I have 3 advent calendars at my place.

One for each Son.

Our youngest pays little attention to the date and has eaten all of his chocolates already.

On the other hand, our eldest hasn’t eaten any yet, he’s thinking long-term and saving them all up for Christmas day.

But thankfully our middle Son is following convention, eating one each day like you’re meant to – but don’t get me started on the whole chocolate for breakfast thing.

Anyway, all this advent calendar activity got me thinking – digital marketing is a lot like chocolate consumption.

You don’t want to have such a short-term focus, that you’re operating hand to mouth. But you also don’t want to think so far into the future that you starve yourself in the here and now. Read More

My friend Brad hit a hole in one last month.

It was on the 11th hole at the Australian Open, and he won a luxurious Tag Heuer watch for his trouble.

But whilst the 15 seconds of TV coverage showed the ball going into the hole, what it didn’t show was the 28 years of training, the hours of practice each week, and the effort that led up to that moment.

It’s that whole iceberg thing. You know. What you see on top is nothing compared to the dedication underneath.

And it’s no different with digital marketing, where the effort goes in under the surface.

– 4 hours to write a blog that will be consumed in under 2 minutes
– An hour to compose an email that will actually get read
– 15 minutes worth of work for 5 seconds of attention on Facebook Read More

Heard the latest Macklemore song?

It’s called Good Old Days, and it’s getting thrashed at my house.

The song suggests that in the future, we’ll look back on this particular time in our lives, and realise how awesome it was.

“I wish somebody would have told me that
Some day, these will be the good old days”

Now I’m not qualified to talk about life in general, but I can say that from a marketing perspective – these are the good old days. Read More

Wondering where to advertise online?

The answer depends on whether you sell a want or a need.

For example, if you sell something that people know they need, then Google Adwords is a good place to start.

Think car tyres, storage sheds and plumbing.

Consumers know they need these things, they search when they do, and if they click on your adwords advert, they’re probably ready to make a purchasing decision.

But on the other hand, if you sell something that people want, then Facebook advertising would be where I’d begin. Read More

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do” – M. Porter.

I freak’n love this quote.

Because it’s super relevant with digital marketing.

For example, right now you could:

– Send an email newsletter
– Craft an engaging Facebook post
– Write a 600 word blog article
– Or do a million other things

But the question is, which of these things (if any) will move you towards your business goal?

Or to flip it around, which things can you safely ignore? Read More

The property market was crazy 2 years ago.

I know this, because my wife and I were trying to buy a house at the time.

Houses were selling at auction for ridiculous money, and we simply couldn’t compete.

So we took a different approach:

– We dropped handwritten notes into the letterboxes of houses we liked (70 in total)
– We spent $500 on Facebook ads (asking people in Tauranga to sell us their house)
– And we worked our networks, asking anyone and everyone if they knew someone thinking of selling

But despite our best efforts, none of it worked – so back to the drawing board we went.

And a month later, after missing out on a bunch more properties, we realised the problem. The problem was, we were focusing our energy on new listings, just like our competitors – other home buyers.  Read More