Businesses are paying the price, as almost half of Australians (44.2%) confess to wasting hours of company time surfing the net for a new job, with 38% of workers admitting they’ve applied for a new role during work time, according to new research*. Continue Reading

The State Government suggests that Queensland’s creative industries are worth in excess of $3.4 billion annually to the economy. And, if recent accolades and the level of emerging talent is any indication, the industry looks set to be further bolstered throughout forthcoming months.

From national event awards to multimillion-dollar film productions, Queensland it seems has set the bar for excellence within the Creative Industries.
July saw Brisbane based events company, j2 creative industries take out a BT Publishing 2008 E-Awards for Excellence in Events for their role in producing the 20th Anniversary World Expo 88 Celebrations Charity Dinner held in May 2008.

In addition to this award, the company’s creative excellence has also been formally acknowledged at a national level when named the Telstra Business Awards Micro Business of the Year (QLD) in 2007.
The company, which promotes itself as a creative hub for a range of services including event management, creative direction, entertainment negotiation, event styling and more, acknowledges that the strength of QLD’s creative industries as a collective has been of benefit.

Creative and Managing Director for j2 Creative Industries, Joanna Jordan, advised, “Our ability to deliver projects with flair and clear creative edge is largely due to the talent pool of our staff and the quality suppliers that we have at a state level.”

She adds, “It’s certainly a compliment to our business and Queensland’s creative industries collectively that we can attract clients from interstate and overseas due to our expertise and level of creativity.”
As we settle into the digital age, the creative industries have diversified and now also includes website and digital design, animation and entertainment / games development.

General Manager for digital agency Avalde, Melanie Lindquist suggests that the level of interest in Queensland’s creative industries is definitely on the rise.

The company which has offices in Brisbane and Sydney, has seen a definite rise in the level of spend businesses are allocating to digital marketing and media.
“The innovative nature of digital media and the prolific penetration of social networking is simply too great to ignore. We’re immersed in a creative industry that is in great demand and will in all likelihood surpass the more traditional communication mediums in the future.”

She adds, “The average day in our office is vastly different to when we started four years back. We are now building interactive websites, implementing eShop systems, developing online games, creating iphone applications, illustrating for animation and then of course blogging and tweeting all about it!”

Brisbane based photographer and stylist Jessica Lambert is further testimony to the diversity of Queensland’s creative industries.

At only 26 years of age, Jessica is fast carving a niche within the industry having provided styling and production services for a host of national clients including Marie Claire Magazine, Nokia, Suncorp, Carlton Beer and Telstra.

Through her business, Visualante, Jessica has gained exposure to a range of creative projects including events, film, visual merchandising, styling and photography and believes that the state’s creative industries will only get stronger as the latest wave of creative talent emerges.

“Much of Queensland’s creative industries are still fledgling. In recent years we have seen an unprecedented level of interest in fashion, design and styling”, she says.

Jessica suggests that the ability of the creative industries network to foster and encourage emerging talent is its biggest asset.

“We are the next generation, the future star designers and stylists looking to make our mark both here locally and nationally so it’s a credit to the industry that our youthfulness and passion for creativity has been so well embraced by our peers.”

And Queensland’s creative style looks set to permeate the big screen too with the recent announcement that Queensland has attracted one of the biggest budget films to ever be shot in Australia.

In June 2009, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh confirmed the multi-million dollar Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of Dawn Treader will be filmed on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane later this year.

She told State Parliament the Walden Media/20th Century Fox feature film will see over 2,000 Queenslanders employed during production.

For further information regarding Queensland’s Creative Industries visit www.investqueensland.com.au

Commonwealth Bank has been working on its customer service, and I’ve noticed a few things:

1. Their online banking rocks. I recently had to use my partners online banking (Citibank) to try and find the interest on her accounts for last financial year – not available. Infact almost all the ‘cool’ things I’m accustomed to on the CBA platform were missing. So maybe this is more about how uncool Citibank’s online offering is – that being said Money Mag has voted Commbank as online bank of the year – more than once! We all know the saying “You don’t realise how good you’ve got it until it’s gone” Continue Reading

With an increasing number of people reading, writing, and commenting on blogs, the way we use the web is shifting in a fundamental way. Instead of being passive consumers of information, more and more Internet users are becoming active participants.

Blogs allow you to increase the number of readers and followers, increase your profile and show people that you are current. Once you have the followers, a blog can easily help you network between the groups and build relationships that you never had before. Having a link from your website to your blog, simplifies the process for clients and fans to connect with you. Continue Reading

Just how quickly the economy will recover is not yet clear, but tough times have turned many people’s thoughts to their savings and whether they would have enough to support them through a prolonged downturn or, in the worst case, in the event they’re left without an income.

While we are starting to hear about a more positive economic outlook, the lessons we have learned remain fundamentally important to how we manage our money more effectively to secure our future and realise our goals. Continue Reading

The latest Standish Report (CHAOS Summary 2009) says project success has fallen dramatically – only 32% of projects are on time, on budget and deliver all required features and functions.

Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group says “44% were challenged, which are late, over budget and/or with less than the required features and functions, and 24% failed, which are cancelled prior to completion or delivered and never used” Continue Reading

Five Australian students have broken the stereotype of the selfish “Generation Y” stigma by presenting the nation an opportunity to make a change simply by drinking a bottle of water. Continue Reading

In the face of challenges presented by the global economy, savvy businesses have identified the effectiveness of enhancing image and visibility through corporate giving programs. Continue Reading

There you are in a hotel, two or three time zones from home, feet up and cool beverage in hand. You’ve finished your meetings for the day and now it’s time to open the laptop, check on email, review your next presentation, and get ready for tomorrow. Except the hotel’s Internet connection is down so your laptop isn’t talking to anyone, at least for the time being. Not a problem. You have your hand-held, perhaps a BlackBerry or maybe a Treo, and you’re still in business. Continue Reading

Don’t you just hate it when you open a magazine and one of your competitors is featured and you just know that they will get customers from the publicity. You ask why were they featured and not me? The answer is a public relations program. Continue Reading

Business promotion is not always the most exciting part to starting up your own business, but it’s something you just have to do! You should spend at least an hour a day on business promotion or planning how to promote your business – especially if you are just starting up.

You cannot rely on other people to do it for you, no matter how great your product or service is. Business promotion doesn’t have to cost you a fortune either… Here are some low-cost ways to promote your business. Continue Reading