Earlier this month I met with Lottie Elson, Marketing Manager for the Argus, to present a potential new campaign concept for Brighton’s local newspaper. My campaign idea was well received by the Marketing Manager and the Editor, and the Argus is currently looking into ways of getting it off the ground.

How to deal with redundancy and unemployment in a positive and constructive way.

There’s no denying that we are going through a difficult time at the moment. Every day we are bombarded with doom and gloom stories telling us that there are no jobs to be had, and that unemployment levels are rising. I was recently made redundant, so I know the effect these media stories can have on your ability to stay positive and optimistic whilst job hunting.

This is why I have offered to work with The Argus on a campaign that balances out the effects of these frequent doom and gloom stories with success stories and inspiration on how to make the most of what can only be described as a very difficult time, for example:

• Interviews/ blogs from companies and individuals to demonstrate how it’s possible to stand apart from the competition by ‘thinking outside the box’ when job hunting.

• Introducing ways to va-va-voom your CV i.e. volunteering to keep skills fresh and taking advantage of the concessionary rates readily available on many day and evening courses.

• Networking – an introduction to social media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and free blogging platforms.

• Interview/ job hunting advice with a local focus – what are Brighton employers looking for and what impressed them about past successful candidates?

• CV of the Week – A page in The Argus devoted to the promotion of one single person, based on a different selection criteria each week.

Of course, this campaign idea is not meant to be a ‘smile and everything will be OK’ solution to the problem – but I’m hoping it could help people stay positive, motivated and inspired to think outside the box whilst looking for their next job.

I met up with Ama Evans today – founder of The Yoga Club in Brighton. She is organising a ‘Peace Now’ event this September, as part of International Peace Day. 108 Yoga Teachers, for the first time in Brighton, will gather to do 108 Salutations for peace at 1.08 pm. A party celebration for peace will be held in the evening with DJs, guest artists and live performances.

I have offered to help out with the marketing and PR for the event. Today we discussed ways to improve awareness of the event i.e. setting up a free blog site to promote the ‘Peace now’ day and bring in volunteers, effective branding, social media marketing i.e. Twitter, Facebook and blogging, making the most of Ama’s excellent testimonials from last year’s event, website usability and SEO, producing eye catching marketing materials, and using my contact at The Argus for local advertising.

I hope to see you there, The Old Market in Hove on 20 Sep 2009.

University of Brighton – Presentation Handout

For the last 4 months I have been studing Advanced Level German at Bhasvic College in Brighton to keep my language skills up-to-date, and also as part of a greater post-redundancy strategy to keep myself motivated and active while looking for my next role in marketing. I have been trying to  take full advantage of the extra time on my hands by learning new skills – and refreshing old ones i.e. working with creative photography, Photo Shop and of course setting up the site that you are currently reading.

Just completed a freelance copywriting project for neighbo.com – an online business specialising in social media for the housing sector. I have been contributing to the  set-up of blockliving.com, which is part of the neighbo network and provide help and advice for leaseholders living in apartment blocks.

Reference from Managing Director - Paul Fox, 14 July 2009.

It has been great for gaining experience in writing for different target audiences.  At Island Cruises, I wrote copy aimed at the holiday market and the tone was relaxed, friendly and informal. I produced both B2C and B2B copy for new / potential customers to improve on brand awareness and volume of sales. However, in my role as Copywriter for online business Neighbo.com, I was providing help and advice to the housing sector and the tone was more formal and informative.

I have included links to examples of my copywriting for neighbo.com. Feel free to have a browse.

What are Managing Agents?

What makes a good Managing Agent?

Managing a Resident Management Company

Tendering for a Managing Agent

I met with Lottie Elson today, Marketing Manager for the Argus, to present a potential new campaign concept for Brighton’s local newspaper. My campaign idea was well received by the Marketing Manager and the Editor, and the Argus is currently looking into ways of getting it off the ground. I’m really pleased. More information to follow…

Something worth checking out… Google Adwords offer grants to charities to help them build their online presence through free PPC campaigns. The aim and focus of the sponsored advertising campaign would be for the charity to decide upon, but it could be  based around general outreach activities or fundraising activities, encouraging online donations or simply getting people interested in volunteering with the charity.

The size of Google Adwords grants vary, so I don’t want to get your hopes up. Grants will typically consist of just over $300 worth of advertising on Google per month (up to $10,000 a month), and once an application has been accepted, there’s no end date and no need to re-apply. So it’s definitely not to be sniffed at.

Case studies have been positive, and clearly show how the help, expertise and support offered by the Google Adwords team – in conjunction with the free advertiting – can jump start the online presence of charities, especially for those operating within the constraints of a small marketing budget. Examples of real sunshine stories are Shop Unicef, which saw a 43% increase in sales over a one-year period – and Coach Art, supporting children with life-threatening illnesses through an art and athletics program, had a 65% increase in volunteers wanting to work for the charity.

Grant application for Target Tuberculosis

I had an interesting day volunteering at Target Tuberculosis today, helping them put together a Google Adwords grant application to hopefully secure free sponsored advertising on Google for the charity.

Part of my involvement was to explain how Google Adwords works, the benefits to be had, how the bidding process works and the things to consider when placing a bid i.e. cost per click vs. expected ROI and whether to focus efforts on popular (but costly) keywords or less used (but cheaper) keywords. I used Google Analytics and Google Adwords to suggest keywords for their campaigns, pulled web performance stats from Google Analytics to use in their application.

More information about my volunteer work