Cyrius News

Cyrius Creative Director, Stefan Sojka hosted a one-hour presentation for the City of Ryde's Small Business September program at Ryde Library.  Ryde Council's Economic Development Manager, Nathan Pratt had arranged the event and clearly had done a great job promoting it, as it was well attended.

The crowd had braved the early morning traffic for the talk 'Marketing Yourself Online'.  Stefan had a challenge to distill a topic into one hour, that one could talk about for weeks, given the broad scope of online marketing.  So he chose to present a couple of very different case studies, to highlight the sheer diversity of online opportunities.

He then spoke about the nature of networks and online networking and how powerful the phenomenon of networking is.  Stefan introduced the audience to a number of his own unique concepts and perspectives on Website and online marketing, including "Simplify – Amplify" and the challenges of Information Overload.

With only about 45 minutes to talk, before a Q & A session, Stefan briefly covered the process of creating a Website from scratch, starting with a brainstorming session, then determining content and functionality, designing and building the Website, through to marketing it and building a strong online reputation.

He finished his talk with a couple more examples of Cyrius own clients' Website projects, before opening up to the floor for questions

A keen and motivated audience asked a number of questions, ranging from email marketing platforms to Content Management System selection, issues with domain names and legalities surrounding competitors trying to use similar domain names to their trademark.  After the talk, a number of people came up to talk to Stefan about specific issues and to take up his offer of a free consultation on their business.

All in all the event was a success and Cyrius would like to thank Nathan Pratt and the City of Ryde for their commitment to helping local small business and for giving Stefan the opportunity to share his knowledge and experience.

Cyrius Creative Director Stefan Sojka gave a 30-minute presentation as part of a combined seminar workshop at North Ryde RSL for MicroBiz Week 2010.

He was one of four presenters that The City of Ryde and NSW Department of Industry & Investment organised to help people learn all about setting up a micro-business.  Stefan kicked off the morning's proceedings with a guided tour of Cyrius Media Group HQ and a rundown of the kinds of considerations one must have when running a micro-business.  Vince Galetto from The City of Ryde spoke in great detail about all the local regulatory issues surrounding home-based and micro-businesses, such as development applications and what you can and can't do when using a residence as a place of business.  Greg Jenkins from Tin Can Learning ran a very interesting interactive session on the "One Page Business Plan" before Sabrina Ferguson from Arion Productions, spoke about innovative marketing solutions and the benefits of marketing through business networks.

Each talk was well-received by an audience filled with budding entrepreneurs and business people.  John Wilson from The City of Ryde and his team had put together a great mix of presentations to give a complete picture of the micro-business world.  The variety of presenters and the specific topics meant that anyone considering starting a home-based business would have a real insight into all the issues involved – as well as the great opportunities that await anyone who gets it right.

Thanks to The City of Ryde and NSW Department of Industry & Investment for the opportunity to participate in this event.

Cyrius Creative Director Stefan Sojka is presenting a morning seminar for micro-businesses, hosted by The City of Ryde and NSW Department of Industry & Investment.  MicroBiz Week 2010 recognises the contribution of micro-businesses to the State's economy and assists home-based, solo and micro-business operators towards Connecting for Profit.  Come to hear Stefan and three other speakers talk about their experiences and lessons learned on the road to micro-business success.

For more information, download the flyer and book a place!

Yesterday, we were very privileged to host a small business Website workshop at the NSW Industry and Investment Parramatta Headquarters.  The seminar was well attended with about 60 small business owners braving the afternoon traffic to attend the two-hour event.  Stefan used the opportunity to pass on a wealth of experience from his 13 years producing, marketing and writing about Websites.  The two-hour session was only just long enough as there was so much to cover and so much great involvement with audience participation.

The subjects covered included:

• How a wire-frame mock-up of a site ensures a better end result
• Designing the right Website for each individual business
• Choosing a Content Management System
• Using Multimedia to enhance your Website
• Marketing techniques
• Social media and social networks
• Functions and objectives of a Website.

A couple of attendees graciously offered their Websites up for assessment and critique by the group by putting them on the big screen to discuss them.  This was a lively part of the workshop with many excellent suggestions being made to improve the Websites and make them more profitable.  At the end of the event, feedback forms were handed in and the opinion was unanimous – that the event was useful, informative and, for many, inspirational.  We look forward to meeting the attendees to hear how they got on applying their newly gained insights.

Thanks to the whole team at Industry and Investment for the great efforts promoting and holding the event.  http://www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/pages/default.aspx

We are excited to announce that DSRD (NSW Department of State and Regional Development) has selected Cyrius to present a seminar as part of the E-Talk business seminar series in October.  We hope to see you there.

Here are the details:

http://events.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=1168

Creating a Website: Building the ultimate Online Media Channel for a business – 22 Oct 2009 4:00–6:00pm

In this seminar, you will discover how to create your Website as a marketing tool, PR agency, media outlet and shopfront, that will bring high returns and value to your business – attracting the right customers, building your brand and generating traffic.

This seminar will cover:

• The Website wire-frame
• Content and design
• Marketing techniques
• Multimedia
• Social media and social networks.

What will you learn:

• Understanding online media
• How to market your business on the Web
• Formulas for a successful Website
• Pitfalls to avoid
• Managing and maintaining a Website
• How to get a good design.

Who should be interested?

• Small to medium business owners
• Marketing managers
• Owners of Websites who are not happy with their current site
• Employees responsible for company Websites.

Where?

Western Sydney Business Centre
NSW Department of State and Regional Development
Level 2, 470 Church Street (corner Harold Street)
North Parramatta, NSW 2151

Creative Director Stefan Sojka recently presented two major events for the State Government’s “Small Business September”. “Concept to Delivery” at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in North Ryde and “Small Business is Big Business on the Internet” in Parramatta.  Both presentations were well received by an enthusiastic audience of small businesses looking to improve their on-line performance.  A podcast of one of the presentations can be found here.  Video excerpts will be available soon.

Creative Director Stefan Sojka presented a workshop for home-based businesses as part of Home-Based Business Week.  A full house of up and coming home business owners attended the workshop, which also featured an excellent presentation on sustainable business, by Pamela Jones, from The Environmental Type – http://www.pamelajones.com.au/  The event was hosted by the Department of State and Regional Development (DSRD) – http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/ and was an excellent way to highlight home-based businesses and provide them with information and inspiration.