Product – Anything related to the design of the product

Place – The location that you operate your business in and the area that you target customers

Price – Pricing strategies and policies relating to your business

Promotion – This is the area of marketing that our business relates to and the
area in which we can help you grow your business.

Promotion relates to how you present your business to the outside world in terms of your logo, all leaflets and business cards and
your website amongst many other aspects. This is the part of your Marketing strategy that we can help you with and in our opinion it is crucial that this element presents your business in a professional way.

Many small businesses cannot afford to employ the services of professional and experienced design companies as their charges can
be very high. We have set-up our business in order to ensure that  you don’t have to scrimp or cut corners by charging reasonable and affordable amounts for this work. The rate of £20 per hour that we charge (as against the £40 – £100 industry average) means that you don’t have to stretch your marketing budget in order to generate much needed sales in what has become an even more competitive market during these
recessionary times. UK companies tend to cut back on marketing during tough times whereas our American cousins generally invest more as customers look for bargains and due to decreased demand the marketplace becomes ever more competitive. It is only those businesses that wave a metaphorical flag in the air that survive and we can transform the way your existing and potential customers view you with the main aim obviously being to increase sales.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very prosperous 2012 and hope that we can help you in your efforts in the
near future.

To See the BBC Episode click here

There is an intrinsic self-belief and motivation to prove themselves constantly and also a need for independence and in some cases to remove the ghosts of a failed education. Last nights’ episode focussed on Richard Reed – Co-founder of Innocent, the smoothie company with a £165 million turnover and Michelle Mone, the self-made inspiration behind the multimillion pound Ultimo lingerie business. Both are very contrasting characters but have this inner drive and motivation that transcends purely financial success. Yes, they are worth millions of pounds but it became very clear that their motives stem from much more than that, It’s a need to be successful, a belief in their brand, a belief in their staff and in Innocents’ case a desire to give 10% of their profit to the third world. I genuinely believe that for these people the money is a by-product and an added benefit rather than the core reason they set-up on their own.

The Innocent headquarters is so unconventional and is like a nursery for adults for the want of a better phrase with an artificial grass area where they cook barbeques during their lunchtimes. They are actively encouraged to come into work wearing whatever clothing they want and one of the creative staff members was interviewed wearing yellow plimsolls and shorts. The whole atmosphere of the place is very relaxed and laid back but Richards’ belief is that he gets more from his staff by having an ethos that accommodates his staff. I am inclined to agree with him having worked at similar relaxed organisations where staff are made to feel that anything is possible and lead by such an entrepreneur who started the business and is approachable to everybody at all times rather than a fully suited MD who has his/her door shut all day. There is an atmosphere of honesty and a feeling that everybody’s opinions are valued as everybody including Richard himself are situated in an open plan area where his desk is identical to everybody elses. In fact the only difference with his desk is that there is a swing chair hanging from the ceiling where his guests can happily sit and swing while they discuss business. Richard went to Cambridge University so clearly had an excellent education but comes himself from the far more humble backdrop of Huddersfield in Yorkshire and only made it to University through the determination of his parents who he admits had to work incredibly hard to give him the opportunity to do so.

To Visit the ‘Innocent’ Website click here - Even the website communicates the ethos of the business in the way it has been designed

Michelle Mone on the other hand is a more openly brash business lady who has a whole wall dedicated to her appearances in the press snapped with all manner of famous people. She quickly realised that being in the fashion business requires a massive marketing budget usually of £2m and that her £500 would not go very far so she actively sought to get free publicity mainly by replacing Rod Stewarts’ new wife with his ex in a brilliant PR move that grabbed the headlines for the company. Ms Mone certainly appeared to be a very shrewd operator where everything is painstakingly put in its’ place in an almost OCD type of way. On further questioning however she revealed the affect the death of her father had upon her when she was only 8 and the fact that she mildly bullied in school for always wearing the correct uniform. She comes from a hard working-class background in Glasgows’ East End and had children working for her delivering papers at the tender age of just 10 years old.

Click here to visit her website

There are also examples of such entrepreneurial spirit in Mid Wales, the iconic Laura Ashley brand was started in the small village of Carno by Laura and Bernard. KTK as was which later became the global company Control Techniques was established in 1973 by Trevor Wheatley, Kevin Curran and Ken Briggs to provide variable speed drives. Just over the border in Oswestry, Total Network Solutions (TNS) was started by the mercurial Mike Harris a former BT engineer who spotted an opportunity to provide all the kit for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and became a gold reseller for Cisco Systems eventually selling the company for £14m to his former employers. Harris would often turn up for work in flip-flops and shorts and throw stress balls across the open plan office at his staff!.

