and how to ensure the successful marketing of any web site.

I'll add the articles to the Articles page as I go.

Cheers

Brendon

How To Create A Sense Of Trust - Pat The Dog

How To Create A Sense Of Trust - Pat The Dog

Howdy. Hope you had a good weekend.

Creating trust in you/your web site/your business can be a difficult thing to do. One thing we can all do is take a leaf out the book movies use.

You know the scene. It goes like this:

* Handsome hero comes into shot.
* He is greeted by his dog.
* He affectionately pats the dog.

Having the hero pat the dog is how the movie Director indicates to the audience that this is the good guy. That he is nice, trustworthy and just plain decent. And the Director does it like this because this is what works in establishing all those characteristics in the mind of the audience.

Now, you might not have a dog to use in your advertising but I've seen much the same strategy used by businesspeople advertising with their children in the ad.

Humanises The Business

What the dog or the child does is makes the business seem more personal. They humanise the business and the businessperson by showing that the business owner is just like you and me.

I generally mention my wife and kids in this blog because it just seems a friendlier way to write about what I write about. And I have no doubt that doing that goes a long way towards showing me in a more 'personal' light rather than just another anonymous person with a web site.

Personalising the marketing of your business increases the perception of friendliness and trustworthiness (is that even a word??!). Aspects that are great positives for any business.

Cheers

Brendon

Saturday, January 29  

Images For All Occasions

Images For All Occasions

iStockphoto.com is the world's fastest growing royalty-free stock photography community.

In collaboration with a whole bunch of designers and photographers from across the world, iStockphoto works in conjunction with an inspection team, ensuring quality, composition and legality.

Over 1,000 new images are added each week - they already have in excess of 200,000 images.

Using a system of micro-payments (images cost between 1 to 3 credits per download, depending on the file type and image resolution. Credits are 10 for $10, 28 for $25, 60 for $50 & 125 for $100), the images suit the budget for just about everyone.

Free Images too

And, just like the image I've popped here, they have a 'Free Image of the Week'.


Free Image From istockphoto.com

All in all a fantastic service for web designers, ad agencies or anyone wanting quality high resolution images.

Cheers and have a good day - looks like being a beautiful sunny day here in Queensland. 30 degrees C (86 F) and not a cloud in the sky.

Brendon

Friday, January 28  

Simple Steps To Web Site Success

Simple Steps To Web Site Success

Howdy.

One of the more frequent questions I get asked is "How can I get my web site working better?" The answer is simple: just do 2 things.

Click here for the article I've just added titled "Simple Steps To Web Site Success".

And have a good weekend.

Brendon

The Art of the Start - a blueprint for entrepreneurs (and it's free!)

The Art of the Start - a blueprint for entrepreneurs (and it's free!)

Many people I speak with are afraid to go into business for themselves. "Afraid" is not really the right word....more "anxiety".

They feel as those they need to have everything planned out to the nth degree.


The hardest thing about getting started is getting started

The hardest thing about getting started is getting started. It has long been a philosophy of mine that it's more important to do something rather than to analyze extensively, plan, review and only then implement.

Just do it and see what happens!

I was talking with the new team member (Anthony) today about our business. One of the warnings I gave him was to not be surprised if he sees us doing something a particular way that makes him think "Why are these idiots doing it that way?"

Well, usually the answer to that question is "Because we don't know any better."


The Reason We Do It That Way

And there's a reason we do it that way. Much of my business career has been very entrepreneurial where I've had to rapidly assess and act on market information.

I often don't have time for the subtleties that some organisations might have. I have to attack and attack hard to see whether the business is viable. I'll do whatever works to solve my problems of the time.

Sure, they won't always be the "best" or "perfect" solution, but the time I save by implementing NOW provides me with so many significant market and competitive advantages as to outweigh the negatives of doing it "wrong".


It's About Results

It's about results. As an entrepreneur I need action now. Not analysis.

(But as my business range has become more focused - now I do business mostly in the web arena - I have acquired more knowledge, experience and expertise along with more highly skilled people around me (like Jo & Anthony) to enable me to pick the best solution sooner (if not immediately).)

Unquestionably, the best article/ebook/manifesto I've ever read that has come closest to my personal business philosophy is "The Art of The Start" by Guy Kawasaki.

