The Running Beetroot

25/09/2015

So unless you've been living under a rock, you would have heard about the VW scandal revealed this week. In short VW has admitted it fitted software designed to cheat emissions tests in 11 million cars globally, including diesel versions of the VW Golf hatch, the Tiguan SUV and the Passat sedan and wagon made from 2009 to 2015.

11 million cars. Globally.

It brings to the fore an important business lesson: never lie. Never.

If you read more you will find that VW were jumping on an opportunity to respond to some trends in the US car market. They said their cars were "clean diesel" when in fact they weren't. So they fudged the results.

The problem with creating and sharing lies is that they fester. Lies lead to more lies until a hole has been dug that's virtually impossible to come out of unscathed.

As a business owner or manager you need to make sure that first and foremost you and your staff conduct yourselves with integrity. You might not have the best XX, or your product might not do XX, but if you look close enough you should find a competitive difference for your business. Something you can hand-on-heart own, promote and justify.

If you're in this for the long haul your customers will appreciate your competitive difference AND talk about with other customers. If you're savvy you will use your point of difference to your advantage. But that's another post...

21/07/2015

Latest blog update RE Facebook's new 'See First' option.
http://www.therunningbeetroot.com.au/blog/cutting-through-on-facebook

Here's an experiment for you. Login to your personal Facebook account and click on the Pages Feed line on the left. How many pages are you a Fan of? Higher than you expected? I thought I'd be at the...

21/07/2015

A really creative - yet simple - way of solving a problem. I imagine it's been much more cost effective for Finland's government to be proactive rather than reactive.

If you were born in Finland in the last 60 years, chances are good that your first naps were taken in a cardboard box. That box you slept in was also probably given to your parents by the government. That might sound strange, but it’s true and is all part of the Maternity Grants Act

13/07/2015

This could go spectacularly well (i.e. most of the fish are caught) or spectacularly bad (one is). It's a good example of a great PR idea to generate awareness/conversation without the need to really follow through.

A million-dollar barramundi is the main lure in an NT Government plan to attract tourists to the Top End during the low season.

08/07/2015

So yesterday I was talking to an old colleague of mine and he mentioned he was working on a project which had attracted millions in investment but they had no plan! No marketing plan, no real idea of who their customers were or how to sell their products and services to those customers.

There are hundreds of marketing plan templates available online and whilst a specialist (such as myself) could fill it out better than most, it's not hard to have a crack. Every business owner or manager should have a marketing plan - even a one pager!

23/06/2015

The importance of giving feedback. When was the last time you ate at a restaurant or spoke to a salesperson or bought a product and had a good experience? Did you share your experience with the business' owner? Positive feedback is just as important as negative feedback. You don't need to do it face to face - you can send an email or a letter addressed to the manager. Without customers telling businesses what they're doing right (or could be doing better) the business might not understand how to improve.

08/06/2015

When was the last time you completed a SWOT for your business? It's a component of every marketing plan however it's something that should be done quarterly. There's loads of templates available to download for free online and really should only take you a few hours. The reward for taking the time to complete it should be a renewed focus and excitement about the possibilities ahead.

03/06/2015

Make sure your business's perceived reputation matches its promoted reputation. We visited some car yards on the weekend and had heard some worrying things about a particular car brand's quality and after sales service. When questioning the salesman on what we'd heard he denied having heard of anything, despite there being a scathing report on a national program and some very poor customer reviews online. Instead he could have pointed out what they're doing as a brand to counteract this.

The reality is that some of your customers are going to give your business a bad rap. This will be due to a number of reasons - some of which are preventable (poor service, no stock) and some not (customer's unreasonable expectations or bad mood). What you need to do is research what's being said about your business then counteract that with comments back to those reviews, conversations with potential customers and rewards to existing customers to act as positive testimonials for your business.

What's done is done - don't bury your head in the sand and pretend it's not. Rather show other customers that you've listened AND more importantly, you've acted.

20/05/2015

The importance of good quality, original content is important to any business regardless of size. Content on a business' website should be business focused - who is the business, what do they sell, where do they sell it, why should a customer buy from them. Content on social platforms should be more conversational as this is where a customer elects to build a relationship with the business. The website content can be somewhat static (just make sure it's up to date!) but the social content should change daily. For more info on the importance of content check out http://bit.ly/1FmWYua

Here's the thinking.

20/05/2015

The shake up to the traditional food pyramid will put a few noses out of joint BUT it's generally common sense. Green smoothies are a great way to combine the fruit and veg but it's always best to eat them as close to their natural state if you can.

12/05/2015

Market saturation is a risk that any business can offset with foresight and innovation.

China's smartphone market has reached saturation.

11/05/2015

Slippers aren't generally seen as an exciting, innovative product - unless they're these slippers. Bang on with the website design and imagery. http://mahabis.com/

designed for everyday use. a unique detachable sole for indoor/outdoor adventures. there for your downtime. get your mahabis slippers now. join the revolution.