So it follows that if the text and image content of your website remains stale and static, and latest news becomes old news, people won’t visit your site more than once. And that means lost customers and a pretty lean Christmas (those sprouts will have to stretch a long-g-g way).

So if you have a website, it’s key to update its content and let people know what you’re up to, whether it’s special offers, conferences and events or even a poll to ask people if beanies really are acceptable headwear (if it’s good enough for Agyness Deyn …). Updated sites fare better with search engines and ‘move you on’ in the eyes of your visitor. And a whole ‘refresh’ of your home page text makes you rethink your company’s message, which isn’t a bad idea because we all know businesses change and priorities vary, depending on the time of year, what’s in the bank and what’s happening with your competitors.

The best bit? These updates cost very little, and if you have a content management system, are achievable in very little time – just update your pages and voila, you have the power to attract new business. And if you’re not too keen to get involved in that ‘webby’ area, get your provider to update the site for you, as again this is a low-cost, low-effort way to boost business. Result!

Then check your stats and we guarantee (*disclaimer alert - ok so we can’t promise you this, but trust us, it will) that changing text and images here and there, and updating your news, will make a surprising difference to your site stats. 

So ignoring the cynical ‘they’re selling Christmas trees already’ comments, we think we should look anew on the run-up to Christmas. Glitter (oo!) and carols (ah!) warm even the chilliest of cockles, and sending out Christmas promotions might just do the same, while earning you some (much needed) money for the pot.

Christmas-themed enewsletters, posters and greetings cards are a good way to promote your business and products now, while spreading some cheer at the same time. People are thinking about presents already (oh to be so organised), so it’s a key time to bring people out of their ‘it’s not summer anymore’ blues and show them what you offer.  It really isn’t too late as print turnarounds can be surprisingly fast.

So before Father Christmas wakes from his slumber and the Christmas Fairy gets her tutu dry-cleaned, think about spreading some pre-Christmas cheer, and in the process, getting more business from your customers. We’ll project manage the lot so you’ve no need to worry, though we draw the line at fetching your Christmas shopping for you (have you seen Oxford Street in December? Call me a bumpkin, but online shopping is the way to go).

As you can imagine, this ‘testing’ application presents the optimum chance to show your friends that you did listen at school and do still know the basics of the English language. But it highlights something else to us (as purveyors of fine copy and choice words), and that’s the ever-present respect for good grammar and the correct use of punctuation.

Now far be it from us to lecture you (and I bet you’re scanning this text for errors - spot the deliberate mistake and you might just get a mention in our next enews), but how many times have you driven past a sign for ‘carrot’s 10p’ or suchlike and not tutted?

We think it goes far deeper than disapproval, as mistakes in copy immediately undermine that business or product. After all, if they can’t spell their own special offers correctly or don’t have respect for high-quality, and don’t value taking time, care and attention over their communications (think over-wordy website copy or shoddily-written press releases), what does it say about their products?

Too many times copy is neglected and design is king, but to produce effective communications requires the two to work hand-in-hand, complementing each other by being finished to the same standard of excellence. So don’t let them spot the mistake - whatever you are trying to convey to your customers needs to be self-assured and above all as good to read as it is to look at. So investing in a good copywriter, who knows their ‘who’s’ from their ‘whose’ makes complete sense to us.

It’s interesting how much of a big brand’s budget goes on advertising. Even when money’s tight it’s still the case that a company will value their marketing spend above all else when they need to lure in customers. So product packaging and design is key to creating that ‘buy me’ impulse. That’s where we see keeping it simple benefits a brand. We’re not talking basic and boring, oh no. We just like packaging to be pared down and not tell us more than we need to know. So that’s great design and minimal copy with less fuss and text which you don’t have time to read anyway.

Think of a Smarties tube (mmm - ever tried them on vanilla ice cream?) and you think of the colours, shapes and one name - that of the product. Which is timeless. 

So give Pure Azure the chance to get your product down to its core once again.

Don’t get us wrong, we love the buzz of the city (the coffee, the shops, the culture). But businesses tucked among rolling hills or located by the sea are no longer out on a limb. Email access and broadband internet has opened so many doors and these business should be encouraged: after all, there’s less pollution as commutes to work are shorter (or non-existent, as so many work from home) and working hours are less rigid, meaning they’re adaptable to their customer base. So it’s time to put rural business on centre stage…

Pure Azure has worked on some great projects with WiRE members and we offer discounts on our services to its members. So if you’re a rural business and want to let people know about your company, we can help make you stand out. No matter where you’re located, your business deserves to communicate with your target market in the best way possible; and that can be as cutting-edge as any urban outfit.

Pure Azure garden update: weeding done (check); courgette flowers, um, flowering (check); parsley and basil no more (sadly, check). The benefits of sunny weather meant some tidying and we’ve been rewarded with a visit from a local woodpecker. (Nothing to do with our veg patch and everything to do with the new, full-to-brim-with-peanuts bird feeder which the squirrels are eyeing up greedily.)

Much like life (sounds trite but bear with us), there are patches of vibrant green, with garlic shoots and salad leaves-a-plenty, ready to provide us with an abundance of tasty produce. But in amongst this, our new courgette plants are showing pathetic wilted leaves and sad looking stems which we fear will mean ultimate burial on our compost heap (ever with an eye to recycling). So why do some thrive and others give up the ghost?

