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It's awards time. I've attended two business award launches recently and with the infectious buzz starting up around me, I want to explain how simply entering an award can be good for business, apart from winning, of course.
The range of questions covered in most business award applications require you to think intensively about your business. You have to think carefully about all aspects of your business often including your marketing strategy, staff training programme, customer care, research and development and increasingly, corporate social responsibility and addressing green issues.
The main benefits of entering business awards include:
• Assessing the performance of your company, its core strengths and competitive advantages
• Putting your business in the media spotlight with publicity in print and broadcast media
• Networking with other businesses and gaining free, independent assessment from expert judges
The entry process itself is a performance appraisal of your company, surely this alone is a wise investment in time and money. If you are considering entering a business award this year, I encourage you to do so, you have absolutely nothing to lose and so much to potentially gain.
I have assisted many companies over the years with their award applications and I'd be delighted to help Hot Gossip readers with their entries. Good luck!
Moving on to July's business tips.
HOT TIPS FOR CREATIVE SUCCESS – the use of photography in creative design
Commission a professional photographer
Ask other businesses you know for contacts of photographers they've used. Recommendation is the best way forward as there are thousands of photographers and it can be a daunting task trying to find a suitable one. Using a talented, professional photographer may seem like an exuberant expense but I guarantee that in the long term, it will save you time and grief!
Use stock libraries
If budget is tight and commissioning a photographer is not an option, there is a plethora of excellent online image libraries. Royalty free images are widely available, istockphoto.com, freedigitalphotos.net, gettyimages.com are the best sources. Choose your images carefully, ask your designer to cast their eye over the options and advise accordingly otherwise use your own creativity to source images that represent your company and brand.
Don't compromise on image quality
A minimum of 300 dpi (dots per inch) is the required quality for print reproduction purposes. Photos taken by mobile phones or scanned in photos simply aren't good enough and will not represent your brand or design work in a positive way. Using poor quality images is a cop out on the design work and there is no excuse for it.
Tidy up your images
Who says airbrushing is a bad thing! We've all had fun manipulating images at some point in our lives, whether it's adding a moustache to Auntie Ann or removing offending background objects, photos can be played around with! Tidying images is part of the creative design process, whether it's cropping the photo, or lightening the background, it's necessary, so have fun and play with your photos!
Next month – marketing tips for beginners.
Aneela Rose is an award winning business entrepreneur. Aneela Rose PR was set up four years ago and is growing year on year providing professional PR, Marketing and Creative services to SME's across the UK. Aneela's other business venture is an online jewellery boutique where her inspiration for selling sparkly jewellery was born out of a love of fashion and observing the huge growth of online shopping. Aneela sits on the Board of Directors at Sussex Enterprise, is a Member of the Institute Of Directors and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. She was recently invited to become a Women's Enterprise Ambassador for SEEDA (South East of England Development Agency). She has been awarded the Success in Business Award by Anglia University, the Dynamic Asian Woman award and has been filmed by the DTI and Aurora. Aneela writes for consumer and business magazines and has links with the "celebrity" community, she has provided interview scoops with Nick Leeson and Nicholas Van Hoogstraten among others.
SIGNATURE:
Aneela Rose is an award winning business entrepreneur. Aneela Rose PR was set up four years ago and is growing year on year providing professional PR, Marketing and Creative services to SME's across the UK. Aneela's other business venture is an online jewellery boutique where her inspiration for selling sparkly jewellery was born out of a love of fashion and observing the huge growth of online shopping. Aneela sits on the Board of Directors at Sussex Enterprise and is a Member of the Institute Of Directors and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. She has been awarded the Success in Business Award by Anglia University, the Dynamic Asian Woman Award and has been filmed by the DTI and Aurora. Aneela writes for consumer and business magazines and has links with the "celebrity" community; she has provided interview scoops with Nick Leeson and Nicholas Van Hoogstraten among others.
Tel: 01444 241341
Email: www.aneelarosepr.co.uk and www.missyrose.co.uk |
