The Adelaide Fringe Festival is a hugely successful example of an open access arts festival, that is recognised Internationally as one of the best. Adelaide Fringe not only supports the local arts industry but also attracts both National and Internal artists and visitors. A proud South Australian organisation, the team will coordinate 1300 shows in 2019 and are looking to beat the tickets sales of 700,000 tickets in 2018! Heather Croall is the Director and CEO of the Adelaide Fringe, and has ove...
Dec 02, 2018•29 min•Season 3Ep. 117
Embracing positive risk is not only liberating, it can also deliver positive gains or benefits to your business in areas you may normally avoid due to risk of potential failure. Vanessa Jones is an expert copywriter who helps others to listen to their unconscious mind, helping them to successfully navigate the marketing world by teaching them to listen to their gut feelings. A freelance copywriter, Vanessa has also studied positive psychology, philosophy and she is a qualified yoga teacher. Vane...
Nov 25, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 116
Moving from the academic to commercial sector is daunting, as the transition from research and testing, to selling in a competitive market, involves a steep learning curve. Michelle Perugini, is one example who has made the transition from academic science, to successful startup business. Combining a background as a stem cell biologist with the rising power of artificial intelligence, has seen Michelle become a leading technology innovator. She sold her first startup business to Ernst & Youn...
Nov 18, 2018•24 min•Season 3Ep. 115
Emotions can seem detrimental on our path to professional success, especially when decisions are driven by irrational responses. However there is a place for emotion in our professional lives and according to my guest this week, understanding this, helps improve human durability - or what is often referred to, as resilience. Derrick McManus is a survivor, to say the least, and he has incredible stories to tell. Derrick was in the South Australian Police Force for over 40 years, where he became a...
Nov 11, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 114
Creating appealing and readable content is a complex process; there is tension between what the author is explaining, and what your audience wants to read. Changing your perspective as a content writer can make your material more desirable and consumable. Cas McCullough is the founder and CEO of tech startup, Writally , which provides content recipes to help you write powerful marketing and blog content in less time. Cas has worked in content strategy for 8 years. As well as running Writally, sh...
Nov 04, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 113
Sharing your passion with others is confronting, especially in age where there are so many competing voices on the internet. With a plethora of communication channels at our fingertips, it is difficult to know where to start your journey, in order to be heard. Jade Lee Wright is a book lover, who's turned her love of literature into a multiplatform blog . Since 2010, Jade's blog has blossomed through using Instagram, YouTube, and now podcasting. Books have had a deep and influential impact on Ja...
Oct 28, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 112
Interior design has been linked to business success with a connection to improved sales and staff productivity. It considers the overall look and atheistic of a space, and the feeling they create, to ultimately shape the story that these feelings convey. With a career spanning over 19 years, Jacqui Dunn has become a trusted name for interior design projects in Adelaide. A Co-Founder of The Travelling Stylist - an Interior Design and Styling firm, Jacqui is also a presenter on the Channel 9 TV Sh...
Oct 21, 2018•19 min•Season 3Ep. 111
Social media platforms provide huge opportunities to communicate with your audience. However, understanding which channel to use and how to successfully engage people to know, like and trust your organisation on social media can be overwhelming. Mel Kettle is a communication and social media expert, helping organisations communicate effectively so they build and maintain relationships with their staff, customers and stakeholders. Mel is particularly passionate about encouraging her clients to em...
Oct 14, 2018•20 min•Season 3Ep. 110
Your corporate identity is about so much more than just your logo and brand colours. Your identity or brand is the essence of your business that distinguishes your organisation or product from your competitors, in the eyes of your customers. Sipros Giannos is the Design Director of DesignLab, the business he started to answer a marketplace need for a more flexible, targeted and collaborative approach to design. His focus is to deliver creativity that visually connects your business with your cli...
Oct 07, 2018•19 min•Season 3Ep. 109
The art of copywriting is an important skill. With more diverse audiences accessing information from multiple sources, the ability to write your business story to suit specific platforms and attract your target audience, could be the difference between obscurity or success. Kylee Bristow is a corporate communications specialist and trainer, and the Director of Lexi Communications. Kylee recently invited me to present at the Business Writers Conference in Brisbane, and whilst there, we sat down t...
