Blogs

Zach Nelson is CEO of NetSuite. He was named one of the 10 Visionary CEOs of 2008 by InternetNews.com, after guiding the company through its 2007 IPO. He helmed it from startup to one of the world's leading cloud computing companies. So, it's not surprisingly that he should hold this view. Yes, he is biased. But is he wrong?

As you can imagine, I get sent books all the time. It's one of the perks of being 'Mr Anthill'. Despite being a prolific reader, only a few ever capture my attention. And an even smaller number capture my imagination. Several weeks ago, I was sent the Australian edition of 'Become a Key Person of Influence' by Daniel Priestly. I read it in an afternoon. And, several weeks on, my imagination is still buzzing.

We've decided to dedicate 10 articles to 10 essential online marketing tools -- what we use, how we use them and how they operate together. Sign up to this campaign and we will exploit you. That's our promise. But, first, let me explain.

Too often in the past, the term 'social media' has been peddled as a panacea for whatever commercial problems 'ail ya', with the zest of a spiritual healer or snake-oil salesman. Is it any wonder that 'social media' experts were so quick to adopt the descriptors 'guru' and 'evangelist'?

Over the past 10 days, Anthill has experienced more technical issues and downtime than in its entire digital history. We won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, it was hellish. Rather than take a long-weekend to lick our wounds and recoup, it wasn't a hard decision to attempt to turn this negative into a positive, and create a compelling 'living' lesson for Anthill readers instead.

On Wednesday, applications will close for Anthill's 2011 30under30 awards. Given the high number of polite and cautiously curious enquiries we've received so far, about the types and volume of entries for this year's program, we decided to offer the following sneak preview.

Vilified footy entrepreneur Ricky Nixon's latest, most abortive attempt at PR redemption this weekend provided several clear lessons about the new art of war on the PR and reputation battleground. The most instructive lesson from the interview was when Nixon sulked that he was being unfairly outfoxed and out-PR'ed by a teenager.

Nearly seven out of 10 Australians see access to the Internet as a basic human right, according to an online -- and not particularly scientific -- survey by Compare Broadband. But a basic human right? Really?

On Friday 25 February, Anthill launched a group buying website for bsuiness owners, called Antmart. We promised, at the time, to share what worked... and what didn't. At this early stage in the site's development, our attention has largely been on aspects that didn't work. Here are six lessons from our first week.

Sometime last year, Anthill's online growth triggered an unexpected and somewhat unwelcome side-effect. The size, reach and visibility we had worked so hard to achieve was attracting a new kind of reader, from the 'uncouth fringe'. Today, I am seeking your help. It's time to combat the trolls... in haiku!

Is it just me or are the most brilliant examples of marketing invariably those commissioned to sell the most reprehensible, unpleasant or just plain awkward products and services? While I suspect that this creative piece of packaging won't win any industry awards anytime soon, it nevertheless prompts me to ask the question: Could this be the best (or worst) piece of marketing you've seen all year?

This morning, it was confirmed that Yahoo!7 has acquired Australian group-buying business Spreets for $40 million. The deal is the first of what is expected to become a consolidation of the Australian group-buying market. However, what's truly remarkable about this announcement is the short time-frame between Spreets' launch and its sale, after only 10 months on the Australian market.

Last week, Anthill emailed a 'sponsored satirical message from the future' to 9,000 members of its 14,000-strong eNewsletter database. The message informed recipients of their success winning a fictional award from the year 2012. Responses were mixed, ranging from "This is hilarious and very clever!" to "I WOULD PREFER NOT TO RECEIVE THIS CRAP!" So, is Anthill likely to run a campaign like this again?

I have lost count of the number of times my friends, colleagues, and business partners have made the statement, “Facebook is personal. It is not for B2B! Try LinkedIn.” I understand their sentiment. Since its inception, Facebook has always been an intimate space reserved for friends and family, or very close professional associates. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Last week, I posted a story that asked Anthill readers to suggest new revenue streams. The post was triggered by a theft (and the loss of some expensive equipment). The surprising flood of responses to this post, received by phone, email, tweets, Facebook messages and, of course, your comments had me both thrilled and alarmed. It also got me thinking.

Australia's richest business plan competition, offering $100,000 for one savvy Australian business, reached its conclusion at the Queensland State Library in Brisbane last Wednesday night. Does this company deserve $100k in seed funding? Heck, yeah! Now watch the clip.

Last week, Anthill was the victim of a theft. The loss was felt immediately, not simply due to its effect on morale but also because the loss involved some important documents and many human hours of productivity. Now, there are two things that we can do: (1) Sulk; or, (2) Devise a way to turn a positive into a negative.

Without the dramas over unstable structures and unsanitary accommodation, let’s be honest: who would really give a stuff about a tournament that’s perceived to be as marginal and obsolete as Britain’s decaying Commonwealth itself? Could Delhi be an unlikely saviour for the Commonwealth Games?

We wrote about Coca-Cola's 'Happiness machine' when it first appeared in an unnamed US university campus in January. Indeed, we asked whether it could be the 'worst viral campaign' ever, simply because it seemed so contrived. However, the pimped-out vending machine is back. This time, in Europe.

In his previous article, Roger La Salle challenged innovation practitioners to examine the rate of return on their innovation investment. Here, he explains how to set a time scale to obtain this return: "If you can have an early win with innovation then you can be sure more budget will be forthcoming and still greater achievements can be obtained." To find the low-hanging fruit (and the lowest risk) for your startup, the best place to begin is with Process Innovation.