What makes a good Chimera client? 10 reasons why it could be you

One of the questions we asked ourselves on a recent team awayday was ‘What does a good client look like for us?’ and we thought we’d share the outcome of our ideal PR, marketing or social media client.

1. You want to grow your business, and you understand that’s what we want too
2. You value PR, marketing and/or social media
3. You understand these take a while to bed in and evolve, so you are happy to apply patience when you don’t see immediate results
4. You’re able to regularly tell us what you and your business are doing, so you don’t expect us to read your mind
5. You respond as soon as you can to our questions, respecting that there are good reasons why we want to know, and if you don’t know the answers, you do your best to find out
6.  You value our years of experience, skills, abilities, qualifications and professionalism, and don’t necessarily think you know better (although of course you certainly do when it comes to your own business)
7. You’re prepared to invest in our service and understand you need to pay us the going rate as we’re unable to work for free; well, would you? And you treat us as you want to be treated: you settle our invoices on time, every time
8. You don’t expect us to be available for every call or email, and you trust that we’ll get back to you just as soon as we can
9. You listen to our professional suggestions and work in collaboration to pick the most appropriate to put into practice for your business
10. You trust us to be part of your team and work with us every step of the way

We’re very fortunate with our clients and know that how we work best works best when you work well with us. 

Are you the ideal Chimera client? We’d like to have you on board so we can help your business grow. Call us now on 01903 812275 and say ‘ideal client’ for a special 10% off end of year offer.

EastEnder turned West Ender : an interview with Michael Greco

Chimera Communication's Managing Director, Jill Woolf, caught up with ex-EastEnder star Michael Greco at this year's Brighton Summit

During this year’s Desire Hour at Brighton Summit, the annual business conference run by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce, actor Michael Greco, a tutor at Brighton’s Bird Studios, held a West End workshop which included exploring acting methods and vocal techniques for business use, and learning a song from Chicago.

Michael's background

Michael Greco trained at Guildford School of Acting in London. He played Beppe di Marco in EastEnders from 1998 to 2002. He also played Billy Flynn in the West End’s Chicago. In 1999 and 2000 Greco won the British Soap Award for the Sexiest Male for his role in EastEnders. Greco has recently moved back from Los Angeles where he appeared alongside Kevin Costner in the three-part film Hatfields & McCoys.

Acting for business people

Jill chatted to Michael about how he had found working with business people in his workshop instead of his usual stage school students.

Jill: Thanks so much for spending just a few moments with me after your Brighton Summit session. I imagine it was very different having business people of all types, ages and experience in the room. Did you enjoy it and just how different was it?

Michael: I did really enjoy it because it’s great working with people who aren’t actually actors or teaching kids who want to become actors. That’s a long process which takes years and years, and they gradually get better at it but today, with people who have ‘normal’ jobs, their enthusiasm was in abundance.

Jill: Tell me more.

Michael: The ideas delegates had to put into practice, for example just walking across the room, were challenging! It wasn’t easy and I could see that. As Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage” and everyone has a little bit of showmanship in them, so they really enjoyed the session. Actually, we could have gone on for hours. They also lost their inhibitions quickly; they really just got stuck in. I spoke to them about, for example, being happy or being angry and they just went for it.

Jill Woolf with Michael Greco

Jill: Did you pitch your workshop differently because it was for business people?

Michael: Yes. With actors, it’s part of a process but with business people who don’t want to become actors, I just took the first two or three principles of acting. There are around 200 and we only had an hour.

Jill: What were the three principles you covered?

Michael: The voice (which is the most important thing), breathing which of course incorporates the voice, and physicality as an actor – not just fitness but how you stand, walk and use your body to create a character.

Jill: So that means your presence, which is equally important to business people.

Michael: Absolutely.

Jill: How did you find the input and questions from the delegates compared to your normal students?

Michael: Actually there were very few. They were very attentive and I took the stage along with Mia [Mia Bird, founder of Bird Studios] and we covered so much that the hour went really quickly. As adults, it was almost as if they didn’t want to miss out on anything and they really appreciated this opportunity, which was great.

