GREAT BRITAIN - GREAT FOR BUSINESS!

Who has heard that timely saying that 'Britain doesn't make anything anymore'?

Well, this sentence will soon be a thing of the past, with a new backed campaign set out to dispel this myth and make Britain a great place for business once again.

Britain's Manufacturing industry has taken a hit in recent years with cheaper solutions and product development offerings from other worldwide savvy countries.

Make it in Britain is hosting an exhibition to promote cutting edge Manufacturers in Britain at the Science Museum to coincide with the Olympic games this year.

The event will also see a competition to find the most innovative British pre-market products, processes and concepts that will be featured as part of the marketing campaign across the country.

Read more on their website www.makeitinbritain.bis.gov.uk

Did you know - Brighter Directions work with lots of Manufacturing companies to help develop clear focused Marketing & Sales strategies for growth - with also funding available, call us for more information on 01246 252855

NACC FUNDRAISING AT RUTLAND WATER

NACC 12 Sponsored Walk. The team at brighter doing their bit....

The NACC Charity (National Association for Crohns and Colitis) is a national charity very close to our hearts at Brighter Directions, so we are always thrilled to provide support, fundraising activities throughout the year to do our bit for this fantastic cause.

As some of you may know, our MD, Claire has suffered with Crohns disease all her life juggling a very positive career with a diliberating condition - In addition another member of the team also juggles her busy workload with having the sister condition Colitis which can also be very challenging at times which is why the team are so passionate and keen to raise as much awareness and funds for these conditions.

Although our MD Claire was taken in hospital for surgery on her condition at the time of the walk, all the team are STILL completed the NACC Charity walk on the 6th May at Rutland Water, giving up their free time on a Sunday to raise much needed funds for this terrible disease which is so often unheard of..

As youll see from the picture taken during the walk above, even our smallest recruit baby Lowen (our admin assistant Toni s new addition) took the challenge and came along allbe it carried the whole five miles!
Can you support us by sponsorship? Call the office on 01245 252855 or visit our JustGiving page to donate online www.justgiving.com/brighterdirections

Weve raised over £200 so far but are hoping to make near to £500 as possible and will continue to raise money through various fundraising events throughout the year - so please donate, even just £2 will add to the cause! xx

CHEAP AIR TRAVEL TO BRUSSELS

Great news for businesses that export or deal with Brussels -Or for those that don't YET but may start looking into opportunities this gives a viable option to:

bmi have launched a new low-fare of just £65 one-way (cheaper than most train tickets to London!) between the East Midlands and Brussels airports.

Flights are available up to twice a day including early morning and late evening to enable business and day trips to take place.

Ticket prices are to include all taxes, luggage requirements, complimentary catering on board the flight and access to quick check-in facilities.

So, if you were thinking of expanding your East Midlands based business overseas, this may be just the place to start?

MARKETING UPS AND DOWNS!

The UK Marketing Services industry is vast and well-established with many thriving and specialists organisations (like ourselves) at the forefront of innovation and strategic development.

A recent study has found that in the last three years, some forward-thinking Marketing companies have worked hard to increase sales revenue by over  22% - a great achievement in the economy.

Fortunately we have a great team here at Brighter Directions and because of the teams enthusiasm, hard work and pure delivery skill we are pleased to announce we are in the growth section and have increased sales year on year at an exciting rate, always sourcing new opportunities within the marketplace.

Sadly its not been the same for many other Marketing firms that have fallen during the downturn and economy with more than two-hundred businesses declining in sales - this shows that the Marketing industry is growing by only a select group of successful firms in the UK.

As a specialists high-end Marketing agency, were lucky to be positioned within the TOP Marketing support agencies in the country and have worked hard to build a stable reputation for our excellent services, great client communication and superb aftercare solutions.

To help your business thrive and GROW - Call the experts at Brighter Directions on 01246 252855 or visit our website www.brighterdirections.co.uk

VIDEO CV'S BRING APPLICANTS SUCCESS

Employers are looking for new innovative ways to recruit now the market is in such need of a face-lift, what better opportunity technology provides to help candidates 'stand out from the crowd'

Recruitment is a tough game, so much so that (we think) video may be the new way forward - why shouldn't candidates think outside the box and use state-of-the-art technology to enhance profile and possibly get that 'dream job ahead of hundreds of other applicants who have similar education and experience?

After some investigating, we found a new tool called Adcaster is a multi-functional video job board - it enables recruitment agencies to promote candidates through the use of video CV's which can also be supported by recorded and hard-copy versions for future reference.

Sadly, even the best written CV can lack personality, so anything that can increase visibility and give someone a helping hand to get on the career ladder is a great thing, surely?

With the recruitment industry getting even more tough for people to find jobs, we think this is a new innovative solution that just might help get the economy moving..

What do you think?

FACEBOOK UPDATES - CHECKIN

Check-in numbers on Pages will be updated in the next few weeks

Recent notice from Facebook: We are revising check-in numbers on Facebook Pages to give you a more accurate picture of how people are visiting your business. Among these changes, previously, if an individual checked into your business multiple times, each check-in was counted into your Page's total check-in number. Now, if someone checks into your business multiple times within a 12-hour period, that action will be counted as one unique check-in.

