The Marketing Muster: Issue 3

Hello

Hello, it's Joh here.

Phew! It's been a rollercoaster week for those of us in Adelaide.

A COVID-19 community cluster, followed by a sudden and pretty full-on lockdown. All quickly cut short because... the pizza guy lied🤷‍♀️. It's been a ride, let me tell you (but nothing compared to what our friends and family in Victoria and many other parts of the world have faced).

Today, I'm happy and grateful my kids are back in school and my husband is back in own his office (I do not share my space well). And (so far 🤞) we seem to have avoided what could have been a huge outbreak (thanks to the excellent work of Dr Dharminy Thurairatnam - what a hero).

While a 3-day interruption wasn't ideal for many, especially those in small businesses, it could have been far worse. I hope wherever you are, you're keeping safe and well in this chaotic year.

And I hope you enjoy this week's issue of The Marketing Muster where I've once again given a Standing Ovation to a perfect pandemic pivot.

If you've missed my previous newsletters, you can read them in the archives.

And if you want The Marketing Muster delivered to your inbox each week, make sure you subscribe.

Have a great week.

Standing Ovation

From exotic textile tours to Country Food Trails

This week's Standing Ovation goes to the fabulous Nicole Farrell at Country Food Trails. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Nicole's successful international tour business, Red Door Tours came to a sudden standstill.

But Nicole's positive spirit shone through as she put Red Door Tours on pause and started Country Food Trails, offering bespoke tours showcasing the incredible food, wine, history and natural beauty of her hometown, Orange NSW.

With perseverance and a can-do attitude, Nicole quickly designed a series of unique tours and launched her new business.

Why I love it:

It uses existing experience and talents to create a new and exciting business
It focuses on food, wine, culture and history, expanding on the usual offering of a traditional wine tour
It supports local food and wine businesses, bringing groups to taste and buy their produce
It's flexible to customer needs, offering fully customised options to suit everyone
It weaves social responsibility into the business with a strong focus on sustainability
It uses the power of PR and social media to gain a fast-growing following of fans

Since launching, Nicole has seen more opportunities adding luxury picnics to her offerings to cater to small and private special occasions.

And her PR efforts have paid off with Country Food Trails featured on Prime News and in the Central Western Daily.

Nicole's passion and enthusiasm shine through in everything Country Food Trails does. I can't wait to visit Orange and go on one of the tours. And I look forward to watching Country Food Trails go from strength to strength, as I know it will.

(Full disclosure: Nicole is a client of mine. I had so much fun working with her on the website copy for Country Food Trails. I can honestly say she's one of the most well-prepared and enthusiastic clients I've ever had the pleasure to work with.)

📷 Kirsten Cunningham

Breaking News

IAG sets aside $865 million for COVID-19 small business payouts

An interesting ruling last week saw IAG preparing for the potential to pay an influx of claims from small business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It's still early days, and there may be an appeal which could drag into next year. If you think your business may have a relevant claim, it's best to talk directly with your insurance company as individual circumstances may vary.

Insights

How to communicate your new and updated services with Google My Business

We all know how quickly things can change for small business at the moment. Businesses in Adelaide certainly felt that last week. That's why it's important to keep your customers (and potential customers) up-to-date with your business hours, temporary closures, COVID safety precautions and any changes to your product or service offerings. This handy article from Moz shows you how to keep your market informed using your Google My Business listing.

Website Wisdom

3 simple ways to build links with images

Link building can be hard, but it's an important part of a well-rounded SEO strategy. This article by Joshua Hardwick at Ahrefs has great advice on how to build links using images.

Tools

Find out if your brand name idea is available with namecheckr

Are you constantly coming up with shiny new ideas for side hustle businesses or new brands you want to launch? Namecheckr is a quick way to check if your new business or brand name is available across a range of domains and social media platforms. You'll need to check for the .com.au elsewhere. And of course, you'll still need to check your local business name registration authority as well as for any relevant trademarks. But it's a great first step to see if your brilliant name is available on the socials.

Podcasts & People

How I Work

How I Work is a business podcast brought to you by Dr Amantha Imber an organisational psychologist and founder of Inventium. In How I Work, Amantha interviews some of the world's leading innovators about how they structure their work, and each episode delivers tips and insights on how to get more out of your day. It's well worth a listen. Get it wherever you get your podcasts.

My News

It's been a bit of a week here juggling the lockdown and now trying to catch up on lost time, so I don't have a lot of news to share.

How about you? What's been going on in your week?

I'd love to know what you're doing in your small business marketing.

Get in touch and let me know.

Just For Fun

The Guy Who Decides Packaging

I never knew Jimmy Giggle (aka Jimmy Rees) was so, well... funny! The Guy Who Decides Packaging had me howling this week. Don't miss part 2 and part 3 as well. 😂🤣

See you next week, Musterers.