With less than two weeks to go until the launch of the fabulous online Branding Masterclass the team in the studio are working incredibly hard dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on the brand identity and blogsite. You can see the brand elements below.

You’re going to see a bit of a nip tuck to the Flourish brand identity over the next couple of months as we prepare for a very exciting extension and refocus on our own brand. I’ll be sharing more about the story behind that soon, but in the meantime, this gives you a flavour for where we’re headed. The Branding Masterclass needs to reflect and work with our brand, but it’s also a brand in it’s own right, with it’s own attributes and characteristics, so we needed to keep it all similar but not the same.

The colour palette focuses on creativity, communication, logic and clarity. The graph paper gives a nod to work (yes, it will be a lot of fun, but I will be working them hard too!) and the icons give direction around the site.

The class will be held online via a password protected blogsite, so we needed to create a clean and easy to navigate design that  inspired the participants to focus, reflect and take action. Here are a couple of screengrabs:

The login page

We wanted to keep this simple – it’s about getting people to do what you want – login or register for details of the next class. For the people that aren’t registered, obviously this is all they’ll see…

And the class pages themselves

I was in two minds about whether to show you this, but it just looks so beautiful that I couldn’t resist! I am desperate to overhaul the Full Bloom blog design now (yes, I know again but there is so much I’d like to change…). There are still a couple of changes to make but what I hope you can see is how light, airy and neat everything feels. The perfect setting to the inspirational and powerful nature of the content

Registration for the masterclass will close at midnight on Sunday 5th February so if you’d like to get involved, then don’t forget to book – go on, do it now, while you remember… Full details on the website.

Shameless plug alert! We have some wonderful business owners signed up to join me on 6th Feb for the Branding Masterclass but as the Early Bird Offer ends on Sunday I thought I’d give you a quick reminder of the reasons you need to book your place if you haven’t already:

1. Staying ahead of the game. You can never, ever say that your brand is “done”: markets move on, competitors spring up out of nowhere, your skills grow and develop and customer needs change. You need to be able to respond to that quickly and I’ll show you how in Week One.
2. Developing your brand identity to keep it fresh and inspiring. Whether you have a lovely logo and website or not, you’ll gain oodles of value from our forays into colour psychology and the mood board session in Week Two.
3. To ensure you get maximum bang out of this year’s marketing buck. This year is going to be tough, no doubt about it, but that doesn’t mean you need to slink back into the undergrowth and wait until it all passes. Get yourself out there and take advantage of the fact your competitors are shrinking away! We’ll create a powerful marketing plan in Week Three.
4. Because I’ll help you blow your clients away with every communication. We’ll map out your customer journey from the first enquiry to the last invoice and make sure you create a wow at every stage. You’ll love it!
5. Ratcheting up the effectiveness of your website. Because unless you have created your website in the last six months and you know there is nothing you can do to improve it you’ll get loads of value out of the website planning/ overhaul sessions in Week Four.
6. Reconnecting with your business and inspiring you to really get out there and make the most of this year. So it’s going to be tough? Well then let’s get focused and get ready to flourish! We’ll give you a number of exercises over the course of the four weeks to help reignite your passion for your business (even if you don’t think it’s waned), re inspire you and build your confidence.
7. It will help your business thrive this year. Not just grow, not just get your name out there. But really thrive. I’ll help you identify how to attract more of the profitable clients, communicate with flair and passion and inspire people to want to work with you.

A masterclass to inspire, motivate and reconnect you with your business

It’s an online class that starts on 6th Feb and runs for a month. You can pace yourself, so whatever your responsibilities, and where ever you live in the world, it can fit around you. All you need to do is commit to a couple of hours a week where you really focus on your business brand.I promise that it’ll be creative, inspirational and informative, and it will make a big difference to your brand (whether you have a lovely logo and website or not).

• Clarity and purpose around your brand strategy, niche, profitable clients and brand messaging
• A mood board to help you visualise and communicate how you’d like your brand to look and feel
• A marketing plan that helps you own and defend your niche and attract and retain the right sorts of clients
• A communication plan for your clients journey from enquiry to invoice that wows and inspires them
• A plan for a truly powerful website that attracts, engages and wins you business

In addition I’ll be sharing lots of inspirational case studies, behind the scenes insights from the design team at Flourish and plenty of useful tips, tools and techniques you can start using in your business immediately to make 2012 your best year yet.Here are some of the nice things people have said about previous workshops:

“It was very helpful to take time out and refocus on marketing priorities and how to be more consistent with the marketing messages I put out. Lots of clear, practical ideas – thanks!”

