The new normal - acceptance rather than optimism.

This article first appeared in Absolute Brighton magazine -  March 2013 

What we are seeing in the market at the moment is a general acceptance that we are living in a changed economic environment. Companies have cut their costs, reduced their staff and revised budgets to take into account a slower economy. These changes have taken their toll over the past two years but it feels that now we are all settling into a new ‘normal’. And companies, including ours, are now looking to maintain and grow their market share from this new base.

So slowly slowly companies are feeling optimistic enough to invest in their future by looking at how they can cost-effectively market themselves to current and new audiences. But there is a caution in the way that this is being done. Budgets are carefully monitored and fixed cost projects seem to be more desirable than open-ended ones. Companies are also looking at their own purchasing and procurement processes to ensure that the very systems that are meant to control costs are not restricting better value purchasing decisions.

We are also finding that clients are looking for a partnership approach – one where we support their in-house resources rather than take everything off-site. They are keen for us to inform their decisions but want their in-house teams to implement, or at least be able to implement some of the work. Their nervousness about the economy is understandably extended to nervousness about taking risks.

Are we seeing green shoots of recovery? I think we are – but at the moment we are having to dig deep to give the shoots the environment they need to grow (sorry about the extended metaphor).

To encourage business growth in Brighton we need to make sure that every small business owner has access to the support they need to ensure they are running their businesses as effectively as possible. A combination of peer-to-peer learning and really good professional support can really change the way a business ‘works’. Business owners themselves should look to develop their networks and to take the time to look at the real value of what they are delivering and who their potential audiences really are. And.. where possible keep the money in the city by using local talent whenever you.

If you'd like to find out more about how Frank! supports Brighton & Hove businesses do get in touch 

Jo@frankontheweb.com Tel 01273 670 100 www.frankontheweb.com 

What makes a great man great?

Yesterday I was privileged (and extremely chuffed) to be invited to Roger French's retirement celebration. For those of you who do not know of Roger French - he was (until lunchtime today) The Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Bus Company. And he really is a remarkable man. His retirement celebration was in Hove Town Hall - which was crammed with 200 of the great and the good from Brighton and beyond who had come to say their goodbyes. Speeches were given by Michael Beard (editor of the Argus), David Brown (Group Chief  Executive of the Go-Ahead group), Norman Baker MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport), Caroline Lower (CEO of the Martlets Hospice) and Tony Mernagh (Executive Director at Brighton and Hove Economic partnership). Each speaker identified why they thought Roger had made such a great contribution to the City and to the Brighton & Hove Bus Company. Their speeches were all extremely eloquent and certainly a fitting tribute to Roger.

At risk of sounding like Carrie Bradshaw 'It got me thinking... what is it that makes a great man great?'

In his speech, Roger talked of how he was dealt a hand of aces - a great city, a great company, great people and the right time. In a speech two nights before to his staff, he had talked about how he saw the Brighton & Hove Bus Company as a beautiful jigsaw - and that everyone in the Company was a piece of that jigsaw - and that together they made a beautiful picture.

What these two metaphors tell me - is that what made Roger so refreshing and inspiring to those he worked with and around was that along with being an exceptional MD he was also a man who understood it wasn't just about him. He understood that to do his job as well as he wanted he needed other people to do their job as well as they could too. He needed to trust, to empower, to  energise, to inspire and to motivate his management team, his staff, his suppliers and all his 'partners'. So - yes he learnt their names and he learnt about their lives. He did what he said he would as well as he could and trusted that others would do the same... and they did... And the result of all those people being the best they could was that Brighton & Hove have one of the best bus transport networks in the country. One that is held up as an exemplar, in parliament as well as in the corridors of global transport companies.

I was extremely lucky to work with Roger producing On Route - the Brighton & Hove bus passenger magazine. We had twice yearly editorial meetings and it was at these meetings that I got a tiny insight into the way Roger worked - and over time I realised that of all the people I have known in business Roger is the person I most admire. I love his honesty, his integrity, his generosity of spirit, the fact that he just loves what he does - but most of all I admire his desire to make the world he lives in a better place.

So what makes a great man great? Well I would say a great man is man who makes the people around him shine. And Roger does that in bucket loads.

Best of luck in your retirement Roger and Thank You for showing us how it can be done!

Your business as a network

In a recent change of heart, we have taken the decision at Frank! (www.frankontheweb.com) to actively introduced our clients and suppliers, to each other if they could be useful to each others' businesses. This is the first time that we have actually started actively creating a network around our business and for us it feels like a fairly big step. We have always tried to be transparent about the way that we work at Frank! and this is just a development of that transparency. We use a number of designers, copywriters, editors and consultants to support our business offer - all of whom we consider to be vital to the service we provide. We are now encouraging them to speak to each other. In a similar vein we are opening up the opportunities for our clients to get to know each other too. Many of our clients have similar attitudes to their businesses and are equally ambitious for their organisations. These are the similarities that create meaningful networks.

We have applied some basic principals to help develop your business as a network - and they seem to be working.
1) We have set up www.un-networking.co.uk which is aimed at Brighton Creatives. The initial invitees were all people that Frank! had worked with or were hoping to work with. We meet every other month at a very nice bar in the city. It means that we have a regular time and place to catch up with many of our suppliers, business links and friends.
2) We have included 'developing networks' into our 'on-going marketing support' service offer. So it is a given from the outset that we will help our clients develop or establish their own networks.
3) We are making sure that our clients and suppliers are more accessible to each other via our own website (www.frankontheweb.com).
4) We are actively promoting the work we do for our clients via our own social media platforms.
5) We talk about our clients to our other clients. If we think our clients and suppliers could benefit by meeting we mention them and put them in touch.

I am a great believer in Networking. Many of my best decisions (both business and personal) have come from chance conversations with people that have sparked ideas that I have then been able to progress and put into action. The more people you meet - the more inspired you can be. In the words of Andy Heath who set up, developed and sold a very successful software company 'It was just five little words from a passer by that changed the way we did business'.  For Andy, those five words were 'You should do that online'.

If you want to know more about the way Frank! can help you develop your networks contact me at jo@frankontheweb.com

Domestic abuse - painting a new picture

Frank! has been working with Sussex Police to raise awareness about domestic abuse. As part of the campaign we have been working with a group of local youngsters and Wet Paint Productions, to create some great Street Art around Brighton.

Here are a few photos showing what we did at the first workshop (1 of 3) and the wonderful work created by the kids

In the introductory meeting, we all brainstormed ideas and concepts associated with domestic abuse. We stuck post-it notes to a board and grouped together all the concepts the kids thought were important. We chatted about these ideas, why they mattered and how we could communicate them in the final design. 

In preparation for the project  the artists, SNUB23 and Sinna One, taught the young people the techniques you need to create cool street art. The artists then helped the youngsters turn their rough drawings into funky designs (this time not related to domestic abuse) using a temporary wall outside the Brighton Youth Centre.

At our second workshop, all the ideas about domestic abuse had been developed and the youngsters came up with key themes and rough illustrations to be included in the final designs.  On Saturday 9 February, you will see two groups of youngster at the Bond Street and London Road sites painting the final design - if you are passing do say hello! 

To find out a bit more about Sussex Police's Domestic Abuse Campaign, have a look at their website or check out Wet Paint Production's Blog

Predictions for 2013

The great thing about this time of year (mid December) is that many people are reflecting on the year that was and looking forward to the year that will be... and I am no different. Looking back 2012 has been an amazing year, a year in which the great British public actually seemed to enjoy being British for a short while at least! (The Olympics and Paralympics were my personal highlights and certainly gave me an inner glow that has yet to be extinguished).

2013 does not have the obvious potential highlights that 2012 had but I think from a marketing perspective it will be a really interesting year...and here's why...

1) We will see people making a conscious decision to unsubscribe from e-mail marketing 'campaigns' ... in their droves. Our inboxes are simply too full - it's junk mail gone mad.
2) People will quietly remove you as a Facebook friend if you just keep selling to them.
3) Companies will begin to question the numbers game - they will realise that having 60,000 people following them on twitter is only useful if they are actually people who give a damn about what is being said.
4) Companies will start looking for ways of making themselves stand out from the crowd - and realise that some of this is about doing things better, or differently from their competitors.
5) Companies will start looking to support their online marketing with localised and niche advertising campaigns. Spending less on internet marketing and re-assigning funds to innovative and enterprising marketing and advertising campaigns.
6) Companies will start looking to 'trial' different marketing campaigns to work out which combination works best for them and their product.
7) Well considered PR activity will start to become a key part of a robust marketing strategy - not just a fluffy add-on but a real value add.
8) We will all be a lot less convinced by internet 'experts' or 'specialists' and start to really look at what is being delivered.
9) The public sector will continue to struggle with procurement - there will be a realisation that just because an agency ticks boxes, they are not necessarily the best people for the job.
10)  None of these things are bad - these predictions give all of us in communications and marketing the chance to step up to the changing needs and demands of the today's economy.

One thing is for sure - 2013 is going to be hard work - but for those of us who are flexible and motivated it will be a year filled with challenges to rise to and opportunities to relish... I for one am looking forward to it.

