services
So what can I do for you? In a word, Lots! If you’re looking to set up a new business, promote yourself, advertise your services, launch a new web presence, get a new logo, get some web hosting, send out an e-shot… whatever. If a marketing agency can do it for you, then so can I – at a better rate. Please see below a brief synopsis of the services I can offer.
And, if you don’t see what you’re looking for, drop me an email or give me a call on 07538 430834 and I’ll scratch my head and see If I can come up with what you want. Or If I know someone who can!
graphic design
With a few years’ agency experience under my belt, I know my onions when it comes to design. I’ve been the graphic designer for several design, marketing and new media agencies and the in-house designer for a bike company. Throughout all this I’ve done everything from logos and business stationery to vehicle liveries, print advertising, brochures, posters, flyers, iPhone app graphics, stickers, postcards, flags and product graphics – liaising with suppliers ranging from the printer down the road, to huge manufacturing companies in the far east in order to get the job done.
Be it a business card you require, or a 48-sheet billboard poster – give me a call on 07538 430834 and see if I can help you out!
print management
I’ve dealt with printers for years. I can speak printer language and know who to go to and what to ask for in order to get your job done. Yes, you could take your artwork and go to a printer yourself – or you could leave it with me to manage your print run for you, and let me ensure that the pallet-load of product you end up with is exactly what you were expecting to receive…
website design
There are endless companies offering website solutions nowadays. Many of them will capitalise on the mystical properties of the web and spin you a bunch of hocus-pocus about the magic they can weave and what a website they have built can do for you. I’ll do things a little differently. Sure, I know my FTP from my DNS but I won’t ram it down your throat, blind you with complex techno-babble, or sell you stuff you don’t want or need. What I will do is listen to your requirements, design something that looks fantastic and reflects exactly the image you want to convey, and build it into a solid, hard-working website with only the functionality you require. No hard upsell, no bullshit – just a website that works for you and your business. Plus I can offer prices that beat the agencies because I’m not paying for a swanky converted mill loft-studio, or buying posh coffee and biscuits to impress my clients.
Give me a call on 07538 430834 to discuss your web requirements. Posh coffee negotiable!
email marketing campaigns
Email marketing, e-shots, targeted email campaigns…. spam…. call it what you will, if you want to send a snazzy looking email out to a bunch of potential customers showing your services, carrying a special offer, linking to your website, advertising a new product, or simply to say hello… whatever the purpose, I can help.
I’ll design you an email, give you the facts, manage your mailing list and include all the necessary legal provisions to ensure you’re all above board and not guilty of spamming.
I won’t offer you unrealistic promises, just a professional service and a comprehensive set of statistics afterwards to demonstrate what your client base are really interested in, and perhaps how better to target them next time.
photography
Whether you’re after product “pack shots” for your literature or website, or portraiture to give it that personal touch, I can help you out. I can come to your business and spend a little while just toting a camera around to capture mood shots, or set your business in context with a spectacular local landscape, shop front image or street scene.
In the market for a more vintage feel? Something a bit different? I have the kit to do a unique shoot for your business that will deliver high quality and utterly unique vintage results. No pseudo-retro Instagram plugins or effects, this is the real thing. Vintage cameras, film and home development. I’ve recently done a shoot for Emma’s Tea Parlour, and captured the grittiness of the Nook Beer Festival. If you’re interested, check out the selection of vintage cameras I can use to do your shoot, and give me a call!
Please feel free to email me or give me a call on 07538 430834 to discuss your requirements.
copywriting
A good few years working in the design industry has imparted on me a certain fastidiousness when it comes to copywriting. For the uninitiated, copywriting is the production of the words, sentences and paragraphs that populate your website or brochure, and tell your story to the world.
I know where to put apostrophes and where not to put them. I know the difference between “there”, “their” and “they’re”, “who’s” and “whose” and “your” and “you’re” and seeing them misused in print makes me genuinely angry.
If you’re not too hot at writing, simply leave it to me. I can get under the skin of your business and write about it in an engaging way that hits the right impression and makes people want to read on…
…I’ll also ensure the spelling and syntax are correct, and all the apostrophes are in the right place!
illustration
Sometimes photographs just don’t, or can’t, convey the message you want. Nor can you always find the perfect picture for your needs from stock image libraries – plus the fact such images always look generic and contrived. What you need is a bit of bespoke illustration. I can produce graphics to suit your requirements, be it a technical illustration, diagram or graph, or an Art Nouveau style poster-piece.
Sometimes in this day and age there is an over-reliance on computers for production of graphic work. I like to feel there is a happy balance to be made between modern and traditional media. Use the best bits from both, and come up with something truly individual and unique. I’m quite happy to begin on a brief with a pencil or a biro in my hand – even with my digital work I use a pen and tablet the vast majority of the time. No mouse for me. It’s the most natural way to design and illustrate. So, if you feel you need something more individual to embellish your publications or website, give me a call and I’ll see what I can do for you.
social media
Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Google +, Soundcloud, Foursquare, Myspace…? No, not Myspace. It’s dead. And it was only the preserve of angst-ridden emo kids anyway. Far from being the preferred method for the “yoof of today” to organise riots, Social Media can actually be a fantastic marketing tool which is free, far reaching and easy to keep up to date. If you’re running a business today, you really should be using it. I can set you up and show you how – in simple, easy terms. I can also manage it for you if you’re pushed for time. Give me a call to discuss your requirements!
SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is somehow perceived as being a “black art of the web”. The myth is mainly perpetuated by those unscrupulous organisations who extort large sums of cash from you to apparently improve your search engine rankings. The honest fact of the matter is that most of what they pedal is utter crap (pardon my French). Good SEO comes down to how your site is built from the start, and what content is included. It’s as much about how you write the copy on your site than anything else. And don’t be taken in by the “promises” or “guarantees” these companies make. You have to be realistic. If you have a business selling ballpoint pens and want to appear on the front page of a Google search for that term, then your chances are pretty remote. You’re competing with all the many, many thousands of businesses that also sell, manufacture, or frankly even mention ballpoint pens on their website, anywhere in the world. If however, you sell multi coloured stuffing for antique cuddly panda bears, you’re in with much more of a fighting chance. Less competition = better results.
Give me a call on 07538 430834, or email me and I’ll give you the honest facts on SEO without fleecing you. I can tell you how to manage your expectations, how to optimise what you have and refine the way your site is written to achieve better results in the only real way possible. I can guide you on Adwords too, and potentially stop you throwing a whole bunch of money away for nothing. There is a good reason why Google got so rich so quickly!
