If you’ve landed on this blog the chances are the word FUNPRENEUR has piqued your interest and you’re looking to know more. Hoorah, you’re in good company!
We’ve been in business together for twelve years now. It’s been quite the adventure and, for the most part, a fun one. But something has always niggled us. We’ve never truly felt like we “fit” the mould of proper businessy business people. We’re never going to be the ones in suits sat around Lord Sugars board room talking about boring things like ROI.
We say “Down with the corporate BS and up with the fun.”
And the more we talk to people in our community the more we realise that under the surface something really is bubbling away. A new breed of business owner is emerging. One that cares a lot less about that BS that we’re spoon fed about how to be successful. They are much more about business success on their own terms.
The rise of the Funpreneur is coming. Because quite frankly, if you’re not having fun and enjoying it why the hell are you still doing it???
Funpreneurs don’t need to keep telling you that they are authentic because its a trending buzzword. Its just something they are. In a world inundated with cookie cutter brands and generic marketing campaigns, Funpreneurs stand out by forging genuine human connections with their audience and the communities that they sit in. They are more interested in the people behind the business than how pretty their Instagram grid is looking.
Similarly, Funpreneurs are not afraid to think outside of the box, to experiment with unconventional ideas and take the odd calculated risk. They recognise that the world isn’t black and white and that it’s in the grey [ or the yellow!] where the magic really can happen.
One of the defining traits of a Funpreneur is their ability to make work feel like play. They totally reject the notion that success has to come at the expense of happiness, opting to create a work environment for themselves that is vibrant, inclusive and well…fun!
We’ve slowly been cultivating the idea of Funpreneurship over the last few years with Yellow Tuxedo. From silly little touch points with our audience, our approach to teaching and events like our virtual coffee mornings we run each month which could well be the least networkingy network events you’ll ever attend!
When we started those coffee mornings we just wanted to create a space for people to come together, those who might be sitting alone working from their dining room table in their home, to know that they weren’t alone and that our virtual kettle was always on. Four years later we have people skipping their formal networking meetings that they were booked onto [ like naughty school kids] to come and hang out with us because quite frankly they are sick of the death by elevator pitch approach to networking.
Back in 2020 we created our community, The Digital Circus. And although it is a membership built to support business owners with their online visibility, one of its core pillars is the fact that it is a space for different business owners from all walks of life to celebrate and champion each other in creating businesses that mean something to them.
Now in 2024 one of the driving forces of The Digital Circus is the notion of fun, freedom and flexibility. And thats pretty much why we at Yellow Tuxedo will never call ourselves a marketing agency. Our responsibility is to help give you the tools and the mindset to grow your business the way you want to, not to tell you how you “should” talk, act and make your audience feel with your marketing campaigns.
Both through Yellow Tuxedo and The Digital Circus we are all about the importance of human connection throughout the adventure of entrepreneurship.
One important thing to note when we discuss Funpreneurship as a concept is that we recognise that the word “fun” is different for everyone. And that really is okay.
Not everyone associates fun with silliness and stupidity like Alan does ????. But it really is the feeling you get when you are doing something you love and it gives you satisfaction. So whether its the fact that you are giving yourself time with your loved ones, sitting quietly with a nice cup of tea at the temperature its meant to be consumed at or going bungee jumping on a Saturday morning that is totally your decision. Nobody can “fun” shame you for doing it wrong!
Surrounding yourself with other people who appreciate the idea of funpreneurship will help you achieve that work/life blend that we should all strive to achieve.
We’re only on this planet a short time. Make sure that time is spent wisely.
Human connection is something that Yellow Tuxedo will sing about until we’re on our death beds. We really do feel its the missing piece for so many business owners trying to carve out their space in the digital landscape.
Cultivating genuine relationships with your customers, your teams, your business community, can only lead to bigger and better things, including trust, brand loyalty, new ideas, collaborations and further happiness for all.
And one step even further, finding the time to play together will only strengthen these things even more.
One of the biggest factors in funpreneurship is the idea of play. And when we mean play we don’t mean play and fun just for the sake of it. It is scientifically proven that harnessing the power of joy and creativity that comes from allowing yourself to play can drive innovation, can foster collaborations and ultimately make more of a positive impact on the world.
