How To Make Marketing Easy!

Are you sick of the hype and crap information that screams out at you everyday?

I am!

In marketing there is so much huff and puff, like a dragon after breathing a
huge ball of fire! I think its time to get real and get to the basics.

Promises are screamed at you from every angle of media – buy this and do that!

This product will make you a millionaire instantly and so on.  You know exactly
what I mean as we get it all the time!

I got to the point in my own email Inbox where I am deleting and unsubscribing.
What was once useful information is now junk!

I don’t want to waste your valuable time by feeding you useless information.
Nor do you deserve this type of treatment.

So the blog is getting a new look – a much needed easier system to find the
information you are after – not buried 6 pages deep.

That’s the aim this month. I will be adding a subscriber page and am
researching what material would be best to give you.

There are some great sites out on the internet – people who are actually

Real! Straight up and no crap (ie rubbish) in the information they give you.

I am studying Frank Kerns’ work this month and I love this guy and his work.

He is so down to earth, easy to understand and that’s what I want for you.

Well known and a professional marketer, stop by and see what is happening.

www.frankkern.com

So back to the Creative Genius Hat (where is it – cannot remember) ?

For now

All the best

Susan Connors

Mad Hatter
Australia

In was 1949, the sleepy town of Kempsey in NSW in Australia lay asleep.
Rain had been pounding the pavements and paddocks for two days.
As the people slept the waters rose and continued to push against
the railway viaduct. Suddenly a hole appeared in the viaduct, a log
helped push open the hole and the surging waters burst through the
Kempsey Railway Viaduct, sending a water surge wave of 1.2 metres
through the town and into the Macleay Valley.

It’s terrifying to imagine a wave that high and with that force coming
through your home area. Reminding me of a tsunamai that came through other parts of the world.

Half the railway bridge was washed away and in places the water became 20 feet deep.
Water up to the roof of people’s homes, people struggling to get to the roof tops for
safety. Only to be washed downstream and hoping for a miracle to be rescued.
Homes, animals, cars and anything that lay in its path were likely to be swept away

Speaking to survivors of that time and place is an eye opening experience!

Prior to this, the water catchment in the Northern Tablelands had experienced
a lot of snow.  The excess run off was filling up the main dam and the people let
the floodgates open – not letting anyone know down in the Macleay Valley what
was happening. There was limited communications at this time, not like today.

The water came surging down the mountain range into an already
soaking Macleay Valley, placing extra pressure on the railway viaduct.

Not one person was notified this was coming not even the local radio controllers at
the Kempsey Airport. Communications at this time were limited - not like today.

Kempsey Aeradio provided communication between Brisbane and Sydney on a point-to-point Morse channel, with aircraft overflying Kempsey on a 24-hour basis. One of the prime navigational aids used by aircraft was a 33Mc Radio Range located on the airport, an NDB (non directional beacon) and a rotating light. Arthur Lindeman, was stationed at the airport when this happened. Here is his account of the time the flood came.

“The area around Kempsey Airport was noted for its colonies of large black snakes and violent thunderstorms. It could hardly be considered relaxing on ‘doggo’ [night] shifts to be isolated with an electrical storm overhead or sitting there estimating the length of the snakes as they moved over the ceiling joists.

“On Friday, 26 August 1949, I started duty at midnight. During the night 360 points of rain fell. By 2 am the rain was ‘bucketing’, down and I explained the situation to the Flight Checking Officer at Sydney and requested permission to close the station. A regular freighter was due out of Brisbane about this time and permission was refused.

“At about 3.30 am the wife of a local farmer and her young son arrived and asked if I had been outside lately. The water was lapping the top steps, a depth of about four feet. Equipment which could be moved was placed as high as possible after advising Sydney and Brisbane that the station was closing. With all transmitters, navigational aids etc switched off we headed for the high ground across the airport. Dawn was breaking.

“The passage through a set of 12 feet wide double gates narrowed to what felt like 12 inches as we passed through the centre point eyeing off the snakes which had coiled themselves round the fencing wires and gate posts.

“The next three days were spent with the farming families from the area and it was pitiful, particularly on the Saturday when a further 827 points of rain fell, to witness houses, outhouses and belongings being washed down the river. Kempsey Airport communication and navigational facilities were never fully restored. Coffs Harbour then provided the services to aircraft in that area.”"