In addition, when people tag their friends at a location and upload a photo, those photo tags will be counted more holistically. For example, if 20 photos were uploaded to an album at a specific location, we'll now count that as a single check-in. If Jessica checks into a location and tags five friends in the photo she uploads with her check-in, the total check-ins number will be six -- Jessica plus her five friends.

To start utilising Facebook for your business, contact us about our low-cost training workshops, held in Chesterfield, Sheffield, Nottingham & Derby - Call 01246 252855 Follow us on Facebook here http://www.facebook.com/BrighterDirections

TOP MARKETING TIPS FOR GROWTH

Brighter Directions are a local award-winning strategic marketing and social media company helping SME’s with all marketing and sales related issues, from writing a strategic plan to managing your social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more…

Last years finalists for the prestigious BESMA Best in the Business awards in London in TWO categories 'Customer Care Excellence' & 'Sales Professionals' 2011

Our top tips to improving your marketing now:

1.       Make sure you’re talking to the right target market (who are they, where are they and what do they need from you?)

2.       Consistency. Be consistent with your brand (the image your prospective clients see) and with your marketing message

3.       Put together a plan to achieve your goals and objectives, and then work to it!

Unlike some marketing agencies, we are not a one-hit wonder - Our approach to our clients is to develop a lasting relationship so that we can give the best possible service and work together to achieve fantastic results as you continue to grow your business.

For help developing a clear Marketing Strategy for your business, contact the expects Brighter Directions:

Call us today for a FREE consultation on 01246 252855 or contact us via the website at www.brighterdirections.co.uk

BRIGHTER DIRECTIONS MARKETING QUIZ

Just for a bit of fun, we thought we'd share with you one of our famous Marketing Quiz that we run at various events and seminars...

Its there to show the importance of Brand Identity in businesses - A lesson to be learnt from the large companies but equally as vital for small independant organisations to take note of:

The difference between having a great brand identity and having a logo could mean you win that great bit of business ahead of competitors.... Think about it.

Now lets see how you do:

1.     Name the companies from the cropped logos

 

                                                                                                    

2.     What product does this strapline promote?

“Just do it”

                                                                                         

3.     Whose marketing message is this?

“Exceedingly good cakes”

                                                                                         

4.     Who sells this experience to its customers?

“The opportunity for a 3 year old accountant to ride through     small towns in leather and create the rebel experience”

                                                                                         

5.     Name the company to this theme tune…

“Phil Collins…. In the air tonight”

                                                                                         

If you think you would benefit from speaking to a professional business that can help raise your professional profile, Call Brighter Directions today on 01246 252855

QR CODES - WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY?

You've probably seen the funny little block pictures or graphics in places like adverts, billboards and magazines and wondered "what are they?" and "how can they help promote my business?"


Firstly, QR Code stands for "Quick Response Code", it's as simple as that.


What it is, is a 2D bar code that can be scanned and decoded. With the advent of smart phones, QR readers have become easily accessible and utilised. Many QR apps are free and readily available via different app stores.


Once you have your QR reader app, fire it up, hold the camera on your phone over the QR code and hey presto, your phone should decode it and present you with the relevant information.


Normally QR codes are used in marketing to 'send' the reader to a special website or holding page with information for the person to collect and help move towards a buying process for the customer.


A simple example of this is sending then to a voucher page to download and presenting the readers with a discount off services making it tangible and easy to market and track for ROI.


For information about using QR codes in your business, contact Brighter Directions on 01246 252855

AM I A TWIT USING TWITTER FOR BUSINESS?

So youve created your account on Twitter and hey-presto, your expecting lots of conversations with potential customers and even orders to come flying through your door/website...

BUT after a couple of months of tweeting a few times a day - still nothing......

Why me??? I hear you cry...

Social Media for businesses isnt about shouting your message from the roof-tops and hoping that your clients will find you immediatley and rush to pick up the phone/ credit card.

What Social Media should be seen as is a communication channel open to views, opinions, conversations, chats and engagement - afterall isnt that what Marketing is all about?

If you need help to develop your Twitter profiles (or any other Social Media platforms for that matter) then contact Brighter Directions on 01246 252855 or use the contact form on our website http://www.brighterdirections.co.uk/

NEW GOOGLE POLICIES

We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.


We believe that this stuff matters so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies These changes will take effect on 1 March, 2012.

EGG-ING ON THE COMPEITION VIA TWITTER

If you have a Twitter account, then at the very least you should have updated your bio information, uploaded a professional photograph and started posting messages....

Havent done these yet?

How many times when you log onto Twitter do you see the famous Egg as a Profile Picture?

Now ask yourself: How engaging is that to make you want to communicate with a company that cant even be bothered to upload a photography or a logo display about what they do?

The profile photograph promotes you as a business.
It promotes you as a professional organisation to deal with/ speak to
It shows you ARE actually bothered about perseption and want to engage online

So do your reputation management a favour and upload a personal, real and professional image of yourself on your commercial Twitter account today and see the increase in communication on your account!

