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Tips on how to use Google Plus:

Google Plus is one of the fastest growing networks so don't ignore it when putting together your social media sharing plan! Facebook and Twitter are useful but Google Plus can help your search rankings so don't neglect it.

If you are unsure of what to post on your newly adopted Google Plus profile here are six posts to attract (and keep) an audience:

Industry articles & links

If someone is in your circle it means you are offering something of interest to them. Posting articles that are relevant to your industry and context will always be well received - and hopefully liked & shared.

Questions

Getting to know your followers is always a good idea as it helps you to post what you know they will like but most importantly it will help to build a bond and make your followers grow a sense of loyalty for your brand.

Photos

We all love a good photo! keep it relevant to your industry and don't stray too far from your brand ethos and it is guaranteed to fair better than written text. Everyone responds better to a visual post than a mere written one - fact!

Videos

Videos have become hugely popular simply because they help us to visualise a story better than text ever could - they are also sometimes quicker than reading a piece of writing. Which reminds me: keep them short! There is a reason Vine and Instagram limit their video to just a few seconds.

Quotes

Quotes appeal to most audiences - they can inspire, motivate and lift spirits. A relevant quote should get you the likes and shares you want.

Google Plus Tips

Strange as it may sound, tips on how to actually use Google Plus - or in fact any other social media outlet do very well with audiences of all ages. We live in a society where most people want to grow as a brand and we do a great job of marketing ourselves wherever possible. A few tips on how to achieve this will be well received and may keep followers coming back for more.

If you want help getting your social media strategy into place then get in touch with Clooci Creative.

#MakeThingsFun

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Ways to improve customer retention:

1. Customer Satisfaction

First, find out exactly how much satisfied customers are worth to your business. This is a very important step, because increased understanding of the financial benefits throughout your team increases the likelihood that your satisfaction initiatives will be successful.

Lost revenue:

How many customers have not returned?

Lower spend. How many customers spent less this year than last?

Gained revenue:

How many new customers joined on personal recommendations?

How much did you earn from additional purchases customers were happy to make on your recommendation?

Remember – don’t just count the annual revenue, but the lifetime value. This will give you the minimum value of customer satisfaction to you.

2. Customers come first - always

Customers want simple, transparent and fair pricing that makes them feel like they’re getting value for money. Don’t confuse them with lots of options and reels of features.

Customers don’t see the value in the latest feature development unless it means a tangible improvement for their business.

They need your clear direction in how to best make use of your product or service to help them hit their business goals.

If customers email or call you, respond as soon as possible or they may become very annoyed at being ignored.

Keep customers in the loop on any improvements you’re making to fix their issues, or increase the functionality of your product or service.

3. Find & fix problems

You’ll only ever know for certain whether a customer is happy enough to stay loyal and recommend you to their friends and colleagues if you ask them.

For many online businesses, asking customers face to face is impossible, and even then – personal relationships with customers can create bias in their feedback.

To solve this problem, find a way to make it easy for customers to deliver feedback in a low pressure way.

We suggest collecting customer feedback via a short online form immediately after every interaction – whether that be a monthly invoice, product purchase or customer service call. The trick is to find a way to reduce the awkwardness for customers.

Because the event will just have happened, you’ll be able to take steps to rectify any problems the customer has had, giving you a chance to intercept issues which might lead to lost customers.

4. Have a whole system in place

Use this post to guide you into getting on track to improving customer satisfaction, retention and revenue, then start systematically integrating it throughout your company:

Define values and company culture, from top to bottom. Become known for putting customers first.

Constantly measure customer retention and referrals to ensure both are increasing.

Consistently collect customer feedback at relevant times, act on it to fix issues and share the feedback with your entire team.

Promote your feedback in the form of reviews on your website to win new business through social proof.

#MakeThingsFun

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Communication in business:

There are so many communication tools to help you grow your business - make sure you are making the most of them!

Face to Face

Nothing beats face to face communication. It eliminates assumptions, allows for body language, and enables real-time give and take.

This medium is almost always the most effective way to communicate. It’s especially important for striking new business deals and acquiring new clients. Face time is also a great way to deliver feedback, performing annual employee reviews, and resolving conflicts.

Phone

If meeting face to face is not an option, and a video service such as Skype is not available, then a phone is the way to go. Communicating via phone is also great for answering questions, gathering information, and having discussions not involving the whole team.

When using the phone, be sure to turn your entire attention to the caller. Don’t multitask! Also, answer the phone only if you have time to talk. Otherwise, let calls go to voicemail. Speaking of voicemail, be sure you check yours regularly, and return calls promptly. If you’re going to be out, consider recording an outgoing message to communicate this. And when it comes to leaving messages on other people’s voicemail, keep things brief!