(It's 34 pages of easy reading. File size is 609 kb. The book opens in a new window.)

Please note - This manifesto is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 7) free, click here

A simple and easy read that should be compulsory reading for anyone looking at starting or continuing in business.

Happy reading.

Brendon

Thursday, January 27  

The New Guy

The New Guy

Back in late October I asked on this site if someone could finish a small css job for us - thanks to those who offered to help.

I ended up going with a young guy called Anthony who lives about 120 km up the road (not that that was the reason for selecting Anthony). Anyway, Anthony did a great job and impressed us with his professionalism and initiative.

Jo (who dealt with Anthony the most) suggested we remember him for future work. So we did.

We need a new employee with the same sort of skills Anthony has (he's a recent IT graduate) so gave him a call. He came down for a coffee on Tuesday and that was that.

Anthony's the newest full-time employee here at Tailored and has started this morning.

2 Reasons

I'm mentioning this for 2 reasons:

# 1: Welcome Anthony!
# 2: Always put your best foot forward - that small job today might, just might, lead to a great opportunity (which is what I hope working here is for Anthony!).

Cheers

Brendon

Wednesday, January 26  

Web Design Library Announces Best Contributors to Web Design Industry 2004

Web Design Library Announces Best Contributors to Web Design Industry 2004

The Web Design Library recently announced their "Best Contributors to the Web Design Industry 2004" and my kit (The Web Design Business Kit - you can get 4 sample chapters free) was recognized as the best book of the industry which has appeared in 2004.

[insert Brendon dancing a jig here!]


Just 1 In 6 Can Tell the Difference Between Ads And Search Results

Only 1 in 6 users of Internet search engines can tell the difference between unbiased search results and paid advertisements, a new survey finds.

That doesn't surprise me. I think it's a deliberate tactic by the search engines to make the 2 as similar as possible - after all their business models depend on people clicking as many ads as possible (whilst at the same time presenting quality search results).

The differentiation between paid and natural results being displayed is very blurred. I think the major search engines will have to be careful that the quality of the searchers results aren't too compromised by the need for profit building.

Speaking of a blurred difference between natural and paid results....


MSN Search Now Powering Many MSN Search Queries

MSN beta is now powering a lot of the MSN search queries. They've just announced that they'll be making the complete switch over from using Yahoo! results on February 1, 2005.

(Do a search and see how closely the ads are in there with the 'natural' search results.)

Happy Australia Day!

It's Australia day here in Australia and we all get a day off to celebrate. The tradition before Australia Day is to announce the "Australian of the Year."

What usually happens in the committee chooses a high profile sports star for the award. Basically if you've ever been the Australian Cricket Team Captain you also win Australian of the Year.

But this year there was a bit of people power involved. You see, actress Nicole Kidman was one of the early nominees. And then announced as the hot favourite to win.

But then the backlash started. People have had enough of high profile sports/entertainment stars winning each year. And said so.

The committee took note and this year's Australian of the Year is Dr. Fiona Wood, a pioneering Plastic Surgery who has done incredible work with burns victims for years.

Good for her. And good for the award.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, January 25  

What Do You Do?

What Do You Do?


Laura, Mel, Jack & Harry


Hobart, Tasmania from Mount Wellington Dec, 2004

See the photos above. Almost certainly you've looked at the one with Laura, Mel, Jack & Harry longer.

Look Longer

It's the same when we see photos anywhere. If the photo has a person's face in it we'll look and look longer. I'm not sure why - something to do with checking them out I guess. I've heard one theory saying that we look at photos of people because we want to know if we know the person.

Think About Advertising

It's much the same principle with advertising. People faces will be used - usually attractive people. You see, most of us look at attractive faces longer than we look at unattractive faces.

Stands to reason if you use an attractive face in your ad = people will look at the ad longer = increased brand recognition.

Using a person's face in your advertising is generally a good idea. Make sure it's the right 'fit' - the target market can relate to the person (i.e. don't put a 75 year old person's face as the face of an acne cream ad).

Cheers

Brendon

Why You Shouldn't Discount

Why You Shouldn't Discount

Howdy. An age-old technique for many businesses to generate more sales is to discount. But I'm thinking you shouldn't discount.

