CBF Group's blog

It’s that time of the month again when I realised I have taken far too long to do another #TuesdayCatchUp blog post. With an amazingly busy month at the CBF Towers and the wonderful Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival, time has just been taken away from me in the past couple of weeks.

I know a lot of people like reading the previous #TuesdayCatchUp review but I am making this post more about looking towards the future. There is lots going on in the #TuesdayCatchUp camp and there is some really exciting news to come out too (keep reading to find out what it is).

Before I go into all the exciting news I just want to share a very interesting fact with you all. You may not believe it but #TuesdaycatchUp is in fact only 9 events old, but already over the last three events we have consistently hit 50+ attendees. That includes our February event where we believe we had our record attendance we over 60 people turning up.

For those of you that may have not attended a #TuesdayCatchUp event, just think that this is an extra 50+ businesses monthly event that you could be introducing yourself to. Not many other networking groups can offer those kinds of figures and the best thing about it is the event is FREE.

Now, some of you may have noticed that we have been a tad quiet on the Winston’s Wish fundraising front. This is because we have a big sweep stake taking place at the May event so we wanted you to be able to really dig deep in to those pockets and donate to get your chance to win some fantastic prizes.

For those of you that don’t know, my partner & I are expecting our first child on the 6^th June. So the May sweep stake is going to be based on guessing the sex of the baby, date of birth & weight. I shall be going in to more detail with regards to the baby sweep stake in a blog post to follow but to take part you must be at the May 1^st #TuesdaycatchUp event.

Now to the most important news, some people are saying it’s the news of the century, well I have been anyway.

Due to the great success of the Cheltenham #TuesdayCatchUp business networking event, me and the oh so lovely Rachel Davis of the British Heart Foundation (@GlosOx) are pleased to inform you all we are now introducing the Gloucester #ThursdayCatchUp.

Rachel Davis - Co-host of #ThursdayCatchUp

So for those of you lovely business people that were always interested in the idea of #TuesdaycatchUp but couldn’t make it over to Cheltenham, here is your chance to get involved at our Gloucester event. This is not to say if you are from Cheltenham or already go to #TuesdayCatchUp you cannot join us at #ThursdayCatchUp as well. In fact we are encouraging followers of #TuesdayCatchUp to come to the Gloucester event as you are only going to introduce yourself to even more businesses if you do. We would love to see businesses from all over come and support the event.

The Gloucester #ThursdayCatchUp is going to take place on the third Thursday of each month, with the first event taking place on the 19^th April at 18:30.

Keep your eyes peeled for a far more detailed blog post with regards to #ThursdayCatchUp with lots more news and information.

In the meantime if you would like to receive any information on the Gloucester #ThursdayCatchUp then please do not hesitate to contact Rachel Davis or myself on the following:

Rachel Davis – Twitter / @Glosox : Email / davisr@bhf.org.uk

Adam Le Grand – Twitter / @CBFprinters : Email / alegrand@cbfnet.co.uk : Call / 01242 237 652

In house print production & Print Management Solutions

www.bhf.org.uk

At the moment it seems everywhere you go all you hear about is Social Media..Social Media..Social Media.

People are forever asking me; are you on Twitter, are you on Facebook, have you got a Pinterest account?

By the way for reference the answers are Yes, No and I am but not quite sure how & when it happened.

Anyway, for anyone who knows me personally or CBF as a business, will know that we are fairly partial to dabbling in the realms of Social Media. We focus on using every aspect of Twitter to create more leads and to spread the word that CBF are on the front line for providing print knowledge.

Being in the print trade I can tell you that social media is most definitely not killing off the need for printed materials.

It may sound controversial but yes, I am saying there is enough room on this planet of ours for social media and printed solutions to exist. If anything, I am saying that if businesses learned how to link the two together they would see leads and positive feedback like never before.

Here is an example of how this can be put in to effect. I would like to state because I am not a lawyer in my spare time and to be brutally honest I am not a huge fan of being sued no names are going to be mentioned in this example as it is based on a real case study.