The flood was the worst one ever recorded in New South Wales history. Eleven people dead, a town of 7000 and outlying areas devastated. Homes, businesses and stock was washed away in the wake of this disaster.

Fifteen thousand (15,000) stock were lost and this decimated the once thriving
community of dairy farmers.

How was this community to get back on its feet after this devastation?

In 1950, there came another flood ripping through the community.

Good news is that an emergency warning system had started to be set up and
people were prepared for it better.

In the aftermath there were discussions about even moving the town of Kempsey.
That did not eventuate. The community is still alive and growing today – a testament
to the pioneer spirit that runs through many Australians.

Finding out about this flood and what happened explains a lot to me now. For many
years I could not understand why there are so many abandoned farms and homesteads
throughout the Macleay Valley. This explains a lot to me of a previous time and place
that I still live in now.

My home survived the flood and has since been lifted off the ground. There are many
stories yet to discover and many to be told. Such as the screaming pigs on the river,
people thought were children. Which turned out false.

My point in writing this is to take the time to learn something of your history.
Learn something about your community or home. It will help you better understand the
dynamics of the place you live and also your heritage.

In knowing of the past, you can use those lessons in your business today.

Something to think about!

Links:
http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Kempsey%20Aeradio%20flood%2049.htm

© Susan Connors
2009 All rights reserved.

Branding - I got to thinking, how do we know where our products are at?

Where do we sit in the marketplace?

How are people thinking these days with branding?

Have peoples perception changed at all?

Food for thought

Hello there

Today has been chaos and thirteen hours of fighting malware, viruses, trojans, worms and other problems with a computer attack.

It struck home how often we forget to back up our computer and business data. Be it in a computer in a mobile office or a desktop device/pc.

You can spend a fortune on products with great reputations and excellent product development. They are not beyond being hacked - so it is our responsibility to back up our data.

Whether you burn it onto a cd/dvd, put a copy onto another hard-drive, use a memory stick, just do it!

The reality today hit that I nearly lost my new business ideas and data. Childrens photographs and so much more. Not to mention having to reload all the software and hope that the hardware was ok!

It is important to back up everything!

Update your virus software regularly and run scans

Peform regular maintenance on your computer - helps keep the files tidier and have better performance.

Disk Defragmenting reminds me of a pack of cards. You have a packet of cards in a neat box. You take the box lid off, open the cards out in your hand in neat stack. You shuffle the cards and get the order rearranged.

The along comes the wind or someone hitting you on the back and you drop them all over the ground, You pick them up as you find them - no particular order. Put them back into a neat pile and place them back into the box once finished.

At least with maintenance your files are put back into order. Makes the hard drive tidier, the files aren’t so cluttered and it makes it easier for our pc to find the ones it needs.

These suggestions are basic and I forgot to do them.

I am so fortunate that my husband is into technical stuff with the computers. What started out as a DNS hijacker - taking over a website and sending you somewhere else, ended a lot worse.

This is not how I wanted to spend my Sunday. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. Please learn from my mistake and prepare your back up data regularly.

I have learned my lesson in a huge way!

Have a great day

Susan

Hi there

I found this inspiring video on The Total Package
www.makepeacetotalpackage.com

It is something we can all use in everyday of our lives.

Box vs wired for sound - watch to see how men and women are different.

Love to hear what you think

Hi everyone

We are not isolated anymore and the worse seems to be over. People can travel on the roads and it is never boring. Children can go to school but have to take boiled water from home.

Here are some photo’s of Sunday morning when the flood was still coming in.

Now the worse is over I will be back to blog central later this week.

Susan

Hi there everyone

Its 3:50am Sunday morning and I am writing this post. As I speak, I know my home is surrounded by major flood waters which most likely will come under our home.

We have had cyclones here this week and as a result abnormal weather.

As a result we have flooding and its different as I have never lived in one before.

We have had practice runs of possible flooding where we have had to move the cars, farmers moved stock and so on. Today was the real thing.

Started at 3:30am on Saturday morning to get our cars out of here as water was going to break and surround the nearest town to us. The Macleay River runs through the center of them. They had four hours to get out or be stranded.

Throughout the day we watched some interesting things happen. Obviously we had to move things around - we live in a two story home so are quite safe. Got that organized and then helped my parents get there gear safe.