Jill: I guess people were there as they’d chosen your workshop so they keen to soak up the information eagerly?

Michael: Yes, that’s right! So different from some children.

Jill: Were there any takeaways for you today from being with them that have surprised you?

Michael: Yes, actually. It was interesting to be with adults instead of young people, those who have day-to-day jobs and lives, families and other jobs, and it was something new to them to discover how to breathe properly, how to walk, how to create a character. So what I learned from them through just the feedback I got, seeing their smiling faces, is just how much they were enjoying it! It was like being back at school for them and something different from their normal mundane jobs, so I learned that they appreciated it a lot more than kids do. Kids probably take it a lot more for granted and the adults knew that this was something different, especially hearing it from someone different – I’ve done TV, West End, lots of work over 25 years. They were a good audience.

Jill: What do you think they’re going to take back to their businesses from this session?

Michael: I think they’re going to take back probably being able to stand up in front of people with more vigour, with more positivity hopefully; being able to use their diaphragm, which is very important in breathing. If you get in a particular situation where you’re shallow breathing, you need to be able to relax into your breathing so you can do whatever you need to next because as I said, breathing is everything and you’ve got to be able to take good, deep breaths in order to relax yourself.

Jill: That’s particularly important for those who present in their business life. It’s something which is covered in the training I and my team do for presentation and media training, but I’m sure it really meant a lot more having this experience with a professional actor.

Michael: Yes, it’s so important to get an audience relaxed in the first few minutes of a presentation and have them eating out of your hand. That’s when you get a better chance to get your business ideas across. 

Jill: It’s been a delight to talk to you today. Thanks so much again.

Michael: Absolutely my pleasure.

A version of this interview was first published on Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce's Brighton Summit website where you can see how a full day of learning, networking and exploring potential benefits people from all types of businesses in the area.

Brighton and Barclays mean business for high growth entrepreneurs

Chimera's MD Jill Woolf recently interviewed Barclays' Corporate Relationship Director, Paul Williams, on the bank's sponsorship of a session at Brighton Summit. The Summit is organised by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce and is a popular business conference, now in its fourth year, attracting around 300 delegates comprising start-ups, SMEs and bigger corporates, business owners and managers, not-for-profits and entrepreneurs, working in and around the city.

Jill is Lead Ambassador for the Chamber and a member of its Board.

High growth business entrepreneurship and its challenges are the subject of the Barclays-sponsored session and the speaker is Marc Koska, the inventor of the K1 auto-disabling syringe and founder of the SafePoint Trust, a charity which campaigns for safer syringe use.

Jill: We’re delighted Barclays is on board for this year’s Brighton Summit, Paul. I’m sure members and delegates would like to know more about your unit’s role within the bank, and the synergy between what you do and the session you’re sponsoring. As head of the high growth entrepreneur team, what are you looking for in an ideal high growth business?

Paul: In black and white, a high growth company should be consistently growing at 20% each year in terms of revenue and number of employees over the last three years, or has received external investment through post seed funding. That said, not all high growth businesses fit into the black and white definition so we also look at the companies’ USPs, growth potential, management team and strategic plans to move the business forward.

Jill: What does your new service offer, why did Barclays feel it was necessary now, and how will high growth businesses in the city benefit?

Paul: Barclays is continuing to build out its proposition, which supports high growth companies and entrepreneurs right across the UK. Through its ‘High Growth & Entrepreneurs’ offering, the bank is at the forefront in helping founders and entrepreneurs build and scale their businesses at speed.

Building and maintaining forward momentum in a high growth business requires continuous investment, so we’ve developed a suite of funding options to meet the changing needs of a high growth business. Barclays can support entrepreneurs from idea to IPO utilising our £200m fund for venture debt lending.

The specialist Brighton team has individuals from many parts of the business including a dedicated high growth and entrepreneur manager so we’re able to guide and support a company from start-up all the way through to flotation or sale.

