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For anyone who really knows me, they know that I love to dance. Cranking up the tunes and bopping to the beat is a favourite past-time in our household; it helps banish bad moods and gives terrible days a happy ending.
When I heard about the early morning rave-ups that were taking place in Auckland's CBD I thought to myself, "that is so me!" but who can get to town that early in the morning when you've got two kidlets? And then a couple of months back a like-minded gentleman posted in the local community Facebook page that he was looking to start up something similar in the East Coast Bays... hooray! Alas, despite some pretty enthusiastic likes and comments his Browns Bay morning rave's failed to take off. But I just couldn't stop thinking about it; surely there were other local people out there who wanted to just dance their socks off and start their day with an endorphin rush. So I reached out and offered my assistance to try and get this thing off the ground. So, if you're into dancing but aren't into trying to follow steps (and feeling uncoordinated whilst doing so), check out Bounce! Morning Raves on Facebook and join the movement (pun intended). Wish us luck! Until next time... Fx I've had two situations recently where a client was about head down a track that I thought was not such a great idea and I found myself in a tricky situation; do I tell them how bad their idea is, or do I try to make lemonade?
The first time I took the easy way out, I provided other ideas and encouraged them to think about their options instead of rushing in with the current "winner". It worked, but it almost didn't. I was discussing it with a friend of mine she said, "but this is why they've come to you, so you can tell them something isn't going to work. You should have told them how bad that idea was." She had a point but I didn't want to offend a client, I felt that in a roundabout way I had let them know the idea wasn't gold in my opinion. But should I have taken a stronger stance? What would I have done if they had decided to run with the original plan? Later on I found myself in a similar situation, where a client's enthusiasm for a bad idea put me in a spot of bother, I took more decisive action; I told them about the wasted opportunity if they continued down that track and gave them alternative ideas. I figured that if I presented things professionally, they would understand. And they did! It's hard trying to sidestep other people's ideas without upsetting them, but I have to trust my professional instincts and give the client alternative ideas. It's what I'm there for. Until next time... Fx It has been way too long since I even visited my poor little website. The good news is that its because I've actually been really busy working with real life clients, I've even been fortunate enough to welcome some new ones to the All Sorted family, but its really no excuse to neglect my own work.
I think I've said this before but just because the going is good now, doesn't mean it will always been smooth sailing. The fact that I basically just ignored my own business is pretty terrible. What makes this even worse is that I had a former client ask me if my website was still running, and I didn't know what to tell her! I mean, I thought it was but because it had been so long, I had to actually go and check. Seriously people, don't be me. Do better for your own business, keep your marketing and communications ticking over. Update your photos. Write that blog post. Share things on social media. Every little thing you do helps to build a bigger and better picture of your business. It will help new clients find you and prove to your current ones that they were right in choosing you in the first place. Enough of the self-flagellation. I have learned my lesson and I am going to do better from now on. Until next time... Fx I'm going to keep this one short and simple.
I don't claim to be an expert or whizz kid at all things marketing and communications related. I just offer my services to people who know less than I do, and then work hard to help get their marketing stuff sorted. I enjoy my job and get a real thrill when actual results are achieved for a client. I've just received the most wonderful feedback from a client, and I feel pretty darn great right now. It's nice to know that what I do makes a difference, and that my contribution is appreciated. Long may it continue! Until next time... Fx January 2017 is nearly done and dusted and I haven't had the chance to wish you a Happy New Year.
Since last year, I've been trying to focus on being mum to The Miss and Little Mister but I have had one client I needed to try and get sorted. It's not been easy this one. There have been several strikes against me; the site is using a platform I don't enjoy working with, the initial site set-up was pretty messy so I needed to spend a bit more time than anticipated trying to get it right, and it's school holidays so I often have little faces at my side wondering why I am not devoted to them. Normally I appreciate the freedom and flexibility working for myself and from home gives me. I feel luckier than most and don't want to be a "Moaning Myrtle" but when I couldn't shake the feeling that this job was a curse, I did start to wonder if continuing this way was the smartest thing to do. You guys know as well as I do that when you're working on your own, you have to fight all the fires all by yourself. You need to be the IT person. You have to be accounts payable and receivable. You need to do all the marketing and PR. And you never actually leave your place of work; your laptop/office is always there just whispering all the things you haven't done yet. I guess all I'm really saying, is that if you're soldiering on taking your small business from strength-to-strength, you're awesome and I salute you. It's harder than some people realise. Until next time... Fx I've just returned from a very special morning. The Little Mister attends Glamorgan Kindergarten in Auckland. It's a wonderful early childhood centre; the teachers are supportive and friendly, the kids are energetic, creative and sweet. Glamorgan Kindy are celebrating their 40th birthday today, which is a major milestone. The teaching staff have been working with the little ones to come up with a lovely performance in English, Te Reo and Mandarin. It was a pleasure to watch them, with lots of little squee moments from me. We were then treated to a powerful and moving performance by the Glamorgan Primary School Kapa Haka group. These wonderful youngsters performed with passion beyond their years, and it got me quite emotional. For the grand finale, the Kindy unveiled a beautiful Maori carving that now hangs above their door. It is an exquisite piece of work crafted by a gifted carver (I'm sorry, I didn't catch his name but he was related to one of the teachers at the Kindergarten). Why am I telling you about this? Well, other than being especially proud of my Little Mister and my niece (who was in the Kapa Haka group), I was proud to be part of the celebration by sponsoring their special cake. A few weeks back I was talking to the Head Teacher and she was worried about the lack of cake, "you can't have a birthday party without a birthday cake!" And she's right. I told her to rest easy, I would get it sorted. And I did. Kia kaha Glamorgan Kindergarten, you're doing a wonderful job. Until next time... Fx  And we're back!