There was a company that produced machinery for a much specialised industry. The industry was in fact so specialised, they only had a handful of competitors. However, to the Directors annoyance they were will not creating the sales they needed and the company was fast losing money.

The directors decided to do something about this and decided to bring in a Social Media guru to help them create a strategy to build their business. In short the amazing Guru told them to drag themselves into the present times and use the likes of LinkedIn, Twitter, to start writing a blog and create videos to post on Facebook and YouTube.

The company took the comments of the Social Media Guru and starting acting on them, although at first it did whip up a bit of a frenzy as the phones soon stopped ringing and the inquiries dropped.

In the weeks to follow, thought provoking chin strokes occurred and coffee fuelled all night meetings took place to try and come up with a solution to save the business. In the end a member of staff threw forward an idea that turned out to be a stroke of genius.

His statement was “why don’t we use the positive aspects of both print and social media to help point at our USP’s (unique selling points).”

Lots of Godfather style ponderous head nods followed, then eventually one of the directors set the employee the task of taking his idea and making it work.

Obviously, the case study did not give away all of the trade secrets but some that were mentioned were as follows.

He created a marketing pack that was sent out to all potential customers explaining who they were, what they did and why the customer should be looking at them to be their provider.

What he also included in the index of a brochure was a list of five or so YouTube links pointing the reader to videos showing certain aspects of their machinery and services they offer. Essentially turning what could be a fairly boring read into more of an appealing visual concept he also felt this would make their business seem more tangible.

He also introduced a similar idea to leaflets and booklets that were given out. Instead of simply stating on the material that they have a Facebook, Twitter accounts etc, he pointed out links educating the reader on how to become social media savvy themselves so they can interact with the customer. What is the point of telling someone you are on a social media website if they don’t know where to find you?

On the flip side, when using the twitter account he starting advertising to people to sign up to their newsletter that got posted out every 6 months and once again used social media to point at printed materials to create a more rounded, professional feel to the business.

Again, I am going to have to fudge the facts a little to hide the identity of the actual business but I can assure you the figures I am about to use are not a million miles away from the truth.

Within one year they increased their inquiries by “160%”, due to their customers have a clearer idea of the services which were being offered and they achieved a conversion rate of “80%”.

Needless to say the company is now thriving and is still growing rapidly to this day.

One thing I can say is that the company in this case study was a big company with a turnover of millions. This doesn’t mean that the structure put in place by mixing Social media with printed materials cannot be introduced into any sized business.

If you would like to learn more about how to introduce a similar structure in to your business, then why not book in to have a free consultancy with us? One of our team will work with you to make sure you are getting the most out of your business marketing.

Adam & the CBF team.

Sadly it is a fact of life that to keep your business running there are bills that have to be paid and suppliers you need to keep happy. We have all had it at one time or another when a payment has slipped, you fall out of favour with your supplier and all of a sudden you have extra stress that you really could do without.

Suppliers have to implement payment structures otherwise receiving payments for services they have provided would be near impossible. Especially with how tight money is for some businesses at the moment, suppliers can end up chasing money which is rightfully theirs for weeks, months or even years.

Staying in the good books of your suppliers is one of the most important things you can do to maintain and grow your business. Without the full support of your suppliers your business will not function to its full potential.

There are a couple of basic payment structures that most suppliers will keep to and these are as follows.

Percentage up front

This payment method is usually used in industries where the work load being undertaken by the supplier is variable.

For example: Graphic designers, Architects, Consultants etc.

Here is an example: Customer (Adam) speaks to supplier (LG Design) with regards to a quote for designing the artwork for some marketing flyers. Based on the information given by Adam, the estimator from LG Design will calculate how many hours he thinks it will take to create the artwork.

Let’s say LG Design thinks it will take six hours to create a couple of design options including a round of amendments. LG Design charges £50 per hour, which means they will take a payment of £150.00 up front. This is done because if Adam ends up not liking both design options and then ends up having to have 3 or 4 amended versions the total artwork time could actually end up being 10 hours. This means his total bill would have gone up from the original estimated price of £300 to £500. What could happen is Adam say he had only budgeted for the £300 and cannot afford the £500 bill. Most of the time the supplier and the customer will come to an arrangement to make sure all the money is eventually paid off in full. Worst case scenario for LG Design is for Adam to disappear without paying the bill but as least he has the £150 from the upfront payment to cover for some of the time and revenue lost.

