by Brook McCarthy | Nov 5, 2015 | Branding, Entrepreneurism
In my local neighbourhood, there’s a café that’s never quiet. No matter what time of the day or what day of the week you get there, it’s overflowing with people. The café looks like it belongs in a laneway of Melbourne, not a daggy Sydney suburb. They serve on-trend...
by Brook McCarthy | Oct 30, 2015 | Branding, Communication, Creativity
“To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose under heaven” (The Byrds) In July this year, after more than seven years of trading under the name Yoga Reach, I decided it was time for rebranding. It was a decision...
by Brook McCarthy | Oct 7, 2015 | Communication, Email marketing, Social media
In the movie Sliding Doors, Gwyneth Paltrow’s character follows two story lines – what happens after she misses her train and what happens after she catches it. This narrative is hugely popular because so much of life is a result of timing – in romance and life...
by Brook McCarthy | Sep 17, 2015 | Entrepreneurism, Money
Before you hire a business coach, know that there are only two things they’re good for. Business coaches are great for motivating people to get on and work hard at their businesses. A business coach can be hugely encouraging, energising you to power through a to-do...
by Brook McCarthy | Sep 7, 2015 | Communication, Creativity
There’s plenty of heart-wrenching, tear-duct inducing inspiration on the net. You may be in the inspiration business? Perhaps, as part of your remit, you’ve got to engage, provoke, seduce, persuade and inspire clients. Most business owners do – it’s the necessary...
by Brook McCarthy | Aug 6, 2015 | Entrepreneurism
Business case study of Ann Marie Johnston, a marketing professional and yoga teacher who engaged me as her business coach while in the start-up phase of YogaMate, a new digital resource (website and app) for yoga professionals and their students. “As a sole...
by Brook McCarthy | Aug 5, 2015 | Communication, Creativity
Imagine that your website copy were employees. They are there to help you out, to share the load, and to convert browsers to buyers. So how are they doing? If you were to evaluate their performance, you might look at your website analytics and check out your bounce...
by Brook McCarthy | Jul 23, 2015 | Communication, Creativity
Email marketing is the cornerstone of my business. I’ve sent an email newsletter once a month every month since January 2010. At the time, my months followed the same pattern: I would write a handful of articles per client for a handful of retainer clients, source...
by Brook McCarthy | Jul 16, 2015 | Creativity, Entrepreneurism, Money
Publishing your sales page for a digital product before you actually create it makes smart business sense. It’s particularly relevant to self-employed and small business owners simply because we don’t have the resources to dedicate to creating digital products and the...
by Brook McCarthy | Jul 1, 2015 | Branding, Money
Some time ago, a friend called me to ask how much she should charge for a particular service. I told her a figure that I not only thought was “reasonable” (meaning mid-range) but also knew from experience was pretty common. She got angry at me, spluttering that “I...