At the risk of being painfully obvious, it is true that ups and downs in business (and life) happen. And not just in terms of money; ever wake up with a spring in your step, focused and energetic, then to spend the day productively working and getting results? (You must sometimes feel like this?!) For every good day like this in business, there are down days, when nothing goes right, the paper jams in the printer, you’re fighting off emails and yet again the sandwich trolley is out of tuna and cucumber (yes, it’s cheese and tomato again).

Well, ever obliging, we want to help you on those down days. Get your enthusiasm and business reinvigorated by some tactical promotions - think about refreshing your company logo, sending out enews to your clients or telling the local press about a new company initiative. In all of these enterprises we want to help, whether it’s design or editorial skills you need assistance with.

So talk to us. Just make sure you call on one of our good days (joke - we’re always happy to hear from you).

Surely there are plenty of entrepreneurs who have set out with focused objectives and achieved what they want just quietly, in an ‘ordinary’, no-fuss way? These are the people who don’t make the headlines but work hard and get results. Why not champion the ordinary folk who make a success of themselves without drama but with good honest graft. It might not be as interesting to hear about but it’s by no means less valid.

Mind you there’s truth in the phrase ‘no pain no gain’, and let’s face it, the harder it is to achieve something the more satisfying it is once you have achieved it. If you have to really work at writing copy or creating the design which conveys the right message for a client, the ‘eureka’ moment when you get it right is that bit sweeter. And if the gym was easy we’d all be as lithe as Claudia Schiffer (though it’d still be dull, as let’s face it, who wants to run and not actually see anything interesting along the way except fellow-sweaty sufferers? Give us the birds, the trees and other people laughing at us wheezing).

But at the risk of getting a bit ‘Miss World’, we still mustn’t forget that worthy causes and people encountering difficulties do still need our support. Pure Azure’s very own designer is tackling the 5K Race for Life in Bridlington in June. It’s in aid of Cancer Research’s life-saving work and we’d love you to sponsor Tara, if you can spare some change. Or why not try it yourself, it’s only 5K and apparently you can walk it if you like (though driving the course might be pushing it a bit).

Pure Azure garden
We’ve cracked open the gardening tools now that May’s Bank Holidays are here (we hope you’ve voted in our poll), and now have a patch ready to spring into life with courgettes, tomatoes, beetroot and herbs, which will be spot-on now that the weather has become rather nice. The next few weeks will be Pure Azure vs slugs and weeds but it’ll be a battle well fought as we open ‘The Slug’s Retreat’ (that’s beer traps for the little pests) and yank up any suspect shoots. Any good recipes for what to do with this lovely fare welcome (not slug soup recipes though please, we mean for courgettes).

I only wonder this since we’ve seen quite a number of online templates and ready-made options for websites and print ‘em quick publications lately. Well I could buy low-priced, own-brand cereal but will I enjoy its taste as much as I would a leading brand? Probably not, and without the presence of those extra-moist raisins it might set my day up really badly.

So when quotes for creative work are compared, surely thinking about more than cost alone isn’t us being too airy-fairy and purely (sorry for the pun) idealistic? Certainly saving money is key for us all, hence Pure Azure’s quotes are always as competitive as we can make them without being too much of a squeeze on us, but saving your image and your brand is essential. I wouldn’t buy battery chicken eggs just because they’re cheaper. Maintaining your brand in a high-quality fashion sometimes needs to look beyond price. And speaking of which, have you seen the Chicken Out campaign? Better lives for our feathered friends for just a few pence more …

And speaking of chickens, we at Pure Azure have decided we aren’t made for roughing it in the great outdoors. A recent trip may have been a great way to see beautiful, scenic Scotland, but the camping option was, shall we say, not quite ideal for damp April. Suffice to say our esteemed member returned home a little earlier than planned and consoled herself with a nice bath and a bad film. But fear not, come the summer, camping will once more be returning to our virtual ‘cool’ wall.

Green fingers

More like blue fingers still, but spring has officially begun and planting continues apace, with the indoor peppers close to turning a burnished orange and a rather late attempt at growing garlic (think putting cloves in earth then watering and hoping) underway. I must say that hyacinths may not be uber-cool but their smell is gorgeous and the currently blooming bunch in our office space are delighting our noses whenever we pass them.

Take a chunk of copy destined for a website, for example. One written by you, when you’re busy, from your office and in a rush (think constant interruptions, emails popping up). Another written by a copywriter (ahem) who has a valuable ‘external’ view and years of experience in knowing what works and the time to devote (pending a a nice cup of tea) to coming up with concise, targeted and correctly-formatted text which represents your company properly and frees your time to do your day job. Doesn’t take a racing tipster to say you’re best off with the latter. And same goes for design - your company logo or website needs to have impact, and be designed by someone who knows what works and why (ahem again). That’s priceless, surely? We reckon so.

Different kind of crunch …

Still, on the saving money front, any tips from our savvy clients would be appreciated. Having recently ventured into the Pure Azure garden (less ‘pure’, more weed-covered) to dig and sow some seeds, we hope to spot some green shoots soon, ready to produce some of nature’s finest bounty (unless carrotfly get our crunchy delights before we do and slugs get a delicious feast of tender Lollo Rosso). Will keep you posted, but my money’s on the chilli peppers, feisty little plants that they are!