Business News
Seven tips for marketing in the 21st century
Source My Business 15 February 2012
Consumers are developing resistances to many marketing techniques. Alex Pirouz of RIDC Advisory brings us Siimon Reynolds’ seven potent new ways to make your marketing cut through the clutter. Marketing is dead, long live new marketing. Medical Scientists all over the world are in a frantic race every year to develop new more powerful antibiotics to beat the latest mutated bacterial infections creeping into populations globally.
Due to our overuse of this past miracle of medicine, bacteria are ever increasingly becoming resistant - through genetic mutation, to the most powerful antibiotics doctors have in their medical arsenal. There is a real fear creeping into medicine that soon antibiotics will no longer be effective to stave off these 'super bugs’ (already in existence in most hospitals) and we once again will see people dying from simple bacterial infections taking us back 100 years in medical thinking.
So what has this to do with Marketing? Everything. This powerful analogy allows us as marketers to compare this dilemma to what is going on in modern business.
Marketing practice has been over used and abused -much like antibiotics- that consumers much like the bacteria in our analogy -are becoming increasingly resistant and less responsive to ordinary and unskilled marketing efforts. Like the race medical scientists find themselves in so as marketers we are also in a race to keep one step ahead of consumers and produce marketing campaigns and programs that are cost effective and work. Unfortunately for many including most SME’s with small budgets, limited marketing experience and up to date knowledge and skill, this race is all but lost. The internet has made this effort all the more complex, costly and confusing and the rate of change has increase 100 fold. Like medicine, marketing concepts that worked 6 months ago or even 6 weeks ago fade fast.
What’s the answer?
The answer to this consumer evolution is that we need to get back to basics; much like the answer for science is the use of fewer antibiotics and not more.
According to Siimon Reynolds, co founder of the Photon Group, a start-up marketing company he built into a $500-million dollar organisation and later became the 15th largest marketing-services company in the world, there are seven key ways to ensure your marketing is more effective:
1. Spend more time on Product development.
Developing a product that is not only good but also superior. Steve Jobs showed us how with the Apple iPhone and iPad. These products were so innovative that they not only revolutionised Apple as a company but changed the way people behave forever. Follow this example. Start with your product and ask yourself does this product sell itself it’s so good? If not then it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Poor products are the number one reason businesses find marketing them so difficult. Sounds obvious but look around and 99% of companies fail in this arena.
2. Make innovation your core strategy.
Basic, I know but do you do this? You cannot afford to miss this. Apple knows within months that their competition will be copying their product innovations, so they innovate fast and have the Apple iPhone 5,6, and 7 well underway by the time they have launched the Apple iPhone 4. If Apple knows this and they are a multi-billion dollar company then there is a reason for it and you should too.
3. Always, always answer the basic consumer question...Why Should I buy from you?
Consumers don’t care about you, your company, your dream or your profits or lack of them. They are about what you can do for them to make their lives better, easier or richer in some way. So answer this question why should they buy from you? And if your answer is’ better quality’ or 'better service’, you are in serious trouble. The world does not need just another doctor. The world needs a doctor who can cure cancer, treat Alzheimer’s and reverse strokes. Not a doctor who offers only better service but offers no answers or nothing special at all. The world does not need another lawyer or plumber. It needs a lawyer who will guarantee to win your case, or a plumber who arrives on time or you don’t pay. Get the picture?
4. Don’t sell.
Consumers hate being sold to. They have seen it all and have an internal alarm to run from anyone who tries any of those old worn out sales and advertising techniques. People hate to be sold to but love to buy. The only thing they love to do more than buy is buying from someone they like and trust. So develop all your marketing strategies around creating the preconditions for building systems that make it so a consumer gravitates toward you and your business naturally. Not only employing the above strategies but also focus on not making selling your prime goal, but relationship building your priority and build systems to automate this, so sales happen effortlessly. The best companies in the world do this without you even being aware of it.
5. Build a funnel of products or services
Never build your business around a single transaction or single product. If you do this then business long success becomes impossible. Think about natural consumer behaviour. Normally one purchase leads to another, are you ready to help your customer with the next natural purchase. How many times have you been in a business when you say to yourself, these people should also offer xx or yy? It’s obvious but many businesses miss this completely and lose multiple profit opportunities.
6. Test everything
Often I get asked will this work. Answer = no one knows but a small test will do amazing things. It allows you, with complete freedom, to try some new things, take some risks and succeed or fail fast and learn from it. Its through failure we find success. This is even truer in marketing. It’s a legitimate scientific approach to finding marketing breakthroughs. Whatever marketing decision you are contemplating, test them and those that fail discard, those that work expand rapidly and then innovate and test again.
