Six Figure Bandits: Truth or Myth?

Most people know that social media ads are tailored based on your online search history. As a copywriter, my online footprint encompasses copywriting, freelancing, small business ownership etc so whenever I scroll through my socials I am inundated with ads from entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires offering to share their secrets on how to earn six figures in a short amount of time.

These entrepreneurs often tell their story in the hope that you’ll subscribe to their course or buy their book or guide which will unleash the secrets that will lead to your overnight success. Of course, when you purchase either of these, you’re contributing to their success!

I think it’s great that these people are successful at what they do but are they honest about how they got to where they are? Sure, their book or course may give you some insights into increasing your earning potential but is it how they did it?

Did they work 12-hour days to get their business off the ground? Did they have some sort of investment or cash injection from a well-off friend or family member to start them off? How hard was it to land their first client?

Unfortunately, when you purchase their guide to becoming a millionaire or their course, you’re only getting half the story. As much as we all want to believe that you can do anything you set your mind too, we also have to be realistic and realise that to get anywhere in life you need to work hard.

You can’t sell a dream (i.e., a book or a course) without painting the whole picture. So, next time you see one of these ads, by all means take a look and see if maybe it is for you but do so with an open mind.

Ending Your Email

Usually, I don’t give a second thought to how I sign off on emails. They usually come easily to me based on the content of my email. But last week I was stumped! 

I was writing an email to a client requesting they follow up on an issue for me. My email was light enough but I got unstuck when it came to ending it. I needed a line that made it sound like I wasn’t hounding yet communicated that the issue required attention.

My bout of writer’s block had me consulting Google. During my search I came across a lot of articles about email signoffs and what’s acceptable and what people should steer clear of. I actually found it interesting and couldn’t stop reading!

So, I present to you the dos and don’ts of email sign offs.

The most common and professional sign offs

Most people use email as a work tool, so it goes without saying that the sign off needs to be professional. Here are the most commonly used professional email sign offs.

·      Kind Regards

·      All the best

·      Best

·      Best regards

·      Regards

·      With appreciation

·      Many thanks

·      Cheers (if you’re looking for a professional yet friendly tone)

·      Thank you for your assistance in this matter

·      I look forward to hearing from you

·      I look forward to working with you on this project

Email sign offs you should avoid

There are some sign offs that should be avoided especially if you are writing your email in a professional capacity. These include: 

·      Love (save it for family and friends!)

·      Thx or rgrds (you’re not texting!)

·      Yours truly

·      Have a blessed day

·      Xoxo

Other things people do at the end of their emails but probably shouldn’t

I’m sure, like myself you have probably received an email with a quote at the end. Whether it’s a movie quote, a philosophical quote or an inspirational quote, it can come across as a bit cheesy.

Another thing to potentially avoid is the use of emojis. Yes, they’re cute but unless you’re overly familiar with the person you’re emailing probably not a good idea.

The subject of email sign offs can go on for days. What are some of the best or worst that you’ve seen?

Online Shopping: The Effects of Covid-19

It’s no surprise that online shopping became the norm in 2020. Social distancing and imposed restrictions meant people weren’t visiting bricks and mortar store fronts as often or at all.

Australia Post released its Online Shopping eCommerce report for 2020 which outlined the trends and growth online shopping experienced this year.

2020 saw a big boost in e-Commerce with more people shopping online than ever before. Australia Post forecasted that 12% of consumer spending would be conducted online by 2021 but Covid-19 saw online spending hit 12% in March 2020. Online spending in April was up 31% when compared to the 2019 average. Furthermore, spending was up 80% year on year in the eight weeks following WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic.

Here are some stats: 

-       5.2 million households shopped online in April 2020

-       More than 200,000 new shoppers ventured into online shopping, over a third of these new shoppers purchased online more than once

-       52.6% of regular online shoppers increased their shopping by three or more times

-       Ordinarily most online shopping takes place in the evening, since April online shopping has been occurring consistently throughout the day

-       Given people are commuting less, purchasing on smartphones has decreased and purchases on desktops or laptops has increased

-       The number of online purchases in August 2020 was higher than 2019’s pre-Christmas peak

Online Shopping Growth by State

Each state and territory experienced year on year growth. With strict restrictions in place from April through to early May and then even stricter lockdowns from July through to October, it’s no surprise that Victoria led the way in online shopping growth year on year.

