Blogs

To all successful businesses… As a business or even an industry it’s easy to think that you are successful at what you do, and that is enough for future growth. You’ve grounded your company in the best foundations, put the right infrastructure in place and created a robust and well-structured strategy that will sustain the future of your business. But have you missed something? In this article I want to talk about the power of

In this article I explain what SERPs are and how they help your business to get found by the people you want to talk to. Plus you’ll discover how to improve your  Google ranking and your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tactics. So let’s start with the meaning behind (yet another) acronym. SERPs stands for Search Engine Results Pages – quite simply it’s the options you see when you do a Google search. It’s Google’s way

Content marketing is no longer a ‘nice to have’ or an ‘option’ in any marketing plan This means the content you create for your business has to be well-thought out, executed and delivered to your desired audience in a format that works for them. Take your content to market and reap the rewards – increase intrigue in your business, improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) and increase those all important backlinks. This guide walks you

This article explores the differences between these three vital ‘business functions’ which, when seamlessly joined up form the powerhouse of any business. This article doesn’t dive deep into the details of what each function provides, more their impact on a business. It describes the journey by way of a conversation – because that’s what every business ultimately wants to have. Let’s start with the business development function. This is defined by the overarching business strategy

If you do one thing for your website in 2021 it should be CRO. Why? Because, it’s all about your visitors. Get to know what they do when they land on your site and you’ll be able to make some super quick wins to increase website conversion rate. The more you understand your visitors, users, and customers, the easier it becomes to give them what they need. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) involves looking at the

If you’ve ever been asked “what does your business actually do, and who for?” this is the blog for you The most common mistake I experience when I first ask this question is a big schpeel about ‘How’ they do it. This is a bad start mostly because any target audience isn’t concerned about ‘How’ you do this, or make that, they want to simply know one thing… What’s in it for me? What your

If your brand is 3 years old or more then the time is now! Everyone who invests in a brand identity will feel very attached to it – it becomes part of the family does it not? In fact you become so attached that you start to break out in a sweat when someone suggests it may be time to even contemplate an update. Or… you actually just think it’s not important to make change,

When it comes to the nations favourite heroes James Bond rising from the water in a pair of trunks surely has to be up there in the top 10 heroic visions at least, doesn’t he? The guy in the pic certainly thinks so (apologies to all Bond addicts hoping to see an actual pic of Bond – hope this will suffice for now). But whilst the iconic term ‘007’ is now part of our English

Hands up anyone who doesn’t prefer doing business over a friendly, frothy coffee? Nope, thought not – me too. With the kids back at school, now is the time to get social with business, and I’m not talking about facebook, but actually meaning ‘talking’. To be honest, there is a serious note here as I’m quite concerned that this might be something this generation is losing the art of, and heaven only knows how the

It’s that time of year again – exam results looming in 2 days time! With nerves currently being frayed in many households whilst awaiting exam results, it makes me think that running and marketing a business can often bring the same anxieties. You pour your heart and soul into doing all the ground work and preparation you can, entering each project with precision and calmness, then wait with baited breath to see if the results

There’s an awful lot of ‘jargon’ or ‘brand speak’ that is uttered by ‘branding’ people these days! Those who know what I’m talking about have probably approached a branding agency who’ve confused them with terminology such as ‘proposition statements’ and ‘differentiators’. Help is at hand, read on! As a brander, if your potential client has to ask you what things mean you’ve just wasted time explaining it. You need to keep it simple. If it

OK, this is a short ‘shout out’… Anyone who’s been in the creative industry for some time and who also entered it as a qualified creative professional will know I’m about to bring the dirty subject of those ‘sites’ that enable designers (and actually other professions too) to bid on projects. Well I can only assume it attracts those with less qualifications (or quite possibly less morals) and to be honest my research has proven

This rant goes out to anyone who’s been ‘Faginned’. I recently found myself being asked to do an ‘unpaid pitch’ for an existing client against 2 other companies. The expectations from the pitch were that I would happily supply ideas (in abundance), creative concepts (galore) plus a range of visuals to boot; all to be submitted free of charge. My client was confident that the project coming to me was ‘in the bag’. I thought

Ok, so after many requests I’m happy to explain why I chose waboom for my company name. Back in 2006 when I was thinking of a name for the business, I didn’t want anything that would categorise me too much, because I offer many varied solutions to many businesses it’s difficult to sum it up in one word. So where did I get waboom from? Originally I actually wanted a ‘sound’ rather than a name,

Anyone in business will probably have been in the situation where they’ve tried to DIY (Design It Yourself) a brand, a company brochure or marketing piece, and, after several attempts (stress-fully) come to the conclusion… “perhaps I should find a ‘creative’ to do it for me”. Usually, the next concern is who, what’s the cost, and how much of my time will it take up to liaise with these people? After all, if you don’t

For a lot of businesses the cost of marketing can be daunting. Especially if you’re just starting up something new, the pressure really is on to allocate a significant budget towards marketing or you simply won’t be found (and let’s not forget the design services you’ll need to get things produced). You might have the most wonderfully lucrative NEW ‘thing’ you’re sure will be a winner, but if no-one knows about it, you may as

Love it hate it – you can’t escape social media; there’s nowhere to hide… it will find you! Yes indeed there are many ways you can now be tracked down and targeted with information, bulletins or offers, but what effect does that have on your love (or hate) of this form of communication? Surely we should have a say in who gets in touch with us, and when. So has the world gone socially unstable?

Common mis-conception – Ok, so these days it’s easy to become a designer right? Loads of ‘easy to use’ programmes and ‘How To’ guides make it simple for anyone to put a brochure/newsletter/marketing piece together – how difficult can it be with so much help available? Technology has not only changed the way designs are accomplished, it’s changed the perception of ‘design’ from a hard earned skill to something you can learn in an afternoon

In the news recently was the story of Arthur, a stray dog who stumbled upon a team of Swedish extreme adventurers in the Amazon rainforest when he was at his most vulnerable – tired, weak and hungry. What hungry and homeless mutt wouldn’t accept a gift of food? But having tasted the Swedish delights he decided these adventurers were the ones that could give him what he needed long term and being savvy he took

    For a lot of businesses the cost of marketing can be quite a daunting prospect. Especially if you’re just starting up something new, the pressure really is on to allocate a significant budget towards marketing. You might have the most wonderfully lucrative NEW ‘thing’ you’re sure will be a winner, but if no-one knows about it, you may as well give up. So what are the options available? You could try a bit

Anyone who’s crossed paths with a ‘designer’ will tell you that it was a bit bumpy along the way – miscommunication, misunderstanding and sometimes even ‘missed-the-plot completely’ are all common issues. So why is this, and what effect does it have on the professionals in the industry – who actually do care? Well generally it’s because of these 3 things that a ‘designer’ won’t tell you: Something like – they used to be a decorator,

It’s true, we are surrounded by inspirational experiences, sometimes though the blinkers are on too tight. So how do you know you’ve found inspiration? Let’s take a look at the history of the creative industry to find out… Years ago, being a designer was considered a profession that was just for the creatively gifted; an elite talent with an ability to supply concept masterpieces. Now it seems anyone can pick up a mouse and turn