Despite lockdown, a collective of creative members from Works Social, the coworking space in Nottingham’s Lace Market, have been able to work together to carry out a messaging, web design and branding project to give Cube Construction Consultants a brand boost and secure its future success.

Cube moved into Works Social earlier this year and has enjoyed the benefits of having 24/7 access to the space and its virtual community during lockdown, when it wasn’t always possible to work from home.

Nicola Slater, Director at Cube Construction Consultants, said: “We specialise in strategic business development for organisations within the construction industry, but when it came to marketing our own business, we were finding it difficult to get across our messages and show consistency across our brand.

“It’s been great to be able to bounce ideas off other members and have a community we can call on, when much of the ‘business as usual’ we are used to is anything but. Having a collective of different freelance skills from web design, branding, development and copywriting has really helped us get the results we wanted.”

Virtual member, Matthew King Creative redesigned the website and brand guidelines. Friend to and ambassador of Works Social, Pixelshrink, carried out the technical development and digital designer and co-founder of Works Social, Han van Oudheusden from picturethis.studio delivered iconography and social media assets.

Han said: “This kind of project is exactly the ethos behind Works Social. Bringing different skills, ideas and values together to support each other, promote our different specialisms and forge strong business connections. It’s been a great project to work on and fantastic that our members have been able to access this community throughout this difficult period.”

Specialising in PR, strategic marketing and copywriting, Rachael van Oudheusden from Big Old House, led the project, saying: “It’s been great to be able to help shape the ideas and thinking of Cube. Nicola and Mark have some brilliant ideas, loads of experience and ambitious plans. They just needed a little steer to hone their messaging, develop their website and brand, plus put plans in place for future marketing activity. From the creative connections we’ve made at Works Social we were able to gather the perfect team to get collective benefit from everyone’s ideas and input. Aces in places really.”

The site and refreshed branding was launched in early November and has been well received. There are plans are in place for the first campaigns and the team is planning to collaborate again in the near future.

The post Giving construction consultants a brand boost appeared first on Big Old House.

Often asked, ‘How do you motivate yourself when you work at home?’, it’s honestly never been a problem. Until recently. Procrastination, fidgeting and feelings of isolation were beginning to creep in and, after celebrating a successful three years in business, it felt like time to refocus, think a bit bigger and ‘go to work’ again.

Literally and metaphorically, the old nursery space wasn’t big enough to build on. Clients and projects were getting bigger (and so was I due to lack of commuting!), the need for a meeting and collaboration space cropped up more frequently and also regular contact with like-minded people sounded like a good idea.

That’s why moving into shiny new coworking space Works Social this month is a milestone for Big Old House. As business has expanded beyond expectation and outgrown its back bedroom, it has its sights set on bigger things for the next few years. Not quite ready to move into a serviced office all of its own, Works Social offers the perfect solution.  With 24/7 access, high speed wifi, a dedicated desk with a secure locker and a ready made community of like-minded freelancers and small independent businesses wanting to create a relaxed, yet professional coworking community, it fits the bill very nicely.
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In just a few days it has already proved itself to be the right decision. Very happy that Big Old House has a big new home to grow.

Fancy popping in for a nosey round and a chat? Drop us a line.

The post Big new home for Big Old House appeared first on Big Old House.

Journalists want to get the best news stories for their audiences and companies want to get the best publicity for their business. Simple. PR experts (either in-house, agency or freelance) are often employed to act as the conduit in making that happen.

PR professionals and journalists can have a love ‘em or hate ‘em relationship, but the fact is that neither party can exist without the other. PRs can’t be successful without the coverage and support of news outlets. And, in an age where ‘content is king’, editors, reporters, bloggers and columnists would be stuck for a story or two if they were never tipped off through a press release.

Not every business has PR or media resources available. No need to panic though, whatever the size of your business, the secret to successful public relations is not actually that secret at all.

We’ve pulled together a few of our top press tips and included some insights from journalists we heard from recently at the ‘Meet the journalists’ event at Nottingham Trent University, courtesy of Enterprise Nation (which you can read more about here).

Seven press tips for businesses:

1. Create a plan

Who do you want to talk to? What do you want to say to them? When is the best time to talk to people? How do you want your business to come across? Where will you reach your audience?

Without a plan, your PR activity is scattergun at best and inconsistent when it comes to coverage and conveying your company message. Creating a plan for your media strategy will help answer key questions and give you direction so you can prioritise activity and talk to the right people at the right time.

2. Do your research

Ask your customers what they read and find out how they like to consume media. Is it via social channels? Is the industry trade mag a must read? Are all your products and services relevant to every sector or do you need to segment your stories based on the target audience?

Whether you, a team member or hired PR help does it, research is essential in finding the right target media for your business. Some businesses and agencies have the luxury of a media contacts database. However, if you don’t have the budget, setting regular research time aside to keep abreast of topical, timely news and contacts is a worthwhile investment for building future relationships.