You just have to look at Lego and their creation of Serious play to get an idea of why we all need to let our guards down and play more.
Over the coming months Yellow Tuxedo will be delivering a series of events that build upon the idea of play being an important factor in helping you to build out your creative vision for your business, to help you make an emotional connection with your audience, to expand your comfort zones and ultimately help you unlock your inner Funpreneur.
If you’re questioning whether you actually are a Funpreneur or not, let us ask you this. Are you a regular business owner who wants to just run your business on your terms and not be told what to do every 5 seconds?
Do you like the idea of surrounding yourself with other regular people who want to lift you up and help you realise how awesome you are?
Then Funpreneurship is for you. Life is too short to take it too seriously.
So, here's to the rise of the Funpreneur – may their spirit of adventure and passion for fun inspire us all to dream bigger, laugh louder, and never stop playing.
Not content with interviewing just one half of Yellow Tuxedo, the wonderful Trisha Lewis came back for more and recently had a great conversation for the Self Belief Unsquashed Podcast. In this interview discuss at length how you can feed your growth both personally and professionally. They also go on to discuss why one of the biggest factors of personal growth comes down to the team you surround yourself with and how Alan's background with the Scout Association has given him so many life skills that are applicable in the business world.
“It’s about fun, safety and adventure. And all of a sudden, you’re an adult with all of these skills that you don’t really remember learning then they just built into you.”
From a Top Gun Maverick mantra to Scouting stories to very real observations about community, fun, motivation – squashing and unsquashing – this is a rich listen.
Subscribe to her YouTube channel
Connect with Trisha on Linkedin
It is very rare that Emily and Alan go their separate ways when it comes to Yellow Tuxedo, but Trisha had a very clear plan when it came to getting us on our own! We're well known as a duo, we are a team, a pairing. But we are also two very different individual human beings. Trisha wanted to explore the idea of individual identity when you're part of a team. And what an incredible discussion that turned out to be!
When you start to think about it, across the breadth of what we do both personally and professionally we work within many teams big and small. To talk about them all in this one interview would have been impossible so we chose to discuss three very important groups.. The team of two that is Yellow Tuxedo, the team of many which comes in the form of The Digital Circus community which is filled to the brim with individuals, and the team of strangers that Emily led to Malawi last year to achieve great things.
A MASSIVE thank you to Trisha for inviting Emily on for this fascinating episode. Worry not, Alans episode will be coming very soon with his very own individual identity!
Subscribe to her YouTube channel
Connect with Trisha on Linkedin
The Digital Circus has been a small business membership since its humble beginnings in June 2020. Born out of a place where we wanted to help as many small businesses as we could who were finding themselves standing still due to Covid lockdown, we decided to create a space where we could offer some low level support and training to help up skill business owners in digital skills and online visibility.
Fast forward to now and 3.5years later we have now supported over 200 small business owners in our very own virtual big top and over that time The Digital Circus has evolved massively. Not only is it a space to learn and grow your business online but we are now a bustling, supportive, collaborative community of people helping each other to be the very best that we can be.
Since the very start we have always been an open door membership. We believed that if you are stuck and you need support that now is the time to take action. That being said, we've also recognised that now, with over 90hrs of learning sessions in our resources section in the membership, new members were coming in and feeling overwhelmed by all of the information at their fingertips.
We also identified that we have members within the Circus that have stayed with us since the very beginning and we have developed new sessions to help grow and stretch their capabilities. Having been with us from the start and having built and understood those foundation stones for their online visibility they have advanced. What we actually need to do is help to get our new starters to have a firm grasp of this too before moving them forward and more to their ever growing to do lists.
So with this in mind, in November 2023 we closed the doors to any new members and we have a had a really good think about how we can make our small business membership the best that it can be that serves both our current members growth and will support our new members in the most simple and effective way.
And that is where Foundations was born.
In January 2024 the doors to The Digital Circus will be reopened for one week only for new members to join. Upon joining new members will of course continue to access all of the features and benefits from the full Digital Circus business membership but upon entry will join the six month foundations programme to kickstart their online visibility.