7. Mentor
Athletes should be our role models. As progressive business people we should learn from them but unfortunately I still see businesses struggling alone with no guidance. No professional athlete would contemplate going it alone. Never. A coach has practical experience and strategies that are priceless. Athletes have known this for ages, and business people are starting to see this value as well. In my years of coaching at The Fortune Institute, I have noticed that business owners are finally becoming more aware of the intense competition across the business landscapes and are looking for guidance. To get maximum performance and thus improved results you need to do two things; model perfect systems and also be held accountable to your goals. As a business mentor, I do this daily for my clients and it is one of the driving reasons behind my Strategic Entrepreneur Summit series.
These are just some of the keys to achieving success in your next marketing campaign. Each element has many dimensions and mindset distinctions, which if followed correctly will increase your rate of success the next time you promote a product or service.
How one exporter beat the high dollar and cracked the US market
Source My Business 7 February 2012
Australian company Refreshed Lemon Myrtle has just cracked the US market, despite the high Australian dollar.
The Refreshed story starts in 2004 when David Dane, one of its Directors, sold two tea tree oil business to market leader Thursday Plantation. After serving a three year non-compete period, Dane started to work with Refreshed, then a bush tucker company producing food products Lemon Myrtle, a native plant with a pleasant lemony scent and flavour. The plant also has some useful antimicrobial qualities. Dane quickly realised the potential for the plant beyond foods and helped Refreshed to create a range of personal care products including soaps and shampoos. When the owners sold out in 2009, Dane and Mike Dean - a former senior executive at Thursday Plantation - stepped into the company.
Dean had previously set up licensing arrangements for Thursday Plantation and set about striking similar deals for Refreshed in the USA. He visited the world’s biggest trade show for natural foods in the USA and re-built a relationship with Thursday Plantation’s US distributor. Refreshed hoped to export finished products, but exchange rates changed the game during negotiations. "By the time we got into the nitty gritty the dollar took off," Dane says, and the US company’s interest wavered. To rescue the deal "We thought why not do a licensing deal like Thursday Plantation had done?" That deal was done and now sees Refreshed own its trademarks in the USA and provide its US partner with a website, a back story, logo and other branding elements used on products sold in the USA
Refreshed also supplies bulk Lemon Myrtle Oil and leaves, but its partner takes care of manufacturing and distribution. Refreshed keeps its branding up to date, but is otherwise hands off other than banking the monthly cheques that flow from the licensing agreement. Dane says this licensing arrangement has made it possible to enter the US market far more easily and cheaply than would have been the case if Refreshed tried to establish its own presence.
"95% of the soap we sell is in a paper sleeve," Dane says. By contrast, most of the Lemon Myrtle soap sold in the USA ships in boxes. Learning those peculiarities and applying then to the US market is something Dane is happy to leave to others, especially as the licensing arrangement means Refreshed keeps going about the chores it must do to service the Australian market, exports those efforts and then receives a royalty cheque without expending any extra effort in the USA. "More Australian companies could be successful this way," he told My Business. "In our industry on Thursday Plantation has cracked America. The likes of Blackmores never made it there." Dane and the Refreshed team now hope that Lemon Myrtle’s popularity continues to grow. Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver declared the product "pukka" in late 2010, leading to shortages in the UK. Dane says future shortages are possible. "There’s not a scarcity but we’re close. It is on the edge and if it took off it would be hard to source product." But Refreshed is confident it can survive a surge. "We sell the real deal," Dane says, and thanks to strong relationships with growers feels he can get his hands on sufficient supplies.
Even if there is a shortage, Refreshed’s deal with the US means it will win.
"Lemon Myrtle is $120 a kilo versus $35 a kilo for Tea Tree," Dane says. "Our US partner needs us and our connection." Local growers also need Refreshed to succeed, and Dane is committed to making sure everyone in the Lemon Myrtle supply chain succeeds together. "This is truly a north coast indigenous product," he says. "We have tea tree, macadamias and now Lemon Myrtle." Read More...
OHS advice: What to do if you’re issued an enforcement notice
Source Vecci 6 February 2012
WorkSafe Victoria inspectors can issue three types of enforcement notices when occupational health and safety risks arise: improvement, prohibition and non-disturbance notices. Read on for more information about each notice and what to do if your business is on the receiving end.
Improvement notices: In Victoria, WorkSafe inspectors can issue an improvement notice when they believe an employer is breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 or one of theOccupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007.
