Posts

How will the closure of Google + affect your business?
/0 Comments/in /by

The closing of Google + will affect businesses who use it to increase search rankings via reviews or as part of their collection of Google markers. Here is the official commentary from the source. (Honestly, surely the world’s biggest marketing firm could ,… well market better!)

You’ve received this email because you have a consumer (personal) Google+ account or you manage a Google+ page.

In December 2018, we announced our decision to shut down Google+ for consumers in April 2019 due to low usage and challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers’ expectations. We want to thank you for being part of Google+ and provide next steps, including how to download your photos and other content.

On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. You can download and save your content, just make sure to do so before April. Note that photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.

The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time. For example, users may still see parts of their Google+ account via activity log and some consumer Google+ content may remain visible to G Suite users until consumer Google+ is deleted.

As early as February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events.

See the full FAQ for more details and updates leading up to the shutdown.

If you’re a Google+ Community owner or moderator, you may download and save your data for your Google+ Community. Starting early March 2019, additional data will be available for download, including author, body, and photos for every community post in a public community. Learn more

If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but in some cases may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button. You’ll still be able to sign in with your Google Account wherever you see Google Sign-in buttons. Learn more

If you’ve used Google+ for comments on your own or other sites, this feature will be removed from Blogger by February 4th and other sites by March 7th. All your Google+ comments on all sites will be deleted starting April 2, 2019. Learn more

If you’re a G Suite customer, Google+ for your G Suite account should remain active. Contact your G Suite administrator for more details. You can also expect a new look and new features soon. Learn more

If you’re a developer using Google+ APIs or Google+ Sign-in, click here to see how this will impact you.

From all of us on the Google+ team, thank you for making Google+ such a special place. We are grateful for the talented group of artists, community builders, and thought leaders who made Google+ their home. It would not have been the same without your passion and dedication.

Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google+ Page, product or account.

 

Marketing – what is the essence of it?

/0 Comments/in /by

My marketing lecturer at university was a radical. I was lucky to have been in his first class as a lecturer. He was well short of middle aged yet well founded in marketing businesses. Sadly, he died well before his time. Even before I finished my degree.  Pleasingly, his key lesson about the essence of marketing will stay with me.

His view was that there are three comments about what the essence of marketing is.

Find out what the customer wants, give it to them and make a profit.

Everything else is overkill. So what does each element mean?

  1. Find out what the customer wants.

Too often a business owner will create a product and then try to flog it to death to a client, any client. This doesn’t work in a post-industrial revolution market because there is more stuff available than what any consumer can buy. This is why they are choosey and they choose to only buy what they want, albeit they may only want it for an instant before they buy something else.

Rather than use the ‘build it and they will come model’, which only works in movies, it is better to understand what is needed. What is actually needed is to recognise the client and their problems. Identify their problems and produce a service or product that will solve the problem.

Be sure to create some prototypes to increase your chances of success. This will save you time, effort and money whilst ensuring your solution is spot on for what the client will lap up.

  1. Give it to them.

This is where the 5 P’s of marketing come into play.

Price

– identify the price that a client will say they will pay…. Then add 10%. Psychologically a person will usually pay 10% more than what they say. This is because most people don’t trust giving honest answers about what they would pay for something. Watch the dance between a buyer and seller of a car or house to see what happens.

Oftentimes I think the world would be a better place if we just honestly said what we would really pay. Then there are entire cultures that barter for significant periods of time ensuring that ‘face’ is saved during the sales process. Try asking for a fixed price on something when you are off the tourist strip in most Asian countries and see what response you get. Yes, I digress.

Promotion

– it’s about selling the sizzle. Remember the difference between feature and benefit. No one buys a miniature pot with holes in it but we will all buy a strainer to keep our tea leaves out of our tea.

Package

– what will it look like when the client either picks it up or has it delivered.

packaging

First rule for distribution managers is to be with the clients when they receive your first item off the line. Ensure what they get is what you sent. I remember when I received a package from Australia Post and it had a size ten bootprint on it, not to mention crushed contents.

Place

– this is where the client buys it from. It could be bricks and mortar or virtual through the web. Ensure the experience is consistent with your brand and values. No one wants to go to a medical specialist appointment in the back of a garbage truck. It just isn’t consistent with expectations.

