wide-full

It was once said with humour: “I know that half my advertising works. I just don’t know which half.” Such a sentiment is no longer likely to raise a smile. This is because smart marketers (including business owners) now expect a return on investment (ROI) from their marketing (like duh).

As 2011 draws to a close, end of year festivities are coming into full swing and Australian businesses are celebrating a year of success. Despite the current economic conditions, Australian businesses have performed well overall in 2011, with the economy growing 1.8 per cent despite natural disasters such as the Queensland floods. Meanwhile, the OECD is also predicting strong relative growth for our economy through 2012 and 2013.

What do you know about Google AdWords? This hub was developed to answer the questions you already have, and those you haven't thought yet to ask.

If you thought equipment leasing was just for computers, server systems or high tech IT equipment – think again. For many start-ups and small business owners, signing up to lease technology is a great way to get their businesses off the ground. Leasing a computer meant you could spread out the cost of the equipment over a longer period of time and you could conserve your precious capital for other uses as marketing or getting the word out.

Over 100 high-profile entrepreneurs are coming together for The Entourage Harbour Cruise. Mix, mingle and cause mischief with some of Australia's most impressive business names under 40.

On Thursday, eight Anthillians were given a pitching opportunity like no other -- access to two prominent Australian investors in a hot-air balloon, while floating over Victoria's Yarra Valley. Some might call it, Australia's most elevated elevator pitch! Seven entrepreneurs (and Anthill founder James Tuckerman) earned the opportunity to 'hang' with AngelCube's Adrian Stone and Adventure Capital's Darcy Naunton... some 2,000 feet in the air.

What can’t be denied is the film's assertion that the business world is now the domain of Gen-Y entrepreneurs, who have the smarts and creativity to bring their billion-dollar ideas to life. Spurred on by the success of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, young men such as Zuckerberg have created successful businesses all through the typing of code on a computer screen.

Here's a cheerful thought: Every minute, three Facebook users worldwide go bung. Pop their clogs. Put on a pine overcoat. And what happens then to those Facebook accounts? Indeed, what happens to all of those accounts for social engagement, email, online dating and online gaming?

You may have experimented with AdWords. AdWords might already be core to your strategy. Perhaps you're an online newbie with a desire to dip your toes into the AdWords estuary, with ambitions to make your big splash as a Big Kahuna on the waves of the interwebs! Whether you're a master farmer in the fields of online marketing or an AdWords apprentice, we suspect it's safe to assume one thing. You are not using Search Engine Marketing as well as you could.

This year's overall Cool Company winner, iiNet, was recognised for its use of innovative technologies, clever marketing and for challenging some of Australia's biggest brands. "This company sells itself as solid like a big telco but has managed to sustain the spunky attitude of a startup," said Anthill founder James Tuckerman, at the Sixth Annual Cool Company Award in Melbourne on Thursday.

Jerry Maguire delved behind the scenes and looked at the business side of sports. Tom Cruise starred as the title character, a sports agent whose radical idea of taking on less clients, asking for less money and focusing on developing relationships with the clientele, has him fired from his prestigious position in one of the premiere sports firms in the country.

Key People enjoy a special status in their chosen field because they are well connected, well known, well regarded and highly valued.

Most business films tend to feature male lead characters, yet Working Girl featured not one but two strong female characters, with Sigourney Weaver countering Melanie Griffith with a bitchy turn sure to make many a viewer grind their teeth. Both women followed several female execs on their hectic daily schedules in New York City, sitting in on meetings and taking in life as a businesswoman in a male-dominated world.

In an interview with Anthill’s Cynthia Karena, Schebesta talks about the challenges he faces – using social media to sell financial products, learning to build a business outside of search engine marketing, learning to hire the right candidates and combining fun with work.

The big daddy of films dealing with business ethics and excess, Wall Street was not only a damnation of the financial sector; it also became an unintentional recruitment video for inspiring stock traders everywhere. Although it was director Oliver Stone’s attempt at saying the opposite, the film -- and especially Gordon Gekko -- are now seen as inspiration by stockbrokers who can recite the film from beginning to end.

AusIndustry is a specialist program delivery division within the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Darren Rowse is a global professional blogging phenomenon. In 2002, he 'stumbled across a book on blogging. Within five years, his ProBlogger blog was listed as number two on Technorati's most favorited blogs list and number 40 on its most linked to list. His blogs generate around 85,000-100,000 page views... wait for it... a day!

In an interview with Anthill’s Cynthia Karena, the duo says entrepreneurship should be all about building value, not selling out. Early in Spreets’ life, McEvoy realised the importance of this when a friend declined to put a deal opportunity on his Facebook page. That is when the penny dropped, he says, and Spreets began to focus on quality deals and the user experience, rather than focusing only on discounts.

In an interview with Anthill’s Cynthia Karena, Bullock talks about how his resolve never to accept no for an answer landed him his first big client – St. George Bank. Entrepreneurship also means creating a win-win situation and scaling from small to medium, and probably to large, because of the huge potential that still exists, he adds.

The brainchild of 27-year-old wunderkind Orson Welles who starred, wrote and directed, Citizen Kane tells the story of media tycoon Charles Foster Kane and how his relentless ascent to the top brings him unparalleled power but leaves him a lonely old man. What made Welles’ work that much more special was that he based Kane on the life of powerful, real-life business magnate William Randolph Hearst, who didn’t take too kind to the less than flattering depiction.