Logo design is one thing, but a well thought out corporate identity is what you really want to achieve. A logo design can be perceived as just an image that contains the name of your business, however, what it should really do is capture the essence of your business.

When someone walks into your office space, sees your logo, goes to your website, or attends your events, they need to be “hit” by your essence, and this “essence” is your corporate identity.

For us, as individuals, it can take up to a quarter of our lives (if we are lucky) to find our personal identity; to “find ourselves”. Your business’s identity, however, needs to “find itself” as soon as possible.

How to find your corporate identity:

Where is it hiding? Well, hopefully it will be hiding somewhere in your business plan. If not, it can probably be found hidden deep inside a well-organised brainstorming session.

What does it look like? Your corporate identity should include the following aspects:

1. A clear idea of what you offer

2. A clear idea of who your target market is

3. A creative and innovative logo design

4. A slogan/catch-phrase/ (this is optional, but make one anyway – it adds some fun to the process)

5. A personality – Yes, your business has a personality. Is it serious or fun? Is it creative or conservative? Is it trustworthy, loyal and committed?

6. A website – A website is like a person’s face – a website is your business’s face – actually, it is it’s entire body, clothes, mind, soul, and hair-do – make sure your face matches your personality.

So, the next time someone offers to do your company’s corporate identity, don’t turn around and say, “No, thanks, we already have a logo”. A logo is just part of your corporate identity – you are still missing the hair-do, the mind and many other exciting bits…

Why do you need a corporate identity?

Well, without it, your business is walking around like a person without a purpose, personality and an awesome hairdo – if YOU know your company’s corporate identity, others will too – find it and share it!

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We decided to start our series of free networking events for two reasons. Firstly, we were keen to attend networking events, but soon realised that many had a cost attached and our thinking was that if you want (or need) to attend networking events in the first place, you might not have the funds to pay to market yourself – this is why we offer our networking events for free.

Secondly, we decided to host our events in Hout Bay because we believe that Hout Bay is a community rich with entrepreneurs and small businesses and, as a community, we need to support one another before going “over the mountain”.

Our aim is to give you (even those of you that are over the mountain) an opportunity to share what you do and to create some interest in your product or service.

Pakalolo Hout Bay immediately offered their venue and we are so grateful for their hospitality and great food, which was freely given at our last event.

We will be hosting our networking events every second month and look forward to growing each time.

For more information please contact us on info@lotusmedia.co.za

We believe that it takes a village to raise a business and to make it successful – join our networking events and not only help your business reach its goals, but help others in reaching theirs too.

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A well thought out business plan is necessary for any business – not only will it give you a clear idea of what you want, but it will give potential investors or loan institutions an idea of what type of business person you are and whether or not you can succeed. For the sake of this blog, I will focus on your personal business plan – a plan that is for your eyes only; a plan that inspires YOU to keep moving forward.

Writing a business plan is not just about writing down what you want to achieve as a business, you also need to share HOW you intend to achieve those goals.

What you should think about:

1. Your vision – Long term

Your vision doesn’t have to be ground-breaking, it just needs to explain what your business stands for and what you want to accomplish in the long term – it might be challenging, but the more concise your vision is, the more likely you are going to succeed. If your vision is long-winded and complicated you will find yourself struggling to focus on your end goal – keep it simple.

2. Identify an initial goal – Short term

There might be many things that you wish to achieve, but, when starting out, it is important to set yourself ONE goal, which should ideally lay the foundation for your business. An initial goal might be to get clients or decide on a marketing strategy or register your business and get a business bank account. Once you have achieved this, set yourself another short term goal, and so it goes on.

3. Put a pricing structure together

This might not be as fun as the other two points, but it is just as necessary. You want to be prepared for any query you might get – figuring out what you charge for your service or product on the spur of the moment will not be conducive to profitability. Look at what your competitors are charging and put together a price list that you feel comfortable with as well as keeping in line with your industry rates.

4. What are you concerned about?

We all have fears when starting a new business, so instead of hiding from them just confront them by writing them down. What are you afraid of? Once you can identify what scares you or where you feel you might fail, you can decide on solutions before the problem arises. Are you afraid of handling your finances? Maybe you should speak to someone about how you can handle your finances effectively. Are you afraid that you won’t get enough clients? Make sure that you are marketing your business wherever you can. You will find that once you have acknowledged your fears they become less threatening and a solution is often just around the corner.

You might think that you only need to write one business plan and that’s that – however, at some point you will realise that your priorities and your goals will change over time – there is no harm in recreating your business plan a few months after you get started; in fact it is crucial that you do. Not only does this keep you focused, but it also stops you from getting in a rut of doing the same thing over and over again without getting anywhere.

