Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 64

The forty year old hangover is over. While the sun didn't come out shining today, the world is as it should be and I am fairly pleased about that.

I celebrated my birthday twice. Once in Australian time and the other in US time. Both were equally fabulous and without flaw. I spent the most amazing couple of days in South Beach Miami and just chilled. Somehow all of the expectations of turning 40 disappeared and I enjoyed the "now".

Freaking out about turning 40 was wasting energy that could have been better spent elsewhere. I don't know why I started to look in the mirror and feel 10 years older, nor what started me thinking that my life is so miserable, when in fact, it is truly amazing. I am living the best life I could have ever imagined and I am doing things that I never thought possible. 

When evaluating the marketing budget of our company, it became apparent that printing was a significant cost. As such, when it came to printing our custom published marketing magazine, it was time to do things a little differently. 

At first, my design department sourced quotes. They ranged from $18,000 up to $33,000 for exactly the same product. I was fine with paying $18,000 but not so fine to find my normal printers quotation significantly higher at $33,000. It literally had me stopping in my tracks and evaluating what I was doing and whether it was worth it.

Then, as if someone was looking down on me, a company was referred to Marketing Eye to do some of their marketing. It was an online print automation company that specialises in reducing the cost of printing so that marketing departments can reinvest the savings back into their marketing campaigns. I personally worked on this account because I was interested in seeing what they did differently. In the end, I became as passionate about their business, as they became of ours. On top of that, they saved us 45% of our printing costs.

Today, I thought I would give the founder of this business, Mark Alioto a call to talk about what they do differently at ECM.

If I could have a dollar for every time I didn't trust my gut instinct, I would be a very rich woman.

Like most entrepreneurs, I have failed more times than I have succeeded and every single time I have failed I have thought back to how I could have done things differently. 9 times out of 10, it was because I didn't trust my gut instinct.

Trusting in yourself and your intuition is important, but if you are anything like me, you second guess what you think you should do and find reasons as to why you should do something a different way. It's not too indifferent from taking a risk. We are all reluctant to take risks but sometimes there is this thing inside us that tells us that we must do it - even though there a thousand reasons why we shouldn't.

A few weeks ago, we met with the delightful Jack Rehm and Karen Larkin of Midsouth Planning in Atlanta. The first thing that struck me about both Jack and Karen is how nice they are. Now, nice isn't a word that many people would like associated with themselves because of the connotations that it has, but its true. They are smart, thoughtful, considerate and nice.

It was a big step for both of them to take to hire a marketing company as it isn't something that they had done before.

"Same bed, but it feels a bit bigger now" is the lyrics in the famous Bruno Mars song "When I was your man".  An apt description of Marketing Eye's business expansion into the US market. It's the same company, but its a bit bigger now. 

What started out as a step to expand the international footprint of our brand, has taken on a whole new dimension. Australian and America have long been tied and now more so than ever. The ebbs of the economy has led to an opportunity for Australian companies that are geared for expansion to leverage the strength of the Australian dollar, and affordable set up costs in the US market without breaking the bank. The downside, is US dollars are not worth as much, as the dollar loses its grip on parity.

It's not everyday that a top-notch marketing manager's role becomes available for a company that is as innovative as it is fun. 

Please look at this job profile and if you are interested in a marketing managers job in Atlanta, send us an email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Remember to read carefully and DON'T APPLY if you are not ready to work hard and laugh so hard that sometimes you may cry!

We hit the road running in Atlanta and haven't looked back since.

In just six short months, we have embarked on changing the mindsets of many small businesses in Atlanta, that have been pressured by the Global Financial Crisis and are reluctant to ease their way out and invest in marketing.

As we know, many companies that increased their investment in marketing during this period grew significantly. It's just like when everyone is walking one way and you are walking the other. You all of a sudden stand out and people take notice of you. If they like what they see, then you make connections.

The past few months, we have been working with one of the most impressive companies in the US - Accretive Solutions. They provide consulting, staffing and outsourcing solutions to companies and have 11 offices throughout the country.

What impresses me most about Accretive Solutions is their people. If you ask any of their clients, they all say that it's their people that set Accretive Solutions apart from competitors. They don't hire juniors, and instead invest in people with experience and passion for doing challenging, interesting work.

My friends keep telling me that "life begins at 40". To be brutally honest, I am not so sure. How can someone think that is the case, when in your 20's you made all your mistakes but had the time of your life. In your 30's, you made some more, but they were far more manageable and life was pretty good. You had more money than in your 20's, more experience and had fewer issues. You felt as though you were more comfortable in your own skin and you came to terms with your flaws.

Then you started approaching 40. Somehow everything went back a few steps. Firstly, just when you thought you were comfortable in your own skin, you realized that there were a few things you wanted to change. For instance, your appearance. Do those wrinkles really belong to you? Have your eyebrows really drooped that much? Are your boobs really that saggy?

After reading HBR's 10 Must Reads book "On Strategic Marketing", it has made me realize how much small businesses are being confused by what they read and hear in regards to strategic marketing.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Right? Well, not always, but it is a good idea to have a plan in place that is a blueprint for what your business is trying to achieve.

The thing with strategic marketing plans is that there are so many variables that have changed and continue to change, that no plan can be set in stone. In fact, you really do need to pick it up out of your drawer every month and revise it, otherwise, you may find out that you are losing ground on what you are trying to achieve as a business.

Googling strategic marketing plans and looking up examples of what other people have written is a waste of time and energy. If this is how you put together your marketing blueprint, then think again. What comes up on Google is simply embarrassing to the marketing industry. Often the examples have been written years ago and do not take into account new marketing techniques, changes in economic conditions or the fact that social media is something that no business can ignore.

Like many books today, On Strategic Marketing is all cover, with little substance relating to the topic at all. Yes, it talks about how sales and marketing can work together, it talks on customer relationships, branding in the digital age adn more. But to be totally honest, its a bland read that needs some real substance. Not too indifferent from other reads on the bookshelf that have eye catching titles but fail to live up to expectations.

Strategic marketing has changed and there are many variables to take into account:

1. Overall business goals, objectives and resources
2. Target market and SWOT analysis
3. Customer relationships
4. Employee relationships and culture
5. 5 P's; Product, price, promotion, place and people
6. Social media
7. Technology 
8. KPI's

By moving Social media and technology out of what we all learnt at University in the 5P's, it allows us to give these areas of importance individual focus and accomodate the fact that social media and technology are the biggest drivers of marketing strategies today.

Establishing a workable marketing strategy that is continually updated and deeply ingrained in your company's DNA is paramount to achieving marketing success.

Innovation was a popular word in the office yesterday and as I watched everyone talk about innovation in one way or another, I became enthralled with how excited everyone was just by using the term.