Plotting your course
Mar 10, 2010 - by Dawn
You may not have noticed but Monday 8th March was International Women Day. This day celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
I admit that I may not have been aware of this upcoming day if I had not signed up to attend the March DCEB Network for Women event. The night was a much larger event than expected with 250 in attendance. Speakers for the evening were Mary Anne O’Brien, founder and MD of Lily O’Brien’s and Lucy Gaffney Chairperson of Communicorp Group Ltd. Nicola Byrne, Managing Director of Call 11890 acted as MC on the evening.
The night kicked of with both Mary Anne O'Brien and Lucy Gaffney giving us all 'the story' behind how they got to where they are now. What made their stories interesting were the insights into their personal lives as well as their routes to success.
Both of them had unconventional pathways to their current careers. Mary Anne first realised her passion for chocolate on a trip to Africa for some much needed rest. She happened upon a local who was making chocolates and let Mary Anne try her hand at it. On returning to Ireland the dream developed into her establishing the now internationally successful brand by beginning in her home kitchen.
Lucy Gaffney worked in various jobs after repeating her Leaving Cert. She chopped and changed, realising many of the jobs her parents would like to see her in were not for her. The turning point was getting a secretarial role with Bell Advertising. From here she worked her way up to Account Director.
Lucy Gaffney is now Chairperson of Communicorp Group Limited an expanding communications group whose portfolio includes national radio stations Newstalk 106-108 and Today FM along with Dublin stations Dublin’s 98 and Spin 103.8.
Open networking afterwards was a great opportunity to exchange business cards over a glass of wine. All in all, a great event and thanks to the organisers for the effort involved.
Posted in Networking, Mary Anne O'Brien, Lucy Gaffney, Lily O'Briens, International Womens Day, DCEB Network for Women, Communicorp
Hi, here's my card...
Feb 10, 2010 - by Dave
What's the first thing you do when you meet someone in a business situation? Say hello? Shake hands? The next thing is most probably going to be the exchange of business cards. I have been going to a lot of networking events lately - they seem to be growing in popularity - and plenty of business cards are always exchanged.
Frequently the standard isn't good at all. You get business cards that are a mess, hard to read contact details, details crossed out and scrawled in with biro. Sometimes the paper stock isn't great and the card is flimsy and crumpled. It doesn't really add up to a great business impression and a lot of the time the suspicion is that these cards go into the pocket and from there to the bin!
Price is obviously a sensitive issue at the moment but a lot of the time the cheapest deal isn't the best one. When shopping around for your business card it is important to make sure that you are comparing like with like. Will the card be printed on good stock? Will it be a quality job? Have you seen a portfolio or any other design work? All points worth bearing in mind if you want a business card that will ensure you make the right impression!
Posted in Scapegoat Design, Printing, print design, Print, Networking, Graphic Design, creativity, Business Card, branding
Sell, Sell, Sell.
Sep 1, 2009 - by Dave
I have to admit that I am not a natural at marketing my own business. This might seem a strange admission for someone who is in an industry that is closely allied with marketing and selling products and services, but I suspect that I'm not the only one.
The idea of cold calling fills me with dread and it's always hard to get past the 'gatekeepers' as they're affectionately known! So what's the solution?
Well there's no easy answer, especially at the moment. One thing that has worked well for Scapegoat Design though is word of mouth marketing and more specifically networking.
We are members of BNI Riverside Chapter and I have found it an excellent way to get introductions to a wide variety of businesses in a fairly relaxed manner. However, there's still plenty of work involved before deals are done as an introduction is just that at the end of the day.
Persevere though and it will bring rewards and that's what I have found. For anybody who might be interested in coming along and seeing BNI Riverside in operation we have a Visitor's Day on Thursday 3rd September. If you'd like some more information call me on 01 676 2446 or email info@scapegoatdesign.com
Posted in Selling, Networking, Marketing, BNI Riverside