This is your plan and your plan only – change it, scrap it, keep it or share it – whatever you do, make sure that you keep it up to date and filled with inspiration.

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You might think that staying creative only applies to “creatives”, but in order to be happy in any career, creativity is vital. The Collins Dictionary has the follow definitions for the word creative:

1. Having the ability to create
2. Characterised by originality of thought; having or showing imagination
3. Characterised by sophisticated bending of the rules or conventions

The three definitions mentioned above can clearly be applied to absolutely any profession, and seems to hint at the fact that innovation (thinking outside of the box) is closely linked with creativity.

So, how do we, no matter what profession we are in, stay creative and stay motivated?

1. Break your patterns

Trying something new once and then sticking with it forever is not conducive to continuous creativity. However, being aware that you are capable of trying something new every day IS going to result in daily creativity. What’s that saying about repetition of one thing, results, and going insane?

1. Be inspired though action

Inspiration might not fall on your lap as you enter your workplace, sit in front of your computer or enter a meeting – sitting around waiting for it to “happen” will only result in you sitting around waiting for it to “happen”. In order to kick-start your creativity you can go online and see what others are doing, read about new developments in your field, chat with someone who is a leader in your profession or use free writing to write the first thing that comes to mind (no filter, just write).

1. Stop self-doubt in any creative process before it stops you

Whether you are a doctor that wants to try something new or a graphic designer that wants to use a different technique, don’t let doubt or fear get in your way of giving it a try – if you don’t try, you don’t know, and I am pretty sure that if you see someone else doing the same thing before you do, you will kick yourself.

These are really just a few of the ways that you can get your creative juices flowing, but I think that the biggest step you need to take is to change your mindset – change how you think and take the initiative when it comes to being creative.

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working” – Pablo Picasso 

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For those of you that don’t know, running a competition on Facebook is not as simple as just posting an ad and getting everyone to “like” and “share” and follow your page in order to enter – this is actually a BIG no-no.

Here are some great links about how to run a Facebook competition properly, without getting into trouble with Zuckerberg himself:

1. http://secondstreetlab.com/2012/09/dos-donts-of-running-a-facebook-contest/
2. http://socialmediatoday.com/rvezirian/304721/brand-do-s-and-dont-s-contests-facebook

In short, the basic thing that you need to avoid is:

Asking people to like or share your competition posts or to follow your page in order to enter the competition.

Rather use:

Facebook competition Apps to advertise your competition.

Business Facebook pages have been shut down for not complying with this rule – make sure that you are not next on their list – for more info on Facebook Competition Apps you can go to:

http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/

The post The Do’s and Don’ts of Running a Facebook Competition appeared first on Lotus Media.

If you are starting a business or you already have one and you now find yourself wanting a business partner, you might want to take these few tips into consideration. Does a business partner need the same qualities as a romantic partner? Possibly (but without the extra benefits) or is a business partner all about something else?

Lotus Media was started by myself and my husband so our dynamic might be very different to other business partner relationships. So, let’s look at what qualities, together, you and your spouse already have that could make a business partnership a possibility and then let’s look at what makes anyone a good business partner.

Ideally, if you are married or dating, you should already have a solid relationship built on the obvious love stuff such as trust, respect, loyalty, good communication, and of course love. It is also quite obvious that if you are going to start a business with someone you love, then you should be pretty sure that you can work with them. It is at this point where the check list for spousal business partners and neutral business partners meet up and you are now just looking at what makes them a good business partner.

Things to keep in mind when choosing any kind of business partner:

1. Common ground

Are you both passionate about what you are offering as a business? Can you both get equally excited about the work you are setting out to do?

2. Jumping right in

Does the potential business partner take initiative from the get-go? Do you get a sense that they can’t wait to get started? Do they already have plans and ideas and do they share them?

3. What is their business history?

What did they do before? Were they successful? Why did it end? If they have no experience, what makes them worth the risk?

4. Do they communicate well?

If it is your spouse, you might know this already, but often things can change drastically when business mode sets in. Have discussions about how challenges or issues will be resolved – are they willing to have regular meetings and how do they handle constructive criticism?

5. Trust your gut feeling

If you are only dealing with acquaintances, then it’s easy to just move onto candidate no. 2 but if you are dealing with a spouse, you need to discuss any uneasy feelings right from the start. Going into a business with someone is a serious move and any doubts in the beginning can only lead to bigger doubts in the end – trust your instincts.

These 5 tips on choosing a perfect business partner are just the beginning steps. The steps that follow depend on what your business is and what you want from a business partner. Don’t feel that one meeting with someone is going to show you all of this – take your time and be clear about what you want – make that “perfect business partner list” and put it out there – you really deserve nothing less. 

