From the category archives:

In The Studio This Week

website design for a chocolate company

Regular blog readers will have been on Sara’s journey from a germ of an idea back in the Spring to a fully fledged business complete with website five months later. You might remember me asking for your help in helping Sara choose a logo (she loved them all and couldn’t decide), we then updated you with the finished logo and stationery before I had the enviable task of having to plan out her site. Naturally I needed to undertake plenty of research whilst planning the site (and probably gained a few pounds in the process…).

Sara offers handmade chocolates for corporate events and weddings as well as (sign me up!) making and tasting parties. The goal was at this stage to provide an information resource, Sara has a young family and didn’t want a shop on the site (at the moment) so we just needed to make it look gorgeous and provide enough information for Sara’s customers to get in touch.

website design for chocolatier

Sara wrote her own copy with a few pointers from me and I love the fact that she’s so effectively communicated her passion for her business and her chocolates.

I love the way Chloe has used imagery to guide people around the site – it makes things so much more interactive. And the photography works really well.

web_design_for_chocolatier

What do you think?

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in Branding, Case Studies, Graphic Design, In The Studio This Week, Online Marketing, Web Design, Websites

Does the thought of running a workshop or seminar fill you with horror?

Workshops and seminars are one of the most influential marketing tools you have up your sleeve and invaluable if you’re serious about building a business based on long term relationships with your customers. When planned and executed carefully you’ll find that you position yourself as an expert, build strong relationships with current and potential clients and generate solid sales leads. In fact, many of the same benefits as blogging – but workshops are real, in-the-flesh marketing tools that will make you a profit out of the event and win you business.

Why you need to run seminars and workshops for your customers

• It’ll help you generate strong relationships with your current and prospective customers

• You’ll be giving something back and helping your customers

• You’ll be able to show them just what’s involved in what you do (and how good you are!)

• You’ll be able to attract a new segment of the market

But despite these benefits, many business owners find anything and everything to do rather than run a workshop or seminar! Maybe it’s the fear factor: not knowing where to start (I’ll show you), not knowing whether you’re “good enough” (you are), not knowing whether anyone will turn up (they will – and they’ll pay you handsomely for it if you get the basics right).

Join me for a Workshop Bootcamp on September 23rd and I will help you plan a profitable, and successful, workshop or seminar. Together we’ll plan:

• The basics: who, what, when, where and how

• The content: and how to get the balance between adding value and spilling your trade secrets

• Your marketing plan: my tried and tested formula that’ll get paying bums on those seats

• Your persuasive copy: how to write copy that’ll sell places on your workshop

How we’ll work

I won’t literally be walking round sergent major style! I’ll be sharing my knowledge with you completely openly and honesly. You’ll hear the success stories and you’ll also hear my (let’s call them) “learning experiences” that have shaped my knowledge. I have a workbook ram-a-jammed full of tips, tools and exercises that’ll get you ready to launch your first workshops by 1st November. Some exercises we’ll do as a group, others in pairs and others on your own.

The day will be supportive, fun, and most of all, the beginning of an exciting journey for you. `Alongside blogging, workshops are one of the most important elements of my marketing strategy and I’d love to show you how you can apply this same strategy to your own business.

And after the day I won’t just be leaving you dangling. We’ll follow up the day with some very focused “homework” for you to do in the two weeks after the event and we’ll have a one-hour teleseminar (included in your course fee) where we’ll catch up, iron out any questions you might have and set you on your final path to be ready to launch your first workshop on 1st November.

What sorts of businesses do workshops and seminars work for?

They work for the vast majority of service based businesses. Having done a very quick brainstorm, here’s a list to get you thinking…

• Photographers, garden designers, interior designers, jewellery makers, artists and creatives: how to… {photograph your grandchildren/ design your own garden/ make your wedding earrings}

• Professional services: accountants, solicitors: how to… {file your tax return, write your own will etc}

• Marketing professionals: web designers, graphic designers, marketing consultants: how to… {write a marketing plan, optimise your website, design your own leaflets}

• Wedding planners, stylists, florists and caterers: how to… {plan your best friend’s wedding/ plan your dream wedding, make your own bouquet/ wedding cake/ favours etc}

• IT Consultants: how to fix 12 of the most common PC problems

• Recruitment consultants, career coaches, life coaches: how to… {get that dream job, take positive action to find that ideal career, develop your confidence}

To be honest, most businesses will benefit from running workshops, there genuinely were very few that I could think of that wouldn’t benefit

But why would I want to show my customers the tricks of the trade? Surely then I’ll do myself out of business?

