Why am I not using this blog so much?

I realise that my trusty followers might wonder why they've not heard much from me on blogger for a while ... apologies, it's just that I simply can't catch up!  What with all the potential social media to keep up with, for myself and all my clients, it's as much as I can do to post each day on everything else.  There was a time when blogger was the only outlet I used, to muse about this, that and the other.  Today, the company website allows me to post regularly and I'm on hootsuite planning content for all my social media outlets too.

This is not a state unique to me - so many of our clients tell me the same thing - and my advice is this - when blogging, make sure that you keep up the quality of your content and use your blog when you have something really important to say.  Link to it from all your social media outlets and give the reader more bang for their bucks.  This is a 24 hour communication world - it's expected that someone from every company is available 7 days a week and that's tough if you're trying to balance quality of life too, but it is possible to achieve if you make use of the most appropriate medium for the job in hand.

So, you can expect to see me on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, What'sApp and Skype too, but only when I have something useful to say ...

The moral of this story is, don't just bang on about nothing, make sure what you have to say is worth reading, or hold fire until you do.

Remembering the outbreak of WW1

It's been a very poignant few days leading up to today's commemorations of the outbreak of the First World War.  We first started working on some of the material for the village of Hoby in Leicestershire some twelve months ago when the local history society approached us to talk about producing a book, website and commemorative events.  Work proper for us began at the start of 2014, when the material started coming together for the 64 page book called 'For King and Country' which commemorates those who lived in Hoby and fought for our freedom.
 
We have also worked on a website for the history society www.hobyanddistricthistory.co.uk where much of the research is outlined.  The project prompted me to look in more depth at the lives of my two great uncles, twins who lost their lives in the Great War.  My great grandfather volunteered even though he was 56 at the time - he wanted to fight alongside his sons.  I'm lucky that we have quite a treasure trove of family memorabilia, some of which appear in the published book and much of which will be included in an 'Ancestor Exhibition', our next commemorative project.  Perhaps the most touching thing will be the muffled peal of bells which will sound at the anniversary of the death of each of the 13 people from Hoby who lost their lives.

Busy Autumn!

Not sure why, but September is always a great month for new business, new ideas, new challenges. Maybe it's refuelling energy levels on holiday in the summer that does it and this year has been no exception. At last we're seeing good news stories on our 24 hour news channels and there's no doubt that's having an effect on the high street. So this week what's new? First the Syston U13s rugby team has been sporting new kit, complete with our logo, second I've got around to downloading iOS7 (seems pretty good so far) and thirdly tomorrow's European Day of Languages so we have arranged a nifty little promo for our clients Brucciani of Leicester - take a look at their facebook page to find out more! https://www.facebook.com/Brucciani?fref=ts

The power of social media

I hate to say 'I told you so', but the story hitting the headlines yesterday about Paris Brown, Britain's first youth and crime commissioner and her use of tweets and facebook posts is a salutory tale for young people and those new to social media everywhere.

Social media is a powerful communications tool, but as I lectured my 13 year old when he first got set up on facebook, you should never put up a post that you'd be ashamed of later; or, in his case, that he wouldn't want his mother to read!  Somehow people easily forget that what they type into their phone or PC as a post or tweet will actually be read by others ... sometimes by employers or future employers, or for those in public facing appointments, by the man on the street.  Once you've hit that button your tweet or post is in the public domain, can be complex and sometimes impossible to eradicate and can very easily reach the eyes of those you'd rather it hadn't.

In our work, social media is vital; it is a very friendly, personal way of interacting with our customers or our clients' customers and it's really useful for communicating all sorts of messages.  However, with power comes responsibility; the positives of this story are that it might just make a few people think more about that responsibility...

International Online Marketing

Despite the snowy conditions and being woken by Leicestershire's earthquake in the night, I was pleased to get to the e business club's session on International Online Marketing early this morning in Nottingham.  The speaker, Mike Hunter from www.betterlanguages.com was excellent and made some really useful observations about search engine optimisation for websites targeting overseas markets and about translation procurement.  There was a real distinction discussed between UK based websites with foreign languages incorporated and those domains registered and hosted in the target country.