Email

In the fast paced society we now live in it is perfectly reasonable to communicate via email. Keep emails professional and to the point - nobody has time to read long winded essays (if it is a complicated matter the pick up the phone instead).

With today's technology an email is treated in the same way as a text message so reply promptly and check your emails as often as possible. Most people do expect an email to be replied to within 24 hours. If you cannot be available on your email account for whatever reason be sure to set up an away reply message so that clients, customers and staff do not feel ignored! If you have various email addresses to keep an eye on make your life easier by setting up all your accounts on Outlook so that you can check them all easily and frequently. Don't forget to also set up your mail accounts on your iPhone or android phone so that you can keep up to date with email communication on the go.

Need further help to grow your brand?

See what our creative team can do: www.cloocicreative.com

#MakeThingsFun

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Questions to ask a graphic designer:

If you are investing in a graphic designer for your brand then it is important that you get the results you are expecting. To ensure this make sure your designer is properly briefed by asking the right questions:

- Can I see some of your previous artwork and designs for clients in a similar sector to me?

- Will I need to supply text and images? While providing your own text and images will help reduce costs, professional photography services and stock photography can enhance the look of your design and engaging the help of a copywriter will ensure your branding remains consistent throughout your wording as well.

- Will I own the copyright to all the artwork you incorporate?

- How long will the work take?

- Will you show me some concept visuals first so I can decide which I prefer? The answer should be yes and the work should only be finalised once you are happy and sign off on it.

- Will you provide me with the original artwork files you create for my project?

Get in touch with our creative team now for all your graphical needs and a free consultation: studio@cloocicreative.com

#MakeThingsFun

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Some of the best social issue ads:

If you need help putting together a great marketing campaign do come and speak to us.

#MakeThingsFun

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Work smarter, not harder:

So you've started your own business? Here are some tips to help you settle into the life of an entrepreneur without working yourself into the ground!

Plan, plan, plan!

To get somewhere, you have to know where you are going. It is imperative that you lay out a plan to make sure you know how, and when, you can make those dreams possible. Project planning will also help you to divide your time efficiently and allow you to delegate tasks where possible.

Set realistic time frames

Yes it is your brand but don't kill yourself trying to achieve tasks in unrealistic time frames. It is much more productive to be reasonable and allocate the correct amount of time needed to each project. This will not only ensure that you, and your staff, get time off work, but also guarantee that projects are not rushed and bodged - this will only waste more time in the long run as tasks would have to be re-done if unsatisfactory.

Focus!

Learn to focus on the present. Give 100% to everything you are doing, it will come out in the quality of your work and actually save time in the long run. Plus your brand and your clients deserve that kind of attention.

Be flexible

Having a plan, timelines, and focus are daily practices, but you are not shackled to them. As an entrepreneur in a very fast paced world, you have to be able to adapt. Don’t fall into the trap of working 24/7 as this will not give you the competitive edge; this comes from knowing your customers, putting in quality time, with quality work as an output, and being agile to the rapidly changing market so you stay ahead.

#MakeThingsFun

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Don't compromise your brand with social media:

Your social media campaigns need to engage your customers, but not at the expense of your brand, something to be particularly aware of when employing outside experts for your social media management and content marketing.

1) Establish brand guidelines

These guidelines should set out how your company’s image can be played out through social media, including what types of content you’ll post about. Be sure to hand these guidelines out to everyone who will be involved with your brand.

2) Think ‘brand’ before you post

Make sure the guidelines have been followed and everything rings true to your brand. If anything sound sounds of place then don't tweet it! And remember to think about whether what you have posted will appeal to your specific audience.

3) Align to your brand strategy

Your brand strategy has set out the way your particular brand will go about achieving its goals, so ensure your social media content falls in line.

4) Business aims

Ensure only content that supports and contributes to your business message gets posted. Social media offers the perfect platform to execute new ways of conveying your message instead of just repeating the same old information so use it to keep your audience interested, not bore them with similar posts.

5) Social media strategy

Having considered your brand guidelines, brand strategy and business aims, condense your thinking into a cohesive social media strategy, then plan and timetable your posts to ensure that you don't go off track and that different posts are delivered every day. This is especially important if more than one person will be managing your social media.

If you need a hand putting together your social media strategy then give us a call and our team of Clooci Creative experts can put one in place for you.

