"Leadership is that extra step above management"
A lot of companies put a website up and just expect traffic to suddenly appear and don’t understand when it doesn’t. Nici Bickley helps small businesses to compete and gain their share (or more) of the search engine traffic by implementing a strategic approach to your SEO. Understanding small businesses and their needs she has affordable SEO packages available. She’s experienced at WordPress, Shopify and Wix. Nici is a self-proclaimed software nerd with an addiction to learning. With over 20 years in the corporate arena working for a software company, she climbed to the top levels of management. Experiencing company growth from 4 staff to over 500, company takeovers, venture capital investment and finally company sale.
Whilst working for the new company Nici realised that it was time for a new challenge, preferring the smaller company culture, being hands-on and pivotal in a small business’s success. And really just wanting to love what she was doing again!
So Nici branched out to create her own company, “Autom8 Now“, helping to simplify software, social media and SEO for small businesses. With a background in tech, teaching and customer service she is able to explain SEO in simple terms, and now has over 10000 followers on the different platforms. And to balance out her life she is an avid seascape and marine animal painter.
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Table of Contents
Let’s learn a little about you and really get to experience what makes us tick – starting at our beginnings. Where did your story begin?
Nici Bickley: My career path weaved, turned, twisted and backflipped to finally end up doing exactly what I love – helping small businesses. I do believe though that all those detours actually helped to give me the right skills at the right time. After trying many subjects at University I ended up with a pure mathematics degree – that gave me clear logic paths to work through complex problems.
I initially worked in programming in corporate superannuation, which helped me to get a later position and gave me an insight into large corporations. After retrenchment I decided teaching Maths at high school was my path but although I enjoyed sharing my love of maths the surrounding experience wasn’t good and I ended up experiencing depression. A very tough period in my life, however now I believe it has been the making of my character as it clarified my values and what is really important in life. My passion was still focussed in teaching and so I pivoted into teaching adults instead. What a difference that made, teaching people who are so appreciative of learning and your efforts to make it simple for them.
After discussing some future plans with a business friend and my capabilities I was offered a role in a small business involved in software for superannuation. That lead to 20 years of developing my skills, leadership and strategy capabilities as we grew a small company of 4 staff to over 500, experiencing investment into the company and selling the company. That consolidated my love of small businesses and finally I took the step to create my own company with complete clarity of what I wanted to do, what clients needed, what I could offer and how I wanted to structure the company and my lifestyle.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Nici Bickley: Throughout my journey, I have been lucky enough to be mentored by my friend and boss, Kurt Groeneveld. Kurt had some army experience and he shared many of the toolsets he had learnt (SMEAC is one of my favourites) but there were three other key lessons I learnt from him. Firstly, that there is a difference between a manager and a leader. On a climb up a mountain a manager is great for base camp to ensure everything gets done but a leader is needed to go to the next stage up. They need to have extra characteristics – vision and the ability to inspire for others to follow on the vision.
The second lesson I learnt was that managing your expenses is just as important, if not more important than managing your income. Of course, we experienced low periods over the years and the only way we kept going was to ensure there were no “leaky buckets” on our expenses.
And the final lesson was to pay for the right experience at the right time. Kurt was a stickler for ensuring contracts with clients were as carefully crafted as possible, paying for expensive lawyers at times. It sometimes seemed a bit overboard but at one stage we had a big corporate client who tried to make us do something not included in the contract and threatened to enact one of the terms of the contract that would mean we would have to pay them $1000 each day. But knowing the contract so well and ensuring that all his bases were covered Kurt countered that he could enact another term of the contract that meant they would have to likewise have to pay us $2000 each day, and he was quite happy to proceed and be paid $1000 net each day. Consequently, they decided not to go down that path. Years later, over many red wines, some of their team admitted to us that as a big company they were pushing their power as they thought as a small company we would do anything to keep the deal. I’ve never forget that lesson – pay for the right advice.
What are the most common mistakes you see entrepreneurs make and what would you suggest they do?
Nici Bickley: When you start out in business there are many mistakes you make, and that is alright as long as you learn from them. However, if I could help you shortcut from a couple of them the ones I would highlight are:
- Pay for the right advice – get good advice on your company and tax structure and any legal advice. I also believe good strategic marketing advice is worth it as well.
- You don’t have to do everything because everyone else is doing it – you don’t have to be on all social media. 1 channel is fine if it is the right channel where your target market is hanging out.
- Plan and strategise – Don’t just jump into advertising or networking or new trends. Plan your course, minimise it and execute it.
- Execute – there are so many distractions in business. Focus on what you want to achieve and make it happen, don’t take your eye off the ball.
Has the pandemic and transitioning into mostly online shopping affected your company positively or negatively?
Nici Bickley: The pandemic is very tough on small businesses, however I’m extremely lucky to be in an industry that has been impacted positively as many businesses are realising their need to be strategic with their online marketing. Some businesses are breaking into it, and others need to get as many leads as possible. I am devastated by the effects the pandemic is having on businesses but I am also hopeful that the local businesses can also shine at this time as we move from a central city model to localised area models. If I could share one tip with local businesses it is to make sure you have set up your Google Business Profile, a free listing on Google that will help you be found in the local map searches.
In your opinion, what makes your company stand out from the competition?