This chart depicts each state’s growth. (Image courtesy of Australia Post.

What were people buying?

Initially, people were buying essential items given that uncertainty had led to panic buying of groceries, pharmaceuticals, hygiene items, toilet paper and alcohol. Once restriction guidelines became clearer and everyone began to understand what could and couldn’t be obtained easily, there was a more measured approach to buying essential items. 

Once things began to settle and everyone got used to being at home, online purchasing transitioned to entertainment, self-improvement, DIY, comfortable and casual clothing and gifts for loved ones.

It will be interesting to see if these online shopping growth trends continue as we move into a less restricted Covid normal. Have you increased your online shopping habits?

Covid-19: The Effects

As a member of many business networking groups, I hear many stories of how Covid-19 has affected people and businesses.

Of course, we all know of the industries that have suffered greatly during this time in particular hospitality and travel. Not to mention there has been great concerns for the mental health of individuals. 

Interestingly and not surprising, the perception of the effects of Covid on businesses and individuals has differed among various groups.

In general, Covid-19 hasn’t been great for the economy with many businesses forced to close indefinitely due to lockdowns or closing down altogether as they haven’t been able to weather the economic impacts of the virus.

So, how about the effects on individuals? There’s no question that individuals, both male and female have been impacted. So, I was surprised to hear from a member of one of my networking groups that she had been approached by someone wanting to write an article for her about how Covid-19 has impacted women in business more than men. She even gave it a term which I won’t even bother repeating.

My self and quite a few members of the group had a problem with this. First and foremost, everyone has been impacted by Covid-19, men and women. I’ll admit there are probably more women than men that have had to juggle their work with their children’s home learning so that does add a bit more of a strain. But to imply that women are impacted more in an employment or financial capacity than men seems a little sexist and just not right. Job losses or financial insecurity, in my opinion haven’t discriminated. 

The other issue quite a few of us had with this type of article, was the negativity towards females. For so long, women have wanted to be thought of as equal to men and all of a sudden, this article was going to paint a picture of women as the poor victims of a pandemic. It was my opinion, and many agreed that we should be supporting each other and promoting positivity.

 On the upside, a lot of the members of this particular networking group are females and self-employed. A majority have actually reported they have never been busier. 

 During these times, some have had it tougher than others but I don’t think you can draw a line between the genders and pronounce one worse off than the other. We’re all in this together.

Social Media: What Do you Post?

With so many social media platforms, it can be hard to distinguish what you should post where. Generally, as a business, your social media messages are probably the same across the board, but should you be differentiating them?

If you look at the most popular platforms, it’s safe to say that most businesses would have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as a minimum. 

I generally post the same message across platforms but recently I realised that some of my posts aren’t necessarily relevant across all channels. Why? I believe each social media platform has its own personality. You might think this is a strange term to use but it’s probably the best term I can think of to describe my thoughts and give credence to those same thoughts. My findings come from my own experience.

If I had to compare mediums, I would say Facebook and Instagram are more casual. If I look at followers on my business page, they are made up of personal friends and acquaintances, business acquaintances and business owners. 

LinkedIn is, in my mind, solely professional with some water cooler humour thrown in at times. The followers of my LinkedIn page are predominantly businesspeople who I may have worked with in the past, current business associates and anyone who may be interested in what my business has to offer.

So, why would I communicate a different message to each group? The main aim of social media is to engage with followers so it’s important that your messages encourage those they have reached to engage. 

I mainly communicate messages that are applicable to both groups. Whether its communicating changes on my website, a new blog post or even a motivational message. These I post to all my social media accounts. 

But, if I look at my Facebook page, I know that most of my followers are mums in business. Being that I consider Facebook a more casual social media platform, I at times post messages that may be targeted towards working parents, for example wishing those parents in Victoria all the best for home learning (we’ve had quite a bit of that in VIC!) etc.

I guess I feel that social media should be treated as you would treat any social event. LinkedIn would be your business conference or networking meeting where most conversation veers on the professional side with a little personal thrown in for good measure. Facebook and Instagram on the other hand could be considered a bit like Friday night drinks, work will be discussed but there will be talk of weekend plans with the family or home renovation projects.

