GWP M a g a z i n e s ®
SYDNEY - Issue 37
| July / AUGUST 2011
Publisher’s Guest: Stuart Ayres, MP Liberal Member for Penrith
SES:
Everyday Heroes Commissioner Murray Kear
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GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
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Editor and Publisher: Dmitry Greku Staff Writer/Cover Story: Larry Woldenberg Contributing Writers: Charlie Lynn Angry Anderson Adam Goldstien Scott Tyler Steve Sebbes John Watters Robert Cliff Russell Chegwyn Shannon Donato Marcus Moufarrige Joe Boyd Tony Barakat Colin Butler Art Director: Svetlana Greku Graphic Design: Xabier Goñi, XDesigns Photography: Francesca Surace, Stilz Fotografika Printing: Pegasus Print Group Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine® is published by GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® ABN: 82 096 352 064 www.gwpmagazine.com.au Norwest Office: Unit 8, 7 Inglewood Place Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 International Standard Serial Number ISSN 1837-199X Advertising Enquiries p | 02 8090 1730 e | info@gwpmagazine.com.au To Subscribe w | www.gwpmagazine.com.au
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Copyright GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® 2010. The opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect and are not to be regarded as the official opinion of the editor, publisher or their agents. All information contained within this journal is provided for general information purposes only and on the understanding that none of the content herein constitutes professional advice. The editor, publisher or their agents accept no responsibility for any claim, loss or damages arising out of or in connection with any materials contained in this journal. Readers should not rely on the publications in the journal and seek appropriate professional advice in respect of their own circumstances.
Contents
CONTENTS 8
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Cover Story 8
Publisher’s Guest 14
Features
Regulars Business Advice
The State Emergency Service: Everyday Heroes Larry Woldenberg
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5 Ways Web Video Can Increase Business Scott Tyler
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When You Think of TAFE What do You Think of?
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Has “Stuck” Cash Clogged Your Business Growth? Joe Boyd, Tony Barakat
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Mysterious Platinum? Robert Cliff
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Acquiring Marketing Lists – Hard Yakka or a Stroll in the Park? Colin Butler
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Panthers Membership An Expanding Army of Passionate People Shannon Donato
Telecom
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Employee of the Month Goes to... Your Receptionist Marcus Moufarrige
Stuart Ayres, MP Liberal Member for Penrith
Regulars Political Agenda
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Ideological Parasites GetUp Greens Charlie Lynn
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The Young, Passionate and Naive Angry Anderson
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Business Advice
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Succession – What are Your Options? Adam Goldstien
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The Impact of Underinsurance Russell Chegwyn
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Learning by Doing, Not by Listening John Watters
Essential Planning for Moving Premises Steve Sebbes
The Future for Small Business is Digital
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Classifieds
Government Supercharge Your Business The Hills Shire Council
Parramatta: A Plan to Increase Visitors to the City Parramatta City Council
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
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Editor’s letter
Dmitry Greku - Editor and Publisher - GWP Magazines®
Swap Deal: Government to Malaysia, Cows to Canberra Aren’t we all tired of the seemingly endless excuses our government and its supporters have been feeding us for the past several years? As we all have heard, there is now a tendency to blame overseas natural disasters for the failures in the Australian economy rather than the incompetence of public servants. Recently, a complaint to a TV news program came via email exclaiming that it was not right for Tony Abbot and Scott Morrison to make any arrangements with the Nauru Government because “everybody knows” that Nauru is a paradise for money laundering of the Russian Mafia. The Russian Mafia is raging through the Planet. The American economy is having a devastating effect on “prosperous” initiatives of the Australian government. Hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes keep bringing illegal immigrants to our environmentunfriendly highly-carbonated shores. Who and what else can they blame for their failures? Watching the news and reading newspapers, it looks like we have nothing to worry about but the treatment of cows in Indonesia and the rights and welfare of illegal immigrants. I don’t condone animal cruelty in any shape or form. But when did cattle become more important than Australian farmers?! As a result of the publicity-grabbing livestock export
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ban, some Australian cattle farmers may lose their businesses and the welfare of their families may be at stake. But at least the cows will be okay – until they’re slaughtered! Why do 22 million Australians, including children and pensioners, have to take care of planet Earth with its population of 6.5 billion? While the government is busy looking for excuses and quick fixes for problems that in fact should be the responsibility of foreign governments, tens of thousands of Australian families can no longer afford the full use of electricity in their homes, and others are risking their lives and health dealing with detention centre riots and fires. I recently watched a documentary about a border patrol in the US. The patrol officers had the slogan “Removing Illegal Aliens” on their uniforms. This is exactly what they do and it’s a necessary task. But can you imagine someone being so blunt about it here? They’d be shouted down for saying something so politically incorrect. Here’s what is politically incorrect - politicians who disregard the simple needs of their own people while they try to look busy solving issues of other peoples in other countries, and politicians who accept responsibility for the welfare of cows in Indonesia while ignoring their responsibility for the welfare of their own people. It’s easy to fight something somewhere for
someone’s greater good. Our government has become very addicted to solving the World’s problems while overlooking our own. Taxpayers’ money is being drained overseas into a black hole of climate change, awareness programs and support of “freedom fighters”. Our public servants are starting to look like a student protest rally for world peace – they’re making a lot of noise and not achieving much. And the last helpful thought for this letter: in these dark times for Australian families, every household needs to introduce a new swearing jar. Whenever any family member or a guest in the house says “tax” or “tax you” or “we’ve been taxed up” they have to add 50 cents to the jar for the family survival fund, unless we start doing something correctly somewhere. And that “somewhere” better be here.
Please write to me with your views. The best will be published in “Let’s Spin a Good Yarn” Section. e | editor@gwpmagazine.com.au
Letter to the editor
Let’s Spin A Good Yarn Dear Mr. Greku, First of all I would like to inform you that I am a very big fan of your magazine and I thoroughly enjoy losing myself in it. I agree with the comments made in your article and, I must say, that I am no fan of the Gillard Government as the advice given to her by Professor Garnaut is nowhere near correct in my opinion as I am of the understanding that climate change takes place over thousands of years and, not Ten Years as being bandied around as a result of the survey done. So where is the Gillard Government coming from as it is beyond my comprehension? Of course she will push for the implementation of carbon tax as it is estimated to raise something like $11.5 billion dollars. So this gives the Government an excuse to waste more money, and I cannot comprehend the fact that lower income earners will
be satisfactorily compensated. After all, Australia is amongst the highest taxed countries in the Western World economies. Please correct me if I am wrong. The Greens and the Labour Party Faction should pull their heads in and concentrate on solving our own economy like paying attention to health and education. And what if the carbon tax is implemented and it makes no difference to the so called climate change fiasco – What Then? Everybody will suffer enormous hardships with the possibility of job loses. I fail to see why the Government refuses to hold a referendum. Is it because Ms Gillard is fearful of the outcome as this is the only way to solve the climate change dilemma? After all, the Government is very good at wasting taxpayers’ dollars. Thanking you for allowing me to voice my opinion.
Ian Beeman.
If you would like your letter published in the upcoming issues of the Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine, please send it to editor@gwpmagazine.com.au
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The State Emergency Service: Everyday Heroes 8
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By Larry Woldenberg Who do you phone when a storm breaks out, the street floods and fallen trees block the road? The answer is the State Emergency Service (SES). Formed in 1955 in response to severe flooding in the Maitland-Hunter Valley area, the organisation has evolved into a national entity with 43,000 volunteers. And it all started in New South Wales. For this issue Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine decided it was time to highlight the fact that this illustrious organisation performs dangerous tasks which sometimes result in the loss of lives. Because it’s so easy to take a volunteer service for granted, we decided to tell their story.
According to SES Commissioner Murray Kear, the greatest economic disasters are not fires. This of course is a surprise to most Australians who remember the Victorian bushfires that killed 173 people in 2009 and the 2003 Canberra fires that destroyed over 500 homes. Certainly fire is the most dramatic. But the average annual losses by fire, storm and flooding in NSW bear truth to the Commissioner’s claims for storms cost $220 million, floods $150 million and fires $20 million. Up to 2007, according to the NRMA, the 7 most expensive Australian disasters were: 1. 1989 Newcastle earthquake $4.3 billion 2. 1974 Cyclone Tracy $3.6 billion 3. 1999 Sydney Hailstorm $3.3 billion
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4. 1974 Brisbane floods $2.1 billion 5. 1985 Brisbane hailstorms $1.7 billion 6. 2007 Newcastle storms $1.4 billion 7. 1983 Victorian bushfires $1.3 billion But these events have since been dwarfed by the 2009 Victorian bushfires which cost $4.3 billion in total costs to the economy and the most recent Queensland floods in which the
total repair bill alone stands at $5.3 billion and the estimated costs to the national economy in lost economic opportunity exceeds $30 billion.
traffic management, providing manpower to hold hoses, refuelling helicopters, communications and so forth.
