Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 48

This week I encountered a business bully, except it was personal and they just happened to also be a business person. Someone with deep pockets who tried to "scare me" as he put it. He finally apologized but I have thought deeply about how often in my career this has happened, largely because I am a woman or a small business owner. There are a lot of dishonest people around. People who deliberately don't pay bills as they know it costs more to sue someone, or those who are just not nice people and want to be bullies because they get kicks out of it.

I use to be scared. I use to get anxiety over it. I use to fall apart and perhaps even shed a few tears.

Wow! I mean wow! I just arrived in the office in Atlanta and I am completely and utterly amazed at the talent and sheer determination of our Marketing Eye team in Atlanta.

They are not only the best looking team in all of Atlanta, they are also the smarter and most competent.

Who would have thought that they could put together a team like this all by themselves and start running the business like I always dreamed it would be run.

If I had a magic ball, I would look deeply into it and thin hard about what it was that I wanted to get out of life. 

This morning I had breakfast at The Mercer Kitchen in Soho with my friend Kristina Karlsson, you know that phenomenal businesswoman who blows every other Australian businesswoman out of the water.

Bad relationships happen. They are inevitable. Particularly when you have been around for a while.

The more passionate you are about a person or anything really, the more it affects you and sends you a little crazier than normal. But mostly, logic comes back into play and you tend to correct whatever it is that went wrong.

I am saying goodbye to being 41. It's not a sad day, it's one that I am celebrating. Why not? It's been a big year and full of surprises. I have learned more than I expected. My true friends have come out in spades and ensured that they have been there for me for both the good times and a few of the bad times.

Please keep your pants on, and never give away everything, it's as simple as that.

Too many entrepreneurs get so desperate that they give away the kitchen sink when in fact all their prospect wanted to know was that they could do a good job.

As an entrepreneur, it's hard to start a business and to keep it going year-after-year profitability creating value and jobs. But many do so very successful, and yet those who fail seem to do so falling often on their own sword.

For the past 3 weeks I have been quite sick and this has made it quite incredibly hard to be able to work at a pace that is acceptable in my business. Fortunately for me, the team has been running seamlessly and have continued to grow and prosper.

Due to our inherent need for a number of new positions to be filled due to our high growth company, we have to be very careful what clients we take on for now and the future.

I am not stupid. At least I don't think I am.

I do try to listen to what others have to say and when someone gives me advice, I usually take it.

I have these two men in my life that are mentors. They are the two men throughout the world that I hold in the highest business esteem. Yes, the world. Not just Australia, but the world.

Their names are Jack Cowin and Peter Ivany. If you don't know who they are, Google them. It will be well worth your while. They are not your average 'smart cookies', they are briliant businessmen - beyond the brilliance of anyone else I have ever met (and I have met people worth hundreds of billions of dollars and spent quality time with them). I think these two guys are better. 

Over the years, there have been a few PR experts that have stood out to myself; namely Shona Boyd. She is an industry veteran in Sydney and has had every big name client under the sun. She is more professional than the rest and without doubt is one of the few people in the industry that guarantee results. She has a no bullshit radar, and refuses to work with people who can't sit straight. I love her. She was one of the first real PR people that I have ever met.

Then there were others that came along, without qualifications but equally capable in getting column centremeters like Roxy Jacenko. They have built their businesses on largely fluffy PR but have done so with gust and have certainly gained my admiration.

I played the PR game earlier on. I realised that it was a quick way to make some serious money. I worked on the more serious part of the equation; public listings, technology PR, business PR and alike. It was fun. All it required was an ability to write a press release and build a relationship with a journalist. By knowing what the journalist was interested in, I was able to tell the client upfront whether or not they had a chance of getting published or not.

For that privilege, I wrote the press release in 20 minutes and charged $2,500 per piece. Easy money and paid the rent. Didn't get much better than that.

Gosh times have changed. Why did I ever stop doing this. Now, we charge a few hundred dollars for writing a press release and send it out to a database. Not the same results might I add, but it seems that that is what most people are doing and getting away with.

Great PR people have the following qualitites:

Most entrepreneurs don't really listen that much. They trust their gut instinct and often find that their newest great idea, should take precedence over everything else their business has going on. 

While that is good and well, this constant need for gratification and results often leads to entrepreneurs missing the mark - and then wondering why they are forging ahead as first thought.