Whichever mediums you are using, the right message will go a long way to getting you that coveted engagement.

Do you tend to post differently on each platform?

Does It Make What You're Saying More Important?

Tautology is saying the same thing twice. We don’t often realise we are doing it, but we commonly emphasise a word by adding another word with the same meaning either in front or after the word we are using. 

Common examples are:

• Past history 

• Near future

• Completely finished

• False illusion

• New innovations

• 8am in the morning

• Foreign import

• True facts

 If you pull the words apart, you see how the words are different yet say the same thing or that common sense says you don’t really need both words!

Example: 

Past history – history refers to the past and the past is history so there is no need to use both words. You could use either as: 

History tells us ….

OR 

In the past …

Tautology doesn’t make what we’re saying more important, we’re just using more words to say what we mean. By eliminating tautology, we can make our writing clear and concise.

Are they any examples of tautology that you commonly use?

The Power of Branding

Branding can be a powerful tool. Everyone wants their brand to be top of mind in the eye of their audience but how do you achieve that? 

We all know that to get your brand out into the world you need to promote it whether through advertising, social media or any other channels your audience frequents but then what? What is the goal of your advertising and promotion? Do you have a call to action? Are you purely generating awareness?

Often, we talk about clever marketing. Clever marketing isn’t just about having a great ad that people remember but it’s branding your product or service so that your audience or potential customer feels a connection with it. 

There are many brands that have created great ad campaigns that have been a topic of conversation at dinner parties but is that the true intent of these ads? Yes, you want people talking about your brand but once they’ve spoken about it, you want them to go out and buy it and you need to give them a reason to do so. You want to create a sense of emotion that makes a person want to go out and try your product or service.

Recently, I wrote a profile piece on St Andrews Golf Links in Scotland for a client. While researching, I came across their new TV ads based on their ‘Write Your Own History’ campaign and can I say I was impressed. Not a golfer myself, I was moved by these ads and felt they encapsulated the spirit of St Andrews based on what I learnt through my research. After viewing these ads, I felt that St Andrews was a place I’d like to visit. I probably won’t play golf there, but I definitely want to visit the place known as the Home of Golf.

In my opinion, if a brand’s advertising and marketing can stir an emotional connection in an audience that has little knowledge or dare, I say interest in their industry then they must be doing something right.

 Other examples of clever marketing include:

We Love Our Lamb – How many people were inspired to eat lamb on Australia day after watching a series of ads featuring well-known Aussies?

Tourism Australia – Aimed at an international audience, these ads make locals want to explore our own backyard.

Slip Slop Slap – While these Cancer Council ads have been around for years, the catchy slogan and the important message has effectively flowed from generation to generation.

 Of course, we can’t forget the catchy slogans synonymous with certain brands. What’s so great about these slogans is the brand name doesn’t need to be mentioned to know who we’re talking about!

 Just Do It – Nike

Because You’re Worth It - L’Oréal  

I’m Loving It – McDonalds

The Burgers are Better – Hungry Jacks

Is there an ad campaign that you felt created a sense of emotion or made you feel good? 

Here's the link to the St Andrews ads if you would like to take a look. https://www.standrews.com/wyoh

What is a Social Media Plan?

A social media plan outlines your strategy and specific objectives for each social media platform you have outlined in your marketing plan. 

Your social media plan should outline which platforms your business is active on and how often you will post content.

A social media plan is effective in: 

-       Maintaining consistent posting schedules across all social media platforms

-       Avoiding last minute panic and rushing to find content to share

-       Allowing you to keep up to date and utilise trending topics.

Of course, it’s important that you recognise the differences between social media platforms when it comes to creating content and the frequency in which you post. You need to also understand that a post that may work on Facebook may not be suited to LinkedIn and some platforms such as Instagram will lend themselves more to visual posts. It’s imperative you acknowledge the strengths of each platform as you put your social media plan together.

As with any type of plan in your business whether it’s your marketing, content or social media plan, it should have some flexibility to adjust with the changes that may take place within your business or industry.

If you would like help putting together your social media plan, contact Absolute Marketing Communications.

Why You Need A Content Marketing Plan

With so many businesses being online today, content plays a key role in driving customers to your website. It’s the means to which you get people to your site and build trust. This is especially important in a time when there is so much competition.

