Blog Entries

Big Money: If this is a currency war, I’ll take two

myriam.robin@gmail.com — Fri, 24 May 2013 01:02:03 +0100

Are we seeing a global currency war?

It’s a phrase increasingly being used by analysts and financial journalists to describe the perceived jockeying for export-led growth, that sees central banks pump liquidity into their economies (or in Australia’s case, lower interest rates) in a bid to lower their currencies.

For exa [...]

My workaholic employee has 10 weeks’ leave and won’t take a holiday! Help!

auntyb@startupsmart.com.au — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:42:13 +0100

Aunty B,

Help! I have a staff member who I just love to pieces but they are addicted to work!

He comes in at least an hour early every day and stays late, which is fantastic, but he never goes on a holiday. He’s accrued 10 weeks’ leave and considering his salary, that’s a pretty big liability on our business.

Normal [...]

Tumblr: Brands should forget buying media and start producing content

rparker@smartcompany.com.au — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:42:25 +0100

Ah, Tumblr. It’s been flying under the radar for years, home of sincere and arty youth, porn and GIFs.

Quietly working its way up to being one of the biggest ‘networks’ there is, with a super-dedicated and loyal group of (117m unique) users who call themselves ‘Tumblrs’.

And now Yahoo! buys it [...]

Inspired ideas to create the best places to work

nsimson@smartcompany.com.au — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:05:34 +0100

As you know, I believe not enough employers use R.E.D. (Recognition Every Day) and, as a result, the researchers tell us that 10s of billions of dollars disappear from lost productivity.

Ernst & Young Productivity Pulse claims that as much as $308 billion evaporates from the Australian economy annually as a result of p [...]

How to swing property purchase negotiations in your favour

myardney@smartcompany.com.au — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

Savvy property investors know how to negotiate a better deal for themselves by applying pressure to three critical negotiating points.

These three critical negotiating pressure points are at work in every negotiation; either you are applying them to the other party, or they are using them on you. So let’s look at then:

[...]

How can I leave the family farm and start my own life – without offending my parents?

auntyb@startupsmart.com.au — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:04:28 +0100

Hello Aunty B,

I am part of a family farm business.

I am 32 and work with my wife and my parents who are both in their mid-70s. Currently, I have a lot of doubt about how we will proceed in the future since my parents are both still very involved in day-to-day operations, and the main issue is that I am tired of working [...]

VIDEO: Get your SEO ready for Penguin 2.0

jstewart@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:58:56 +0100

Google has announced that its big Penguin 2.0 update is coming.

This week, Jim Stewart runs through the three things you must do to prepare – or else your SEO will crash back down to Earth with a thud.

Jim Stewart is one of the country’s leading experts in search engine optimisation and his bu [...]

The working from home revolution

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

Like so many of us during winter, I came down with a sickness last weekend.

It actually hit during the night of the federal budget, although I was able to convince my body to delay feeling ill for a few days. But eventually, it won.

In the past, when I’ve been sick at home, it’s resulted in some confusion [...]

The best things in life are free, and IT is not one of them!

dmarkus@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

I recently took some time out with my family for school holidays and I am pleased to say I spent plenty of time laughing with the kids and doing fun stuff. OK, so the rollercoasters weren’t free, and neither were the physio bills to realign my neck, but the best bits were simply being there with the kids.

Now I am back to work [...]

Gamification, is it a game changer?

fbendall@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

The hype of gamification has been built on the potential powerful engaging responsive design that gaming induces on cognitive behaviour to grab attention, memory, perception and high levels of engagement.

Great examples of gamification includes Foursquare, Empire Avenue, eBay and Facebook with its multitude of apps [...]

You can't buy internet cool

pwallbank@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

In many ways it was Yahoo! who pioneered Silicon Valley’s ‘Greater Fool’ business model during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s.

The Greater Fool model involves hyping a website, online service or new technology in the hope a hapless corporation dazzled by the spin will buy the business for an improbably larg [...]

Help! My stalker ex-boyfriend has applied for a job where I work!

auntyb@startupsmart.com.au — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:37:02 +0100

Dear Aunty B

I broke up with my boyfriend about a year ago and he has just told me he is applying for a job at the company I work for.

We’re a reasonably sized company with over 100 employees, but I feel pretty uncomfortable about him working at the same place. We broke up on the basis that we would still be friends and we h [...]

The multichannel path to profit

bwalker@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:40:14 +0100

Isn’t this whole online debate fascinating? Many of us are nominating one channel or another (stores versus online) as the preferred way that our customers like to shop with us.

Or alternatively suggesting that one channel is more profitable than another. There is some evidence to support the vie [...]

What’s your customers’ communication medium of choice? Part 2

creardon@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:36:55 +0100

If you’ve been in business long enough, you will indeed know that timing is everything.

Because no sooner than Part 1 of this piece appeared a few weeks back, a small business client who is pretty much technology-illiterate lost a piece of business due to not communicating the way the client wanted to.

It occur [...]

The top six mistakes you could make when buying an investment property

kdunphey@startupsmart.com.au — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:30:57 +0100

I owe much of my financial security to real estate property investment. Having worked in real estate my whole life (well – since I was 15, so it feels that way!) it’s what I know and it’s also what I love. But it’s not for everyone.

Here are my top six mistakes you could make when buying an investment property:

1. Borrowing an amount that’s going to stress you financially to repay. This is the bottom line. People’s circumstances change: you could lose your job; hav [...]

Should I give our useless intern a reference?

auntyb@startupsmart.com.au — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:07:44 +0100

Dear Aunty B

I run a small PR agency and we regularly have interns from universities work with us for a two-week period.

It’s usually a good experience as we get an extra pair of hands and they get some experience in the industry.

But the most recent intern didn’t turn up half the time! Admittedly, internships [...]

What to do when you feel angry and obligated

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:09:20 +0100

Imagine this – you’re on your way to work, running late because the kids were slow to get moving, or you slept in, or you simply lost your keys. You have a hectic day ahead and an urgent message from your boss or client comes through which has shifted your priorities around in a way you couldn’t have imagined.

Then you [...]

Does the admin associated with managing your people take you away from actually managing your ...

asathiamoorthy@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:25:13 +0100

Sometimes, one of the most tedious and time consuming things about managing your people are the administrative tasks that go with it.

As your business grows and so too your team, things like recruitment, on-boarding and payroll tend to demand your resources even more than they used to in the begi [...]

The difference between a value and a principle

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

It’s been a while since we talked about values. And I’ve been doing a few projects lately helping organisations look at what they are.

However, in one recent project, we weren’t looking at values. We were looking at principles.

So what’s the difference?

I have a pretty simple rule of thumb for what div [...]

Behaviourally effective shopfronts

bwilliams@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

I’ve been talking a lot about websites recently, so I thought it was time to revisit the offline world. In particular, I want to talk about the importance of shopfronts in communicating your value proposition.

Two shop windows in my local area grabbed my attention for the wrong reasons.

The day spa

The fir [...]