One of the key reasons I trekked from Brisbane, Australia to London, England was to spend the afternoon listening to Simon Sinek.

I was thrilled to be part of The Business Over Breakfast Show with Andrew Griffiths and Bree James. The podcast is a great source of advice, guidance, tips and insights for small business owners.

On episode 24, I was interviewed as part of their feature on "How to Effectively Market Your Business".
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Momentum by Michael McQueen is a book that combines inspirational thoughts and insights with pragmatic advice for how to build momentum, keep it or get it back. I have recently finished reading Momentum and I suggest that if you can get your hands on a copy, it's certainly worth it. 
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McQueen is an award-winning speaker, consultant and trend forecaster. He has helped some of the world's best-known brands maintain relevance and is the author of four best selling books.

I attended the World Business Forum in Sydney in May and June this year (along with 3000 of my closest friends). The 2 day event was packed with sensational speakers, inspiration and motivation and I want to share my top 9 take outs with you.

1. Perception of simplicity.
Ken Segall, former Ad Agency Creative Director at Apple, proposes that the perception of simplicity is essential. Our customers can get overwhelmed with too much choice. By making things simple for them, we can make their path to purchase easier and quicker. He argues that being simple isn't simple. It requires discipline and a ruthless approach, especially when it comes to the customer experience. He advises that in business we should do fewer things better. As the man behind the "i" in iMac, I think Ken knows a thing or two about simplicity and making it a commercial success. He challenges us with Einstein's quote: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough". How can you apply the principle of simplicity to your business?

Hard selling can be difficult and yucky. Persuading someone to buy something they don’t need is just icky – whichever way I look at it. When Dr Flint McGlaughlin, an American academic and business leader used the phrase ‘clarity trumps persuasion’ it certainly resonated with me.
 
As contemporary business owners, I believe we need to understand that our audience is quite educated. They have a plethora of choice and the internet searching device they are holding in their hands is giving them all the tools they need to carry out extensive searches in a matter of seconds. In response to this, I believe we need to consider moving out of persuading mode and into clarity mode – if we’re not already there.
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A plan without action is just a dream – Cielito Bello.

This is so true. Of course it's great to dream. I encourage you to dream big. But don't get your head stuck in the clouds, or in paperwork. The power is in the action.

You've spent time creating a vision and you have identified your goals. That’s GREAT, but it's what you do next that is most important.

START is the key word here. Don’t over complicate things, try and achieve one goal at a time before moving onto the next, it’s better to complete one, than start thirty-three and not complete any.

Are you customers reading about you or your competitors?

As average Australians, we are spending more and more time each day on-line. We can't get enough of our smartphones! So when your customers (or prospective) customers are hanging out online, are they hanging out with you?

Are you wasting time analysing the wrong metrics?

People often ask "How many likes is enough on Facebook?" Of course, there is no definitive answer, however once we really start talking about what their objective is and what they should be measuring, it's not the answer they really want - it's a different question. 

To save yourself some time and energy, I thought I would share the 5 most common metric errors I've seen and of course some advice on how you can avoid these and get on with running your business.

A while ago one of my favourite mentors, Andrew Griffiths said to me "Do small really well". At first I wondered if he was just being supportive of small business in general, or if he had a specific thing in mind when sharing this pearl of wisdom with me. 

Either way, it has had me thinking about what this really means for me and what the key lessons are in this powerful little comment. After some thought and some real life application, here are my key take outs: