Tracey and Neil Davies from Sterling Integrity are highly experienced in running exhibitions across the South Wales and South West, with 12 events running through 2013.  The final event in Wales is the December show.

The Creating Media team will be carefully planning the event to ensure maximum return on investment by creating leads, contacts and brand awareness.

To find out more about the Sterling Integrity  Shows please get in touch with Michelle Dalley on 07702 780825.

Taken from the book At The Sharp End by David Norrington and contributors.  In aid of Cancer Research

Let’s start with a question and at the same time dispel a myth.

What is branding?

Most people think that a brand is a logo.  The visual that you get on a business card and website, maybe on some flyers or a brochure.  Get a nice logo and that’s the branding sorted?  Surely that’s enough?

That definitely is not enough – so what is branding then?

Here’s a definition of brand design to consider:

“Brand design is the process of creating a distinct identity and personality in order to communicate and promote an organisation, person, product or service. Brand design is therefore a much deeper and broader process than visual identity design, although graphics are often a crucial way of succinctly symbolising and evoking a brand and its associations.”

Quotation from The Design Council – www.designcouncil.org.uk

Or “A brand is what your product or service stands for in people’s minds”

The great news is that you don’t need to be a multi-million pound business to have a brand, you probably have one already, you may not have realised.  A good place to start is to talk with your staff and customers to see what they think of your business.  Find out why they buy from you, what they like, where you sit in relation to your competitors and how you could improve. Explore the market that you operate within to see how you compare, and the how you could stand out more and be different.

Take a look at the following and consider the questions for your business, or the business that you work within.

Questions to deliberate when you are developing your brand:

• Proposition – what exactly are you offering to your clients? Be clear, be specific, make it easy for your clients to understand and engage with you.  Do not speak in jargon but do take time to find the right terminology.  Consider using visuals to help demonstrate what you do and how you do it. Infographics are perfect for this method of communication.

• Personality – what is your style? Are you direct, personable, faceless, quirky, funny?  This will generally be directed by the type of client you are looking to engage.  A great example of this is Innocent, the multi million pound drinks supplier.  Their approach from the very start has always been quirky, for example when they started they advertised for staff on their bottle labels.  This was fun, free and more likely to attract people that already liked and understood the great product. They also created the banana phone, which still exists now, so that customers can call up for a chat!  I would recommend that you find what style is right for you, out of all of them quirky is probably the most difficult to deliver visually.  However it does look like a lot of fun!

• Voice – This will be used across your website, letters, emails, marketing materials but also in the way you company answer the telephone, the way you speak to your suppliers, customers and competitors.  Make it consistent from the start.  Make it reflect the personality of your business.  Are you very formal, conversational, chatty, funny etc.  All of these are acceptable – as long as they are relevant and consistent.

• Key differentiators – why are you different to your competitors?  Offering “great customer service” is expected by everyone.  Is it your range, your experience, your approach that will attract clients? How can you stand out from the crowd?  What makes you different – why should someone buy from you?

• Market space – Where do you sit in the market?  Who are your competitors? What is the size of the market and the opportunity that you could achieve?  What is the future of your market, could you get ahead of your competitors by focusing on current issues such as environmental credentials or communication methods.

• Target market – Identify your target market, understand their needs, then communicate in a fashion that will appeal to them.  Believing that you can deal with “everyone” is much more difficult to market than working with a niche sector.  Consider what type of clients you prefer to work with; you do not need to work with everyone so make choices that suit your business style. How will you communicate with these clients? Where do they live – Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, direct mail, word of mouth, email, exhibitions etc.

Once you have your brand credentials identified you are now ready to build a visual brand identity that encompasses all of these components.  This is your logo and it should then feed into all of your marketing materials in a consistent, professional way.  A great design company will be able to create a visual that will deliver your message in a memorable, unique visual.  This is the part where lots of people get excited as they consider company names, straplines, colours, fonts, style.  Once created this must be used consistently across all of your marketing communications such as email signatures, websites, brochures, flyers, business cards, Linked In profiles, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, forums etc.

A brand is an incredibly important part of your company’s assets.  Whether a company is brand new, established with a good reputation or has a reputation that is less than brilliant, branding can help the market position and build credibility or rescue a difficult situation.  Having a clear brand also centres the company’s belief system and ensures that all levels of staff understand what is expected of them in the way that they communicate and strive to develop opportunities for the future.  Of course this only works if employees understand their part in the company jigsaw, so take the time to make sure they engage with it.
If you would like to read a book (or two) about branding there are many, many to choose from. Here are two that the Creating Media team have enjoyed recently.

