Marketing

2019 Was About Receiving Stability

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Receive. This was my chosen word of the year for 2019. I set the intention that I would be open to receiving and allowing this year, and my oh my it has been an incredible year.

In 2019…

We bought our very own house!

We Bought a House!

This is the very first time I’ve ever owned a house, and the sense of stability and permanence it has brought with me is incredible. Just to know that we don’t have to vacate in six months, or that we can change the house around and add nails into walls if we choose, and paint, has been so freeing. We bought a house that is within our means, with plenty of space, in a tight knit community, walking distance to school for my oldest son who is starting kindergarten, it’s a reasonable commute time for my husband to go into the office, and it has expansive views.

Citizenship is Granted

I was granted citizenship in Australia after being in the country for nine years and ten months, being married here, having children here, owning a business here, owning a home here, graduating from university here, essentially creating my entire world to be here in Australia. The day I shook hands with the Mayor and accepted my citizenship was full of joy and relief. I applied for my passport and received it a couple of weeks later, and I feel so official. Having the right to stay in the country where my life is based is beyond measure for a sense of security for me.

Stepping Up

This year I also gave a presentation about Customer Marketing to a Mums in Business Group and LOVED being up there guiding and sharing with the business women effective, easy ways to connect and appreciate their customers. That was a huge shift for me, and I would love to do more of that, be on stage with authority sharing something that benefits everyone so that we all rise together. I am such a supporter of women supporting women, and I feel so happy that I got to do it in such an influential way. Prior to that I had done stopped in with a few businesses and discussed marketing tactics that they might use and that felt great to use my problem solving skills, business knowledge, and pattern matching skills to help them, it was highly fun for me.

Appreciation and Self Love Habits

I kept a nightly appreciation journal all year which felt so good. At the end of each night I would take the time to write out a page of the highlights of my day, a little habit that makes a huge impact.

Earlier in the year I did a 40 day challenge with myself and two other women that involved a nightly mirror work session of saying “I Love You’ to myself, which also felt so nourishing.

Entertainment

Had the absolute pleasure of seeing Tash Sultana perform live and I LOVED dancing so freely!

Loved laughing at a Comedy Show with my good friend.

Travel

We enjoyed an awesome holiday at Jervis Bay with it’s crystal clear water and white sand. We also enjoyed a holiday in Ballina with the gentle Shaw’s Bay. We had our very first family solo camping trip in the South Coast of New South Wales in a tiny coastal village called Gerroa where Abraham looked under rocks for crabs and Ari monkey crawled all over!

Lots of Great Books!

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg was an eye opener for me. The understanding that we do so much of what we do without thinking about it, and reading that backed up with evidence was mind blowing.

Atomic Habits by James Clear was an excellent practical follow on from Duhigg’s book, and I appreciated the notion that it takes just one tiny step right now to create the change. I appreciated how he explained the cue/trigger, craving, routine, reward loop so well and that what is rewarded is repeated. To create change in habits make things obvious, attractive, and rewarded, and to minimise a habit make things obscure, unattractive, and without reward.

Influence by Robert Cialdini

 

 

 

New Hair Salon Unsolicited Advice

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Browsing a local online coupon buying system similar to GroupOn, I found a hair salon that wasn’t too far from my house with what I would consider to be a smashing deal. Three and a half hours is the amount of time it takes to typically colour, cut and style my hair in the salon, even when it’s just shoulder length. I have really thick hair and it’s a blessing, but it’s also a big deal. The last time I went into the salon I felt like I had been bitch slapped when at the end the gal said it was going to be over $200. Sure, the amount of time, but really?! So this deal was just over a quarter of that price, so I jumped on it.

The salon isn’t in a fancy area, I daresay it’s the opposite, its near the train station in a town that isn’t one that people tell other people to come to because of all the great attractions it has, and that is fine. From the outside it could have been really derelict inside, but to my surprise it was coordinated, had a relatively fun feel to it, and it suited the job for the 2 hairdressers that own and work the salon. Great.

As I’m sitting down I cannot help but put my marketing eyes and brain to work. It’s natural, it’s what I think about a lot, I enjoy looking at businesses and finding ways that they can improve and be more successful. There are many things that I pick up on including the very basic option of having a self service tea and coffee stand while I wait. This is super easy and would not take much to put together. A simple beverage station would quench any thirst, and buy the hair dresser time so that that customer doesn’t feel like they are waiting too long.

When I got to the seat, I asked how many of these deals they had sold, and the guy said a lot. He didn’t know how much but that’s okay, I already knew it was over two thousand when I booked. I asked if they were in charge of pricing and he said that they weren’t and it was undervaluing his service and he said he has always charged appropriately for his service prior to now. I agreed. I said that many artists have a hard time charging their value, so it’s great as a service art that he had that under control, or did.

I asked how many people would be repeats, how many customers would actually return a second time, and he said that a lot would. Sure, I am just a nobody to them and of course they might not want to devulge their business information to me, and I get that, but I think he really didn’t know. The girl is the one who is the main owner and apparently takes care of all of that, but since there are only two of them, I would think it’s in his best interest to ensure that he is on top of it too since it directly affects his own pocket, and his reputation by undercutting his service via price.

