Guess who’s a Pozible Ambassador- yep, me!

Pozible Ambassador Network It is with great pride that I announce I am part of the Pozible Ambassador Network. Those crazy crowdfunding cats, Alan and Rick, have asked me to help out future crowdfunders. While I haven’t done my own crowdfunding project (yet), you may recall I helped the transition from Fundbreak to Pozible back in 2009, and gave them their early start in social media and blogging. Since then, I have helped the guys on the odd occasion,... Read More

Yes, you do benefit from social media – part 1

According to some companies and heads of marketing, social media is a nice to have, but a non essential. They’re still playing the “yes but where’s the proof it generates sales?” game. So I’ve put together what I think is the case for social media as part of your marketing mix. The Penguin and Panda changes to Google have made social important to SEO Penguin, Panda and Social SEO Since Google updates Penguin and Panda, social media interactions... Read More

That eBook Experiment? I failed

You might remember I set myself the goal of gaining 1000 followers by January 31st 2013 in order to give myself that push towards writing my very first eBook. The idea was to really put the pressure on myself to get the task done, considering it kept popping up sporadically on the TO DO LIST like some kind of goofy Meer Cat but progressing no further. Well, I failed. I got to 990 followers at January 31st. I sat there for a little while considering... Read More

Let’s get trekking back to the Freelance Jungle!

Who’s a cheeky monkey? Come down to the shores to frolic and play with other critters in the Freelance Jungle. Here is your time to purge those stories of nightmare clients, heap praise on the nice ones and generally talk about all your bumps and scrapes for yet another month of freelance life. The Freelance Jungle is for you if: Hot desking is a concept that means more than just keeping your toasted sandwich warm Some of the clients you’ve... Read More

I’m Crowdsourcing an eBook. Am I crazy?

Earlier this month, I popped up a little post about the Spunky Little Marketing eBook. If you missed the story, basically it’s about inspiring myself to write an eBook by using Deadline Party Theory. I’ve promised myself I would write an eBook most of 2012 and have failed to shuffle that bad boy up from TO DO LIST to the magical place where red pen is applied as a sign of completion. As important as I think it is (especially being a copywriter,... Read More

Be a host on eXpertLocal!

Are you on the search for the best iced coffee in town? Why not build a posse via eXpertLocal?     Experience based collaborative consumption business eXpertLocal has just launched and they’re on the lookout for hosts! What does a host do? A host is a person like you who turns their knowledge and love for a particular topic into an experience for other people. It’s basically like being a tour guide, only showing what you think is cool... Read More

eXpertLocal is now recruiting hosts!

Guess what everybody? I’m super proud to announce eXpertLocal is now officially open and ready to take hosts! What this means is my latest awesome collaborative consumption client is looking for passionate locals who would love to share their version of beautiful Sydney with other people by setting up a tour. It doesn’t matter if you are a mad keen fitness enthusiast looking to do a surfing sea-fari or if small bar crawls, checking out live... Read More

Spunky little free marketing eBook

Must be all the festive season stuff happening but I have decided that I’d like to write my very first eBook and give it away. I need your help! To be honest, eBooks have been high on the priority of 2012 and I simply haven’t made the time to do one. So I am calling on the crowd to help me kick that nasty habit of simply looking at the idea on the TO DO LIST and adding a bit of deadline party theory to it. You need to inspire me to get it off... Read More

Why Tweet Regularly on Twitter?

To say I tweet a lot is an understatement. At current count I was tweeting under 4 active accounts with two others currently having a nap. Anyone who follows any of my accounts such as my Unashamedly Creative Tweeter @noshamecreative or my side project for women @discordia_Zine knows I usually schedule a fair whack of content in there too. So why do I do it? Because it’s super beneficial to what I do. Here’s why: Your imagination goes wild Snuffling... Read More

10 Ways to De-stress this Christmas

Got more things to do than a Men’s Shed’s got Dad jokes? Want to do things in a more meaningful and less cash heavy way this silly season? Then have I got the hot tips for you. Check out 10 awesome ways to keep your cool this Christmas with collaborative consumption! Save Money: Christmas takes enough of a slug out of the purse with food, holiday bookings, presents and so on- the last thing you need to do is buy equipment to make Christmas happen.... Read More

Using Twitter as Your Blog’s Loud Hailer

So you’ve planned out your blog, checked a few blogging lessons and you’ve got a hankering to get it out into the world. Great! Meet your new best friend, Twitter. Look, Facebook is OK but if you want more than your mates reading your stuff, Twitter should be your main social media. With Twitter, you end up with the following reach: Your followers, Under specific topic headings via tags, The followers of your followers, Via trending topics, As... Read More

Tweeting at Events- Yay or Nay?