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It is crucial for any online company to understand how SEO works. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an important part of marketing your business and even the most basic understanding of this process can help in getting your company’s brand and services out there. Here are some simple SEO tips to help you gain an effective SEO strategy.

1. Keywords are king! Do the research. Think about what you want to write and plan your blog/article/web copy accordingly, from the title and meta title to the content.
2. Remember: Keywords don’t necessarily need to consist of one word – use key phrases as well – for example, instead of using ‘printing’ refine it by using ‘printings tips’ or ‘digital printing’.
3. Don’t force the use of keywords/key phrases in your text – it must sound natural.
4. Apply keywords and phrases to your images as well.
5. How does it all work behind the scenes? Watch this and find out. How Google SEO works
6. Quantity and quality are vital when creating SEO content. Frequent blog/article/web copy on your site on other sites increases the chances of an effective outcome.
7. Post new content on your site at least 3 times a week.
8. Get creative – use images and videos to spice up your content.

The ideal end result of effective SEO planning is that your SEO content appears on the first page of a Google search pertaining to the keywords you have chosen.

Effective SEO content creation does not have to be a daunting task. The tips mentioned above are just the tip of the SEO iceberg, but these are guaranteed to assist you in doing it the right way. Go out there and research the best ways to market your business according to your target market and apply this information to your SEO strategy – if anything, just remember these 3 important rules: Research – Quantity  – Quality

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I am continuously amazed and inspired at the works of art that some graphic designers create. There seems to be no limit to their skills and no limit to the wondrous images that they produce. I guess a large part of it has to do with the fact that there is no limit to their imagination, which, with regards to adults, is a rare find these days.

Yes, you can give credit to Photoshop and Illustrator and the many cool design tools, but you still need someone to use these tools effectively in order create something mind-blowing. Effective graphic design is essential these days as everything you produce needs to stand out from the crowd. Whether you are designing a flyer or a business card or even just the cover photo for your business Facebook page, it needs to scream AWESOMENESS and INDIVIDUALITY. You want people to say “Wow!” You want them to share it with the world.

Here are two sites I came across the other day – http://thinkdesignblog.com/inspiration-5-amazing-graphic-designersartists.htm and http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/32-amazing-inspirational-pieces-of-graphic-artwork – these graphic design images are all unique, awe-inspiring and have pushed the limits of what you think is possible.

Isn’t that the point though? To push the limits and boundaries of what we can create and to see how far our imaginations can stretch? Graphic design is art; actually, it is art without limits. Aren’t you excited to see where you can test the limits today? I am!

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Has entertainment lost its novelty factor? Besides going to clubs or live music venues or outdoor music festivals, do 20 somethings still make time for theatre, comedy shows or even the circus and how many people actually go the movies anymore? The Collins Dictionary describes entertainment as “the act or art of entertaining or a state of being entertained” or “an act, production, etc, that entertains; diversion; amusement”.

What are reasons behind us wanting to be entertained? Do we need a form of escapism? Do we want to be inspired? Do we want to be social? It is easy to fall into a rut with regards to the type of entertainment that we choose to witness. When last did you see a play or watch a ballet or go to a comedy club? Is it that these don’t appeal to us or is it just not on our radar? New theatre productions happen all the time so there must be a need for them, but who goes to watch them?

I know that I am always so inspired when I experience something I have never experienced before – there is a thrill in seeing or hearing something that your mind and soul hasn’t come into contact with – it opens up new possibilities and passions and then I find myself saying “I must do that more often”, but do I follow through on that? The answer is “no”.

Maybe the next time you feel uninspired or hopeless or even bored, don’t go the local watering hole or watch a series, go online and see what amazing shows are out there and just do it (and even do it alone if you have to) -  I am pretty sure you will not be disappointed.

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We are all familiar with the Disney classic, Peter Pan, and his magical land, Neverland, where children never grow up and, besides the occasional run in with Captain Hook, life is filled with adventure and childish fun.

Lotus Media will be presenting a series of music events, held at La Cabane in Hout Bay, at the end of every month (see dates below). La Cabane is a wonderfully playful venue with one of the largest jungle gyms I have ever seen and has a great entertainment area separate to the kid’s area. Completely covered by a tent, the entertainment area keeps all party goers protected from wind, rain and the hot summer sun. Fairy lights and colourful stage lights set the scene for our Neverland events and our unique party favours add a touch of playfulness to the evening.

Come and join us for a night of fun and great local music!

Neverland Dates:

Saturday 28th July 2012
Saturday 25th August 2012
Saturday 29th September 2012
Saturday 27th October 2012
Saturday 24th November 2012

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