STORY BY MAHMOOD FAZAL, PHOTO BY CHRIS TURNER

Who are we? How are we different? And what are we trying to deliver? These are the key points Greywoods marketing firm want local businesses to ask themselves. Greywoods, the name taken after the family farm in the Macedon ranges, means one thing to co-owner Blair Smith; “To us it means being yourself – authenticity and returning to your essence.”

“I'm from a small town as well. So, this move for me, back to Daylesford, is a desire to give back to the grassroots community and really help people in a more human sort of way. That's the essence of Greywoods,” explains Blair. “It’s back to basics. It’s very family centred, it's about enabling communities and small businesses to do well with a cleaner, more professional, efficient marketing experience, but at an affordable price.”

Blair fell in love with the Macedon Ranges ten years ago. He was living in St Kilda and on the hunt for a weekend getaway. “I’ve been quietly looking at a holiday home up here. And then last year I just realised I like it up here more than Melbourne,” says Blair. “And I just thought, why not have the main property up here and the holiday house in Melbourne. So, I kind of flipped it. I think growing up in small towns, I really do feel like they suit me better. Just that sense of community.”

Co-partners, Blair and Shannon worked together as colleagues for an agricultural company in Ballarat. “We both really had a passion for the Macedon Ranges and Goldfields. I'm living up here now, and I really wanted to start my own consulting firm in the area.” For the past six months, Greywoods has been leading the charge in rural Victoria as a marketing tour de force.

Shannon speaks with considered enthusiasm, “We have the experience of seasoned marketers on staff but we’re a boutique player, our advantage is the level of intimacy and honesty you simply can’t find in bigger agencies.”

Blair is a specialist in marketing strategy with many years behind her building, developing, raising capital and successfully selling an on-demand delivery app; Go-Fetch. “I love getting my hands dirty by working hard to build social channels that have commercial outcomes,” says Blair. “I am a specialist in the start-up space with many years behind me in brand development and helping businesses define their unique selling proposition.”

Shannon’s background is cut from the same cloth. Although, it’s Marketing Operations that fuels Shannon’s fire, “That's probably where I differ from Blair, who is very strong in the start-up world. My background is about building a brand and scaling it up to grow into a business. And that's where I've been focused over the last ten years.” Shannon wants regional companies to flex their quality outside the local bubble, “These companies have been regionally safe...we want to give them national exposure through digital channels, which is what we're strong at, building up businesses so they don’t just rely on local trade.”

When asked about key opportunities missed by local businesses, Blair explains, “A lot of regional businesses don’t know what they don’t know. What they don't realise is how far their reach with digital marketing can go. So, things like Facebook, social media, Instagram, even LinkedIn and Twitter, you don't see a lot of regional companies having much focus on those.”

Greywoods prides itself not being a faceless company, the bedrock of their business are the relationships that hold their industry together. “We will help people get their business established or change or even launch a new product,” says Blair. “We'll hold your hand the whole way. And we really want our work to be measurable; with demonstrated growth or whatever success metrics you’re looking for. We will work to those and be very accountable. Our tagline is actually from go to WOW! And it's basically because we're specialists in launching things and taking them to market.”

Greywoods 0413 262 999 greywoods.com.au blair@greywoods.com.au