Founding a business is a unique responsibility. No matter your area of expertise or the size of your team, as the owner you are ultimately responsible for every area of your business.
No business owner has the time or budget to engage 28 different specialists. You need 1 person you can trust, who can show you how all 28 areas of a business are connected and therefore where you need to focus your energy now.
That one person is Jacob Aldridge, and he recently joined Cemoh founder Simon Dell on the Cemoh Podcast. See below for some follow-on links and videos to the key topics they discussed.
Without doubt the best marketing outcomes I’ve achieved over 20 years in business have reflected the consistent input I have committed to – from weekly newsletters to monthly workshops to 134 Blackboard Friday business videos.
The first and most important rule for that consistent approach is that marketing activity won’t just happen. It’s rarely (if ever) going to be Urgent, which means if you don’t consciously choose to prioritise it then it just won’t happen.
So put aside a regular and specific amount of time dedicated to this nurturing marketing activity. For example, this might be half a day a month … which is just 2.5% of your time. It’s interesting that most people think “2.5% of my time is easy” and yet “half a day each month is impossible”.
Once you have the consistent time, here are my ‘rules’ for using it wisely.
We’re currently in a hype bubble for AI – Artificial Intelligence. And I have no doubt that AI is going to revolutionise marketing – indeed, in my small business clients, it already has.
There’s a similar acronym that I think is often overlooked in the hype, because it’s already working and functional today: AR, or Augmented Reality.
The most valuable application I’m seeing for AR is in the form of Interactive Print. Connect brochures, packaging, and direct mail to the smartphone and surprise your audience with 3D Models, 360-Degree video experiences, personalised calls to action and more through a QR Code scan or a simple button click.
From a marketing perspective, this gives the reporting data we see from emails to direct mail campaigns, and integrates offline marketing with our digital channels (like Google and Facebook tags). I’m so much of a believer in the technology that I’m an investor in UnifiedAR, who are leading the way globally in providing this solution to agencies and businesses for far less than you might think it costs.
Check out https://www.unifiedar.com/ and https://www.unifiedar.com/unifiedar-pricing/ to learn more.
From November 2017 until June 2019 (when I set off to travel the world with my newborn daughter) I produced and recorded 134 episodes of the business leadership video series Blackboard Fridays.
Every short episode was designed as a 5 minute burst of insight into a specific topic relevant to succeeding on your business journey. We revisited some important topics, and ultimately explored every topic of my business advisory methodology across 16 categories.
You can view the whole catalogue here, or enjoy the two relevant topic videos below before scrolling further to learn more about Jacob Aldridge the work I do.
Most business owners will never achieve their financial ambitions because they fail to grow beyond being small business owners. They live in an anxious and hopeful world with just one business, one primary income stream, unaware of how to change their mindset and their business practices.
They feel lonely or alone, believing they’re on the right track but feeling they have to do it all themselves. I bring the strategy and foresight so you can once again feel you are being fully authentic, fully you. If it’s what you desire, I can help you become secure, relaxed, and able to enjoy the money, time, and lifestyle that business ownership can deliver.
I wholeheartedly recommend Jacob to any business. His passionate, realistic and forward-thinking style was invaluable.
Working with Jacob, I have clarity on each of the steps I need to take, and an action plan I am now implementing.
I would recommend Jacob to anyone who wants to have absolute confidence that the right things will get done and, have a good time doing it.
When seeking the best mix of capability and personality to work with your business, geography is a limiting belief not a limiting factor.
I call myself an international business coach, but as you’ll see in that link pure business coaching is a waste of money. Your team already demand you have all the answers – only a muppet would pay someone to bring them just more questions. That’s why I adopt a hybrid approach, to provide personalised consulting or training solutions as well as the coaching approach to help rapidly transfer business skills.
And while I am currently based in Brisbane, Australia, my clients don’t need to be. I have worked face-to-face with clients in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as across the UK, North America, Dubai, Hong Kong and Fiji. And since my first remote coaching engagement in 2010, I have increasingly worked with business owners and leadership teams around the world where none of us need to commute – in 2022 I was even nominated for the Virtual Speakers Hall of Fame.