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I am very lucky to work as a Brand & Marketing Strategist for a number of small businesses in Sydney - XYZ, The Learning Community and Website in a Weekend. All my work is focussed on telling the right story to the right people on the right platforms to get the right action. And I feel very blessed as I absolutely love what I do.
Reputation
How to develop great staff to build your business
6 ways to develop awesome staff through coaching “Driven, enthusiastic team members will be your best asset.” - Richard Branson Ask any successful entrepreneur about the key foundation on which they built their business and great people will always be at the top of the list. Having great people on staff is common to all successful organisations. Smart leaders know that great staff are ...
Can you hook people in with your brand story? if not, you’re in trouble.
I tell stories for a living. And sometimes I get to tell great ones! My kids laugh when I say I tell stories for a job. They laugh even more when I say I help other people tell their stories. I get it, it’s funny. They get my stories for free every night and are curious how I can make a living telling other people’s stories. Why would someone pay me to tell a story? But that is what I do...
4 reasons why charging by the hour is self sabotage
I received an email the other day with this title 4 reasons why charging by the hour is self sabotage At first glance I thought, "OK, I get it, I understand why not charging the hour can be a good idea." Then I thought about all those projects I provided a fixed price quote for and went way, way, way over budget. Surely it's not always profitable to issue a fixed price especially where the...
Do you believe the harder you work the luckier you get? or is it a half-truth?
You've heard this quote before. "THE HARDER YOU WORK, THE LUCKIER YOU GET." Do you believe it? I do, in part. Because it's only part of the truth. Sure, if you want something in life, work hard for it. We all know that. The world is filled with successful people who have worked harder than those around them. Successful people are not simply lucky. They work hard. Don't believe the...
Do you need a christmas miracle? here’s a different kind of miracle that will guarantee your success in 2014.
Mark Enman posted a request for Christmas cards on his social media page, hoping for a few extra cards to be sent to his parents this year. He wanted to help revive the Christmas spirit that his family had lost over the past few years. Mark’s parents, Don and Bev, have been in care in recent years due to illness. The change in family dynamics had been difficult, especially at Christmas as fam...
Facebook are you my friend or my foe? will facebook’s new changes make it harder for you to grow your organisation?
“Sometimes I just want to scream and punch facebook in the face!” I laughed and snorted my coffee. We were in a local cafe and one of my client’s was frustrated after reading about Facebook’s new changes. After we laughed a little more and the frustration settled, my client earnestly asked, “What are we going to do?” I replied, “Pretty much what we have always done. We cont...
Top 5 Copywriting Tips and Hints
Do you write as part of your job? Do you wish your writing had more influence and resulted in people buying, joining, sharing, or donating? I understand writing to influence can be difficult. It’s hard to even get noticed amidst the clutter. In order to stay sharp I have a few mentors that are more-advanced copywriters and marketers than myself. They provide me with ideas, inspiration and m...
A few tips on how to end the year well. Don’t just get things done.
I saw a hand written sign out front a local shop yesterday that said, "14 days until Christmas!". I panicked. Just 2 weeks left and I had a mountain of things to do to finish the year well. Then I paused and asked myself a question, "Actually, what would make a good finish to the year for me and my business? Is it just getting things done or something else?" My answer was a bit of both. S...
Two questions you have to answer if you want your brand to have a future
I am a little embarrassed to be pointing out the boringly obvious, but I feel I need to. I need to because every week I come across far too many businesses and nonprofit organizations that just don’t do this. It’s not that they don’t do this well, they don't do it at all! So do it? Do you have a compelling answer to these two crucial customer questions? What can this do for me? What ca...
Asked this question - Copywriting and Content Marketing
Hi Kevin. Thanks for the question
here are just a few of my thoughts on why I open email newsletters and then read them
- I know who the email is from. They have already established a relationship with me.
- They have proved to me that they have something worthwhile and valuable to say. They are an authority in their field and their content is usually pretty good.
- The subject line / heading engages me. It either solves a problem I have or rouses curiosity and interest.
- Email marketing (newsletters) is really about follow up, relationship building and nurture so regularity is important. Once a week or fortnight is good. More than that I get annoyed and delete. Less than that I assume it's irrelevant and I forget what they are on about. Hubspot's research of over 1 billion marketing emails proves this point. In fact to minimize unsubscribes once a week is best.
- Not overly salesy. I don't want to be sold to repeatedly in my own inbox which I view as the most personal form of all my digital communications - it is akin to SMS.
- Lead magnets are good to get me to sign up in the first place but not for ongoing communication. It becomes annoying with yet another attachment to download and file and never read.
- The emails I like have a casual feel like I am getting an email from a friend.
I have a stack of other points but my list is becoming too long.
Regards
Darryn
How to develop great staff to build your business
6 ways to develop awesome staff through coaching “Driven, enthusiastic team members will be your best asset.” - Richard Branson Ask any successful entrepreneur about the key foundation on which they built their business and great people will always be at the top of the list. Having great people on staff is common to all successful organisations. Smart leaders know that great staff are ...
Can you hook people in with your brand story? if not, you’re in trouble.