Payment on receipt of invoice

This structure is most commonly used when a supplier is dealing with a customer for the first time. As the supplier is yet to discover if the potential customer is a good payer or not, they will request payment on delivery of the goods/service.

This essentially means as soon as the supplier has completed their part of the contracted agreement they can ask for payment immediately. The payment methods most commonly offered by the supplier will be by cash, cheque, credit/debit card or BACS payment.

Example:

Adam has now had his marketing flyers designed and has gone to his local printer to have them printed. Once the printer has printed the materials to the agreed specification and arranged to have the flyers delivered/collected they can issue an invoice for immediate payment.

This is almost like a retail payment method. When you go to the shops to buy a can of beans you pay for them there and then, you don’t come back three days later to pay for them.

Accounts contract

Accounts are usually set up between a customer and supplier when there has been a decision made by the customer that they will use the supplier’s service on a regular basis.

Example:

Adam’s original marketing flyer drop has brought his business in a lot of work and is now in need of repeat print order for office and marketing purposes.

Once Adam and the printer have got a couple of completed orders and payments behind them the printer will most likely offer Adam an account. Depending on the supplier having an account usually means they will offer you 7, 14 or even 28 days on your payments. This means from the date the invoice is issued you will have a set amount of days to pay by.

Suppliers do not have to offer this facility to their customers and it is hugely based on trust between the supplier and the customer. Customers should always remember this is a privilege and should always keep to their end of the contract by paying within the set amount of days.

All this said, as long as there is trust between you and the supplier these payments options do not have to be the be all and end all. As long as you are open and upfront with your supplier they will do everything they can to make sure you get the service you need with a payment structure you are happy with. Alternatively, if your supplier is not willing to be flexible you can always take your business elsewhere and your supplier will be fully aware of this fact. If you don’t ask you won’t get so always make time to speak to your suppliers about these kinds of matters. Suppliers are not scary monsters; they may even surprise you with how much they will actually do if you just ask them.

If you are not happy or are confused about your current payment terms with regards to your print provider, then why not give CBF a call and see if we can help.

Adam out!

We say to out customers time and time again make sure you take the time to proof your artwork properly.

Once you have approved the artwork and the job goes to print, there is no comeback if there are any mistakes within the artwork.

So, no matter how rushed your job is, it is always worth taking that extra half an hour or so to make sure everything is as it should be.

Here are my top 8 examples of how things can go wrong when things are not proof checked properly.

Number 8: When I paid for this chair I kind of expected to get the whole chair…

Top of the chair??

Number 7: I’m sure I had a hand bag with me earlier.

Ah yes.. The ultimate hand accessory

Number 6: Daddy was always there to give a helping hand.

She aught to get that hand removed from her shoulder

Number 5: This car is so fast you will be on your drive before you know it.

Wheels are spinning even though the cars not moving.. Amazing!!

Number 4: I would have that leg looked at.

Argument for not extreme dieting... You will lose the top of your leg

Number 3: I tried to use the reflection of my memory. Wasn’t half as good as I thought it would be.

Interesting shadow, something not quite right

Number 2: This girl would be smoking hot but there’s just something not quite right about her.

She must have been out the night before.. Legless!!

Number 1: This Brangolina adoption things has just got out of hand now. They are having to keep them all over the place.

He's behind you.. and in front of you... wait a minute!!

These were funny to have a giggle at but what if these kind of mistakes were made in a piece of marketing you were giving out to valuable customers?

Proof every single job, even if its a re-print.

If you don’t know what you are looking for when proofing your work then speak to your printer and they will be able to give you all the help you need.

Adam out!

Part of heading the #TuesdayCatchUp networking events is making sure I am keeping as many people happy as possible that attend.

This is why I run the #YVH (Your Voice Heard) section of the #TuesdayCatchUp blog so everyone can have their say.