Product

– we have already discussed this but as a reminder – be sure it is what people want. You can include variants along the lines of quality and features. One size strainer for tea and another for draining pasta.

  1. Make a profit.

Profit is not a dirty word. We touched on price earlier and the amount a client will pay is the benchmark. If you are lucky the amount the client will pay is more than what it cost you in total to get the product or service to them. However, most times the cost itself is more than what a client will pay. This forces you to go back to design and work out how to either reduce the cost or increase the value.

You can increase the value by revisiting the promotion of the product and include elements that make a client realise the cost of the product so that they will raise their price expectations.

I remember reading Larry Burkett’s book “Business By The Book” and he discusses one way of aligning client pricing expectations with sale price. He suggests giving the client a brochure which honestly explains the cost of getting the product to them. This includes rent, staff, design and taxes. Then he asks the client to pay what they believe would be a fair price based upon the actual cost and what the client would feel is a fair profit margin. Gutsy yes but it is a great way for a client to appreciate the value you provide.

So that is my lecturers philosophy about the essence of marketing. Find out what the client wants, give it to them and make a profit.

If you have a business question and want a straightforward answer then phone/text 0421 253 771, email ask@consultantinaflash.com.au, book online on our webpage or message us on Facebook at Consultant in a Flash! We will be happy to give you what you want in 15 minutes for $15.

What makes a business successful?

/0 Comments/in /by

Everyone has an opinion on what makes a business successful. Often these opinions are from people who have never run a business. They are a bit like sports armchair critics.

Opinions from people who have run successful businesses deserve much more credit and respect.

The final type of advice is researched advice. Attached you will find a presentation on the research completed a few years ago on what makes a business successful. Surprise, surprise, the results are still absolutely relevant today both from a researched and experience point of view.

So grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy the next ten minutes. It will tell you everything you really need to know about running a business.

Answers every business owner seeks

/0 Comments/in /by

Welcome to this wonderfully resourceful document where we provide you with the answers from our advisors on the most common questions that are asked by business owners. Topics include human resources, digital marketing, growing your business, finance, presentations and systems.

Let’s begin with those yukky people problem issues. Ever had an employee that just isn’t working out? Well then you will want to read this answer from Hellen Ryan, from Solutions for Human Resources, who is our Certified Professional Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute.

1. How do you correctly terminate someone’s employment?

The Fair Work Act 2009 has a number of requirements around terminating the services of an employee.
Each instance must be on its own merits and employers must afford the employee Natural Justice and Procedural Fairness. This involves:

• inviting the employee to have a support person of their choice,
• the right to know what the issues are,
• the right to answer the complaint (fair hearing),
• having a non-discriminatory process,
• notice periods (if applicable) and
• a termination letter.

The Employer also has rights: the right to manage their business and make reasonable work instructions.

It is critical in all instances of termination of employment, that the employer take detailed notes of all conversations held.

If the employer steps outside the requirements of the Fair Work Act, they expose themselves to hefty fines and legal action.

Please contact Hellen Ryan via Consultant in a Flash! if you are unsure of how to exit an employee or you have a difficult employee you need to exit from your business.

 

2. What two things can I do to increase traffic to my website?

We asked Jay Daniells from Green Valley Digital who is our digital marketing advisor, to provide us an answer to this common question from business owners.

1. Ask yourself how do you find other businesses when you need services, products, want to fix something or need advice?

This takes a little explaining and there is also a very simple activity that I recommend doing. Because I don’t have room here to write how to go about it, I have instead written a blog article about it on our website for you to read. You can visit it here. Side note: It’s not lost on me that this too will increase the traffic to my own website . A little bit of creative and ‘outside the box’ thinking is always a good thing when you are wanting to bring more traffic to your website.

2. Learn and then Implement Inbound Marketing

Start using Inbound Marketing for your business. To learn more visit this page and then do their free eLearning Course. The course is quick to do and delivered as video. You can also listen to it when commuting via YouTube or iTunes. You will learn heaps and once you have done most of the course, you can then start doing Inbound Marketing.

Inbound Marketing is foundational and extremely important in these modern times where it pays to invest as much if not more heavily in digital marketing and advertising than traditional marketing and advertising. If you do it correctly, your business and annual revenue will benefit greatly!

 

Ever struggled with presenting in public or pitching to a customer? Well we asked David Wise from Wise Words Communications who is our public speaking and presentation training advisor, what he recommends.