For six full months you will receive a dedicated foundations group session and dedicated support from both Alan and Emily to help you lay the best possible foundations that will set you up for online growth.
We will be covering your digital eco-system and helping you to not only understand how all of your digital assets work together harmoniously, but the actions you need to take to get them working better for you.
Like everything within The Digital Circus we are not talking high level. We don’t just want to tell you what and why to do it, we want to give you the HOW too. There is enough confusing and conflicting information out there on the Internet, you can be rest assured that you will get clear actions and will come away feeling confident in how you can move your business forward.
The other clear benefit of this new approach to joining the Circus is that our cohort based approach will help build you a network of likeminded people who are all on a similar page to you. Add to this the fact that for six months you will have a core group of champions there to help support you as you grow and to collaborate with.
The Digital Circus Foundations is for small business owners who are tired of trying to get their business online without getting the results they want.
If you are a small business owner who is working on their online business visibility strategy in house we want to work with you to get it working better for you.
We are a virtual support blanket for entrepreneurs who want to remove the overwhelm of marketing their business and mastering the tech and would like a little bit of support to get things moving in the right direction.
Chances are that if you are reading this page you have probably tried multiple programmes, groups, courses and quick fixes to get yourself visible. And we’re going to put it out there that nothing has quite worked for you previously.
You cannot expect things to happen overnight with your online visibility and if you are trying to build a sustainable long term business you need to get those foundation stones right. What you build on top of that is completely up to you.
We want you to succeed and we want you to do the actions that you scribble down in your notebook. If we add too much to your todo list you’ll get overwhelmed and you won’t take action.
We also want the things we teach you over the course of these six months together to become muscle memory. We want them to fit in your daily/ weekly/ monthly workflow and that means habit building.
Not only that, this is a real opportunity to get to know your fellow Circus performers and to build some quality relationships as you all grow your business together.
Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day!
First and foremost, being a member of The Digital Circus you will learn how to make your online visibility work for you. We’re big about business on your terms but we also recognise that to grow your business you need to underpin it with black and white technical skills.
We will teach you how to remove the overwhelm and to understand which actions you take to grow you business online should be prioritised over other whilst growing your online ecosystem.
We will show you how to use macro content to ensure that you are front and centre when your customers are ready to find you.
We will also show you the in’s and outs of how you can use social media the right way to effectively build and leverage your audience using the four c’s of community, conversation, connection and content.
When you join The Digital Circus foundations in January 2024 you will benefit from a LIVE 90min monthly group call with us working through a specific foundation stone for your business. Each month you will come away with clear actions to implement in your business and we will be setting monthly accountability tasks to make sure you are staying on track.
On top of your foundations session you will also have full access to all of the other live sessions available to all members throughout the month. This includes a start of the month planning and accountability cal, Q&A sessions, co-working sessions and a dedicated learning session designed to stretch you with your online visibility goals.
You are welcome to join in on as many calls as you want throughout the month but we really do suggest that you commit to joining the foundations call live if you can so that you are able to ask real time questions and benefit from the consistency of taking small actions.
As well as our LIVE calls all members have full access to our training library and can also opt in to our monthly member matchups if you enjoy networking.
Our community space is hosted on Heartbeat which means you can benefit from accessing your full membership suite both from your desktop or via the mobile app.
The Digital Circus is £39 per month or £395 per year. There is no additional cost to be a part of the six month foundations programme but we do recommend that you stick with the programme for at least six months to start seeing the benefit.
The doors to The Digital Circus membership will be opening for one week only in January. With this in mind we are asking for anyone who is currently interested in joining us in the January cohort to add themselves to our Waitlist. When more information is due to be sent out the people on this list will be the first to know and will be first in line to sign up when doors open.
In a world where we are constantly bombarded with limiting beliefs and societal norms, it can be challenging to find our true purpose and achieve our goals. However, by embracing both our logical and intuitive minds, we have the power to create an extraordinary future for ourselves and others. In this weeks episode of Digital Circus LIFE we chat to Heike Schimanski, mindset for business coach about how she is overcoming limiting beliefs in order to help others.
Or LISTEN to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform via www.digitalcircus.life today!