For help with personalising your Twitter (or any other Social Media account for that matter) contact the professional, friendly team at Brighter Directions on 01246 252855 or the website http://www.brighterdirections.co.uk/

INTEGRATING PR INTO THE BUSINESS

PR should be a continuous process wether you outsource your public relations management or do it yourself inhouse. Oursourcing PR can be done on a regular contract basis, or can be done on a ad-hoc basis:

As a one-off basis some companies will simply put together a press release, send it out, and hope that it delivers results. This method is low cost but risky in that results are not guaranteed. They should also distribute your news through online medias (across the internet).

Many PR firms will also act as media centre taking enquiries from journalists and may offer a guarantee of some kind, which can reduce the risk of spending thousands of pounds for no end product.

The other alternative is to hire a PR agency on an on-going basis. For this they will put together some targeted press releases each month, and develop a longer term PR strategy.

You may also wish to complement your traditional PR activities through generating buzz in other ways, such as social media, optimisation, guerrilla marketing or getting bloggers to write about your company.
 
If you decide to hire a PR agency here’s a checklist to follow before choosing one particular firm:

• Different PR agencies specialise in different areas. Some are better at promoting established businesses whereas others are more focused on newly formed companies.
• Do they understand your company and its industry?
• History. Ask for copies of press releases and media coverage that they have obtained in the past.
• Are they desperate? A good PR agency is a busy PR agency. They shouldn’t be desperately trying to encourage you to take them on – they should simply present the facts and let you make up your own mind in your own time.
• Do they have the media contacts?

Generally you can look to hire a PR agency on a one-off or on-going basis. The PR agency should have local, regional, and national press contacts – previous work should illustrate this.

If you are looking for PR support in  your business, please contact Brighter Directions on 01246 252855 or visit the website for more details http://www.brighterdirections.co.uk/

WISHING YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

Brighter Directions would llike to take the opportunity to wish all our clients, friends, contacts and associates a very happy Christmas and positive New Year into 2012!

December is a great time for reflection and strategy development, ready for the next year with focus on the activities that worked well (increased ROI) and improve or deflect on those activities that didn't..


2012 should be a better year for most businesses, with the European economy in turmoil, the UKs challenges seem to be clearing, light is beginning to bleed through the end of the tunnel and sunshine is highlighting the great talent of SME businesses the UK has to offer with opportunities in procurement, international trading and growth.

For Brighter Directions, it’s been an extremely busy year; we’ve been working up and down the country and even a few trips internationally to help clients develop a tangible social media strategy and set clear objectives, we were shortlisted for the most prestigious national awards in the industry, the famous BESMA best in the business in London part of a star-studded award ceremony...

We have appeared on local, regional and even national radio stations, media publications and even the BBC News live from Yorkshire and London discussing our expertise and news opinions, we've supported charity organisations through sponsorship, fund-raising and providing free advice as well as promoted free regional seminars and events here we've given away more free advice and offered support in the campaign to 'shop local' and grow SME's across the region - and finally, we've continued to support our clients when and where they need it by growing our fantastic team, committing to the national Apprentice Scheme!

We would love to hear from you in 2012 and see new opportunities of how we can help your organisation grow and develop opportunities, so whether you're looking for help to develop a clear Marketing Strategy or clearing the way for new technologies like Social Media communications then make sure you call us first and ensure you are on the right track....

Speak to our friendly team on 01246 252855


We close our offices from the 21st December for Christmas and look forward to re-opening on the 3rd January totally re-freshed and looking forward to another successful year of helping our clients to grow!

If you do need anything urgently, you can contact Claire on her mobile number.

See you next year - hope you all have a lovely break from work!

Love, the team at Brighter Directions xxx

FREE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS ON THE GO

Not much in life is free these days, which is why its so refreshing to come along some free tools that help small businesses become more effective with time management.

Weve trailed the internet to find the best three tools for businesses, best of all they are totally free:

1 - Dropbox

Since it launched a few years ago, Dropbox has signed up more than 25 million users worldwide, it’s easy to understand why. It’s a cloud-based system that allows you to store up to 2GB worth of files and documents for free, as well as share files with colleagues without the need to email attachments, making it ideal for project work.


Any file you save to Dropbox instantly saves to your computer, smartphone and the Dropbox website, meaning you can work on the move.

2 - Email Marketing

MailChimp is a free email marketing software tool, operating virtually and live across the internet - we have been advising small businesses on utilising this free email marketing software for years now and have yet to be disappointed with its impressive features and credentials.

The software allows you to design from scratch a email campaign or chose from one of its great range of design templates. It also offers tracking tools to monitor effectiveness, a social network function so you can integrate campaigns with social media sites, and even a translation tool. The free package allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month with upgraded options available

3 - Market Research

This great little tool offered by Survey Monkey is a great for small businesses wanting to conduct customer satisfaction surveys, product feedback or general market research without paying expensive agency fees.

The software allows you to set up a free online account, so that you can create interactive, web-based surveys as well as integrating the information so that data can be gathered via your website, Facebook or email.


For more information on how to best utilise free business marketing tools, conatct Brighter Directions on 01246 252855 or visit the website for more information about how we can help your business grow http://www.brighterdirections.co.uk/