Today I delivered my 57th keynote address for the year.

I had an audience of 150(ish) motivated business owners hungry to grow their business through some smart marketing ideas.

The particular keynote I shared went for 50-minutes – and I allowed 10-minutes for questions at the end.

Upon asking for questions, there was the usual silence, followed by the first brave individual putting up their hand.

More awkward silence as the microphone runner makes their way over.

Then comes the question.

I was having a good old laugh with the kids last night watching Modern Family. It scares me how much of Phil Dunphy I see in myself (don’t tell anyone ;0) Then a news break came on. It was shocking. Literally shocking. No need for specifics, suffice to say it was bad news after bad news. As a father, I felt not only for my kids, but for the world’s population in general.

However, instead of dwelling on what is, it got me thinking about how we can protect ourselves from the negativity and make our world a slightly better place. So here’s five ideas to point you in the right direction.

I started creating truly helpful content five years ago when I launched The Small Business Big Marketing Show.

At the time, I didn’t give much though to the problem of running out of content.

Afterall, there’s was no shortage of marketing questions business owners had.

And there was no shortage of business owners using marketing to successfully grow their business.

And in fact, I still don’t give much thought to this problem.

However, and it’s a big however, many business owners considering a helpful content marketing strategy seem to have big concerns about running out of things to say.

So, if the concern is there, then let me address it.

It was the biggest keynote I’d delivered all year.

An audience of 550 hungry business owners in Crown’s Palladium Ballroom – one of Melbourne’s most prestigious conference venues.

They’d come to hear me share my marketing wisdom to help grow their business. And I wanted to leave them feeling inspired and motivated to do great things.

I’d arrived two-hours early to do my set-up, to ensure everything was working as it should. But, with 30-seconds to go, as the emcee introduced me, my slides weren’t projecting – the technology had failed. And I was about to as well, or was I?

I love beautifully designed marketing materials.

Whether it be a logo, brochure, stationary, car wrap, uniform, website or banner.

Great design makes the business owner proud, and rewards the recipient.

To get to that place though, you need a great designer. And that can be a challenge.

I’ve had the same designer for 7-years – Nikola’s amazing.

I’ll tell you where I found him shortly, but first, here’s 5 traits I demand of him on each and every job.

I left the corporate world seven years to start a marketing consultancy.

Like the world needed another marketing consultant!

Two years in I decided I needed something that completely separated me from the pack.

A point-of-difference. A unique selling proposition.

A marketing play that positioned me as the go to guy in my industry.

So I started a …

Starting a podcast is a lot easier and cheaper than you think.

Here’s 6 tips to get you started.

Now what I’m about to share may fall on deaf ears.

But that’s OK, I need to get it off my chest.

It’s directed at marketing managers and business owners of businesses who use publicity in their marketing strategy. Read on …

You know, one of my favourite quotes is:

If you think what you’ve always thought,
you’ll do what you’ve always done.
And if you do what you’ve always done,
you’ll get what you’ve always got.

It’s a stark reminder that as small business owners we need to keep challenging the status quo. To keep on pushing ourselves. To never get complacent.

Unfortunately, I still see far too many business owners stuck in a marketing rut. Rolling out the same old campaigns, trying the same old channels to market, and as a result, getting frustrated and annoyed with the whole marketing thing. Read on for my 7 marketing jolts …

So, I went to the Melbourne Comedy Festival this week with my two boys.

Laugh? It was hilarious. I’ve never laughed so hard in a long time.

I was also pleasantly surprised to come across some great little marketing tips.

Who would have thought?

And that’s what I want to share with you in today’s editorial.

My 5 marketing tips from the funny guys. Read on …