A Book About Innocent – Some Things We’ve Learned

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson

Remember it is never too late to re work your brand; in fact it is something that should be reviewed on a regular basis, every six to twelve months.  This review may not deliver huge, ground breaking changes but there could be new opportunities for your business that can be realised through tweaking your brand and the way you communicate to the outside world.  Good luck, enjoy the process.  If we can help or you would like a chat please do get in touch.

Michelle Dalley is a Director at Creating Media, a full service design house working with clients to provide memorable and impactful branding, logo design, marketing, websites and printed marketing materials.

Michelle is passionate about design and maximising results orientated opportunities for all businesses.  She also loves her family, food and business.

0845 686 0050       michelle@creatingmedia.co.uk    www.creatingmedia.co.uk

The vision for At The Sharp End – in aid of Cancer Research UK was created by David Norrington.

I met David, Onion Custard Publishing, through 4Networking over 12 months ago.  In that time I have got to know David pretty well and when he announced that he was putting together a book made of contributions from entrepreneurs and business owners I knew that this was my opportunity to become a published author.   David was looking for contributions of just 1500 ish words and I knew that I could commit to that and accept it as a challenge.

The idea for the book was already an excellent one and then David told me that the profits would go to Cancer Research UK, a charity close  to my heart following two of my closest friends getting, and thankfully surviving, cancer.  A terrifically important charity.

David’s expectations were that maybe 20 people would contribute, imagine the surprise when at the end he had 60 contributors, all on different subjects.  I  ordered my copy from Amazon (a REAL book, I don’t like Kindles).  Something about real books makes me just flick through and want to know more.  This is the perfect business book for me, I can pick it up and read a few chapters for inspiration or knowledge gain.  Having spent an hour looking at the articles it is full of such inspiration, sensible advice, real world guidance, honesty and experience from other small businesses.  It is a reminder that we all face roughly the same challenges and that there is advice out there – you just need to ask or look.

So, now I am a published author.  My article is about Branding; a subject that I am incredibly passionate about.  Without giving away too much (you need to buy your own copy please!), it is real advice for small businesses either at start up or further down the line.

Many of my friends and contacts have also contributed to At The Sharp End, including:

• Emma Jennings
• Maz Hawes
• Michelle Clarke
• Phil Terrett
• Lucy Scott
• Barry Watson
• Steve White
• Peter Maynard….and more

I am thrilled to be part of such an exciting project, excited to be a “published author” and delighted to be helping raise contributions for such an important charity – Cancer Research UK.

Go on, buy a copy, or two.  Click here to find it on Amazon.

To see how much money has been raised take a look at the Just Giving page.

Fast forward four months and I received a call at the office from Steve Abel, his words were “I have asked on the 4Networking forum who I should work with for my personal branding and the only person that did NOT respond was you – I see that as a sign!”.

I am thrilled to say that Steve and Creating Media have worked together to position Steve as a public speaker and business mentor.  This included developing his market position, clarifying his story, and creating unique illustrations to support this interesting journey as a true entrepreneur.  Right through the branding across his website, social media, speaking profiles, book content and printed materials Steve has a consistent, professional message that completely adds up when you meet Steve in person.  We also organised a commercial photography shoot at the excellent Studio Venue Company in Birmingham which provided a perfect location for the images that we wanted to achieve.

Steve’s website is now live, the book launched and available on Amazon (two copies already ordered by the Creating Media team).

We look forward to continuing to work with Steve, already there are designs for flyers and exhibition materials in progress.

Steve has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He has a clear vision of where he is going, what he wants to achieve and along the way he has been open to creative direction from the Creating Media team.

If you would like to order a copy of Steve’s book – Big Fish, Little Fish – please visit this Amazon link.  Take a look at the credits and see that Steve has very kindly given us a mention in the credits.  Very kind – thank you!

Ten Top Tips for choosing the company name and website domain you really want.

So there you are – all excited about getting started with your great new business idea and right now is the time to start thinking about website domain names and trading names.

I regularly get asked the protocol on choosing domain names.  Back in the day when the world wide web was new, unchartered waters you could snap up domains very easily.  These days you need to either be very lucky or slightly creative in your thinking.

