Branding strategies – Gunnar Habitz – Business Success Strategies.

Branding is the way the prospects and clients see your business. Your branding is the face of the business. In this video & podcast, Gunnar Habitz details the important parts that go together to make a brand successful.

Gunnar Habitz has twenty years ICT experience in sales, marketing and consulting roles with a technical flavour covering various computing solutions sold to commercial and consumer segments. Originally from Switzerland with solid experience in the European market, Gunnar moved to Sydney in 2016 and completed a leadership program at the Australian Institute of Management and now offers his skills in the  areas software, services and solutions.

 Some of the questions Gunnar answers here on the topic of Branding strategies for growth are : 

  1. When looking at branding a business or a product, what are the essential steps?
  2. Why does changing a brand help with sales growth?
  3. What are your recommendations to a business who are looking for massive change?
  4. What are the signs of a successful brand?
  5. What is a strategy that has really helped you grow your business?

Here are some links that Gunnar recommends for checking out –

1) www.habitz.ch (my own website)
2) www.cloudrecover.com.au (my employee who changed the branding strategy totally in 2015)
3) www.livinglines.com.au (brand development expert Susan Jones)
4) www.intrix.com.au (reseller Intrix who transitioned to a managed service provider)
5) www.cowanprospecting.com (Matt Cowan Prospecting, I mentioned that I found him only due to his LinkedIn article)

The Business Success Strategies is a 30 minute interview with successful business people who have been able to achieve amazing results with growing a business.

Business Success Strategies is an always have something to offer event  sponsored by The Speakers Practice and ADrienneMcLean.com. The Speakers Practice offers programs to help SME professionals to market their business by speaking. AdrienneMcLean.com helps SME professionals to market themselves using the international marketing system BookYourselfSolid – a marketing system designed for service professionals to get you more clients.

Adrienne McLean helps business professionals with marketing and business development along with promoting their business. You can contact Adrienne McLean on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

Establish your Business Profile using YouTube

Video marketing is becoming an essential part of marketing a business. Speaking to your clients or potential clients via video is a way of really building your business profile and showing you are an expert in your field.

Shawn Powrie is a Digital Marketing Specialist from E-Web Marketing who specialises in the area of Organic SEO and online growth.

As a digital marketing specialist Sean works to increase the user-friendliness and overall quality and relevance of clients’ websites so that they can be more appealing to search engines and users alike, thus leading them to perform better in Google and convert more.

Sean works to make websites add more value to the world.

Shawn is a Digital Marketing Specialist from E-Web Marketing who specialises in the area of Organic SEO and online growth.

Shawn has consulted with many brands about their SEO strategy including Lincraft, QBE insurance, Converse, Meriton Apartments, Sennheiser, Macquarie University and Orion Expedition Cruises.

When Shawn isn’t consulting about SEO, he’s reading about digital and building his Youtube channel.

Here’s the outline we discussed:

1. What is the first step for preparing Video for Youtube?Content strategy (identifying what to do)

— researching types of content

— analysing competitors

— understanding the video content landscape of your niche

— building a unique approach from that

2. YouTube – what is available to make a business Distinctive?

— Branding your channel

— Thinking through your brand positioning and voice (thoughtful vs. playful)

— Design / templates

3. What are your recommendations with Creating Video

Creating videos

— Equipment — what you need

— Frequency of videos and nature

— SEO of videos

4. How do we know our Video are promoting our Business

Measuring success

— The metrics Youtube provides and what they mean to you

— Monotisation of videos as a direct channel to earn

5. As a Business Owner and Online Marketer, how do you promote your business by speaking?

6. How can you use video in your business?

My business and Youtube

— Who I am, how I came to create a Youtube channel

— What opportunities it has yielded for me (teaching on other websites and offline)

— How it will continue to grow.

The Similarities and Differences between Corporate World and Small Business

Our guest , Cheryl Alderman from BeUltimate, works with both the Corporate companies and Small Business and understands the two different worlds very well.