We asked about Heike about her current goals and she revealed her desire to create the best possible future for herself and others. She believes that when everything falls into place, she can support others, contribute to good causes, and make a positive impact on those around her.
Heike has a clear love for helping others and seeing them thrive. She explains that she has always had a natural inclination to support and uplift those around her. However, she also acknowledges the importance of finding a balance between helping others and self care.
Within this episode Heike shares her journey of self-discovery and overcoming limiting beliefs that held her back from pursuing her true purpose. She highlights the toxic and abusive upbringing that led her to deny her true potential for a long time. However, she eventually listened to the call of the universe and submitted to her purpose, leading her to find fulfillment in coaching and branding.
We particularly love the section where Heike talks about the constant dance between her logical, strategic mind and her intuitive soul. While she possesses a unique ability to connect the dots and see the bigger picture, she also experiences skepticism and the need for scientific proof. She finds that these opposing forces can coexist harmoniously when she is in a good place mentally and emotionally.
Heike reveals her deep connection to Scotland and the strong desire to make it her home. She recalls the moment she first stepped foot on Scottish ground and felt an instant sense of belonging. This led her to make the courageous decision to leave her previous life behind and move to Scotland, where she has found true happiness and fulfillment.
Heike’s ability to combine her logical mind with her intuitive soul has proven to be a powerful tool in her coaching and mentoring work. By utilising both science-based techniques and intuitive guidance, she helps her clients see the broader picture, implement changes, and achieve their goals.
By embracing both logic and intuition, we have the power to overcome limiting beliefs, pursue our true purpose, and make a positive impact on the world. The journey may be challenging at times, but the rewards of helping others, finding fulfillment, and creating a better future are truly worth it.
Find out more about Heike…
Visit Heike’s website- https://www.heikeschimanski.com/
Listen to her podcast Kardamom and Chili
Stop the press. Yes you heard right. As we sit here right now we're not going to be hosting The Digital Circus LIVE 2024. Drop the mic.
And rather than write a long and lengthy blog post telling you all of the reasons why we're not doing it, we thought that we would record a short video to explain.
For some of you this might come as a surprise. For some of you this might be a sad piece of information. For others of you reading you may not have even attended a Digital Circus LIVE event before [And you really should have as its an ACE event!!] but its the sensible decision at this moment in time.
HOWEVER...the virtual small business event of the year WILL be back. We absolutely promise you that. And when it does it will be even bigger and better than ever before. So make sure, if you haven't already, you sign up to the Yellow Tuxedo Times newsletter to be one of the first to know when it comes back. And of course in the meantime if you're not yet a member of The Digital Circus community you would be more than welcome to join us. It's got all of the fun and shenanigans of the virtual Big Top but with even more learning, collaborating and networking opportunities.
So for now, sit back and watch the video and as always if you have any questions or would like to leave a comment we would be happy to answer them!
We are absolutely over the moon to announce that Yellow Tuxedo gin is finally available to purchase on the shop page on our website.
And this makes Emily one happy girl.
To say that she is a gin fan is an understatement. Its been her drink of choice for nearly twenty years. She has done A LOT of taste testing over the years and ultimately appreciates a lovely crisp, dry gin. None of those overly sweet fruity, sugary things that are on the market but a clean, refreshing dry gin with beautifully subtle tasting notes.
So when the opportunity arose for us to create our very own bespoke gin with the help of our wonderful friend Kate at Wessex Spirits it was an absolute no brainer. We were able to work with Kate to create an absolutely fabulous dry gin that really represented Yellow Tuxedo…a gin infused with wild lemon and a hint of exotic peppercorn. Perfect for a sunny summers day in the garden!
Initially we created a really small test batch to give as corporate gifts at Christmas time for some of our wonderful friends of Yellow Tuxedo. We did not expect the outpouring of likes, comments and direct messages that ensued after some of those images were shared asking how on earth people could get their hands on their very own bottle of Yellow Tuxedo gin.
So we listened and we decided to commit to getting it out there for public consumption.
We now have a small, exclusive first batch available on pre-order for a lucky few so if you would like to get your hands on a bottle then be sure to be quick before Emily snaps them all up for herself!