Anne Williams, Worklife Balance Solutions

“Thank you so much for a very inspirational and practical workshop. I feel much more confident about promoting my business now.”
Sue Goodson, Floreal Therapies

Investment for the whole four weeks is just £165+VAT when you book your place before 23rd January and this includes all the course notes, follow up support, bags of expert info, a 20 minute one to one with me and a £75 Flourish gift voucher.So why not start your year as you mean to go on – with purpose and inspiration, and join me for a fun, creative and purposeful Branding Masterclass. Book your place today and prepare to take your brand up a gear!

Yesterday saw the first of our Focus and Flourish workshops that I’m running with the fabulous Elizabeth Cairns. And whilst I’m still slightly shattered from such an action packed day, we had such amazing feedback and I saw such leaps forward in each guest that I just had to share some of the highlights of the day with you.

The whole premise of the day was to get people to create a vision and marketing plan for their business that was authentically tied in with their personal values. And I know. Yada yada yada whatever, too socks and sandals… Well actually I think it’s essential if you want to truly move your business forwards.

Elizabeth is an excellent coach, facilitor and mentor and she explained that when your head, heart and gut are in alignment that business is easy. Get truly inspired about your vision, your goals and where you’re headed and getting there will be a pleasure.

Anyone can graft, but that makes business difficult. Find your inspiration and you’ll make achieving your goals (more of) a breeze.

And so Elizabeth took us through a number of exercises to get us thinking hard about our values, why we run the businesses that we do and what success will look like at the end of next year. As with last year, I know we all left her session incredibly inspired, invigorated and with a real sense of empowerment.

Ok, so that’s what you want to achieve, how will we get there?

The post coffee and mince pies session was all about checking in with the brand. Re-examining that you still have the right spot in the market, exploring how to innovate in changing market conditions and (a fair bit of time on) pricing. We reminded ourselves that you cannot supply the best product with the best service and be the cheapest! And so there might be a fair bit of realignment going on with some of our guests from yesterday.

I had the group define what they wanted to be known for and the message they wanted to communicate to their ideal clients, which is so key in streamlining your marketing efforts.

After lunch and our riverside networking walk we focused on communication. There is so much noise around what you should and could be doing, but what’s right for you? We explored how to tell which marketing activities to pursue and which to shelve. We also created tailored communication plans as well as looking at general background activity to maintain a profile.

Each and every one of our lovely guests had very different goals – from getting their first clients to launching a franchise offering and everything in between! But we got through a huge amount and I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2012 holds for this lovely bunch. We are running a second workshop on 12th January so if you’re kicking yourself for missing out on yesterday, why don’t you join us in the new year for what promises to be a day filled with inspiration, rejuvenation and focus?

More details on the website http://www.flourishstudios.co.uk

It’s around this time of year that most of us start looking forwards to what we’d like to get out of our businesses next year. And ahead of the first of my Focus and Flourish workshops I have been mulling over a question I ask myself a lot: what does success look like to me?

We live in a society where the trappings of success (and the sacrifices it takes to get there) are all too obvious. And at face value, it seems that we are all after the same thing. But are we really?

I think one of the things that the small business owners I know are very good at, is defining what success means to them.

Forget everyone else’s definition of success: what’s yours?

For one of my friends, her definition of business success is doing something she loves whilst at the same time being able to pay the school fees. For another, it’s about being able to match her city salary (whilst also doing what she loves). Another friend and I were looking at her business plan and goals from 2003 and were knocked sideways at how she’d achieved each and every one of her goals with bells on. And yet in the daily grind of running a business it’s easy to lose sight of what you have achieved.

I was at a seminar a couple of weeks ago where the speaker was geeing us up to think about Super-Success. His personal definition was Financial Freedom (whatever that means to you) and he talked several times about his “very nice lifestyle”. I have no idea of his own personal wealth, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s at the very least in the millions. I sat there listening to what he had to say, all very valid stuff, and I thought, “actually, if this is what it takes, I’m ok thanks.”

You see he made no bones about the fact that to be “super successful” you need to make some big sacrifices. He travels a lot, he works long hours, and from the sounds of things, he works at the weekends too. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but I have made the very conscious decision that’s not for me.

And this is where I think your definition of success needs to be tied into your personal values. Success for you is how you define it. It could be to do with money, it could be wellbeing, it could be enjoying your job, it could be about how much time and flexibility you are able to bring into your life. I suspect that you, like me, can’t have it all. And I suspect that if you can get clear in your mind what you want to achieve next year, reconcile that with your personal values and ensure you’re comfortable with it, that you’ll be halfway there.

The fact is that there is no one-size fits all when it comes to defining success. But I do think it’s important to think about it. Really think about it. Not just pluck an arbitrary number out of thin air with no realistic planning about whether it’s achievable: but to actually think through what you want to achieve, how the market has changed and the steps you need to plan to get there.