Anyway, I asked a few questions here and there, and in the end I could tell that I needed to talk to her. So when I had the chance, when she was helping me out, I asked her, but she wasn’t really open to talking about it, other than using this ScoopOn service was to help promote their business and drive their old customers back to them.

Some things I would suggest for an up and coming, or a newly established salon to do is to 1) get the word out 2) build trust 3) create word of mouth 4) drive repeat service. Since they used Facebook to show the before and after pictures of the hair they had done and the positive reviews customers had left, this is why I chose to go to them. I suggested doing more of this to help build trust and tell their story of their value that way.

Sure using a GroupOn style service can be helpful to drive customers through the door, but it’s those same customers who will likely jump ship when another lower price comes around. They are shopping for price and usually aren’t loyal to the business. So it would be up to the salon to keep them coming back. A great way is to keep using the before and after pictures and posting them on Facebook inviting the customer to tag themselves in the photo. By simply using Facebook, they could connect with so many people. With enough customer’s before and afters they would build trust and give a pretty clear picture of their skill set before you set foot in the salon. Also by inviting the customer to tag themselves, it would then spread the word as other people would also see it who are friends with the person tagged. This is super simple and could be very effective.

For enticing a repeat service, they could offer a loyalty card so that if they came 4 times, the 5th time they got an add on for free, like a treatment or a blowout, etc. The salon could text the customer since they have those details and offer something specific to have them come again after six weeks when it’s time for a trim or a root touch up. They could create a “happy hour” so that those value driven customers know that they can come back during 2p-4p Tuesday and Wednesdays for a great price.

It’s fine to use a discount, but to do so right out the gate of opening the business feels counterproductive. There are other ways that marketing efforts can be used. However, since they have already done it, these suggestions could help them in the future. It’s all unsolicited advice and it’s up to the business if they will succeed.

 

Final Exam, Final Semester

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This morning I have a final exam in Digital Marketing. This is the very last exam I have as an Undergraduate. There is an intense feeling of excitement and heaviness mixed with the completion of my Bachelors and this stage of life. There is a comfort in the stages of growth, however, each chapter must come to an end so that the story, my story can progress.

Without a doubt I am an eternal student. I have a curiosity about life that never ceases. I find that learning is available in every interaction, in every moment, it’s just up to me to realise it. Undertaking formal education is very different from my self-guided exploration, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I like the structure, I like the guidance and oddly I think I like deadlines within reason. I also appreciate that my courses have been very holistic in nature. Perhaps its due to the fact that they have been primarily Marketing courses this last year, but my professors have crafted such a wide variety of materials into the learning experience and it’s made it all that much more rich. When a guide/professor is experienced and they share what they have learned along the way with passion and enthusiasm it is like magic, where time and space in that moment cease and it’s all about the expansion within it. This doesn’t always happen, and it isn’t with every professor, in every class, in every subject, but when it does happen, it is one of the most joyous experiences at a higher learning institution.

Heading into this exam I have a High Distinction, which is the American equivalent to an A grade. I have excelled in the projects that have been required including a Digital Marketing Business Plan and a full Case Analysis on the largest social media platform at the moment, Facebook. I do hope that I can express what I have learned and the insight I have gained along the way in both formal and informal education about this topic in the exam today! I know I’ll just need to relax into it and let it come out of me as it’s all in there.

Perhaps this heaviness will pass after I am done. Perhaps the heaviness is due to the restriction of transformation, that moment where all things are tight and limiting until freedom is gained and a new beginning is made. I’ve had many transformations in my life and thankfully have lived very fully within each of those chapters, this one as a returning student is no exception. I’m very glad that I returned in my 30s. I have been able to get so much out of the subjects from this experience, a vast different from the social experience which I would definitely categorize during my first time at University when I was 18.

We’ll see what happens next! I’m sure it will be good, really good, it always is!

Awake?

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Awake or not awake. Isn’t trying to classify someone as “awake” or “not awake” just another way of segregation? By using those labels it brings further separation rather than the unity that is needed.

I find it interesting when people throw their views on you. I’m sure I do this as well and that’s why I can recognize it. Most of the time I think they are sharing what they need to hear as well, probably as much if not more than the person which whom they are talking.

So if I’m hearing the gospel from a person who has proclaimed to be “awake”, I question why they are telling this, especially when it has not been prompted. If I bring this back to marketing, it is when a brand is forcing its message upon a consumer when the consumer would rather feel like they are discovering it for themselves.

Immediately I pull back in situations like these. I try to really listen to what is going on, not just what is being said. I listen and I choose my next action, which is generally to exit.

 

Why and How

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The best thing I have learned at University is huge and simple. It is to ask Why and How not just to tell what. This has transformed the way I think and the way I have been communicating. This allows me to convey what I believe, how I action it and why it’s important to me.

Here’s an incredible and inspiring video by Simon Sinek that confirms the importance of putting why at the heart of everything we do.

Changing the thought and communication process:

How Great Leaders Inspire Action