So where does the role of the SES fit into all of this? To begin with, it all started in NSW when the State Government finally tired of witnessing the scattered efforts of water brigades, the police and local councils trying
The SES also plays the important role of providing road crash rescue in many rural areas of the State, removing trapped persons from vehicles, assisting the Ambulance Service of NSW with first response aid to the sick and injured in remote areas, providing lighting, undertaking searches for lost/ missing persons, aerial searches, vertical rescues from both heights and depths in both mountainous and coastal areas and, of course, general rescue work in landslides, earthquakes, building collapses, and even animal rescue. Another important SES function is evidence searches and hasn’t everyone witnessed their Driver Reviver services while travelling somewhere? While the original SES was formed in NSW by our State Government it wasn’t too long before the other States came on board with their own SES organisations. Today Murray heads a State body composed of 245 paid staff which organises 10,000 volunteers and has a yearly budget of $62 million. The State SES contains 228 local units consisting of between 5 and 120 volunteers each. In 1989 as part of government’s desire to de-centralise, SES headquarters were relocated to Wollongong which works well due to the digital advancement in technology with its video conferencing. Nationally there are now over 1000 SES units composed of over 43,000 volunteers. But with a 6.5 million population, NSW has the largest state organisation.
to ameliorate damages and the loss of life from flooding in the Maitland-Hunter Valley area. By 1955 the local populace had suffered 11 major floods. Enough was enough. So in the same year the State Government set up the SES under Ivan Doughterty. This was to include flood, storm damage and Civil Defence. The Cold War was then a major concern. (Later, in the Seventies, Civil Defence was separated out.) Fire had already been organised under the 1909 NSW Fire Brigades act. This has since morphed into Fire and Rescue NSW which handles urban factory and building fires and the Rural Fire Service which covers bushfires. While SES’s major concerns are floods and storms, its role goes far beyond these as it also provides logistical support to the Rural Fire Service in the form of catering, door knocking to warn people and direct them,
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When asked how SES is set up, Murray explained: “Every local unit has different needs, so what we do is set up a framework which offers basic safety instructions with nationally accredited skills. The ability to work as a team is taught with certificates issued for competency. There are structured training programs, for instance, in heavy machinery operation, chainsaws and driving flood boats. The head of each local unit in NSW communicates with 17 regional training instructors who coordinate and develop the programs that can be taught by the local unit’s personnel.” Several units have unique roles like that of the Snowy Mountains unit at Jindabyne, some of whose members are trained in alpine search and survival skills who search for people lost in Australia’s high country. In the Hawkesbury wild country forms nearly three quarters of
great australian PEOPLE the council’s territory leading to the unit’s expertise in rescue from depths and heights requiring abseiling skills and the use of a larkin frame (a device for lowering and raising stretchers). Unfortunately, body searches have been all too frequent in these parts. Because all SES units are coordinated centrally from Wollongong where SES headquarters resides, units can share their skills and manpower. This is a real advantage over the chaos prior to 1955. It was a real surprise to learn how SES’s $65 million budget is financed. According to Murray, it’s the following: 11.7% Local Government 14.6% State Government 73.7% Insurance Companies. And it’s the same model for the Fire Rescue Service. “An Act of Parliament mandates insurance companies pay and they are levied accordingly,” Murray explains. “They are invoiced quarterly. But they benefit, too, because it lowers their risks. This is because the SES emphasises not just response but preparation and prevention as well. We encourage development/land use planning, community education about flooding and storms and what to do, as well as how to recover following a disaster. We visit businesses as well. At business breakfasts, for example, we discuss where the risk is, what they can do, and where they can learn more online. “We also increase our volunteers’ skills by holding rescue competitions. “In addition, 11 SES units have specially trained volunteers who provide first response medical assistance to stabilise patients until the Ambulance Service of NSW arrives. At Penrith Whitewater Stadium we conduct swift water training and for flood search and rescue operations we are the largest suppliers of rescue personnel all of whom are easily recognisable in their orange uniforms,” Murray concludes. Murray’s background is interesting in itself. He has 31 years of experience since commencing as a fire fighter volunteer in 1980. He started out in insurance as a junior underwriter and then worked in a transport office. “I loved adventure sports and knew I wanted to work not just indoors but outdoors as well, so I became a fire fighter for the next 28 years where I did fire fighting and rescue
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“In the SES, providing support to our friends interstate and overseas also occurs. Recently, the SES supplied packs of equipment for Christchurch and some behind the scenes support to Japan. Earlier this year, we supplied 600 volunteers to Queensland following Cyclone Yasi, and others assisted in the response to the recent flooding in Brisbane, elsewhere in Queensland and in Victoria. “The SES is also very proud of our cadet program that we run in high schools with overnight activities teaching operating rescue equipment, abseiling, flood boat manoeuvring, teamwork and the operation of heavy lifting equipment. Our 2-day camps where all this takes place are very popular and help secure the next generation of emergency service volunteers. “To volunteer for SES unit service you have to be 16 years or older. There is no upper limit and we have jobs for everyone — including people with a disability. In Wagga Wagga there is an 87-year-old volunteer who still operates a radio and provides valuable experience and assistance. “These days SES is also embracing the social media. Our SES cadets use YouTube and we are soon to utilise Facebook and Twitter. The new Emergency Alert system allows us to send SMSs to
It took 12 hours to extinguish and not fifty feet from where I was standing an LPG cylinder exploded. Then the roof of the building collapsed. That was scary! But these events are rare nowadays due to safety regulations. “Then there was a methanol fire with 9 million litres of fuel in Wollongong around 2004 which melted the plastic on cars 300 metres away and required 150 fire fighters.”
work, became an Officer, then an Inspector and finally an Assistant Commissioner. Then in 2008 I became Commissioner of SES.” When asked about the most dangerous situation he’d been in, Murray replied: “There was one large factory fire in the Eastern Suburbs with gas tanks and chemicals.
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When asked about international and intra-state campaigns he has participated in, Murray explained: “In 2002, for instance, when I was with Fire and Rescue NSW, they sent over 200 personnel to Oregon to help manage the forest fires and I was honoured to be amongst that number.
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people’s mobiles/landlines to impart critical information and warnings. This has come about as a result of the Victorian Bushfires. “Here in Wollongong we have our own TV studio to broadcast from,” Murray adds. An article on the SES wouldn’t be complete without some stories. Take Nundle, for instance, where hospitals and ambulances are far away and the SES is all that is available in the “golden hour” after an accident, a heart attack or a stroke to keep people alive until help arrives. Calls average one or two a week including farming and industrial accidents, snake bites, attempted suicides, hypothermia, etc. In the case of one man he was stung by a swarm of bees and had a severe allergic reaction. The SES gave the victim’s wife instructions over the phone to make him suck ice and to pack ice on his head, face and hands. The doctor who finally attended the scene credited the first aid rendered with saving the patient’s life. In Menindee the SES serves a large, lightly populated area of the Central Darling Shire to the east of Broken Hill. The local airstrip is made of dirt and popular with the kangaroos. So when the Flying Doctor Services come someone has to undertake “roo runs”. This is done by driving up and down the airstrip in the unit’s vehicle swerving from sideto-side with the horn blaring. This bit of unconventional manoeuvring is performed before both takeoff and landing to clear the strip of roos. And for night time flights kerosene flares are laid out in pots and lit to illuminate the runway.
Queanbeyan has a family story. The SES unit was formed in 1964 in response to the drowning of two young girls in the Queanbeyan River. For years its heart and soul were found in the Morton family. Ray Morton pushed for the unit to be set up but was killed in a training accident at Araluen only five years later. His sons Max, George and David all played prominent roles in the unit for years afterwards. Big floods occurred there in 1974 and the SES unit had a harrowing 20-hour operation when a family became stranded by floodwaters between Nelligen and Braidwood. The conditions were dreadful with temperatures around zero, driving rain and strong wind gusts and with mud and fallen trees making the passage of vehicles difficult. There was a 150-metre wide torrent of water and someone had to wade ahead of the truck to ascertain the position of flooded bridge crossings. These, of course, are only minor stories amongst the thousands, but they do give a human glimpse of SES’s daily occurrences across the State and Nation. At the conclusion of our interview we asked Murray what role the business community could play? “You can go to the SES website for business safety tips where you can find, for instance, a Business Flood Safety Tool Kit. You can also invite SES personnel to meet with your local business community to make presentations. Details on how to contact your local SES unit will be on our website. “In addition, you can donate to local units and allow and encourage employees to become members and to give up their time. This has the added benefit of importing
their learnt skills into your business. People volunteers are most important to us. Finally, you can invite the SES to use your facilities for training. This could also be of benefit to your company should a genuine emergency arise on your business premises.” In view of the above and the recent events in Tokyo and Queensland, we can all be both proud and thankful of our State Emergency Services’ contribution to our security and wellbeing as well as its 10,000 State volunteers. G
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Publisher’s GUEST
Publisher’s Guest
Stuart Ayres, MP Liberal Member for Penrith with Dmitry Greku, Publisher/Editor, GWP Magazines
Stuart Ayres was elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly in the Penrith byelection of 2010 with a landslide 26% swing against the sitting Labor government. He was re-elected by the same margin in March and elevated to the post of Deputy Whip in the O’Farrell Liberal Government. Mr Ayres is passionate about the Penrith region and expanding investment and job opportunities for people and businesses right across Western Sydney.
