Longworth resident, accomplished author Alison Hoblyn, is kindly hosting this charity event to raise funds for the Big Issue Foundation, a charity that makes a difference to the lives of homeless and vulnerably housed people in the UK. As a teenager, Lisa Cherry experienced homelessness at firsthand. With the right support and guidance, Lisa turned her life around, went to University and now runs her own successful business and writes for various publications.

By supporting this event you are literally helping to change lives.

Date: Friday 11th May
Venue: The Old School House, High Street, Longworth OX13 5EP
Time: Starts at 10.30, Lisa is presenting 11.30 – 12.30
Cost: Minimum donation of £5 per person

Please book in advance. To reserve your your place please email
Tracey Jefferies info@traceyjefferies.co.uk or call 01865 820183.

For more information about Lisa Cherry please visit her website

This is just one of many fundraising events that I’m organising to raise sponsorsgop for the Big Sleep. If you can’t make this event but would still like to donate you can do so right here Thank you!

Did you know that life expectancy of someone living on the streets is only 47 years old? – shocking isn’t it?

That’s why I’ve signed up to join The Big Sleep Out on 18th May 2012 – to support the work of The Big Issue Foundation – and to make a difference to the lives of homeless and vulnerably housed people in the UK. I’ll be giving up my bed and home comforts for one night and joining others to support the work of The Big Issue Foundation and to change a life while I sleep.

Why am I specifically doing this? A very good friend of mine was homeless as a teenager (not that I knew her then). Her life reached rock bottom and she struggled with alcoholism among other things. With the right support and guidance she turned her life around, went to University and now runs her own successful business and is about to complete her first book. She is one of the most giving and supportive people I have the pleasure of knowing and when she asked me to join her sleeping out on the streets of London I didn’t hesitate. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I did make sure there are toilet facilities…!

I will be hosting a couple of fundraisers to go towards my target of £500.00, but if you prefer to donate now, you can do so easily by clicking this link: http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=346850&langPref=en-CA

I’ll be posting details of the fundraisers on Twitter (@traceyjefferies) and via my blog www.traceyjefferies.co.uk

The Big Issue Foundation works with over 2,900 individuals across the UK to tackle issues ranging from health and accommodation through to money management and aspirations. The Big Issue Foundation is about taking control, moving forward, gaining independence and rebuilding lives. They exist to enable vendors to continue on their journey away from homelessness.

With your support we can help to make a big change in some one else’s life. So please sponsor me as I embark on this challenge. You can help support me, and The Big Issue Foundation, by making a secure online donation using your credit card. Click on the link below:

http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=346850&langPref=en-CA

For more information on how YOU can participate in the The Big Sleep Out 2012 , please visit us at www.bigissue.org.uk/events

Thanks for your support!

David Thorp CIM Director of Research & Professional Development believes that SME marketers can and need to be effective innovators to support businesses out of this crisis. View his comments and listen to a good plug for the forthcoming conference (!)

Align ourselves too closely with our customers and we fail to innovate. Failure to innovate stunts growth and development and worst case scenario (in the current economic climate), leads to failure. And none of us want that.

I believe that innovation is the responsibility of all concerned and driven by strong leadership. Marketing alone cannot be solely responsible for the success or failure of a business.

It’s an interesting one. Being associated with particular brands is definitely good for reputation building, but there must surely come a point when working for free backfires, and on both parties.The expectation is that the service delivery will be exactly the same as paying clients receive. But in reality, paying clients will always come first.

I’ve just been offered an *opportunity* to provide PR for an awards competition. The organisation has been honest up front and declared that there is no money involved and I must confess I’m tempted. However, a fellow PR has just asked why they don’t value my services enough to pay for them and she has a point. More than that, I think it’s actually more a case of me not valuing myself enough, which is really rather daft. If I don’t value my services, why should anyone else?

Vanity is a powerful thing, but vanity doesn’t pay the bills. A mantra that I really must remember to chant a little more often.

My job involves a lot of words. Words designed to evoke emotion, words that invite engagement and yet when it comes to explaining what I do and why anyone would want to work with me, I sometimes struggle to find the right words.

Am I alone in this?

We each take it for granted that the nitty gritty of our chosen industry is blatantly obvious to all. Just last night I used the term Marketing Communications; in my eyes a self-explanatory phrase explaining what industry I’m involved in. Yes, but what do you actually ‘do’ was the response. And this was from someone who knows me personally.