I’ve recently started attending more talks and conferences and picked up a completely alien concept to me before, tweeting whilst there. I knew everyone did it, it’s how I often catch up on the events I can’t go to using the tags. It just wasn’t my thing. But then I started and I loved it…however, the last event I went to the majority of the audience was not tweeting. And the vibe was different. It was more attentive and warmer somehow.... Read More

The Results of the TaskRunners Survey

Thank you to everyone who who took the time to respond to the very first survey by new collaborative consumption business, TaskRunners. For those of you who don’t know, TaskRunners aims to carve out opportunities for free time and extra cash by sharing tasks across neighbourhoods and communities. This exciting little client of mine is run by soon-to-be-mumma on a mission Cheryl Leong who is throwing her all behind hooking up people with assistance... Read More

Pozible Crowdfunding for Startup

Last night I crashed an intimate evening of people discussing how to use crowdfunding for startup with Pozible Co-founder Alan Crabbe.   Why crowdfunding and startup? Crowdfunding is a great way to measure early adoption of your product and/or to financially support your goals in a way that can also be used to demonstrate popularity with Angels, funding bodies and more. But how do you use it to its best advantage?   The platform is a tool: The... Read More

Rockin’ The Freelance Jungle

Put on your party pants and join us for a coconut of jungle juice- it’s time to get all Rockin’ with the October Social Club meeting for the Freelance Jungle! Welcome to spring time and the narrow end of the pointy stick we’ve called 2012. Perfect timing really if you want to have a couple of beverages, share a laugh and generally talk to current, past and future freelancers about what it’s like to put your bum in the wind and squeal “Yeee-ha”... Read More

Australia- you so hot right now!

After a cruisy beginning to the Sydstart morning, Pollenizer unleashed a firecracker in Mick Liubinkas.  Funny, energised and just that smidge of rye that grabs attention, his presentation was the double barrel Espresso needed to get the presenter specific portion of SydStart humming. Here’s what I took from what Mick had to say: Focus- none of the B2B and B2C “let’s stick a leg over both sides of the fence and hope it works” stuff. Pick... Read More

SydStart Morning Couch

You’d think after living in Sydney for seventeen years I would know how to get off a bus in the city near Town Hall and find the Sydney Convention but…well…there are pancakes that have a better sense of direction than me. That, coupled with not being a morning person meant I missed what seemed a nice wee jam on the couch as the kick off to SydStart. It was honestly quite nice to peel back a door, not know who the heck anyone was and... Read More

Discordia is Live!

I truly love marketing. Being a creative copywriter and freelance strategic marketer is something I love doing. I live helping people. Putting truth and creativity back into marketing isn’t just a tagline for me, it’s the reality. And I really enjoy working with my clients. Yet sometimes I have felt recently that I’ve been letting the writer in me down a little. Writing to me is a deeply personal thing. I don’t expect everyone to agree with... Read More

Pinterest 201: Pinning to Get Noticed

There’s content flying all around Pinterest at the moment and there is a lot of talk about how it can benefit your creative pursuits or marketing. But how can you make that happen? Well, check the Pinterest basics first  and then jump on board for this edition, Pinning to Get Noticed. Think about how it can work for you Planning any kind of social media is a better way to go than to just dive right in and Pinterest is no exception. For some businesses... Read More

TaskRunners becomes Unashamedly Creative!

The latest startup as part of the Australian collaborative consumption movement, TaskRunners Australia, has joined the Unashamedly Creative portfolio! Since the collaborative consumption (or collcon as it is affectionately known) hit Australian shores in earnest, over 60 new businesses have sprouted around the country. The latest, TaskRunners, is about bringing people together to lighten the domestic burden, help small business operators and give... Read More

Roadtesting: The Mesh by Lisa Ganksy

Considering the rise of collaborative consumption in Australia, it was time to take a look at the Mesh by Lisa Gansky. Here is what I gained from reading it. Trust: Anything to do with community, trust is fundamental. Trust is a social currency too and the best way to build it is through hyper-social activity. The more social people feel, the more likely they are to connect and the more connection they make, the more trust will follow. The more trust,... Read More

