“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