If you do choose to buy a bottle from us then firstly THANK YOU. We think you are truly fabulous. But secondly...Please do send in your photos of you enjoying your Yellow Tuxedo gin. We would love for you to share them with us!
Bottoms up!
Purchase your exclusive bottle of Yellow Tuxedo gin here for £32.50.
Wild Apple Design started with a vision of creating great designs, which inspire, engage and educate the next generation. 20 years on and we are still going strong. We love to help others and share our knowledge so have put together some tips and snippets that we have found useful over the years.
We feel our resilience to changes in market dynamics, and the way the publishing industry operates is down to so many factors. We believe that business success is not always about the company’s bottom line, it should be measured by customer satisfaction, service/product quality and a strong reputation. There are so many variables involved in the success or failure of a business, both internal and external, however, intuition and listening to your gut will often get you through. We have learnt that if you put the work in you will get rewarded.
There have been many lesson learnt from our 20 years in business. Keep reading for a few tips which we feel have kept us going:
Our journey brings together invaluable experience, sometimes hard-fought lessons, and we are always looking at what’s next around the corner, to do this, you cannot run a business in a bubble and you need support in all areas to move forward and grow.
Over the years we have had support in different ways, through staff, trusted suppliers, network groups, mentors and more recently with Yellow Tuxedo. As a small team, you need those external influences for a rounded opinion and as a sounding board. There are always going to be tricky decisions to make, and it’s then you need people around you, as you do in a family, to get information and clarity.
Our experience over the last year with Yellow Tuxedo has been one of support and genuine interest in what we do. This is a rare thing - Alan and Emily are always engaging, knowledgeable and approachable.
Our advice is to find your tribe and develop your support network so it’s in place when need it.
Having a strong vision is super important and something that the whole essence of the business hangs on. A strong vision can act as a guide and reminder in times of challenge helping to focus, direct growth and develop.
Being passionate about your business and instilling this into your team can be a force to be reckoned with, a united workforce sharing a vision is a powerful tool. For example, all the team here at Wild Apple share the company’s vision and are passionate about producing designs which will be used to help educate and make someone’s life better.
The ability to be flexible and adapt is fundamental. Flexibility in the workplace means being able to quickly adjust to new circumstances as they arise, both internally and externally. Markets change all the time! You need to find a way to stay relevant and helpful, occasionally thinking outside of the box and revising your service provision to best support your clients. We have found that allowing employees flexibility, encourages; autonomy, freedom and balance, often resulting in an increase in performance, productivity and loyalty.
If you can’t dominate the market in which you operate, then find your niche and be the best that you can be, offering quality solutions. Stay true to yourself as a company and your vision, add value to key services and differentiate yourself from the competition. If you’re going to offer the same as other companies, do it better, if not, then do it differently.
Consistency is key to success in business. Make sure that the products and/ or services you offer are of consistent quality and try to exceed your customer’s expectations, this way, your clients will trust you. Once you have established trust your customers are more likely to remain loyal.
Customer service and an experience that meets and exceeds expectations are essential to success, without your client base you don’t have a business. We pride ourselves on being friendly and hospitable, with open channels of communication to ensure our clients feel they can approach us, as and when needed. Open communication channels like this often mean issues can be dealt with efficiently and effectively, saving both time and money on both sides.
Make sure you know your limits, and be mindful of what you can and can’t offer as a company - don’t offer a client what you can’t deliver. This doesn’t have to mean missing out on an opportunity and could lead to furthering your service offering.
Here at Wild Apple our service offering is quite niche and a lot of new work is from repeat business or word-of-mouth recommendations. But we keep a strong online presence whether we are busy or not - as it is this consistency that we find builds trust.
We post on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, we would love you to follow what we do! We also have a quarterly newsletter where subscribers can learn what’s happening in the studio, find out what projects we have been working on and learn a bit more about us.
You can also find out more about Wild Apple Design here.
We hope you enjoyed reading our musings above and if any of it struck a chord, then please do get in touch. Likewise, if you have other tips to add we would love to hear them.
Hi, I’m Laura, a creative brand designer and I am excited to talk to you about branding touch points.