And this is why I brought Elizabeth into the Focus and Flourish workshop - because whilst I do all the practical marketing stuff, she has the innate ability to get us all to focus on what we want and tie that back into our personal values. It’s an incredibly inspiring experience, and one that I’d love you to join us on if you can make it. We have a couple of spaces left on our 12th Jan workshop so come and join us, get Focused and then plan to Flourish!

Either way, do just take five minutes out to really focus on what success looks like for next year. It’ll be time really well spent.

Above: Kate Griffin‘s mood board. The photographer that didn’t want to be photographed – oooh the irony!

I love running our branding workshops. I love the combination of creativity and tangible business benefits that come out of the day, and the way that people walk in with a slightly muddled head around what their business brand is all about (some of them realise it, some of them don’t…) and they leave with absolute clarity. The journey that they go on is so inspiring, and it’s hard not to be caught by the infectiousness of the enthusiasm for their businesses.

The latest branding workshop started out much as most of my workshops do. Clarity and focus around what your brand is all about. We looked at brand values, brand personality and customer archetypes. I got them to think hard about how they carve out a meaningful niche in the market, and pennies began to drop. One of the most exciting things to happen at this point was lovely photographer Kate Griffin, who floated a concept for a marketing ploy that we realised would make a phenomenal niche: storybook photography in it’s truest sense. Kate’s plan is to write stories for the children she photographs. Beautiful!

This is an incredibly defendable niche for Kate. She writes beautifully. I mean truly, goose-pimplingly wonderful stuff that deserves to be read in its own merit as opposed to simply fluffing out a blog post full of gorgeous images. Kate loves to write, she’s good at it, and my sense is that her ideal clients would really buy into an heirloom product that combines images and a bespoke story.

The thing that I think is most exciting about this, is that Kate has the power to really carve out a niche for herself that will really help her business thrive. Sure, she needs a decent marketing plan to back it up, but she’s done much of the hard work by finding herself a powerful niche.

After lunch (yum – there was plenty of deliciousness from our lovely caterer Jilly) we knuckled down to mood boarding. I love how even the most cynical client becomes inspired, enlightened and enthused by this process. Mood boarding is all about “getting out” what you think and feel subconsciously about your brand. It’s not as hippy as I’ve just made it sound, I promise! And it really does help the creative process when it comes to designing a brand identity.

I loved all of the mood boards our guests made. From Flowerona’s vision for next year to Juliette of Fresh Air Fix’s insight into how she can make her blog more engaging, aspirational and “her” to Kate’s manifestation of her concept. I love them! And I can’t wait to start get my hands on the design…

Juliette Dyke of Fresh Air Fix and Rona Wheeldon of Flowerona proudly showing their new mood boards

The next branding workshop is taking place in April and spaces will be limited so I’d encourage you to book as soon as possible. Alternatively, why not join us for our month-long Branding Your Small Business e-class that starts on 6th February? It’s going to be a lot of fun, and we’ll cover everything our branding workshop guests covered plus a whole host of extra goodies that I’ll be able to squeeze in because we have so much more time.

I am super, super excited to be launching our first Branding Your Small Business eCourse and I’d like to invite you to join me on our first course!

The eCourse builds on the creative and positioning work we do in the one day Branding workshop and takes the concept to a whole new level. We’re going to have a whole month together to go on a journey to building a powerful brand. I can’t wait! The eCourse will start on February 6th and run until March 3rd. During that time I’ll cover all the core elements you need to know to create a brand that attracts, engages and retains your ideal clients; differentiates you from your competitors and enables you to charge what you’re worth.

What’s covered

Whilst it’s not just about creating a gorgeous logo or website, there will be plenty of detail on that as well as brand positioning, defining your brand personality and finding, defending and owning your niche. We’ll look at colour psychology, typography and mood boards and how to market your business cost effectively to support your brand.

As you’d expect from any of our workshops, it’ll be fun, creative and practical. I’ll share tons of knowledge with you, and we’ll also work through plenty of exercises so you can put into practice what you’ve learnt. And the great news is that you can do all of this from the comfort of your own desk, so where ever you are in the world, you’ll be able to join in. You can pick up the sessions at your own pace – all I ask is that you try and find a minimum of three hours a week to really focus on what we’re doing.

So if you’ve also fancied joining us for a Flourishing Workshop but couldn’t make the dates or couldn’t physically get to Guildford, this is your opportunity to join us. Full details and booking for the Branding Your Small Business eCourse on our website – do take a look, it would be great if you could join us.

What do you think? Are you in?

If consumers are feeling jaded, short on disposable income and reluctant to part with their hard earned cash, then how do you stimulate spending? How do you attract, engage and compel your current and prospective customers to spend their money with you?

It all comes down to creating a proposition that excites your customer. One that creates satisfaction, not just within the product, but the buying experience as well. It’s about truly engaging your customer in a way that compels them to buy.