The changes that have already been put in place through #YVH are having #TuesdayCatchUp at 18:30 instead of 18:00 & the introduction of name tags. They may only be small changes but there has been good feedback with regards to these appeasements.

With regards to any of the #YVH’s you come across through speaking to people or seeing them mentioned in Twitter please do not hesitate to throw in your own suggestion using the #YVH hash tag or by dropping me a email to alegrand@cbfnet.co.uk.

Here are some of the latest noises that have been made using the #YVH hash tag on twitter and how and am going to try and deal with them.

Can we go some else for food after the event rather than always going to curry houses?

For those people that like to stick around and carry on the networking after the event has finished know that we do usually visit one of the local curry houses around 21:00. Some people have used #YVH to state that they would love to come for food but do not necessarily like Indian food.

For these people they will be happy to hear that we will be going to Zizzi’s Italian following the March 6^th event. I know one person that will be especially happy about this, no names being mentioned…

Due to the sheer number of people that attend it can sometimes be difficult to tell who is actually part of the #TuesdayCatchUp event. Can anything be done to make it more obvious?

As mentioned earlier I have already introduced name tags so that should go a long way towards helping. Something else that I am going to try and introduce is getting people to congregate more in one area of the pub instead of being all spread out. Obviously we need to be respectful of the other paying customers who are out to enjoy their evening but if we can find an area we can all be together this should help show who is actually part of the networking group.

It can sometimes be difficult to get around speaking to everyone to give them business card of other type of literature. Can there be a focus point for materials such as these?

I am going to speak to the pub managers to see if we can reserve one of the tables so people can leave a small pile of their business cards etc for people to see and pick up at the leisure. This table is also where you will collect your name tag from in future to save me having to pester you all to see if you have one or not. I am hoping this will also help keep people in one area of the pub more as well.

Is the Exmouth Arms Pub as a venue simply becoming too small?

We definitely had a fantastic turn out for the last event but I am going to keep an eye on the situation over the next couple of events. If #TuesdayCatchUp maintains the high attendee figures or even keeps on growing then yes I may need to look into options for the venue. If in the next couple of months I do feel that the venue is becoming too small then I will make sure everybody knows the venue has changed. The reason why I don’t not want to change venue just yet is because I am hoping when the weather warms up a bit we will be about to move the event in to the superb Exmouth Arms Beer Garden. Business networking outside, not many other networking groups can offer that luxury can they, pure bliss.

For now I believe that is everything dealt with but if you have any comments to make or want to make #YVH with regards to anything else then please do not hesitate to contact me. Remember you can always you the hash tag #YHV on twitter.

Adam out!

#TuesdayCatchUp Great #Glosbiz networking!

We’ve done it!

Today is proof that success comes from hard work! With the live debut of the Online Print Control (OPC) software offering, we have gone live with a bang!

With 1977 customers going live today nationwide all using the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) training course to train their staff and customers with individual billing and reporting requirements, including some of the largest blue chip organisations in the UK. Internally we have had to increase print capacity and administration staff to manage the support for the increase in workflow.

Managing the print requirements for the British Computer Society (BCS) for the past two years has led us to today. This is the start of the print management tools that will be looking after the Qualifications Department and the promotion of their courses. To start, we have gone live with a number of promotional flyers, posters, branded promotional gifts and downloadable PR materials.

All this is available to order 24/7 and accessible online. Each user has specific access rights and is able to customise their own materials according to their user type and the courses they offer. Each material is either made to order fully personalised using our design tools or picked and packed from pre-printed stocks. Once established and the dust has settled, the future plans for the BCS – Marketing Support System will see further materials being placed online to help promote the ECDL computer course.

This coupled with new courses going on-line over the next few weeks the success is all down to the collaboration of the staff at the BCS and the internal workflow, software management and staff at CBF.  This is the end of a 2 year working period internally for CBF getting the software to meet ISO standards and be efficient enough to be quick and reactive to our customers making us infinitely scalable as a business.

If you or your business would like to know more about our services, software and the print management tools feel free to drop us a line.