Roadtesting: The 4 Steps to the Epiphany

Part textbook with worksheets, part case study and all customer development model book, the 4 Steps to the Epiphany does read like homework, but it is the homework that a lot of businesses fail to do that could increase their chances of success. Here is a book trying to educate people away from failure using a very common sense idea- develop for the customer. The 4 Steps to the Epiphany refutes the notion that start-ups should “fail fast” (the... Read More

Call Out: Discordia Zine

Discordia Zine is on the hunt for women bloggers, writers, artists and illustrators who can be a part of new online content portal. We’re tired of feeling like outsiders in the female web world and women’s media. We feel that labels like ‘crafty mummy’, ‘lipstick lesbian’ or ‘suited up business woman’ just don’t apply. For us, the slew of women’s magazines and ‘believe in yourself’ online communities are irrelevant. And the... Read More

Freelance Jungle Rides Again!

We’re back in the saddle Sydney for our 2nd FREELANCE JUNGLE!   It won’t be this awkward, trust me. Excited? Oh you better be- there’s people and beer and conversation, oh my! Think of this as a social club for those of us who freelance and those who are thinking about jumping into the freelance pond. It brings us all together so we can have a drink, have a chat and just have a bit of FREElancer fun on a Thursday night.   You... Read More

Guest Post: Give a man a fish … Teach a man to fish

Continuing our freelancer guest post series is Karen Lambert- a personal coach who can help you build confident connections with clients, Angel investors and  more. Take it away Karen!     Give a man a fish … Teach a man to fish   So the story goes that if you give someone a fish they’ll eat for a day, but if you teach them to fish they’ll eat for a lifetime. The message – learn stuff that helps you to survive and you’ll... Read More

Why Change Aussie TV?

Think about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Skins, Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, Extras, Weeds, Scrubs, Black Books, The Wire, Treme, Sopranos, The Good Wife, Louie and Californication. Now ask yourself- have we had anything remotely close come out of Australia recently? You may have seen the campaign “Save Places for Aussie Faces.” Now ask yourself what future our fledgling writers, directors, actors and producers have in this... Read More

It’s not “Do not buy anything ever” month!

Can you help me defend what is a cracker of an idea? “Buy Nothing New” month is being featured in a poor light in the Daily Telegraph. Take a look at the article here and please make your own determination but… This October, it is planned that two people will be housed in a sustainable pop-up house in Sydney’s CBD. They will have to source all their clothes and all the furniture for the house second hand. It’s promoting... Read More

CASE STUDY: AUSTRALIAN FREELANCE MARKET SURVEY

Background: As an Australian freelancer who is passionate about the local landscape, Rebekah Lambert, a creative Sydney copywriter and freelance strategic marketer, undertook a survey of the Australian Freelance Market. After searching for a good six months prior to launching the survey, despite inclusion of freelancing in Census data, articles written about freelance lifestyle and a growth in the provision of online portals dealing with and catering... Read More

CASE STUDY: POZIBLE “LET’S TALK CROWDFUNDING SYDNEY” EVENT

Background: Australia’s leading crowdfunding platform, Pozible, required assistance with their first major Sydney event entitled “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” The first event in Melbourne, whilst still positive, had less than 50% turnout. Pozible engaged Unashamedly Creative to assist with the event’s management and communications for the event in Sydney to test whether the series was a viable national road show. Objective: • Lift conversion... Read More

How do Australians feel about home-grown TV?

Is the current Australian TV market a positive or negative in terms of creativity? Are we suffering from reality TV and lifestyle programme fatigue or do we love them and want to see them stay? Are we risk-adverse or innovative? Do we create export quality TV? What do Australians actually want to see on the box? Having had countless coffee and wine debates about the state of Australian TV with everyone from unemployed actors to happily employed producers,... Read More

Make the Most Out of Collaborative Consumption

Having recently started a series of interviews for the lovely lasses at Business Chicks on collaborative consumption, I have found most of the #collcon businesses out there face the same problems. Those problems are potential customers like the idea of sharing, but we worry about what might go wrong if we trust another person. And we want other people to lead the charge before we dip our toe in, and if that doesn’t happen, we walk away. So for... Read More

The Australian Freelance Market

As an Australian freelancer who is passionate about the local landscape, Rebekah Lambert, a creative Sydney copywriter and freelance strategic marketer, undertook a survey of the Australian Freelance Market. The main aim of the survey was to understand the issue facing freelancers as well as gather contacts within the industry. After searching for a good six months prior to launching the survey, despite inclusion of freelancing in Census data, articles... Read More

Acing Email Marketing Campaigns

As a creative copywriter, I have been asked to make suggestions and generally improve overall performance of email marketing campaigns for more than a decade. Consider these tips your guide to help make your email newsletters and/or campaigns sparkle! Choose Responses over Clicks One of the most common dilemmas my client’s come to me with is that their click through rate has gone down. This is worrying sure, because one of the metrics we are trained... Read More

Roadtesting: Juicing the Orange

The funniest reaction I have had to reading this book is someone half jokingly asking “Do you really need a book for that?” Not sure if they have a 50% leaning to me being somewhat dim enough not to know how to make orange juice (I can…well, I could if I wanted to, honest!) or commenting on why creativity is needed so desperately in marketing, but here it is, “Juicing the Orange”.   Obviously what attracted me was the idea of creativity... Read More

Revised for 2012: Music Marketing 101

These are the tips and tricks you should really employ to get your band coverage… start here and the foundation will grow! Record a demo, even if it’s in your garage or bathroom or your Nanna’s house. We are not talking sending this puppy to record companies- we are talking having something to put on your MySpace Reverbnation or Band Camp. You are selling an auditory product and no matter how schmick your photos may be or your bio, funny, ultimately... Read More

Do you follow brainmates?

Are you a Product Manager? Do you follow the brainmates community? Then they need to hear from you! As a member of the brainmates Product Management community, brainmates are inviting you to help improve the quality of their offerings via the brainmates Customer Satisfaction Survey. It is their aim to create a brainmates experience that really works for you- from training through to consulting, content and eMuse, events and more- based on your feedback.... Read More

2 Million Reasons to Smile

  A mere five months on from achieving $1million in pledges, Pozible has hit 2012 running by reaching the $2million pledge mark in March. And the goal kicking for the original home-grown crowdfunding platform for Australian creative and socially innovative projects looks set to continue. Fast becoming one of the most popular and effective funding options available Pozible has seen tremendous growth in exposure and audience participation since... Read More

Help Open Shed Out!

I have a client in the collaborative consumption space called Open Shed. If you haven’t heard of collaborative consumption before, it is about taking an item sharing it with another person- check out here for details. This great little start-up needs help from people like you! Yes you- ordinary community minded people who share their time, belongings and spirit with each other! Open Shed offer people the ability to list their own stuff so others... Read More

Updated: Some Pretty Cool Stuff

The internet has become a pretty cool playground! Whether you are creative, into business or chasing a new way to crack a project, there are some definitely head turning newbie’s out there. Here are a few of my current favourites. Note: I have taken them from the angle of how they help creative people and businesses because that is what interests me. Most of these do however have much further reaching applications. Plan Big: PlanBig has been around... Read More

The Empowered Consumer

We hear a lot these days about how we as consumers are the mercy of big corporations, are being dealt a rough hand by paying over inflated prices or are being mislead by advertising more than ever. I have to say, what utter hogwash! It appears to me consumers (and we are all consumers in one way shape or form) are more empowered than we have ever been. Here’s how: We can shop however we want, whenever we want Australia really has come into its own... Read More

Collaborative what now?

This post is dedicated to all of the wonderful people out there who are embracing collaborative consumption on a business and everyday level who sometimes find it a little bit hard to explain the concept to friends, family and people in the street. In particular, this is my little bit of love for the guys from Open Shed. What the heck is all this stuff about Collaborative Consumption? Take yourself back to kindergarten or pre-school… Here you... Read More

Sydney, now it’s your turn…. Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!

After a successful Melbourne event in late 2011, Pozible now brings “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” to Sydney. This free event is for anyone who wants to learn more on crowdfunding for creative projects or simply for people interested in self funding through platforms like Pozible. Join us for a helpful, informative and passionate discussion on crowdfunding your dreams and ideas with like minded individuals. The evening is aimed at giving anyone... Read More

More Word of Mouth Goodness

The Secret of Word of Mouth, 2nd edition, by George Silverman More word of mouthly goodness… (if you have missed the first instalment, check here ) Getting the Right Attention… Getting Attention is important for the right reasons and using the right methods. In order to get this right, think about the following: What does your product improve? The faster you deliver a positive experience, the more loyal your consumer will become Focus... Read More

The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing Pt1

The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing, 2nd edition, by George Silverman Admittedly, I am only half way through this book so I hope it doesn’t end with a big fizz. However, I have already grabbed some great points from it I would like to share. Well, actually I am half way through and made about 10 pages worth of notes, so if I leave it too long it may overwhelm me with the sheer amount to write up, but I digress… Here is what I have found... Read More

Product Bash 2011: The Future of Retail and Burning Audience Questions

At Product Bash 2011, brainmates asked their panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head of Online for the Woolworths non-food businesses Dan Murphy’s, Big W and Dick Smith, to put on their best gypsy garb and take a deep longing gaze into the retail product manager’s crystal ball to give their perspective on the future of retail in relation... Read More

Why Do Australians Pay High Prices in Retail?