Consider this for a moment. There is probably a large proportion of the market who loves what you do but simply can’t afford (or perceives they can’t afford/ doesn’t see the value in what you’re offering) to be a customer of yours. Workshops and seminars enable those people to invest in a “slice” of you – some will take the info and run (and hey, they’ve paid you for it so what does it matter?), others will realise quite what’s involved in what you do and think “you know what? I’ll get her to do it for me”. Either way, you’ll make a profit out of the workshop itself and generate some sales leads for the business: now that’s what I call profitable marketing!

So join me in 23rd September for a one day workshop to kick start your journey into offering profitable, and successful, workshops and seminars for your clients. To book simply click on this link which will take you to our secure booking system http://bit.ly/cvNcQp

What our clients say:

“By being out of the office and immersing my brain in the subject I came away with a stock of superb headlines and the absolute confidence that this weekend I can create a powerful sales letter. Money and time well spent.”

Stephen Hillier, Hillier Associates

“I can honestly say your workshop was one of the most worthwhile sessions I have attended in a long while.  A great refresher and thought provoking – I definitely want to come along to more of your workshops” Jacqui Newman, Spiced Up Marketing

Great! How do I book?

Your investment for the workshop bootcamp including pre-session homework, all refreshments on the day, a workbook to take away with you and a post-session teleseminar is £177 + VAT. Book before 9th September and you’ll save £30 which makes it just £147. You really should get all of this, and then some, back as a result of your first workshop so I really would see this as a solid investment. To secure your place (we only have 12 left today and I expect this workshop to sell out) simply book quickly and securely online You can also find out more on our website http://bit.ly/chrv1J

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in Low Cost Marketing, Marketing, Workshops

In the studio this week… a brand new website for wedding photographer Matt Tyler

August 26, 2010

Ooooooh I can hardly contain myself. For weeks I’ve been desperate to show you photographer Matt Tyler’s delicious new website and finally here it is! Good to go.
So what do you think? Scrumptious is a word I’d like to use to describe it myself… But being a democracy I’d like to hear your thoughts too…
Matt [...]

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In the studio this week… a website for Big Brother winner Nadia Almada #UBB

August 24, 2010

You might remember me showing you the logo designs we created for Big Brother winner, media darling and jewellery designer Nadia Almada here. Well Nadia is now safely ensconced in the Big Brother house and I’m delighted to be able to show off her new website.
It’s a bit of an emergency site. It was created [...]

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In the studio this week… Two brochure designs for lifestyle photographer Liezl Croft

August 24, 2010

I feel a bit nervous showing you my photographs of Liezl Croft’s promotional brochures. Not because I’m not proud of the brochures, but because there’s something very nerve-wracking about taking photographs of a photographer’s work. So please ignore the dodgy photos (mine, not hers) and hopefully you can see the beauty in what we’ve done [...]

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Should you run workshops for your customers?

August 20, 2010

I started running marketing workshops for my customers back in January 2007 and I haven’t looked back since. Each workshop has helped me to develop relationships with my customers, find new customers, demonstrate my expertise and most importantly, help my clients grow their businesses.
Some workshops have been easy to fill, others harder. And whilst no [...]

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In the studio this week… Three logo designs for Big Brother’s Nadia Almada

August 6, 2010

Big Brother winner and media darling Nadia Almada breezed into our studio several months ago, all high fashion and larger than life. She was setting up a fashion accessories business and needed someone to create her a logo and website: were we interested? Well we didn’t need asking twice! And so we started to put [...]

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In the studio this week… Mood board session for an upmarket bubble bath supplier

July 27, 2010

Sysco Guest Supply are a multi billion dollar business who supply amenities such as bubble bath and shampoo to hotel chains like the Marriot and Hilton worldwide. To say that they’re upmarket bubble bath suppliers probably doesn’t do them quite justice! They have an impressive portfolio of both clients and suppliers and are responsible for [...]

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In the studio this week… A Flyer, Newsletter and Blog Design for a Garden Designer

July 23, 2010

Lisa Cox is a garden designer based in Leatherhead. We’ve been working together for the past three months on her marketing strategy – focusing on getting Lisa plenty of profitable clients to help her achieve her financial goals. We started in May by defining Lisa’s brand strategy and understanding who her most profitable clients would [...]

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In the studio this week… 3 new logo designs for Cupcake and Bake – your vote needed!

July 20, 2010

Denise Allen has been a regular visitor to the flourishing blog ever since I met her at Grow Your Business in April of 2009 and we were delighted when a couple of weeks ago she asked us to create a new identity for her baking business. Denise currently trades her business as Cupcake and Cookie [...]

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