#MakeThingsFun

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Tips on building a great brand:

1. Firm purpose & values

A great brand fulfils a desire or need within its market. This is its purpose. Its purpose and supporting values should never change. Products and services and the way they are targeted may vary but the overarching core purpose must never be eroded, or so too will the customer’s faith in the company and ultimately their loyalty towards it.

2. The right customer

To create a brand that is successful requires you to understand the values of your target audience and focus your offering on these customers. Trying to be all things to all people will only dilute and confuse the strength and message of your brand.

3. Brand positioning & brand promise

The brand positioning is how the brand is perceived in the context of competitive alternatives. Brand positioning needs to remain consistent throughout all your marketing efforts or customers will become confused. The brand promise addresses customers’ expectations about a product or service.

4. Stay relevant

By managing to constantly stay relevant to a targeted set of customers, leading brands ensure they maintain ownership of clear points of difference compared with the competition. They stay credible by increasing customers’ trust and loyalty to them.

5. Brand message

Once you’ve finalised your message, be consistent, both in communication and in practice. You don’t have to be the best, just the most consistent. Consistency helps build trust and loyalty which are invaluable to your brand.

If you would like further help on building your brand talk to our Clooci Creative team. We're excellent at what we do and we #MakeThingsFun!

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What is your logo saying about your brand?

High quality design in the form of a polished user interface and a sleek logo goes a long way when it comes to building a brand. So what does you logo say about your brand?

You want your brand to encompass your company’s personality and values, as well as the value proposition for the customer. Your logo and website are often the first interaction a customer has with your brand.

You can gauge two important traits by comparing your logo to the logos of your competitors: distinguishability and relevancy. While you need to be sure that your logo stands apart from the crowd (especially in a highly saturated market), you also want to make sure that it doesn’t go too far astray, and that you maintain relevance in your industry.

Don’t be too quick to dismiss colour and font as purely aesthetic qualities. There are plenty of studies that debunk the arbitrariness of these choices in logo design.Check out our article on this topic here.

It’s important to stay up-to-date with current design trends and what the movers and shakers of the moment are doing. There is a massive minimalist trend taking over with regards to website design, and simplicity appears to be the way to go these days. Take a look… do your logo designs keep up with these trends? If so, you’re communicating a trendy, tech-savvy, and adaptive brand to your users. If not? Then it's time to talk to our Clooci Creative team! Give us a shout to see how we can help bring your brand up to speed.

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Make life more colourful with the playful Okiiyo augmented reality toy and Okiiyo app!

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Advice for Start-Ups in simple steps:

1. How to get started. You must think about the following:

- What business to start - How to raise finance for the business - What regulations and practical issues should I be aware of before starting? - Will i need suppliers & wholesalers? - How to recruit a team - Selling my products or services

2. Setting up the right business structure:

- Registering as sole trader, LLP, LTD, or forming a partnership?

- Registering with Inland Revenue & Customs and read up on taxes!

3. Think about the perfect name for your business:

- What do I want to convey?

- What does my business do?

- Is there a business already using that name? Research!

4. Register your domain name:

- Remember you will need a website

- And register for all social media while you're at it too - start with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

5. Branding:

- Design your logo - or get an expert to help. Remember this will be your business first message to the public so make it good and relevant!

- Don't forget to also have business cards, letterheads and all stationery designed too - consistency is the key to building your brand

6. Choose an accountant:

- You may be ok to do your own taxes in the beginning but as your business grows you may need a professional to help

7. Objectives:

- Think about your goals and 1, 3 and 5 year plans. What do you hope to achieve?

- And most importantly how will you achieve this? Think about, promotions, advertising and marketing to help your brand to grow.

Remember Clooci Creative can help to make your brand stand out from the crowd so give us a call today to see how we can help you with your new venture. We have fantastic packages for Start-Ups so you can focus on everything else and leave the branding to us!

#MakeThingsFun

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5 Best Apps For Business

There is no real substitution for working in the office, but these five apps should ease much of the headache of travel and off-site obligations. The upside is that many of them make continual improvements to their features and functionality; and with each upgrade, that out-of-office stress lessens and lessens and the idea of out-of-office work becomes more and more realistic.

1) All those receipts….

Scenario: You’re on the go so much you that you’re losing money, personally, as you accrue expenses; there is no way you’ll be able to capture all the receipts and get reimbursed.

Expensify alleviates that stress. This free app will sync your credit card transactions with receipts scanned by your phone’s camera. If you are driving, it will track mileage and generate an exportable summary report that syncs with QuickBooks, Google Docs or other Expensify users.

2) Need to read that presentation….

Scenario: You receive a crucial report or a client presentation on your phone, yet know you can’t get a good look until you get back into the office or your hotel room.