Nici Bickley: My company, Autom8 Now Pty Ltd, is not a big agency instead I am simply a consultant that assists small businesses. That means that I have affordable packages (because I’m not paying for lots of staff and premises).
Right from the start the person you deal with … is the same person doing the work, the same person of whom you can ask questions, and the same person who learns all the nuances about your business. Your business is not pushed to the new cheapest staff member, I have all the experience and apply it to your business.
Although my main focus is search engine optimisation (SEO) unlike many other SEO professionals I can assist with other branches of the marketing arena if appropriate for the marketing strategy for your business, We work together to organise your digital marketing strategy, I understand your total needs and can assist with Google, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube Ads. I also help businesses to kick off into social media if they need it.
My aim is to partner with small businesses, that also means if I see something that could benefit your business I will definitely share it with you. As I believe your success is my success.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
Nici Bickley: I have learnt over the years to listen, whether it is to staff or to customers or to prospects. We were born with 2 ears and 1 mouth, we should use them in that ratio – listen twice as long as you talk. However, it probably wasn’t until later in life that I learnt active listening. So many times you listen to either immediately try to find an answer to the person speaking’s words or you are not really listening and are really just trying to think of the next thing you want to say. It is a really interesting thing to trial to actively listen and not think about the answer or your words, I suggest everyone tries it.
To be successful you need to have a good work ethic and be prepared to deal with the tough cases. There are very few entrepreneurs that have succeeded who haven’t worked hard at this role or previous roles. I believe in rolling up your sleeves, and helping to solve problems. There were many times that I believe I won the hearts of my staff because I did what they did, when I ran a call desk I spent many years on the call desk. I knew what they experienced and if I was needed I would get back on the calls. I would also ensure that the team felt they could always escalate their calls to me. The buck stopped with me.
However, the trait that I value most in myself is that love of learning. If you continue to be open to learning, you open new doors for yourself and everything you learn will one day be useful. You just don’t know why yet.
What have you learned about personal branding that you wish you had known earlier in your career?
Nici Bickley: I thisnk you can’t fake the values that are part of your personal brand, they will show through very clearly to others. So right from the start you need to be clear with what your values are, and what you want to show in your brand … start with the end in mind. And then live your brand. I had many people telling me that I share too much free information, but I believe that sharing information is part of my brand and that it will pay in the end for me. And I’ve seen it already, when I’ve had people who have come to me when they needed search engine optimisation help because of the shared free information I had given. So don’t change your underlying values because others think it doesn’t fit the mould.
I believe you should also get professional branding photo shoots done so that you are displaying your brand in the best way right from the start. They don’t have to be traditional shots, make sure you include some that show your personality. And then be quite prepared to show your face in your branding. People like to work with companies that they know, like and trust and it is much easier for them to know you if they see your face.
How would you define “leadership”?
Nici Bickley: Leadership is that extra step above management. You need to be able to form a vision of where you are taking your team and you need to be able to convey that vision and inspire with that vision. Most good leaders have a certain charisma about them. I’ve seen it happen where a leader will have people lining up at their door just to say hello or to have a chat. A good leader understands that each staff member needs to be seen, feel heard and feel valued. Once you are a good leader then you don’t have to coerce people to follow, they want to follow you in each venture.
I do want to point out that I think you need to have both a good leader and a good manager to be really successful. A good manager will outline the needs, the operational steps to get there, and will check on the progress of the steps. As you climb up the mountain of success, the leader shines in the climbing portions and the manager shines at the base camp portions. If you are not competent in both sides you will climb and then fail as you get ready for the next climb or you will stay in one spot and not progress. It is really important to either develop both sides or to team up with another leader/manager to complement you on the journey.
What advice would you give to our younger readers that want to become entrepreneurs?
Nici Bickley: There are a couple of pieces of advice I would give younger readers. The first is that although I’m sure you are champing at the bit to get out and create your own business, I do suggest you work in a business first. Find a business that you feel is successful and go and learn your lessons in that business. I know that you also believe that you know everything, but the reality is that you don’t and really wise entrepreneurs choose a mentor to help them on their path. That is probably the hardest piece of advice for an entrepreneur to follow, everyone wants to mentor someone but no-one wants to be mentored. And yet if you do then you will be striving towards your goals.
And then finally, learn your basics. Learn accounting, it is so important in your success. Learn to listen to customers, they are the only ones that know what they need. Learn marketing, you can’t proceed with a product or service if you can’t get it sold to prospects.
What’s your favorite “life lesson” quote and how has it affected your life?
Nici Bickley: The life lesson that has stuck with me from the time of my depression experience is that “I choose how I react”. No matter the level of stress, the situation, the pressure, it is always my choice on how I react to it. I learnt about this from the analogy of the carrot, egg and the coffee beans. You can put them all into the same stressful situation, in this case boiling water, and yet they all come out of it differently. The carrot goes soft and falls apart, the egg looks the same but goes hard on the inside.
But the coffee bean infuses the area around it and becomes something that everyone loves. So when I am faced with hardships, stress and pressures I think about the carrot, egg and coffee beans and I decide that I am going to react in a way that makes everything better. I roll up my sleeves and get to work on making it better and in my mind, I think about the story that I can tell down the track about how I overcame this adversity. To me that is character building.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Nici Bickley for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Nici Bickley or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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