If you want to know more about Frank! Communication Solutions and what we can do for your business. Then visit our website www.frankontheweb.com or call us on 01273 670 100 or e-mail jo@frankontheweb.com

Oh and if you want you can follow us on facebook  https://www.facebook.com Frank-Communications

The delights and frustrations of SEO

One of the challenges we have set ourselves for 2013 is to get to grips with the science that calls itself Search Engine Optimisation. What it really means of course is 'How to work Google so it works for you'. But, because we never shy away from learning how to play the game, we have been working hard with one of our own sites to really get to grips with the nuances that can move you up the rankings. We have tried things, watched the results and then either done more of the same or tried another tack. It's a  fascinating and highly addictive pastime. But we have moved the site up in every one of our identified 'keywords' and are now beginning to have a bit of fun with it all.

We are learning that web words and images are fickle beasts - and need to be tamed to make them work for us. We are learning that there is not a one-size fits all solution (though some SEO experts may well disagree). We are learning that nothing beats on-going changes and updates, a bit of imagination and having the luxury of time to learn by simply doing it.

So... what can we tell you..
1) There are some amazingly generous people out there who share their knowledge. Type into Google exactly the problem you are having and find out how other people have cured it.
2) Use links and anchors to connect documents and other webpages within your site.
3) Be completely logical with the naming of directory or navigation buttons - use words or phrases that people actually type into search engines rather than a clever summary or composite word.
4) Register your site with Google and every other search engine you like the look of.
5) Make sure you are very clear about how you want to be found, and by who you, and target them exactly. People no longer put a single word into a search engine - they are more likely to include a sentence or phrase that helps narrow down the responses they get. We know, for example, that if you put 'straight talking ideas-driven creative' into Google you will get taken straight to our site (www.frankontheweb.com). But in real terms how many people are going to use that exact phrase?

If your business is wholly reliant on online sales you absolutely must get to grips with SEO. But as with all marketing remember that the most (cost) effective search engine optimisation can be targeted specifically at your audience - understand them, the language they use and tailor your SEO strategy accordingly.

If you'd like to learn more about our SEO journey then please do get in touch. Via www.frankontheweb.com or contact me direct hello@frankontheweb.com.

Jo Weatherall
Founder of Frank! Communcation Solutions, www.Build14me.com  and www.woodingdeaninbusiness.co.uk

Working 4 us

A friend of mine runs a gardening maintenance company and was in the office a couple of weeks ago signing up to www.woodingdeaninbusiness.co.uk our (very) local listings site that raises money for the Martlets Hospice in Hove. He was showing me websites belonging to some of the people he has worked with and for and I was mightily impressed. I had always assumed he spent his days clearing gardens when they got into a bit of a state, but actually he often works with well-known and respected garden designers helping them create beautiful and often intriguing spaces.


As you do, we started talking about him having his own website and he was saying that a friend of his was having a website built but that it was very expensive. I asked him how much ‘expensive’ was. And I was actually quite shocked by his response. ‘Over £300’ he said. And this set my mind rolling. Could we build a website for someone like my garden maintenance friend for under £300? There are of course companies that do just that, and some that do it very well. If we were going to do it we would have to make sure that we did it even better, that we took the same approach to delivering a £300 website as we do to delivering a £3,000 one or even a £30,000 one. Note I use the word ‘approach’ I am not suggesting for one moment that we can deliver the same service or product at that price point but we can deliver it with the same attitude.

So the seed was set and we decided to develop a very simple web building ‘process’ one that was  easy to talk about and easy to execute. One that meant micro businesses and individuals could have their own site – in 24 hours at a starting price of £240 (plus VAT). www.build14me.com . In addition to the basic site you can choose extras; more pages, a gallery/portfolio, mobile and or tablet compatible and even a basic content management system. We will produce a website that is professional and hopefully speaks volumes about your company, product or service. We will market our new site on and offline and have plans to build this new ‘product’ into a sustainable and profitable business. For Frank! it is a new departure, but one we are excited about, that allows us to work with a whole new group of people and provide our current clients with alternative options when it comes to reviewing their current sites.


The model

Over the past few years I have seen massive changes in print buying and I see that over the next few years we will see massive changes in the way people buy their internet space. Low cost and well executed web build and maintenance will become the norm - as low cost and reasonable cost print has become the norm. We will see companies and individuals that no longer build huge, cumbersome sites. Instead they will build smaller sites aimed at niche audiences, sites that have one aim, one ambition and one story. As always, there are exciting digital times ahead.

Happy to chat about www.build14me.com - just mail me, Jo Weatherall on jo@frankontheweb.com or call 01273 670 100