Sep 30, 2018•19 min•Season 3Ep. 108
Podcasting popularity continues to grow, and exciting things are predicted for podcast numbers in 2019. In the lead up to International Podcasting Day, I sat down with fellow Adelaide podcast enthusiast, Rory Noke to hear his thoughts on world of podcasting. Rory is PodBooth's Co-owner, as well as their audio and video producer. He has over 10 years broadcast experience, previously working with ABC, Network Ten and Channel 7. Rory is a podcaster himself and was selected as a Host of the Year fin...
Sep 23, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 107
Donny Walford is the founder of DW Bottom Line Transition Strategists ™ and DW Behind Closed Doors ®. She has an enviable record of success working with boards, executive, senior management and business owners across industry, government and the not-for-profit sector. According to Donny, "it's lonely at the top for men, but it's even lonelier for women as there's just not enough of us". In today's episode of Be The Drop , Donny discusses the critical importance for women to invest in themselves,...
Sep 16, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 106
Understanding and delivering successful Web Marketing has become increasingly important in business. To find out more about how businesses are extending their leadership in this area, I sat down with Alex Counsell, the Web Marketing Manager at Le Cordon Bleu. Alex is an advertising and marketing professional with over 20 years experience in agencies and big-brand corporate marketing teams. After a career in London, he moved to Australia and has since helped some of Australia's biggest brands opt...
Sep 09, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 105
AmieDD is a maker of things. With a background in Game Programming and Simulation, Amie Danielle Dansby is a Software Engineer with a passion for code and cosplay. Whilst at Hybrid World Adelaide recently, I managed a quick interview to discuss the wonder of technology with AmieDD . Starting her career at Marvel Studios, working on Captain America and X-Men Destiny, she transitioned to Research and Development, working on the Xbox and Playstation. AmieDD is currently one of the Co-Founders of AT...
Sep 02, 2018•14 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Chloe Jane is a kindred spirit, who shares my passion for the incredible power of storytelling. Taking her love of creative writing and combining it with her skills in visual storytelling, Chloe Jane now helps a range of clients to answer questions such as > how to build your Instagram profile? Chloe Jane loves creating beautiful social content and teaching people tips and techniques, to curate an authentic online presence. She describes herself a driven and dreamy 'ideas girl', with a passio...
Aug 26, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Elliott Watkins, better known online as Muselk, is a 22 year old Australian YouTuber based in Sydney. With over 6.3 Million subscribers to his YouTube Channel and nearly 1.8 Billion total video views since launching, Muselk has established international credibility as a YouTube content creator. But what does it take to build a successful YouTube Channel? How do you create initial momentum to attract subscribers and grow your channel? Muselk's channel grows by an average of 18,000 subscribers dai...
Aug 19, 2018•17 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Social media seems to be evolving at a rate that makes my head spin. It can get confusing and it's certainly a challenge to keep up. That's why events like Social Media Day Adelaide , packed full of the latest industry insights and real business applications, are so incredibly valuable. Established in 2015 by three passionate marketers, Jennifer Evison, Rubina Carlson and Ryan Jones, wanted to create an opportunity to share social media knowledge, with the aim of making it accessible to everyone...
Aug 12, 2018•25 min•Season 2Ep. 101
What does is take to be a good interviewer? How do you capture content in order to create a story that will take your audience on a journey - and keep them with you until the end? As a content creator and storyteller, these are questions I search to answer as I work to continually improve my interview techniques. Sitting down at Hybrid World Adelaide with Marc Fennell , renowned Australian radio, tv and podcast interviewer and presenter was therefore a huge honour (and also slightly intimidating...
Aug 05, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 100
What does it mean to live and communicate in Hybrid World? Technology advancements are increasingly making our lives easier as machine learning, ai + robots improve process delivery. However at the same time, humans need to decide how we want to shape our digital life. As more of our data is captured in order to deliver these efficiencies, what are the boundaries we believe are necessary, in order to protect individuals privacy and what are the ethical parameters we want to implement on how much...
Jul 29, 2018•58 min•Season 2Ep. 99
This podcast episode is packed with pure gold SEO tips from someone who's worked in the field for 18 years. Chaz McGregor's SEO journey began around the turn of the millennium, working for one of the early search engine marketing businesses in Adelaide. Fast forward to now and his business New Order Digital manages the complex digital advertising requirements of multiple brands. On his journey, Chaz has been captivated by the power of bringing people to a website and turning them into customers....