3. Get to know your media

Once you know where your customers are looking, read and research the relevant publications. What articles do they run? What is their editorial policy? How do their editors/contributors like to work?

Build relationships with your target publications and the key journalists within them. You can’t get to meet every single person, as this would be a full time job in itself, but you can connect on Twitter, catch up for a coffee, drop them an email or make a point of seeking them out at an event.

4. Connect with contacts

As mentioned, media databases (such as Gorkana) offer unrivalled access to hundreds of thousands of journalist contacts, but not everyone has this benefit at their disposal. That doesn’t mean that making contact is impossible.

Contact us pages on publications’ websites and media packs have the relevant contact details, email addresses can often be found in Twitter bios and LinkedIn shouldn’t be underestimated for making and staying in touch with connections.

Don’t be afraid to get in touch either. A simple web search can return bloggers with specialist interests and social channels offer a great way to start a pitch. Hash tags #journorequest #PRrequest are popular searches which link those seeking stories with those with stories to tell.

Sometimes it’s better to do it yourself. The Assistant Business Editor at the Sunday Times, for example, prefers to speak directly to Business Owners/Entrepreneurs rather than PRs; something you’d only know by doing your research.

5. Be practical, punchy and polite with press releases

The first paragraph of any press release should include the What? Why, Where? When? Before even that, the subject line of your email should grab attention.

Journalists from BBC Radio Nottingham, East Midlands Business Desk, Heart and Notts TV all agreed that avoiding witty puns and catchy headlines was a good idea. They all want bullet points which tell them the story in a nutshell, states what has changed and gives relevant, interesting details with what’s new, different, better or never been done before.

It is worth remembering that Business Desk receives one press release every five minutes, BBC Radio Nottingham one release every minute and Heart Commercial radio one every 20 seconds. That’s a lot of news, so it is important to focus on one key aspect as a priority message and use embargo press releases for exclusives.

To make friends in the media, don’t repeatedly chase stories and don’t send to everyone in the same department. Also, it’s bad practice to send competing outlets the same exclusive story.

6. Learn the lingo

If your press release gets through the net and you find yourself in an interview situation, there are a few phrases that it pays to remember when talking to a journalist to protect you and your business from oversharing:

• “On the record” – OK to publish everything discussed
• “Off the record” – Want the content to be made public, but can’t be attributable to the source e.g. The BBC understands that…”
• “On background” – Completely off the record as there are sensitivities around the story

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For regular press spokespeople and senior team members, it is worth considering media training to give them a good grounding in how to handle media interviews, stay on topic and manage media interactions.

7. Live up to the lead times

Your best chance for PR success is to make yourself available. Long lead times and definite deadlines are what B2B journalists are working to every day, particularly in trade publications.

Saying that, the world of daily news is faster moving and for success with broadcast press, such as TV and radio locally or nationally, making yourself available when the press can make it is essential. For example, the TV crew won’t come to an event at peak times with all the public there, but they may cover it at 7am before everyone arrives.

As a guide, for events, a release/email notification one month prior and follow up again two weeks prior to the event gets the best response. For future features, you need to be thinking 6 to 8 weeks in advance of publication.

So, from broadcast to broadsheet, business to breakfast media, make sure you:

• Plan your media strategy
• Know your objectives and your target audience
• Do your homework
• Get to know your press
• Make friends with the media
• Know your stories
• Stick to deadlines

Need helping in developing your press plan for this year? Get in touch to chat through your objectives on 0798961082 or email hello@bigoldhouse.com.

The post Seven press tips for businesses appeared first on Big Old House.

Donald Ward, Head of Technical & Recycling at Ward said:

“We’ve recently made significant investments across our business and now is the right time to really showcase our capabilities through a robust marketing, PR and social media strategy. We are keen to build a stronger presence as national waste, recycling and resource management experts in key sectors such as construction and demolition, as well as raising our profile regionally.

“We were initially introduced to Rachael at Big Old House by our digital agency Cite, on a copywriting basis. We were immediately impressed with her ideas, writing skills, ability to quickly understand the different aspects our business and relevant industry experience.”

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Specialists in metal recycling waste management Ward prevents over 90% of the rubbish it collects from ending up in landfill from its four recycling, waste and metal processing plants in the East Midlands.

Big Old House founder, Rachael van Oudheusden, added:

“Working with Ward is a real privilege and I’m really excited to be getting more involved in helping grow the business. Dealing with everything from metal recycling, office waste and skip hire to hazardous construction waste and land remediation, there is always something new to discover and a different story to tell at Ward. We’ve got plenty to go on to shape and deliver a trade and corporate PR and social media strategy, in tandem with other digital marketing activity delivered by Cite.”

An ISO accredited, fourth generation family-run business, established over 70 years ago, Ward now has an annual turnover of £120 million, employs over 300 people locally and runs a fleet of more than 80 modern vehicles.

For more information visit Ward Recycling www.ward.com.

The post Ward Recycling wastes no time signing up Big Old House for PR and social media support appeared first on Big Old House.