Working in the Corporate Workforce can be all encompassing with an elite component, due to the size of the businesses. For Small Business, owners are passionate about what they do – the challenges can be huge because they don’t have the financial backup.

One of the biggest differences – in corporate there is a lack of control – they are employees . In small business, 90 – 100% of decisions are made by the owner, they are in control.

Corporate employees don’t have the same emotional input that Small Business Owners. In Small Business, the business is really a part of the business owner and have a really emotional connection – in the corporate world – the emotional connection is really not there as strongly.

Challenges are stress, speed of change, pressures, financial pressures. Cheryl works with the executives to reduce stress and have lifestyle changes to handle the pressures.

Time management, Delegation, effective outsource, time saving methods, using technology to reduce the pressure. Organisation is a big area. Both Corporate and Small Business are , of course, keen to gain exposure and promote their business ultimately increasing their reach.

This is a really valuable discussion – especially if you are wanting to understand your target market and the needs of both corporate world and small business.

Here’s the video of our interview – Thanks so much Cheryl for your overview with lots of constructive ideas we can use. Here’s the video:

Communicating with Impact with Cosimina Nesci

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Cosimina is a highly regarded personal, coach, specialist stylist, dynamic speaker, emcee, author and trainer. She has a realistic understanding of the fundamentals elements needed to build a professional image – primarily: visual presence, communication and rapport and inner strength. In today’s multi-generational workplace your professional image must be, credible, authentic and likeable across generations. Cosimina’s commitment to her clients through customised programmes enables professionals to develop an image that is accepted and respected by all generations.

The questions for Cosimina are about “Communicating with Impact”

What are the areas that impact on Communication??
Where does communication and branding connect for a business?
How can we develop our communication skills?
What can we do to communicate with impact and make a great impression?

To summarise, Cosimina advised business professionals need to be credible, likeable and authentic. To develop this professionalism, the three important factors are 1. Visual presence – dress and body language, 2. Communication and Rapport in all forms – speaking, writing, in social media and 3. Believe in Yourself. Always be working on these !

There’s some wonderful advice for business professionals in this podcast – enjoy!

Networking to Your Success with David Baumgarten

Today it is our pleasure to have David Baumgarten – David CEO of three large Business Enterprise Centres (Sydney – Clearly Business, Eastern Suburbs and Greater Western Sydney) is to provide opportunities to support small businesses and to help them succeed.

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To help businesses in Sydney and in Australia, networking is an essential part – David shares his incredible advice and insights into Networking to Your Success.

David answers the following questions –

What is so powerful about Networking?
Is there a way to “Break-the-Ice”?
Attending Networking meetings – does this build business?
What are the best ways to successfully Network?

David shares some really valuable approaches – stating that there is preparation before the networking event required and then keeping in touch after the event. Thanks David for this enlightening discussion!

Friday Forum – The Journey of Start-Ups with Matt Barnett

At this Friday Forum, we speak with Matt Barnett of Verbate about the journey of building a start-up business.

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Matthew is an innovator, an entrepreneur, a creative adrenaline junkie. Matt spends his days away from the office placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

The statistics say that 90% of communication is visual, so why rely so much on written feedback? Its here that Matt got an idea! Why not use smartphone video surveys to replace focus groups & written feedback. Receive 1000’s of meaningful, visual insights at the click of a button, and a fraction of the cost.

Matthew’s lastest startup – Verbate.co lets you simply text / email video interviews to anyone in the world. The simple link opens their smartphone camera, on which they respond instantly, filming themselves, their workplace, home or whatever you desire.

Verbate is working with some of the worlds leading brands and agencies, see www.verbate.co – Hear about the journey that an entrepreneur goes through to start up a business and then make it profitable. The questions Matt answers are :

So , we’re had a great idea – is it possible to turn it into a business?
How are Startups different from other types of Businesses?
What are the stages that Startups go through?
What can help make a Startup a Success?

The journey of startups is fast and risky ,at times, you will hear the enthusiasm and energy that Matt puts in – it is a journey – this is what makes it so interesting – enjoy!