People discount for 2 main reasons:

It's easy and it works.

* But does it teach your customers to equate your business with low prices?
* Will they expect low prices next time?
* Does it position your business in the mind of the customer as a business of lower quality? (The research says "Yep, probably.")

One of my oldest clients never, ever discounts his products. Ever. He positions the business as top quality and this is reinforced to his market by his premium pricing.

The thinking of his market seems to be "We'll buy there because we know the quality will be top class."

When often the product is the same as anywhere else.

Bike Store Charges Big Premium

I have another client with a specialist store - we'll say it's a Bike Shop (it's not, but it is a similar industry). He prices his bike at a premium - in many cases he is $200-300 more expensive that the major chains for exactly the same bike.

But the feedback he gets is that people will buy from him because the perception is somehow that because he's a specialist bike shop, his bikes must be better built/put together better/safer/whatever.

Long Term Value

Discounting attracts the short-term customer only interested in the quick fix.

Premium pricing attracts the customer that provides much better long term value for your business.

Take a look at the customer profiles next time you want to run a discount. Is it really worth it?

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, January 24  

Getting Things Done - Just Do It

Getting Things Done - Just Do It

Howdy. Hope you've had a good weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog about some previous job experiences I had. Anthony Dever is a guy who often provides some feedback and is pretty smart.

Anthony recommended a book called: "Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking".

Because Anthony recommended it I thought "Okay, I'll buy that."

So I immediately logged onto Amazon.com, found the book and went to buy it. Just as I was going to buy it my wife came in. She saw the book on the screen and asked me about it. Then she said, "Don't buy it at Amazon. I'll get it for you at the local bookstore."

2 weeks later and I still don't have that book

That was 2 weeks ago. I still don't have that book. I want that book because a big part of my business is having more knowledge than the next guy. And from what I've read about the book it will give me a decent bit of knowledge.

To save myself $10 I've waited 2 weeks to get the book - and I probably would have forgotten about it entirely if someone else didn't recommend the book to me today.

Convenience outweighs cost

In our busy lives it's often about convenience above cost.

By the time I go out and find this book it will cost me an hour or so. With that hour's labour I could have earned 10 times what the book costs.

So not only is it about convenience, it's also about efficiency, profitability and much more. And I only started of complaining because my wife hadn't bought me the book yet!!

I used to get into the office each morning and then take a 5 minute walk to buy the newspaper. That's a 10 minute round trip. Which is 50 minutes a week. Which is about 50 hours a year.

Which is an entire week's work!
Which is an entire week's work!

Inefficiencies are everywhere - we need to be aware of them so we can deal with them effectively and make our businesses' better.

Cheers

Brendon

Saturday, January 22  

Don't let Others Drag You Down

Don't Let Others Drag You Down

Howdy. Here's one of my favourite stories regarding how the culture of a business develops.

This little tale illustrates perfectly what I've seen time and again in business. Click here for the Establishing Culture In A Business article.

Have a good weekend. I've got a mate and his family coming for a BBQ in about an hour, so I'd better go home and make myself beautiful. As you can see from my pic I it may take me quite a while! (But then again his kids love the Shrek movies so might like me because I look like Shrek?!!)

I'll write a decent article on some clients who have Burleigh Heads apartments a little later and some of the approaches they get from web developers and domain name registrars. Talk about dragging you down!

Cheers

Brendon

Look from the customer's perspective

Look from the customer's perspective

One of the most popular articles on this web site is this one about how to run a cigar store. It takes you step by step through a simple marketing strategy and has some solid principles in it.

As you might notice, I've stuck up a few affiliate links for products and/or stores I deal with, believe in and trust - in an effort to get this site earning its keep.

I was searching through my web statistics when I saw that the cigar store article was found mostly direct from search engines. On closer examination it became obvious that many people would click on a search engine link and end up on page 3 of the article.

No Way Of Moving Back

Unfortunately, if people ended up on page 3 they had no way of navigating from there back to pages 2 and 1 (dopey old me didn't put links to access other pages on the article pages - except to move forward 1 page at a time) - unless they knew the article was in the section titled 'Articles'.