 So, what is content marketing and how do you use it to get people to your site? 

Blogs, video, social media posts and anything else that tells a story, informs, educates or entertains is content. 

Why is content marketing important?

-       It builds trust and credibility by showing you know what you are talking about.

-       It enables people to engage and get to know you and your product before buying.

-       Fresh content with well-placed keywords is more likely to get picked up by Google.

-       It assists in driving more traffic to your website which can then be converted to sales.

 It’s well and good to have good quality content but how do you deliver it so that it plays it’s part in adding value to your brand and entices customers to purchase? The best way is to have a content marketing plan.

A content marketing plan outlines your topic streams and what sort of content you will produce. It may be blogs, video, social posts, live streams etc. It also outlines how and where you are going to publish and promote them.

 How do you go about creating a content marketing plan?

1.     Firstly, determine what is the right content for your business. Conduct a review of your current content to see what performed well and what didn’t perform so well. Understanding the performance of current content will help with planning future content. Try to structure content around key activities in your business. If you are launching a new product or service, create content that supports that. 

2.     Once, you have determined what you will be communicating about, work out what you want your content to do. Your content marketing needs to have a goal. Do you want your content to build brand awareness, generate leads or increase sales? Once you determine the goal then you can create content that aims to achieve that goal.

 3.     Now you need to decide how you will present your content. Content is now so much more than written content. Videos, infographics, podcasts and live streams etc all have a place in the content marketing plan. You need to decide how best to get your message across and how effective that medium is in getting your audience to respond.

 4.     You have your content sorted; how often will you post? Will it be daily, weekly or monthly?

 5.     Promotion is a key part of your content marketing. It’s great to have content available but how will you let your audience know it’s there to view? Social media posts, email, forums etc are effective ways to promote your content. Keep in mind your promotion methods should be based on you ideal customers preferences for consuming content.

Creating a content marketing plan doesn’t need to be hard. It’s all about working out what content is best suited to your business and your ideal customer and how best to promote it.

If you would like help in developing a content marketing plan, contact Absolute Marketing Communications.

Does My Business Need a Marketing Plan?

Every business needs a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the strategic plan for your business. 

What is included in a marketing plan? 

A marketing plan should have the following elements:

-       A summary

o   This is a snapshot of your marketing plan

-       A background analysis of your business and your target market

o   Provide an overview of your business and your product or service. 

o   Identify your target market. Include any relevant statistics about the market and any key demographic information. You should also define your ideal customer, discussing their needs, buying patterns and motivation for buying. 

o   Include information about your competitors. Is there a product or service that directly competes with your offering? What are they doing to establish themselves in the market?

-       Your marketing objectives and strategy for your business

o   Outline your objectives, whether they are financial, about building awareness or engaging with customers. 

-       Your marketing mix

o   This section will outline your overall marketing strategy and how you plan to position yourself in the market to meet the needs of your customers. Include all activities and promotion you plan to use such as PR, digital marketing, advertising, blogs etc.

-       Your action plans and budgets

o   Once you have established your marketing mix, detail specific activities to achieve your objectives. E.g.: booking online advertising or producing a media release to announce your product or service.

o   Work out what your marketing activities will cost you. This is best broken down by activity, month by month.

-       Evaluation and monitoring strategies

o   It’s important to establish what works and what doesn’t. Review your marketing activities periodically to determine if they worked and whether you will implement them in future marketing plans.

 Keep in mind that your marketing plan is not a set and forget document. It’s important that you keep it up to date with any new opportunities that present themselves and tweak it to suit the needs of your business. A good quality, evolving marketing plan will make a useful reference document for your business.

If you would like help to develop a marketing plan, contact Absolute Marketing Communications. Contact Us.

How Many Plans Does My Business Need?

Planning is important to any business. Every business should have three key marketing plans; a marketing plan, a content marketing plan and a social media plan.

What is the difference between each?

Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is your strategic plan for marketing your business. It includes your brand and product strategies, who you are targeting and what you are going to do to achieve your goals (PR, content, advertising etc). 

 While it outlines your overall plan, it doesn’t go into detail about when and how you will implement these marketing activities which is why you need a content plan and a social media plan.

