You have a unique opportunity to reach at least 15,000 housesholds, whilst also enabling the local voluntary Community/Neighbourhood Partnerships to continue distributing their crucial, valued news and information.

Local Neighbourhood Partnerships were created by Gloucester City Council and exist to give local people a voice and make areas around our City a better place to be. Run by volunteers, these organisations are required to distribute their news, and advise of their AGMs. They have previously paid to get their news out to their neighbourhoods, funding has reduced.

We are providing the solution but need your help.

We are offering to design, print and distribute their news and information on a not-for-profit basis. We need your help to cover the print costs.

The benefits;

• Less expensive than other forms of advertising.
• Rich in articles of interest – these newsletters are actually read, shared and kept.
• We are maintaining the existing ‘look and feel’ of the newsletters.
• Adverts will be amongst the articles.
• Good PR – You will be credited as a ‘supporter’ enabling this crucial form of communication to continue.
• The partnerships are ensuring all their magazines containing all their news are distributed.
• Choose the areas you want to target.
• Contribute to the charitable cause and maintain the positive momentum across our City.

The model is not-for-profit, like the ‘Four Gates of Gloucester’ magazine that we have proved works, distributing 5,000 magazines across the City Centre every two months. ‘MyChurchdown’ magazine has also been operating since on this basis since 2010.

Your support is vital to ensuring this crucial work continues.

The cost is £150 to uniquely access 15,000 households. Free advert design. Details of the initial three neighbourhood partnerships we’re working with below.

Support your neighbourhood. Support your City. Boost your business.

Reserve your place today. Contact NP@absolutecm.co.uk 

First deadline: 24th Feb 2012.

You can find out more about Neighbourhood Partnerships on the Gloucester City Council website here.

Information about the structure of Neighbourhood / Community Partnership’s here.

Chris Nyland, director at Absolute Creative, a company specialising in design, print, marketing and websites in Gloucester city centre, attended a similar apprenticeship focused Business Breakfast at Gloucestershire College last year.

Gloucestershire College is supporting the new 2012 Apprenticeship Challenge campaign run by economic development company GFirst in partnership with Stroud College, Hartpury College and Cirencester College.

The aim is to attract 100 new employers to take part in the challenge and past employers to build on their apprenticeship success.

Chris Nyland explained: “After opening Absolute Creative in 2007 with my business partner Dan Whitelock, we had experienced steady growth and were looking to expand. In May 2010, with new premises and a newly purchased printing.com franchise arm of the business, we decided we had both the space and the workload to warrant an additional team member.

“The event run by the GC Business Hub was especially good as current apprentices gave their view. I was impressed with the apprentices who spoke with enthusiasm about their roles, and the event convinced me that we would benefit from recruiting an apprentice. We wanted to give a young person a good start in their career, but essentially an apprentice also made sound financial sense for us.”

He added: “Laura joined us in October 2010 and four months later she is a key part of our team, getting involved in all aspects of running the business.”

Laura, a former Ribston Hall High School A-level pupil, decided to apply for apprenticeships through Gloucestershire College after deciding against higher education to avoid university debt.

“I’m really enjoying my apprenticeship so far,” said Laura.

“The first four months have been a learning curve! I have learned loads about the business and am responsible for front of house as well as certain elements of client liaison, website updates and book-keeping.”

If you would like to attend the free GC Business Hub Breakfast on Tuesday, February 7, RSVP to michelle.louth@gloscol.ac.uk by Thursday, February 2. Spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

[Article taken from This is Gloucester: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Laura-sets-shining-example-Apprenticeship-Week/story-15096736-detail/story.html]

An article published on the British Chamber of Commerce website highlights a rise in the number of UK start up companies for the first time in 18 months, with more than 39,000 businesses being set up in the last six months, a study has found.