Jill: What particular challenges do high growth entrepreneurs have that others don’t?

Paul: Good question! In our recent white paper ‘The Scale Up’ report, which Barclays commissioned with the support of Cambridge and Oxford University, a number of challenges were identified. The report is available free of charge to download from the Barclays High Growth & Entrepreneur website and well worth a read - https://entrepreneurs.barclays/  

In a snapshot, funding presents a huge challenge to scale up business, however it’s not all about money, and the skills gap and ability to scale at speed, production and personnel also present unique challenges for scale up businesses. 

Jill: How does the Eagle Lab fit in?

Paul: Barclays Eagle Lab provides the facility for UK start-up businesses to co-locate, collaborate and grow.

The Eagle Lab provides access to resources including expert mentoring, 3D printers and laser cutters - giving Brighton’s start-up community a crucial boost. For more information, visit https://labs.uk.barclays or pop in to the Eagle Lab, which is located at Preston Circus.

Jill: Tell me about your background and journey to get to your current post. Do you have an entrepreneurial background?

Paul: I’ve been a business manager with Barclays in Brighton for 20 years and I’ve supported start-up businesses all the way to corporate companies. It’s great to see some of the entrepreneurs I helped to start up now turning over six figure sums. I’ve always lived and worked in the area and I feel I have developed a strong understanding of the unique Brighton market.

Jill: Thanks so much for talking with me, Paul, and I hope you enjoy this year’s Summit.

Paul: It’s been a pleasure. I’ll be there along with members of my unit so not only will be joining in with the day, we’re there to answer any questions from delegates and offer advice. I’m really looking forward to it, and of course our sponsored session on high growth business.

Brighton Summit takes place on 14th October 2016 (www.brightonsummit.com) 

 This blog post was originally published on the Brighton Summit website.

Work-Life Balance Olympian Style...

7 Work-Life Balance Secrets of Elite Champions... and You

Guest blog by Nick Le Clere, strategic change consultant and facilitator, executive leadership coach, trainer, innovator and speaker, running online webinars and learning events for conscious business leaders of the future www.nextlevelconsulting.co

Hooray for our Team GB Olympians! What truly outstanding performances from so many, to win 67 medals in all. 27 Gold, 23 Silver and 17 Bronze - wow, truly amazing.

Wonderful timing for putting the heart and self-respect back into Great Britain, after Brexit as well.

How did that happen?

What did it take to create that level of success, both individually and as a team? What did it take, to peak at the precise time, for the maximum Olympic effect?

Well for sure, the athletes didn't just roll up to Rio and get lucky. They did not drive themselves to the edge of insanity, just before the Games and hope to pull off a coup. They did not pray for miracles. They knew they could do it, deep down inside themselves. They were ready.

Many of the athletes talk about planning for this event for many years beforehand. Some deliberately missed other competitions like the Commonwealth Games to be able to retain absolute focus on Olympic Gold in Rio 2016.

All the while, training relentlessly and building their mental commitment, emotional resilience and self-belief levels to astounding levels of positivity and self-assuredness.

Also receiving the help and support of coaches, mentors, physios, trainers, families, friends and of course Lottery Funding.

The support these athletes have received has been planned and organised since the Lottery Fund was first started in the 1990s. That’s the kind of long-term planning, organising and consistent investment in the environment and infrastructure that has been going on behind the scenes for years. Not to mention the ongoing benefits of the London Olympic infrastructure created previously.

What can you do for you, to nurture your high performance?

What can we take and apply from this amazing Olympic lesson in discipline, commitment and resolve, to be the best you can be, on your particular stage?

 1. Pick your battles and commitments

Beware of over-commitment. Be fully aware of what you say yes to. Don’t try to do everything and wear yourself out.

Make time for urgent and important activities and delegate as much stuff that you don't like doing as possible. Keep your edge sharp, not blunted on trivia.