Jul 22, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 98
As more and more people turn to online searches to find information, there is increasing pressure to understand how SEO helps business be found online. Founder of SEO Marketer, Mark Kirk, began building and optimising websites 22 years ago - before google was even google!! Today SeoMarketer employs 8 Australian based team members and 3 international full time employees. Over the years much has changed but the fundamental requirement for businesses to generate leads from their marketing strategy ...
Jul 15, 2018•26 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Pocket Casts is my favourite app for listening to podcasts, and I'm not alone. Recently listed by TIME as one of the 5 best podcast apps , Pocket Casts receives international recognition as one of the leading listening platforms. I was therefore very excited to interview Russell Ivanovic, Pocket Casts Co-Founder and Developer. Russell + Co-Founder Philip Simpson, developed their first app in 2008 - an Australian weather app, which became number 1 in the app store in Australia. Two years later, t...
Jul 08, 2018•31 min•Season 2Ep. 96
This week's episode was recorded live from the CEO Sleepout where sharing stories helps raise awareness and generate much needed funds for those in need. David Wark, CEO for Vinnies SA recently wrote "Homelessness shouldn't exist in Australia. There shouldn't be hunger in Australia. And surely there are enough clothes for all. Vinnies is doing our best to address all of this and it's with your support that this becomes so much more possible." On Thursday 21st June, I joined over 130 passionate S...
Jul 01, 2018•25 min•Season 2Ep. 95
In today's crowded digital marketplace, the performance of your website is so important to your business. Yet many SME's struggle to understand what is required to develop an online presence that is functional, engaging and visible in search results. Unless you know a web developer, that is! Tyson Brady is a freelance website developer and former graphic designer. So, as an introduction to our Online Storytelling Program , that looks at how to generate leads from online storytelling, Tyson is th...
Jun 24, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Cathy Beaton is an incredible woman. As South Australian State President of Vinnies , her work is integral to the positive impact that Vinnies has on the thousands of homeless people in South Australia. This is a cause that troubles me deeply. So this year, I will once again participate in the CEO Sleepout , spending the night outside, on the street in the cold and wet of mid winter, to raise funds and awareness for the plight of the vulnerable and needy within our community. In today's episode ...
Jun 17, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 93
Victoria Fox combines that wonderful mix of friendly and approachable, with hard working and professional; and you're aware of it from the first minute you meet her. As Owner of Adelaide Skydeck , and also the General Manager at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre, she has many valuable business insights to share. Victoria has built an award winning team at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre, guiding them to win the accolade of Best Business Event Venue, firstly in South Australia and then go...
Jun 10, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 92
The digital content landscape is a noisy space that is constantly evolving. The rate at which this marketing space changes often leaves businesses and marketers with their heads spinning - myself included! So this week, I sit down with my Narrative Marketing team member Jojo Furnival to share some key tips that we've learned about how to achieve success with online content. Jojo started blogging for business in 2010, and has witnessed firsthand the evolution of digital content and online search....
Jun 03, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 91
It's important in small business to get the right business advice. I can safely say that my guest this week, Luke Talbot-Male, can be counted on to give it! Launching a surf school in Port Elliot in 2001 was Luke's way of mingling business with adventure. And what an adventure it has been! At one point, Luke managed 15 different brands and operations, including Heysen Trail walking tours, a team building activities company, a Kangaroo Island backpacker hostel, restaurant, cabin park, and kayak t...
May 27, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 90
These days, it's not enough to have a corporate brand. You need a personal brand too. In some industries, it's more important than others. But across the board, adopting some basic personal branding tips could take your networking and sales efforts to the next level. In today's episode of Be The Drop , I chat to Kristen Werner of KW.Brands about authenticity and visual branding. Plus, she reveals some powerful tips for developing a compelling personal brand. To explore this topic in more detail,...
May 20, 2018•15 min•Season 2Ep. 89
All of us working in small to medium sized business are acutely aware of the importance of sales to ongoing success. But despite this, it is not uncommon for there to be a reluctance or unease about knowing how to sell. Sometimes it's as though "sales" is a dirty word. But it's not! And even if your business doesn't have a dedicated salesperson, there are some changes you can make that will help sharpen your sales focus - in a natural and organic way. In today's episode of Be The Drop , I break ...
May 14, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 88