Box.net will help. Not only does it render documents, PDFs and media, more importantly, Box.net allows for on-phone collaboration. You can assign edits, monitor changes and view document owners while on the go.

Honorable Mentions: Documents To Go, GoodReader, Dropbox, Quickoffice, iWork, Roambi.

3) Planes, trains and automobiles…and meetings

Scenario: You have nine meetings in six cities in three days and you could use some help organizing the logistics.

TripIt will fill in the gaps; go ahead and toss that manila folder of printouts in the trash. With this Webby-award winner, upload and store all your flight, hotel and rental car information, and Tripit will feed you back arrival/departure information, directions and mileage between the airport and each meeting. In most cases all you need to do is forward your confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com, and the app automatically is updated with the information a few minutes later.

4) Elephants never forget, but you do….

Scenario: You’re navigating through the crush of the airport security line and suddenly you have an amazing—no, brilliant—revelation on how to solve "that issue" that’s been plaguing your project.

Evernote will make sure it’s not lost into the ether of forgetfulness. Whether by typing, using your camera phone, cribbing a note from a webpage or dictation, Evernote will capture the thought and organize it with the rest of your brilliant epiphanies. And since everything is stored in the cloud, you can access your notes and musings with the desktop version once you have some peace and quiet.

Honorable Mentions: SimpleNote, Dragon Dictation

5) A terrible week to be out of the office…

Scenario: You’re slammed with collaborative projects involving everything from correspondences to integrations to interviews, and by some cruel twist of fate, you have to travel across the country to attend an all-day seminar.

Basecamp, or one of the many compatible apps like Encamp, will keep everyone synched up. Post new tasks, mark others complete and note new milestones all from the mobile app. A concise dashboard will break down where you and your teammates stand on your projects. The only downside is that an Internet connection is required to use this app.

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#HappyEaster from the #CloociCreative team! #MakeThingsFun

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5 Top Tips to make your Brand visible:

Branding:

Your logo is the first thing to be associated with your brand so make it a good one. The rest of your design branding should follow suit - from your website to your marketing right through to your point of sale. It should all be consistent and represent your ethos and services - but keep it simple and instantly recognisable.

Social Media:

Society loves & loathes social media but we all live on it, and in order to attract customers you must be wherever they are - and that's on every social media site, from Facebook and Instagram to developing a content rich blog. Make your brand present and engage with consumers through giveaways, competitions and engaging posts that will grab their attention - and eventually their custom.

Licensing:

Consider partnering up with an existing license that will suit your product or service. Having the name of a recognised licensor within your brand will give consumers confidence in your product and reel them in more quickly.

Apps:

It is a fact that most purchases are made on our mobile phones or tablets so an app is becoming a must. We live in a fast society who expects everything right here & right now so by making your product or service only available on a website or worse still only in a store, you are limiting your sales. Most consumers buy on impulse so if you don't have an app and a competitor does chances are they will buy from them on the spot, rather than wait until they get home to look on your website or pop down to your shop. Giving your brand a presence on the app store is not as difficult as you might think and even a simple app will give customers renewed confidence in your brand as well as extra appeal due to ease of use and convenience - such as not having to enter their payment details every time they buy from you, being able to track purchases and not having to navigate a whole website to find what they want.

Customer service:

Last but most definitely not least is look after your customers! if you want your brand to remain visible then word of mouth is paramount. You want people to sing your praises and smile when they see your logo not frown and scroll down to the next brand. Many brands make the mistake of thinking that if a customer is not in front of them in a store then there is no customer service to be provided but this is a huge mistake that even big brands have made - and regretted. Plenty of consumers will stay loyal to smaller brands simply because they like the service they receive such as personal email replies to queries and hand written thank you notes in packages. Offering discount codes and sending out personalised newsletters showing only items that a customer would enjoy is also a good way to show you care.

If you would like help with any of the above and want to get your brand the visibility it deserves do get in touch with us and we'll happily give you a free consultation: studio@cloocicreative.com

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Master your brand with licensing:

Clooci Creative constantly works with licenses to create approved product lines by the licensee. We also use forward thinking innovations to add a greater user experience to what we design with new technologies such as mobile apps, QR codes, social media interaction & competitions.

We consistently work with licensors on licensee projects such as those involving Nickelodeon, Entertainment One, Disney and various fashion houses to best represent both brands.

We created this new service to help you master your brand, taking away the expense in monetary and time values needed to work with your licensing partner. We constantly communicate with your license partner from following style guides to carefully applying them on your product to ensure the license and the end consumer approve them.