Content Marketing Plan

A content marketing plan outlines your topics and the type of content you will produce (blogs, videos, live streams etc) and where and how you will publish and promote this content.

Social Media Plan

A social media plan outlines your strategy and specific objectives for each social media platform you have outlined in your marketing plan. It should detail how often you will post and how you will use that platform to support your broader business.

By having these three plans in place, you will have a good foundation for setting your business up for success.

If you would like assistance with developing any of these three plans, please contact Absolute Marketing Communications via email.

Working on My Business. What I've Learnt.

While taking my own advice from my last blog article and working on my business rather than solely in my business, I finally managed to set up my business LinkedIn page. I must say I learnt a lot.

While I know about LinkedIn and its power as a networking tool, until I created a company page, I wasn’t in a position to view the interactions between followers and the content posted.

 Since having my LinkedIn page, I can see exactly how many organic visitors view my posts. Why is this important? Organic visitors are visitors to your site or content that are unpaid, so they are not captured through paid advertising campaigns. They are captured through the quality of the content, SEO etc.

The number of organic visitors can help you gauge the type of content that works. Whether it be the topic or keywords. This is useful when it comes to planning your content as you will be able to focus on topics that are of interest to your audience and further enhance engagement.

Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/absolute-marketing-communications

Living Vs Existing

Often in life, people talk about only existing and not actually living. It often takes a life-changing event for people to realise they’re not living life to it’s full potential.

The same can be said for small business. Often small business owners get caught up in the usual day to day activities without giving thought to the potential they can unlock to make their business prosper. It’s the whole philosophy of working in the business versus working on the business. Often it comes down to managing the work you have and not creating an unnecessary increase in workload.

While Covid-19 has had a negative impact on life in general, for some aspects of life there have been positives. The big positive is that families suddenly have more time to spend together. While there have been negative effects for a lot of business sectors, in some cases small business owners have had an opportunity to evaluate their businesses and implement some positive changes to help their businesses move forward.

 While no one has enjoyed the down-turn in business, this quiet time has provided small business owners with the time to actively promote their business and look at new ways to expand and grow. Time; that up until now wasn’t available.

What can you do to improve your business during this time?

-       Update websites (re-design, write new copy etc)

-       Update social media pages (re-vamp existing profiles or start new ones on other platforms you have not yet explored)

-       Research resources designed to help you promote your business (business directories, forums etc)

-       Database management (ensure your databases are current)

-       Work on content (blog articles, EDMs etc)

Working on these aspects of your business can give you a great sense of accomplishment and allow you to put processes in place that will ultimately help you to work smarter not harder.

If you would like assistance with any of your marketing communications activities, drop us a line. We’d be glad to help.

Clickbait. What is it?

How many times have you scrolled through your social media posts and come across a headline that sounds intriguing, if not possibly ridiculous? Chance are every time you visit your socials you will encounter one of these headlines and as ridiculous as the headline may sound, you will most likely click on it. 

Once you finish reading the article you may find it has nothing or very little to do with the headline you clicked on and in most cases you may think it’s the most silly or irrelevant story you have read. But you clicked on it and that’s what the poster wanted. That’s clickbait! 

Why is Clickbait used?

Clickbait is very common and used by brands to entice readers to click on the post and through to their website. You may come away thinking that was an interesting read or you may think it was a waste of time. Usually comments on the article will give an indication of what other readers thought. Over time you will come to recognise who the repeat offenders are and possibly just scroll past. 

 Needless to say, over the last few months, a lot of clickbait articles have centred around Covid-19. Articles related to this are nothing more than scare mongering and posters have been called out; not only for not disclosing all the facts but also for it not being relevant to Australian readers.

Do you encounter clickbait often? If so, what are some of the headlines or stories claiming to be about? Do you think clickbait is a fair way to entice audiences to read content?

Publicity Is Free, Isn't It?

I often have clients ask me to develop press releases with the sole objective of getting free publicity for their product or service. While generally that is the purpose of a press release, it’s not always the result. Often my clients are left disappointed because they haven’t been mentioned in the latest industry magazine or website. After all, there are countless posts on social media proclaiming that journalists want your story and its up to you to provide the media with news. There is a little truth to this but the bigger truth is: nothing is free and you’re not the only one with a news story out there.