While we cannot pretend to be even close to such predecessors, the Design Store has been established to provide high quality design to anybody who maybe can’t afford the sometimes extortionate rates charged by the established design agencies. Examples such as £3,000 for a logo, £2,000 for a website are all horror stories to us in addition to a rate typically of £50 per hour. The adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ simply does not apply in this circumstance at all and is more to do with the ‘accepted’ rate of the design industry to the uninformed client. Our aim is to banish these accepted over-priced norms and offer clients an alternative without compromising quality. Due to this tradition, small businesses have in some cases been forced to buy template websites for £299 and enlist the services of an amateur volunteer. For a small amount more we can design a bespoke website that specifically meets your needs and will not publish it to the world until you are 100% happy. So many businesses want lovely customer areas and employ professional builders etc and then present a website and promotional literature to the outside world that frankly can look awful in some cases. We don’t have plush offices, we rely on lovely websites to show the quality of our work – after all, we are designers not architects. We do not create a veneer of mystique and there is absolutely no ‘bull’, ‘jargon’ or ‘geek’ spoken by us, it will be plain and clear what you will get for your money at an acceptable rate. The whole basis of our business is to ensure that every business can afford good quality design and ultimately boost sales not be excluded by an industry particularly during recession that is saturated and sometimes greedy….

Until next time…..

The whole process starts with a ‘brief’ where the client will outline the basics of their business; the sector they operate in and the objectives that they have for their site. We will then ask them to pick 4 websites that they like whether they are those in their sector or not and an idea of the kinds of colours they want to incorporate into their site. We will then consult with the client to establish what domain name (website address) they would like. The best long term domain names for their business are ones that incorporate :-

• The business name
• The business location
• The industry sector they are in

For example DESIGNstoreWALES.co.uk incorporates both our service and our location in addition to the business name. The benefit of this strategy is that it benefits the business once the website is live in that it then automatically helps google direct potential customers to you. If someone types into google ‘design business in Wales’ then there are 2 elements of our website address that features in this search. There are many many elements to Search Engine Optimisation (maximising the visits to your website) but this is one of the most basic and easy ways to do this without any additional effort at all.

Once a domain name has been decided upon we can then see if it is available for you and get it registered so that you own it for the next 2 years. We will then transfer it to our server for hosting which is what has to happen to all websites. Website hosting is vital for you to make your site live and visible to the world and our service offers the following features:-

• Comprehensive Stats on who is visiting
• Comprehensive stats on what search keywords they are using in google to find your site
• The times of the day they are visiting your site
• The length of time they spend on your site
• The pages they are viewing

This list is just a small selection of the statistics we can provide you with once we are hosting your website. We can also provide up to 10 email addresses for you to use. So for example john.smith@jonesbuilders.co.uk and maybe sara.smith@jonesbuilders.co.uk can easily be configured as part of your hosting package with us.

Once we have established these elements we will then put up a holding page on your site ‘New Website coming soon’ which ensures that google has a headstart on recognising your sites’ existence while we are developing and designing it. The reality is that it can take several weeks for a brand new site to appear on googles’ ‘radar’.

We will then take all the elements that you have provided and set about designing you a site that encompasses everything that you want and above all one that looks good, professional and attractive to potential and existing customers. Good quality photographs are vital to making a website look beautiful and the old adage really does hold true that ‘you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’. Some people employ the services of a professional photographer but with the quality of digital cameras available today most people can take great shots and we can easily brighten them up or correct any minor blemishes. We will email you a proof for you to approve or criticise as you want and highlight any changes you want made. This process can take several attempts but we will not be happy until you are 100% satisfied with your proposed website. Once you are, we will then make it ‘live’ on the domain name you have registered.

It is not enough to have a website, you then need to promote it and the address should be put prominently on all of the following:-

• Business Cards
• Letterheads
• Newspaper Advertisements
• Menus
• Fliers
• Leaflets
• In fact any marketing material relating to your business.

All of the sites we design are thoroughly Search Engine Optimised to give them the best chance of appearing on Google searches but you will need to promote your website offline as much as possible to increase the number of visits which in turn will naturally promote it in the eyes of google.

Until the next time……

The exploits on this weeks’ Strictly focussed mainly on whether Nancy Dell’olio was ever going to be put down by her professional partner Anton Du Beke (christened as Anthony Paul Beke in a Mrs Bucket styley) who seemed to spend most of the performance being dragged, pulled and pushed. Anton is the expert at this kind of ‘cover-up the inadequacies of your partner’ technique having spent most of last season dragging Ex-Tory MP Ann Widdecombe around on her backside in a new dance move called ‘The Floor-cleaner’ (or did I just make that up!. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00lb9cn