DG: Stuart, what’s your opinion about the population growth? There is a population growth program to achieve the 50 million mark by 2050. That, by my opinion, is not a great idea but, still, population is growing, infrastructure is not growing. For the last 16 years we’ve seen almost nothing basically happening in this department. What does the NSW new Government plan to do in solving this major problem? SA: I think that one of the things I identified through my campaigning and door knocking and definitely through the first almost twelve months since I was elected is that often the issues around population are really issues about infrastructure. People, I think, broadly speaking when I talk to them, recognise that populations are going to grow and cities are going to evolve. But what they expect is that with those population changes, with those demographic changes, appropriate infrastructure is invested into local areas to match that growth. And in New South Wales and very, very specifically Western Sydney, that hasn’t happened. The state government under Labour
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over the last sixteen years really did just walk away from Western Sydney and it became a population dumping ground. We saw the areas in the North West and South West marked for large population growth, which is an appropriate place to put large population growth except at no stage was there any matched infrastructure to support that. The O’Farrell Government has been very, very clear with its commitment to build the North West rail link and also the South West rail link. They’ll be continuing. There will be links that will enable people in those two growth sectors to access east-west rail lines to take them to the city and reduce traffic congestion on their major roads. I absolutely applaud Gladys Berejiklian for her work in that space and Barry O’Farrell for his strong commitment to it.
unemployment. What in your opinion could be a solution? SA: I think Western Sydney is full of self made people. I think that people in Western Sydney are very much the quiet achievers. I think that often people in the Liberal Party refer to them as the forgotten people, the people that go about their business in a quiet manner. They look after their family, they complete their work on a daily basis and they just want a little bit of support from the Government. So I think that if we can support those people by maintaining high levels of employment, if we can support
policy framework that allows this City and other regions in Western Sydney, like the Hills District, like Parramatta and Liverpool, to really grow into regional centres that are quite attractive for doing business in. DG: Yes, that’s a great connection to the next question. The success of any region depends on the business, on the business growth and its success. So will you together with the business community be able to solve these problems through growing local business, attracting new business and investors into the area? What are your plans? SA: Well, I want to put a big sign, I want to hammer a big sign into the ground on the edge of the M4 that says that Penrith’s open for business because I think that one of the issues that existed under the previous State Government is that they didn’t look much further west than the CBD. Penrith’s a great place to come and do business. There are plenty of opportunities for you to establish and set up a business in this part of Sydney. Geographically it is a fantastic location if you’re involved in transport and logistics, given the fact that you can avoid the major traffic hurdles of the CBD; you’ve got access to the major arterial roads of the M4, the M5 and the M7 and the M2 in close proximity; but we also form the gateway to regional New South Wales. So I think there are some great opportunities that exist in that space.
Western Sydney has a GDP roughly the same size as Singapore and that’s something we really need to harness
I also think that Western Sydney needs to continue to present its good virtues and all of the good things about it as a place to do business. That will also allow the government to continue to invest in Western Sydney and I think the next big challenge for us is the North South passage route which we’ve seen the Howard Government invest in with the M7, and I think that further infrastructure to allow people to move North - South not just East - West is the direction that the O’Farrell Government needs to take over the longer term. DG: You just said that Western Sydney for the Labour Government was more like a population dumping ground and we, as a result of their policies and behaviour, we’ve got social problems; a lot of people are on welfare, and there is a high level of
them by allowing our cities and our regions to grow and provide good quality amenities, high quality services, good quality roads and education opportunities, then any of the challenges that existed in Western Sydney over previous years will become opportunities for the future. I think Western Sydney is the engine room to allow New South Wales to become the number one State again. It has a GDP roughly the same size as Singapore and that’s something we really need to harness, and I know here in Penrith that one of the things that we talk about quite a lot, and not just talk but really start to put in place, is a
We’ve got a beautiful natural landscape with the Nepean River and the mountains — the opportunities that exist around the future of the Penrith Lakes Development which, to give you some perspective, is roughly the same size as the distance in the Harbour,
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Publisher’s GUEST
the Sydney Harbour from Rose Bay to the Harbour Bridge. It is really one of the most wonderful sites for future development from a Western Sydney perspective that we’ve really ever seen. I would take this opportunity to also talk about the fact that Penrith Business Alliance is doing some really great work in attracting businesses to set up in Western Sydney, and, in particular, Penrith. And one of the areas that they’ve targeted, and I completely support them in this, is the area around health and education. Health is going to be one of the fastest growing areas of business in this country over the next ten to twenty five years. I would be more than happy in my time, more than happy at the end of my time in Parliament to say that Penrith was the health capital of Australia. I look overseas and I see a city like Nashville in Tennessee. Most of us would think about Nashville as a city that has got a lot to do with country music, but they targeted health as an industry that they really want to make their own, and they’ve done that. And I see Penrith possibly being the Australian
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version of Nashville in the United States, and becoming the home of health business in Australia. DG: We were talking about business issues, industry and finance in this interview, but how about the cost of living pressures for Penrith families and Penrith every day workers? SA: Yeah, I think going hand in hand, or if not number one, a close run second to the infrastructure issues that people raise with me on a regular basis is the undoubted level of pressure that exists on the household budget. People don’t have the leisure dollar or the discretionary spending that they’ve had in years gone by. The cost of utilities and services has grown well above the cost of the level of inflation and that is biting quite hard on the household budget. I know that the O’Farrell Government has already taken action to remove unnecessary charges that exist in the State space with the removal of home buyers’ tax and other taxes that were a disincentive, and we’ve already taken action to remove some of those. There is significant pressure on the price of electricity in this State. The Labour
Government left the electricity market as a complete dog’s breakfast and that is something that the O’Farrell Government will have to work on. The leftover impact of that has been significantly increased electricity prices. I know one of the real challenges for the O’Farrell Government will be to find a way forward for the future of energy and electricity in this State because it is starting to impact quite heavily on the cost of living. Also I think one of the best ways to reduce the cost of living is to bring people closer to home for their work. If they don’t have to travel so far, there’s less costs in relation to petrol and public transport, but there’s also the social benefits of having families closer together, closer to work, and, if we can invest in more jobs in Western Sydney, that will also have some massive benefits for the hip pocket and the household budget as well. DG:
Excellent. Thank you very much.
SA:
Not a problem.
DG:
All the best of luck to you.
SA:
Cheers mate.
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Political Agenda
The Hon. Charlie Lynn - Member of the Legislative Council
Ideological Parasites GetUp Greens ‘If you have your hand in another man’s pocket you have to walk where he walks.’ Old African proverb.
How many politicians and public servants have walked in the footsteps of entrepreneurs? How many have hocked their assets to the max to create their own business enterprise? How many have experienced sleepless, sweaty nights on the financial brink? How many have been harassed by bullying bankers, taxation terrorists and government Gestapo agents? If reckless government spending of hard earned taxpayer dollars over recent years is any guide, the answer is ‘very few’. Business owners and entrepreneurs comprise Australia’s income generators in our free enterprise economy. They don’t mind paying their fair share of taxation to provide for essential services and infrastructure. They don’t mind helping the disadvantaged. They don’t mind sending a bit overseas to help poor nations – in our region! But they do mind if it is wasted or ‘redistributed’ by the increasing number of ideological parasites from the nonproductive sectors in our society. The Rudd-Gillard-Swan-Brown LaborGreen Alliance has squandered their inheritance from the Howard-Costello Government. Madcap schemes - grocery watch, fuel watch, pink batts, school halls, citizens assemblies, Green loans, pensioner digital TV boxes, wind farms, solar panels and a National Broadband Network (that will most likely be obsolete before it is completed) have destroyed faith in the ability of big government to deliver anything on time or anywhere near budget. Our income-generators are now bracing
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themselves for the mother of all economy busters in the form of a carbon tax. Those who believed Julia Gillard’s promise that ‘there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead’ were shamelessly duped by her. She will pay a heavy price for the betrayal of their trust at the next election. In the meantime they have to brace themselves for financial shock as enviro-evangelists preach fear and damnation for non-believers in their quack science.
While the tax will have next to zero impact on our global emissions it will generate a marvellous feeling of goodness amongst our inner-city cafe societies. They will be pleased that poor people (those who earn less than $80,000 according to Julia Gillard’s sycophantic professor) will be compensated. Let’s hope they will also consider a scheme for pensioners to trade in their digital TV boxes for blankets because they won’t be able to afford heaters in their homes this winter.
It will come as no surprise that these evangelists derive their support from the parasitic non-productive sector through trendy front organisations such as GetUp.
Those who gave Julia Gillard a mandate to ensure there will be no carbon tax under a government she leads were betrayed. They are now about to be shafted. Many
While the tax will have next to zero impact on our global emissions it will generate a marvellous feeling of goodness amongst our inner-city cafe societies Whilst environmentalism has replaced the discredited ideologies of communism and socialism the ideologues themselves have not changed. Lee Rhiannon, a former fanatical communist, is about to enter the Senate as a ‘Green’. Rhiannon and eight of her fellow fanatics from the Greens are about to hold the balance of power in our National Parliament. The stage will then be set for the imposition of a carbon tax on our income generators after July 1. Gillard, Swan and Bob Brown will rely on a motley bunch of political misfits – Oakshott, Windsor and Wilkie, to pass it through the Parliament. They will then rely on Rhiannon and her enviroevangelists to pass it through the Senate. It will then be ‘game over’ for many of our income generators.
will move their operations offshore. Others will shut down and close shop. The gap between income generators and ideological parasites will narrow with the introduction of a carbon tax. How close we get to the tipping point will depend on Bob Brown and Lee Rhiannon. Ironically, neither one was elected as an MP, and neither one has ever walked in the shoes of an income generator. G
For more topics and to contact Charlie Lynn, please visit www.charlielynn.com.au/blog/
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GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
19
Political Agenda
By Angry Anderson
The Young, Passionate and Naive Having myself been once young, passionate, and naive, I am aware of the need that the young have to support worthy causes, to make the World a better place, to right the wrongs, and to take on injustice.