In a recent meeting I was asked to talk about various projects I’d worked on. Now, these are case studies that I’m immensely proud of, work that led to very happy clients who continue to use me. Even with that background I struggled to sell myself, expecting my work to speak for itself, which it does in part.

Is it simply a case of being too modest, too British to blow my own trumpet, lack of confidence or simply, a lack of practice?

Why should anyone employ you?

“To be nominated was exciting, but to win is amazing! I’ve had an incredible year and this award has given me such a confidence boost, I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store”, explained company founder Janet Mohapi-Banks.

Completely self-taught in the art of sugar craft, Epsom-based Janet started the company in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since. Her designs have appeared in national publications including Condé Nast Bride Brides magazine and will be seen on national television in January 2011.

Janet is currently designing the Janet Mohapi-Banks 2011 Collection, due to launch early February 2011 and looking forward to building strong relationships as a preferred supplier with top London hotels, including The Dorchester.

————————————————————————————————-

For photographs and more information please contact:
Tracey Jefferies PR info@traceyjefferies.co.uk 07766 755622

www.janetmohapibanks.com

www.preciousawards.com

So far, so good, but if a client won’t engage any social media plan is going nowhere.

Let’s take Twitter. Businesses have heard that it’s a good way to raise your profile, to spread the word about your product or service, to manage customer service and they think its something they really should do. But most don’t really ‘get’ Twitter and if straw-polled would probably suggest its where people list details of their breakfast or weekend activities. This leads me to suggest that the role of the marketer or PR is more about ensuring a client has the right mindset before any social media project commences, than whether they have the skills.

If a company is not truly open to engaging in social media, any plan is doomed from the outset. You can train, advise, set-up various tools to assist and evaluate social media but if a company does not fully embrace the idea (and allocate sufficient time for the activity) the plan will fail.

Sculptural cake design company, Janet Mohapi-Banks Ltd, has been named as a finalist in the 2010 Start Up Business Category.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the news! It’s the first award I’ve entered the company for and to be short-listed is really exciting”, explained company founder Janet Mohapi-Banks.

Completely self-taught in the art of sugar craft, Janet started the company in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since. Her designs have appeared in Condé Nast Bride Brides magazine and will be seen on national television in January 2011.

Janet compares her design style to high profile cake designers such as Mitch Turner of Little Venice Cake Company and May Clee-Cadman of Maisie Fantasie. Her ambitions include having her cakes on sale at Fortnum and Mason, publishing a book of cake design, and with such success in a relatively short time, why not?

————————————————————————————————-

Editor Notes

For photographs and more information please contact:
Tracey Jefferies PR info@traceyjefferies.co.uk 07766 755622

The Precious Awards take place on Monday 8th November 2010 at The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

www.preciousawards.com

www.janetmohapibanks.com

Janet Mohapi Cake designs appear in Condé Nast Bride magazine and soon to be announced national television programme. The project scope includes launching the 2011 Collection and managing all media relations.

For more information: www.janetmohapibanks.com

A quick online search defines broadcasting as a means to:

• Transmit (a radio or television program) for public or general use
• To send out or communicate, especially by radio or television
• To sow (seed) over a wide area, especially by hand

Viewers were not intended to respond in any way, unlike nowadays when interaction is encouraged, to an extent, through phone-in’s, competitions etc. At the point of invention though, broadcasting was purely intended as one-way form of communication. There were no rules of engagement, you either chose to watch or not and these ‘terms and conditions’ still largely apply today.

Social media when used appropriately is a hugely powerful communication tool of the 21st Century. One of my favourite wikipedia definitions explains that:

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

This in my view, is the perfect does it what it says on the tin explanation. If that’s the case though, how come so many individuals and companies get it so wrong? The key words above define the rules; ‘social interaction’, something that so many companies, of all sizes, from various industries, simply don’t get or choose to ignore.

True engagement with your existing customers will encourage loyalty. These customers will continue to use your services/products and enjoy spreading the word on your behalf. These people will be excited about your new products/services and eager to purchase.

True engagement with potential customers will set the tone for how you intend to interact with them.

Using social media only to broadcast demonstrates a lack of empathy; it shows that you don’t really care about your customers, that your main priority is only to broadcast your news; that you’re not really interested in what anyone else has to share. It shows either that you don’t understand the rules or that you have no intention of signing up to the terms and conditions.

Broadcasters take note – Ignorance of the rules is no defense. Ignore the social media rules of engagement at your peril and watch the impact on your bottom line.

See www.traceyjefferies.co.uk and www.adapt.co for more information about communicating to ensure true engagement with your target market.