3. What is the first thing I should look at to improve my pitch or presentation?

I used to be inclined to say ‘the audience’ but nowadays I instruct my students to make sure, first and foremost, that it’s really them doing the presentation – not some poor attempt at impersonating what they think they should look and sound like.

The first step towards getting the audience to believe in you, is for you to believe in yourself. However, one of the hardest things for people to do is simply to be themselves in front of a group of people. Once we crack that barrier, people’s confidence generally goes through the roof and then…we can concentrate on giving the audience the content they need.

 

4. What is the most important thing I need to do for my first webpage?

We again asked Jay Daniells in his capacity as our web design advisor and partner of Coral Coast Web Design, to answer this common question.

Know Thy Customer – Customer Intelligence

Know thy customer! Know who your customers are. You have to plan a website before creating it and part of planning a website is ensuring that the website will appeal and be easily understood by your ideal customer profile. You want to wow your ideal customer when they visit your website. In their head you want them ‘ticking all their internal boxes’ as they go through sections of your site. You want the ENTIRE site and every single thing in it to appeal to them. You also want them to form a really good impression of who you are and what you do and what you offer. You want to PEAK their interest… so they feel compelled to buy whatever products or services they are thinking of buying from you or contacting you to find more info about.

The only way to do this is to create the website for ‘your ideal customer profile’.

Quality website designers who are also experts at ‘Conversion Rate Optimisation’, marketing, advertising and branding. They will take the time to ask you questions, gather information from you and help establish your ‘ideal customer profile(s)’ with you and also take time to know what your ‘buyer personas’ are (which also should be written down). They will then design your website with those things IN THE FRONT OF THEIR MIND and will refer back to those things during every phase of the website project.

business loan

Cash is critical for all businesses so we asked George Farmer from Aussie Home Loans who is our mortgage broker advisor, to answer this next question.

5. What is the best way to improve my chances of securing business finance?

There are two things that will dramatically improve your chances of successfully securing some business finance?

• A well-considered business plan

This should be balanced in line with the amount of money you are considering borrowing. That is, five pages would suffice for a small loan while a loan for several hundred thousand dollars would need a more comprehensive plan of 30 or so pages. Key elements of your plan would include a marketing plan, cash flow forecasts, key people in the business and a balance sheet. A current balance sheet leads to the second point.

• Make sure your financials are upto date.

Demonstrate your professionalism and business skills by bringing current financials. These should include MYOB or Xero reports, upto date BAS and tax returns. Avoid embarrassing yourself by making an application if you owe the tax man several years of taxes and haven’t looked at your business financials since you started your venture.

Remember that the object of the activity is to make the lender feel comfortable that they will get their money back with interest. Looking professional by having a well thought out business plan and current financials will go a long way to helping you achieve business finance.

6. What’s the secret to marketing?

We threw this question to Peter Bender who is one of the founding partners of Consultant in a Flash!

Common question and yes, I have an answer to it. Intuitively you probably realise that the secret to marketing is not a single magic bullet. It’s not Facebook, billboards, business groups etc. Irrespective of what business you are in, I would wager that you haven’t found that one thing that works nor found evidence to substantiate what others promote as being the key to success.

What I have found over time is that a marketing mix works best. This is where you have 6-8 different ways to approach your target market. As time progresses you will find one or two ways start to lose their appeal. These weakening items need to be replaced in order for your marketing mix to keep producing results.

 

Marketing is a common area of questions that we receive and often such questions pertain to expanding one’s business. So we asked David Wise from Regional Queensland Marketing Services to explain this next question.

7. How do I market outside of my region?

There are a lot of ‘who, when, where, why, what and how’s’ with this question. You could write a book on it – and many have. But for argument’s sake, first of all, make sure you’ve done your research and answered ‘Yes’ to the following questions:

• Does that market actually want what we have?
• Can we supply it reliably?
• Can we differentiate ourselves from any competitors already established there?
• Does servicing that market fit with our business model?

Moving ahead, in terms of your message it’s really no different to marketing in your own backyard. Show your prospects that you have a unique way of providing a solution to their problem.

In terms of practical steps to get you started and get your first customers: make sure your online channels are optimised for all markets you want to serve and run some paid campaigns on Facebook and Google.

If you have a bricks and mortar presence, organise a local launch event and media campaign to accompany your opening.