In my own experience I was involved with the protests against the French nuclear tests in the Bikini islands and against apartheid in South Africa, and also at anti-Indonesian rallies protesting over the murder of Australian journalists at the hands of their military as they invaded East Timor. Now, many years later, I am more acutely aware of just how easy it is to take advantage of this youthful passion and enthusiasm and to direct it towards serving a chosen purpose - not necessarily for all, if any - of the right reasons. Having said that, the young should never be denied their right and need to express themselves in the way of protest; this wonderful energy should be encouraged at every opportunity. We should nurture in them the desire to always question authority, and particularly government, over decisions that affect them and the world at large. This in itself is very exciting, but we, the older and hopefully wiser, must insist that they also research the facts and find the truths before making up their mind as to which side of the line they will stand. To form an opinion from only one source of information is tantamount to just toeing the party line, to being an obedient servant or a mindless slave, or worse, a dangerous moron. In recent days, this has been apparent in the carbon tax debate. I, for one, made my decision based on what information I could find available. Yes, we are guilty of
20 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
crimes against Mother Nature but not guilty of those caused by Mother Nature herself. You see, she isn’t the typical mother - she can and does strike without mercy for seemingly no good reason at all. And that is right, there is no good reason – purely because good and bad don’t exist in the natural realm; there is what there is, and that includes floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and bush fires. These calamities are all part of that natural realm. Ice ages coming and ice ages going too are part of natural cycles. The scale is mammoth and far greater than any of us can comprehend. The time scale alone is daunting - hundreds if not thousands of years are involved in these cycles and in the making of effects caused by planet realignment. It is true, however, that man has had an effect on the planet and with tragic results, and the closer to the surface the more devastating the effect. We have poisoned nearly all of our rivers and oceans; we have cut down nearly all of our forests; we have abused millions of acres of wonderfully productive land, and we have overfished our waterways - but it is our crimes against humanity that stand out as our saddest moments. Millions of our brothers and sisters starve while there is plenty, or are killed or enslaved every day. But wait! This doesn’t happen because we don’t care or by our own choice or design. This happens because those in control wish it so. They plot, scheme and manipulate to ensure that it does happen. Where is the so-called defender of the weak and defenceless, champion of the downtrodden and forgotten, feeder of the starving millions, and peace maker where war rages – yes, the United Nations! Where are they? Where are the sanctions against those governments that sit at their table and on their councils and vote at endless meetings that will decide nothing and
change nothing? Where are the young, strong and passionate? Where is their protesting voice crying out for justice for their brethren? Silent! No, not silenced but distracted in another direction by those very people that would have them silent over the real things they could change. Were they to realise their real power, they would not be channelling all that wonderful energy into something that they can’t and won’t change. But while they are turned in that direction, they no longer see that which is real and do-able. It is true that we teach far more by example than we ever could by instruction - then let us turn our hands to liberating and therefore empowering our young, passionate and naïve. Let us encourage them by word and example to question everything and accept nothing on face value or by the word of those in authority just because they are in government or in places of authority. The question “Why?” has led us to all great discoveries and great truths and will do again. We must hand down to the young all that we hold dear and sacred - it is the natural order of all things. G
Please contact us if you would like to invite Angry as a Guest Speaker for your corporate, charity or private event: angry@gwpmagazine.com.au For your feedback please contact Angry at: e | angrytat@gmail.com
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GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
21
business ADVICE
Adam Goldstien, Wealth Adviser - Skeggs Goldstien Associates
Succession – What are Your Options? It is critical that business owners have a succession strategy. Many people are led to believe that succession means selling. This is not necessarily the case. Market trends show that strategies including business transition and syndication are becoming more popular.
2. Partial sale to a key staff member – This involves a staged exit from the business through a partial sale to an internal successor(s). This option will allow you to realise some value upfront, then over a period of time, enables you to retain control whilst having the time to enjoy other things.
Succession planning allows you to be in a position to make an informed choice about your exit and not having that choice imposed on you. Choosing the right exit option for your business is a crucial part of the succession planning process.
3. Merge with a business of similar size – This creates economies of scale. Make sure that the business being merged with is a strong business in its own right and has similar values to your business. Some of the control over your business will be lost.
When determining your exit strategy it is also important to consider your life balance goals, as your life balance position will influence your choice of exit option. For example, if you are experiencing high business dissatisfaction or stress, selling your business may be the best option and would afford you the opportunity to pursue other interests. The major issues for business owners considering their exit options are: retention and extraction of capital and to what level they are extracted from the business. By maximising the value of your business, you will be in a far better position to choose among the many different exit options.
4. Sell part of your business – You may consider selling off your less profitable clients. This will allow you to spend more time concentrating on your high value clients whilst realising some capital. 5. Sell shares – This is an exit option for business owners looking to realise some capital upfront and still remain heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm.
8. Close down the business – This realises the market price for the business, providing there is a buyer. This is the option when you don’t have a succession plan. Ensure that you are aware of all alternatives and the benefits available from each alternative before deciding on your exit strategy. Succession does not just mean selling your business. By assessing all options you will know that the decision you make is the right one for you and your business. G
Skeggs Goldstien Associates located in Norwest Business Park is a wealth management practice specialising in growth, succession and transition planning for small to medium businesses. Skeggs Goldstien also provides specialised Staff Value Programs and Business Life Planning services. To discuss your individual business and to find out more about developing a sound succession plan, contact Skeggs Goldstien to make an appointment.
Some of the exit options for you to consider include:
6. Form or join a syndicate – Smaller businesses are looking to larger firms to provide them with more services and better service quality. This creates economies of scale and allows you to focus on what you do best.
1. Sell the business as a going concern – This is the most common. By selling the business you are able to translate the value of the business into dollars and no longer have to worry about the business. However, there may be an opportunity to stay on in the business if you wish to do so.
7. Create strategic alliances to transition your business – New networks and associations can be a valuable source of business growth. Such associations often provide financial services and product capabilities, marketing and other shared functions.
p | 1300 753 447 e | admin@sgapl.com.au w | www.sgapl.com.au
22 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
Skeggs Goldstien Associates
skeggs golds ien
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
23
business ADVICE
Russell Chegwyn, Managing Director - Chegwyn Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd
The Impact of Underinsurance Underinsurance is alive and well and living in Australia. Whether it’s Business Insurance, Home, Contents or Life Insurance, most Australians have insufficient cover.
Part of our role as Insurance Brokers is to help ensure the success of your business which you have worked hard to build up. A few ways in which we can help you achieve this are as follows: • gaining a greater understanding of your business and its risks, • providing expert advice on the type of risks that could impact your business, • helping you understand the many types of insurance covers and why your business may need these and • ensuring you business is insured for what it is worth. It is a sad fact that many small businesses fail after an unexpected event because of inadequate insurance. Research has shown that 70% of uninsured or under-insured businesses that incur a major insurable loss fail within the following year. It is important that under the Property Section of your insurance policy, you insure your business assets for the amount it would cost to replace them at today’s prices and not what you paid for them in the past. In the unfortunate case of a major claim, you will have enough to worry about without concerning yourself with whether or not you can afford to re-build your business. Underinsurance could occur because your sums insured have not kept pace with the general rise in re-building costs. Building costs have risen substantially over the past few years and it is important to keep updating your sums insured regularly. Another common reason is under estimating the full costs of removing debris following
24 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
a major event. Dependant on the size and complexity of your business, removal of debris figures can quickly add to the cost and if you do not have a dedicated limit which is in addition to the Building or Plant and Machinery/Contents Sums insured, these costs will eat away at the sum insured leaving you potentially under insured.
Finally, the following is the scenario that can face a business that is Underinsured.
We would recommend re-evaluating your insurance regularly and, in particular, if your business is growing rapidly, don’t wait until the next renewal to make any changes; do it now.
Example Item Value = $1,000,000 80% of Value = $800,000 Sum Insured on Schedule = $500,000
As you can understand, Insurance Brokers are not accredited valuers and the information that we obtain from you needs to be accurate. I would strongly recommend that if you have not had your property (which includes Buildings, Plant and Machinery, Contents, Fixtures and Fittings) valued for the purpose of Insurance and your sums insured have remained static for a long period of time, that you contact a professional in that field to conduct a report. There are a number of very good firms who provide a comprehensive report to you detailing exactly the values that should be insured and will be able to show you the way that the figures have been calculated. For the sake of minor increases in premium why would any business want to have to go into their own cash reserves or shareholder capital to fund a substantial loss when an adequately constructed insurance program would have protected them? Key points to remember when reviewing your cover: • Have my Sums Insured remained static for a lengthy period of time? • How did we arrive at the current figures. Was it a guess? • Think about engaging a professional to evaluate your sums insured.
Underinsurance applies because the declared value or sum insured of the property is less than 80% of the insurable value calculated in accordance with the Basis of Settlement applicable.
Therefore if a total loss claim of $1,000,000 occurs, the Insurer would in most cases pay as set out below $500,000 x $1,000,000 = $625,000 $800,000 The resultant loss for being underinsured is $375,000. When taking the above calculations into account for Sums Insured in the millions of dollars it can be a very significant cost to bear. Make sure that when you receive your next renewal notice or undertake your annual review that you address the adequacy of your Sums Insured. G
Chegwyn Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd Suite 105, 447 Victoria Street, Wetherill Park NSW 2164 p | 02 9604 6166 f | 02 9604 6188 w | www.chegwyninsurance.com.au
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
25
FEATURE
When You Think of TAFE What do You Think of? Chances are horse trainer, jockey or racing administrator are not terms that you immediately associate with TAFE. So, you might be surprised to learn that TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute (WSI) currently has over 800 students enrolled in courses ranging from apprentice jockeys through to trainee stewards and horse trainers.
In 2010, WSI formed a training partnership with Racing NSW to deliver high quality training to the NSW Racing Industry. WSI Director Business, Mr Whitney Rousham, said the partnership with Racing NSW is a natural fit that complements the existing horse industry courses delivered through Richmond College. “The horse industry is a strategically important but often overlooked employer in the Greater Western Sydney area,” Mr Rousham said. “With world-renowned breeding and stud farms in the Hawkesbury, Penrith and The Oaks areas, complemented by major thoroughbred racing facilities at Richmond, Rosehill, and Warwick Farm, harness racing at Menangle and Penrith and the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park, there is a lot of activity in the horse industry and support industries such as transport, equipment and supplies, hospitality and tourism,” Mr Rousham said. In March 2011 the partnership was given a new identity – the Australian Racing and Equine Academy (AREA). This provides a stronger public face, promoting a ‘best of breed’ training solution. Maurice Logue, Racing NSW General Manager of Education and Employment, said the thoroughbred racing industry is one of the largest employers in NSW and AREA means a ‘win-win’ for the State and industry. “There is a chronic and significant shortage of skilled workers in the racing industry, particularly for stable hands and track riders,” Mr Logue said.