This blog post is taking a #TuesdayCatchUp #CloserLook at Jonathon Watkins of Photoglow.

Jonathon Watkins

Over to you Jonathon.

I’m Jonathon Watkins, owner and senior photographer at PhotoGlow Photography.  I’m married with two young children we run a photography company specialising in people and places, which means we do portraits, weddings and business photography.

I cherish the first photo I took at age 8 of my parents in the Dutch bulb fields. It’s a constant reminder that at its core, photography is about memories, people, connections & feelings.  I’ve been passionate about creating image from an early age and each click of the shutter would cost you 30p in film & developing costs. This meant you tended to be very careful in what and how you photographed. My first SLR was bought at age 15 and was a manual focus film SLR camera, as Auto Focus had not been invented. This love of photography lead me be becoming president of St Andrews University photographic society, running workshops, leading photography trips and encouraging & teaching others to be better photographers. There’s a wonderful feeling about watching an image slowly appear in silver on photographic paper in the developing dish.

I photographed my first wedding in 1993 and the style of coverage was very different back then. I wanted to take photos of people interacting & to capture the feel of the day, so that is what I did on 12 roll of 36 exposure 35mm film and the couple loved them.  However most people were offering/expecting a ‘formal’ look, so I didn’t peruse photography as a vocation and had a career in software testing. My love of photography was reignited in 2001 when I bought a digital camera and the creative possibilities were reopened. I went full time pro with photography in 2009 and having an IT background has been very useful.

It’s a general rule that you see what you look for and you need quality in to get quality out. I look for light, colour, joy, dynamism and movement and so that’s what my photos often show. I work had on the technical, creative and artistic aspect of photography and am still learning and loving it and the joy that images can bring to people.

If you would like to have you very own #CloserLook then please drop me an email (no more then 350 words & not to include any web links) about your business or the role you play within your company.

Adam out!

#TuesdayCatchUp brought to you by CBF www.cbfnet.co.uk

I am starting to get better at this #TuesdayCatchUp review blog. It has only been 14 days since the event this time around!

Sadly I did not manage to get an official head count but what I do know is we had by far our best turn out to date. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that came along and also the people that helped spread the word of the event.

Some of our lovely regulars were greatly missed but I am sure we will see them at the next event in March. @TrainWithKirsty @ChapelSpa @Eveslegwear @LukeStephens @fwh to name a few.

It is not a bad thing for #TuesdayCatchUp and the followers of the event but I am getting to the point where I feel that I need to apologies to the Exmouth Arms bar staff for making what should be a nice quiet shift one of the busiest night’s of their week. In fact here is an image of the people arriving to the last #TuesdayCatchUp.

This way to #TuesdayCatchUp .. Jump aboard

Using my powers of mathematics and all my worldly knowledge, I have come to the conclusion that as we had our biggest turn out yet we must have had a lot of new comers. Apologies if I did not manage to get around to introducing myself and showing you the ropes but I am confident you all managed to mix and mingle in the correct manner. I do not recall seeing anyone look particularly lost or scared amongst the group, if anything it was most likely me looking a bit dazed and confused because of the overwhelming turn out.

I cannot account for everyone else’s mingling but I certainly found myself speaking to some new and very interesting people, including a children’s book publisher, an accountant, lettings agent, charity worker and a company that deals with specialist painting prints.

The event also saw the return of the #TuesdayCatchUp #BigQuestion. This is a little, fun game we play to raise money for our local charity Winston’s Wish http://www.winstonswish.org.uk.

Everyone who wishes to get involved makes a small donation to our ever growing Winston’s Wish pot and get one guess at the #BigQuestion. This time around the question was “What is the combined amount of twitter followers of the people that have attended this month’s #TuesdayCatchUp”. With my ever fading memory I cannot remember the exact answer (32,000+/- I recall) but the three closest guesses came from @EllyPittaway @Taxationsaver @Creative_Scoop.

