Monday
A 6.30am start on a Monday morning is not my favourite thing. I DJ in my spare time and held a night called Glam on Saturday at Latinis in the city centre. It was superb but meant I got to bed when the birds were singing and I am still feeling the aftermath of those buy one get one free cocktails on this fine Monday morning!

Anyway once I get going I’m fine and it’s a good job because I have to work with my design team to ensure the Sweet Ideas’ catalogue is signed off – it produces a lot of orders for our client so it needs to be visually impressive and error free. We send it through our 4 stage checking procedure to catch any final typo’s etc before sending it to print. It’s a rush job and must be delivered for Wednesday – they don’t call us Speed Inspired for nothing! 

This afternoon I have an exhibition project for Rockingham Retirement. They have been a client of ours for some time and we designed their brand identity. It’s been great to see such a local success story and I’m proud they won Small Business of The Year.

Tuesday
Today I am working on our website to better reflect our brand values and service but also help us score a few Search Engine Optimisation points. SEO and PayPerClick advertising are crucial as it is a cost effective form of marketing and should be part of your marketing mix during these difficult times.

Lunch time approaches and my tummy is rumbling!!! I have set up a meeting with the in-house designer from N&P – I am sure you will have seen they have just undergone an impressive rebranding exercise and I am very proud to say we have been involved in. I have skillfully managed to co-ordinate this meeting with lunch and it just so happens our offices are next to the Loch Fynne Restaurant. Their posh fish and chips are awesome so it would be rude not to do it! I wouldn’t have felt so guilty scoffing them had I not have taken out my Mum and girlfriend (Gemma) tonight to ASK and put away a pizza. Think I better get down the gym tomorrow!

Wednesday
I am blogging! We have just set up a blog on our website. It’s been created because we want to give you a bit of marketing insight and help you think about your own brand and business. You can leave comments and we want it to be a place for local marketers and business owners to debate and offer each other a bit of advice. If you want to check it out go to www.speed-inspired.co.uk/blog.

This afternoon I create a proposal for a construction company. They are celebrating their 50^th year and want this message put across to their customers. We want to emphasize how their stonework is beautiful and timeless. We have come up with some really innovative methods. Some more extravagant than others so I am giving them a tiered pricing structure so they can see what will fit their budget. We try and produce work that fits any budget and make the most of your marketing.

After a delicious evening dinner with cheesecake I realise I’m sure I was meant to do something tonight… Dam it – the gym! Oh well I think Gemma secretly loves these love handles I’m developing, lucky thing.

Thursday
It’s an early start this morning as I have to be in Bournemouth for 9.30am at our new office. We have a meeting with Vitacress, one of Europe’s leading producers of prepared salads. We are undertaking market research and brand recommendations for the herb market, a large but unbranded market. It’s a interesting meeting with a forward thinking company. It excites me when I work with these sort of people – both knowledgeable but passionate about their brand and where their business is heading. It inspires me to look at new ways of marketing my own business and when it comes time for me to leave Bournemouth in the mid afternoon my mind is awash with innovative marketing ideas. I dodge the M25 traffic making it in time to meet Gemma after she finishes work and we nip to Homebase. We’re decorating the house and need to choose some paint for a feature wall in the kitchen… don’t ask me how but I managed to get hoodwinked and before I know it we’re driving home with 2 litres of Shocking PINK. I now officially live in Polly Pocket’s house.

Friday
After vivid nightmare’s of Shocking Pink and Vomit Green I get in to work early to write an article on the importance of focusing on your brand during a recession. Research has proven that those who cut marketing budgets lose market share and those who don’t will increase it… why? Well to put it simply there is a lot less advertising “noise” out there now so you’re likely to get heard more. It’s so important for businesses to take time out to understand where the strength of their brand lies and leverage that awareness to attract even more loyal customers. If you are struggling to do this then it may be worth talking to us because ultimately tough times don’t last but tough brands do!

I am hoping the ET will run an article on this piece if I ask them politely especially because we are running a competition to help a local business undertake a brand overhaul … so watch this space!!

This afternoon we get a call with a rush job from ASDA which is for some Point of Sale Design and Printing that needs to be in 10 stores for next Wednesday so it’s all hands on deck – I love these winding down Friday afternoons!