There is no secret that even as Australia experiences a strong dollar against the US currency, our prices seem extremely high, especially when compared to what we can choose to pay if we shop online from overseas. So why is this the case and how can local retailers manage to compete? The Product Bash panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head... Read More

Tried and Tested Ways to Kill Freelancer Enthusiasm

So you’ve just hired a freelancer with the right attitude and skill set for a job and they are passionate and keen on the tasks ahead. Not happy with their go-getter attitude? Then you need to follow these Tried and Tested Ways to Kill Freelancer Enthusiasm! Hire them based on their experience then systematically devalue it Nothing says “cop that ya freelancer!” like a good old fashion devaluation of a freelancer’s experience. The best way... Read More

Make the customer the centre of your retail experiences

brainmates saw 100 passionate and hungry Product Managers join us at the beautiful Gaffa Gallery in Sydney on the 10th of November, 2011 for the end of year wrap up, Product Bash. This year we tackled the affect of the growth of mobile and online commerce on more traditional forms of retail under the topic heading “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail.” We were very pleased to have join us Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style... Read More

Why a freelancer community?

Some people have been asking me lately what the whole freelance survey is about (for your reference, here is the original post http://unashamedlycreative.com.au/2011/10/calling-all-freelancers/) or where it might lead. Here it is in nuts and bolts… Hello- is anybody out there? I started doing a full time freelance gig in 2009 whilst still employed because I wanted to see if it worked. I had some mates who had varying degrees of success across... Read More

Don’t wait for help, create help yourself

I’ve been examining why my head has an issue with the #occupy movement. It’s really hard for me as I agree we need to fix the inequality in the system yet feel so sceptical and puzzled by this movement. I have almost felt a traitor to my beliefs and the beliefs of my family. But then it hit me last night why it bugs me. It reinforces the concept of entitlement. It kind of smacks to me as though “we can do what we like for ourselves and don’t... Read More

Calling all freelancers!

Are you tired of auction sites trying to get you to work for $2 a 500 word article or deploy a whole website for $200? Have you had to mop up after countless el cheapie projects for your clients after things have gone drastically south? Do you sometimes wonder why employment agencies or digital/ad agencies pay you 30% of what they bill you out for? Are you working at places that don’t allow you to stretch yourself as much as you would like? Do you... Read More

Pozible hits the Million Dollar Mark

Australia’s first crowd funding platform, Pozible, has hit an amazing $1million in pledges. Since humble beginnings in May 2010, Pozible has become a viable option for creative and innovative projects around the country as a source of funding through peers pledging their support through crowd funding. Reaching the million dollar mark is yet another milestone for a platform dedicated to helping more ideas become reality in the Australian creative... Read More

Sisters are doin’ it for themselves!

You have to love the sexy, sassy and super cool way a heroine lights up the film screen. The same applies (we hope!) to the Varity Vampire story. Like most female vampires, both Ruth and Varity are reluctant heroes- thrown into circumstances not of their choosing, that they have to not only make do with, but also conquer for what they believe in to be maintained. So in honour of the sexy, sassy, super cool reluctant heroines everywhere that have... Read More

What is WOM [Word-of-Mouth] worth?

Crowdfunding is a pretty amazing thing. Watching one dollar add to another dollar and another until a target is reached just shows how much every little bit counts. But what most people may not realise is that even when you don’t have any money to spare, you can still manage to support a project and create a positive outcome. And there is a group of these people already that have made a huge in-direct impact to projects. Pozible has always been... Read More

Varity has Arrived!

Varity Vampire went live last night, just after midnight! She is, she always was and now she says it in cyberspace- Varity Vampire. Bit different to my usual stuff eh? We have set up a main site http://www.varity-vampire.com/ where you can catch all things related to the production, vampires, why we did this and all that jazz. If you have topics for me, let me know. Each week we will be releasing an episode to youtube until Halloween, when we release... Read More

The Dinosaur’s Guide to Dance: Sydney style

Shaking your tail feather in Sydney can be a little bit of a problem, especially at live gigs. It appears it just isn’t cool to shimmy around and let your inner funkasaurus out. This is even worse when you are well past the hipster expiration date. However if you are in your 30’s or beyond and want to dance about, you do have some places you can go. So never fear, here is the Dinosaur’s Guide to Dance! Tone Yes, she is leaving us at her current... Read More

Crank it up, Aus start up style!