2. Manage your down-time as well as up-time

Sporting legends look after themselves and know how to relax and switch off. Plan and organise your time with your own rest and recovery cycles in mind.

Burn out = no medals at all. Give yourself priority among the ever-increasing workload.

3. Build high quality support systems

None of the Olympic athletes could have achieved what they did without full-on help and support over an extended period.

Ask for help. It’s a sign of strength not weakness, if you want to win the big stuff.

Balance your work, rest and play time, and actively schedule these things in your calendar, if necessary. Look at your eating and drinking habits and make more healthy choices.

4. Get a coach and/or mentor

Get yourself a coach and/or mentor with whom you really connect and bounce new ideas around to raise your game.

Most athletes have more than one coach - areas covered include winning mindsets, self-belief, various capability sets, energetics, optimising emotional content, and work-life balance.

Coaches help you see what you can’t yet see or what’s staring you in the face while you look around everywhere for answers. They help you create new pathways for high performance and wellbeing.

5. Stay grounded and centred

It’s far too easy to lose your centre and sense of self under intense pressure. Sustained exposure to pressure and stress creates fatigue and leads to deteriorating performance.

With both stress overload and fatigue, simple things start to become difficult to achieve consistently and self-mastery goes out of the window.

Finding ways to relax and come back to your centre, say through visualisation, meditation or taking regular time in nature to soften your focus and create harmony within, is time well spent in the pursuit of high performance.

6. Stay positive and focused

While easier said than done, when under pressure, if you feel overwhelm approaching, the best thing you can do is stop and breathe and take a time out.

Stepping back helps to refocus your attention on the bigger picture and create an opportunity for positivity to be reclaimed.

This can be hard when in the thick of challenging situations, but at the first chance you can, create, pull back and evaluate as an observer and notice new ways of doing things entering your perceptions...

You can do this and still keep your eyes on the prize!

7. Manage expectations

Rome was not built in a day. Olympic medals are not won through short-term effort cycles.

Be honest with yourself, and others around you, about just what is possible. Get used to saying no, if things feel wrong.

By saying this, you may be able to create new ways of approaching things that you feel more able to say yes to. Practice discernment and be aware of how much pressure you put on yourself and its effect - positive or limiting.

Too much pressure over extended periods is madness and no medals come from that choice or habit whatsoever. Unless cultural insanity is the prize.

And finally…

Be kind to yourself, especially if no-one else is being kind to you.

If this is your normal working environment, and work-life balance is not possible in your team or business - then it’s time for a change.

If you don't put your work-life balance first, no one else will.

So it’s up to you - how badly do you want the end prize?

What is your Gold medal event, at your own lifetime Olympic Games?

The Case of Noddy and the Mysterious Media Interview

Well, at least that got your attention!

Can you remember the worst interview you’ve ever seen on TV? I bet you can. Was it a politician, reality ‘star’, footballer or unsuspecting member of the public?

For me, it was the director of a certain holiday park company who was being grilled by a prime time TV reporter about some pretty torrid holiday experiences from customers at one of their venues. This was a perfect example of media training - or in this case, lack of media training.

The company representative continually denied everything, was incredibly defensive to the point of being downright aggressive in tone as well as body language, was utterly disinterested in the customers’ complaints, and frankly made viewers feel they’d never want to use that holiday firm in the future.

How different it could have been. The right spokesperson, preparation, tone, language and message delivery could have been the difference between:

(a) alienating the reporter as well as the viewer;

(b) getting the company perceived as caring, considerate and responsive; and

(c) winning and losing customers.

Have you worn the right outfit for the interview?

There are so many things to consider when agreeing to appear on TV or on the radio, or on-line, and that’s where we come in.

Our media trainers are experienced broadcasters, journalists and communications experts, not wannabes or copycats.

We will create a bespoke training course for your business and its issues, and deliver it at your own offices or venue of choice. It can last as long as you want it to ie half a day, a whole day or two. It depends how many people are to be trained and how much content we agree with you will benefit your executives. We also incorporate personal branding and image.