Friday Forum – Implement the Law of Attraction with Nikki Cooper

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Nikki Cooper is a public speaker, author and online marketing consultant specialising in video creation and law of client attraction and runs regular business networking events in Sydney. Nikki’s passion is helping business owners learn, connect and engage and Nikki is going to share with you today, the information usually reserved for those who attend the networking events.

Here are the questions – there’s some brilliant concepts and ideas discussed!

Nikki you once told me, “97% of people live life filled with regret, wishing they could be something more. Only 3% actually do what they love, earn what they want, and be who they want to be. “ Why is this so?
We have all heard many definitions of the Law Of Attraction and I know you have studied it in great detail and written a book called “Your Successful Life” after interviewing 24 Succesful people, but can you explain in simple terms?
What 3 Steps do you recommend people use to achieve the Law Of Attraction in their business?
You have been quoted as saying “Think it dream it believe it and you will achieve it” Can you expand on this?
5. I ask all our guests this – As a Trainer, Mentor and a Professional Keynote speaker , what is your advice about promoting your business by speaking?

Thanks to Nikki Cooper for a wonderful discussion – Enjoy!

How to Create a Raving Fan Culture

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Building a raving fan culture is what every business wants – having clients coming back again and again. Our guest speakers is Di du Preez – a Marketing Strategist and Business Advisor who serves as a strategic thinking partner to growing businesses.

Di has had years of experience building strong foundations for businesses and seeing the benefits to the clients of these welcoming businesses. Getting this culture right of building a business tribe is crucial and can make or break a business. Hear Di du Preez’s advice.

The questions answered are:

1.What are the steps to create a Raving Fan culture??

2 How do clients or potential clients currently perceive your organisation? Is this important or are clients only interested in the end result?

3. The Customer Experience – This is cruciall?

4. What are the benefits of a Raving Fan culture?

Here is the podcast

The Art of Converting Leads into Sales

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Phil Lee is the founder of Sandler Training in Australia. He and his team are committed to assisting business leaders, sales teams and sales people achieve their personal and professional goals…and beyond!.

Phil has been described by many of his clients as a “master” sales trainer, professional and personal development coach, and professional speaker.

He works with selected business leaders, owners and salespeople in technology and other industries. Sandler’s non-traditional selling system plus innovative reinforcement training has made us the global leader in sales training.

Our topic is “The Art of converting Leads into Sales”. If business owners are diligent with their marketing then this will bring an awareness to the market place. Its fine we can see some interest and its going to be great to hear how to convert those leads into sales.

The questions being discussed today are:

1.We’re generating leads but what do we do next?

2. If we pick up the phone, and they’re not expecting a call – what the best approach?

3. What are the best ways of approaching potential clients – without being too pushy?

4. What are the best approaches to converting leads into sales?

How to Create a LinkedIn Group to Generate Qualified Sales Leads and Revenue

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Today, at the Friday Forum, we are thrilled to have Tom Skotidas , Founder of Skotidas, Asia Pacific’s leader in B2B Social Media Lead Generation speaking on “How to Create a LinkedIn Group to Generate Qualified Sales Leads and Revenue”.

Prior to Skotidas, Tom served as head of marketing and business development at First Rate. In just under four years, he grew the agency from an office of two staff, into one of Australia’s largest search marketing agencies with 25 staff generating $7 million in annual billings.

Half of those billings, or $3,500,000, came from clients that Tom met, nurtured, and signed, using social networks.

Today, Tom and his team work with global B2B organisations across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong, using social networks to generate B2B leads for their sales forces.

The questions discussed are:

1.What are the benefits of creating and maintaining a LinkedIn group as opposed to using other social media?

2. What are the steps in creating a LinkedIn group?

3. How can we promote our LinkedIn group and get our target market to join?

4. By having a LinkedIn Group and regularly posting, how does this generate Sales Leads and Revenue?

5. As a Trainer, Mentor and a Professional speaker , what is your advice about promoting your business by speaking?

Thank you to Tom Skotidas for his time and expertise in discussing how to use LinkedIn groups to generate Sales Leads and ultimately Revenue.