The Incredible Mr Sebastian Terry

http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=588829d2dcaeb0bf23f2bf2da&id=413c896c3e&e=271de6d5e0

Sebastian Terry is nothing short of amazing.

If you want inspiration check out his latest blog post!!!

AMZING DUDE!!!!!!!!

A Baby Boomers Online Marketing Nightmare

Terry Burgan

Managing Director The Entertainers Australia

If you are like me (a boomer) and struggle to keep up with the changes that we are experiencing from day to day in and around building an online presence, you will understand how challenging it is to get your head around a myriad of Apps, social media platforms, how to tweak settings, optimising , it can do your head in!!!!

After spending an hour reading an eBook this morning on how to optimise my company page on Google+ "The Entertainers Australia", I was still no clearer around some of the important messages the book was giving to me.

While I enjoy learning and have made it a part of my "daily dozen" must do's, I often suffer from overwhelm when I go down the rabbit hole which is online marketing. It can lead to fatigue with the odd expletive popping out here or there in absolute frustration.

Relinquishing our duties in this area however, is not an option! Unless we are across these platforms ourselves, we will never understand the metrics of the "modern business paradigm". Painful but true, the result of putting your head in the sand is that your backside will be pointing up, that is no way run a business, especially in todays competitive world.

Contracting outside help is one option, however we have found it is much like one of those opt in's where you you get this and that for one dollar and the rest, after your appetite is whetted, costs you a small fortune.

Perhaps I am sceptical about hiring someone to look through Facebook and other Social Media platforms in the search for great content, seems like an utter waste of time, especially given Google+ new Authorship algorithm which identifies and rewards the original author of the content.

We know our business pretty well, the "content" we send out comes from the experiences we have good or bad  (we have had our share of both),  the talent we work, the clients we service.

My point is this and it is made to those business owners who want to just walk away from online marketing, put it in the too hard basket, it is worth it! Even if you can afford to pay a dozen people to sit there and create content, learn it yourself!

Here are my tips to get through the quagmire of portals that you will need to become friends with in order to survive as a small business:

1. Read, Read, Read, everything you can get your hands on. A Google search will usually answer any quetsions you have e.g. (How to optimise my Company Google+ page?)

2. Be creative, use the evenings to learn and turn off the TV. Put your energy into your online marketing at night time, leave it alone during the day, that is when you should be on the phone talking to people.

3. Get advice from friends or associates on the latest trends, follow some of the excellent blogs. Though I have not used these guys as a service, the information I have received from http://www.hubspot.com/ is outstanding. If I was going to consider anyone to automate our marketing platform, it would be these guys.

3. Give yourself a break! It takes time and patience to learn the "how to's" and on that note, it never stops as various aspects of this crazy and beautiful world changes by the hour.

4. Make sure you set up and integrate Company pages on  LinkedIn, Pintrest, Google+, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter (there are others but these are the main players).

5. Always point your posts on these platforms back to your site where ever possible.

6. Pay attention to each one of the platforms and make sure you post something daily.

7. Read Read Read

8. Read Read Read

and keep reading.......................

Good luck and when you think your head is about to explode with overwhelm, go and make a cup of tea and say to yourself "If I don't become disciplined around this I may not have a business in five years time". It harsh but very true, ignore at your peril Boomers!!!!!!

Why Real Time Video Interviews work for The Entertainers

"A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. Video makes it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly, it offers massive value given that people in the Events industry and for that matter any industry are time poor.

Without going into how our minds receive information, it is obvious to most that we are not all speed readers, suffer info-glut, are bombarded with strings of information daily, reports, contracts, letters and so forth, invade our lives daily. Collectively, is it possible that we read more now than we ever have? Email, Facebook, Blogs, Ebook's , articles demand our attention if we are to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Let's face it, there is a lot being written that just goes "via the cape",! Not because it is badly written, not because it offers no value, we are just too damn busy to invest the time to read everything that comes across our desks.

Speaker BIO's are a prime example. While a full page of facts and figures about where the Speaker is from, where he/she lives with his/her spouse and children, where he/she grew up, the odd funny line thrown in and other superfluous information may feel appropriate, it does little for some time poor soul looking for key facts.

Personally I feel that printed BIOs and pictures do not enhance any Speakers fortune. If ever a poor representation of talent was exhibited, it is an email with a bio and pic attached. 

Ask yourself, how on earth can anyone make an informed decision about something as complex as a Speakers capabilities reading a BIO. Very poorly would be my answer and due to the talent we have in Australia,  this outdated method of pitching is successful, may I say, thanks to the Speaker and not to lazy Bureau who used such an antiquated pitch.

That old worn out boot pops up again, "It's just the way we do things around hear".

The Real Time Video Series The Entertainers are creating is in it's embryonic stages. We are making lots of mistakes, we are working with inferior equipment, I am not the worlds greatest interviewer, we do not have a production team with lights camera action, no studio, no clap board.

There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come is an apt quote by Victor Hugo to describe the way forward for this format. While our interviewing capabilities are currently raw and basic and our production values are simplistic, our message is hitting it's mark. The interviews are time consuming but well worth the effort.

The feedback we have received has been more than encouraging from prospective and current clients and also from Speakers themselves. The information that we can extrude in a short period of time while offering refreshing and entertaining content is massive value. It gives our clients an accurate insight into the Speakers capabilities, personality and attitude. It enables people to make a much more informed decision, while giving the Speaker an opportunity to advertise their true capabilities and strengths.

We will continue to grow our video database improving on production values to create a rich and valuable repository of Speaker interviews.

While there are other aspects to the advantages I could talk about such as Speaker showreels, flashy commercials, SEO and other aspects of Speaker marketing, my belief is that there is nothing that compares to a naked video interview to get to the heart of any Speaker apart from meeting them in person.