During the last seven years, working with client World Market Center Las Vegas, I have learnt an enormous amount about use of language, translation sourcing and best practice and copywriting for foreign markets and it's something I'd like to make more use of across different marketplaces.  I have always loved languages, was bilingual English and Welsh from the age of four and quickly adopted French and then Russian at senior school where I also studied Latin for a few years.  Unfortunately, my Russian has deteriorated the fastest because I simply don't use it enough and would probably have to start from scratch if I ever needed it for work.  Since then a smattering of Italian has seen me through a few wonderful holidays plus some really exciting work projects and my children have reminded me of what little German and Spanish I remember as they seek my advice on homework.  The world wide web has certainly made the world seem so much smaller - next language on the agenda for me is Portuguese with potential projects on the horizon in Brazil.

Remember remember

November's started with a bang, not just from fireworks!  I spent a few days in Paris and took the opportunity to see what's new over there in retail display and also to look at how they handle some of their high visitor volume museum layouts.  I was particularly interested in the Musee de l'armee which has a fantastic World War I and II exhibit complete with video clips, multi-lingual sound bites and things to touch and feel as well as to look at.  Some extremely moving exhibits which will remain with me for a long time; as we approach Remembrance Sunday I am certainly wearing my poppy.

Richard III

Well it's been an interesting Friday, starting with a seminar on what's new in mobile at 7.30 this morning in Nottingham, then filming for a piece which will be on air on East Midlands Today tonight talking about the benefits that could be brought to tourism in Leicester if 'the bones' really do turn out to be those of Richard III.  That was closely followed by an interview with Ben Jackson on BBC Radio Leicester for his drivetime show tonight on the same subject.  So now back in the office wading through emails!

I was put on the spot about how much a Richard III visitor centre could bring in revenue to Leicester - I'm sure far more brilliant financial minds than mine will be modelling just that, all I could do really was look at what another city-based historical visitor centre might turn over.  Somewhere like the Jorvik Centre in York for example, which has seen more than 16 million visitors in the 28 years since it opened might be able to help with some real life stats and of course there are all the add-ons like benefits to local hotels, restaurants and shops.  This is where joined up marketing thinking will be really important, partnerships between Leicester businesses could double or triple the revenue made on pure ticket sales alone - I would love to see a visitors centre and then go to a performance of Richard III at Curve.  Fingers crossed the bones do indeed turn out to be those of the last Plantagenet King.

A motivating September

It's been a great September with lots of new business enquiries, a visit to 100% Design and Design Junction, a conference about corporate communications in Brazil, a fantastic production of Certified at Leicester's Curve theatre and finally a presentation of my certificate of appointment as a Fellow of the CIPR.  Unlike the doom and gloom that seems to haunt my every morning when the Today programme comes on with the alarm clock, my experience is that clients have returned from their summer breaks re-invigorated and determined to do their utmost to create business wherever they can.  Maybe they're partly motivated by the amazing summer of sport during the Olympics and Paralympics.  I for one echo that determination, let's hope that motivation continues for the rest of the Autumn.

Leicester back on the world map again!

I can't help feeling excited about the recent archaeological discoveries in Leicester.  To find an ancient church underneath a bland, grey, city council car park is exciting enough, but yesterday's announcement of a find of remains which quite possibly could be those of King Richard III has got me reaching for my history books and re-reading about that part of British history.  I was particularly pleased to receive this morning's email from www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk  including a brilliant interview with Richard Buckley from the University of Leicester describing the find.  So pleased, I thought I'd share it - have a look at this!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRY0CLRCjM8

Google updates

I've spent lots of time in the last month ensuring that I'm up to date with all of google's latest algorithm changes and then working out what they mean for my clients.  Perhaps the most dramatic for many websites is the penalisation for duplicate copy - if, for example, you have a news section on your website which contains press release content and that press release has gone out to lots of publications who then choose to publish it in its entirety on theirs, then you risk significant search penalties. 

So, that's me very busy for the next four weeks ensuring that my clients' sites don't contain duplicate content - hey ho!

Summertime

Our office here overlooking the Wreake Valley, with its pretty river meandering through the valley is usually glorious at this time of year, but we've seen so little sunshine so far it doesn't really feel like June and the footpaths are still muddy.  I'm thrilled to report that Hoby Open Gardens weekend made over £5,700 for All Saints Church in Hoby, despite the downpours last Saturday.  So many of my clients have summer social activities planned many of which are now subject to a plan B. 

Responding to the British weather should stand us in good stead for responding to changes in the business environment.  'When the going gets tough, the tough get going' and we're certainly having to help our clients work harder and smarter on customer development and retention.