Hot Tip 1 –  Check that your domain is REALLY available not just dormant, it will save a lot of heartache and work.  Just typing the name into Google (other search engines are apparently available) or into the URL bar at the top is no guarantee that a domain is available. People used to snap up domains on the hope of getting rich (mostly unlucky unfortunately).  It’s easy to check either by going to a credible domain purchasing site, Creating Media recommend www.1and1.co.uk or use the industry site “Who Is” which will tell you who owns a domain and when it is up for renewal.

Hot Tip 2 – Make it easy to type – stay away from hyphens and numbers if possible (see Hot Tip 5).  Be memorable.

Hot Tip 3 – Make it easy to remember – in the words of Sadolin, try and say what it does on the tin (domain on this occasion).  If possible and relevant mention the location (more important for B to C businesses).

Hot Tip 4  -  If possible secure the .co.uk and the .com .  Seriously for the few £££ it will cost you just take ownership and do it.

Hot Tip  5 – DO NOT USE hotmail style emails! Once you have a proper domain purchased you can easily set up credible emails ie yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk

This looks so much more professional than yourname @hotmail.com .

Hot Tip 6  – What style of domain to choose?  Of course .co.uk and .com are the first choices but think carefully about other finishes.  The following points are provided as guidelines:

• .co.uk demonstrates that you are UK based, if your business is local then this is very important
• .com represents “commercial” is the most widely used and recognised worldwide domain
• .org is often used by charities / not for profit organisations
• .biz is becoming more popular as the first choices are running out. Typically it is used by small businesses. For instance www.4networking.biz is a popular business networking site across South Wales and the UK.
• .net is usually used in the IT world
• .mobi is becoming more popular for sites that operate only on mobiles
• .co – you will spend too much time explaining why it is not .co.uk and potentially lose out on traffic to that version of the domain
• .me is actually the identity for Montenegro although it is widely used for personal sites
• .eu is for Europe
• .gb seldom used but is actually for Great Britain (We don’t have any websites in South Wales or the rest of the UK that use this abbreviation).
• At this stage our clients wanting web design in South Wales there is no abbreviation although Nominet have applied for the use of .cymru and .wales.  Watch this space and we will keep you updated.
• Of course watch out for the country specific domains such as .ly (websites in Libya), .de (websites in Germany),  etc.
• For further information take a look at Wikipedia

Hot Tip 7 – Make sure that your domain is all over your branding! At every opportunity on line and off line you should be pointing your clients to your website.  That could be on your 600gsm business cards, banner stand, vehicle graphics, flyers, online communications.  At the moment QR codes are on trend  – are they right for your business?  Give me a call to discuss.

Hot Tip 8  - Once you have decided on the company name, take a look at the Twitter availability and if possible secure your first choice. Even if you have no intention of using Twitter secure it anyway…how disappointed would you be to find out it’s not available in the future? At this stage remember that the Twitter name is limited to 14 characters and can only be letters although you can use some limited symbols.  If you need advice on Twitter have a chat with Helen from Adore Social Media, she is always happy to help.

Hot Tip 9 – BEFORE you make the very final decision ask your trusted friends or family or me!  We are happy to talk this decision through with you, we have a lot of experience and currently manage hundreds of client domains.

FINALLY Hot Tip 10 – Remember where and when you bought the domain, keep the information safe, you will need to renew it at some stage and if you cannot find the info then you will lose your site and email.  Seriously, this happens.  If you don’t like this sort of thing then trust someone that does it for a business….we can help (forgive the blatant sales pitch, but we just want to help).

Offline:

Of course you need to register your business with companies house although if the particular company name is not available you can choose an unrelated name and then say “XYZ Company is the trading name of ABC”.  But that’s just the dull part in comparison to the creative side of starting a business!

Creating Media work with clients to provide affordable, practical, real world - web design, logo design, branding, marketing and print solutions.  If you would like to talk about any of the above points or have any queries then please do get in touch with Michelle Dalley or one of the team.  We are always happy to help businesses get started – right first time. 

Seriously, take us up on the free consultation, what have you got to lose?

At Creating Media we have long been fans of the awesome Dropbox.   As a team it allows us to share files, images, briefs and designs online without clogging up our already very busy and large email boxes.  When you are creating logos and brands the files are very high resolution so sending them out to clients across South Wales and far beyond, plus between the team it means that they take up a lot of space.  Dropbox means that we can all view the file up there “in the cloud”.

