Mid Coast Uni Portal's First Competition
Winners of the Mid Coast Uni Portal’s first competition proudly received their prize and certificate at an award ceremony held at Port Macquarie Library in February.
Rebecca Hore, David Stone, Lisa McLaren, Michelle McCudden, Nicole Willoughby and Jenna Beaumont each received a $200 shopping voucher for their winning entries in the competition. The competition asked for feedback in regards to ‘What do you like the most about the Mid Coast Uni Portal?’ and ‘What improvements or extra additions would you like to see on the website?’
The suggestions provided a valuable contribution to the website, helping to make the Mid Coast Uni Portal the one-stop-shop for information for students in this region.
Country Education Foundation Australia (CEFA) Launch
The beginnings of Port Macquarie-Hastings Education Fund
The launch of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Education Fund took place at Sails Resort Port Macquarie on 28 March. CEFA CEO Jocellin Jansson and Communications & Special Projects Officer Annabel Gay presided over the first committee meeting which was held prior to the launch. The committee was formed and introduced to the assembled crowd at the launch.
The founding committee consists of Peter Cuskelly (Chairperson), Jenny Fraser (Vice Chairperson), Keiren Freeman (Secretary), Grant Weatherby (Treasurer), Joy Corben (Public Relations), Dr Julie McLeod, Michelle Chapman, David Hamilton and Mark Youngblutt (committee members).
The launch was very successful. With the CEFA dollar for dollar fund matching in the first year, the committee now has over $3000 on offer for grant applications. Fund-raising will continue throughout the year.
Applications for a CEFA grant can be accessed on the website. Details of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Education Fund can be found at:
The Thinner the Niche, the Fatter the Opportunity
The thinner your niche, the fatter the opportunity. This statement sounds at odds, doesn't it. It seems that if you decide to choose a very specialised niche, your number of potential customers will be reduced considerably. Actually it seems to work in the reverse.
This week I visited a number of businesses that who appear to be successfully exploiting a very narrow niche. Tom Benson (In Phase Productions - Ph: 6581 5742) has built a successful business involving the hire, supply and installation of sound systems, theatrical lighting and public address systems. Tom has two very specific types of customers - schools and corporate services.
Graham & Sue Keena (Ph: 6581 0433) build kitchens but generally not for new homes. Rather, Keena Kitchens specialise in kitchen renovations and granite transformations in a specific niche for which they are regarded as the best.
So how does it work?
You are not reducing your number of potential customers but rather those who are a poor match. This means less time wasting and more targeted advertising.
Sure you can keep on trying to be all things to everyone, but by keeping a much more targeted niche you are cutting down on your chances of success.
Derek & James Collins (Collins W Collins, building designers, Ph: 6583 4411) offer a very specific building design service, mostly for homeowners wishing to renovate. Very targeted, very focussed - the result is a 95% follow-through. That is a 95% success rate of clients moving from quotation through to serious discussion. This seems to me to represent a very high conversion rate.
PeerSolutions
There has been some excellent interest in last week's article on PeerSolutions (see attachment). Trust and confidence between those around the table will continue to be an important success factor for PeerSolutions, so I am spending some time in ensuring the business groupings are both diverse and complementary.
If you are interested in enquiring, please contact me on 6581 8660 or email trevor.sargeant@pmhc.nsw.gov.au
