Recycling tealight frenzy

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Sometimes it’s the simplest things that create a buzz. Take tealights.

The Recycled Candle Company recycle all types of candles, including tealights. They’ve recently had lots of queries about these – people aren’t sure if they’re recyclable because of the metal parts.

So they added a photo to Instagram showing Richard holding a bag of tealights. Which I added to their Facebook page. And then it all went wild! Immediately the likes and comments started building – it was obviously hitting home with many people.

Richard followed up with a video thank you on and it all kicked off again.

The initial post now has well over 600 likes/loves and 600 shares, plus nearly 170 comments coming from Manchester, Cumbria, Sussex and even Texas! The reach is over 130K now, with engagement at 18.2K post clicks. The original Instagram post has also had fantastic engagement with over 320 likes, and an enquiry from the West Coast of Canada where they’re looking at setting up a similar initiative.

I’m just in the process of distributing a press release on the back of it, and I’m hoping we might get national interest. Tealights, who would have thought?

All this profile raising came from a very simple post, with a very simple photograph. Nothing fancy, nothing particularly clever, just absolutely spot on content that resonated with thousands of people.

It all goes to show that there’s a huge interest in recycling with more and more people seeking ways to keep as much as possible out of landfill.

Find out more by visiting therecycledcandlecompany.co.uk

Snow on River Otter

Snow go!

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Snow in Devon

Like most people in the country, experiencing snowfall that banks up and snows you in, is not a usual occurence. I had been watching the weather reports with interest, and while I slightly poo-pooed the coming armageddon (I refuse to call it emmageddon), I was also sensible, stocking up on logs for the woodburner and checking I had oil in the tank, and fuel in the car.

When the blizzard struck in the afternoon, it wasn’t unexpected. I had cancelled a meeting earlier in the day ‘just in case’, which transpired to be a reasonable decision to have taken.

As happens every time with major snowfall in Devon (the last being 2010), everything suddenly ground to a halt – well, after Tesco had been emptied of bread and milk. We do always seem to panic when there’s no bread or milk, don’t we.

Social media

As the weather worsened I saw lots of businesses shutting and letting people know on Twitter and Facebook. I called my clients with retail businesses and cafes to see if they were closing, and added updates on social media. One was just about to close, others were soldiering on. The following day, however, all of them were closed – bar the amazing Tickety-Boo where chef Dave was holding the fort.

Home working

Working from a home office has its benefits. Many people were unable to get to their place of work, but for me all that was required was to switch on the desktop and carry on regardless. Until the power cut, that is. Living in a rurally located village in East Devon does mean that I am slightly beholden to the vagaries of the power supply – the lines don’t always bear up in extreme weather. A number of villages in the immediate area were affected, others elsewhere.

No phone, no desktop, a laptop with limited battery life – at least the mobile gave me contact with the outside world. We’re fortunate in having a woodburner and LPG gas supply as well as electricity and oil, so the house, and office, remained warm. Now, I can always write, power or no power, so I started on a feature for a magazine. But then things took a different turn – I decided to check on an elderly neighbour and tramped through the snow with a flask of tea, only to discover he had no heat at all, his being all electric.

On a day like that, work can take a back seat. I stopped trying to get anything done and made a number of trips to the neighbour, with hot water bottles, blankets and soup (many other people were also busy helping neighbours in need, or taking supplies to people stuck in cars). I ‘forced’ my housebound teenagers to come for walks with me in the snow, which they, after grumbling, loved.  My dogs had a field day.

The upshot was that I had to work at the weekend to catch up. Well that’s life, I often work at the weekend, so I just did more. It’s been a peculiar few days, but it’s just a few days.

And yes, when I nipped into Tesco after the thaw set in, there were more people there than during the Christmas rush. All buying bread, and milk.

Teenager in snowPickle in snowSaffy in snow

Pirate ship at Tickety-Boo

Tickety-Boo launches pirate ship

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Ahoy there! Pirate ship sets sail at Tickety-Boo

I started working with Tickety-Boo in 2016 – the coffee shop and play kingdom opened in August with a successful launch event. Even then there was talk of a second section in the play kingdom, as there was space at the rear of the building.

Fast forward to 2017 – as a venture, Tickety-Boo has become a great success. This had led to a bronze award win at the Devon Tourism Awards.

The need to extend the play area, add more seating and create rear access to the play area became pressing. So it was all hands on deck (literally) to make a pirate ship, and fit out the area. I peeked in from time to time to watch progress; the boat being built, the walls being painted, the carpet going in. All the time mentioning the need for a launch event.