I've just fixed that which makes the article far more user-friendly.

Don't forget to look at what you offer, and the way you offer it, from the customer's perspective. It can mean the difference between having a delighted customer or someone who thinks you don't care about them.

Cheers

Brendon

Friday, January 21  

How To Get A Book Deal

How To Get A Book Deal

After yesterday's blog about getting a gig as a regular magazine columnist I thought I'd write something more practical today.

Getting a book deal is not the easiest thing in the world, but by following the below guidelines you'll give yourself a better than average chance of success. The guidelines below are interchangable for approaching editors of magazines when trying to secure a regular column gig as well.

Click here for the full How To Get A Book Deal article.

Hope it's of some interest.

Brendon

Wednesday, January 19  

Online survey review

Online survey review

As regular readers might know we do quite a few surveys for various web sites we are involved in. Someone asked me for a recommendation on the best and easiest way to do an online survey - the one we use is One Minute Poll.

I wrote a review here if you're at all interested in doing an online survey - it's very inexpensive, very easy and very good.

Cheers

Brendon

Microsoft Search Changing Over

Microsoft Search Changing Over

Howdy. For those readers who have anything to do with search engines and getting sites a decent ranking the industry buzz is that by tomorrow, most MSN Search results will be online. MSN Search have used Yahoos' results until now but have slowly been providing their own set of search results.

With their own search results they can start to charge for ads and the like.

3 Big Players

Which means we'll now have 3 big players in search - Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Which, of course, means that those relying on visitors from search engines will need to figure out how to rank high in MSN Search.

To read for about it check out this MSN Search article.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, January 18  

One Thing I'll Do This Year

One Thing I'll Do This Year

Hello. Hope all is well.

When you're marketing your business it's always a good idea to get expert advice. But before you get that advice, I have some questions for you.

If a Marketing Consultant is so good at marketing why isn't he running a business where he markets a product?

If the Marketing Consultant doesn't charge you at least $100 per hour for his services, why use him? After all, you could provide an excellent argument that he doesn't know how to effectively market his own services if he's only charging $100 per hour.

I'll Do This

This year I resolve to not get any advice or buy any product from a person who hasn't actually done it him/her self.

One of my big frustrations with Internet marketing in particular is people on forums who ask for advice on how to market their eBook.

"And what's the eBook about?" I ask.

"It''s about how to succeed at Internet marketing," they'll inevitably say.

Should We Do This.....

* Should we seek advice from marketing people who have never successfully marketed a product?

* Should we get our web site developed and marketed by a web developer who doesn't have a successful web site (after all, if he/she can't do it for themselves the chances are slim to none that they be able to do it for us)?

* Should we entrust our PR strategy to a company that has never generated great PR for their own business previously?

So this year I resolve to only get advice from people who have been there and done that. Not from people who have only read about it themselves.

Not a strong argument....

Sure, it's not the strongest argument ever - after all, there'll be people who are good at explaining how to do something better than someone who has actually done it.

But it's a start for trying something different.

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, January 17  

3 Things You Need To Be Doing

3 Things You Need To Be Doing

Howdy.

A few people we meet with seem to think that successfully marketing a business requires us to be struck by a bolt of brilliance from where we craft a fantastic marketing strategy.

Doesn't Work Like That

It doesn't work like that. If I could give you a successful marketing strategy in 1 word it would be "Consistency."

If you graciously allowed me 3 things, they'd be:

1. Word of Mouth/Referrals
2. Advertising
3. Public Relations

Marketing is about getting your message noticed by your target market. And getting noticed has a lot to do with frequency - that is, how often your market sees your message. The more the better.

A well integrated marketing campaign

Combine those 3 tactics together to form a well-integrated marketing campaign and the leads and sales will flow in.

Don't rely on just 1. (Mostly because it won't give you the frequency you need for success, but also because by using those 3 people will know about you (advertising), they'll believe you're credible (PR) and they'll trust you (referrals)).

That's the sort of mix that leads to a sales - the ultimate goal of any marketing.

Have a good night.

Cheers.

Brendon

Sunday, January 16  

Marketing Wisdom for 2005

Marketing Wisdom for 2005

The brilliantly informative web site Marketing Sherpa have just released their "Marketing Wisdom for 2005" eBook - a few eBook containing 105 Marketers & Agencies Real Life Tips.