People who occasionally travel past my website may have seen a distinct change in content in the last couple of weeks. This is because like any good business, I am growing to meet the needs of my client base. I realized there is a new wave of business coming to Australia- and that wave is a drastically different one to what we have known before. It is the world of the ethical digital start up. Nope, I haven’t swallowed a bunch of buzz words, I am... Read More

From the Puppeteers Pencil

Fear not, the puppet project is still alive and kicking, well as much as their stumpy little footsies will allow anyway! It’s just been a little hectic of late on both the commercial and creative levels. The potted history of puppet events are as such: Paul has pretty much finished building our stage, with the exception of a hinge or two. Next comes the backgrounds and how to deal with them Rich has been composing for the background ads and music,... Read More

Why crowd funding?

Any creative or socially innovative person will tell you that there is often a tremendous support for their idea from friends, family and like minded people within their networks. That same person may talk of the struggle they have faced to raise the funds needed to make their dreams a reality and how hard it is to market and continually run fundraising initiatives to fund their projects. Through crowd funding, we aim to bring those passionate people... Read More

Sydney Music Scene Study

In response to the purchase of the Excelsior by Merivale and the perceived decline of viable music venues in Sydney, myself (Rebekah Lambert) and veteran indie rocker about town Rich Berndt devised and conducted a survey about the state of live music in Sydney. The responses were collected via Survey Monkey through publicity on online channels- notably this website and interested social media groups- February 2011 until July 2011. We collected 137... Read More

Puppet on a Shoestring: The Story of Birthing a Puppet Film

From moving to script to actually getting things done is a pretty hard process. It is rewarding though. Time consuming, at times very overwhelming, and punishing because you finish on task and several more sprout up like snakeheads on Cerberus. I am learning as I go along. Music and Sound Anyone who has ever done anything remotely linked to sound will tell you if you screw up the volume or the mix, it just won’t work in your favour. Thankfully,... Read More

Musicians are doing it for themselves

Sydney has certainly moved to a brighter future in the music scene since the 2000’s when poker machines ruled, entertainment licences cost venues a kidney and bookers chose bums on seats over quality, but the scars still linger. Audiences are still not brave enough to trust venues to walk in and take pot luck, some bookers persist in fragmenting bills and not knowing the style of music that gets played and venues and bands collectively barely break... Read More

Is that a Groupon in your pocket (or are you just happy to fleece me?)

Is that a Groupon in your pocket (or are you just happy to fleece me)? Australia certainly has seen a boom in growth for the online group buying schemes in the last 12 to 24 months. Along with it, the mixed reviews of just how much of a bargain the group coupon experience can be. So why is group buying so appealing and what can we do to make sure what we buy is the value item we are looking for? Let’s pick up the group buying phase and gives... Read More

Australian TV: When will you grow up?

Offspring is getting rave reviews, Twitter is alight with Hayden’s eviction from Masterchef and I almost choked on a mouthful of Friday night beer when I saw the ads for the new reality show “Dinner Date” which looks like it should be named “The Bogan BBQ Master Wants a Wife (and a spot on a talent show)”.  I just wonder when we will see some really brave, challenging TV come out of Australia.  And why, when someone is able to introduce... Read More

East Village Hotel nominated in Sydney Business Awards!

We’ve spent quite a long hard year or so creating an East Village Hotel to suit our loyal locals, fabulous foodies and function friends and we cannot thank you all enough for choosing us to be a nominee! We promise to value this compliment with giving you great value, excellent service and a fun, friendly place to meet for many years to come. In the mean time, if you would like to share the love, you can vote for us  here Like my style? Enjoy... Read More

My inner child is actually a dirty, filthy bunch of puppets

As a kid, I was the one with the bowl haircuts of fine brown hair, gauche decorated strings hanging from my glasses, pencil in hand writing stories as Miss Piggy or Kermit was tucked under the free arm. I made ball-gowns for my felt tips out of tissue and cello tape and had them dance all night with eye toting socks whilst Barbie stayed dusty on the toy shelf. I preferred wood and wool to plastic and metal. I spent a lot of time willingly inside cardboard... Read More

Kinds Of Blue Interview

Successful Project Kinds of BluePozible was recently honoured with supporting a unique artistic and writing project, Kinds of Blue, which deals with what it is like for people living with depression. This amazing book is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand, who loves someone with depression, or struggles with depression themselves. We would like to thank Karen (the creator) for taking time out of her schedule to talk to Pozible about... Read More

The feverish dizzy of knowing another’s lie

I recently had the misfortune of being caught up in someone else’s lies. On a physical level, I find such sensation akin to fever, akin to the horrid pale sweat and lightness of mind that accompanies a newly acquired fever. On the emotional side, it was quite hurtful to be caught in such a situation and feel manipulated, fooled and just plain annoyed the deception split over into my little world. But by far the worst result was seeing the complete... Read More

Welcome to the June edition of brainmates eMuse!