Stuart and the pirate ship This week I had a phone call from Stuart, the owner of Tickety-Boo. With the onset of the Christmas holidays, he had decided to open the new section as it was reaThe first pirates on the pirate shipdy. In the event, there was no time for a launch. But we had to do something to officially open it. So I drove to Ottery St Mary to take photos, borrowed some children (with the permission of their mum) and persuaded Stuart  to pose in the ship. Sadly I didn’t have time to get him a pirate hat!

The photos went straight up on Tickety-Boo’s Facebook page and immediately the likes, shares and comments started mounting up (there are currently over 200 likes on that post). Customers had been aware that the extension was being worked on, and word spread fast. Perfect timing for the Christmas holidays. In the end, a soft launch did the job just fine.

Facebook

Facebook has proved a really successful platform for Tickety-Boo. The Facebook community is edging towards 2,000 with no hard push or adverts, just relevant content including competitions and menu updates. The community is very engaged, making comments, tagging people and sharing posts. Comments are almost always positive, and reviews always good, with a 4.9 rating. Tickety-Boo doesn’t need hard sell, its success is down to a combination of hard work, customer service and a real commitment to the local community.

Go check out the pirate ship if you have little ones. It’s a beautiful thing (and the cakes are amazing!).

New Otter Logo

A new look for Otter

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One of my long-standing clients is a garden centre business I have known since I moved to Devon nearly twenty years’ ago. While planting up my garden, I paid many visits to Otter Nurseries in Ottery St Mary; the garden centre is just 10 minutes from my house. My garden has perennials, shrubs and trees that all came from Otter, and when  I’ve always loved spending time there and

I’ve always loved it there, with an amazing array of plants and much more. I loved visiting at Christmas, and both my children went to meet Santa there when they were younger. This is a family business, with three generations playing an active part. The company, which over the years has grown from one to five garden centres, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.

Marking 50 years brought with it the inspiration for a review of the Otter, and the company decided it was time to look at a fresh approach to its brand. So, over the past year or so, client Otter Nurseries has embarked on a rebrand with Exeter marketing specialist, Wall To Wall Sunshine. This has included visiting all the garden centres, creating customer profiles, producing new designs and new branding guidelines. The ‘Nurseries’ has gone, and the company is now known as Otter Garden Centres, to better reflect the company and its retail offer. There was some discussion about the otter and its part in the brand, but quite rightly it was decided that the animal was intrinsically linked to the business, so it remained.

My part within the overall project has, by comparison, been relatively minor but, even so, necessary; issuing PR to reassure the public that Otter has not been bought out, but is still a family business; updating social media platforms, updating the website, creating a post about the rebrand and linking to it on social media.

As an objective observer and a customer of Otter, I think this is a really positive change for the company. As the rebrand is rolled out across the branches over the coming year I’m sure customers will respond positively. Certainly on social media so far, the responses have all been ‘thumbs up’.

