Marketing Solutions for the Middle-Market
Most of the news about business in Australia is on the big companies, and there’s plenty of talk around SME’s, but the middle-market, made up of around 27,000 businesses, contribute more to the Australian economy than both big business and SME’s.
The business growth outlook for the middle-market companies is greater than small and large businesses.

In the challenges of handling this growth, some things might be lost or put on the back burner if you’re a middle-market company. Things like your marketing requirements; maybe your IT department is constrained by your growth.
Handling growth correctly can see your company developed into a big business. The challenge for middle-market companies is not losing sight of this and finding the right services that can help you achieve this.
Having a simple marketing solution that lets you maintain focus on the overall changes in your company will help you stay on track with your growth. Some of the things a good marketing service provider will offer you are -
  • A marketing system that demonstrates fast ROI 
  • A modular and scalable service 
  • It requires no installation and is easy to manage 
  • Quality service and support

Software as a Service offers you all of the above, and more -
  • Software you don't have to buy 
  • No physical software to install or set up
  • Your IT department won’t have to do a thing
  • The software and all your associated data are in the Cloud
  • And, it is all safe

If you’re a middle-market company who wants to sustain your progress, you will need a SaaS marketing solution that will grow with you.  

Mobile Marketing brings in Business

Mobile marketing is taking off; you need to be on board to gain the benefits. Methods like SMS, MSS, Push Notifications and Quick Response (QR) Codes, are growing.

Benefits of SMS Marketing

  • Infinite marketing potential
  • Instant deliverability
  • High open rate
  • Prompt subscriber action
  • Environmentally friendly


Benefits of MMS Marketing

  • Send a coupon to subscribers
  • Video message
  • Interactive

Benefits of Push Notifications

If a customer has your app and has push notifications selected, they can instantly receive messages about app updates, new products, and it reminds your customers who you are.

Benefits of QR Codes

  • Direct link to a product or service
  • Provide a map to your business
  • Saves typing in web addresses

Mobile marketing is quickly becoming the most effective form of marketing, due to the number of mobiles in Australia. There are more active mobile phones in Australia than people, and the availability of 3G/4G and wi-fi is spreading.

Sydney Ferries’ customers can access free wi-fi on most vessels. There is free wi-fi on the Darwinbus service, free wi-fi on Adelaide metro public busses, and thousands of free wi-fi hotspots in cities around Australia. Over 700 in McDonald’s stores alone.

The opportunities for mobile marketing are waiting to be taken. 41% of emails are now opened on mobile devices, so the content of your mobile marketing needs to quickly get to the point and have an obvious link.

Flash sales are the perfect mobile marketing technique to get customers into your store at a given time. Send out a short SMS about a sale happening in your store at lunchtime and watch them pour in. 
 

A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Art

Buying an artwork for the first time can be daunting. This article will help get you over the initial hurdle of where to begin. Your budget will answer many questions for you, like framed or unframed, under glass, print or original, to buy on-line or at a gallery.

When you are ready to start buying art for your home, talk to people who have artworks in their home, they will have probably gone through what you are about to. Talk to art dealers, go to galleries, talk to artists, go on-line and see what’s available, survey your market and then, start small, get the feel of the art in your home.

You will have an idea of what you do and don’t like, let this be your guide throughout the buying process. Don’t let anyone try to convince you to buy the next big thing or through any other unrealistic sales device. Most people in art sales will be honest with you, as they want you coming back - repeatedly.

Let’s assume you have set your budget and you are ready to get out into the market and see what is available, you could ask yourself these questions first.

·         Do I choose to buy online, at a gallery, in a shop or directly from the artist?

·         What format - painting, sculpture, photography, multi-media, drawing?

·         What style - abstract, pop art, realism, post-modernism, minimalism?

·         What subject - portrait, landscape, body art, still life, nature, nudes?

·         What medium - watercolour, oil, print, pen and ink, pencil, etching, lithograph?

·         Alternatively, forget these questions and go with what you like.

You will also have an idea of where around your home you can hang or place the artwork; nudes may work best in the bedroom, a sculpture for the garden, a drawing in a study or library. The answer to this is open ended, be daring, show your family and friends how original you can be.

A company like www.bluethumb.com.au can be the perfect place to get you started. Here you will find over 50 artists that offer you a range of works that can be well suited to a variety of homes.

This painting below by Matthew Simpson titled Clara Draper, named after his younger sister, could work well in any room. Its style is abstract and its medium oils. The nature of this work lends itself to many possibilities that can add to or offset the style of a room.

The light in or coming into a room is to be considered when placing an artwork. Strong sunlight is not suitable for viewing artworks and sunlight should never fall directly onto a work.

Cleaning an artwork, in a word, don’t. If you value your artworks, talk to an expert conservator when and if an artworks needs to be cleaned.


It is possible that you could frame a work like this; framing options are many, but as you can tell it’s a contemporary work, you would want a frame that follows this quality. Having an artwork under glass has its benefits; glass helps protect against environmental damage and people over enthusiastically pointing. Then there are issues with reflection to consider. While there is anti-reflective glass, it is just a coating and not completely effective. Talk to a reputable framer, they will advise.