Marketing

Zoe Grant, me and Katie Levett

On Monday I did something I’ve been meaning to do for *years*. I headed up to Top Drawer for a spot of inspiration, research and to catch up with some old and new friends. To be honest I didn’t really know what to expect, but having enviously listened to various people talking about the sheer range of companies there I decided to bite the bullet and go.

I spent most of the day reminding myself that I was resolutely NOT opening a shop and that I must not get carried away but the lovely goods on offer. But it was hard! There were some really inspirational, creative companies there and I know that if I ever find that eighth day in my week I am so going to open a lovely online gift shop… But I digress.

It was lovely to see some of our clients doing so well, including the fabulous What Katie Did Next who looked just on fire after an incredibly successful first day! It was also lovely to meet Gabrielle Treanor of the Green Gables in the flesh and meet people I’d spoken to on twitter like the lovely Snapdragon Jane, Dots and Spots and Cutture. All of whom had fabulous stands and were so nice!

I was also really excited to finally meet the lovely Zoe Grant, who I’ve been chatting to on twitter for years, but never actually met. Zoe is a freelance writer as well as a mum to five (!!!) so it was great to finally put a name to a face.

I’m a firm believer that inspiration is everywhere, and it certainly wasn’t in short supply at Top Drawer. The colours were beautiful, everything was exquisitely designed and I came away with a head full of ideas.

And most excitingly… I met a publishing company who liked the sound of my new book and invited me to contact the editor directly! How exciting is that?!

ps. As requested, the image of the beauty lab selection was designed by and for Trend Bible. You can find out more about them here.

Tagged as in Exhibitions

Whether you’re sharing my fighting spirit and optimism from my last post, or you’re feeling a bit jaded after the seasonal festivities and a lack of direction I would love for you to join me on my Branding Masterclass.

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!

Tagged as in Branding, Fiona's Book, Flourish Stuff, Inspirations, Marketing, Workshops

Are you thinking of updating your logo, website or blog next year?

We get it – life is hectic right now! And setting time aside to plan and implement your marketing for 2012 is slipping further down the list as we hurtle towards the big day.

But here’s the thing: taking action this side of Christmas will propel you ahead of your less organised competitors as well as ensuring you have less on your mind over the festive break.

So we’ve made it easy for you. Spend just a couple of minutes sharing your To Do list, spend an hour briefing us over a coffee and a mince pie (we can get festive too!) and you can get back to your ever mounting to do list, Christmas parties and those unwritten Christmas cards smug in the knowledge that we are working very hard behind the scenes for you.

The smug business owner’s guide to getting ahead

1. Take just two minutes out of your day to share with us what you have on your marketing To Do list for 2012 at http://www.flourishstudios.co.uk/carrots

2. We’ll come back to you and see if we can incentivise you to commit to them this side of Christmas.

3. You put a tiny (think pea-sized) amount of time into briefing us on your project and then you can get back to the mince pies, parties and Christmas productions

4. We work our socks off behind the scenes preparing your marketing bits: think websites, logos, newsletters, ecommerce sites or blogs; so that come the new year, you’re ready to hit the ground running a good month or two ahead of your competitors. (And if you read my post from yesterday you’ll know that planning ahead is a good thing – so that you can savour every moment of the journey!)

You’ll save money and get ahead for the New Year. Either way the benefit is yours.

So go on, share your marketing To Do list today and prepare to bask in the smugness of getting ahead, very ahead, for 2012!

Tagged as in Flourish Stuff, Marketing

I class myself as one of life’s impatient. Once I’ve made a decision to do something, I want to get on with it right away. I struggled heavily with the concept of waiting six months for the right builder to be available to work on our house (especially as I’d been super organised and waited [...]

Tagged as in Flourish Stuff, Marketing, Websites

The challenge with most business planning methods is that they don’t seem to take much of you into account. Plan for Super Success! (whatever that means); Turbo Charge your Business for the New Year and so on… What about what you want? And perhaps that is what you want, but it always helps to be asked. As a part of our [...]

Tagged as in Business Strategy, Inspirations, Marketing

The jury is still out on whether sales promotions can work for a service based business. I’m the first to admit that they can look desperate and potentially damaging to your brand. But at the same time, I do believe that if planned and communicated sensitively, they can even out the natural peaks and troughs [...]

Tagged as in Business Strategy, Marketing, Powerful Ecommerce

The Great Little Trading Company have had a fab campaign to persuade their clients to shop now for Christmas rather than leaving it any longer. I can’t say I’ve seen the comprehensive marketing that Stu describes with his eBuyer experience, but it’s a compelling sales promotion nonetheless. You see the problem with sales is that [...]

Tagged as , GLTC, Great Little Trading Company in Business Strategy, Marketing, Powerful Ecommerce, Websites

The great thing about retail is that your customers expect you to run a January sale. So if you’re worried about a sale damaging your credibility, don’t be. If you are serious about running your business as a business, then come January, you need to think seriously about running a sale. Why? Because we all [...]

Tagged as in Business Strategy, Marketing

Do you run a January sale? If you don’t, do you think you should be? We as consumers often see January sales as a way of retailers clearing stock. If you run a business that doesn’t hold stock – be it a craft business where you make everything to order or a service based business [...]

Tagged as in Business Strategy, Marketing, Online Marketing, Powerful Ecommerce

Have you started thinking about how you’re going to say thank you to your clients at Christmas time yet? I love buying and creating gifts to give to our clients because it gives me the opportunity to flex my crafty and creative muscles and create something really unique and memorable. I’m afraid I’m not one [...]

Tagged as , christmas, christmas gift ideas, christmas presents in Inspirations, Marketing