White & Sons Estate Agents ‘Mooove’ Over to the Experts

White & Sons Estate Agents appoint West Sussex design agency BlueFlameDesign to refresh their current advertising campaign

With a history of almost 200 years, Surrey based estate agents White and Sons pride themselves on the long-standing reputation they have acquired for providing the highest levels of service for their clients. So, they needed the support of a reputable graphic design agency that delivers a high level of service in return.

BlueFlameDesign’s relationship with White & Sons started when appointed to design the new advertising campaign to run in the South East Farmer publication throughout 2011, and although White and Sons had a uniformed style to their Ads, it was agreed that a fresh approach would be advantageous in making them stand out against their competitors, whilst injecting fresh ideas in to a somewhat tired campaign.

The result was a series of eight full colour, quarter page ads that were consistent in delivering their message clearly and with maximum impact.

If you are looking for a little creative assistance with designing a new advert for your company then please feel free to contact BlueFlameDesign today or view our online portfolio to see some recent examples of our work.

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7 Steps to get your Business and Marketing Plan focussed and ready for success

Marketing Plan

Update your Business and Marketing Plan regularly to ensure success for your efforts.

Successful business can happen naturally but a truly strategic business and marketing plan can help to keep you focused on moving forward toward what you want your business to achieve.

When asking clients if they have developed a business and marketing plan, rarely do they answer with a simple ‘yes’. We all know that it’s not easy to take time away from your everyday business to develop one. But, if you develop a good business and marketing plan that works for your company, you’ll absolutely increase business. Importantly you will be able to gauge what strategies are working and which are not. This will enable you to free yourself from the things that are not helping you to move your business forward.

Here are seven steps to consider when developing your business and marketing plan.

1. Always ask questions about what you are doing and be as honest as you can when answering them.

For example:
Why are you, as an entrepreneur or business owner, doing what you do?
What is it that drives you to help your clients?
What differentiates your company from others?
What motivates you to get up and be excited about your business?

2. Determine who your ideal customer is and be very specific.

Here are some questions to get your started:
What is their social economic situation?
How old are they?
What is their title?
What type of car do they drive?
What type of company do you want to do business with?
How many employees does the company have?
What is their yearly revenue?
What industry are they in?

It’s important to know as much as you can about your target customer or client as you will be developing your marketing strategy, literature and content to attract them.

3. Put a number to it and plan your financials.

What are you spending every month?
What are your normal monthly business expenses that you have to account for?
What projected business expenses do you have?
If you are an entrepreneur, what personal expenses do you have to meet every month?

4. Target financial goals.

What revenue do you want to bring in monthly?
How much do you want to grow your business?

5. Along with your financial goals, what services or products are you selling?

What products or services can you “package”?
How much are you going to charge for your different packages or products?
What type of research do you need in order to price your products or packages?
What is your projected target for sales on each product, category of product or service?

6. Now you need to develop your marketing plan.

What online strategies such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc., are you going to incorporate into your marketing plan?

How many times/week or per month will you be on there?
Will you use an email marketing program?
How are you going to grow your social network?
What type of networking groups will you attend?
How will you follow up?
What other types of marketing efforts do you want to incorporate? How often?

I always think it’s good to cover the basics. You should consider putting some of your current customers on follow-up phone calls as part of your marketing. It’s always good to be at the front of peoples minds.

7. Use a list for things you want to do that you are putting off or don’t have time for.

I call this a “Pending Items Needing Attention” list. Write down everything on this list that is causing stress and is keeping you from focusing on your business. Assign others in your company to help you do some of these things or commit to doing a few items every week. If you work alone then chose a day to focus on at least one of these elements instead and gradually you will be ‘chipping away at the stone’. I do this for my personal life because, as an owner of my own business, this affects my productivity and adds to stress.

Commit to spending a few hours over the next few days to create or update your business and marketing plan. And be sure to review and update your plan at least monthly so that you keep on track.

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‘Blooming fantastic!’ says daisylady photography on her new branding from BlueFlameDesign

Logo design and Small Business Branding from BlueFlameDesign

A new logo design and business branding for daisylady photography

Warnham based animal, pet and wildlife photographer, daisylady photography, was so thrilled with the quality of work and service provided by BlueFlameDesign, they sent through a wonderful testimonial that we simply had to share with you.

Here’s what Lis Bingham, owner of daisylady photography, was kind enough to say;

‘When setting up my new animal, pet and wildlife photography business, I decided to obtain three quotes from local graphic designers to get advice on logo design and to have a price comparison.

Matt from BlueFlameDesign was the first person I met with, and when I tried to explain what I wanted, it was apparent that I wasn’t 100% sure myself. As Matt and I discussed my new business and the ‘small business branding packages‘ that BlueFlameDesign offered, he oozed ideas! I took an instant liking to Matt, not only as a professional who obviously knew his stuff but as a person. Life is too short not to laugh and Matt has a fantastic sense of humour!