In this edition we want to share the highlights of ProductCamp Sydney 2011 that the brainmates team and other volunteers helped organise earlier this month. Here we saw over 50 passionate Product Manager’s shoulder to shoulder at the third product ‘unconference‘ of its kind in Australia. Many well designed and helpful explorations of key Product Management topics were tabled and considering the inspiring nature of the event, this... Read More

How to leave a store when fighting the urge to beat someone to death with your newly purchased shoes

Have you ever had one of those days where you have had a pretty great start until you make the seemingly stupid decision to shop somewhere you are clearly not wanted at lunch time? Where you wake up to an early start and begin the day feeling energised and happy and are being uber productive and then someone really takes the fire hose to your good mood for reasons you cannot fathom? When even a polite questioning about store policy or product warrant... Read More

We’re making things Pozible!

You may have noticed some changes in the wonderful world of crowd funding recently, the most notable being FundBreak’s name change to Pozible. Rest assured loyal fans, followers and friends, your favourite crowd funding platform is still at heart the one you know and love. It’s just that we have decided to up the ante a little at our HQ and made a decision to make things Pozible! Confused? Let’s take some time out to demystify our new identity. We... Read More

Pozible and “Crowdfunding for Good”

Pozible co-founder Rick Chen had the privilege to be a part of a panel discussion in Melbourne alongside StartSomeGood and the Awesome Foundation. Here, in front of a full house, Rick not only spoke about Pozible but also gained some valuable ideas and insight for the Pozible team and community at large on how to gain funds we’d like to share. Talking on a panel is just so damn delicious when you are with co-contributors like these… In their... Read More

Path to new Australian TV: Closed Until Further Notice

Australia, to me at least, has a fairly non-existent television market. Even with the introduction of brand new digital channels, we live on a staple diet of imported television and the grisly fat of TV executives and producers who have grown plump and lazy on a diet of reality TV, serial cop and hospital shows. In terms of longevity in the international market, our most successful export is Neighbours. We lay claim to the ratings success of the Masterchef... Read More

How to…get experience when you don’t have credentials

Not everyone fits into the university world. For whatever reason, there are some of us out there that really cannot gel with the whole idea of education at the higher level, yet have boundless enthusiasm, talent and continuous self learning to offer the right creative place. But often, without a degree you won’t be given the opportunity to even sit for an interview, let alone gain much needed tangible experience. So what do you do if this applies... Read More

No excuses, no, none

It’s really easy to make things overly complicated so you don’t have the chance to succeed. In my time, I have heard from band members who wouldn’t set up a MySpace because the lead singer wanted to “consult with a MySpace employee first”, worked with a film maker who spend so much time on researching a project and carrying on with self indulgent fantasies they only have journals of plans and no films to show for it and gotten in my own... Read More

ProductCamp Sydney 2011 Wrap-Up!

What a shift in conversation between Product Camp Sydney 2011 and 2010!  It’s great to see changes in our professional domain, a domain that is largely misunderstood by companies both large and small. Product Managers are starting to speak the same language. The impact of which will be the creation and growth of a baseline of understanding for the Product Management industry. This is exciting news as we can use this foundation as a spring board... Read More

How to… build a Product Roadmap

“How to build a Product Roadmap” Firstly, thank you to everyone who voted for my topic, “How to build a Product Roadmap” as the No. 1 topic of ProductCamp Sydney 2011.  Following Nathan Moyes’ keynote speech touching on the difference between the “slate”, a shorter-term delivery plan, and the product Roadmap, a more fluid longer vision, we kicked-off the unconference with a Q & A about Product Roadmaps. Encompassing the 50 or more... Read More

How to…Reward your supporters

Issuing rewards for support of your project is part and parcel of having a successful project on Pozible. But it can also be one of the hardest things to work out for you and your project group prior to launch. In this “How to…” the Pozible team share a few tips and tricks that will make setting your rewards a hassle free process! Every little bit counts One of the most common mistakes made on Pozible is setting the rewards limits beyond... Read More