26 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
Launch of the Australian Racing and Equine Academy at the Australian Racing Conference in March (l-r): Ron Wright WSI, Joan Pracey Academy Teacher, Premier of NSW The Hon Barry O’Farrell MP, Maurice Logue Academy Director, Peter V’landys CEO Racing NSW, Alan Brown Chairman Racing NSW.
“One of our aims is to attract more young people into the industry. No experience is needed and young people finishing prevocational courses are virtually guaranteed a job, often with opportunities to travel interstate and overseas.” AREA provides both on and off-the-job training and assessment for jockeys, track riders, stable hands, horse trainers, racing administrators and track maintenance staff, as well as other careers such as equine nursing, farriery, equine massage therapy, jackaroo and jillaroo, horse breeding and management. Local western Sydney employers are also showing their confidence in the Academy. Teacher and local racehorse trainer, Ms Joan Pracey, recently signed up 24 trainees from the Darley Stud at Agnes Banks which is part of the global breeding operations of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Ms Pracey said Darley Australia Pty Ltd, the leading training and breeding organisation in Australia and internationally, sees training as essential to maintain high standards of workplace practice. “Employers are particularly impressed that TAFE is willing and able to deliver training at a time to suit them,” Ms Pracey said. “The racing industry is not 9 to 5 so we must fit in with the needs of employers. If that means having assessors at track work at 4.30 am, then we will do it. If it means assessing apprentices at race meetings on the weekend, we are there.” G
p | 1800 200 724 w | www.racingacademy.com.au
Get a Head Start in Racing The Australian Racing and Equine Academy at Richmond College is a winning partnership between Racing NSW and TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute. The Academy brings together the best of both worlds, expert knowledge of the Racing industry and a world class training system We offer on and off the job training in: • Trackrider and Jockey • Stablehand • Racehorse Trainer • Stewards and Racing Administration • Track Maintenance • Farriery • Equine and Veterinary Nursing • Equine Massage Therapy • Horse Breeding and Management • Horse Management (Performance Horse)
1800 200 724 www.racingacademy.com.au
AUSTRALIAN RACING AND EQUINE ACADEMY a partnership between Racing NSW and TAFE NSW WSI GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
27
business advice
John Watters, Executive Officer - Parramatta Schools Industry Partnership Inc.
Learning by Doing, Not by Listening The concept of learning by doing is a fundamental human underpinning. From birth, humans are intrigued by experimentation that engages all senses. To the absolute dismay of their parents, babies will almost devour anything and everything they can grab. Children, unfamiliar with social norms such as personal space, will physically engage with other children and people in general. Teenagers, despite being warned of the risks associated with a multitude of behaviors, will unfortunately try to test the limits of every warning. When one becomes ‘mature’, adults will often explain that they can’t recall how to operate particular software because they haven’t used it for sometime.
and action. Numerous studies have demonstrated that people have improved efficiencies simply through participation. Have you ever attempted to assemble a child’s play set or flat-packed furniture? The first time you try, you believe that you need an engineering degree to simply understand the diagrams. Needless to say, after the first assembly taking probably four times
Learning by doing allows us to demonstrate our technical skills in the real world. It contextualises our thoughts, training and understanding and tests them in manners that simulations rarely capture. Most importantly, we learn from our errors and from our peers. It is ongoing, dynamic, evolving and challenging. Learning is not an outcome or a product, it is a philosophy.
longer than you expected or indicated on the packaging together with a menagerie of expletives, the second attempt is much faster and less stressful. In essence, you have learned by doing.
Too often we associate learning and education only with schools. Analogies such as ‘hitting the books’ and ‘burning the midnight oil’ are lost on more people as illuminated electronic media replaces print and the need for external sources of light. Moreover, the concept that learning only takes place within a given physical location, time period and format is antiquated at best. When we are actively engaged in tasks that engage all senses, our learning is deeper, more meaningful, sustainable and valuable. Psychologists have demonstrated that humans learn and grow from experimentation
28 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
The largest challenge with the concept of learning by doing rather than by listening is having the courage to take the first step. Whether this be from an employer willing to give someone an opportunity, or a young person building up the confidence to ask the employer for that opportunity action always deafens words. If we approach learning as a
Learning is not an outcome or a product, it is a philosophy
Evidently, much of this rationale is premised on the concept that there is some fundamental or technical knowledge underpinning practical experience. Let’s face it, would you be comfortable with someone performing open-heart surgery on you without having some basic concept of cardiology? Of course not. However, we need to become more aware of our rich learning environments surrounding us and how we learn by doing. Take driving, for example, one of the most complex tasks many of us encounter each day. Do we memorise how to drive a car? Of course not. Would we feel comfortable driving in most areas in Australia without having been there before and without memorising street directions? Probably. Would we grow in confidence the longer we were in that area? More than likely.
philosophy, then there are no successes or failures but learning. G
Members
Parramatta info@parrasip.com.au p | 9633 7100
Blacktown admin@breedcp.com.au p | 9853 3247
Penrith info@schoolsindustry.com.au p | 4725 0310
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
29
FEATURE
Mysterious Platinum? By Robert E Cliff F.G.A.A., JP`
Platinum, the name derived from the Spanish term ‘platina del Pinto’, literally translated into “little silver of the Pinto River”, is a very dense, malleable, precious, silvery-white metal. It is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust occurring naturally in alluvial sands of various rivers (sometimes mistaken for silver). It occurs in some nickel and copper
ores along with some native deposits, mostly in South Africa, which accounts for 80% of the world production. Other large deposits still being mined can be found in Canada and Russia with 11% of the world’s production. Of course much higher deposits can be found on the Moon – yet to be mined!
fetching approx $1,434 (Australia dollars) per ounce and platinum $1,682 (Australian dollars) per ounce! There is little evidence of it being used by ancient people; however, there is much evidence that it was used by pre-Columbian Americans near modern-day Esmeraldas, Ecuador, to produce artefacts. The first European reference to platinum is in 1557
Its bullion has the ISO currency code of XPT. Coins, bars and ingots are traded or collected. Its price, like other industrial commodities, is more volatile than that of gold. In 2008, the price of platinum ranged from $744 to $2,253 per ounce. Generally, in economic stability and growth, the price tends to be as much as twice the price of gold. In the economic climate of the last three years, the gap between gold and platinum has decreased and as of May 2011 gold was in the writings of the Italian Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of an unknown metal “which neither fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy”. 1741 saw Charles Wood, a British metallurgist, find various samples in Jamaica. Antonio de Ulla credited the discovery of platinum to the Spanish in 1746. In l786 Charles III of Spain provided a laboratory to aid in the research of platinum. Pierre-Francois Charbonneau finally succeeded in producing 23 kilograms of pure, malleable platinum by hammering and compressing the sponge form while white-hot. He realised that is strength would lend value to objects made of it. This started what is known as the “platinum age” in Spain. In the 18th century platinum’s rarity made King Louis XV of France declare it the only metal fit for a King. The frame of the Crown of Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) manufactured for
30 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
FEATURE
Award winning
Designers & Manufacturers Since 1984 re-rhodium plated approximately each 12 to 18 months. In Jewellery, unlike gold, platinum is used in almost its pure form (approximately 95% pure). It is extremely long wearing and is very white, so it does not need to be rhodium plated like white gold. It is very dense (heavy), so a platinum ring will feel heavier than an 18ct gold ring. However, it is expensive, approximately twice the price of an 18ct white gold ring (excluding any gemstone costs). Platinum is a prestige choice and is often chosen for its sophisticated appeal and popularity amongst the rich and famous. Due to its high cost, it is not normally used in the full range of Jewellery. Instead, it is mainly utilised in ladies engagement rings, wedding rings – and especially wedding rings for the men (due to its hardness).
her coronation is made of platinum – the first British crown made of the precious metal.
Here is a question often asked: “Is white gold the same as platinum?”
As it does not oxidise at any temperature, its resistance to wear and tarnish is well suited for making fine jewellery. In 2006, of the 239 tonnes of platinum sold, 130 tonnes were used for vehicle emissions control devices, 49 tonnes for jewellery and watchmaking (limited edition watches generally utilise platinum in their construction), 13.3 tonnes in electronics and 11.2 tonnes in the chemical industry as a catalyst. The remaining 35.5 tonnes went to various minor applications such as anticancer drugs, etc.
The answer to this is quite simply, no!
Platinum’s rarity as a metal has caused advertisers to associate it with exclusivity and wealth. ‘Platinum’ debit cards have greater privileges than do ‘gold’ ones. ‘Platinum awards’ are second highest possible, higher than ‘gold’, ‘silver’ and bronze, but below “diamond”.
White gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as silver and palladium. It can be measured by 24ct, 18ct, 14ct, 9ct, etc, simply by mixing gold with other metals such as copper and zinc. Eighteen carat white gold is made by mixing 75% gold with 25% other metals such as silver and palladium. Therefore, the amount of gold is the same, but the alloy is different.
As a craftsman, platinum can be quite challenging to work with, but gives such pleasure when a beautiful design is completed. If your preference is the white colour of metal, platinum is so suited to wedding bands and engagement rings – eternally engaging, and like a diamond – so precious! G Robert Cliff Master Jewellers Shop 380A Castle Towers Castle Hill, NSW 2154 p | 02 8850 5400 e | shop@robertcliffmasterjewellers.com.au w | www.robertcliffmasterjewellers.com.au
When white gold rings are new they are coated with another white metal called rhodium which is similar to platinum and shares many of the properties of platinum including its white colour. Rhodium plating is used to make the white gold look whiter and much harder. However, it does wear away eventually. To keep your white gold ring looking its best, it should be
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
31
business ADVICE
Scott Tyler, Managing Director - Brightblue Marketing
5 Ways Web Video Can Increase Business Are you looking for a better way to engage your customers? Or to convey complex messages in a way that helps your clients understand your brand and your offerings? Do you worry that the click-through rate on your page is not high enough or that visitors don’t seem to be responding to your web links the way that they once did? If so, web video may be the solution for you. Thousands of companies have used professional video posts to help increase business with significant success, and today we will take a look at how this can help you boost your business as well.
