How To Steer Clear Of ‘Short-Term Gain= Long-Term Pain’ Marketing:

As I write these words, it’s just a few hours before I head off to Sydney to watch Liverpool play a post-season friendly match against Sydney FC….

I’ve long been a fan of football (or soccer, as a lot of people call it in this part of the world). Just recently, I saw a discussion online about the merits of a certain manager (coach) from overseas. I commented that “he is like milk and his teams are like the strawberry flavouring- when it’s fresh, all is sweet. But leave it out too long and the milk goes off, the whole thing turns sour and you’ve got to dump it down the sink and start again.”

Because it’s one thing to spend big up front and get quick results- but it’s something else when you build a culture of sustained success and develop an organisation that people want to be part of…

Have you ever worked for a company like this?

You have a boss who frequently treads on toes and gets on the wrong side of people- but they have a track record of getting results so the company keeps them on. But then, the whole culture of the place disintegrates: people resign, the spirit of the organisation becomes poisoned and in the end the company has to sack the boss because it’s too costly to keep them on- more costly than the financial gains they achieved while in charge. The boss is gone (hallelujah!) but in their wake, they leave a wasteland of burnt bridges and a toxic culture.

It’s the same thing when it comes to how you manage your client relationships.

Are you only focused on quick results? Getting the next sale, the next big lead and spending whatever it takes to achieve this?

Or- would you rather set yourself up for relationships that last and build a business that your clients want to stay with, where you become a household name and people flock to you because of the great things they hear?

You can take the milkshake approach to your marketing: spend lots of money, full-throttle chasing the big money leads and the sales for sweet short-term results. But then you have to keep shovelling more money into it to ward off the competition. Although you’re making good money, your time is more limited because beyond an instant service and meeting a short-term need, people have little other reason to stick with you. If you aren’t careful, the sweet results can turn sour quickly- and getting back on top requires spending big all over again…

Or… you can take the wine approach: you aren’t focused on a quick-fix, but on producing something that people value more and more as time goes on. The beauty is, as you build those relationships with your leads and existing database, the workload required to attract new leads becomes easier. Word of mouth and your professional reputation does the work for you. In the end? Not only do you have a company that people are loyal to- you’re making great profits with time to enjoy the rewards of your labor and patience.

At Scribe, we always think like a wine-maker when it comes to our clients’ marketing. Our focus is on producing content they can bank on in the long-term. Content that enables them to open up a conversation with their leads, build the relationship and turn those leads into top value clients- who keep on coming back.

For us, it’s all about content that won’t just be loved by search engine robots- but by the people in your target audience as well. So contact us today, and let’s get that conversation started…

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To Infinity- And Beyond!

I remember so clearly when I left Brisbane just over 2 years ago and what a pivotal time it was…

I’d lived there for 5 years and when I’d moved up, my life was like that of so many other 20-somethings: friends, a busy schedule, figuring out where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do before 30 while trying to juggle the Fear Of Missing Out (TM) with bold ambition and the sacrifices it’d require in order to be more than just another 9 to 5 brick in the wall, living for the week-to-week…

But fast forward to mid- 2014 and life has changed. By now it’s just me, building my business with only a few people in my life on the regular, after the rest have either:

a) Married,

b) Moved on or,

c) Hobbled off into the sunset, some with barely a murmur…

I’m aware this happens a lot for people as their 20’s draw to an end, but in it’s aftermath there emerges a new, big question for me:

What’s happening in MY life? Where am I going?

If you’ve been in my position- single, founder of a start-up and going solo- you know the paradox: on the one hand, you have freedoms few other people enjoy. You work your own roster. Manage your own life. You’re in charge. Little in the way of commitments holding you down. You could theoretically be anywhere (well…except maybe North Korea). But that’s the other problem: the burden of choice…

If you can go anywhere, where should you go? What move makes actual sense, beyond just an unwise emotional impulse?

So in the meantime, nothing much keeps me in Brisbane anymore. There’s no clear, logical “next step”. I feel like I’m stuck in Groundhog Day- but I don’t even have Sonny and Cher waking me each morning with ‘I got you, babe’ (Actually…maybe that’s not such a bad thing now I think of it?)

To sum it up? I felt stranded.

But then- one weekend on the Gold Coast, in a single day- a new opportunity is presented to me. It offers a chance to move, continue growing my business and take on a new level of responsibility, all in one. Like that, the lights turn on and I see my next step- and my fresh start awaits me less than an hours’ drive from my current living situation. That night I go back to my hotel, change and jump into the pool to cool off in the summer evening and burn off some energy. Afterwards, I hop into the hot shower while drinking an ice cold beer.

The wait is over!

I still remember the last day at my old place in Brisbane. By now my room is nearly bare, with the rest of my belongings packed and ready to go. I’m about to move the remainder of my stuff into the rental truck parked out the front- but then my exit is delayed by a deluge so fierce the rain blasts up the street. Like up, as in horizontally…

But at last, the downpour ends. I load up what’s left of my gear, farewell my flatmate, hop into the cab, drive down the M1 and (an hour later) arrive out the front of my new place at Robina. That night I sleep in my new room, the smell of fresh paint still lingering in the air and the space crowded with boxes. But I’m perfectly happy. This is the first sentence in the first paragraph of a brand new chapter in the story of my life. This is where it all begins…

The following morning, I drop the rental truck back at the hire centre, a few suburbs away. I’m in no hurry, so I set off towards home on foot. Rain overnight has left everything fresh, a fitting backdrop for my walk home. As I stroll along the roads back to my place that Sunday morning, I take in my new surroundings- houses sitting back from the streets behind high walls, palm trees lining the roads, the Surfers Paradise skyline to the left of me, the Great Dividing Range off to my right. After being so familiar with the inner-Eastern suburbs of Brisbane for 3 years, this is now where I call home…

So, in similar fashion?

Today marks my debut post on this brand new platform. The old platform served me well and you can find all my posts from the past 3 years right here:

Notes From The Scribe

I’ll be looking to migrate them over here to wordpress at some point. In the meantime?

I’m looking forward to a brand new life here on wordpress. It’s the same blog with the same author- but in a new environment, a new address and new ideas, revelations and all kinds of tales to come (maybe even a sizzling gypsy or two?)

So on that note:

Welcome to my housewarming!