Delighted.

The irony that a word with such happy and positive connotations can create such negativity has not been lost, but if you look more closely, seriously, are you really delighted?

Let’s break it down:

No issue there.

Then let’s look at some of its synonyms:

very pleased, glad, happy, joyful, thrilled, overjoyed, ecstatic, euphoric, elated, blissful, enraptured, on cloud nine, walking on air, in seventh heaven, in transport of delight, jumping for joy, beside oneself with happiness, excited

Most (over) used in appointment releases, CEO statements, good news announcements – delighted crops up all over the business pages and on company websites, every single day.  But, imagine if you replaced ‘delighted’ with its alternatives in the following statements:

Company X CEO said: “I am in seventh heaven [delighted] about our new manager of widgets.”

MD of Local business Y, replied: “I am on cloud nine [delighted] about our new shed facility.”

Independent baker, of Bake Biscuits said: “I am beside myself with happiness [delighted] about our new range of cup cakes.”

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Instead, why not use your good news story or announcement to add a bit of personality and include a few key messages? Tell us how you really feel, show people what you really think.

It is ordinary people doing extraordinary things who run businesses. Real people with real emotions and genuine stories to tell. Readers can (and should) be able to relate to you.

Why not tell people it’s been a really tough slog over the last few years so it’s great that we’re in a position to be hiring again?  Share that you’ve had a fantastic period of growth, which exceeded your expectations. Empathise that the team can’t wait for another pair of hands to join them to share the workload, because they’ve all been running round like headless chickens for six months and are knackered!

‘Delighted’ in business to business communications is an overused phrase, which is lazy and repetitive (IMHO). If ‘delighted’ is truly the case, the world works in some very happy offices and every business decision is sending people into a euphoric state.

Big Old House has recently celebrated its first anniversary and while proper chuffed, happy and thrilled all spring to mind, so does relieved, grateful, lucky and phew!

Let’s be honest, it’s not quite that giddy in the real world and we could expand our vocabulary to give our content some real insight and make ‘delighted’ a state of mind we aspire to.

If you have a story to tell and need a hand doing it, we’d be as excited as a two year old at a birthday party about it if you dropped us a line.

The post Are you really delighted? appeared first on Big Old House.

There is an ever growing list of social media shortcuts to abbreviate interactions. These save time and help to fit in as many points as possible into posts, to encourage conversations. However, keeping track can be a challenge.

Sprout Social has kindly curated the 75 Most Important Social Media Acronyms used in marketing today. Not only do they apply cross Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus and LinkedIn, they relate across all Business to Business and Business to Consumer activity and every business marketeer is likely to encounter at least some of these abbreviations in day to day life.

From encouraging conversations on Twitter through to general day to day business terms, as well as the technical stuff, marketers and businesses need to know the latest terminology to engage with their audiences and the agencies they work with.

 
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Do you know which campaigns are most successful at creating UGC or what tactics are having the best impact on your CR? What are the TOS of your ESP? Is your POTD generating worthwhile PVs?

AFAIK if you don’t keep up with the latest lingo you are seriously living in FOMO.

ICYMI or you’re SYH and thinking WTF? NVM…Get in touch for a conversation in full sentences about getting a handle on your next marketing project.

[Image credit Indigo Digital]

The post Do you know your social media shorthand? appeared first on Big Old House.

According to the study by Ipsos Connect, titled “Facebook and Instagram: Motivations and Mindsets”, Instagram is a place where people look for insider perspectives and insights, giving them a window into a different world, while Facebook represents their real world, the people and perspectives they care about and want to discuss.

Facebook IQ Researcher Vicki Molina-Estolano, highlighted the main finding of the report was that Facebook better satisfies people’s need for empowerment, recognition and connection, while Instagram more strongly fulfils their desire for fun, relaxation and discovery.

“On Instagram, people follow celebrities, get DIY inspiration and are visually transported to new places – while on Facebook, the primary appeal is connecting with family and friends.”
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The report looked at types of content, different user demographics and how millennials are interacting with both social media platforms. It seems that from a marketing messaging point of view Facebook is where people are looking for fact based, opinion led, personal content and Instagram is where they go to escape and dream about the what if.

So craft your content carefully…keep Facebook ‘friends and family’ friendly and inspire and influence through Instagram….or drop us a line and we’ll help with your copywriting.

Source: “Facebook and Instagram: Motivations and Mindsets” by Ipsos Connect (Facebook-commissioned online survey of 7,809 people ages 18–64 in AU, BR, FR, JP, UK and US who use Facebook and/or Instagram at least weekly), May 2016. Among survey respondents, 5,642 use both Facebook and Instagram, 1,802 use Facebook only, and 365 use Instagram only. The study also included 120 qualitative participants. Data is on average across all markets and refer to people who use both feeds unless otherwise noted.

The post Posts vs Pictures: Facebook for friends and Instagram for inspiration appeared first on Big Old House.