After our initial meeting I knew that his ideas would take some beating……. I just hoped I would be able to afford his services. The other two companies I saw were simply no comparison and thankfully, Matt’s prices were also the best so I was extremely happy to tell Matt that I would be accepting the quote from BlueFlameDesign.

Since then, I have not looked back. Matt and I have formed a great working relationship. He has taught me so much in regard to “getting my business out there” and continues to do so.

BlueFlameDesign’s artwork is both creative and flawless, and this is due in part to them WANTING to get to know you and your business and what it is YOU want. It’s also down to their experience in knowing what’s best.

So, if you are ‘umming’ and ‘arring’ as to whether to use the services that BlueFlameDesign offer, believe me – you won’t be disappointed. Look no further. I’ve said it once (at least!) and I’ll say it again – you are a star Matt – THANK YOU!’

 

All we can say is a massive thank you to Lis in return, and that we look forward to working with you in the future to promote daisylady photography further.

If you’re a local business looking to refresh your current logo design or corporate identity, or a new business looking for a professional logo design and business branding option then you may want to read through our ‘Small Business Branding Packages‘ – They could just be what you are looking for!

For more information on the graphic design, branding and print marketing services offered by BlueFlameDesign please visit www.blueflamedesign.biz


BlueFlameDesign is a small creative agency located in West Sussex, in the UK, who are experienced in supporting new start-up companies and small businesses with their branding, graphic design and print marketing requirements.

Feel free to visit our website at www.blueflamedesign.biz and view our online portfolio, read through the testimonials that clients have been kind enough to share or contact BlueFlameDesign on info@blueflamedesign.biz for help with promoting your business.

Feeling social? Feel free to connect with BlueFlameDesign through Facebook or follow us on Twitter

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How to use Twitter as a lead generation tool

The power of Twitter as a lead generation tool

The power of Twitter as a lead generation tool

Twitter is among the top three social networking sites today and offers a micro-blogging service that lets its users send, receive and share messages via tweets. Tweets are text messages confined to 140 characters which can include web links.

Twitter users currently Tweet over 110M Tweets/day, at the time of writing this article. With traffic like that, who can ignore the gold mine that is Twitter?

Twitter – no shortage of business opportunities
It is only natural for internet marketers to leverage Twitter as a lead generation tool. The beauty of Twitter is that it allows easy conversation and for someone who is looking for business opportunities. Obviously, you would not try and sell directly to anyone with the prefix “@”. Keeping your eyes open and being alert to what is going on certainly helps.

For example, someone might be looking for a specific service, and if you have the solution, you could probably suggest it to them and end up making a profit.

The short cut to generating leads on Twitter
However, it is hardly practical to browse Twitter all day trying to find leads. Here is where we make use of third party tools to shorten the distance between you and the prospects.

Let us take a quick look at what you can leverage:

Twitter advanced search
If you use Twitter, you are probably aware of the basic search function. This lets you save a tremendous amount of time while you run searches using your name, or your business’s name, your brands, your competition and other tags. This will help keep track of your online business reputation as you look at the response to your tweets.

However, the advanced search function is what you should really take advantage of because it lets you run a search for your keywords by geographical location. So, if you live in Horsham, West Sussex, and run an advanced search for who is in Horsham, West Sussex, you can see who is saying what in that area. You are looking at real-time data you can filter and develop into business opportunities. 
When you look at the advanced search form, you will realise that it is quite simple to run a search around a prospective lead that you might have identified.  You can also use Twitter’s “search operators” and use the examples to come up with your own searches. Let us say you want to find out who wants your services in Reigate, Surrey, you would create a search based on those terms or search operators.

Being responsive is the key 
Twitter is full of people who post questions, opinions, requirements and just about anything and it is up to the marketer to utilise these tweets. If someone is looking for something, they would be pleased to have someone respond to their need, to identify, filter and respond to people asking questions or complaining.

This becomes even more valuable if it is someone from their area. As a marketer, you can plan and set up a series of tweets that could very well convert into hot leads on a daily basis.  
Remember, though, that you must take care to see that people don’t consider you a spammer. Instead, identify your niche and target people in that segment by triggering an interesting conversation and being helpful, eventually generating leads.

Not just leads, but a whole network 
When you work on generating business leads from Twitter, bear in mind that you can also build a community around you that could yield business partners for different aspects of your business that you could work with.

RSS feeds can be a boon
Every search that you run will bring up RSS feeds you can subscribe to. You can decide which ones are worthwhile from the comfort of your RSS reader. The RSS function keeps your searches well-organised, helping you respond to the ones you find lucrative and follow-up.

