We hope that the interesting story, professional photographs and good design will help get the feature noticed and help position the new business where they want to be.

Click the image to enlarge and let us know what you think.

Are you at risk? We see a lot of letterheads and order forms that have generic Terms and Conditions printed on the reverse, or worse, no Terms and Conditions at all.

Your standard Terms and Conditions (ie the legal basis on which you are willing to do business with your customers) should be one of the first legal documents you create when starting a business.

Professionally written, bespoke Terms and Conditions:

• Help create certainty with your agreement
• Minimise legal disputes and protect you financially
• Help you communicate important matters such as your returns policy, complaints procedure and data handling
• Help you to manage customer expectations and deliver good customer service

We can arrange for you to have bespoke terms and conditions written for your business by a top Swansea-based corporate lawyer, from £150 +VAT. Plus I’ll give you 20% off any new letterheads or order forms you have printed.

If you would like a free consultation to discuss your business and what Terms and Conditions can be created to both protect your company and make things clearer for your customers, call 01792 448 132 or email daryl@colourbox.info

When we arrived at the entry kiosk the lady learned it was Skye’s birthday and she gave her a Legoland Birthday Badge. Nice touch, right? But that’s not it. The clever part is that all the people working within the resort saw the badge and wished Skye Happy Birthday. Literally every Legoland team member, on every ride, in every queue!, said ‘Happy Birthday’. The badge acted as a prompt for this.

A really simple way to deliver a personal touch that made Skye feel extremely special.

By acknowledging your customers in a personal and unique way, you’ll make them feel special and important too.

We’ve recently started making notes on how our customers like their tea or coffee. So next time they pop in for a chat, we’ll ‘remember’. And they’ll appreciate the gesture.

What are you doing to acknowledge your customers personally? It could be as simple as remembering and using their name.

By the way, check out the way Legoland cut their trees. Next level branding.

Combine a versatile Fast&Few Folder with a set of adaptable inserts and you’ve got an information pack that creates a lasting impression.

Make the information pack fit the recipient, tailor the content of each pack to suit each client. Only interested in some of your products or services? Only include the relevant inserts.

Got a new product or service? Add a new insert. Price change? Just print that insert again, rather than a whole brochure.

Our Fast&Few Folders and Fast&Few Gloss Leaflets can be ordered in quantities as low as 50 and are printed in a speedy 3 working days, or faster if required.

Ready for the best bit?… They’re half price this month, with prices starting from just £49 for the folders and just £27 for the leaflets

The difference between the two is that brand marketing is aimed simply at building brand awareness. It’s typically just a company logo on a board, or nice image. Maybe a strapline, but not much attempt to sell anything, or to get you to do anything. You’ll see lots of this type of advert at football matches and in magazines. Direct response advertising on the other hand spells out what’s in it for the customer and encourages them to take action.

So I was pleased when an advertising board that we recently design for a leading IFA based in Swansea, worked so well. Although, in fairness, the approach was a bit of a mix – We didn’t just go for the logo on a board!

The advertising board has been on site for 6 weeks on the roadside of St Helens Ground, the home of Swansea RFC. In that time, the board has received 27 calls which have converted into 7 sales. The board was taken by Watermark Financial Planning to show support for the club whilst having a strategic eye on the positioning and exposure to road traffic (which is often at a standstill at this point during the rush hour). As with many sponsorship deals, often the reward is deferred and the association with the club and it’s supporters is the main benefit. So Managing Director, Mark Sansum, was pleasantly surprised with the results so far.

I try not to get too distracted by spelling errors and typos when reading stuff, simply because it’s often not that important (in the bigger picture). I try to look beyond any small error and read more into the value of the words on the page. That’s because you can often understand what’s being said anyway, you know, Typoglycemia. Check this out.

I cdn’uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rseearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Scuh a cdonition is arppoiatrely cllaed Typoglycemia .

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and you awlyas thguoht slpeling was ipmorantt.

But anyway, that’s just a bit of fun. Most people don’t think the way I do about spelling errors! Most people will see a typo and jump on it right away, disregarding a lot of the other content and just making a judgement. It’s often a bit annoying actually, especially when people correct you in some sort of an attack, rather than in a sensitive and helpful way.

But the thing is, spelling errors on stuff your business puts out there… websites, reports, letters, adverts, even emails… looks unprofessional. And that’s the problem, it all comes down to image and credibility. So we do need to be careful. No matter how trivial and insignificant an error may be on the surface, it can have a serious impact on your organisation.

Here are some examples to make you smile…

The thing that annoys me most on a personal level about spelling mistakes is designer error and laziness. Some things may not get picked up, foreign words, names, food, words used out of context, that sort of thing. But when I see a spelling error that would have been picked up by a simple spell check… I just think that’s lazy and unacceptable.

If there are ever any spelling errors on work we created, that would have been picked up by a spell check, we would absolutely reprint or refund the job – Even if it had been signed off by the client. That’s because it’s a minimum responsibility to get that kind of stuff right.

How do you feel when you see an error on something? Do you judge the company? Do you make a point of letting them know about it? Share your thoughts with me at the bottom of the page…

However, we think you deserve better!

Our most popular type of card is a ‘Starmarque’ one, with spot UV. It’s also one of our most fabulous.

Plus, they’re half price right now, so looking this good has never cost so little.

If you’re ready for an upgrade (and we think you are), then give me a call on 01792 448 132.

I should probably add that we didn’t do these by the way.

Next time you’re thinking about posting a leaflet through someone’s door, why not consider hanging it on the handle instead? Especially if it’s a home, food, or hotel related deal.

PS. You can’t really see it in this picture, because of the angle, but the logo on the front is also varnished with a spot UV. That’s because it’s one of our starmarque Spot UV Cards. Which, by the way, are on offer in April (Oh, cool! Let’s take a look).

If you’re interested in using effective branding and design to reposition your business, please call the studio on 01792 448 132.

No one wants to be sold to, but everyone loves to buy.

That’s why, as a business, it’s your job to match solutions to your customers needs. Then create opportunities to buy.

How do you know what your customer needs? You ask them. You find out as much as you can about them, to make sure you can add value.

I’m often asked ‘why I should do business with you?’ Well, I don’t know that you should!… Not until I’ve found out enough information to make sure I can help you and add value.

If you learn enough about your customer to be able to recommend a product or service that solves a problem for them, there’s genuinely no need to ‘sell’ anything.