Prohibition notices: Where an inspector considers there is risk of serious personal injury or death, they can issue a prohibition notice requiring the activity to be stopped until the contravention is remedied.
Non-disturbance notices: This notice stops the use, movement or interference with a specified plant, substance or other thing at the workplace and also prevents the disturbance of the area where it is located.
While each of these notices could potentially harm your business, failure to abide by them could result in prosecution. Therefore, any enforcement notice must be taken very seriously.
What should you do when you receive a notice?
The obvious answer is to abide by it but if you believe the inspector has made a poor decision or not properly considered the facts, or you believe you are doing enough to demonstrate you are abiding by the law, then you should seek to have the decision reviewed.
The inspector must provide you with information regarding a potential review of his/her decision. However, it is important to seek a review as soon as possible after the notice is issued because even when a notice is reviewed, the date listed for compliance remains the same. If an improvement notice is issued, the inspector will determine the compliance date. The maximum time an inspector can place on a non-disturbance notice is seven days but they can issue further notices. In the case of a prohibition notice, it stays in place until the inspector has certified in writing that the matters that give rise to the risk have been remedied. Again, if you disagree with the inspector’s decision you must seek a review straight away.
How do you seek a review of an inspector’s decision?
There is a process that must be followed. First, an eligible person must apply in writing using the internal review application form. You can download this and an accompanying information sheet fromwww.worksafe.vic.gov.au or you can contact WorkSafe Victoria. The review is free but it must be requested as soon as possible following receipt of the notice and no later than 14 days after it was issued.
How do you ask for a stay or suspension of the decision?
You may seek a stay of the decision pending the outcome of the internal review. You can do this when lodging the review application or out of hours by phoning 13 23 60. Remember, an application for a stay may only be requested if it is made in relation to an application for internal review of the same decision. The Internal Review Officer must decide on a stay application within 24 hours otherwise WorkSafe Victoria is deemed to have granted the stay of the decision. The stay of the reviewable decision only operates pending the outcome of the internal review.
Please note that unless a stay has been granted, an application for internal review does not affect the operation of the original decision and this means that action is required to implement the decision.
When asking for an internal review, you would do well to protect your position by collating all available evidence on the matter as the Internal Review Officer may seek additional information. If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the WorkSafe Internal Review Officer, you may apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) within 14 days. Read more...
Footy fight shows how cloud computing can kill your business
Source: My Business 7 February 2012
The Federal Court yesterday handed Australian business a lesson: cloud computing can be a devastating disruptor that you need to understand deeply before someone uses it to kill your business. The lesson came in the Court’s decision that Optus’ TV Now service can continue to operate.
TV Now is like a video recorder in the cloud. If you want to record a show, you program the service to capture it. You can then watch it at your leisure, up to 30 days later, on your mobile phone. The court case centred on whether the service is legal for football games, as the NRL and AFL have sold their online and mobile rights to Telstra for rather impressive sums. TV Now means anyone can watch footy on their mobiles, making Telstra’s rights rather less valuable.
Yesterday’s ruling said that recording programs for personal use has been legal for ages and that TV Now is really nothing more than a VCR or PVR. The fact that it lives in the cloud is neither here nor there.
The impact of the decision on football codes is profound. But every business needs to think about what this means for their operations.
To understand why, consider this opinion piece from Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape Communications and programmer of the first graphical Web Browser. It’s no understatement to say that Andreessen bears very considerable personal responsibility for public and business adoption of the Internet.
Andreessen’s piece is titled "Why Software Is Eating the World" and explains how the music business was turned into a software business by Apple’s iTunes, how advertising was turned into a software business by Google ads and how photography went from being all about chemicals and films to being all about software.
TV Now shows how even something most of us consider dependent on an appliance that sits in your home - recording TV shows - can be re-cast as software.
An appeal has already been lodged about yesterday’s decision, which is fair enough. But it’s also doomed to fail in the long term, because once software hits an industry consumers change behaviour. Threatened industries instinctively seek to quash disruptive innovation by running for legal cover.
To understand this, think back a decade to when record companies lectured us all about the evils of digital music and how it enabled piracy. Did that stop a single iPod sale? And of course it was the innovators who are winning now, not those who filed lawsuits. The TV Now case is therefore a massive wake up call for Australian business. For several years now, business and especially small business has been told that cloud computing means lower costs, greater flexibility and unlimited possibilities. Now we know that cloud can also bring massive and damaging disruption, because if your business can be turned into software someone will eventually figure out how to do it and eat your lunch almost before you notice it. So by all means buy some cloud services for your business. Enjoy the lower costs.
But don’t let that aspect of cloud computing stop you from thinking very deeply and very strategically about just what the cloud really means for business.