Now hold on, I know what you are thinking “Branding touch point? Yawn!” But don’t scroll off yet, let me tell you a story.
I used to hate looking at my emails. I mean, how many boring promotional emails flood your inbox daily? But then one day that all changed. I was scrolling through my inbox deleting another bunch of dull emails with uninteresting titles, but one email caught my attention.
It wasn’t your typical sales pitch but a funny, quirky and downright entertaining email and you know what, I read the whole email to the end. As I kept reading, I realised that this business had turned their email into a super strong “brand touchpoint” But what the heck is a brand touchpoint and why should I care I hear you ask?
“Your brand is the sum total of how someone perceives your organization. Branding is about shaping the perception.” - Ashley Friedlein, Founder of Econsultancy.
A brand touchpoint is any contact your client/customer has with you or your business that helps shape that perception.
Every single interaction you have is a touchpoint and it is moulding how your customer feels, thinks and more importantly if they will become a fan of your business and spread the word to attract more clients.
Are you creating a winning customer experience?
If someone asks for x (insert your zone of genius here) do they instantly think of you and your business? No? Maybe? Then you might need to spend some time elevating your brand touchpoint.
Now, back to the email that caught my attention. The brand had used humour, OK, sarcasm, they knew their target market and sarcasm is my love language! They added their personality, which not only made me laugh but made me remember them and made me want to find out more and it had a great call to action that I clicked on.
I know, that’s great for them but what about my business Laura? A good brand touchpoint will evoke a feeling or move your client along your purchase path. But how do we do that, I hear you ask.
For starters, it’s important to look at every touchpoint you have and use them to your advantage. But that’s a massive task and you don’t have time for it! Don’t worry I have a simple process for you. Building a strong brand is like stepping stones. Take it one step at a time and you will cross the river.
Let’s start with mapping out your customer journey (see map) I usually like to do this on a large piece of paper and Post-it notes, or you can print off this blank version as a PDF and add your own notes if you prefer.
1. What was the reason for the interaction?
2. How did you want the client to feel? How did they feel?
3. Was it on brand?
4. Do you have any sticking points in your customer journey?
5. How can you level up the touchpoint? Add more value?
6. How can you move the client closer to making the purchase?
Let me tell you about the best £50 a branding client of mine spent on her business and yes you’ve guessed it was a brand touchpoint but not one you would expect.
A car sign, yep that’s it. This simple “Wedding cake on board” sign she uses, it covers the whole of her car’s back window and was created to help her when driving slowly delivering her wedding cakes. It stopped her from being honked at and being cut up when delivering her stunning cakes. This was a touchpoint she didn’t realise until she started tracking how her customers found her.
“Oh, I saw your car sign outside a venue”, “Oh I was sitting in traffic and saw your sign”. Yep, a simple removable sign with her website and Instagram name has helped reach a local network of people. She has now invested in a better on-brand version.
Another brand touchpoint we created for a client was for a local milk dairy, we created a range of business cards that his team can handout with different cow jokes on them. These not only bring a smile to your face, even if they are cheesy, and make the kids laugh but they are memorable. Now he runs a competition for new cow jokes on his social media.
Now, don’t panic. Your touchpoints don’t have to be funny to be memorable. In a world where getting a human to respond to an email is a novelty simply keep track of your customer interests and add them to your emails. This is a perfect touchpoint and also one the larger companies can not do!
Are you looking for a list of branding touchpoints to build on in PDF format? No, I haven’t got that, I have a better list!
A tried and tested list that you can do in 5min, 10min or 30 min that will improve your business touch points and client journey. It will also help to build on the know, like and trust values and help your customers have an excellent time with you. Here are some examples of 5min touchpoints you can do.
Answer phone messages - You don’t have to have the simple “leave a message” Boring!
How about adding a call to action? Or adding some personality to the message?
“Sadly I am unable to take your call right now because I’m out saving the world one design at a time. But don’t fret! Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you faster than you can say ‘Comic sans’. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, check out my website with frequently asked questions at LauraAnnedesign.com. If this is a Pantone emergency, drop me an email at [email protected].
Now that sounds so much better and your client has a call to action to follow.