Up until a few years ago I was employed by a high end consumer electronics brand. Every time I sent out a press release, whether it was to announce the release of a new product or to announce changes within our organisation I always got some form of media exposure. This sounds contradictory to what I mentioned earlier but it’s not. What I didn’t mention previously is that my team and I had formed strong relationships with editors, journalists and reviewers in our field for years. We supported their publications and websites with advertising so there was no question that we would get some form of support from them when we needed it. There were publications that we didn’t advertise with but still managed to get publicity out of. Again, it comes back to relationships and that we had a product they wanted to talk about. 

Publications have now dramatically downsized since the evolution of digital content. The information usually sought out in magazines can now be found in a publication's online version. This being the case, magazines are smaller. To make a magazine smaller they have to cut back on editorial content. What editorial space there is available is reserved for clients that support the publication with advertising. You can’t argue with the logic.

Now I’m not saying that press releases are a waste of time. They’re not. They play an important role in a business’ media strategy. They serve the purpose of informing relevant media that you’re out there and that you have a great product or service. If your product or service is innovative, fills a gap in the market or is just a great product you will get exposure.

If you truly believe that your product or service deserves to be exposed to the public there are some ways you can assist in the process.

• Call publications and have a chat to the relevant journalist or reviewer to talk about your product. You may not get anything on the first call but keep in contact with them, build the relationship.

• If you are approaching local newspapers, they want the product or service to be relevant to their readers. Make mention of how your product or service is available to the people of a particular suburb.

• Consider doing some small scale advertising in a publication you want to be featured in. While advertising can be expensive, most publications will have an online presence, you may be able to advertise online for a fraction of the print price. You can then negotiate some added value such as guaranteed editorial.

These are just a few things you can do to assist in gaining media exposure, there is so much you can do for your business, product or service to get the publicity and exposure you need.

If you would like help in putting together a press release or a media strategy you can email me at hello@absolutmarketingcomms.com.au

Integrity: Better than Money or Power

What happens when one half of one of the world’s greatest rivalry’s has the chance to bring its competitor to its knees?

I recently read an article where Pepsi was offered private documents and trade secrets belonging to Coke as well as a vial of their secret formula.

It all started when a disgruntled Coke employee wanting to get back at Coke for what she believed was poor treatment met an ex-con who needed a job who knew an embezzler. It sounds like the makings of a highly anticipated motion picture, doesn’t it? 

A senior executive at Pepsi was contacted by the embezzler stating that he had top secret documents from Coke and he would be willing to hand them over to Pepsi for a large sum of money that would presumably set the three con artists up for life.

What these three didn’t know, was that while in their minds Pepsi would have been crazy not to pay up for the secrets, Pepsi had actually contacted Coke to tell them what was happening. Coke promptly called the FBI and the trio had unknowingly been dealing with an FBI agent from then on. Needless to say the three were arrested and charged with various crimes. 

While this is a really interesting story and it has a bit more to it than what I outlined, it brings up the topic of integrity, whether within your own company or when dealing with competitors and the broader business world.

It would have been really easy for the Pepsi exec to take the trade secrets and build an empire to equal that of Coke’s but would it be real? While we are talking about two business power houses, if you apply this scenario to any local small business, I think you’ll find that the outcome is the same. Very little satisfaction can be found riding on someone else’s shirt tales.

As a small business owner, would you be able to work in your business everyday knowing you didn’t get where you are on your own merit? Or would it be fair to engage in underhanded business dealings just to have an edge over your competitor? Would you feel the same satisfaction gained when you work hard for something?

I think its more important to be known as a fair operator with a great product or service rather than the business owner whose known as a shady character. Reputation stays with a person for life and while we all want to succeed in business it’s important that we treat our competitors, clients, suppliers and anyone we deal with, with integrity. That integrity may be the thing that will have others helping you out of a bind one day and prove to be more important than money or power. It's something to think about.

If you would like to read the full article, here’s the link: https://thehustle.co/coca-cola-stolen-recipe?utm_source=sunday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=coke&utm_content=coca-cola-stolen-recipe

What's It Worth?

Not long ago I received a phone call from a consultant doing some work for another company wanting to know if I provided my services on a pay per performance basis. She went on to tell me that she wanted to get publicity for her client and while she was happy with any type of publicity she really wanted to get them a spot on one of the morning shows.

