While browsing PR stories today, I ran across 10Yetis’ choice of Good PR from Friday. They gave a big kudos to a Desigual store in London for a PR stunt that involved (partial) nudity, as all successful PR stunts do, the post added. They got me thinking of nudity how and why it works and what it sells.

Some might say nudity, implying sex, sells only that – sex and nudity. But in the case of Desigual, it actually sells the brand. The stunt was orchestrated as follows: Desigual asked shoppers to come wearing only their underwear to the store, promising free clothes to the first 100. Quite a large number of Desigual fans showed up in the rainy weather, dressed as they were prompted and waiting in line in front of the store.  Continue reading

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Yesterday evening, WomenonBusiness.com published my first guest post. Thank you, Susan, for having me as a guest writer! Here’s a small excerpt to give you a taste!

For most women running a small business, constantly growing it also means cutting all unnecessary costs and trying to save whenever possible. If a fee seems a bit much for a certain service they might want to contract, they turn to the Do it Yourself/DIY approach. In most cases, doing anything yourself is not that difficult. There must be someone in your office with the skill set needed to learn how to and then do a good job at it!

While true, in most cases, this approach is counterproductive, unless you’re choosing the DIY option for services you are already offering. If you run a design agency, it would be crazy to hire someone else to design your corporate website.

I warmly invite you to head over to WomenonBusiness.com and read the entire article - DIY, the Small Business Mirage.

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Sponsored post brought to you by Office Genie

Working from home is all well and good when you’re starting out in business, but it does have its limitations. Despite being a cheaper alternative than renting an office initially, running a new venture from a spare bedroom, study or even the garage can be a rather solitary experience, although admittedly there’s no daily commute to worry about.

What’s more, with a business growing by the day then the home workplace isn’t always a practical solution to your expansion plans either. After all, how many of us occupy our spare bedrooms and other space around the house with all manner of other household items that tend to cramp our style? In short, working from home is easy, but it’s certainly not the be all and end all.

Time to expand

At one point in time a lot of people building up a new business would have baulked at the thought of moving into rented office space. Today though, thanks in part to the recession and a wealth of available property, it is now quicker, easier and cheaper than ever to rent good quality working areas. Continue reading

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Guest post by Annie Wallace

One of the most important things that you can do in the computer age to promote your business, whether it’s an online company or a brick and mortar store, is getting into social networking and social media. These sites have made setting up your profile relatively straightforward, but knowing exactly what to do with that profile can be an entirely different matter. Here are some important things to keep in mind when building your brand through social media.

Avatars: Tiny Pictures with Powerful Impact

Your avatar, a small picture that is no more than about sixty by sixty pixels, is the place where you’re going to make your first impression on potential contacts. As such, it’s important that you have a professional and recognizable picture. This same picture should also be used on all the sites that you frequent to increase your branding opportunities.

Making this picture look professional means following a few basic rules. It’s a good idea to start by putting the picture on a background that is white or neutral. Avoid busy backgrounds. What exactly should you put on this background? Well, surprisingly, your logo isn’t recommended. Using a personal picture on these sites tends to make your networking go more smoothly.

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