February 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Northern Territory Indigenous Tours is a logical choice: It’s elementary, dear Watson

tess-and-sherlockI had a weird moment sitting with Tess Atie from NT Indigenous Tours in Darwin last week.

As she started talking about some of the experiences she gives her clients on tours in outback Australia, my jaw dropped because what she shared was exactly in line with what I was planning to blog about on my Baker Marketing Blog this week.

So, at the risk of repeating myself, I thought I was share a link to this weeks Baker Marketing blog here on The RITE Series.

The article in question is entitled, It’s elementary: The Sherlock Holmes approach to marketing your business.

What Tess was sharing with me was the moment when she stops her clients and points out the rich bounty of food they have just been trampling through, unaware.

So, too, the Sherlock Holmes mindset is one of trained awareness of how to view the world with a certain end in mind.

The point of the article I am sharing is that this gives us an insight into the essence of content we can create for our businesses.

I hope you find it helpful.

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing, Top End Tuesday Tagged With: , ,
February 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Google founder brings us back to basics

Have you ever stumbled across something that was not new and unique but still broke through and got you inspired?

OutrageousI had that experience in the past week when I stumbled across an interview with Google co-founder, Larry Page, on Wired.

The main thing that caught my attention was the passionate response he made when it was suggested that Google was a little foolish trying to compete in the social networking sector where Facebook is such a giant.

He thought the suggestion was outrageous, yes, outrageous!

And so he should.

Too often I see or meet with small to medium business owners who are dispirited that there efforts chipping away in a market dominated by more entrenched competitors seem to be failing.

In part, their measurements or expectations are overly optimistic, but usually it is because they are trying to compete on the same terms instead of moving the goal posts and offering a different twist to their market.

Have a read and see what you think: How ‘outrageously’ confident are you about your business’ place in the market?

It even includes a reference to Darwin-based academic, Dr Iain Waller.

Filed Under: Marketing, Top End Tuesday Tagged With: ,
February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Is there a Northern Territory tribe?

Tribes by Seth GodinAs the NT News was hauled over the coals on Media Watch last night, something stirred in me.

Despite the fact that the criticism was legitimate, I still empathised with ‘my’ NT News.

I think this is because I spend a sizeable portion of my life in the Top End every year, and have done for a number of years now.

It also made me wonder whether Territorians share a stronger tribal bond than people ‘down South’?

As you market your business or organisation, it might be valuable to think about that question.

If it is true, then you have uncovered a dynamic worth exploring in your marketing efforts.

If it is not true, then you can free yourself from ‘wasting time’ in trying to whip up such a feeling.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing, slider, Top End Tuesday Tagged With: , , ,
August 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Glenn McGrath and Steve Davis – it’s not cricket, it’s business for NT October Business Month

The other Steve Davis as cricket umpire

The ‘other’ Steve Davis as cricket umpire in a fantasy photo shoot.

Is it true that all time Australian bowling great, Glenn McGrath, and cricket umpiring legend, Steve Davis, will both be speakers at the Northern Territory October Business Month in 2012?

Well, it’s half true.

Glenn McGrath will definitely be a keynote speaker and no doubt be sharing stories from his cricketing days and his experience running the McGrath Foundation.

However, the other speaker will not be the famous cricket umpire but rather the ‘other’ Steve Davis, me, the marketing guy.

Today’s post is a brief one in the lead up to the September series of articles on this site that will be focusing attention on my Keynote address, Wednesday, October 17, 2012, and the OBM workshops I will be holding the next day, Thursday, October 18, 2012. Both events will be at the Darwin Entertainment Centre.

The topic this year: Lights. Camera, Blog.

I will be showcasing great examples of blog writing and video making done ‘in house’ by small businesses and organisations, to round off my previous two OBM keynotes on the future of marketing and the two commandments of social media marketing.

This year the focus will not only be on ‘why produce interesting text and video content’ but HOW to produce it ‘in house’ without going insane.

Details on all the speakers can be found on the October Business Month website.

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing, Video Tagged With: , , ,
June 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Don’t mention Cyclone Tracy – or do? A marketing question for Top End businesses

House after Cyclone Tracy (Photo by Bill Brady)

House after Cyclone Tracy (Photo by Bill Bradley)

How close to the surface of your memory is Cyclone Tracy?

I’m asking this because a friend of mine, a researcher, is staying in Darwin at the moment and asked this question on Facebook:

Where is Cyclone Tracy in Darwin’s psyche?

In all my years of working in the Northern Territory, I have never asked anyone that question so I was interested in answers from locals.

Of the answers he got back, here are three that weren’t jokes (I am deliberately keeping this anonymous):

  • Just under the surface for most long term residents
  • Adding its own layer on top of 1942 bombings
  • In a closet at the museum for short termers

Two things struck me about the comments:

  • Firstly, there was a clear distinction between long term residents and ‘short termers’
  • Secondly, there seemed to be some resentment towards ‘short termers’

What might this mean for marketing your Top End business? Here are a couple of thoughts.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing, Top End Tuesday Tagged With: ,
June 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Flocking is NOT the new planking

birds-fogg-damI heard a radio announcer open his show recently with the news that he was going to talk about ‘flocking’.

Are you familiar with flocking, he asked.

Instantly I assumed it must be a new craze being fueled by the internet, similar to planking.

However, I was wrong.

My world of marketing and exploring how social media can be vital in helping small business thrive, had skewed my thinking.

As it turns out, the announcer was actually going to talk about birds (real ones, not the Twitter icon) and their habit of flocking.