You can also use the RSS function to republish the results from your search. If you happen to be planning an event, you can create a buzz around it by doing this. You can create a #hashtag that is specific to your event, run a search on that tag and get the RSS feed. You can then use Feedburner’s BuzzBoost feature under the Publicise tab of your Feedburner feed to publicise the dynamic feed on your site.  It is easy.

If you would rather do this right from your browser, use Tweetdeck to see the real time search results on your desktop.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging Twitter for lead generation.

Do you have your own tips to share? Feel free to post them in the comments section.

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5 Top tips for producing a professional Company Brochure Design

Company Brochure Design, West Sussex

Useful Tips for an Effective and Professional Company Brochure Design

Nowadays there are several ways you can market your corporate brand, products and services, but still the most effective way of promoting your business is having a killer company brochure design.

An eye-catching and effective brochure design helps you to reach out to a large audience, giving the recipient something tactile and tangible to remember you by.

 

Here are BlueFlameDesign’s top 5 tips to ensure that your business will get the best results from your company brochure design.

1. Text Formatting and Heading Lengths
No-one likes to read pages and pages of lengthy block text, no matter how important you think it is the reader will no doubt think that most of it is ‘waffle’. Normally a potential client will be looking for the main points of information; What product or service do you offer? How will they benefit from it? and How much will it cost them?

Therefore make sure that your company brochure design includes well formatted text that is broken down in to bite size chunks of information that the reader can easily digest.

Think about the use of headings, sub-headings and paragraphs as well as the size of text too. If the text is too small then it will be difficult to read, the same as if it is too large and crammed on to the page.

Don’t forget that the text is meant to be an insight or snap-shot in to your company. If the reader would like to know a little more then maybe you should consider a call to action within the brochure, such as your website address or email address to contact.

2. Less is More
Overstuffing and cramming as much information in to your brochure as physically possible will not produce the results you desire.

A company brochure should outline your business along with its products or services. Enticing the reader in to wanting to know more; they will soon get in contact should they need too. Give them too much information and you’re in danger of overloading the reader. They simply won’t be able to take in all of the information and as a result may miss the important bits. Not only that but if they have all the information necessary to hand then they may not have a reason to contact you for more!

A very good way in getting important information across without having to read through paragraphs of block text is the use of bullet points. They are a lot easier on the eye and are great for summarising key points and benefits.

3. Multitude of Fonts
The use of many fonts throughout a brochure design, if not executed properly, will make your brochure look cheap and amateurish. Too many fonts will end up confusing the reader rather than directing them to the important information they seek.

The text of your company brochure will comprise mainly of headings and body copy so choose fonts to differentiate between the two rather than relying on size alone. You may chose a more elaborate or ornate font for the main page headings but remember to use a font that is easily read for the main body content. There is nothing more frustrating that trying to read something that simply looks like a ‘doctors handwritten scrawl’.

Another tip would be to use a font with an extended family to assist the design whilst keeping text legible. An extended family will usually include Roman, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Demi Bold, Demi Bold Italic, Medium Bold, Medium Bold Italic, Heavy, Heavy Italic and so on. Using and extended family font will definitely help in keeping your text legible and consistent whilst giving you the capacity of enhancing the formatting for headings, sub-headings, quotes and so on.

4. More colours than a Rainbow!
Colour is a great attention grabber and attractor to any marketing material, more so if used well. There is nothing wrong with having a vibrant and colourful brochure to draw attention to your business products and services but pay attention to colour clashes and legibility.

Like choosing the correct font, you should consider your brochures colour palette too. Do you have a corporate colour that should be included? If so then maybe you can build upon this by using shades or tints throughout the brochure design, rather than picking another colour simply because you need one. Be careful of which colours you decide to use too as many colours can generate a specific mood or feeling. Colour Psychology is a vast topic and well worth researching a little before jumping straight in with picking a colour at random.

Another consideration to note is the colour of your font and the background colour it sits on. You can have a stunning design with clever use of colour but at the end of the day your company brochure needs to serve a purpose.

5. Poor Quality Imagery
One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make with their new corporate brochure design is to scrimp on good quality imagery. Product shots taken on your mobile phone are simply not acceptable and downloading images you have found on the web will not reproduce well when printed.

Pictures are known to speak louder than words and quality images will make your brochure design more alluring to the recipient.

If you employ a professional designer, such as BlueFlameDesign, to assist with the design of your new company brochure then they should guide you with what images would work best, how the images should be cropped and where to source the imagery from. You may have access to a library of stock shots yourself but don’t rule out the advantages of using Royalty Free Images from a library. They are professionally shot and most are already colour corrected and formatted for print.

These tips are by no means exhaustive but are certainly the most important when looking to design your new company brochure. Failing that, you could always contact BlueFlameDesign and let us do all the handwork for you!

Feel free to visit our website for more information on how we can support your business and together we can ignite your brand and set your marketing alight!

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