Date: January 2013

It’s universally acknowledged that good service will get you places. Whether selling an unnecessarily big screen television to a family or ice to Inuits, good service makes sales.

This said, there are exceptions to every rule and every so often in this world of increasing competition, there are business managers with seemingly decreasing nouse.

It’s no longer just about your product or service – it’s all about the experience.

Marketing encompasses all senses – sight, taste, touch, smell and sound. Combined, these make the experience. The experience that people will walk away with; the experience that – good or bad – people will talk about.

As marketeers, we work tirelessly to communicate your message on each of these levels. We study, we research and we have experience to hone you the best experience for your offering. Not everyone understands the importance - or relevance even - of marketing however… and it shows…

Let’s start this blog with a simple exercise. Go to your Facebook page and look at the last 10 statuses you posted. What are they mostly about? You may want to think before posting if most of your statuses revolve around work complaints, drunken weekend antics or overstate political opinions.

A study by University of Scranton and UC San Diego researchers found that Facebook status updates stick in the minds of readers for longer than you think – one status alone is 1.5 times more memorable than sentences from books, and 2.5 times more memorable than faces of strangers, representing a remarkable difference in memory performance.

After speaking with Marketing Eye's CEO for an hour and a half last night on the businesses direction and any challenges that the company may face now and in the future with its current growth path - a startling revolution occurred.

Our expansion plans and the hard work that has gone into making it happen is a GAME CHANGER.

Based on now real marketing other than a website, the forecast is that the business will double within 2 years and that's being conservative - because we actually think this will happen within a year to 18 months. 

Insert question marks here…  Sometimes even the odd exclamation mark for frustration’s sake.

You spend all your time on your business, client relationships, communications.  You’re investing a lot in your marketing to spread awareness and build a reputation.  Where’s the conversion?  Where’s the new business?  Where’s the Twitter following?  Where are the likes on Facebook?

Know.  Like.  Trust.

No matter how big and experienced you may be, a lot of people don’t know about the X-Factor of communication - that recent Chanel ad featuring Brad Pitt is a great example (making it to the ‘Business Insider’s 10 Worst Ads of 2012’ list).  Before you sell anything, you need to get known, you need to be liked and you need to be trusted.

How?

However, the work you put into it is extremely beneficial when it comes to your company’s branding, giving the world an insight into what’s behind the scenes. On top of that, writing a blog can grow your business as you position your company as a thought leader in its industry.

Why do 99% of the business cards I receive still not have any links to social media?

Business to business marketers are still falling short of connecting with their clients and prospects at every opportunity and it seems completely ridiculous that they still don't have links to LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Facebook, displayed on their business cards for everyone to see and connect with.

I am not sure you, but I work full time in marketing and even I find it hard to keep up with the latest in social media.

Fortunately, we are not alone. The world has gone "bonkers" over social media and just like the way taking a photograph on our mobile phone is now the norm, so too is checking in on social media and engaging with audiences for both business and pleasure.

1. The average users of social media each month is now a total of 850 million people. (Source: Jeff Bullas)

2. 23 percent of Facebook users check their account more than 5 times per day. (Source Socialnomics)

In today's New York Times, there is a full page advertisement that says:

THIS IS NO PLACE TO DREAM SMALL.

IN NEW YORK STATE, A BUSINESS CAN GROW
AS BIG AS ANYONE CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.

THIS IS A PLACE WITH A WHOLE
NEW APPROACH TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
WITH THE FASTEST-GROWING TECH SECTOR IN THE U.S.,
ONE OF THE BEST EDUCATED WORKFORCES IN AMERICA, 
AND OVER $1 BILLION IN INCENTIVES AND TAX BREAKS,
IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT OUR ECONOMY LAUNCHED OVER
50,000 NEW BUSINESSES LAST YEAR ALONE.

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE,
OR WHAT YOU DREAM OF BECOMING,
REMEMBER THIS:
NO ONE EVER CAME HERE TO TAKE A BACK SEAT,
PLAY SECOND FIDDLE,
OR MAKE IT SMALL.

There are few decisions that sit on the top of the pile as most fall lamely into the category of part of life's journey running a business. 

But, thankfully, life really isn't that boring and there are more than enough decisions to keep you awake at night or in the office until the wee hours, going over reports and analysis trying in vein to make the right decision for your business.

All while of course, people are saying to you that you need work, life balance and those long hours in the office, isn't really what you should be doing. 

Often when I look at entrepreneurs that fail from one business to another, I see that many of them are fairly similar. They don't work hard or smart enough. They haven't investment in their product or service sufficiently and they run around like a 'chook with it's head cut off'. Or worse still, they spend all their time networking and telling people how great they are and no time actually doing the work that they need to do to survive.

When you think of 'friends with benefits' you instantly become single, footloose and fancy free. You know... the type of person who is always on the go, loves a glass of wine or three, is on a fast-track at the office for promotion and at times can be known as the life of the party.

There are other types of 'friends with benefits' than the one that is happy for a 2am text message and a mad dash to your apartment for a rendezvous. 

There's the one that gives you great tickets to the best concerts because they work for the promoter, and the one with the ultimate holiday destination that fortunately has been passed down generation after generation. For the blokes out there, there are the one's that work for Belvedere Vodka or Peroni - or better still, the mate that picks up the second prettiest girl in the room every time because he has the gift of the gab, only to leave you alone with the prettiest to try your moves.