I got stuck in to a new project on Friday, developing a new website for the not-for-profit organisation Wigan Borough Business Club – or WiganBBC for short.

You can visit the new website here : www.wiganbbc.org.uk

The website is pretty compact but it contains all the information you’ll need;

• Info about Wigan Borough Business Club and its aims
• Diary of upcoming events
• A link to our Linked in page
• A list of supporting businesses – including PaulDesigns!
• A contact us page

All the best,

Paul,

PaulDesigns

Some information about Diva Web Design.

Diva Web Design of Wigan was a full service company that specialises in customised web site design and development.
Diva Web Design built and maintained web sites for companies and individuals wishing to portray a professional image on the Internet.
Founded in October 1997, Diva Web Design had acquired a broad range of clients in a wide variety of fields.

To find out more please click here…

If you would like to know more about what Wigan Borough Business Club does, and how you can get involved please email me through the website.

To find out when we’re next meeting please visit the WBBC website.

A little more about Wigan Borough Business Club…

Its aims

To encourage the growth of business within its membership, by the dissemination of information and the exchange of ideas, and to provide a friendly and informal environment where like-minded businesses can share experiences, meet new suppliers, and gain new customers.

How does it do this?

The Business Club organises various activities throughout the year, and encourages the exchange of ideas between attendees of the events. Meetings are informal and friendly, and open to all types of business, large and small. As most events take place in the evening, a free buffet is organised for the comfort of all members.

Who are the members, and what does it cost?

The Wigan Borough Business Club is run by a steering group of local business people. It welcomes all members of the local business community, and draws its membership from Greater Manchester, Warrington, Merseyside, Lancashire and surrounding areas. The great news is that it is FREE OF CHARGE!.

Busway or Railway?

Join in the discussion on Linked In (Wigan Borough Business Club) http://linkd.in/eYiz2F

Or, visit the Transport for Leigh website – http://www.transportforleigh.org.uk/

Thanks, Paul.

To make sure you get your cards by the 4th week of November we’ll need to sign off artwork by the 12th of November.

For more details please click here…

Thanks, Paul.

Featured Project.

I met Rab last October at Business For Breakfast at the Park Inn, Leigh (God’s country – Leigh being my home town). Rab is the groups Independent Financial Advisor, and I must says he’s a thoroughly decent bloke. Earlier on this year Rab asked me to design and build a website for him and his business partner. Rab and Don wanted the website to be ‘a bit different’ to the stereotypical IFA website (so he didn’t want it to be dull and lifeless). Anyway to cut a long story short within a few weeks their website was up and running.

My most recent project for Rab has been to set up a bespoke email marketing campaign for his business. You can view his last newsletter here. Rab wanted a cost effective means of keeping in touch with his customers, local businesses, Chamber Members and Networking Buddies. The newsletter is brimming with stories and articles that will interest local business owners and company directors.

On a more personal note I can also vouch for Rab because although he’s my client, I’m also a client of his – I asked him to sort my old company pension out. His approach is thorough and he always does the best for his clients regardless of what fees he might earn. So if you need an IFA I can whole heartedly recommend him. If you want to give him a call his mobile number is 07809 747 954 (and no, he isn’t paying me for this plug)!

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Network & Brew.

Yes, the Network and Brew event on the 10th of September was a success. In total 31 networkers supported the event and had a very convivial evening. The night started off with a bit of socialising washed down with a few pints of AllGates‘ ‘Twitter and Busted’ and ‘Napoleons Retreat’.

David Mayhall, AllGates’ Director did two tours of this fantastic micro brewery before serving supper, those still standing moved on to The Anvil for last orders.

Party Animals Phil and Hazel Donoghue (S4 ICT) and John Howarth (New Liberty) carried on supping in Leigh Town Centre!

Peter Rimmer of Fleet Dynamic pulling a pint of AllGates ‘Napoleons Retreat’.

THANK YOU to all those who supported this event.

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Christmas Cards for your business.

Yes I know it’s ‘only’  September but it’s October on Friday and if you normally get individually designed and printed cards done then this is the month to do it. The more you order the cheaper they become…

• x25 Cards £36.15
• x50 Cards £52.90
• x100 Cards £88.75
• x200 Cards £163.00

These prices are based on A4 folded to A5, 350gsm stock, supplied flat (and creased) with white envelopes. There is a fixed design fee of £45.00 per design and delivery is £4.99.

To find out more please get in touch…

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Best time to deploy an email marketing campaign?

I get asked this quite a lot. It mostly depends on the type of people who’ll be receiving your campaign. Is it going to businesses, public sector (schools for example) or consumers?

My advice is to avoid Mondays completely. Workers tend to be very busy at the start of the week catching up and tending to enquiries received over the weekend. I’d also recommend that you avoid Friday afternoons too – for obvious reasons.

I’d say the best time to target businesses would be mid morning or mid afternoon Tuesday to Thursday. For consumers, look at your websites analytics and decide on the best time to send.

Having said all this it’s important to monitor your campaigns click rate over time to see which deployment day and time best suits your business and its campaign recipients.

To find out more please get in touch!

Just to let you all know that my August newsletter has been deployed. You can read it in your web browser by clicking here (opens in a new window)…

Cheers, Paul.

Preview..

I’m organising a Brewery Tour (at Allgates Brewery in Wigan Town Centre) on the evening of the 10^th of September. It’s £10 per head (required 3 weeks in advance), and this includes drinks and a buffet supper in the Brewery itself.

It’s a social gathering of local businesses, but it’s wise to bring along a few business cards – you never know who you might bump into! Places are limited so I need to have confirmation of bookings as soon as possible.

If you’re interested please let me know (0161 408 7999 or mail {at} pauldesigns.co.uk) and I’ll add you to the list!

For Tour details please visit : http://www.allgatesbrewery.com/brewery_tour/

Thanks!

Paul Newton.

IE6 and IE7′s share of the browser market have continued to slip (YES!) with IE8 gaining a slight increase. Firefox 3.6′ performance continues to be strong (gaining 1.17%). What’s interesting this month, is the appearance of the iPhone’s browser with a market share of 0.73%.

Now that Mozilla has finally fixed the Firefox/Adobe Flash bug (that was causing my browser to crash 3 times a day) there is no reason why FF can’t over take IE8 during the next 12-18 months.

Cheers, Paul.

I see a lot of great businesses in the Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley area, and I see a lot of business cards. Sometimes the business cards aren’t as great as the businesses…

We tend to hand them in fistsfulls, after all they only cost very little. But as they say, first impressions count. I see a lot of those cheap Vista Print cards, you know – the free ones (just pay for P&P), however they tend to be cheap looking and cheap feeling (buy cheap, buy twice as they say).

PaulDesigns offers a cost effective business card design service. It costs just £39. Want a double sided business card? No problem there’s no extra design charge.

PaulDesigns also handles the printing with our selected quality partners. Just think no more laising with the printer regarding design specs! Just look at what PaulDesigns’ offers…

• Business cards
• Heavy 400gsm (Grams Square Metre) weight
• Highest quality silk artboard
• Both digital and lithograph printing available
• Double sided printing available
• Standard 85mm X 55mm size
• Matt/Gloss lamination available
• Rounded corners available

Remember, you’re trying to build your businesses brand. Don’t ruin it for the sake of a few pounds.

For prices and more information visit :

http://www.pauldesigns.co.uk/services/design_for_print/

http://www.pauldesigns.co.uk/pdf/design_and_print.pdf

All the best,

Paul.