We're doing lots more email and social media campaigns across many different sectors as clients are keen to maintain conversations with their customers even when business is quiet.  No PR campaign is now complete without thinking about social media and how that could impact and certainly no crisis PR policy can afford not to make the most of social media - as Jimmy Carr demonstrated last week!

LOROS Garden of Light and Reflection

I was so delighted to be invited to the official opening of the new Garden of Light and Reflection on Friday which is now installed at its permanent home at LOROS off Leicester's Groby Road.  This amazing hospice does so much for so many and I was pleased and proud to be involved in the project.  I hope the garden brings solace and peace to those who see it.  Thank you Simon Cooper, not only for chauffering on Friday night, but for all that wonderful footage of the project from its inception.  See his photographs and film footage here.  www.lorosgarden.org.uk

Things are picking up ...

Am I the only one seeing things picking up across a wide range of clients? It feels like the world has been holding its breath since the banking crisis and is a little terrified of accepting that things are looking up. I'm not suggesting that business is soaring, but what I can see is that clients in all sorts of sectors are making good progress. Long may it continue and let's hope we start seeing some confidence coming back - I for one am a little fed up of all the doom and gloom reports on broadcast and print media. Can we start giving airtime to some of the good news please?

Turning a small venue into St Mark's Square

BEFORE

AFTER

It's been a fun couple of months, with lots happening for all my clients. Vortice announcing double digit sales growth despite a really tough market in the building trade, Richard Watkinson & Partners opening their new estate agency office in Melton Mowbray extremely successfully, I've celebrated a big birthday and managed to create Piazza San Marco from a very small Leicestershire venue and Las Vegas Market held their best show for several years. Onwards and upwards 2012!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm looking forward to an exciting new year and I hope you are. Just preparing for the launch of Richard Watkinson & Partners estate agency in Melton which opens next week, Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival which will see a whole raft of great comedy at The Belmont Hotel Leicester and the January Las Vegas Market which opens on the 30th. What more could I wish for? Apart from losing a few pounds after the Christmas feast! Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

New website for enterprise educators UK

Delighted to see the new website for our clients Enterprise Educators UK is now online. This is a great resource for universities throughout the UK. Check it out at www.enterprise.ac.uk there are events, case studies, news and resources galore!

Opening of the Waterhouse Bridge

A lovely celebration for the opening of the restored Waterhouse Bridge today. It was great to see people there from Natural England, Severn Trent Water, Leicestershire County Council, Hoby with Rotherby Parish Council plus lots of others who've played a role in the restoration. Here's a photo in its newfound glory.

Taking time out

It's all too easy to get swallowed up in the day to day running of your company, I can't believe it's October already but I am very pleased that I've taken some time out over the last few weeks to attend a couple of events that are outside the 'day job'. The first was an Integra event held in Leicester at which the speaker was Deb Leary OBE, Founder and CEO of Forensic Pathways. Her refreshing account of her career path reminded me of my own and highlighted how sometimes being in the right place at the right time can transform the direction of your business and your life.

That event led nicely to one I attended yesterday at Nottingham University's conference centre, organised by UKTI, the subject matter was 'Sell British - using technology to go global'. There's no doubt that selling British goods and services abroad is vital to transforming the fortunes of our economy and I for one love the work that Nicky Stephen Marketing does for World Market Center Las Vegas. We were in the right place at the right time, recommended by a British journalist, we met the client in 2005 just before launch of Las Vegas Market and we now help them reach their international audience through PR, marketing and advertising in Asia, Australasia, Latin America, Canada and Europe. Technology has certainly been pivotal to the way we communicate worldwide.

Beautiful West Wales

A short weekend break in beautiful West Wales and we visited a wonderful gallery run by Suzi Park showing work in ceramics, textiles, glassware, jewellery and art as part of the Riverside Festival in Cardigan. The gallery is also online and features work from recent graduates as well as more established artists - take a look http://www.suzipark.co.uk/

It's Vegas baby!

Where else could I possibly be this week but at World Market Center Las Vegas?

A great turnout of buyers and press from around the world at the USA's favourite furniture and furnishings show. I've been thrilled to welcome international journalists on my client's behalf from Italy, Thailand, China, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Belgium and Canada and I think they're having a great time! Last night's highlight was a keynote speech and question and answer session with Bill Clinton - what an amazing evening.