Numbers Don’t Lie When looking at recent ComScore Media Metrix, you can see that business video is really becoming a standard mediamarketing tool. In fact, web video is the third biggest form of advertising in the world right now. When looking at the top fifty web companies in the world, you will find that nearly half (44%) have a major video presence. Another very important statistic from ComScore is this: in January 2011 alone, online web video viewing was up some 650%. Increase Your Leads Effectively If you want to increase your traffic so that you can generate more leads for your website, video is an excellent tool. But in order to really bring in new leads and get people to want to be on your site or buying your product, you need to make sure that you are offering people content that they want. This means keeping your videos short, entertaining, and focused. When you can engage and entertain, you can make people more interested in what you have to offer.
32 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
Communicate Your Message Effectively Do you find that trying to convey your company message via text and website copy is not only complex, but is also generating fewer results than you would like? Professional video makes accomplishing this much easier. When you are able to use video, you can utilise imagery and metaphors to convey a deeper message while sharing with clients and prospective consumers the basic information and personality of your company that you want to convey. Increase Brand Visibility When the average consumer hears your company name, do they know who you are as a brand? Do they know what you offer, what your company stands for, and the type of business you want them to see when they think of you? Video can be a great way to achieve this. A series of welldesigned business videos that all present the same underlying message and image can help you accomplish better branding. Reduce the Barriers between You and Your Consumers When you have a strict business/consumer relationship, it is hard for prospective clients not to feel as though there is a huge void between you. When you create engaging, entertaining, and informative web video, you are giving your customers a sense that you are more than a company or website, but that you are also a business comprised of people just like them. A solid series of YouTube or other videos can really knock down the barriers between you and your consumer base and help make your company seem more accessible. The Bottom Line-Video Marketing Works When you look at the numbers, it is impossible not to argue that web
video is becoming a critical part of a successful advertising campaign. But more importantly, when you look at what can be accomplished with the medium, it becomes even harder to ignore the power of quality business video. Video marketing is incredibly powerful, and it can offer your business significant benefit. G
Is web video something you’ve considered but you would like to learn more? Please contact Inspired Biz-casting on 9762 1255 or email scottt@inspiredbc.com to organise a free consultation. At Inspired Biz-casting we’re spreading the word. www.inspiredbc.com Brightblue Marketing Suite 710, 12 Century Circuit Norwest Business Park NSW 2153 p | e | | t | w |
+61 2 9762 1255 info@iibe.com.au www.linkedin.com/in/scotttyler www.twitter.com/scott_tyler www.brightbluemarketing.com.au
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GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
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TELECOM
Steve Sebbes, Director - Telstra Business Centre Hills/Northern District
Essential Planning for Moving Premises Over the years I’ve helped many local businesses, both big and small, relocate their telecoms to new premises. There’s no doubt that relocating your business and all that it involves can be a huge headache. Shifting to new premises is a time-consuming, costly and disruptive process. With careful planning and the right advice, you can make sure the disruption to both your customers and staff is minimal.
Here are the key things to consider as part of your planning: First step • Make contact with your carrier three months prior to your relocation date. They’ll determine whether you’ll be within the same exchange area when you move and, if not, be able to advise you what impact this may have on your current services. For your current premises • I dentify all of the essential business services needing to be relocated. E.g., fixed phone lines, fax, Internet, alarm, IT hardware such as servers and PCs. • I f you have a phone system, you’ll need to determine who will be relocating this. Moving is the perfect time to consider an upgrade to the latest system that will grow with your business. At your new location: •W hat infrastructure is currently installed? E.g., fixed lines, data and internet connections. •W hat is your current carrier’s mobile network coverage like?
34 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
• Will the current cabling support your future business growth? It may be more cost effective to install additional lines now rather than in the future. • List your critical business contact numbers (such as phone, fax, email, 1300/1800) and find out if any of these will have to change. If so, consider any marketing material, stationery, and signage that may need to change, as well as if call redirections or exchange based messages are needed. • Consider what is the best time to do the relocation? If there is downtime of certain services, when is this best done? • In the case of commercial relocations, consider using an experienced telecommunications project manager who will manage the move of all services end-to-end and can be your single point of contact throughout the installation and transition stage of your move. G
Moving business premises is a large project no matter how big your business is. Don’t hesitate to enlist the help of business communication specialists to make it that much easier. Make an appointment today to see one of the local team at Telstra Business Centre Hills/Northern District for expert help in ensuring your business telecommunications make a smooth transition to your new premises.
Telstra Business Centre Hills/ Northern District Suite H, Ground Floor, Lexington Corporate 24 Lexington Drive, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 p | 1300 721 400 e | enquiries@business-connect.com.au
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TELECOM
The Future for Small Business is Digital Is your business ready for enterprisegrade technology in one competitive package? You now have access to a fully integrated fixed, mobile and internet network, sophisticated calling features, customised email addresses and super-reliable internet services.
That’s great news for small businesses across Australia. Getting access to the most advanced, flexible communications system in an affordable and competitive package is now within reach. No longer do small businesses need to dream of enterprise-grade technology solutions that were previously only the domain of larger companies. With Telstra’s new Digital Business™ service, businesses can now fully integrate the capabilities of their fixed lines, mobile phones and broadband services to better streamline their operations, boost productivity, remove duplication and ultimately reduce costs. “I’m excited to see these world-class, sophisticated technology features being made available to mainstream businesses in one package”, says Steve Sebbes, Director of the Telstra Business Centre in Baulkham Hills. “It means that Australia’s small businesses will, for the first time, have easy access to an extensive, integrated range of communications tools, saving them both time and money.” Perfect for the smaller, multi-sited business The Digital Business package is specially designed for smaller businesses, from sole traders up to those with around 10 employees, and can cover up to three sites (for example, a home office, a warehouse and a shopfront). There are plans to expand the package to cover businesses with up to 25 staff as well. Key features of Digital Business Digital Business integrates high-speed fixed broadband, high-definition digital voice (also referred to as Voice over Broadband) and mobile smartphone technology in a simple and flexible package.
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The services available through Digital Business include a hosted email via Microsoft Exchange Online®, which enables real-time and synchronised email, calendar and address book across all compatible devices including your PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
“With the online address book, entering a new contact on one device immediately makes it available to all other devices, while the online calendar can be shared with all (or select) staff, making setting up meetings easy, whether on site or out on the road. Plus, as the service is fully hosted by Telstra, there’s no need to install, run
TELECOM
and maintain the email application either - which means a cost saving to your business,” Steve says. The package offers sophisticated calling features that are easily tailored to handle your incoming calls, ensuring that calls
call to ring on multiple phones (fixed and mobile) at the same time. You can also have the option to setup the call to ring sequentially on different lines until it is answered. And the features don’t stop there! Offering
to wireless via the Next G™ network. Plus, you will get access to professional email and web addresses with its domain registration feature. Free intra-account calls. Simplified pricing. More value. With free intra-account calling for all voice calls made from fixed and mobile phones on your Digital Business account, you won’t need to worry about costs of calls between your staff. Pricing for the package is simple to understand, with customers paying a flat rate for a bundle of services including unlimited voicemail in Australia, generous shared call and data allowances and a hosted email service. Easy set-up, reliable support Designed with the flexibility and support needs of a small business in mind, there is an option to self-install or to arrange for a professional set-up. There’s also an extensive support network available, ranging from self-service online help, a help desk to call, as well as on-site mentors who can visit your business. Your tailor-made digital solution “Our team of local Business specialists are trained to create tailor-made solutions for your business,” Steve says. “We look forward to helping our customers take advantage of the latest that digital technology has to offer with Digital Business”. G
Telstra Business Centre Hills/ Northern District Suite H, Ground Floor, Lexington Corporate 24 Lexington Drive, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 p | 1300 721 400 e | enquiries@business-connect.com.au
or messages are answered promptly and by the right person, no matter where they might be. With “auto-attendant”, calls are handled by an interactive voice response service, where based on the caller’s response, will redirect calls to up to three fixed phones as well as mobiles. “Simultaneous ring” enables an incoming
integrated voicemail, you can route all voicemail messages on both fixed and mobile phones to one shared inbox, and choose to have the messages forwarded by SMS and email as well. With its broadband back up service, in the event of a fixed network outage, it will automatically switch your fixed broadband connection
® Registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 755 556 ® Registered trade mark of Microsoft Corporation Limited
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
37
Business Advice
Has ‘Stuck’ Cash Clogged Your Business Growth? The downfall of many successful and profitable businesses is not always due to sales stagnation, but rather to a failure to factor the impact on cash flow of some major decisions. Simply put: too much cash out, not enough cash in over a given time period will bring an otherwise successful company to its knees.
2. Locate and Release Cash • What is this? You can Locate and Release cash by obtaining:
and release additional blocked cash using a system which we guarantee to reduce debtor days.
a. A thorough professional analysis of the key areas that tie up cash - all fixed assets, stock, debtors and creditors. b. Recommendations on how to release cash and to oversee that implementation.
Result: Average reduction of 40 days in collecting debt. This caused:
Here are two of the most common reasons: • Flying by the seat of your pants. •N ot understanding ‘the numbers’ due to lack of professional input. Getting paid in full and on time and carefully managing outgoing expenses are critical. But without accurate visibility, a decision maker is blind.