Automatic response - Along similar lines as your answer phone message what about your automatic response to a DM on socials- often gets overlooked and boring. These messages can turn a client off. Add in some fun details about you/your business or a link to a brochure/FAQ page that might answer the question they were about to ask.
Email titles - Don’t be lazy and send generic email titles, use your imagination or chat GPT to come up with some creative email titles that get your clients opening every email you send. While we talk about titles do this for any documents/ attachments you send too.
Email Signature - The email signature is a gold mine and should reinforce your brand identity, why not add a link to a free handout? Bringing your client one step closer to purchasing from you.
Replying to customer reviews - Take a few minutes to respond to a recent review on Google. Make it personal to them so future clients see how much you care and talk about the problem you solved for them.
Pre-meeting information email - Have a meeting booked? Send out a welcome meeting email the day before (I have just started doing this) but keep it personal to you. Mine talks a little about my career (building trust, I know what I am doing) my mom’s proudest moment, my dog Eddie ( Getting them to like me, who doesn’t like a proud mom or dog story) and a section on my dream to be a digital nomad (getting to know me). This humanises me to my client, gives us a common ground and something to talk to in that awkward 5mins and builds the know, like and trust factor.
Just finished a meeting? - Then be the first to send an email within half an hour! A book recommendation, a hot tip, or a link to an interesting blog you have written (have these already saved in your drafts) This keeps you top in your client’s mind. Snail mail is great for this too, a postcard with a quick note on goes a long way.
Pre-meeting gift - Is your client likely to write notes via the meeting? How about a branded notepad and pencil? Every time they pick it up guess whose business they will be thinking of? Simple touchpoints that work.
The business card is not dead - Some people will have you believe the business card is no longer needed. Well, I am here to tell you it can be a handy tool. Are you sending a parcel? Drop in your business card. Off networking? Meet someone on the school run? (This happened to me) you need a business card to hand. Find yourself walking into a face-to-face meeting and forgetting your business cards. Do not panic! A quick Canva tip you can make interactive business cards with a QR code, that your client can scan leading them straight to your website about your page.
Looking for more touchpoint ideas then download this simple guide here.
Finally, brand touchpoints are crucial to building a strong and memorable sticky brand and can have a big impact on your business. Each interaction you have with your customer, whether it is an email, social media message or invoice builds a strong brand and keeps them engaged with your company. By using the map and seeing your customer journey you can add more value and create a memorable brand experience that your customers will remember and recommend.
If you would like to find out more about me and how I can help you to work on your business brand and touchpoints please do visit my website www.lauraannedesign.com
Laura Anne Design - Strategy-led brand design studio
Email:[email protected]
When it comes to promoting your events we know lots of you use platforms like Eventbrite. And we are always curious to know why that is when for so many of you, you already own the tech to do it yourself! Yes, we know Eventbrite can bring you new people to your event, but does it really? And, we're big on keeping things simple and only sharing out links to your website. With that in mind we were keen to show you a practical walkthrough of this Eventbrite alternative.
We talk a lot out on the socials and with The Digital Circus community about simplifying. And simplifying means trying to use as fewer third party platforms as possible to make your life easier. Think about how many apps/ third party websites you currently use. a] it becomes quite costly if you want to use the paid features and b] by sending people into every different direction across the internet you're not actually building the cleanest and most straightforward of online ecosystems.
We often talk about growing your online presence by hosting your own webinars, or networking events like our Coffee Mornings to bring people into your ecosystem. So what if we told you that you could do this by using just your website and your email marketing provider? Two things you are likely to already have in your arsenal.
So, in this short demonstration video below Alan does a real time walk through of how we set up and "sell" spaces for our free Fabulous Yellow Tuxedo Coffee Mornings using just our WordPress website and Mailerlite.
The principle is sound regardless of where you've built your website [ WordPress, WIX, Squaresepace etc] and with whatever email marketing platform you use [ Mailerlite, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign] but if you're unsure of how to set this up yourself remember that we are able to offer one off Discoverer power hour sessions to help get you set up.
We do hope you enjoy this video and as always if you have any questions or would like to talk things through be sure to drop us a message and say hello!