Marketing Sherpa provides great information and this free pdf eBook is no exception.

Coming in at 51 pages, it's an eBook well worth reading for marketing inspiration for 2005.

Cheers.

Brendon

How Finishing An Ironman Triathlon Prepared Me For Business

How Finishing An Ironman Triathlon Prepared Me For Business

When I was back in Tasmania for the holidays I drove my family to the top of Mount Wellington, a 1,270 metre above sea level mountain that overlooks the city.

On our drive up the mountain - it's 23km from the middle of the city to the peak of the mountain - we passed a guy riding his pushbike up the steep mountain road.

As we passed him my children were amazed that anyone could cycle to the top of the mountain. As the steep and winding road just keep going and going, I was too.


Harry, Laura, me & Jack on the top of Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania

But I used to cycle up the mountain to the peak regularly. Once or twice a week. Once I went up and down the mountain 3 times in 1 day. Another time I had to cut short my ride because I was blown off my bike. Several times I had to cut short the journey because I couldn't make anymore headway through the snow.

I used to run up to the top as well

I used to run to the top of the mountain as well. First time I did it was after a dinner party where a mate was telling me he used to run in the famous Point to Pinnacle running race - a race that has claimed the lives of a few runners in the early years.

The race was restarted that same year and I ran it in the exact same time I did that first time. To the second. I ran to the peak probably once every 4 weeks for a time there.

I look back now and am slightly amazed at how fit I was. The focus I had was relentless. Come rail, hail or shine I would complete whatever training I had planned out.

"I don't mean to be rude....."

I remember one time running 7 km to the local swimming pool in the snow. It must have been about -2 C at the time. The pool was outdoor....and very, very cold. When I went up to the Admission Window the woman serving me said:

"I don't mean to be rude.....but you're crazy."

The reason for me training so hard was because I had a goal. The goal was to complete my first Ironman Triathlon - a 3.8 km (2.4 miles) swim, 180 km (112 miles) bike ride and then run a marathon - 42.2 km (26.2 miles).

And to complete such a physically gruelling race, you have to be completely focused and disciplined. And I was. To reach that sort of goal you have to be pretty single minded. You simply can't let anything distract you.

Want Some Chocolate Cake?

Want a piece of chocolate cake for dessert? - "No thanks."
Want to come to the bar for a few beers? - "Nope."
Don't run today because it's raining and blowing a gale outside - "No, that's not going to stop me."

Lessons from training have served me well in business

These lessons I learnt whilst training have served me well in business. You see, it's the exact same thing. Have a goal and plan out exactly how you are going to achieve it.

Want $200,000 in web design jobs for 2005? Break it down to $4,000 a week. Which is only 50 small web site design jobs for the year. Next, plan out week by week what marketing you'll implement to achieve that. And don't get distracted.

Want your web site to increase to 3,000 sales a year? Break it down. 3,000 sales a year is only 8 sales a day. Plan out week by week what you'll need to do to get those 8 sales - might mean doubling your current visitor numbers (do more search engine optimisation, take some Google Adwords, add more site content, send out a media release a day, start an email newsletter on the site) or improving the way the site sells (better headlines and copywriting, better shopping cart software, more special offers made).

Whatever. You can do it. And it's easy with small steps to reach your goal - rather than look at the huge goal at the end.

When I crossed the line after finishing my first Ironman Triathlon my first thought was "That was easy - what's next?"

Because once you get the right attitude, nothing is impossible.

Cheers.

Brendon

Wednesday, January 12  

Rebecca has joined us

Rebecca has joined us

Rebecca has joined the team here at Tailored.

Fresh out of High School, Rebecca took a couple of weeks off and then jumped into her first job here a few weeks before Christmas. She's learning the ropes of office management - and doing a great job.




Rebecca was offered the job here after I rang her Business Teacher at the local school. I do some business speeches there each year and got to know the Head of the Business School quite well.

Just shows that being nice to your teacher can pay off!

Welcome Rebecca.

Brendon

Probably The Biggest Lesson I Learnt

Probably The Biggest Lesson I Learnt

Howdy. Thinking back to my nursing, I've been trying to come up with the biggest business lesson I've learnt. It was easy.