Good old fashioned word-of-mouth is one of the best places to start. Your existing customers probably don’t know about your expansion plans. Let them know (while reassuring them you will be maintaining your level of service) as they may have contacts they can introduce you to. (Side note: Many businesses actually start their own expansion when their customers open new branches in other areas).

Lastly, make sure you are engaging with the ‘community’ in all senses of the word – be it the people who live in the town/region, or a group with a common interest that is relevant to your product or service.

 

Now that you have a heap of great ideas to grow your business, we thought you might need some more time. So we asked Yale Morgan, who is a founding partner of Consultant in a Flash!, how he would find you some extra hours.

8. Which system or process should I automate first?

Building systems In Your business

I’m often asked which process or system should I automate first? Of course this depends on the type of business and how it can affect your customer touch points. This means we focus on anything that is service related, hold that thought (for now).

I would start on back end functions, particularly one that is the same task, repetitive and can be done more efficiently and cheaper by automation.

As an example, for a retail business, you could implement a min/ max stock control process. What this means is, based on rate of sales you have a minimum stocking quantity so as not to lose any sales due to stock outages. Then a maximum quantity, so you don’t drain your cash flow. The system should recognize when you’ve reached your minimum stock level and place an order to top up to your maximum level set.

It’s important to also monitor this to adjust for seasons, fads, specials, promotional periods etc.

 

We hope you have enjoyed and learned something exciting from our “Answers every business owner seeks”. Thank you to all our advisors and remember that you can ask any of them a question and get 15 minutes of advice for $15 by calling us at Consultant in a Flash!

You can contact Consultant in a Flash! through the following easy ways:
• Phone or texting 0421 253 771
• Emailing us at ask@consultantinaflash.com.au
• Booking time by our online calendar on our webpage at www.consultantinaflash.com.au
• Or messaging us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ConsultantinaFlash

Website traffic – how do you increase it?

/1 Comment/in /by

Integrate website traffic with word of mouth marketing

If people get inquisitive about your business then they will visit your webpage to learn more about who you are and what you are all about. This increases your website traffic. A great way to increase the curiosity of potential new customers is to leverage the ‘word of mouth’ buzz about your business.

Using your business to generate ‘word of mouth’

As a business owner you are responsible for the quality of the ‘word of mouth’ currently being generated about your business. As part of this responsibility you should help all the members of your business including ALL your staff, to increase all aspects of their business performance. This includes helping them with productivity, service, sales, support, quality of product, customer service and delivery times. Once everyone within your business has done this, you will dramatically increase ‘word of mouth’. Easy right… you and I both know this is easier said than done… but always aim for it. In time you will achieve great results consistently. Then improve even further when your competitors catch up.

Isn’t business grand! You can never rest on your laurels or remain still. You may have heard a hint of sarcasm in that previous sentence. If so, you’d be correct. I do REALLY enjoy business though… it’s a great challenge and certainly well worth doing and pursuing.

Using generosity to create ‘word of mouth’

For even more enhanced results, you can also find ways to be a ‘go giver’ because this too will dramatically increase ‘word of mouth’. There are many books you can read that explain the ‘law of reciprocity’ and how ‘givers gain’ in business and in community. Some of the concepts include to:

  • be generous,
  • provide extra value,
  • under promise and over-deliver,
  • value each customer fully (including sending them gifts at appropriate times in their client life cycle),
  • reward people when they deserve it including customers,
  • do selfless random acts of kindness (including surprises) and
  • know that ‘you build a business one relationship at a time’.

These are just a few of the things written about in books related to ‘business and the power of giving’.

This is an extract from a blog by Jay Daniells. Jay is part of the team at “Consultant in a Flash!” where you can receive 15 minutes of website and digital marketing advice for just $15. Just call or text us at 0421 253 771, email ask@consultantinaflash.com.au or book online at www.consultantinaflash.com.au

Social media – how do you prevent bad or spiteful reviews by staff?

/0 Comments/in /by

How do you manage Social Media and Staff?

From an external viewpoint we find many businesses successfully using Social Media as a marketing tool. Some organisations even employ a dedicated person who manages the organisation’s public presence on social media.

Internally we find a large number of employees regularly use their private social media accounts to connect with co-workers, managers and clients. Some businesses also have a Facebook group for staff to ‘chat’ and exchange information.

