It’s Martin Lewis… the ‘Money Saving Expert’ of course! We love Martin, and his ‘consumer revenge’ campaign. We think he keeps a lot of the big (and sometimes complacent) companies on their toes, which can only be a good thing.
We’re going to see Martin tonight, at a ‘one off’ show in London called ‘Money Saving Expert Live’. So in the spirit of saving everyone a few pennies, we thought we would develop a ‘money saving shopping list’ based on the advice Martin gives on his website
It’s a very easy to use ‘tick box’ affair.. simply tick the items you need in advance, and then cross ithem out as you shop (as if we needed to explain how to use a shopping list to anyone). Anyway, the list is printer friendly, and is designed to print nicely on A4 paper. You can also fold it down the centre, making it a handy A5 size too.
You can download the list by clicking on the link below. It’s completely free of course… please feel free to copy it and distribute it to your friends, colleagues, and family.
When we’re meeting with clients, we often find ourselves quoting the work of some of the best known brands, highlighting the reasons behind their success. As well as being an interesting subject matter, this often prompts ideas and inspiration… and can help give direction to a project.
We recently came across a great book which does this job far more eloquently than we could ever hope to do over a coffee… and with just the right amount of detail too. The book ‘How They Started - Global Brands’ looks at how 21 of the top global brands became successful, and includes stories on companies as diverse as Google and Volvo.
From the book:-
“Lots of us have ideas we think would make great businesses, yet most of us never do anything about these ideas. Probably because we just wouldn’t know where to start. But what if you took the first step? Where could it lead?
We reveal the stories behind some of the world’s biggest brands, including:
Where the initial idea came from
How the brand names were chosen
How and when the businesses first started
How long it took to make that first million
The challenge the founders faced
And the secrets to each brand’s success”
Whether you are managing an established brand, or are completely new to the subject, we think you will find this an interesting and engaging read. Who knows? You might even be able to learn from the ‘big boys’ and implement some of their ideas in your own business.
Arrrrrgh… it’s one of those phrases that really winds us up when we hear it, yet ocassionally (and embarassingly) we sometimes find ourselves uttering the very same words… “At the end of the day”. And yes, we’ve also been known to utter that classic “it isn’t rocket science“.
Well, we’re ging to try our very best to stop using these expressions… as a recent poll by Oxford University has highlighted them as some of the most annoying out there.
And if a point were to be proven about how annoying and overused “At the end of the day” can be, then you need look no further than this compliation video!
Can’t see the video? Click here to view it on YouTube.
So, in the future, you might want to be careful about the language you use in your marketing materials.
Avoiding these cliches isn’t rocket science you know! (damn… we just did it again!).
We’ve been resisting it for weeks, but since we’re nearly half way through November… we’ve finally succumbed to thinking about buying Christmas presents. As such, we really like this heartwarming TV ad’ from John Lewis. Click here to view it on YouTube (sorry, we couldn’t embed this one into the blog).
If you’re in the market for a website, and need a new web address (a.k.a domain name) then you might be interested in a new suffix, that will be available in a few weeks time. From 3rd December, trademark owners will be able to apply for a website address ending with .tel e.g. mycompanywebsite.tel
General applications (for businesses without registered trademarks) will be processed from 3rd February 2009. The .tel domains are aimed at businesses who simply need a contact page website that can easily be viewed on mobile devices, without the need to build or host a site.
You can learn more about .tel domains (and watch an introductory video) at the Telnic website.
See if you can guess what the ad below is for.
We won’t spoil it by telling you the answer, suffice to say we think it a highly effective piece of creative.
Can’t see the video? Click here to watch it on YouTube.
Picture the scene… you’re about to set off for a meeting… you’re doing your preparation and you realise that you need a replacement notepad for your shiny corporate portfolio. You head off to the stationery cupboard, only to discover that those cheeky devils in {delete as appropriate} Accounts/Sales/Marketing/Operations took the last one, and didn’t bother re-ordering any!
You could of course quickly swipe some plain copier paper from the nearest printer… or you could instead head over to Printable Paper where you can choose from a selection of printable templates. Take your pick from lined paper, graph paper, dot paper, music paper, and oh so much more (in fact we didn’t know that there were so many different types of paper!). Bear in mind the site has a global audience, so if you’re in the UK, you will most likely want to head straight to the A4 section. The templates can be downloaded as a PDF or in Microsoft Word format. They are completely free (but then we would hope so given that you have to use your own paper and printer!).
As well as offering printable paper templates, you can also download 2009 calendars and cash receipts forms. Ok, so some of the designs leave ‘a little to be desired’, but if you’re simply looking for something functional then they will certainly do the job… at the very least helping you out until the replacement stationery order arrives!
If you currently spend any time working from home (or are perhaps considering doing so in the future) then you might find this post by Treehugger interesting. As well as offering suggestions on how to keep your office healthier, there are also some other handy tips, such as choosing the right desk and chair.
We’re assuming that most of our readers are aware of something called Google streetview by now (if not, then where have you been?). Anyway, as you will (or won’t) know… it’s a handy feature of Google maps that allows you to view 360 degree panoramas of a particular street or location… all very cool stuff!
Google streetview started in the US a year or so ago… and up until now, only a few major cities across Europe have been photographed.
In order to create the interactive panoramas, Google have invested in a number of especially adapted (rather wacky looking) vehicles with something that looks like a cross between a PA system and a speed camera strapped to the roof. Eagle eyed spotters might have seen some of these cars in the UK … and the good news is that in time, all of the major cities (and maybe a few of the minor ones) will be snapped.
Whilst the UK version of streetview hasn’t officially been released, a new site has been launched that uses the technology (we think it might actually be Google behind the site… using it as a testbed prior to a full launch).
So if you fancy yourself as a budding taxi driver, or you’d simply like to take a virtual tour of London, then why not visit the Seety site? Once there, simply click on the street you would like to view and interactive photo will pop up.
If you’d like to know more about streetview, you can check out the video tutorial below. We’re not big fans of lycra, we’re not fans or the colour orange… and we’re especially not fans of orange lycra, but if you can stomach the presenter’s tight fitting outfit, then it’s not a bad intro!
OK OK… so it’s been a few weeks since we last posted (well a couple of months in fact). Don’t worry, we haven’t given up the blog… we’ve just been rather busy working on a few big projects. Obviously our clients come first, which means that occasionally we will go through periods where we don’t have the time to write new posts… please accept our sincere apologies for that!
Anyhow, the good news is that we’ll continue to bring you the usual mix of tips, tricks and timesavers, over the next few weeks… and because we haven’t posted for a while, we’ve got lots of goodies saved up in our ‘favorites’ folder.
… and why the picture of some cute kittens? Well, why not?
‘Pick n Mix’ is a site containing tips, tricks, and time-savers... with a bit of marketing news thrown in. It's aimed at anyone working within a UK business environment (especially those involved in Sales or Marketing).