The staff motivator that works better than money for Australia’s fastest growing SMEs
Source My Business 25 January 2012
A study of Australia’s fastest-growing companies has found that an environment in which staff want to learn and apply new knowledge creatively is a critical ingredient for growth.
The study, conducted at RMIT’s School of Management, quizzed 253 companies that have achieved growth of 35% to 600% over the last four years. Lead investigator, Dr Carol Tan said the companies involved in the study included Aussie Farmers Direct and Pie Face "Fast-growth SMEs are the high-power engines of our economy, comprising only 3 to 10 per cent of firms but generating up to 90 per cent of employment growth," Dr Tan said.
The importance of what Dr Tan called "learning orientation" emerged from the study, as many of the fastest growing companies studied had created an environment in which staff are committed to constant learning.
"These businesses know knowledge is power," Dr Tan said. "It has always been said that learning is the only source of competitive advantage. You can learn from competitors, suppliers, anyone in industry." Businesses that recognise this empower staff to learn, both formally and from trial and error. Teams are encouraged to learn from members’ efforts, so failures become as learning experiences not negatives deserving of censure.
Dr Tan said the study "Also found that rewards associated with performance do not make employees more market oriented or customer oriented. Money can’t buy creativity." Willingness to learn, however, can achieve those outcomes because staff who want to learn will pick up the knowledge they need to understand the market and will ensure they have - or seek out - the knowledge to satisfy customers.
Tactics Dr Tan has observed which businesses use to create learning orientation include open question and answer sessions among staff, or adoption of social networking tools like Yammer to encourage collaboration. Physical environment is also important, Dr Tan said, as a pleasant one will stimulate staff to higher efforts.
Banishing the back to work blues
Source Vecci 23 January 2012
Most employees have now returned to their place of work after what has hopefully been a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, and many of you may now be finding it hard to get back into the work routine again. Here are some tips to help banish the 'back to work’ blues and rediscover your drive for 2012.
Set goals for the year
Take a step back from your tasks and think about what it is you want to achieve this year professionally, and how to go about doing it. Talk to your boss about your ideas - if you work a desk job, perhaps work on getting out of the office more, or think about a new skill you want to acquire, and the best method of achieving it. A goal to work towards at the start of the year and throughout will help you regain motivation.
Spruce up your workspace
Returning to the same office or desk year after year can be a depressing feeling, so start the year with a mini-renovation. Throw out all those documents you no longer need, buy a new 'page a day’ calendar, replace your personal items with new ones - it can make a small but significant psychological difference.
Finish the unfinished tasks
Nothing brings on the back to work blues than a full email inbox. Spend as much time as you can in your first few days tying up the smaller loose ends from the end of the previous year. At the very least, you’ll immediately feel a sense of accomplishment at having achieved something straight away, no matter how small.
Sleep and eat well
A break of routine often means breaking some habits like sleeping for six to eight hours each night or eating the recommended serves of fruit and vegetables each day. Sleeping and eating well when you return to work will help to prevent fatigue and be a mood lifter.
Celebrate an occasion at work
Don’t think just because you’re back at work that the fun has to stop. Share holiday stories with your workmates, have lunch with them and celebrate notable occasions early in the year, like a colleague’s birthday or a project milestone - these things will remind you about the fun times that can be hard at a workplace and terminate any post-holiday depression.
Of course, if none of the above tips work, you can always start planning the next holiday too!
New year, new laws
Source My Business 24 January 2012
While you were ringing in the new year, governments were ringing in new laws. Here are three that you should know about.
Australian Consumer Law
On 1 January 2012, new laws came into force regulating consumer product warranties. This is related to the introduction of consumer guarantees under the ACL that came into force last year, replacing the warranties implied into consumer contracts under the old Trade Practices Act.
Product warranties must now include, word for word, the following statement amongst other things:
"Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure."
Some recommendations:
You need to amend your consumer product warranty documents to include the above statement and to comply with a number of other specific requirements.
If your trading terms still refer to the Trade Practices Act, they need to be updated.
In certain circumstances, it is possible to cap your liability for a failure to meet a consumer guarantee by limiting the remedy available to "repair or replace".
Personal Property Securities Act
On 30 January 2012, the personal properties securities regime comes into operation. More than 20 Federal and State registers will be consolidated into one single online register, the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
The new regime will also substantively change current law and practice affecting creditors, equipment lessors and retention of title suppliers in particular.
Some recommendations:
If you supply goods on retention of title terms or otherwise secure obligations of your customers by taking an interest in personal property (broadly speaking a Grantor), you should be amending your trading terms.