How to… Inspire Contributors in Crowdfunding

How to…inspire contributors on Pozible So you have your wonderful idea bubbling away in the back of your mind, and now you need the funds for it to reach the next stage of its development. You stumble across Pozible and know this is the right place to gain your funding. So, how do you make the most of your time on Pozible? By inspiring contributors! Here are a couple of tips and tricks on how to help make that inspiration flow! FIRST and FOREMOST:... Read More

Street Dreams: A documentary of hope

This is not a usual working day, even for Pozible. I am staring into the abyss of a computer screen, with Skype pouring out the story of Mike and Jason, two Adelaide based film makers, and their latest project, Street Dreams. Mike has been kind enough to offer Pozible an interview before he and Jason leave for Asia, where their journey of truly capturing the stories of young Asian sex workers begins.  Is there a little bit of admiration and awe... Read More

We’re going to ProductCamp!

In this special edition of brainmates eMuse, we take a look at ProductCamp Sydney – the annual unconference for Product Managers next Saturday the 4th June 2011! Jam packed with input from Product Managers just like you, this unconference caters to all Product Management professionals and invites discussion, debate, presentation and shared learning as part of the unconference format. The Details What: ProductCamp Sydney Where:News limited,... Read More

Keyboard Crackpots – conversation without consequence.

You click on a link and see a much bigger boy being videoed as a much smaller child bounces around like a demented Bruce Lee infected kangaroo in front of him. Calls and comments are heard in the background. Slaps are given from smaller boy to larger boy. Finally the larger boy appears to snap and wham! A small boy is pile driven into concrete and everyone is in a whole mess of trouble by the time it hits the evening Sydney news. The instigator, the... Read More

Will Sydney lose another venue?

It all began with a fairly innocuous occurrence- the SMH writing a paragraph on Justin Hemmes’ recent purchase of the Excelsior Hotel and his big plans for the venue, and others in Surry Hills like it. Soon Facebook started popping up links to the article everywhere as musicians and punters alike started to feel the first cold dreadful feelings about what this could mean for a scene that can still feel the loss of its beloved Hopetoun. Would Surry... Read More

We’re making things Pozible!

You may have noticed some changes in the wonderful world of crowd funding recently, the most notable being FundBreak’s name change to Pozible. Rest assured loyal fans, followers and friends, your favourite crowd funding platform is still at heart the one you know and love. It’s just that we have decided to up the ante a little at our HQ and made a decision to make things Pozible! Confused? Let’s take some time out to demystify our new identity. We... Read More

Anything is Pozible

We all have burning desires, those ideas and projects that intrude on our day with annoying regularity or keep us awake as we mentally run through what we would like to do. We all have those unique concepts, the longing to share a little piece of our mind with the rest of the world, our little mark we would like to make on society. But the main impediment to success is often a lack of cash. However a new online initiative is about changing the Australian... Read More

Social media for a good cause

Social media attracts a wide variety of reactions from people and not always good ones. Take for example www.lamebook.com which has enjoyed highlighting some of the sillier things people will share on their www.facebook.com profile who are now subsequently being sued by the social media giant for trademark infringement  by the very same platform well known for sharing their users content with third parties through settings changes, software updates... Read More

Customers are a part of the mix

As a Product Manager according to the Product Bash Panel you are the person who “defines a problem and then how to solve it” before “choosing who to present the results to”. An area where many marketers, communicators and sales people find difficult or at the very least precarious is that of the customer, so how do you get the customer right? Let’s explore this age old conundrum the way a good Product Manager would. It should come as no... Read More

The real reason why dinosaurs become extinct.

Gone are the days of suiting up and doing your business in long languid booze driven lunches. Or grasping at a fistful of dollars hoping the client is none the wiser. People are getting smarter, as are brands and this, to a certain extent, has brought about a bit of a revolution. If the GFC taught us anything, it is the value of productivity and that nothing is certain. If it showed anything to the Australian public, it was more by far and away to... Read More

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre

  Sydney cries out for culture. Her inhabitants get a strange set jaw and bristly look about them whenever someone suggests Melbourne may be more cultured. We join Facebook groups in the tens of thousands bemoaning the demise of iconic places such as the Hopetoun. We are eager to stand in front of the Petersham Roller-rink, Glebe’s Valhalla or Luna Park with cardboard signs and talk vehemently and with passion about the evil sell outs who bow... Read More