For client work we can then take this a step further and set up shared Dropbox folders which mean that a specific client can see only their relevant logo design files or business cards, letterheads, flyers, websites etc.  We can then set up sub folders for example for favourite images, final logos, documents etc.  This has worked brilliantly on many projects and the beauty of it is that our design clients are now also loving the benefits of Dropbox.

So…now Dropbox have a real competitor and that is none other than Google with it’s very own Google Drive.  Take a look at it’s very persuasive strapline:

“Google Drive is everywhere you are – on the web, in your home, at the office and on the go. So wherever you are, your stuff is just…there. Ready to go, ready to share. Get started with 5 GB free.”

At this moment we are using Dropbox Pro, the 5GB offered free with Google Drive would not be enough for me and my photograph and video library plus all the design work we have created for our clients.  We also love how Dropbox works, the simplicity and connectivity, so the thought of migrating to Google Drive sounds like hard work and could there be any risk to our data in the transfer?  So for now at least, we will be staying with Dropbox.

Happy Dropboxing or Google Driving – whatever your choice give one of them a try.  Never, ever again lose data or those all important photographs that can never be replaced.

If you would like to take advantage of a free trial on Dropbox and see what all the fuss is about click here – then blog back and tell me what you think!

Creating Media were commissioned to re-design the logo and create and print 600gsm deluxe quality business cards for the team.  In addition we created a story board style flyer for the team to use when they meet with potential clients.  A thousand flyers were printed on 300gsm card and are used at networking events and meetings across Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, South Wales and the rest of the UK to explain the services.

As part of the project Creating Media have been impressed by this affordable online Health & Safety solution that works for all small businesses who need to be protect their employees and small business from accidents.

“The Health & Safety Companion is an easy to use toolkit to help keep your small business Health & Safety compliant”

The Health & Safety Companion also stays up to date with government legislation to ensure that clients are aware of their obligations.  The price is just £300 +vat or can be paid in monthly instalments and is an affordable solution to keep your small business protected.

The online system is simple and intuitive, it is cloud based and can be accessed anywhere which is perfect for use at in the office, from home or on the move with your  iPad.

The HSC Companion website has a fantastic free trial available if you click on this link.  The website has an online video to take you through the features and ease of use.  Alternatively please get in touch with Michelle at Creating Media to find out more.

Barry Watson from Chepstow based Club Social Junction commissioned the Creating Media team to firstly provide a logo brand identity to represent the new social media platform and then to design the main website home page. The visual for the Club Social Junction was created using 3D rendering design to create the visual of a library, university, clubhouse and community. The brief from Barry Watson was very detailed and clearly he had a vision that the Creating Media then expanded and turned into web suitable graphics.
The logo design needed to provide a strong visual identity that could be used as an icon alone on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook etc. To start with, four logo designs were presented to the team at the Chepstow office. One was a clear favourite and it was then further refined to deliver the final result. The project took under two weeks and the client is delighted. The feedback from their clients has been very positive and the logo is now easily recognised and suits the many applications needed. The “mark” / icon represents the four arrows pointing to the centre which is the Social Media junction, the four roads are to the key buildings, the encompassing circle represents the platform as an inclusive solution.
The colours chosen represent blue for social media (think Facebook, Linked In, Twitter), the grey means business and the orange depicts the fun side of social media!

So what is Club Social Junction?

• FULL access to a growing online internet community
• Get your Social Media Strategy in order and working for you
• Social Media Training Academy – learn at your own pace with a variety of interactive tools; videos, training modules, e-books and much more!
• Get help – ask your peers and the experts in our Social Media Community Forum
• Research – find out everything you wanted to know about Social Media (and more
• Have some fun – and put into practice the things you have learned by networking with the other members in our Clubhouse…win prizes too!
• 14 Days FREE Trial – click here now to find out more

Michelle Dalley from Creating Media is an active member of  Club Social Junction and finds the information available invaluable to the fast changing social media world.

“Club Social Junction is the first place I go for social media advice and information; I use it daily. The articles are informative and constantly updated. Previously I would have had to hunt around the web looking for answers. Now I head straight to the Club Social Junction University and Library, like life I tend to then find myself in the Clubhouse or hanging out with the online community!”

For newcomers to social media click this link to get an excellent free download or a free 14 day Club Social Junction trial.
Creating Media are thrilled to be involved in the design work for such a ground breaking local, national and international new business. We look forward to being an active member of Club Social Junction and adding this project to our Monmouthshire based design portfolio.