Stop being mean to content creators: We didn’t ask to be popular

There’s a bug in my ear and sand in my swimmers over this whole “content ain’t the new black” flim-flam. Yes, I have a vested interest in putting forward a case for content being all that and a bag of chips- it’s what I do after all! But here is two reasons why I am so very tired of the whole snicker, sneer and carry on associated with content being popular. Content was here first Long before everyone marched onto the SEO train, starting... Read More

Is your marketing too clingy?

Don’t be a clingy company. Once you get a customer, it can be hard to let go. But what’s the difference between holding onto a customer and being way too clingy? Read on!   Awkward Email Unsubscribe Guess what? Customers (potential and actual) will occasionally sign up for your email newsletter and then decide it isn’t for them. Don’t make their unsubscribe process hard. Don’t ask them to enter passwords when you know full well they... 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

Climb out of my ear please- I’m doing stuff!

“It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic, is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.” Theodore Roosevelt Everyone’s a critic Apart from a terribly delicious word such as ‘behooves’ getting airplay, good old Teddie is bang on the money. It never ceases to amaze me how many people feel it necessary to hack at the shins of the people who are just... Read More

What we could all learn from Radiohead

Last night with tens of thousands of other people I was brutally assaulted, seduced and made to feel like I was privy to something huge yet private all at once. The circumstances of this bizarre yet thought provoking situation was seeing Radiohead at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Here’s the disclaimer: I am a card carrying Radiohead fan. I’ve often joked I could say my life is complete once I finally get to kiss Thom Yorke’s bung eyelid.... 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

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

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

Crush it- I freakin’ love it!

I did the super uber nerdy reader thing in January and went to one of those “50 Books You Have to Read” for business people. What can I say, I was a little tired of re-reading my current collection and really don’t like snuggling up with a good blog before I go to bed. From that list, beyond the Richard Branson books I already had (being a card carrying Fanson, you know I had to have them!) I chose an unremarkable number of books- 6 to be exact.... Read More

Leap, leap?!…Ah Why not Leap?

Today is the day after the Leap year day. The time when I remember my sister’s friend Kris who only gets an “actual” birthday every four years and takes it in her stride by following the ‘less is more’ motto, the time where traditional marketers push people towards making a change in life (“leap into my sale otherwise my boss will beat me, please!” ) and where I think of frogs doing extraordinary feats, whether they be cartoon or carbonated... 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

How to Stay Afloat in a Competitive Retail World

As brainmates continue our exploration of the discussion coming from Product Bash 2011, our 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, shared their thoughts on “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail”  in relation to how to stay afloat in... 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

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

Seriously sales girl, calm the $X#@ down!

I am completely and utterly allergic to “in ya face” sales techniques. In order not to increase my own blood pressure or worse still, be court ordered to pay for some poor unsuspecting retail shop assist’s counselling for Post Meeting-Angry-Bek Syndrome, I have given myself the following limitations: I have completely abandoned shopping at major department stores due to an overwhelming desire to head butt staff who seem to not watch what I... 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

It’s all relative

Welcome to that awkward moment where the Facebook friend you can rely on to have their bottom lip out and their rant pants on a regular basis is trying to tell others Facebook isn’t for whinging and to stop their belly aching. You scroll down their page and wonder what you see that they don’t. To that moment where another Facebook friend is espousing the values of the “Occupy Wall Street” moment with dizzying fervour, eagerly anticipating... 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

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

brainmates August eMuse!

brainmates – product management people After 7 years of brainmates, we’ve celebrated with a new look eMuse! Let us know what you think via brainmates on Twitter. This month sees brainmates Natalie add a splash and a dash to the Product Management cocktail shaker, we examine Turning Ideas into Business Cases in depth and Adrienne reminds us there is a little bit of Product Manager in us all. Cocktail Recipe for Happy Product Professionals After... 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

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

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

The Crackheads: Profiles!

Maybe I spent way too much time in the dating industry to truly shake it off, but when it comes to getting to know my characters, there is nothing I like to do better than prop them up on the singles couch and ask them what they think their answer would be to common dating profile questions. Original Crackhead Age: What’s it to ya?   Location: Sunny fuckin’ Redfern   Height: Does it matter when ya on ya knees?!   Body Type:... 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

Band Photos: How not to bore people to death

Having recently flicked through the TripleJ Unearthed site in search of some new indie bands to follow, I have realised that musicians probably operate a secret society, complete with five point starter kits for their bio photos. Why do I say this? Well, why else would almost every photo feature the same five key points? The dreaded five key points Choose exotic location such as graffiti wall, brick wall, wooden wall or something which features wall... 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

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

The Swap Creative Application Form

Unashamedly Creative is proud to present a new way of looking at your marketing budget with Swap Creative. In order to keep myself and my Labrador in the style we were previously accustomed to, and also help fellow small businesses get that all important word out, I will be taking applications for businesses who are interested in being my exclusive Swap Creative clients. I am looking to hear from any business that may think we could have an ongoing... Read More

Introducing SWAP CREATIVE!

Unashamedly Creative is proud to present a new way of looking at your marketing budget with Swap Creative. Being only in the early stages of operation, Unashamedly Creative has been a small business for twelve months, often working with other small businesses as clients or suppliers to get projects done. Anyone who has ever been in business for themselves or part of a smaller operation will understand sometime the cash flow isn’t available as readily... Read More

Businesses are like terrariums.

Businesses are like terrariums. When you first walk in, the conditions may shock you, they may feel wondrous. They can feel like the greatest or worst places on earth. If you are growing a business, you are indeed in a terrarium, and it doesn’t matter if that terrarium is made out of the highest quality materials, or junk-jammed out of a plastic Coke bottle and anything else you could find at the time. If you haven’t walked into the terrarium... Read More

Building the Darlinghurst Theatre

It is with great pride Unashamedly Creative begins a new relationship with an old Sydney favourite, the Darlinghurst Theatre Company! The home of sustainable, independent theatre for over a decade, The Darlinghurst Theatre Company are about to embark on their biggest journey as they transition from their current home to a beautiful new home in the Tabernacle Building and with it, onwards and upwards in the Australian arts scene. The same hungry love... 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