JamJar Media

11/02/2023

What’s the State of Your Business?

Now that we’ve gotten through Cyril’s State of the Nation, and Joe’s State of the Union, it’s perhaps a good time to ask yourself: What’s the State of Your Business?

While some companies are finding their feet after the tumultuous challenges of the last 3 years, others are stumbling, and others are quite squarely on life-support.

In my sphere of business most people seem to take stock of life and plan their future in October and November of each year. And then they rush headlong into the holidays.

Which is why I think February is a better month to evaluate. For many businesses, about 40% of their annual turnover is made between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In South Africa, I suppose we’d see it from the Day of Reconciliation to Christmas. (My Checkers thinks Christmas starts in October though since that’s when they put up their decorations).

So, what’s the State of Your Business?

How’s the finances? Are you still tracking your budget? Are you meeting targets? Are you feeling the pressure of Loadshedding? (Who isn’t?)

In the last week I’ve spoken to two people who are slashing their marketing spend, due to the downturn in turnover and profits.

Wait? What!

When things are tough, that’s when you INCREASE your marketing spend! You just have to get clever about it.

This is the way I put it: if you spent R100 and you may R200 in sales, you should be spending more R100s!

But you also need to know your numbers! What’s the Return on Ad Spend trending? If you see a slump in income from R250 to R200 per R100 spend, then what’s going on? If you’re making R200 sales, but your cost is R220, you’re selling yourself into bankruptcy.

Marketing is more nuanced than running ads and promos. It’s more than a website and a funnel. It’s all of those things and a whole lot more.

Which platform gives you the best return on your Adspend? How does your Business Reputation influence your sales? When did you last sit down and put together a proper marketing strategy for your business? How often do you review it?

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by this, why not drop me a message and let’s look at the State of Your Business.

04/05/2022

ACTION PRECEDES MOTIVATION

I’ve been chatting to a lot of folk lately, and one of the things I’ve noticed is that many are complaining that they don’t have any motivation.

And yeah, I get that. I’m in that slump too. Two and a bit years of a worldwide Pandemic, China in lockdown, Russia and the Ukraine at War, and inflation and fuel spiralling can make you feel really demotivated.

A big portion of that is our total lack of control over everything. We’re literally told where to go, where a mask, where to sit.

For many, businesses have collapsed. Incomes have shrunk and everything is going up in price.

You know what I mean?

So what the heck are we supposed to do about it?

I am reminded this afternoon by something someone once told me (I seriously can’t remember who, or I’d credit them) … Action precedes Motivation. You don’t sit on the couch and wait to be motivated before you do something. You have to start first.

You don’t wait to be motivated to go to gym. You start going until the motivation kicks in (apparently).

You don’t wait until you’re motivated before you find new clients, you start first.

It’s about small actions, which lead to bigger actions.

Do something. Whatever it is. Make a commitment and stick to it.

Tell me in the comments the one thing you’re committing to, even though you’re not motivated to do it.

I’d love to hear from you.

Tony

22/02/2022

PR is dead. Long live PR!

I’ve had quite a few people ask me why we’ve pivoted away from normal social media and Pay Per Click marketing, since PR “just doesn’t work”.

Well, if PR hasn’t worked for you - quite blatantly it’s because whatever agent you used in the past did it wrong.

Modern agencies go hunting mosquitos with elephant guns. They write a press release, submit it to a newswire or their own “secret proprietary list” and then hope they get a hit.

And if nothing happens they’ll tell you “next month” and kindly point to their contract that says “no placement guarantees”.

PR isn’t dead. It’s just different now. And agencies haven’t seen it. That’s probably because PR agents have all studied the same text book written in the 1950’s. And most CEO’s have studied their MBA’s from the 1950’s too … because “that’s how marketing works”.

No. It doesn’t. We have the Internet now. Who buys business magazines? Wait - you can’t even buy those anymore. Who listens to the radio? Have people never heard of Spotify?

So that’s why we’ve pivoted. There’s too many old school PR firms selling the same old BS from 1950.

Long live PR!

So what’s your experience been like with PR agencies?

01/10/2021

01/10/2021