Click here to find out about our professional integrated marketing services>

1. What product or service will you provide?
2. Nobody plans to fail…..
3. Where will you work?
4. What’s in a name?
5. How will you structure of your business?
6. Stay on the right side of the law…
7. How will you market the business?
8. Keep the cash flow flowing…
9. Do I need to work with others or employ people?
10. Technology

1. What product or service will you provide?

Most people start a business based on their existing knowledge and experience of working in a particular industry sector, whilst others spot a gap in the market, but you need to establish whether there is a market in the gap. Make sure you carry out research, with companies and individuals who don’t know you – friends and family will generally tell you what you want to hear!

The next question you need to ask once you have decided on your products and services is ‘so what?’ In other words, what are your key differentiators, what makes your product or service unique? What can you do that is better, faster, or cheaper than your potential competition? If you don’t have an answer to this question you could end up as just another me too! You need to work out how to position your company and create a proposition for those all-important sales calls.

2. Nobody plans to fail…..

…but many companies don’t make it past the first year because they fail to plan. You can increase your chances considerably by putting together a business plan even if you are the only one that will ever see it. A business plan should provide you with a map of where you intend to go supported by information on how you will achieve it. After all, you wouldn’t plan a journey abroad without first establishing the costs, time scales, the language you need to speak when you arrive, and how you would reach your destination. ‘The Definitive Business Plan by Richard Stutely is the most comprehensive guide to business planning I have seen and is well worth a read.

3. Where will you work?

For countless people the prospect of working from home may be a life long ambition, but scores of people in this position already, find it difficult to focus and often feel isolated. Marcel Ekkel, independent project manager and consultant (SynergyhSnyQ Ltd) has worked from home for many years and said he copes by “planning regular meetings out of the house, doing grocery shopping to get some fresh air and uses online messenger applications to talk regularly to team mates”.

Today there are many options of where to work open to us from leasing unfurnished office space, sharing with other businesses, to working from fully serviced offices. With more competition in this market it is worth shopping around, but make sure you compare like for like, as some serviced offices offer no frills whilst others provide no end of value added services. You also need to be aware that if you need a registered office address not all managed offices will facilitate this requirement.

4. What’s in a name?

The choices are endless, but there are a number of things to consider before naming your business. Will it be a family business? Do you want to grow it with a view to exiting after a period of 5 years? Do you need a web presence? Should the name of the business reflect what you do? Are you going to register the name as a trademark? The answer to all these questions is an article in itself but you should carry out a couple of basic checks. To register a company name is quite simple and costs in the region of £350 – £400 to register against specific product or service categories visit www.rockand.co.uk for more information. When choosing a company name log on to companies house (www.companieshouse.gov.uk) and check in both the existing and proposed names section of the website. Whilst you are there it would be also be advisable to review their list of ‘sensitive words or expressions’ to avoid. If you plan to set up a website, enter potential company names into a ‘domain name’ registration search site such as http://www.gloucestershirehosting.co.uk/whois/ to establish if somebody has beaten you to it. By creating and then going through a checklist in this way, it will save you time, money and potential disappointment in the future.

5. How will you structure your business?

Sole trader, partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP), limited company and plc, again there are numerous choices. “I’m not sure of the percentage, but sole trader is by far the most common for small one owner businesses, usually chosen for the simple registration process. Not always the best for tax or personal security, but this must be considered on a case by case basis,” says Alistair Brown of Advoco Consultancy Services.

If you do take this route and trade under a company name you need to display the name and address of the owner at your premises and on your stationery, whilst limited companies must display their full corporate name on places of business and stationery as well as including registration details on all business letters and forms.

Most people launching a business for the first time ask – is it better to launch as a sole trader or limited company? One of the main things that you need to consider here is, as a sole trader you personally are carrying the risk if things go wrong, but by setting up a limited company you will limit your individual liabilities. Limited liability partnership has only recently been introduced and means that it is the limited liability partnership that would be liable for any debt rather than individual partners as with the ordinary style of partnerships.

6. Stay on the right side of the law…

…by informing the Inland Revenue as soon as possible that have started a business. You have 3 months in which to notify them from when you start a business. Failure to do so will result in a £100 fine and the potential loss of benefits. You must also check which class of National Insurance Contributions you will need to pay and you will find more information by visiting www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/startingup. If you intend to hold data on customers or prospects, you must register with Data Protection at an annual cost of £35 that can be paid easily by direct debit on an annual basis.