Between them they shared out the amazing prizes of a bottle of Moet kindly donated @LawsonWillett , a meal for two plus a bottle of wine donated by @TheExmouth and the top prize of a Twilight Spa for Two donated by @ChapelSpa.

http://www.chapelspa.co.uk/

http://theexmouth.co.uk/

To show the extent of the amount of people that turned up to the event once all was said and done and most people had left after an enjoyable evening of networking (23), that’s right 23 of us went out for a very enjoyable curry at the Indus Curry house on Bath Road http://www.induscheltenham.com

http://www.induscheltenham.com/home.aspx

Not to get big headed, okay well maybe slightly big headed but 23 people is more than some networking events have turn up to the whole event not just the after party curry.

But to me that is not enough. I want more and more Cheltenham (Gloucestershire) business people to experience the joys and benefits of coming along to a #TuesdayCatchUp event.

So if you came along and enjoyed it then please feel free to bring a + 1,2,3,4,5,6,7….. next time you come along. If you have never been before then why not join us? The event is totally free and all enjoyed in a relaxed networking atmosphere.

I will be posting more information with regards to the March event closer to the time but for now so you can get it in your diaries the next #TuesdayCatchUp event is on the 6^th March.

As always it will be taking place at the Exmouth Arms on the Bath Road in Cheltenham from 18:30 onwards.

Until then.. Adam out!

Miriam Pethania

www.iconoclast-images.co.uk

This week is it time for us to take a #CloserLook at a local business called Iconoclast.

Over to you Miriam…

Hi, I’m Miriam Pethania and I run Iconoclast – a bespoke art printing company, and it is something that I’m very passionate about.

Iconoclast started in 2006 – we specialize in digital imaging and work with designers, photographers and artists across the spectrum. We found our clients were wanting to create something beautiful and unique in print, so Iconoclast spun off from there. Our clients have a particular vision in their minds and come to us to bring it to life.

It can be different every day – from a fresh-faced art graduate who’s just starting out, or someone with a vintage family photograph that they want share with others – to designers and corporate clients looking for fresh design solutions, or something stunning and personal for weddings and parties.

We started off with photographic printing, then took on fine art materials like watercolour papers and pure cotton canvases. Now we’re fully bespoke and source the material that suits the project. We’ve worked with everything from aluminium sheets and vinyl banners, to pure silk drapes and wall clings – as well as the more traditional media – ranging from the size of a postcard, to the size of a house!

A bespoke print from Iconoclast is really a work of art in itself, because it’s hand-crafted, all the way. We look at each drop of colour and make sure it says what you want it to say. Having the privilege of working with some of the finest artists in history, including Turner, Whistler and Van Gogh – was an incredibly humbling experience, to literally get under the skin of a genius.

It’s exciting to work with contemporary artists and photographers – from the more well-established, to up-and-coming newcomers. Our photographic background also comes in handy to restore historic images – a recent highlight was reviving some vintage glass plate photographs and putting them onto silk for a couple’s diamond anniversary – the first time we’ve brought tears to someone’s eyes!

If you would like to be the next person we take a #CloserLook at them please send a short blurb to me (no longer than 350 words) at alegrand@cbfnet.co.uk.

Adam out!

;

Over the last three years, CBF have been proud supporters and committee members of Gloucestershire Independent Network (GIN). With over 25 members and a number of visitors meeting at Hatherley Manor Hotel every week.

All attendees get the chance to talk for 60 seconds about their business to the rest of the group, while the rest of the group are served breakfast. During the meeting there is also a chance to mingle amongst the group and find out about each other and listen to a 10 minute speaker of the week talk about their business. These speakers can be anyone from one of the GIN members to external speakers that would like to share experiences and industry tricks of the trade.

From a CBF prospective, GIN has proven itself time and time again, not only as a door opener to local Gloucestershire businesses but as a consistent lead generator and builder of trust in industries where we would otherwise have no knowledge. As there is only one representative from each industry, all GIN members have to apply, their application is carefully considered and vetted for compatibility with the group.

We encourage all our clients and followers on twitter to visit GIN as a good introduction to networking and spring board into some of the counties best businesses.

If you would like to come and say hi, we would love to make you our guest. Drop me a line and we can talk further.

Till next time.

Lawson Willett