I tell stories for a living. And sometimes I get to tell great ones! My kids laugh when I say I tell stories for a job. They laugh even more when I say I help other people tell their stories. I get it, it’s funny. They get my stories for free every night and are curious how I can make a living telling other people’s stories. Why would someone pay me to tell a story? But that is what I do...
4 reasons why charging by the hour is self sabotage
I received an email the other day with this title 4 reasons why charging by the hour is self sabotage At first glance I thought, "OK, I get it, I understand why not charging the hour can be a good idea." Then I thought about all those projects I provided a fixed price quote for and went way, way, way over budget. Surely it's not always profitable to issue a fixed price especially where the...
Do you believe the harder you work the luckier you get? or is it a half-truth?
You've heard this quote before. "THE HARDER YOU WORK, THE LUCKIER YOU GET." Do you believe it? I do, in part. Because it's only part of the truth. Sure, if you want something in life, work hard for it. We all know that. The world is filled with successful people who have worked harder than those around them. Successful people are not simply lucky. They work hard. Don't believe the...
Do you need a christmas miracle? here’s a different kind of miracle that will guarantee your success in 2014.
Mark Enman posted a request for Christmas cards on his social media page, hoping for a few extra cards to be sent to his parents this year. He wanted to help revive the Christmas spirit that his family had lost over the past few years. Mark’s parents, Don and Bev, have been in care in recent years due to illness. The change in family dynamics had been difficult, especially at Christmas as fam...
Facebook are you my friend or my foe? will facebook’s new changes make it harder for you to grow your organisation?
“Sometimes I just want to scream and punch facebook in the face!” I laughed and snorted my coffee. We were in a local cafe and one of my client’s was frustrated after reading about Facebook’s new changes. After we laughed a little more and the frustration settled, my client earnestly asked, “What are we going to do?” I replied, “Pretty much what we have always done. We cont...
Top 5 Copywriting Tips and Hints
Do you write as part of your job? Do you wish your writing had more influence and resulted in people buying, joining, sharing, or donating? I understand writing to influence can be difficult. It’s hard to even get noticed amidst the clutter. In order to stay sharp I have a few mentors that are more-advanced copywriters and marketers than myself. They provide me with ideas, inspiration and m...
A few tips on how to end the year well. Don’t just get things done.
I saw a hand written sign out front a local shop yesterday that said, "14 days until Christmas!". I panicked. Just 2 weeks left and I had a mountain of things to do to finish the year well. Then I paused and asked myself a question, "Actually, what would make a good finish to the year for me and my business? Is it just getting things done or something else?" My answer was a bit of both. S...
Two questions you have to answer if you want your brand to have a future
I am a little embarrassed to be pointing out the boringly obvious, but I feel I need to. I need to because every week I come across far too many businesses and nonprofit organizations that just don’t do this. It’s not that they don’t do this well, they don't do it at all! So do it? Do you have a compelling answer to these two crucial customer questions? What can this do for me? What ca...
The most powerful marketing tool in business today
Whether you like it or not marketing is a crucial task for all businesses and nonprofits. No matter what your organization does or sells, you really must get a handle on how to raise the profile of your cause. And more so, you really need to know how to influence your key customers and hoped-for customers to join, donate, buy, share and so on - whatever you need them to do in order to advance y...
Asked this question - Copywriting and Content Marketing
Hi Kevin. Thanks for the question
here are just a few of my thoughts on why I open email newsletters and then read them
- I know who the email is from. They have already established a relationship with me.
- They have proved to me that they have something worthwhile and valuable to say. They are an authority in their field and their content is usually pretty good.
- The subject line / heading engages me. It either solves a problem I have or rouses curiosity and interest.
- Email marketing (newsletters) is really about follow up, relationship building and nurture so regularity is important. Once a week or fortnight is good. More than that I get annoyed and delete. Less than that I assume it's irrelevant and I forget what they are on about. Hubspot's research of over 1 billion marketing emails proves this point. In fact to minimize unsubscribes once a week is best.
- Not overly salesy. I don't want to be sold to repeatedly in my own inbox which I view as the most personal form of all my digital communications - it is akin to SMS.
- Lead magnets are good to get me to sign up in the first place but not for ongoing communication. It becomes annoying with yet another attachment to download and file and never read.
- The emails I like have a casual feel like I am getting an email from a friend.
I have a stack of other points but my list is becoming too long.
Regards
Darryn
Asked this question - Branding
Is there a difference between a branding and a marketing agency?
Thanks for asking this great question: I believe there is a difference between a branding agency and a marketing agency but there shouldn't be. My take on branding is the complete ecosystem of a business - its visual assets, communications, customer experiences, online presence, and so on, that shape customer perception. My take on marketing is the planned activity undertaken by an organisation in order to influence customer behavior. They actually go hand in hand. Like two scissor blades you need both to cut. So I link branding and marketing together for good reason. Branding is about customer perception, marketing is about customer behaviour. Perception influences behaviour. I am actually in the midst of writing a book on branding & marketing. Thanks again for asking an insightful question. Regards, Darryn
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