Of course, this is easier said than done, and over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing with you some of the things you can do to create an engaging customer experience.

In the meantime, I’d like to extend an invitation to you.

The Summer Social: Creating an Engaging Customer Experience and Compelling Proposition

Thursday 21st July, 6.30-9.30pm, Horsley Park, East Horsley, Surrey KT24 6DU

Fancy joining us?

Liz Machtynger and I are running a couple of seminars around this theme as a part of our Customer Greenhouse summer social. We’ll be looking at how you create a proposition that excites your customer and how you create an engaging customer experience through your website: be it ecommerce or otherwise.

As you’d expect, the content will be inspiring and easy to understand, it’ll be peppered with things you can do the very next day, and packed full of real life examples. As you might also expect, there will be plenty of delicious nibbles on offer as well as drinks to ease the evening along. You can find full details of the Exciting Customer Experiences and Engaging Propositions evening on the Customer Greenhouse website

How would you like to join us? I have five tickets to giveaway – on me!

Tickets are £97 each but here’s the thing. I’d like to give away five tickets to you lovely blog readers as a celebration of the summer and a big thank you for your support this year.

I’ll pick five winners at random by 2pm on Friday 15th July. All you need to do is tell me what you’d like to gain from the event in the comments section below. (do make sure you also put a working email address in the comment box so that I can contact you if you’re lucky enough to win)

Good luck!

{The important stuff} My decision will be final. No correspondence will be entered into. You are responsible for getting yourself (safely) to the venue. No other costs will be covered other than the seminar entrance fee which includes a glass of wine on arrival and complimentary nibbles. Please ensure you’re able to make the event (on 21st July) before entering the competition.

Yesterday I welcomed seven ambitious business owners and marketing consultants into the Flourish studio for a Workshop workshop. They spent the day planning, learning and thinking about how they can launch their own workshops to promote their businesses.

In the morning I got them working very hard: planning topics, content and thinking about writing copy. I was delighted to see several lightbulb moments happening and people gaining confidence in themselves and their abilities as the day progressed.

After a delicious lunch (Coronation Chicken, Greek Salad, Green Salad, Rustic Breads and Cherry Tomato & Pesto Quiche followed by some wicked Chocolate Honeycomb pots) we walked by the river to blow the cobwebs away before settling back down to work. The afternoon was focused around leveraging business from their workshops and promoting them effectively.

They worked incredibly hard all day, but also had a lot of fun and built up some great relationships over the course of the day – with talk of collaboration at some point throughout the session!

In their own words they really liked…

“Pace, people, food, action plan” Sam Jones, Home Truths

“The excellent, practical advice and generous sharing of marketing ideas” Suzanne Dibble, Lawyers4Mumpreneurs

“The real, relevant nature of the work – addressing what one could offer” Mary Spence, McDonnell Spence

I’m not planning on any more Workshop workshops this year – although if there is sufficient demand then I certainly will do – so do email or comment if you’d like me to! I’ll certainly be scheduling another in for the Spring. In the meantime, you might be interested in our:

Branding Workshop – 23rd June

Customer Service Conference – 16th June

Christmas Campaign Planning – 11th August

I’d love to see you there!

I am positively evangelical about the benefits of running workshops and seminars for your clients. It’s a fantastic way of building your relationships with existing customers, sharing your knowledge and giving something back to the relationship. It helps you improve loyalty and gain recommendations. And workshops also give prospective customers the chance to “try you for size” whilst at the same time gaining invaluable knowledge.

If you run a service based business then I honestly believe that a workshop or seminar is one of the best marketing tools you have at your disposal.

You need to get over the fear of getting it wrong, of no one turning up, of not knowing where to start, or not having enough to share people. And if you can – then you’re on to a winner.

Deliver a workshop on something you’re passionate about, something you know you do really well, and manage peoples expectations. You don’t need to be the world authority on your subject – you just need to be able to share your knowledge clearly and concisely with your audience. And if you tell them exactly what you’re going to cover on the day, then there should be no surprises, no disappointments.

I suspect that once you get started, aside from the business benefits of running a workshop, you might even enjoy yourself.

Ann Wright has been running media training and PR seminars for her clients since November and her events are going from strength to strength. It’s a great way for Ann to add another revenue stream to her business, position herself as an expert in her field and differentiate herself from her competitors.

Have I tempted you yet?

By the way, you’ll find a few more posts on this blog about how to get started. And I’m running a workshop on getting started with workshops and seminars (a workshop bootcamp) on 19th May and I’d love to see you there. Full details as always on the Flourish website…

So tell me, do you run workshops for your clients? If so, what have you learned?

Image: Matt Pereira for Customer Greenhouse