Social media can be a fantastic tool to keep the team connected, but this can quickly go bad when an aggrieved employee has a ‘dig’ at a co-worker or complaint about the organisation or a management decision.

Consequently, employers now need know how to manage their staff social media use in the areas of:

  • Aggrieved employees undermining the business brand; and
  • On-line workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination (inappropriate behaviour).

Managers need to address how employees make comments on public forums about the organisation and co-workers, even when comments are made on their own time.

Particularly with inappropriate behaviour, if not managed correctly when a complaint is made, the employer can be implicated.

Does this now mean we should friend all employees and monitor their social media?

No, definitely not. But, it does mean if a complaint is made, a proper investigation should be carried out and appropriate management action should be taken.

Clear expectations on social media should be included into Induction Training and Information Technology/ Social Media policies and procedures.

Avoid ‘knee-jerk’ responses to breaches of social media/ IT policies and procedures.

Before terminating employment due to activity on social media, ensure the behaviour or post:

  • Relates to work;
  • Shows actual intent to damage the business’s reputation;
  • Damages your business reputation or the reputation of another organisation; and or
  • Is in breach of a documented policy and procedure.

If you would like assistance in dealing with a social media issue at work then you can contact “Consultant in a Flash!” where you can get 15 minutes of advice for $15. You can contact us by;

  • phone or text on 0421 253 771
  • email at ask@consultantinaflash.com.au
  • book time online at www.consultantinaflash.com.au

We can also help you with developing a comprehensive Social Media and IT use policy and procedure.

This is a guest blog from Hellen Ryan who is  a “Certified Professional” member of the Australian Human Resources Institute. Hellen is part of the team at “Consultant in a Flash!” where you can receive 15 minutes of advice for $15. Just call or text us at 0421 253 771, email ask@consultantinaflash.com.au or book online at www.consultantinaflash.com.au

Give Your Best Stuff Away

/0 Comments/in /by

In a previous article, I’ve talked about “Value” and what that meant to your customer. I discussed its worth being perceived or real based on the circumstance. Well I’m here to explain why you should give your best away. If you’re in the professional services and information business, you’ll have some pretty good content that is worth a whole bunch of money.

If that’s you, great! Are you ready for a paradigm shift in your thinking? Other than commercial in confidence I.P. I would advise you get all your content together and embark on a strategic plan of giving it away – yep, give it away – to strangers!

This must be in the perceived high value, but low cost to you. So if you’re a retailer, you wouldn’t use stock, but could easily use “How To …” tips etc. Professional can give advice on perhaps the top 10 frequently asked questions, stuff the reader can take away and action straight away!

I know .. you’re thinking, but I could be charging for that, customers could pay good money for that! The key is to be strategic about how and who you give it to, in addition to what path/ journey you want to take them on.

Ideally the initial approach could be as a lead generator, then more content to build rapport, your credibility and your soon to be customer will be placing you on their “list of experts”. And who is the person they call when they do need help – the expert of course! I’ll let you in on little a secret, most people won’t actually act on what you give them, rather they pay you to help them implement what they can themselves, because your content is that good!

Sure .. not everyone that listens, watches or downloads your content will become a client or customer, but they could easily become a referral advocate. In fact I wouldn’t even have a time out on when they receive without using your services. Leave them until they opt out.

As an example, I coach and consult on Sales, Marketing, Productivity and Systems for your Business. If you want to know some fantastic sales generating strategies, ask me. I won’t give you 5,10,20 or even 50 but 100! I’m sure even if you adopted only 10 your sales will have an immediate spike. If you want them hit me up ask@consultantinaflash.com.au and grab 100 sales generating tips.

Using this approach, there are many online strategies to be discussed, but perhaps for another article.

Yale Morgan

 

It’s all so new at Consultant in a Flash!

/0 Comments/in /by

A great challenge for any new business that has new ideas is to quickly educate customers on what is now available. Who never knew what Facebook, Google or even Rocktape did until they were able to show and tell us about their new products or services. So what is all so new at Consultant in a Flash?

Consultant in a Flash provides 15 minutes of business focussed advice for $15.
We do this to meet the market need where clients just have that one question or one document that they need advice upon.
It is a new service which we call micro consultancy. It is much more user friendly than calling, booking, visiting and paying for traditional advice at expensive hourly rates.

Read more