We work with a professional filming crew, so everyone will be filmed and critiqued (in only the most positive way), then we go about giving you expert tips and techniques to hone your skills and make you feel confident and controlled for future broadcasts. The experience takes away the mystique and fear, and having been through it once, you’ll feel much better about doing it for real when the need arises.

“This was one of the best courses I’ve ever been on, and I remember your tips to this very day,” said one of my delegates, a director from a housing group, “even down to the choice of tie I should wear!”

And Noddy? 

It’s the name for those little head shots you see in interviews consisting of nods or signs of listening by the interviewer. Usually it’s because there’s only one camera available, and noddies are recorded after the interview has taken place then edited in. It seems real to the viewer, as if the interview is being filmed from several different angles with a bigger film crew.

Get in touch now to talk about the creation of a bespoke package for your company executives. Simply click here or give us a call.

Your company reputation is worth it.

“Don't let's ask for the moon! We have the stars!” ― Olive Higgins Prouty, Now, Voyager

Last week, our training team had some fresh professional photos taken by our lovely friends at VERVATE in Brighton.

The original plan was to use the seafront as our stage and create some rather wacky shots but as the heavens opened, Plan B came into operation: we used the theatre and stage setting at 88 London Road, an independent CIC (community interest company) where the current performance is Peter Pan, a musical adventure. We're strategic PR partners with the 88 team, so we have very special access.

Having professional images means projecting a professional image and with our quirky company, only quirky images would do. Effective branding means always being consistent and cohesive, and that includes business photography. We're vibrant personalities, our offering is strategic and business-like, so having us stand dumbly in a straight line just wouldn't be appropriate.

So here are some of the images we created, thanks to the wonderful Susi Doherty and Simon Dack of VERVATE. "Do something funky" I said and that's just what we got. Where else would I get the chance to lift up the moon?!

We can't get you to the moon but we can help your business fly!

So here we have from left to right, back row: Pete Jenkins (Gamification+), Jill Woolf, Chris Cummings (OGC Solutions); front row: Eleanor Dobing, Susi Doherty (VERVATE), Sheryl Tipton and Samantha Wilding. Missing from the trainers' line-up is Barney Durrant (Bluebell Digital). 

This unique team of industry experts is collaborating to bring small business owners and their teams a range of PR, sales and marketing-related training workshops designed to create better performance, enhance skills and improve profits.

It's no good waiting in the wings, dreaming you'll get to Neverland, wishing you could fly and hoping the business spotlight will fall on you, centre stage. Enough with the Peter Pan theatre puns! You need to invest in your people so your business can experience return on investment.

We can't get our clients to the moon but our selection of perfectly crafted topics, from content marketing through gamification, social media, photography, getting your business story in the media, plus tons of other sessions, can certainly make you superstars in your own right.

All of our trainers have real experience in the topics about which they're coaching, and have worked with every type of organisation from start-ups, social enterprises, SMEs, multinational conglomerates and everything in between. Between us, we have around 200 years' experience. This unique mix isn't replicated anywhere else.

Go on, book an Early Bird ticket now and say 'Curtains up' for business growth.

Each and every one of them a training superstar!

 To book, go to Chimera Courses - practical skills for practical businesses.

We all sell – some better than others!

Guest blog by Chris Cummings, OGC Solutions

In every organisation, large or small, everyone is involved with the sales process. Whether it’s selling an idea internally, as a leader galvanising your workforce, or developing new business by selling to clients direct.

The word ‘sales’ can conjure up traditional images of bashing the phone or knocking on doors, pushing a product or service in an aggressive way. However, the process has developed significantly in recent years and buyers have become more savvy and knowledgeable. So as individuals looking to develop our businesses, we have to become more sophisticated.

It’s not rocket science to become an effective sales person but there are some simple pointers that can help you achieve your goals.

Learn how to target and aim high

Social media has given sales people a huge opportunity to research buyers and companies more effectively to enable a more tailored approach. Technology has given us the tools to communicate in different ways, identifying decision-makers more easily without having to rely on traditional cold-calling and door knocking.