For those who are considering setting up a company for the first time, you would be wise to seek professional advice from an accountant and a solicitor particularly if you are considering starting a partnership. You may all be friends at the start but this can soon change! It needn’t cost a lot of money, but could certainly save you more money in the long term.

We can help you as we have helped others….

7. How will you market the business?

Many great new products and services never see the light of day due to poor marketing. Establishing a web presence, direct mail, employing direct sales people, networking, display advertising, – “what approach will work best for your product or service?”

There are many different approaches to consider, see how we can help create a targeted marketing plan for your product or service.

This again depends on what you are selling and it is better to use a number of different methods initially to see what works and then go for it. If you don’t know where to start, it may help to find out how your competition are marketing their wares – if it works for them it could help to get you started!

8. Keep the cash flow flowing…

… by setting out clear terms and conditions you are likely to deter, late payments and bad debts. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any company; ignore it at your peril! When you write your business plan you should have created a cash flow forecast, but don’t lock it away, regular review it and update it. Don’t overstate projections and assume that because you have revenue coming in you will be cash flow positive. Another classic is forgetting to put money aside to pay your tax and VAT bills. Do allow a contingency fund for the unexpected, like an opportunity for cheap advertising or funds to buy a specific piece of equipment that will help you to work smarter or increase your product or service range.

9. Do I need to work with others or employ people?

Employing people brings with it risk, additional costs and responsibility. Unless you need to employ people at the very start, it is better to wait a while. With more people opting to be self employed in order to establish a better work life balance it is much easier to outsource activities that are not core to your business. If you do need to employ people, be aware that a raft of legislation and regulations comes into play when you have five or more people even if some are part time.

10. Technology

Some businesses don’t need technology to operate successfully, maybe they’re the lucky ones, but for most there will be a requirement to use a computer even if it is just to keep the books – unless of you outsource this activity to a bookkeeper or accountant! Continual advances in technology now make it possible to work anytime and almost anywhere, you want.

Whatever you do always make sure you regularly back up your data and your computer configuration. There are some great back up programmes on the market that are easy to use and you will sometimes see them on the free discs at the front of computer magazines.

Begbies Traynor, insolvency and business recovery specialists work with a number of businesses that are in trouble each year. An alarming 40% of businesses fail before the end of the second year and the main points of failure are no business plan, insufficient market research and poor cash planning.

All that said, a survey carried out by the company late last year proves that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well as one in five respondents currently involved in full time employment, who took the survey, intend to set up a business of their own in 2005.

Find out how we can help you with our innovative design, printing, marketing website solutions – contact us now.

Happy New Year!

We thought we would get things started off with some fantastic offers, on many of our most popular products, to help get your marketing off to the best start in 2012. This is only a small selection – for full specs and the range on offer, contact us or visit our office for a price list!

Remember all our print is high quality litho in glorious full colour and with guaranteed turnaround times. We’ve got a creative and  experienced team of graphic designers in our Gloucester studio all raring to go after their Christmas break to make your business stand out from the crowd!

• Half Price Luxury Business Cards from £49
• Half Price Premium Gloss Leaflets from £61
• Half Price Spot UV Business Cards from £64 – DOUBLE SIDED SPOT UV NOW AVAILABLE
• Half Price Corporate Folders
• Half Price Premium Gloss Folded Leaflets from £106
• Half Price Laminated Flyers

Contact us today on 01452 423548 for a quote or to discuss the options.

We thought it about time we utilised one of our shop windows a little better and add a little colour to College Street! Our new window graphic, designed by us and created by Dave Riddell and the team at Fast Signs Gloucester using their new HP printer, was installed on Friday with fantastic results.