The cattlemen were rounding up the cattle on the highway - 300 - 400 cattle being pushed up the highway and loaded into trucks was interesting. Some stock did escape and would not be caught so have to see what happens with them. Unfortunately drowning is a real possibility. Majority of stock has been gotten out. The farmers who could not get to their properties have been looked after as a community. Stock were herded together and gotten out safely.

As a result of the cyclones, we have huge seas and a lot of water laying around. We live 20 kilometres inland (10-11 miles) inland and on a large flood plain.

As you look outside our front window you can see the light from the lighthouse reflected on the water as it travels across the paddocks.

The weather has eased which is fantastic and all is well as it can be.
Its like our marketing - we can be prepared and make plans, then there will come a time when we have to let nature (so speak) take its course.

This is the first time I have seen tractors, bikes, cars and more being driven up the road and highway to higher ground. Its a first on many occasions. My children have never been in one and will be surprised at the water here.

Will update as we go along and wanted to share what is happening.

For now

Susan

PS: Had to secure the boat so it wont float away!

Marketing is everywhere around us! It is with us from the time we are conceived to the time we die.

It is all around us – from before birth – our parents chose what we would wear, sleep in, what the room would look like.

Marketing affected their decisions and throughout our whole lives we are surrounded by it.

Marketing means – to promote, to sell, to educate, get people thinking about something specific!

Marketing is used in schools, choosing our friends, our hobbies, cars and so much more.

In the 1960’s when television first came out – marketing time was easy on prime time.

The specific segment had adverts for a couple of products – say X and Y. Not A, B, through to Z!

It was simpler with the same principles as are used today.

Today marketing is everywhere and bombards our senses. It’s on television, radio, schools, signs, internet and print publications.

You have to find your niche – another words – your specific area of interest. Where do you want your clients to come from?
What are there backgrounds?
What motivates them to buy your product?
What makes your products stand out form the crowd?

Something to think about – when you market your product – you want to know what the customer is thinking and feeling.

The first thing anyone thinks about before purchasing something is “What is in this for me? If I buy this – what do I get?”
It is never about what you want – its all about the client.

This is human nature – we all think the same thing whether we want to admit or not.

Get to know your client – how they act and live. Study them and you will be surprised at the logic and ideas you will be given. People are amazing creatures and predicable at times. Get back to basics in marketing and you will see your results increase.

All the best

Susan

Hello Everyone

I have added a new section to the blog called
“Resources for You”

These are invaluable resources that I have personally used and still refer to regularly.

There is an endless amount of information on the internet:-

• How to do this
• How to do that
• What to do
• What works
• What doesn’t
• Where to start
• Who to trust
• Where do I go from here?

  Its a never ending cycle of information overload.
  Here’s to making your life easier …

Enjoy!

Wishing you all the success you deserve!

Coffee - used throughout history!

All of us are busy – amidst the time constraints of the day, it is important that we remember to look after ourselves properly.

Yes, we go through the motions of getting dressed, going to work, cleaning house, playing sport and all other areas of our day. Sometimes we forget to eat, grabbing a coffee, or a quick takeaway meal. Not eating properly, gulping it down between breathes.

No wonder we feel so tired at times! No amount of pep talking or affirmations will get the body going when it is running on empty. The mind may be willing to do so, however the body (our car) does run out of fuel and stop.

My morning coffee is after the kids are organized and I can sit down for a few moments. Take time to relax (as much as one can – breathe) and read my emails, plan for the day ahead.

With my four young children, commitments, and everything else my life gets very busy.
Coffee on its own does not sustain me for energy, helps kick-start my day.

My thing is to relearn to eat – there are some days when I forget to eat meals. I make sure the family are ok and forget to look after myself.

I am sure I am not the only one who has done this.

It is important we remember to take care of ourselves better, Be it the way we talk, what we think about ourselves, our self identity – what you perceive as real.

I am writing about this area as I feel passionate about it! You are important and need to remember this. The body we each have is a unique model – no where else in the world will you find another one. So you are Priceless. Colectable material one may say

In running our businesses and lives, looking for our dreams and goals, remember the basics. Eat well, sleep and exercise. Breathe – sometimes you may be surprised. You will be in the midst of something and not realize you are holding your breathe. I do this at times when I am deep in thought.

Breathing is free and so important. When you feel stressed – stop – take a deep breathe and let it out. You may forget or have forgotten how good the action feels.

That’s my take on today.

All the best

Susan Connors
Australia

Still working on the new layout of the site, videos and channel for you tube.