Over the past few weeks a number of things collided which left me with very little time to keep y'all updated on progress; school holidays, the eCommerce website build and an eCommerce website makeover. The Miss and Little Mister are back at their respective learning establishments. The eCommerce website makeover went well and working with Bronwyn was fun. And the eCommerce website build is still trucking along, which is what led me to this post... When marketing your business (or yourself) I have found that consistency is key.
Websites are no different. Product images need to be the same size - yes it might take a while to get that sorted, but its worth it when your customer gets an attractive uniform look no matter what they click on whilst online shopping. Ideally, all your products should have the same background too, but baby steps people, that can be one of the things you work towards. It's pretty awful to visit a site and see hickeldy-pickeldy product images zig-zagging all over the page. You wouldn't like it at a supermarket, so don't do it on your website. You might think I'm being way too strict on this but have a think about your favourite online shops. What do they look like? How do they present their products? What do their posts on Facebook look like? Just because we might be a one (or two) man band with pockets that don't stretch that far doesn't mean we can't present ourselves professionally yet with a charming amount of personality. Need some help? Let me know! Until next time... Fx It's been a while, and there's a bit to catch you up on but I'll do us all a favour and keep it brief.
The Tale of the Great Road Trip You know that touch of whimsy I was going on about in my previous post? Well, my client went for it! They loved that their caravan business was going to have an obvious point-of-difference in their marketing, and thought their fresh and fun website would appeal to their target market. As soon as they're ready to "go live" I'll share it with you with pride. Seek And You Shall Find Maybe it's the change of season, but an increasing number people are on the look-out for the next step in their career. Maybe they can't face another winter in a job that doesn't make them smile, or maybe they know they're capable of so much more than they're being given the chance to do. No matter their reasons, I find it very rewarding being asked to capture who someone is, as well as what they can do, and put it into a CV. I know it can be hard to promote yourself, so let me take care of that for you. Save It For Later In case you weren't already aware, Facebook have introduced a feature enabling you to 'Save' posts for future use. Kind of like Pinterest, but with a Facebook twist. It's incredibly useful for when your scrolling through your Newsfeed and you see something that fits in with your business/profile page, but for whatever reason the timing doesn't work right then and there. By saving it for later, you can schedule it for when it works for you. Sounds like a win/win. That's about it for now. Until next time... Fx Following on from my recent post, the client gave me what I was waiting for and I've been busy working on bits and pieces to help him and his wife start-up their new start up.
I'm taking care of the design & build of a website that will be super easy for them to manage and maintain themselves. They've chosen a logo concept which I was then able to turn into business cards, which should hopefully be with them as early as next week. As part of the design & build of the site, I had to do a bit of research into the market they're about to enter. I checked out their NZ competitors and also some overseas companies. and I was surprised to see how clinical they all seemed. Given what they're selling (all will be revealed when they're ready to launch), I would have thought selling the dream as opposed to the pure mechanics of the thing. So that's what I've tried to do with the copy; appeal to the whimsical and flight-of-fancy side of their target market. I mean, if you're Googling their product, you're already pre-disposed to forking out the cash and just doing it... all you might need to actually do it is for someone to give you a gentle push with some words of encouragement. At least that's what I reckon. Until next time... Fx Further to my most recent post, y'know the one about being a bit too cheap but in a good way, I am delighted to say that the quote was accepted and I have officially scored myself a new client!!
Thank you Budget Caravans, I won't let you down. Before I really get involved in the process, there is some basic but important information I need from the client. I'm just waiting for him to get back to me with that stuff and and doing my best not to start working on things until I know what's what. It's hard though. Patience is not one of my virtues. I have a bunch of copy ideas I want to flesh out and I have some logo concepts I want to start creating. But I have to stop myself. I am working to a budget on this one, as opposed to an hourly rate. There's no point going down a track that ends up completely wrong. Did I mention I'm not very good at the waiting thing? I'll keep you posted on this one. Until next time... Fx |
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