Marketing Eye's strategy going forward

We have 5 components to our business; outsourced marketing department and corporate marketing consulting and agency audit, technology development and implementation, education, media and licensing.

All areas deserve equal attention because without that, we will not reach our full potential. Putting people in place to take responsibility of each area is imperative to our growth, but none of this is possible without continuing to invest in company culture.

In the past 12 months, our company culture has never been better particularly looking at the big picture. It is because the staff take responsibility for company culture and as a flat organisation, there is no true leader, just mentors and specialists to help when needed.

I like to write down our goals in a public place as it keeps us more accountable for outcomes. Our strategy has changed from last year, based on good advice from some smart mentors. This will allow for the business to grow at a faster rate than previously expected, and yet keep that growth sustainable.

While we always need new staff members particularly in marketing and design, we know that they need to be self-starters and not everyone is naturally built like this. Our team is picked by the team and therefore they take full responsibility for their growth and development. Due to the fact that we cover all areas of marketing, our team learn on the job through collaboration in many areas, and feedback systems that give them a benchmark to work towards. It works well, and as someone said to me the other day, "you don't micro manage, because your team is so darn good." It was kind of nice to hear that from an outside person.

Where is our biggest growth going to lie in the next 12 months? Not in one area, but across the spectrum. Here's the plan:

Outsourced marketing department & marketing consulting and agency audit

We have a plan set in place to acquire 200 new clients in 2016/17, which sounds aggressive but is quite manageable across all of our offices. We will only take on 20 marketing consulting gigs that are large corporate and two agency audits - as they take up a lot of resources and are only in the program to keep our people stimulated and pushing boundaries.

Technology development and implementation

We will continue to develop websites and integrate them into other technologies, along with building our own custom technologies. In addition to that we are taking on a new marketing automation software partnership that is better aligned to our clients than Marketo was. Marketo's onboarding was disappointing, but they were new to Australia and learning. We can't have their reputation in this area affect ours, so we will no longer support their technology.

Education

People want to learn and be educated and in marketing, there is so many variables that we would prefer to help other marketers become better at their jobs, so that our reputation as an industry doesn't end in the bottom of the barrel. You will see educational seminars, webinars, and e-learning opportunities at the forefront of our business, along with teachings on how to be a Marketing Eye. This is exciting and we are hoping to play a pivotal role in bringing new technologies and experiences to the Australian market in particular.

Media

Marketing Eye Magazine has been a huge success. We are incredibly proud of how high quality this magazine is and how it delivers upon its promise to provide compelling content on both entrepreneurship and marketing. I have not heard a bad word about the magazine, and constantly see it sitting in receptions and all over the place. We will allow advertisers outside our client base into new issues of the magazine and now will be publishing different magazines in different countries from 2017, because one size doesn't fit all.

Licensing

What a raving success this has been. I want to pinch myself with our success stories. To think in 12 months, that people who invest only $25,000 in a license are capable of making $300,000 with 10 clients to look after, which is still a part time job - is phenomenal. We have had so many sales in Queensland, that we are urgently looking for new licensees to take on some of the workload and leads. Brisbane and the Gold Coast particularly are important destinations along with Cairns and Townsville. New Zealand is also a place that we see as being key to our growth, Asia, and of course the rest of the US. It's exciting times ahead.

What drives this is ambition and determination to deliver upon a business plan. Everyone needs to know in the organisation how this works and how as a team we can collaborate and kick ass. 

We need more people, so please feel free to let us know if you are interested in joining our team. We are growing and with that, onboarding new members is critical.