We’re really pleased with it, it’s very eye-catching and the colours have come out very accurately from the artwork we sent Fast Signs. “It was a good test for our new HP Printer with the amount of different colours within the print” said Dave Riddell

You can contact Dave and the Team on 01452 420490 or 882@fastsigns.com

With over 23 million Facebook users in the UK in 2010, the chances are you’re aware of the social networking online phenomenon. More and more businesses are finding a value in utlising this social media platform and creating a Facebook business page is simple, but here are some tips and common mistakes that people make when setting up a Facebook page for their business.

Five top tips for a successful business page.

1. Setting up your page

Setting up a business page can seem difficult, as long as you create the page linked from a personal account then there shouldn’t be any problems. Remember, whenever using your page, make sure you switch from your personal account to use Facebook as the business page.

2. Information

When adding information to your Facebook page, make sure you put in the address of your business so people can find you! Also make sure that once you have finished adding all your information you click the publish button, otherwise your Facebook page won’t display the information.

3. Linking Facebook and Twitter

One of the most commonly asked question is how do I link Facebook and Twitter? Well you can link the two sites together using the Twitter App on Facebook. However if this is causing some problems you can always use third party websites, for example Hootsuite, which allows you to control lots of different social media sites at once.

4. Updating Information

It is very important to keep your Facebook Business Page up to date whether it be any special offers or just general news, for example someone new joining your team. It is good to keep pictures up to date as well, even if it is just pictures from a company Christmas Party! Social media is about developing personality, relationships and familiarity between companies.

5. Put links to Facebook

If you have a website, put a link in to Facebook. This gets more people looking at your Facebook page if there is a button they can click on and it takes them straight to your Facebook page and vice versa.

While Facebook marketing is on the rise among small businesses, many are still struggling to master the basics. If in doubt ask a company that knows.

Five Common Mistakes People make when setting up a Facebook page

1. How not to set up your page

Some people make the mistake of thinking that they have to create a fake person to be able to set up a business page. If you do this it only creates problems, meaning you have to log in to the fictitious you to amend etc. It is more useful to have the page linked to your actual personal account.

2. Not investing adequate time

Another common mistake is not putting enough time into keeping a page up to date. Every time you have news you want to shout about, put it on Facebook as more and more people are using Facebook.

3. Being boring or unpredictable

When they’re thinking about marketing, some business owners forget that Facebook is a social place where people share things they find funny, interesting or useful with their friends. Think about what kind of content your fans would actually want to share when planning your posts.

4. Not knowing enough about Facebook

Since Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites in the world, it’s good to know how to use Facebook to optimize the effectiveness of your page and increase traffic.

5. Violating Facebook’s terms

Not only is it critical to know how Facebook works and what tools are available, it’s also important to know the rules, for example Facebook  recently disabled pages of Pizza Hut India, Cadbury Bournville and FCUK India for running promotions on their walls. Take time to go through Facebook’s guidelines, to understand what you can and what you cannot do on Facebook Page.

Unsure about using Facebook?

If you’re not, users sign up and create their personal profile page. Once you’ve completed the basic details about yourself you wish to, it’s time to search for friends and send our friend requests.

You can search for friends from a range of sources; known schools, workplaces and start growing the people you connect with. Fan pages and Groups are set up in support of different causes or covering common interests – indeed MyChurchdown has a Facebook group you can join which can act like an online noticeboard to let people know what’s going on. So come and join us!

Photos are another key element to Facebook where users can upload pictures and ‘tag’ their friends to further link people and events together. (You may see friends of friends that you want to connect to and so on.) Videos, instant messaging and games further add to its usability and appeal, whilst the increase in prominence of internet enabled mobile phones also aiding its addictiveness.

Similar to Twitter (article soon!) users type status updates of what they might be doing, which are shown in a newsfeed that their friends can view, laugh at, ‘like’ or comment on. These may be anything from incidental observations or random nuggets of information to sharing news or feelings.

What started as a University directory at Harvard has grown to have a major social impact around the globe and be accepted in language and society. Banned in many workplaces for wasting employee’s time, the site is credited with reuniting long lost families and beginning relationships at one end of the scale as well as being suggested as a cause of infidelity and divorce at the other.