2 things I did later in my career were run the Resuscitation Program - part of that role was to head up the resus team and manage any resuscitations. The other was one of my last positions at the last hospital I worked at - and that role was running the hospital after hours.

Once 5 pm came around, I was in charge of everything till the end of the shift at 11 pm. All medical staff, all admin staff, all the buildings, everything.

And the lesson I learnt from those 2 was this:

If there is a problem to address, gather the information you need and make the decision NOW.

Particularly in emergency situations people tend to get a little tense and don't always make decisions. The important thing was to take action and take action now.

Unlike resuscitations, in business it ain't life or death if you make the wrong decision. But it's still important to make a decision.

If it is the wrong decision, then try something else. If that doesn't work then try something else. Take action, because action leads to different consequences.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, January 11  

Lesson 1 - Positive Feedback

Lesson 1 - Positive Feedback

I guess whilst I'm talking about nursing I'll mention a story of one of the many relevant lessons I learnt.

The photo below crops out the patient and a nurse on the other side of the bed. At the time I was 1 of 2 people in my part of the state who was an Accredited Re-entry Assessor.

Back then, any Nurse who had not nursed for more than 5 years couldn't just get a job again as a Nurse. They were deregistered. Because of the shortage of Nurses, the Nursing Board came up with a solution: Nurses who hadn't worked for that 5+ years could regain their qualification by working with an Accredited Re-entry Assessor until such time as that Assessor said they were competent to practice.

The Nurse cropped out of this photo (I'll call her Mary) was working with me for however long it took for me to say she was competent. Mary was about 30 yo at the time, husband had left her with 3 little boys and she'd struggled along for a few years.

Friends talked her into doing the Re-entry Program

Friends talked her into doing the Re-entry Program and Mary was assigned to me.

On the first day we worked together Mary worked well. At the end of the day I sat down with her to reflect on what she'd done, how she'd done it and why. I asked Mary how she thought she went:

"I went okay with this, not so good with that, etc," she said.

I asked her if she'd wanted me to tell her how I thought she'd gone.

"Okay," said Mary.

So I told her:

"Fantastic. You have great empathy, your knowledge is very good, your understanding of why you do things is great, etc," I said.

Mary burst into tears

Mary burst into tears. And I thought I'd been nice!!

After she'd stopped crying she told me why she had cried. Apparently it was the first time in 5 years that anyone had said anything nice to her!

People crave, want and love positive feedback

When you think about it, it's not that often any of us receive positive feedback. People are quick to criticise, but not so quick to praise.

That day showed me how important it is to be nice. It can make a massive difference to a person's life (sounds a bit melodramatic that, but it's true).

Cheers

Brendon

We have a winner!

We have a winner!

Tom's won already! Simple deduction: Nurses and Firemen top the list of most trusted. My wife is a nurse. So he went with that.

Yep, it's true. I was a Registered Nurse/Nursing Sister for 10 years. Worked in ICUs, Emergency, Wards and ended up running the Resuscitation program and then the full Graduate program in the hospital I was working in.


Sister Brendon!

I've seen it all - from the very best to the very worst. Very interesting job - makes you realise what's important in life.

Better understanding of life's real issues

The insight and cause for reflection you have when you are dealing with the sick and the dying every day makes for a better understanding of life's real issues. One major skills of nursing I've always been appreciative of in my business life (aside from the obvious benefit of having some terrific life experience) is the communication skills you develop.

When you've seen it all, taken a family aside to tell them their child didn't make it, talked a troubled soul through a rough patch, or listened to someone tell you all their dreams and hopes for a future that's not going to be there to behold......that's when you can speak to anyone about anything.

Anyway, Tom wins the book! Congratulations Tom.

Brendon

P.S: No jokes about Male Nurses. Pretty sure I've heard them all!

From the top to the bottom

From the top to the bottom

Mark, in the comments below, says he can imagine me doing "one of those "Mad Ken's Crazy Prices!" type ads on the telly ;-)"

Those ads always work which is interesting. Every now and then someone comes up with the "You sound like a used car salesman" comment.