If You Want Cash Flowing Thicker and Faster in Your Business… The key is finding a way to locate, release and accelerate cash blocked upstream. There are three key ways to do this, and they all involve professional input to get it right: 1. Cash Forecasting • What is this? This is a monthly preview showing how cash will flow into and out of your business over the next two years. When high growth levels necessitate an office move or staff expansion - this will indicate what the impact is on your cash situation and your ability to operate day to day. • What happens without this? If you don’t know your exact cash position, you could be unwittingly plunging your business into unnecessary debt and without the cash you need.
38 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
a. The immediate release of 45% of the debt value b. A quicker turnaround of cash going forward
• Without this? Your Business will have to work within its current cash constraints and the constraints this puts on your growth, profit and survival. 3. Debt Reduction • What is this? Reducing the debtor days outstanding and problem accounts basically, getting paid quicker. You need a seamless system that spans the entire downstream commercial cycle - from sales to debtors - and gets right to the cause of non/late payment. Also, get your professional firm to ensure correct and fast invoicing with rigorous follow up of debtors.
c. More time for the sales team to focus. This led to 25% sales growth. G 1X Complimentary Professional Consultation Offer Valued at $800 ABJ Solutions, a highly experienced team of independent CFOs, is offering the first 20 readers a free 2 hour forensic cash workshop. This will uncover some of the causes for stagnant cash in your business and some practical ways to accelerate cash flow in the short term. Call us to book before 1 August.
• Without this? Your business will never make any meaningful reduction in debtors or release of cash, because you will not have tackled the source or cause of the problem. Case Example One of our professional services clients faced an unpredictable cash flow. This had stunted their once robust expansion. Growth had declined from 20% p.a. to around 5% p.a. in three years. The reason was due to a cash stranglehold that had led to an inability to: • Pay staff on time • Upgrade operational systems necessary for expansion • Spend time selling versus chasing up debtors. We provided our client with the ability to not only predict cash flow, but also to locate
ABJ Business Solutions Joe Boyd p | 0401 991 495 e | jboyd@abjsolutions.com.au Tony Barakat p | 0405 534 934 e | tbarakat@abjsolutions.com.au w | www.abjsolutions.com
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
39
Government
Supercharge Your Business Do you have the right information to help you make the right decisions? Do you need the right training to move forward? Do you know who to connect with to help you on your journey? Here’s how to ‘super charge’ your business for success.
Get the right information Interested in where your potential markets are? Have you got all the facts you need to use in an expansion plan? What would happen to your business if you chose to retire? A free business visit with Council’s Economic Development team can equip you with the facts you need to make good business choices. While many new businesses are choosing to call The Sydney Hills home, the bulk of future jobs will grow from companies already located here. That’s where good business planning and knowledge of the local area is vital to your company’s success. Economic Development and Marketing Officer, Stephen Garrard, is part of a team that supports business owners with their decision-making process through any stage of the business. “People looking to set up a new business can benefit from accessing the information data bases we have about the area – particularly in relation to where other businesses like theirs are located and where potential customer bases could be,” he said. “Owners of a growing business may find themselves faced with a number of tough decisions – like whether or not to expand – and many business owners are unaware of the support we can offer to help them with their decision-making process.” “Similarly, support is critical if a business needs an exit strategy,” he said. “We can help you with business information, demographic data, local statistics and research tailored to your company’s needs.” Get the right training Need to plan for cash flow? Ready to take your business into the next decade with
40 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
John Dean and Stephen Garrard, Economic Development Team social media? Like to check the health of your business strategy?
community? Could you benefit from State Government assistance?
If you are interested in enhancing your skills or the skills of your staff through training, why not consider signing up for a free business workshop?
Council’s Economic Development Manager, John Dean, says making the right connections is critical for business success.
The Hills Shire Council partners with Industry and Investment NSW - along with business professionals and organisations – to provide a range of workshops to support local businesses. Just some of the great workshop topics on offer include: • Blog vs Website - Which is better for your business? • Effective Online Business Strategy - Do it right and see your bottom line grow • Keys to Business Profitability • Making E-biz Work for You • Systemising Your Business and More. Last year more than 2,000 local businesses took advantage of the mostly free courses and this year even more companies are signing up. “It’s easy to register for a business workshop – and the benefits will show in the new ways you approach your business armed with fresh ideas,” Stephen said. To register online – simply go to Council’s website, click on the “Business” Tab and select “Business Workshops” from the drop-down menu. Get the right connections Wondering who to talk to in Council about your development application? Looking to meet like minded people in your business
“Often people contact me to find out who they can talk to in Council on a range of issues – whether it’s about a fit-out to their building, parking requirements, or simply for help with lodging a development application,” John said. “Sometimes business people just want to find others in the industry to form synergies and networks.” “We can help by putting people in touch who can assist each other or by referring business owners to the right Council staff to speak to,” he said. “As well, we can provide a snapshot of information about the types of business that make up The Sydney Hills and where they are located.” “We can also connect you to people in relevant State Government departments, like the Business Advisory Service Incorporated (BASI), that can assist on that level.” G Interested in ‘super charging’ your business? For a free confidential business visit, call John or Steve on 02 9762 1108, or register online at www.businesssydneyhills.com.au
www.businesssydneyhills.com.au
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Get the business Facts that matter about the sydney Hills Do you have the right information to help you make the right decisions?
Free business Visit register online or email us on enquiry@investsydneyhills.com.au or call 02 9762 1108
our experienced team understands the local area and can provide you with services and business information that can help you make decisions to grow your business in the exciting destination that is The Hills Shire.
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An initiative of The Hills Shire Council
www.businesssydneyhills.com.au
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
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government
Parramatta: A Plan to Increase Visitors to the City “Economic development these days is completely dependent on your ability to attract people,” Greg Hywood, CEO and managing director of Fairfax Media, speaking at Parramatta City Council’s recent economic development forum.
An integral part of Parramatta City Council’s campaign to boost the growth and development of the city’s gross regional product of approximately $14 billion annually is a strategy to position the city as a destination for visitors.
“Major events are central to the growth of visitor numbers and play a role in raising the profile of the city as a destination.” To achieve this, Parramatta needs to improve events infrastructure, event processes and expand and diversify the
“We plan to activate the foreshore further and establish it as a leisure area adjacent to ‘Eat Street’ (in Church Street), one of Sydney’s more popular dining precincts.” In developing the strategy, council engaged with professionals including tourism
Foreshore Activation: The creation of waterside activities is a key objective in the Draft Visitors Strategy
Currently, Parramatta is generally viewed as a business district and people tend to visit the city for particular functions and pragmatic reasons such as work, study, shopping, and medical or personal business according to research conducted for council. “Parramatta is not broadly considered a place for leisure or top-of-mind compared to other places across Sydney, NSW or interstate,” said Lord Mayor, Cr John Chedid. “To help change the opinion of potential visitors (a pool of more than one million people) who wish, among other things, to see Parramatta transformed into a more stimulate place which projects a “vibe and buzz”, council has used a grant of $500,000, from the Federal Government’s Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. “One of the highest priorities and challenges is identifying the right mix of complementary attractions and activities which will resonate with key market segments and make it worthwhile for them to visit and stay longer, a factor contributing to the local economy.” Cr Chedid said visitors were likely to spend more money when they had a great experience, which they saw as delivering value for money. “Council’s current estimate of the contribution of visitors to Parramatta’s tourism sector is in the order of $830 million annually.
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range of events with the aim of attracting and hosting one major event each month of the year in order to provide an experience not on offer elsewhere. “We’ve proven we are an ‘events-led city’ with events such as the AR Rahman concert, Parramasala, the Sydney festival and, recently, Liquid Cinema on the foreshore of the Parramatta River in the CBD,” Cr Chedid said.
destination planners, market researchers, brand and communication experts and tourism business development personnel. Council also held extensive consultation with stakeholders, a range of 160 business and community members through the Tourism Reference Group. Further inspiration had been drawn from more than 2,300 current and potential visitors.
government
The result of more than 18 months’ work is the “Visitor Strategy for Parramatta 2011-2016”, a comprehensive, 60-page document containing 49 actions to be delivered over five years.
council would establish through a grant of $10,000 from Industry and Investment NSW a governance cluster group in 2011 to oversee the implementation of the strategy and participate in delivering the actions.
“The four key result areas are: growth of product and experiences, quality infrastructure, access and amenity, smart communications and marketing, and strong governance,” Cr Chedid said.
The cluster would include members of the current Tourism Industry Reference Group who were involved in the process of developing the strategy and be expanded to ensure representation across the spectrum of visitor and tourism stakeholders.
“With regard to the growth in the tourism market, the document noted that the Meetings Incentives Conferences and
This group would be co-ordinated by a core group of honorary members with representation from a range of sectors and an appropriate mix of skills for implementing the strategy.
Fine food: There are plenty of dining options on offer in Parramatta
“This strategy advocates for expressions of interest and encouraging investment in trialling, seeding and establishing new attractions and activities, which may be provided by new or existing business/ organisations either public or private. “Investigation into product development options, trialling of new products, and advances in event planning have commenced thanks to the support and contribution of many stakeholders,” he said.
On the Move: Improved transport will ensure Parramatta remains accessible to visitors
These members, for example, should come from the accounting, business, entrepreneurship, finance, government, legal, planning and marketing sectors.
swot workshop
Events (MICE) sector might have the potential to grow in the future.” Parramatta, the strategy noted, was currently a local and regional conference destination with conference and meeting facilities, several 4-star hotels, central transport facilities and price advantages compared to the Sydney CBD. On the issue of governance, Cr Chedid said
Cr Chedid said the cluster should: 1) Focus on the high priority actions of the strategy and visitor planning, advocacy for Parramatta and support opportunities for product development. 2) Develop an appropriate structure to guide, improve tourism and foster effective leadership in working towards the vision of Parramatta as a visitor destination. 3) Consider and propose appropriate systems, funding and resources to support key actions in the strategy.