Absolute Creative Marketing is on Facebook!

Look at our range of products and get the latest offers. You can follow us here

Well here’s a NEW way to make the amendments online and send them to print without delay.

Ordering business cards should be easy

Let’s face it, ordering business cards is necessary but incurs too much management time. The conventional ways of ordering business cards present different problems, with time and money inevitably being wasted.

Avoid the expense of ‘single’ business card orders

Order ‘single’ sets of business cards as and when you need them – convenient option but inevitably more expensive.

Remove the hassle of ‘gathering’ together

The alternative is ordering multiple sets together – this is typically more cost effective, but involves the hassle and management time of ‘gathering’ the various orders together at once.

Also, gathering together cards in this way, risks key people not having cards when they need them most. Likewise, cards may be ordered speculatively and subsequently not be used, negating cost efficiency.

A better way from printing.com

10 to 10,000 employees? printing.com have developed a new, intelligent online ordering system that provides on-demand business cards at a low cost.

The system helps maintain your corporate branding whilst eliminating job-by-job artwork charges incurred through name and detail changes.

Orders are placed when you need them through the quick and simple online process, which gives you access to heavily discounted prices. Our single sided 400gsm business cards start at £29 + VAT for 500.

To find out how this system could benefit you, simply contact us to arrange a demonstration.

Check out our leaflet masterclass for some ideas! Leaflets are so versatile, it’s no surprise so many of our customers find them an essential part of their marketing. Whether they’re being popped through letter boxes, inserted into newspapers, posted out or propped up on the counter – they look great in glorious full colour print and are incredibly low cost.

Our Premium Silk Leaflets are one of our biggest sellers, so snap them up while their going cheap! Clients have used them for a variety of purposes, here are a couple of ideas!

• Menus (Christmas specials perhaps?)
• Price Lists
• Handouts
• Mini-Brochures (Folded)
• Special offer promotions

Prices start from £66 for 1,000. Sizes available in the offer are A6, 1/3rd A4, A5, A4 and A3. Quantities are 1,000 2,000 5,000 and 10,000.

Our Premium Silk Leaflets are FSC certified, and printed in glorious full colour both sides. They are 0% VAT rated and have a standard guaranteed turnaround time of 3 days from approval of artwork.

So what are you waiting for? Promote your business, saving time and money in the process! Drop us a line for a quote, or request a sample to see the quality for yourself. Remember this offer is only in November so don’t miss out!

Laura has joined us after finishing her studies at Ribston Hall School, Gloucester. She joins us primarily as a Marketing Assistant, helping us improve our offering to you by providing an extra point of contact for enquiries, quotes, and generally improve the first class customer service you expect from us!

Laura is undertaking a Business Administration at the University of Gloucestershire, and is getting involved in helping us with all areas of our business, from helping with accounts, answering the phone and admin as well as getting involved in the main areas of our business – Design, Printing, Marketing and Websites.

We were interested in working with an Apprenticeship scheme after attending a networking breakfast meeting at the College and being impressed with some of the Apprentice’s that spoke to us there. So far, so good – we would definitely recommend the University, and taking an Apprentice like Laura!

Laura is settling in really well, she’s learning a lot and has already become a valuable asset to Absolute Creative.

Personalised Christmas Cards are a great way to say thank you to your valuable clients for their custom for the last 12 months!

We’ve made it as easy as possible, with a massive selection of seasonal images to choose from, we can scan your signatures in, so no need to write in every card, and we can add your logo and personalised message to keep it original and compliment your brand. We can even supply the envelopes!

We are also offering half price on voucher cards, which incorporate a perforated panel, ideal to include a special offer or promotion to encourage business opportunities into 2012!

Hurry hurry! This great offer ends on 31st October 2011. As always we guarantee our turnaround times, if you order your cards now, we can double the turnaround time to save you a further 10% and they’ll still reach your clients on time to make a memorable and positive impression!

So what are you waiting for?! Show your clients what they mean to you, encourage some repeat business – contact us to discuss the options and place your order today!