15 Things every employee should consider when going for a job interview
Aug 10, 2015 Written by Mellissah SmithOur team have been interviewing hundreds of candidates and its interesting to see how many of them perform in an interview setting, or as many would say, on the first date.
Here are 15 things to consider when going for an interview:
The billable hours challenge for professional services firms
Jul 21, 2015 Written by Mellissah SmithIt is harder to work in a professional services firm than in corporate. Knowing that you have to do a certain number of billable hours can be a lot of pressure for employees, until they actually stop thinking about it.


While I can't sit still when it comes to making my life as diverse as possible, I certainly remain focused on the end goal.

Normally, I would be the first to say "that won't work". However, this wasn't the time. It was a small project and it wouldn't harm anyone by being a failure. Instead, it would be a lesson learned and I was willing to pay the price.


Bright lights, yellow taxi's, tall buildings, energy and of course business
Jun 12, 2015 Written by Mellissah Smith
There hasn't yet been a downside to having family in the business
Jun 01, 2015 Written by Mellissah SmithI decided that given how young she is, I would have her answer the phone and do administrative duties with the hope she would show aptitude for an area of the business, and we could further train her.

When we expanded to the US, it was a half-arsed approach. We set up "part-time" and employed a few people who were left to their own devices after initial training to make it happen.
The biggest lesson we learned
How do you decide on whether or not your company enters a new market?
Apr 05, 2015 Written by Mellissah SmithOur client, a highly successful accounting and financial services firm, Ulton Group, needed a "Marketing Eye" to develop their 2015/2016 marketing strategy. I took the opportunity to fly up to Bundaberg because it was close to Easter and a great opportunity to catch up with family in the Sunshine Coast.

As an entrepreneur, is it possible to finish what you start?
Feb 20, 2015 Written by Mellissah SmithThe feedback was good. Actually, it was more than good. It was great.
The mentors and entrepreneurs that I showed the plan to liked it so much that they wanted to invest. I gave it a lot of thought as to what I needed to take the business forward and decided that a little investment would help get the business to the first stage of growth, so it would not be a bad idea.
I chose a passive investor, who acted as a mentor but didn't tell me what to do. To be honest, at times I wish he had.
The business model was strong. In fact, I am proving that today. What wasn't strong is my understanding of how to run a startup. My other business Insomnia Marketing and Communication had been successful from the get-go because the brand was built on my capabilities.
But with Marketing Eye, I was trying to do something different. I was attempting to change the business from being about me, to being a true brand that stood alone.
At first I failed. The first years business results were not as big as the first year in Insomnia. In fact, nothing like it. Yet I had more money, resources and people.
The mistakes I made were evident:

Is your best good enough or do you strive for better, for more or even to be the best? How far can you actually push yourself and others?
It's a Saturday and I am sitting in my friends living room talking business while at the same time reading emails and catching up on the latest in business news.
As we talk I realize that entrepreneurs are no different from celebrities, movie stars, singers, musicians or any other career that is centre stage.
The reality is we all have a bit of neurotic behaviour in us - whether we like it or not. Some entrepreneurs are more neurotic than others - micro-managing, controlling, double A-Type personalities that find it hard to accept another person's way of doing things, and then others just tip the iceberg.
Many entrepreneurs have a goal, or an idea of where they want to be. They are achievement orientated and often lack discipline, needing to hire the latter in to complement their existing skill base.

Why juggling too many balls is bound to make you 'drop the ball'
Feb 18, 2014 Written by Mellissah Smith*Deep sigh*
It's Tuesday, and I have already worked one day of the weekend and one weekday, yet I haven't touched the surface.
Why is it that when you really are passionate about everything you do in life, that something always holds you back? For my life, it's time.
I always say, that time is the most important thing you can get from someone in your life. If you have their time, there is nothing else you will need. But time is harder than you think. With running an international business, having my fingers in quite a few different business pies, dedicating time to charity, trying to get a little bit of training in and developing technology - writing books and painting has definitely been put to the way-side.

Today, as I was making a post on Facebook with one of my marketing blogs, I noticed a headline from one of my friend's wives: "I lied to my child."
Apparently, as I read further, she had lied to her child by saying that she couldn't wait until her 5 year old started school, when really she knew that she would miss her dearly and would prefer for her small, adorable young daughter to continue to stay home.
There are many types of lies, but statistics show we all tell several lies per day, often without realizing it.
Lying is so common, yet for many of us including me, it drives us crazy.