More a reflection on my enthusiastic and untrained writing style than the way I dress (that's what I hope anyway! Gotta buy me some less colourful ties.).

In all of the surveys the used car salesman is always at the bottom of the list of "Most trusted person in the community."

Along with my philosophy of if I can do it, any person cam make it in business, I'll share shortly what I did for work before getting into this business 7 years ago.

Here's the hint: It's usually at the top of the "Most Trusted Occupation/Person in the community."

First person (who doesn't know me) who emails me (brendon@tailored.com.au) with the correct answer wins a prize - "Growing A Business" by Paul Hawken (one of my favourite business books).

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, January 10  

What I'd like to see

What I'd like to see

This is what I'd actually love to see.

Me to TV/newspaper Advertising Executive:

"So, will advertising with you get me more customers?"

TV/newspaper Advertising Executive:

"Yes. If it doesn't produce results then there is no charge."

Whilst some media advertising is more accountable these days, the great dinosaurs of TV and Newspapers just happily increase their rate with the full knowledge that viewers/readers are on the decline, no one takes notice of the TV ads (or we change channel during the break) and the value for money for the advertiser is rapidly going down.

We all have to closely monitor our returns on investment, and it's been my experience lately that TV & Newspaper is going down (could be crap creative of course - or a million other factors: which is what the TV/Newspaper Execs would suggest).

Cheers and have a good night.

Brendon

Sunday, January 9  

Fat people don't get no respect! (Apologies to Rodney Dangerfield)

Fat people don't get no respect! (Apologies to Rodney Dangerfield)

Howdy. Funny how these things happen. After I wrote the "Everything impacts" blog on Saturday I picked up the Sunday newspaper and read the results of a survey recently completed here in Australia.

The survey, conducted by an Employment Agency, found that 40% of employees don't respect their overweight colleagues. These same people believed overweight people are discriminated against in the workplace.

There are plenty of similar surveys to back that up. From the one that says tall people get faster career advancement. Good looking people also move up the corporate ladder quicker and/or are more successful in their own business. (Looking at my photo you'd wonder how I ever did okay in business!)

But like I said below.......everything impacts. If you are overweight then you won't get as much business as a slim person. Crazy, superficial and just plain wrong - but that's life.

Cheers

Brendon

Saturday, January 8  

Everything impacts

Everything impacts

Speaking of expectations - as I was below - I've noticed something over the past couple of days.

On Friday I went for a 7 kilometre run. Laura, my 13 yo daughter, ran with me. The only time Laura runs regularly is when she runs with me.

Today I went for a 2 km swim. Jack, my 12 yo son, swam with me. Again, the only time he swims for fitness is with me.

Tonight - Saturday night here in Australia - I brought out an old sketching pad and started doing a few drawings. Within minutes Harry, my 10 yo son, was on the floor doing some colouring in.

All of us - me and you - influence others. Others take their cues from us. I've seen the same thing applied in business time after time.

It's branding

It's branding. Everything we do in business brands us in some way. Every interaction with our customer/client or prospect impacts on the way they perceive us - from our handshake, to our business card quality, to our logo, to what we wear, to how we speak.......absolutely everything.

If you want you kids to run and swim, then you run and swim. It will take about 2 days before they want to join in.

Want people to view your business as quality - then have a firm handshake, get great business cards, develop a professional logo, dress beautifully, speak nicely.....you get the picture.

What we do matters. Do the things, in business, that put your business where you want it to be.

"You look professional"

I live on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It's a sub-tropical climate which means people don't generally wear business suits.

But one day, a few years back, I did. I visited a client whilst wearing this suit and he seemed most impressed:

"You look professional," he said.

It was meant as a compliment. Which was nice.

But what was left unsaid was the assumption that he didn't think I usually looked professional. Which was a good bit of feedback to get.

Try that - dress in your best suit/most professional attire and see what sort of impact it makes. I'll guarantee people will treat you differently.

But if you are happy with exactly where your business is at the moment don't change a thing.

Make some changes if that's what you want

Keep doing the same thing and you'll get the same results.

If you want change, change.

Cheers

Brendon

Friday, January 7  

Am I smarter than this guy?

Am I smarter than this guy?