A lot of people think they can sell, but it is an art; however, it can be taught and perfected. Having a toolbox of tricks you can use will undoubtedly make you a more effective and successful organisation both internally and externally. 

Traditional methods are getting tired and produce average results – choose to be successful and learn a new way to develop your business. 

Come along to my Chimera Courses on Achieving Sales Success and Improving Profitability to find out more. Book here.

Where's the magic?

Guest blog by Sheryl Tipton

PR and marketing are funny things. Every business needs them but few really know how to get the best from them.

It’s fine if you’re part of a large company with an in-house marketing team ready to jump onto Facebook every hour of the day, or produce reams of content to boost your ratings; but if it’s your small or medium sized business and it’s down to you to find and develop potential new customers, losing out on your PR and marketing could mean losing out to your competitors.

So, where to start? Should you do a little bit of Twitter? Could you write a few blogs? Or are you better spending that hard earned cash on a glossy brochure? All three (and more) are often points for discussion when I first meet clients, or even when just casually chatting at networking events. 

Tell someone you’re a PR expert and their eyes light up (especially if you’re carrying a magic hat and can conjure up rabbits too!) as they then hope you’ll able to fix their marketing over the time it takes for you to drink a cup of coffee. It’s not that easy unfortunately BUT a good, well thought out and timely strategy will go a long way to helping you achieve your goals.

Having a PR and marketing strategy means putting a system in place. There does need to be organisation, thought, time and creativity, but once you begin to understand that most of what you need revolves around your ideal target audience, not your product, then things become a lot simpler.

There are so many ways that you can promote yourself in the fast paced world in which we live, but again once you begin to mould your content around your target market, the places that in which you should promote yourself, be they online, in the media or elsewhere, begin to slowly become apparent, without too much difficulty, and this then guides your decisions.

PR and marketing experts are sadly not magicians. We can’t wave magic wands and make new customers appear for you in a flash (oh I wish we could, it would be so interesting on a cold June day) but what we do is work very hard to make sure that the communications you put in place in your organisation really deliver results for your business.

And now, even better, through our training courses we can now help you to independently know where to start, and how to write your own strategy.

Our half day course will help you to:

·         Understand the elements of a marketing plan

·         Identify your target audience/s

·         Use competitors to your advantage

·         Work out your business strengths, weaknesses and USPs

·         Understand the stages of the customer buying process

·         Choose the right solution to promote your product or service

·         Maximise attention across all channels

·         Use all resources, without breaking the bank!

·         Evaluate the return on your investment in effective PR and marketing 

So, if you’re struggling to know how to begin, or if you’ve spent some time on marketing with little result, do come along to our PR and Marketing session in Brighton on 17^th June, and see how we can spread a little magic to help you stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Book an Early Bird rate now here: Chimera Courses

I’m ready for my close-up now, Mr DeMille

Your heart is racing. There are little beads of sweat on your brow. Your mouth is so dry you could scrape a match along your tongue and it’d light up (don’t try that at home, folks).

In two seconds, you’ll be appearing on live TV. You thought you could handle it. You thought it was a waste of money employing a professional to help you to prepare. Now you’re wishing you’d listened to your colleagues and not thought you knew it all.

Your head is now an empty place with tumbleweed blowing around and you’re grasping around for any words that you can string together to make rational sentences. What will they ask me? What can I answer? Who am I and why am I here?!

This is a familiar position for people who are asked to take part in interviews for the media, whether on TV, radio or for an online platform, who haven't prepared properly. Your performance in front of the cameras or on the radio can mean the difference between getting your messages across succinctly, on point and professionally, or rambling incoherently, losing the plot and damaging your reputation. Which would you prefer?

It’s a no-brainer - get professional training. 