What’s your filter?

It occurs to me that we all have our biases and our area of expertise through which we view the world.

I imagine that if Heather Boulden from Eden at Fogg Dam heard that radio show, she would have immediately assumed the correct answer because her bed and breakfast is at the very heart of bird watching in the Northern Territory.

Likewise, if George Fragopoulous was listening, a prominent Darwin-based photographer, he would have heard ‘flocking’ in terms of making camera equipment less reflective, etc.

The list could go on.

My point is that we all need to be aware of our filters because it can lead us to observe the world in a particular way and miss some insights. But it can also mean that when we write content for our marketing, we might be using wording that is very particular to our profession but draws a blank with our audience.

And, of course, the people we are trying to connect with – our target markets – all have their own filters.

What are your filters?

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing Tagged With: ,
June 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You CAN and SHOULD, it’s the Big 4 Banks that CAN’T

can-toni-colletteFor today’s article, I am sharing a link to yesterday’s post on the Baker Marketing blog because it taps into something I have noticed in the Top End.

It is about the Commonwealth Bank’s CAN’T campaign in which Toni Collette reads a poem called an Ode To Can.

In my article, I highlight the difference between the sort of work Bendigo Bank does in local, Top End communities and the Commonwealth’s attempt to get all friendly and cute with the marketplace.

There are some things that small businesses can learn from this big budget affair, primarily about the importance of understanding what your audience REALLY cares about when you communicate with them.

The article is called, Smaller banks and businesses CAN, the big 4 banks CAN’T.

Let me know your thoughts.

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing Tagged With: ,
May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Darwin Cup promotional opportunities are off and racing

Haley Roddy, named as Darwin Cup ambassador (Photo: George Fragopoulous)

Haley Roddy, named as Darwin Cup ambassador (Photo: George Fragopoulous)

Is the Darwin Cup important to your business?

If so, what marketing foundations have you laid and what social media content have you started rolling out?

I met with a local retailer from Darwin last week and was told that they were a bit of a ‘go to’ provider for Cup fashion.

But here’s the challenge.

This particular retailer has not been using any online tools at all (usual story – been ripped off too many times and now is very suspicious), apart from Facebook, and is vulnerable to any competitor who is prepared to crack the whip and gee up their social media marketing efforts.

While there are no obstacles to jump in the Darwin Cup, there are obstacles in taking the blinkers off retailers who have always done things a certain way and who feel a little trapped into routines and habits.

Of course, some habits can be good, like adopting the habit of creating some fresh, helpful, imaginative content every week that can connect you and your business to your customers and prospective customers.

Here are some ideas for making your Darwin Cup season a sure bet this year.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing, Social Media, Top End Tuesday Tagged With: , , ,
May 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Must be the DRY season: In come the Social Media types

Stretch a little and you can be blogging today says Steve Davis, marketing consultant, Adelaide

Stretch a little - you have the power to start blogging now

There are a few things you can bank on in the Top End during Dry Season: tourists arrive and southern consultants arrive.

It has been pointed out to me that the Northern Territory is currently being subjected to a plague of Social Media and Web2.0 roadshows, zipping in, siddling up to organisations with some swish all-signing, all-dancing show, and preparing to flog product, err, promote the use of Social Media.

Yes, I am a southerner. Yes, I like to think my marketing workshops include a little singing and dancing. But one thing that worries me about exposing business people to smooth-talking social media types is that they can be swayed by emotion to run off and invest in automated ‘social’ tools OR to head off on a mission to collect online badges and ‘likes’ to be ‘cool’.

If there is any message I am keen to get across people feeling tempted to dip their toes into this ‘social media thing’ is to firstly REMEMBER YOUR MARKETING.

One of the things that I believe a sensible social media practitioner should do is pay attention to the crucial, marketing fundamentals like target markets, consumer profiles, key messages and competitor analysis. Only then are we ready to truly invest time in social media marketing EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY.

As I mentioned during last year’s October Business Month keynote on the Two Commandments of Social Media Marketing, what needs to precede social media exploration is also the correct mindset. Without it, there will be many months of spinning wheels and lost opportunities ahead.

But there is hope

However, to balance the sobering tones of this message, I would invite you to read a recent article I wrote on kicking yourself into gear to start producing content for social media marketing.

If you know me, you will know this means laying down a foundation of blogging.

But if I know human nature, I know it is easier to say than do.

The answer? Stretch yourself a littel but make sure you start blogging for your business.

The key message in the article is:

While desire might be the mother of invention, blogging is the mother of connections!

Feel free to leave comments on the blog or here on this one.

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: ,
May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

How ‘vanilla’ is your social media marketing?

Russell Spanton Vanilla Grower (Image Vanilla Australia)

Russell Spanton doing what he loves best

Vanilla gets such a bad run as an adjective.

It usually means bland, boring and safe.

But vanilla bean farmer from Port Douglas in Queensland, Russell Spanton, not only lives the dream of following his passion, his attitude to his ‘calling’ is exactly what The RITE Series has been preaching from day one.

Russell and his wife, Mary, were featured in a lot of media coverage recently when the price of vanilla skyrocketed.

The stories, particularly the one I heard, Australian vanilla growers to cash in on global shortage, on ABC Radio’s AM program, all showcased the essence (pardon the pun) of two people fully committed to what they do for a living, and ultimately yielding their well-earned reward.

But two passages from the AM story in particular caught my attention and made me share them with you, as you ponder the future of your Top End business.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,
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