Raising the Rafters

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A couple of months’ ago I received a call from a choir. Now, I’ve worked with many, varied clients to provide PR support, from big corporates like Thames Water and Lloyds Bank, to new businesses such as Barrel Top Wagons and Baking Matters. But this was something a little different.
The Exeter Philharmonic Choir has been singing for some 160 years, although none of the original members now remain (sorry, had to pop that in). I’ve lived in East Devon for nearly 20 years, and I had never heard of them. To be fair, this might be because I’ve never had a relationship with choral music; theatre, comedy, pop music, films, those are more my line.
The choir, it transpires, perform in three major concerts a year, plus Christmas Carols at Exeter Cathedral. So what did they want from me? I may have Grade 3 in singing, but I’m not sure I’m the soprano I once was. Of course, it transpired the choir needed to let more people know about their concerts, in particular the March concert at the Cathedral. They had taken a decision to try PR, and my name had come up to provide PR support.
Exeter Philharmonic Choir Concert PosterThe concert was intriguing – a sea-themed extravaganza featuring pieces by Mendelssohn and Vaughan Williams and the debut of The Seafarer, written by Andrew Millington. Andrew was Director of Music for Exeter Cathedral until last year, and is the choir’s conductor. His piece was written around the Exeter Book, an Anglo Saxon book kept at the Cathedral.
I knew this was going to be a challenge, as performance PR is uncharted territory for me. But I found it really inspiring – the members of the choir are so committed, the choir is, of course, non-profit, and the story behind Andrew’s new piece was intriguing – and a good hook.
So I’ve spent the past two months writing and distributing press releases, speaking to magazine and editors, talking to radio and TV and supplementing the choir’s social media output. I was very fortunate to receive support from all the lovely local media, with the event receiving coverage in Exeter Living, Exeter Life, Western Morning News, BBC Radio Devon and more. Thank you all. And with a bit of forward planning, I have secured a feature article with Devon Life, with photographs taken (at the concert rehearsal) by the ever-talented Matt Austin.
Finally, the night of the performance came round, and the choir had kindly invited me to go along. I turned up at the Cathedral with layers (it can be cold in these places!) with a friend who had far more experience of this type of performance, being Welsh and a wonderful singer.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the concert blew my socks off. The choir were amazing, the soloists impressive, the orchestra, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, just fabulous. They all enjoyed themselves and received a massive amount of applause afterwards, particularly Mr Millington.
From what I could see, there were lots of people in the audience. I’ve yet to find out how numbers compare to previous events, but I do hope my work had a positive effect. If all went well then I’ll be starting to work out a PR strategy for the choir’s concert in October, their very first ‘Lord Mayor’s Charity Concert’. Now that should be fun!
Just for a moment I toyed with the idea of auditioning for the choir myself. Just for a moment. Then I remembered I am so much better with words than music. No-one leaves the room when I start writing.

PR for inspiring businesses

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Working in PR and copywriting brings me into contact with an amazing array of organisations. Some of these are large, established firms and others are small businesses, or start up. There are charities and community initiatives, all needing some help, whether that’s a boost, some advice about social media, or an ongoing PR service.

The last two months have been particularly interesting in terms of the businesses I have been talking to.

  • In Exeter I met Iain Smith, the owner of independent wine shop, Smith’s Wines in Magdalen Road, and ended up writing a feature for Exeter Life.
  • Down in Beer I was introduced to Swimboat for a feature for Devon Life – a little yellow boat that has been designed to accompany open water swimmers. I learned that there are thousands of intrepid swimmers who love to brave the waves for the sheer thrill of open water swimming.
  • I’ve been working with a lovely German nutritionist, Carola Becker, who, after learning to manage her own arthritis naturally, started up ‘Life is Good’ to help others to improve energy, lose weight and generally have a better life through better nutrition and exercise. I’m hoping some of this will rub off on me!
  • A call from Exeter Philharmonic Choir – I wasn’t previously aware Exeter had one – has brought me into contact with the world of composition and classical music, and I look forward to helping them gain more coverage for their concerts in Exeter Cathedral.
  • I also had a long chat with an inspirational lady in North Devon who turned to making chocolates from goats’ milk after her husband was made redundant (Caprine Capers). Having two children myself who were raised on goats rather than cows’ milk, I have a real interest in what she’s doing – hope there’s some taste tests involved….

I’ve blogged about telemarketing, parsnips and buying chocolate by post, I’ve written press releases about electrical testing software and I’ve helped out a friend of a friend who is Asian and needs to find a match donor.

It’s been an extraordinary few months, but such a privilege to learn about so many amazing things that are going on in Devon. I’m wondering what the next few months will bring!

A Face to a Name

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How many followers do you have on Twitter, and how many of those followers do you actually know? Perhaps the big question is how many of them do you actually WANT to know?

Over the past few months, for one reason or another I have found myself face to face with a person who I regularly engage with on Twitter. It can be quite a surprise meeting for the first time – rather like, in the ‘old days’, having a pen-pal in Germany that you meet after five years of writing to each other. Are you actually going to get on?

Twitter 1Surprisingly, it seems to me that very often, you do. I have certainly found this to be the case. I think this comes down to the fact that Twitter is a great platform for instant social hits. Tweets are often witty, and the tweeters that make you smile (or even LOL) are those you will probably connect with ‘in real life’.

Be warned – it can go the other way. I met two people I follow on Twitter at a recent event, and I knew immediately that I was of no actual interest to them. They didn’t make eye contact, and had no curiosity in finding out about the real me. To them, I am simply another number on their Twitter account. Well, shucks.

However, in the majority of cases it’s been a genuine delight to meet the person – it often results in laughter and even, on occasion, has led to business. And amen to that!

Blog on!

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This was supposed to be a March blog, but it’s taken a while to get round to it. So welcome to my first blog of April.

