Australian Design Unit » — Going to market

How to crack the US retail mass market

madeleineh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:20:28 +0000

“Almost every Australian company dreams of one day exporting its consumer products, inventions and ideas to the US retail mass market. How could you not dream about it? I do. The US retail mass market can take you from little league to major league, outstripping your sales in Australia many times… if you can crack it! But how do you crack it? Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of CEOs or Sales Managers from Australia think it’s easy. It’s not.” Read on

Chad Hetherington Australian Anthill

Gary Vaynerchuk’s startup advice

madeleineh — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:41:23 +0000

“Aspiring entrepreneurs must constantly navigate the tension between doing what they love and the realities of the market. Sometimes those interests align: Bill Gates and Paul Allen loved to write software, and happened to be doing it at the dawn of a multibillion-dollar industry. But more often, entrepreneurs walk a high wire between pursuing passion and the market opportunity where they have the greatest chance to succeed.” Read on

John Tozzi BusinessWeek

Creative collaborations and other essential C words

madeleineh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:43:28 +0000

“It can be stimulating and inspiring to work with other creative people on new projects, so it’s worth thinking about what makes creative collaborations work well… Collaborations work best when people with complementary skills come together to work on a project – for example a writer and illustrator. If the project is to be a commercial success as well as a creative achievement, then other so-called ‘non-creative’ people might be needed too.” Read on

David Parrish Creative Choices

Have a ‘green’ career

madeleineh — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:53:19 +0000

“Is it idealistic to plan for a green career? Whether your working day is spent at home, in an office, studio, or on the road, there are steps you can take to ensure you’re being as environmentally conscious as possible. You don’t necessarily have to be a visual artist using recycled materials. Whichever creative sector you’re in, think how you can stand out as a green role model. Here are some considerations you may want to take on board. Hopefully they’ll inspire you and give you something to talk about with your friends and colleagues.” Read on

Momtaz Begum-Hossain Creative Choices

Three best ways to convert web traffic into sales

madeleineh — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:15:58 +0000

“These days, the tech-savvy small business is using search engine optimisation to steer customers to its home page. But once those online visitors land, how do you get them to buy? Sure, you can pay a lot for site analytics that give you insights into those potential customers’ shopping habits. But small-business owners now have a variety of simple yet effective tools to tempt visitors into opening their wallets.” Read on

Raymund Flandez The Wall Street Journal