On a more serious note, the new series from Fashion mogul Mary Portas is fascinating and definitely one for the SKY+ series link. It’s a very brave move for a lady who has made her television career on troubleshooting other businesses without actually having a staked interest in them in the mould of Sir John Harvey-Jones who became the staple diet of our Business lectures at University. With this project she is resting her reputation on getting things right and to never appear on TV again if she is wrong. To balance this however, she does have a wealthy backer and once the series is live, millions of viewers to help with ‘free’ advertising but it’s still a bold move. Her inciteful knowledge of fashion and marketing is great viewing and I admire above all her bullish no-nonsense approach in the face of the slightly ‘set-in-their ways’ executives of the department store ‘House of Fraser’. Her tenacity and determination is fantastic and it isn’t just a case of her just flexing her muscles but delivers results with turnover hitting well over the targets set for her. Her Modus operandi is to target the Over 40s who have the most disposable income and the least choice on the high street. Portas believes that every clothes retailer is trying to dress all women like teenagers and forgets those of more mature years or simply palms them off with a mini-skirt or some similarly unsuitable item. This is a classic marketing lesson in listening to your customers’ needs and satisfying them rather than funnelling them into what YOU THINK they should buy. There are massive opportunities in providing specialist products to niche markets rather than competing on price with everyone else. Business theory very much rejects this competition purely on the basis of price as long term there will be no winner in a like-for-like contest with margins shrunk to a position where neither company can survive. More power to Portas’ elbow in providing real customer service which we can all agree is greatly lacking in the faceless stores up and down the UK.

Until the next time….

Wales have without doubt been the most exciting team of the tournament and it is a big loss to the game of rugby that a French side full of what their own coach described as ‘spoilt brats’ should get to the World Cup final. Such is the rollercoaster of sport but what cannot be denied is the wealth of young World Class players that Wales now possess in the Under 25 year olds of Jamie Roberts, George North, Leigh Halfpenny and Captain marvel himself Sam Warburton a mere slip at just 23. The real genius of it all has been one of man-management from Coach Warren Gatland who spotted the potential of these youngsters and threw them into the
team. What has been discovered are some gems that will serve Wales and the British & Irish Lions for many years to come. Some incredible lessons can be learned from Gatlands’ management and nurturing style for us all in business in the way he has developed these players into not only World Class rugby players but also great ambassadors for Wales off the pitch and whose behaviour and dignity have been exemplary particularly after the injustice dished out last saturday.

Another incredible performance was that of the Beaumaris brass band who finished 4th in the UK National Championships at the Albert Hall in London against the creme de la Creme of established British Brass Bands. Congratulations to them and their Musical Director Gwyn Evans who has been the undeniable inspiration behind the bands’ rise from the 4th section up to the highest echelons of Brass Bands.A monumental effort from a band based in the small seaside village on the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales.

Until next time…..

Cannot finish this blog without mentioning the genius of Steve Jobs who passed away last week at the young age of 56 after a long battle with cancer. Apparently he left behind many ideas that would contribute to Apple for the next 4 years. As someone so brilliantly put it ‘Isad’.

After the fantastic sporting achievements last weekend of my beloved Swansea City (2-0 against Stoke) and the Wales Rugby team (66-0 drubbing of Fiji) I decided to try something more cultural and intrinsic to our  existence by watching Stephen Frys’s new series on BBC 2 on Sunday night called ‘Fry’s Planet Word’. Episode 2 focussed on the dying languages of the world of which there are several thousand and how the French try to resist the globalisation of language with words such as the internet and email by appointing a delegation of academics to come up with words that should become the French equivalent. This delegation meet on a regular basis and are the equivalent I guess of the modern day ‘French resistance’! Having watched episode 2 I decided to fire up the fantastic BBC Iplayer online to see the first episode in the series (after all, it doesnt really matter as it isnt a soap). A fascinating insight into the use and emotion of language that has a bearing upon all marketing activity that we use to sell our products and services. For example, the prominence of Call centres based in the north east of England due to the lyrical, calming and friendly accent of the jordies is deemed by companies to be very effective in the role of customer service. Interestingly the psychology plays out further when customers are unhappy and irate as they are then transferred to a middle-class/posh English accented person as this is deemed to be the best way to calm these people down. The reality is is that these people say exactly the same as their ‘jordy’ counterparts but because it is communicated in a different accent, it acts as a tranquiliser to these angered callers.

As a company, we have completed a programme for Newtown Musical Theatre Company’s ‘Be Our Guest’ performance at Theatr Hafren, Newtown next week and also some more Welsh language greetings cards for Pob Shop in addition to an eccomerce enabled website – www.pobshop.co.uk

We have also just completed the design of the promotional material for the next production of the Newtown Musical Theatre Company who will be performing a selection of Disney songs at Theatr Hafren in Newtown in october. This work follows on from our involvement with their last production ‘The Wizard of Oz’ when we completed the design of all their posters and a 24 page souvenir programme.

Our largest recent project has been for the UK renowned Mid Wales Opera who needed a design for their forthcoming tour of Madam Butterfly. We chose to propose a glorious orange look for their imagery which they adopted. We have not only designed a selection of posters both for their UK tour but also various magazine advertisements and a pop-up banner!

On the website front, we have recently completed a very rewarding project for the very well regarded artist and former Laura Ashley designer Brian Jones who wanted an online portal to showcase his brilliant work – www.brianjonesartist.co.uk was the result. We are also in the final stages of a website for www.colchestergardenhouse.co.uk

Exciting times and we will update you further very soon.