NATIONAL business expectations remain below average despite an improvement in the March quarter.
This is the finding of the latest Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Business Expectations Survey released this month.
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IN Greenland, the King is Dead. Long Live the Queen. But does she speak the same language?
Like many Tasmanians, I am watching with great interest the transition of power from Senator Bob Brown to Senator Christine Milne as Leader of the Australian Greens. In particular, I hear Senator Milne’s apparent wish both to concentrate more on the economy and to embrace farmers as fellow travellers with the Greens.
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THE 10,000th customer to sign up to connect to the Tas Gas network, 61-year-old Robert Nicholson of New Town, says it took him a long time to decide to switch to natural gas but is glad he made the decision when he did.
Mr Nicholson will receive free natural gas for 12 months and a new hot water system courtesy of Tas Gas Retail for being the 10,000th Tasmanian residential and business customer.
Robert Nicholson, the 10,000th customer to sign up to the Tas Gas network, and Tas Gas chief executive officer Richard Sheather.
By TROY HARPER
TCCI CHAIRMAN
I HAVE recently returned from Western Australia after attending a meeting of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s General Council.
It was fascinating to visit Perth (my first trip) and see the impact of Australia’s mining boom from near ground zero.
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FORTY-NINE year 10 students from across Tasmania have recently enrolled in the 2012 youthBUILD program.
An initiative of the Housing Industry Association (HIA), youthBUILD promotes the benefits of gaining practical experience in the building industry while still at secondary school.
Back row, from left, Ben Sablowski, Kaleb Smith (teacher), Ollie Toombs, Matthew Gillies, Ashley Minifie, Mathew Worsley, Grace Ford and Maddison Smith. Front row, Joshua Franklin, Dylan Figg and Ken Hannah.
WHILE recent economic news is not rosy, there is some light on the horizon for Tasmania.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) says the economy has been in a period of stagnation overall, with State Final Demand falling by 0.1 per cent in the June and September quarters and no growth in the December quarter 2011.
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TASMANIA’S peak employer body, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) says the withdrawal of the Richard Chandler Corporation’s investment in Gunns Limited is another blatant example of the Greens quest to destroy Tasmanian investment, the economy and jobs.
TCCI Chairman Troy Harper said the Chandler Corporation’s decision was a direct result of the Greens’ threats and the intervention and comments of Nick McKim, Bob Brown and their cohorts.
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By TROY HARPER
TCCI CHAIRMAN
THE TCCI had an opportunity to have Premier and Treasurer Lara Giddings address a luncheon around the budget mid-year results.
While the lunch was a resounding success, the mid-year accounts were less successful.
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TASMANIA’S peak business body, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) has called for the State’s two major political parties to agree on key budget priorities.
The TCCI says the Labor and Liberal parties must come together more to counter the Green threat to responsible budget management.
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Kellie O'Brien
By KELLIE O’BRIEN
FACEBOOK is expected to see an influx of businesses adopting a fan page in 2012 in a bid to keep up with the new ways of marketing. The online Australian Women and Social Media 2011 survey released in January showed 40% of business respondents without a fan page were planning to launch one. On Tasmania’s North-West Coast, there has been a slow uptake to the social media giant, or many of those who have, are not using it effectively.
The big appeal of Facebook is it’s a free marketing tool enabling a business to interact directly with customers and have their brand shared easily to a wider network. However, the key is to work it right. A look at many North-West businesses shows them merely pushing to get their page ‘liked’ to boost their fan numbers. Worse are those running competitions to boost fan numbers without using a third party app, which could see their page shut down rather swiftly due to a breach of Facebook guidelines.
To do Facebook well, businesses need to forget measuring their page’s success by fan numbers and focus on the level of engagement. There’s no point having 1500 fans if only 20 of them are genuinely interested in your brand. The key is to seek out those who want to learn more about what you do, so genuine fans turn into brand advocates championing what you do to others.
This is where some Coastal businesses are doing well. They’re sharing good content that either entertains or informs. This prompts their followers to like, comment on or share each post with their networks. Interestingly, research has shown photos garner more ”likes” and comments than any other form of post.
There are good examples of Coastal businesses using Facebook to complement their business. A clothing boutique, for example, has a good balance of promoting its business while sharing funny photos, fashion news and answering customer queries. During January it shared fashion photos from the Devonport Cup and the Golden Globes - both a good fit, even though they’re on different levels. Another, a Coastal boutique farm, shares farm photos, market dates, interesting snippets of life on the farm and agricultural news.
Others are gaining that engagement, but are falling short by not responding to client queries. This is all part of a business’ customer service. Remember, the most important word in social media is ‘’social”. Another reason to want to gain those post likes and comments is because every time someone makes a connection, it pops up in their newsfeed and the newsfeed of their friends, further promoting a brand and possibly attracting new fans and customers.
While arguments will continue over how to successfully measure its return on investment, it’s still an economical form of publicity - as long as you have a solid strategy. It’s true that Facebook won’t be for every business. The key is to find your place in social networks, be that Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube or Pinterest, and to work it well. With any social media, the easiest way to learn is to set up an account and jump in.
*Kellie O’Brien is director of social media and public relations business Mum PR and can be contacted on kellie@mumpr.com.au
