Develop a Culture of Change

Stagnation is a disease for business. If you asked your staff would they tell you your business has a culture of change ready for the future? There is not doubt that many business can easily recognise a growth cycle that starts with an idea, quickly becomes growth and then absorbs the impact by settling. With […]

Listen First then Wait in Social Media

One of the hardest lessons for any early user of social media is to listen. We’re so trained to provide rapid-fire messages that are designed to keep the consumer fixated on our brand that we forget to listen to what the market wants. Take a deep breath and listen first then wait. In Social Media, […]

Growing Customers in your Business Garden

Developing a customer base takes many approaches. For the FMCG team its all about volume through the door or ‘bums on seats’. For the non-profit sector it means developing a relationship that takes the constituent through the donor pyramid and for professional services marketing staff it means developing spheres of customer influence for new clients. […]

Movie Review: The Railway Man

Arriving in theatres in January 2014 is The Railway Man, a movie to give new meaning to the legends of war stories such as Schindler’s List and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Through the eyes of a British soldier, Eric Lomax we are captured with fellow soldiers who have been caught by the Japanese […]

Can LinkedIn Connect my Business

While many business operators focus their time on the business and see ‘playing’ on social media as a waste of time, they have still recognised the value in nurturing their business networks. So the question is often asked after receiving email invite after invite; Can LinkedIn Connect my Business? As the medium for communication becomes […]

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty is a snooze-you-lose day-dreamer and in 1947 no one knew how to play the day-dreamer better than Danny Kaye. The Samuel Goldwyn film constructed from the short story work  James Thurber was a success and I should know. My 13yo loved watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty at Grandma and Granddad’s so […]

Social Media Transparency

Across the world’s business community there have been a number of marketing mistakes that can all lead back to one word; “Transparency”. Social Media Transparency is a vital skill for business owners to acquire and understand. With the internet’s viral ability to share good and bad information at high speed, customers have become more demanding […]

Movie Review: Enders Game

The latest sci-fi movie Enders Game aimed at the younger audience comes in with a mixture of teenage Battlestar Galactica angst and then loads it with a hint of a Hunger Games survival story. In Enders, Game Earth has survived an onslaught attack from the Formics, an alien race of insect-like creatures. It was only […]

Nelson Mandela’s Fork in the Road

It’s noon on the 6th of December 2013 (New Zealand time) and I’ve just heard that Nelson Mandela has passed away at the age of 95. I turn to my friend in our office and we talk about the calibre of the life lived and the life given that has impacted not just a country […]

Take your Website to Boot Camp

What was once a luxury is now considered a basic business necessity by many business owners. Even home office workers are becoming ‘Virtual Assistants’ with a website as their online office. It doesn’t matter whether we’re looking for solicitors, painters or a cheap deal on a fridge, most of us research our options online before […]