Here are some of the benefits:

•  You'll find out who's the best person to use
• You'll learn how to prepare, visualise and rehearse
• You'll get skills to get the job done effectively
• You'll learn how to calmly deliver key messages
• You’ll look the part and feel more confident
• You’ll know what the journalist is looking for
• You can raise your brand awareness
• You'll understand what soundbites are and how to deliver them
•  You'll keep your cool in a crisis
•   If relevant, you'll grab the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive

Choosing the right location is important too

To find out more about our media training courses and bespoke in-house training for your company, check out Chimera Courses.

Our trainers are industry experts with many years of relevant media and training experience, not novices or copycats. We’ve handled press and crises in-house for small to large companies and not-for-profits, as well as been media interviewers, journalists and producers, so we know what we’re talking about. 

Altogether in our team, we have around 200 years of experience in PR, sales and marketing. That makes us very old or very knowledgeable, our clients judge which. 

Hint: none of us are collecting our pensions just yet…

Epic photography for business

People engage more through a powerful image than text. That’s why you should use the best possible photography for business. It’s a no-brainer yet it’s amazing how many people use out-of-focus, badly lit and unclear images.

Oops!

Impactful photography is crucial to promoting your business especially with the power and immediacy of social media. That means using relevant images.

It’s also essential to have an approachable, professional-looking photograph of yourself so your potential customers can see the face behind the business, making it more personal. People are more likely to do business with someone they know and trust which is why you should have an image as your avatar on social media, rather than the default ‘egg’.

Your products and services should have fantastic professional-looking photography too although sometimes you might not have sufficient budget to hire a photographer.  Well taken photos will enhance your organisation’s PR whether it’s online or on printed media. Flyers, exhibition material and leaflets are much more likely to be read if they are covered with eye-catching imagery.

With the advent of mobile devices with good camera facilities, you can create good photos yourself although for high-level corporate work, you should still try to find budget for a professional photographer if you can.

You can get stock images from the internet but beware copyright and licensing laws.

If you decide to take your own photos, you need to consider subject, lighting, composition, quality etc and be aware your brand reputation might be tarnished if you don’t do it well.

Please don’t assume images you find on Google are free to use. From the time an image is created it is automatically protected by copyright, which is protection provided by the law applying to all images. To use an image without having permission or purchasing a licence is known as infringement. 

Infringement of copyright can be very costly and result in lawsuits, legal fees and even criminal charges. There are ways you can be found out if you think your use of an image from the internet can’t be tracked, so beware!

Now that local papers particularly have fewer staff photographers, they’re on the look-out for creative images to be sent in … but only if they’re good quality, in the right format and size, and tell a story.

To find out lots more about this subject, check out our #ChimeraCourse photography session: www.chimeracomms.co.uk/courses.php

Think of the damage limitation involved if you get it wrong!

Training? Bah humbug!

Giving your teams the skills to do their jobs properly is good for your business and good for everyone.

Training and development improves your business through performance, profit and staff morale. 

Naturally anyone who’s tasked with doing a job needs to know how to do it, yet firms often give people an additional remit but don’t train them. It’s as if there’s an expectation they’ll suddenly know how, which means that probably the job will get done badly or not at all. Wasted time, possibly damaged organisational reputation and certainly a frustrated team member.

Key benefits of giving your teams the training they need:

·         better customer service through better communication

·         improved productivity and profit

·         people who feel up-to-date on latest technology or industry best practice 

·         better loyalty and retention as people feel you’ve invested in them

·         retention saves you money

In addition, your people will have valuable new skills, increasing their contribution to the business and building their self-esteem. The training they do can take them into other positions within the organisation, positions with better prospects and/or better pay and which help your business. And they have fresh skills to do new and different tasks, which keeps them motivated and fresh.

So if you think training is a waste of time or resources when people should be at their desks, think again. If you don’t train your teams to communicate better, your key messages won’t be getting to the right customers or potential customers. That could be wasting the money you might already be spending on PR and marketing, and damaging your organisational reputation.

What if they take the training then disappear to a competitor, you ask. That's life. As I always say, it's the real world. Stuff happens. Deal with it but don't dwell on it.