She essentially wanted me to create a media release, submit it to the press and do enough follow up to get a spot on TV. If they didn’t get any publicity, especially on TV, I wouldn’t get paid. I was really surprised by this request.

Most people know that generally consultants get paid quite well for their services and any consultant worth their title should know that the work I was asked to do was time consuming. I believe everyone’s time is valuable and that no one should be expected to work for nothing. I was further taken aback by her surprise when I told her that no one would probably take her up on her offer to be paid solely on performance. I don’t know if it was arrogance on her part or she truly felt her request wasn’t unreasonable.

In all professions, there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes that may not seem significant to outsiders but is important and time consuming. I just hope there aren’t professionals, especially those just starting out that feel they have to comply with such a request just to get work. No one should be asked to work for nothing. I’m sure that consultant would not have considered being paid per performance for the work she was doing!

Freelancing Websites: How Do They Affect a Future Workforce?

As a small business owner I appreciate the service that freelance sites such as Upwork, Freelancer and Airtasker provide. But a recent email from Airtasker had me wondering if they are doing more harm than good to a future workforce.

The email I received from Airtasker was a job alert from someone needing marketing assistance. When I looked at the job description, the poster actually wanted someone to complete their marketing assessment for them. I found this really disturbing as I wondered did this person really hope to pass someone else’s work off as their own and possibly pass a subject not on their own merit? Is this person going to obtain top marks which may lead to a great job but not know at least the fundamentals of marketing? Do we suddenly have an unfair playing field among students? Does a student who completes their own work and usually performs well suddenly see themselves struggling to keep up with students that have had experienced professionals complete their work?

These freelancing websites are great especially for small businesses that don't need an office full of staff but at times could use help on particular projects but I can’t help but wonder if they are inadvertently destroying a future work force.

Woolworths Rewards: The Verdict

So the new Woolworths Rewards program has been active for almost two months now and I must say I think Woolworths may have got it right. There are product categories that give shoppers the opportunity to earn bonus points and including BWS and Woolworths petrol stores in the mix has helped shoppers earn a substantial amount of points.

There are also promotions that enable customers to earn additional points by spending specified amounts of money each week for a certain amount of time if they wish. But even at 1 point per dollar spent, I think Woolworths has gone a long way to try and win back some of the customers they lost to Flybuys.

I personally think that it is now one of the better loyalty schemes out there at the moment. What are your thoughts?

What Makes a Good Loyalty Program?

In my last post I spoke about the Woolworths Rewards loyalty program and where it missed the mark as far as loyalty programs go. I thought I would continue on with that theme and look at what makes a good loyalty program

Almost all retailers have a loyalty program, you could say it acts as a guarantee of future purchases by customers. But what makes us want to join a loyalty program? Is it that we love the brand and want to be kept updated with product information and sales? Do we want to earn cash back or earn points that can be redeemed for products. Whatever the reason we are a population that loves a reward. 

In 2013 the Australian Marketing Institute conducted a study of loyalty programs. They found that 88% of consumers over the age of 16 were part of a loyalty program and 11% of consumers were members of more than 10 programs. 

That is a lot of customer data being made available for marketing purposes. So what makes us join and remain loyal to these programs? With so many programs out there how do you choose? Do you want membership to be free or are you happy to pay a membership fee knowing that the rewards will far outweigh any investment?

A common opinion is that a loyalty program that offers the opportunity to move up membership tiers is quite successful. A perfect example of this is the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. When you join you are on the bronze membership level. Now while you accumulate points whenever you fly or spend money at an affiliate, the real value is in accumulating status credits. Status credits can only be obtained by flying and depending on your destination that will determine how many status credits you earn. Once you have earned 300 status credits you go up to the Silver membership. This is where Qantas is smart. In addition to seating privileges and 50% bonus on your points,  as a gift for achieving Silver status, they give you two passes to the Qantas club. To maintain Silver status you need to accumulate 250 status credits but as you’ve had a taste of the Qantas Club, you now want to earn enough status credits to obtain a Gold membership which entitles you to access to the Global Lounges. So now you only fly Qantas so you can earn those coveted status credits regardless of how much more you are spending flying with Qantas rather than one of their competitors. Pretty smart!

So what will you be looking for when you join your next loyalty program?