One of the web marketing gurus selling information products at the moment is a guy called Brad Fallon. Brad looks like he has done a Joint Venture with a couple of other marketers and they are out selling Brad's product, based on the fact that Brad made something like $50,000 in sales in his first month of business.

His web site now says he's made $1.3 million in 11 months. Good for him.

I've subscribed to Brad's email newsletter and receive regular updates. They always have the same sort of heading - "Learn how I made $100,000 a month after being in business for just 6 months." Or some such thing.

But I can do that

20 weeks ago I developed a web site. It's best day so far has been $20,500 ($15,546 US) for the day. Best week has been $102,000 ($77,359 US). Best month has been $340,150 ($257,954).

Fluke right??

Nope. It wasn't. On October 25 (10 weeks ago) I launched another site. Best day has been a touch over $10,000. Average day is about $6,000.

As regular readers probably know, 2 1/2 years ago I had a site do $200,000 in sales in one night.

It's not magic

It's not magic. It's not some secret skill. It's not trickery. And it ain't that hard.

Sure, I'm pretty sophisticated now in terms of the knowledge I have and the skills I have. But those skills don't extend to actually being able to develop a web site!

I can't design a web site
I have zero programming skills

In the past week I have almost destroyed our Order Management Software, developed a process for part of the business that the girls here abandoned after all of 10 minutes and I even managed to overwrite one of our web sites with a completely different (and wrong) web site!

The Stupid Uncle

Here in the office I'm kind of like the stupid Uncle who embarrasses everyone. The women here pretty much stick me in the corner out of the way and hope I don't touch anything. But because I'm the boss they can't get rid of me!

I'm not saying that a guy like Brad Fallon doesn't have answers - in fact getting info from guys like Brad is all part of the process of learning the skills you need to succeed. And recognising what action you need to take to be successful.

It can sure cut down your learning time.

But what I am saying is this:

It ain't that hard. Sure, it takes some skills and some knowledge. But most of all it takes action.

(By the way, forgive me for not saying what the sites I've launched sell other than to say they sell 'hard' products that we have to pack and post. The businesses are in fairly small, competitive niches and I don't want any more competition or competitors with the info I give out.)

I'll be writing articles on each part of the businesses and how we've managed to grow them so quickly so you get some insight and tips into how we've achieved it.

Cheers

Brendon

Little bit of the business world

Little bit of the business world

Thanks for the feedback in the comments guys and gals. This blog is a great example of a little slice of business.

Sometimes we lose sight of what's important, sometimes we don't recognise the value or influence of what we do and sometimes life just gets in the way.

The daily blogs and monthly newsletters is a great example. I wanted to send monthly newsletters and add a blog a day, no question about it. But then commercial considerations get in the way.

If I have a paying job that needs finishing and a blog to write, the blog comes last. Same with the newsletter. And I'm happy with that. Sure, I'm a little disappointed I didn't keep up the daily blogs but that's life. And that's business.

As businesspeople, we have to focus on getting the money in to feed the family and keep that roof over our head. And sometimes we'll (by that I mean me) make mistakes.
And let people down. But all we can do is strive to make things better and better and try and get it right as we move forward.

Same issues now

I'm going through the exact same sort of issues just now. We're frantically busy and have been for probably 3 months. I've added extra staff, but think I need one more for some part-time Customer Service.

But if I do that I then have extra issues of finding the right person (takes more time), training that person (takes time), etc. Which takes a chunk of time away from us and makes us even busier for a while.

Oh, the dramas!

Anyway, that's business. And that's just part of the fun.

But the focus is more on developing content for this site and trying to provide a bit of useful information along the way in an entertaining and accessible manner.

Thanks for reading and cheers.

Brendon

Thursday, January 6  

Hi Honey, I'm Home.........

Hi Honey, I'm Home.........

Hello. Hope Christmas and New Year was safe and wonderful for you and yours.

The devastating tsunami puts into perspective how precious and fragile life can be.

And the New Year brings with it an invigorated mind for most of us, with new goals, dreams and aspirations to follow.

My focus for the year is to provide the best information I can from a business & marketing perspective to contribute to your ongoing success. This will be via:

* frequent articles
* monthly newsletter
* this blog
* a book
and much more

Stayed tuned. Take care.

Brendon