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Clients often come to me wanting something – a PR campaign, a brochure, a new website…  This is great.  This is what we do at littleBig Marketing & PR.  But, there’s no point creating this new, wonderful, targetted, measurable campaign/marketing material if the item requested is not what’s actually necessary.  Most likely the activity will increase brand awareness and improve market position regardless, to some extent at least, but if you’re aiming to increase sales in the Melbourne region then a national PR campaign isn’t the right action to take.  If you want your existing customers to buy more, a brochure selling them what they already buy isn’t going to help.  We get so used to doing what we do and doing what we know that we’re often blinded to what we truly need.  

I encourage all my clients to think about the reason they need marketing, what they’re truly trying to acheive.  We’ll then put together a tailored solution aimed at acheiving that targeted result.  

Don’t get me wrong, much of the time my clients know exactly what they need and for all the right reasons.  They’ve already thought and talked things through very carefully, we’re all on the same page and we’re off.  But if the first thought you’ve had is simply ‘we need a mail-out’, ‘we need a one-page ad’, ‘we need a…’, then I implore you to talk your current position and ideal positition through with a marketing professional before doing ANYTHING else.  This will ensure that the right marketing problem can be solved the right way and, most importantly, ROI is maximised.

 A clever expert in Productive Thinking has made me realise how truly important this is, now more than ever…

Now I’m completely biased here of course, because LetsShop.com is a client, but have you checked it out?  It’s great.  OK, you blokes aren’t going to love it because it’s very girly but if you’re a female and, like me, have no idea where to start when it comes to shopping online, particularly for fashion and beauty products, it’s the perfect place to start.  

If there’s something in particular you’re after you head to Sales, Shops & Specials and you can filter by category and find a whole lot of great stores including special deals and vouchers for LetsShop.com visitors.  LOVE a bargain!   

Heaps of fun fashion, beauty and goss snippets all over the site and really great Competitions too (my pick of the comps currently listed –  gorgeous suede boots, mmmmm).

And a little birdy told me there’s something else special about to start on the site too.  Keep an eye out.  Sign up for their newsletters to keep up with it all…

Hope you enjoy!

Sally

Have you ever thought about the way you think?  I know, it’s a brain-bender in itself isn’t it?!  But really, are your thought-processes contributing to your life, your business, your relationships in the most productive way possible?  Are your problems being solved or are you going around in circles?  There are lots of little things we all do to hinder ourselves from thinking clearly and productively and lots of things we can do to think better.  Ken Wall of The Thinking Network is an expert in Productive Thinking and has come up with the below pearls of wisdom that can help us all:

Five reasons your problems aren’t being solved:

1. Thinking that you can’t!  Whether you think you can or you can’t achieve something, in both cases you’ll be right.  Negative expectations or a pessimistic view will ensure you don’t put enough energy into finding a better way.  So think about what ‘could be’.  Ask what an optimist would do in this situation?
2. Using the same reasoning that got you to where you are.  Einstein put it perfectly when he said; “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”  Challenge your problem solving methods.  Learn some new approaches.
3. Following that silly rule which says, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”  Unless, of course you would prefer to still be using a typewriter!  The best bet is to look at the things that DO work to find out why, and then make them even better.
4. Blame and recrimination.  It’s unbelievable how much energy is wasted on making sure someone else carries the can.  One political party blames the other, management blame the staff, husband blames the wife, children blame the parents, and parents blame the school.  Think what MIGHT be possible if we decided to work together to find solutions!
5. Fear of being wrong!  We often don’t put forward enough ideas because we worry too much about whether people will like them or not.  There is no such thing as a bad idea.

Five things we can do to help us think more productively:

1. Take the time to understand what’s going on.  What’s the itch, what bugs you about the current situation?  Make a note of EVERYTHING you know about the situation, who else is involved and WHY it bugs you.  Make sure you are not determined to ‘buy a house in the country’ when the real problem is proximity to the in-laws!  Be sure that you are asking the right question before you start searching for the best solution
2. Look in different places for possible solutions.  Go to the bookshop and buy a couple of magazines you have never bought before.  Search different articles for new perspectives.  You’ll be amazed at the different approaches to problem solving adopted by different interest groups.  You might even find that fresh ideas just pop out of the page!
3. Draw a picture of the problem!  Then think about what it would be like to have already solved the problem and draw a picture of what that might look like.  This forces you to use your ‘right-brain’ to describe the situation rather than using the more conventional ‘left-brain’ listing process.
4. Ask lots of questions – and ask lots of people!  It just doesn’t matter if you don’t have the best solution at your fingertips.  In fact, if you do find a solution straight away, it’s more than likely to not be the best one.  The more options and opinions you have, the better your solution will be.  But make sure you ask a variety of people – if you ask a dozen accountants you are very likely to come up with a financial solution.  Maybe ask the butcher as well!  And listen to their reply – generally speaking if your lips are moving, you are not learning much!
5. Separate your thinking.  It’s just not possible to think ‘creatively’ and to think ‘critically’ at the same time.  First use creative thinking techniques to list all the ideas that come to mind.  Make sure to include the really wild ideas in the list!  Then choose the best idea to work on for the moment.  You can always go back and choose another option later.  So make lists, then make choices.

I hope you find these tips useful in life and in business.  The Thinking Network help businesses think more productively with absolutely stunning results.  If you’d like to enquire about their service click here.

Or you might like to sign up to their newsletter, for more regular helpful ‘thoughts’, here.

If you’ve got any other tips for ‘thinking better’ do comment!

Sally

Well here it is, the littleBig Marketing & PR website and blog.  Our much-loved but rather scant one-page web presence is no longer and we’ve joined the realms of the information-rich, regularly-updated web community.  The website was designed and built by littleBig Marketing & PR featuring the impressive online stylings of Michael Urquhart.  Tell us your thoughts here at this blog, in fact tell us your thoughts generally.  I’ll be uploading posts at least weekly about the wonderful (often weird and wacky) world of marketing and PR and the acheivements of our clients.  

Right now we’re working on very diverse media relations campaigns for:

Freshly Baked Gallery

The Thinking Network and Productive Thinking

Stub Out The Habit smoking cessation hypnotherapy and training

Above-the-line advertising/marketing campaigns for:

Stub Out The Habit smoking cessation hypnotherapy and training

 Web marketing campaigns for:

LetsShop.com

Any questions/comments on any of our esteemed clients and their campaigns please post a comment here or contact web@littlebigmarketing.com.

I’m looking forward to getting all Web 2.0 with you!

Sally