  Let Clooci Creative show you what a good licensing partnership can do for your brand to make your product that much more interactive and customer appealing for FREE. Email studio@cloocicreative.com and we can show how our fantastic creative studio can add value to your licensed product.

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What does your logo colour say about your brand?

Your logo is the first thing customers will associate with your brand. It is your brand’s finger print in the industry and how it can be immediately identified. Research suggests that your logo’s design, and specifically its colours, have more bearing on your customers’ opinions than you might have realised.

Colour has a direct effect on people’s emotions and this can be used to your brand’s advantage if used right. In fact understanding your customers’ connections to certain colours could increase the effectiveness of your company message – and therefore its growth.

According to research complied by web design and marketing company WebPageFX, people make a subconscious judgment about a product in less than 90 seconds of viewing, and a majority of these people base that assessment on colour alone. Almost 85% of consumers cite colour as the primary reason they buy a particular product, and 80% of people believe colour increases brand recognition.

So what colour should you go for? Here’s the most used logo colours and why:

Red

According to colour think tank Pantone, red is often associated with the heat of sun and fire and is considered a high-arousal colour, often stimulating people to take risks. It has also been shown to stimulate the senses and raise blood pressure, and it may arouse feelings of power, energy, passion, love, aggression, or even danger.

Yellow

Yellow is often associated with the heat of sun and fire and is considered a high-arousal colour. It may stimulate feelings of optimism, hope and happiness.

Blue

Blue is often associated with the coolness of the sea and sky. It has been shown to calm the senses and lower blood pressure. It may stimulate feelings of trust, security, order, and cleanliness.

Orange

Orange is often associated with the heat of sun and fire and is considered a high-arousal colour. It may stimulate feelings of energy, balance, and warmth.

Green

Green is often associated with the coolness of leaves. People often associate it with nature, health, good luck, and envy.

Purple

Purple is generally considered a low-arousal colour. It may stimulate feelings of spirituality, mystery, royalty, or even arrogance.

Need some help in designing your logo? Get in touch with our creative team who will be able to assist you: studio@cloocicreative.com

#CloociCreative #MakeThingsFun

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Good design can help your brand to grow:

Design should be the focal point of any good business. It should not only reflect in phenomenal products but in stores, customer service and marketing. Good design innovates, differentiates and simplifies – and most importantly can open up valuable opportunities for your brand.

Good design can bring some significant benefits to any business: from generating new product ideas to entice new customers, right through to strengthening your marketing strategy. Successful businesses include design as part of their business strategy from the outset, not as a secondary element. This is because involving design at an early stage can save you money in the long term, and result in a better offering and a better experience for your customers.

Most businesses think of design as the cherry on the cake, a finishing touch to make the brand look polished, but design is so much more! Design will give your brand a professional look that will make your business more trusted; it is a fact that having a unique yet familiar logo that is easily recognisable will increase loyalty in consumers and increase sales. The bespoke design elements that represent your brand should continue into your advertising, your stores and your social media to introduce consistency and ensure your business looks solid from every aspect.

A well designed and thought out website and mobile app will also further enhance your brand. We live in a complex and busy world so everyone craves simplicity. Design is a great tool that can allow your website and app to be simple and easy to use. Design means consumer-friendly sites can now create an experience and a lasting impression that will ensure it becomes a repeat destination for buyers.

The effective use of design can do much more than be an aesthetic asset; good design gives customers a reason for buying from you and not from your competitors. It's a valuable source of differentiation - a well-designed product or service will stand out from the competition.

Design also adds value to products and services. Customers are often willing to pay more for well-designed products that can offer benefits such as greater usability, increased functionality and improved aesthetics. The process of design thinking, co-creation, and design as creative collaboration can help companies move beyond their norms and create new markets through innovative products that will help your brand to stand out.

But as well as enhancing the products and services you sell, design can also improve the way your business operates - the efficiency of its processes, the cost-effectiveness of the raw materials it uses, and the quality of its packaging.

As well as increasing the value of your products and services to customers, design can cut production costs. Careful design of the manufacturing process, for instance, can bring substantial savings. It can also make processes and the use of materials more efficient and environmentally friendly, helping businesses comply with sustainability regulations and legislation.

Overall design can bring a range of commercial benefits if used systematically across your business:

·         increased sales of products or services

·         improved market position

·         greater customer loyalty

·         a stronger brand identity

·         the ability to create new products and services

·         reduced time to market for new products and services

Evidence shows that using design improves business performance. Businesses that undervalue the importance of design may be missing vital opportunities – don’t be one of them! Get in touch with Clooci Creative today to start implementing great design into your business: studio@coocicreative.com