“Council has taken a leadership role but it will require the continued support and enthusiasm of the industry to provide an outcome for all. By working in partnership we can achieve much more. There is a need for champions with a long-term commitment to the strategy and actions to grow Parramatta as a place people will want to visit,” Cr Chedid said. He said the development of Parramatta’s visitor market was an opportunity for managers in the city’s hospitality and tourism sector to investigate options to boost their business and potential entrepreneurs to enter a growing market. G If you wish to comment, please feel free to contact: Solaire Eggert, A/Manager Economic Development Parramatta City Council p | 02 9806 5730 m | 0408 958 248 e | seggert@parracity.nsw.gov.au
“Delivery of several actions of the strategy is underway while major infrastructure is being planned,” he said. “There is a need for further investigation to determine options to attract and build several major attractions in Parramatta.
GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
43
business ADVICE
Colin Butler, Managing Director - Prospect Marketing Pty Ltd
Acquiring Marketing Lists – Hard Yakka or a Stroll in the Park? You’ve decided to increase your prospect database and you’re about to take the plunge into buying some new data.
For longer than I’ve been in the business of providing data to companies, I was in the business of acquiring data. I thought I’d share a few tips I picked up along the way. Like any shopping process, be it for a new car, a pair of shoes, or a new marketing list, it should ideally start well before you get to the “shop”. What do I really want? Why do I want it? OK let’s go find one of those. Then you find out that “One of those” costs 10 times your budget and you have to re-evaluate your needs from your wants. You still need to think in terms of an “ideal” as a starting point, even if it’s unattainable. What’s the ideal prospect list? A list of 100% goers, gagging to buy, fully qualified customers just waiting to knock your door down and buy all that you offer’ - of course! The other way of course is the Bunnings Method. You know, the one where you go shopping for a box of screws and come back with a bench saw, a hot dog and a lawnmower! So that’s the first tip Think it through. Who are your ideal prospects? What would such a list consist of? Figure it out as best you can before you get anywhere near a supplier Tip Two Before you get to the checkout, how do you intend to communicate to the selected prospects. Direct mail? Telemarketing? Fax broadcast? If you just need phone
44 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
numbers it will work out cheaper than getting the addresses too. Tip Three Find a real live supplier to talk to. Nut it around with them, find the right balance between ideal and affordable, let them poke about as to how the list fits into your overall marketing objectives. If they can’t be bothered to help you, vote with your feet and find another. Tip Four Pick up the jargon. There isn’t that much but as soon as someone mentions “DNC Washing and deduping”, stop them right there and clarify. Drop me an email and I’ll send you my jargon list with explanations. (ListTips@prospects.com.au) Again, using the car buying analogy, if you don’t know what a manual gearbox is, don’t just nod when the salesman is filling in the order for you. Ask questions; so what if he thinks you’re a couple of snags short of a Barbie! Tip Five Get an estimate of the “fail rate”. If you call 100 prospects on a list it is unlikely that you’ll get through to 100 companies who are exactly as the list states. Quality is really a question of how close something is to your expectations. The number of firms going out of business or moving premises is staggering, so remember that a list is out of date as soon as you get it. And there’s simple errors like a plumber being listed as an undertaker. So ask questions about the age of a list and about expected percentage of errors. Even a 20% fail rate is acceptable if you’re aware of it at the purchase stage, and the price of the list reflects this.
Tip Six The less you want, the more expensive data gets. If you want a list of one legged picture-framers in Melbourne CBD with more than 8 employees, it’s going to cost you. It may be more economical to buy a database of the whole state, sorted by business type, and then select the exact criteria you want. Tip Seven Place the order in writing and specify exactly what you want and what you want it for. To get the right data you need a supplier who asks lots of questions about your objectives, and gets “inside your requirements”! Purchasing data can be a pain free exercise and one that can really jump start your Marketing activities. Get that bit right and you have a better chance of making your marketing campaigns run like a dream. G
Prospect Marketing are the publishers of the Australian Business List, a CD directory of around one million Australian businesses of all types with powerful search and list exporting facilities. Prospect Marketing p | 1800 08 04 01 e | ListTips@prospects.com.au
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GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 速
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Feature
Panthers Membership An Expanding Army of Passionate People
By Shannon Donato, Marketing Manager
Penrith District Rugby League Football Club has eclipsed 6,400 members in Season 2011, a stark contrast to figures produced in 2001, where a paltry 1300 members joined the Club. Since season 2001 the club has been to the finals 3 times, secured a minor premiership and brought home the 2003 NRL Telstra Premiership trophy.
Being a member in 2011, though, is more than just going to watch the footy. As a member you get close to the team and are a part of the Panthers Family. Once you join the club you receive your ticket to all 12 home games, your Members Only merchandise, Members Only emails informing you of team changes, injury updates, player signings (all before the media get hold of them), access to post match functions (your chance to meet the entire first grade team), Members Only events including the Season Launch and Mid - Season BBQs - both held at Centrebet Stadium. This feeling of closeness and sense of belonging is a monumental shift not only at Penrith but across the NRL with Ticketed Memberships increasing at a rapid rate. At Penrith alone we have seen an increase of over 42% (up from 4,541 to 6,421) the stand out being the ever popular Black Hole which has seen a staggering increase of 57% up from 481 to 754. The 2011 Membership model reaches much further and includes a whole lot more than the physical seat at the game. This increase and focus on membership has allowed Panthers corporate partners to tap into this audience of thousands. Together, they are able to offer members products directly through a regular EDM service and also inform them of products and services during game day activities via the Big Screen, ground announcements and sponsorship activations upon entry and exit of the stadium.
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ABCOE Bulk Food Warehouse has benefited greatly as the Membership Sponsor by having vouchers and advertisements appear in the Members Only calendar including a new special every month of the year. Every member receives this calendar which takes pride and place at home, in the office or at school. This ever growing membership base is a mobile one with more and more members attending Panthers away trips spanning from Townsville to Melbourne and in 2011 – over to New Zealand. The clubs corporate partners have assisted the members in their ventures in getting to these games by providing transport, food and beverage, venues for functions and signage to show their support for not only the Panthers but Sponsors brands as well. The connection between Members and corporate partners has never been this tight. For the remainder of 2011, Panthers are looking at ways to involve more corporate partners to increase brand awareness and further connect with a growing target audience. G
Having now reached the halfway point of the 2011 season, the Panthers have launched the Mid Season “Black Panthers” Membership with packages starting at $50. To find out more contact Panthers Membership on 02 4725 6400 or go to www.pantherden.com.au If you’re interested in discussing opportunities to market to this growing membership base, then please call one of Corporate Partnerships Executives Scott Hudson (4725 6413; scott.hudson@panthers.com.au) or Shane Skeen (4725 6415; shane.skeen@ panthers.com.au) to organise a meeting to discuss your specific objectives.
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FEATURE
Marcus Moufarrige, Chief Information Officer – Servcorp
Employee of the Month Goes to... Your Receptionist Why do you think the receptionist is the most important person in your business? They are the voice and face of your organisation for every call, every visitor and every enquiry making contact with you. They are a key member of your team, as they live and breathe customer service and quite often set the tone for others to follow.
Being at the forefront of communication for a company must be difficult, as you would have to take calls and say the same thing all day and every day. However, the real challenge is being a receptionist that makes the company sound and look professional every time. Many companies think about replacing their real receptionist with automated voicemail, but they often find that callers either hang up or get very frustrated by the attempt to get through to a real person. Is that really the impression you want to make? Customers would much rather have a pleasant voice to answer the phone as it would immediately put callers in a comfortable state of mind. Not only are they a voice over the phone, they are the face to the community. The receptionist is the first person they see when they walk through the doors of the office and their number one priority is making visitors feel welcome. Putting people at ease, whether in person or on the telephone, is a big part of a receptionist’s job. Small businesses are increasingly turning to more cost effective ways to manage their office environment and this is also extending to their receptionist function. A virtual office with a receptionist is an ideal way to keep costs low but still maintain that personal, professional impression first time and every
48 GWP Magazines | Issue 37 | July / August 2011 ®
time. A Servcorp Virtual Office provides everything necessary to run a business in a corporate setting without the overhead costs that are usually incurred while renting a full-time physical office space. This includes a dedicated receptionist in your chosen location, access to meeting rooms and boardrooms for important meetings and use of the corporate address for your business correspondence. The receptionist will answer, manage and transfer your calls just as you would expect from a member of your own team. She literally becomes and voice of your business. Not only can the Servcorp receptionists answer your calls, they can help you run your business, take orders from your clients, organise your printing, share files, send and receive mail in the chosen location. Servcorp in Sydney has nine offices including Sydney CBD, Bondi, North Sydney, North Ryde, Norwest and Parramatta. At these locations, these dedicated receptionists are vital to your business and they are the end goal as they will ensure that every call is handled professionally. G
For more information on how our dedicated receptionists can help your business or to find out more about Servcorp Virtual Offices, please contact the location of your choice below or go to www.servcorp.com.au Servcorp Sydney MLC centre Sydney Chifley Tower Sydney Market St Bondi Junction North Sydney North Ryde Norwest Parramatta
| 9238 2100 | 9375 2100 | 9089 8900 | 8095 6300 | 8019 7000 | 8875 7700 | 8860 9500 | 9615 9700
GWP Media and GWP Magazines provide 25% off advertising rates to the Servcorp serviced offices and virtual clients in Sydney as part of the joint effort to support the business community.
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