Hey guys, Rhys here. A little late to write this one up, but better late than never. A while back I was invited to run a breakout room at the SE QLD Marketing Summit, hosted by Ellen Hardy and the She Is team. If you have not come across Ellen or She Is yet, she runs one of the most active business communities in the region, and the events she puts together are genuinely worth your time.
The summit brought together more than 100 business owners from across South East Queensland for a full day in Gympie, built around one simple idea: help people be seen and make a real impact with their marketing. Here is my recap of how the day went, plus a bit of news on an upcoming event worth knowing about.
What Happened at the SE QLD Marketing Summit
The morning was keynotes. Nikki Fogden-Moore, known globally as The Mojo Maker, opened with a session on leadership in a fast-changing, AI-driven world. Jay Hobbs from Smyth Studio spoke on branding, and Amy Gibson, CEO of software company Leximancer, covered ethical AI.
The afternoon was hands-on breakout rooms. Rather than everyone sitting through the same content, attendees chose their own session based on whatever marketing problem was most relevant to them. A great format for a room full of small business owners, because a wedding photographer and a plumber do not need the same hour.
The breakout rooms on offer were:
- Rhys Everitt (me), Gympie Web Design — SEO: Optimising Your Target Market
- Ryan Prigg — Meta Ads for High Ticket Offerings
- Justine Davis — Know Your Story (brand strategy)
- Bec Craig, Social Marketing SC — Organic Content
- Mim Morris, The Mim Edit — How to: Reels
- Brett Matthews — Meta Ads: How to Make Your Ads Convert
I ran the SEO room, and taught them all about how to set up and optimise their Google Business Profile properly, why the first five seconds on a website decide whether someone stays or leaves, and why things like proper headings and unique meta titles on every page make a real difference to whether Google shows a business at all. On top of that, I helped everyone understand exactly who they are trying to reach online and how to actually show up for them on Google. I think it was a bit of an eye-opener for some business owners, and hope they left with some key takeaways and action lists.
Olivia Was There Too, Learning to Create Reels
Olivia came along as well, though she spent the afternoon on the other side of the room. She sat in on Mim Morris’s Reels session, picking up practical, hands-on tips for short-form video that she is already putting into practice for her other business, grant writing.
The Gympie Women in Business Awards Are Coming Up
While I am talking about Ellen and She Is, the Gympie Women in Business Awards are just around the corner. It is one of the best nights on the local business calendar, a genuine celebration of the women running businesses across this region, and well worth getting behind if you have not been before.
Unfortunately, Olivia and I will not be able to make it this year. There has been a fair bit of family health stuff going on in the background, and right now our focus needs to stay close to home. I still wanted to give the awards a mention here, because the work Ellen and the She Is community put into supporting local business owners deserves the attention.
Keep an Eye Out for the Next One
If you run a business in South East Queensland and you missed this one, keep an eye on the She Is page for the next event. And if you want a hand with the exact thing I covered in my breakout room, that is exactly what my seo gympie services are built around.
If your website is not showing up when local customers search for what you do, Request a Free Quote and I will tell you exactly what is holding it back. No lock-in contracts. No setup fees. Just a straight conversation about your website.