• Grantors should be amending their processes to conduct checks of potential customers on the PPSR, to capture the necessary information to register a financing statement on the PPSR and to identify collateral, including serial numbered property such as vehicles.
• Grantors should be registering as a "secured party group" on the PPSR.
• Grantors should be training relevant staff. It is important to get PPSR registrations correct. Beyond loss of priority in a security contest with another creditor or liquidator, there is risk of a separate penalty for making a misleading or deceptive PPSR entry.
• Financiers who take fixed and floating charges or other PPSA security interests will need to review their standard documentation. For example, fixed and floating charges will be replaced with "general security agreements".
Work Health and Safety Act
On 1 January 2012, regulations under the new Work Health and Safety Act came into force in NSW. Formerly, employers or principal contractors had the primary responsibility to ensure the safety of workers. Now, the responsibility is on "a person conducting a business or undertaking" (a "PCBU", pronounced "peekaboo") to ensure so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers.
The definition of a PCBU is broad and imposes duties on those who have control or influence over the way work is performed. This includes principal and head contractors, subcontractors, franchisors and franchisees amongst others.
There is also now a positive duty on officers to exercise due diligence to ensure that a PCBU is complying with its obligations. Failure to exercise due diligence may result in personal liability.
Some recommendations:
Businesses should be educating themselves about the new WHS law. A summary of key changes for NSW is on the website of the NSW WorkCover Authority.
Businesses should be updating old OHS documents and procedures.
Officers should be insisting on new systems to help demonstrate WHS due diligence.
Victorian Government issues Manufacturing Strategy
Source The Bendigo Business Council 9 January 2012
The Coalition Government has released its manufacturing strategy that will strengthen Victoria's manufacturing industry to secure jobs and grow business investment.
Minister for Manufacturing Richard Dalla-Riva today said the Coalition Government was committed to a strong and successful future for manufacturing in Victoria.
"This strategy will strengthen Victoria's manufacturing industry to create more opportunities for businesses to grow and become more productive and competitive in a tough global market,"
The strategy sets the direction for five priority areas to lift the productivity and competitiveness of Victoria's manufacturing sector:
A world-class specialist manufacturing service
Manufacturing Solutions Victoria (MSV) will support manufacturers in identifying practical solutions to drive productivity and to get products into new markets.
Productivity and innovation networks
Manufacturers will be supported to strengthen existing co-operation between business and research institutions to facilitate supply chain integration and partnership to support innovation and technology diffusion.
Investing in technology
Manufacturers will be supported to introduce leading-edge technology with high growth potential.
Support for small manufacturers
Manufacturers will be able to access specialised workshops to ensure small business manufacturers can stay up-to-speed on latest trends in areas such as lean manufacturing, access to information on government tenders, and commercialisation.
Niche and specialist skills
Manufacturers will be supported with a systematic and structured approach to identifying and addressing priority specialist skill needs for key trades and other occupations critical for the future manufacturing workforce.
Mr Dalla-Riva said the new strategy would be underpinned by expanded grass roots engagement with Victorian manufacturers and by replacing the existing unwieldy maze of industry programs to make access to support for business easier.
"The government is rolling out a new and exciting business engagement model, which will bring a significant step-up in the scale and effectiveness of the government's relationship with industry," Mr Dalla-Riva said.
"More than 80 specialist business development officers will work directly with businesses in the major manufacturing suburbs of Melbourne and in regional Victoria, where they will interact directly with businesses on a daily basis.
"The old maze of unwieldy industry assistance programs that failed to deliver effectively for business or the taxpayer will be replaced.
"The government's new strategy will simplify and provide easier access to support for business by reducing the number of programs supporting manufacturing, from 32 to 5.
"This new and more tightly-targeted suite of measures will focus on achieving demonstrable gains in productivity, in building new markets, in generating innovation, and in ensuring manufacturers have the skills they need to compete.
"The Coalition Government will also ensure there are more opportunities for local businesses to compete for government contracts and will strengthen the Victorian Industry Participation Program.
"The government will also simplify and increase the transparency of the procurement process," Mr Dalla-Riva said.
The strategy was informed by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) inquiry into the manufacturing sector.
"This has been the most rigorous, detailed study anywhere in the country of the challenges facing manufacturers," Mr Dalla-Riva said.
The Victorian Government manufacturing strategy: A more competitive manufacturing industry can be viewed at www.dbi.vic.gov.au
The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission final report: Victorian Manufacturing Meeting the Challenges and the Victorian Government's response can be viewed at www.vcec.vic.gov.au