If you’re using so-so photography to promote your business, you’re wasting time and money, and giving your competitors the edge.

If your personal brand doesn’t match that of your organisation or business, you’re potentially damaging your chances of success.

And if you want to know how to use social media to promote your organisation effectively, don’t just assume everyone can do it. It could all go horribly wrong!

Check out #ChimeraCourses – a range of training sessions with skilled, experienced and knowledgeable industry experts not copycats or wannabes www.chimeracomms.co.uk/courses.php

Don’t be a training humbug. Skills are for life, not just a sweetener!

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery”

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery”

English writer Eustace Budgell in the newspaper The Spectator No. 605, October 1714

Once again, we’ve been copied. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.

We’re always flattered and delighted that our clients love what we’re doing and we’re also flattered that other companies in our industry find our ideas and writing so wonderful they have to cut and paste without a second thought. But I often wonder why they don’t come up with some original stuff of their own.

We’ve all used ideas from others over the years, after all it’s the real world and there’s no copyright on ideas. But really, are these people so desperate or uninspired that they can’t put their own grey cells to work and shine on their own?

We’ve had our website images copied on other sites, text lifted for social media profiles (yes, word for word), our training courses and our business model replicated. 

As I’ve said, it’s the real world and there are, I suppose, only a finite number of ways in which you can set up a business. After 13 years trading our particular way, someone was bound to copy the methodology at some point, and probably this has happened already more than once.

One company actually had the chutzpah to email under the guise of a student, asking for our fees and what would be included, in an effort to tease out how we go about things – without thinking that we would see through this immediately. The student was working as their intern and named on their website! Most likely, if they'd come and asked me in an open and honest way, I'd have helped them with advice if they weren't aware how much they should be charging.

Source: seanwes.com

So, I say to those companies out there: You know who you are. And we know who you are. So get on with running your own businesses, be successful in your own right, and look up what ‘integrity’ and ‘professionalism’ mean.

My own 30+ years’ knowledge, wisdom, experience and intuition for what we do and who we do it for, plus those of my whole team - together with proven results - are elements of a business which can’t be replicated.

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery” said Eustace Budgell. To paraphrase The Eurythmics, “Who are we to disagree?!”

There’s plenty of business out there for everyone, so stand on your own two feet and be proud.

We certainly are.

You talking to me?!

If you’ve attended any of my training courses, you’ll know how frequently I stress the importance of talking to your target audiences (the different groups of people with whom you need to communicate) using language they understand. By this, I mean making it easy for your customers and potential customers, as well as any others important to your business, to ‘get’ what you’re all about, why you do it and how you can be of value to them.

No jargon, no patronising sector speak, just simple, straight talking.

The Chimera Communications strapline of ‘Simply Delivering the Message’ says it all.

I’ve come across several situations recently where organisations and businesses have made the mistake of assuming customers understand their language. With some sectors like finance, there’s no getting away from regulations requiring information to be delivered in certain ways. There are some companies incredibly effective in translating this to customers, but many are not. People get confused, and results can be misunderstandings, wasted energy and resource, and duplicated work as well as products.

Understanding your customers means knowing when you need to go the extra mile to explain things in the right way. It’ll save you more time and effort later on.

With online polls, surveys, questionnaires and emails, as well as the good old-fashioned method of actually talking to someone, there’s no excuse for not qualifying what your customers need.

So here are some tips:

·      * Ask your customers when, how and what information they’d like from you – in other words, what is of value to them

·      * Know your customers so well that you understand the language, tone and messages they need to receive, rather than what you churn out to them

·      * Ensure all your teams (if you have rotas or shifts) know what’s going on so customers don’t have to repeat themselves again and again, which is not only frustrating and irritating, but can lead to negative PR through word of mouth and bad online reviews

·      *Make things simple and easy to understand – that way, you’re far more likely to engage and do more business with them

If you don’t connect and build a relationship with your customers, the risk is they’ll go to someone else who ‘talks their language’.