At a recent digital update seminar organised by CIPR, one speaker spoke of the nBlog 2eed to publish a blog at least every two weeks, and preferably more. You could hear a sharp intake of breath across the room. Who has the time?

Most of us understand the point of blogging. It’s a way of sharing your knowledge.

1. Blogs are good for Google. Each blog counts as a page, giving you credibility (as long as the content is fresh).
2. A well-written blog helps your customers to believe in your expertise.
3. Other professionals like to share the latest blogs – it shows that they have their finger on the pulse.
4. You can link to your blog on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and your business Facebook page – it all helps your profile.

The downTypistside, of course, is that you have to schedule in some time to write a blog, using your own ideas and views, and your own inimitable style.

Like everyone else, I often stare at the blank screen waiting for the thunderbolt of inspiration. Should nothing come to mind, I find it a good excuse to make a cup of tea. If the tea doesn’t help, here are a few helpful hints:

1. Think about what you do best and stick to what you know.
2. Search for topics in your area of expertise and read what other people have been writing about. What would you think about their topic – something different to what they’re saying?
3. Don’t plagiarise, it’s extremely unprofessional. If someone has had great original thoughts that you agree with, share them and acknowledge the writer.
4. 4. Have a sense of humour. Most of your readers will appreciate your blog more if you don’t take it all too seriously.

Finally, keep your blog short.Shortstory

Outsourcing social media management – hints and tips!

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Although part of what I do is termed ‘social media management’, I still find it fascinating just how many companies outsource this work. I understand the reasons, as I know first-hand what a time-consuming job it can be.

There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing, as long as you find the right person for the task. This will be someone who’s prepared to get beneath the skin of your business, achieve the right tone of voice and find the right accounts for you to connect to. (I managed one account for a while which was taken over by a dedicated sociasocial media management 1l media business. I went back some months later to have a peek, and was dismayed to discover that the business’s Twitter followers had grown tremendously, but on closer look all the followers were spam accounts. Where’s the value in that?).

How many times recently have you heard someone say there’s a clue in the phrase ‘social’ media. Here’s a good definition of social: ‘relating to activities in which you meet and spend time with other people’. On social media, people want to interact with a real person, not an automated tweet. There’s no life in that, and no long-term benefit.

In truth, most social media managers will mix and match scheduled and real time tweets and posts – it’s a tough call to avoid scheduling completely. However, it’s bad practice to schedule a tweet then forget about it as it disappears into the Twitter ether. Similarly on Facebook if someone asks a question about a post, they are much happier if they are answered quickly. Your social media manager must be on the ball to respond quickly should someone engage on one of your social media sites.

By the way, if you outsource social media management, don’t think that you don’t have to do anything. A good social media manager will need to communicate with you from time to time – for example if one of your customers has a question social media management 3needing an immediate answer that only you can give.

Although this blog discusses Facebook and Twitter management, your social media manager could also run Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube – whatever works best for your business, as long as they do it well!

Mind the Pot Plant!

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I finally bit the bullet and agreed to give a presentation with Sharon Goble of If…Media to one of the networking groups I attend, the Exeter and East Devon Business Club. Now, although I have a background in drama (nay, a degree in the subject!) I have always preferred to be behind the scenes, having worked both as a video producer and a stage director. Getting up in front of a crowd is not something I particularly enjoy, which may seem odd given that I work in PR (for me the whole point is usually to PR my clients, not myself)!

However, Sharon convinced me, and came up with a great topic, PR – is it magic? She was keen to talk about the power of images and targeting stories for the right media. I wanted to explore the connections between PR and social media, and how businesses should make sure they don’t let great PR stories get away.

Come the day, and off to the Deer Park Hotel for lunch before the presentation. I put my nerves to the back of my mind, deciding not to indulge in a glass of wine – I thought Dutch courage could prove my downfall!

Sharon and I got ready to start our presentation, which is when I got up close and personal with a pot plant. The layout of the room meant that I was standing under the leaves of the plant and could barely see the people in the room.

After attempting to talk from behind the foliage I decided to twist it round to get the leaves out of my face. The audience gasped as the plant toppled and I dived to stop it from falling. General hilarity ensued – talk about an ice breaker!

Of course, my nerves dissipated and I (almost) enjoyed the experience. Sharon has offered the presentation to another networking group we are members of. My only request is that there is a pot plant in the room….

Thanks to Fluffy of New Tricks for capturing the moment.