Business Communications | Sherie Griffiths

November 1, 2011

Do your clothes still fit?

Filed under: Business, Business Startup, Communication, Marketing — Tags: 21st Century, Blog, brand, branding, Business, Business Clothes, Business Communications, Business Name, Business Network, Clothes That Fit, Communications Ltd, Doing Business, Flash Of Inspiration, Girth, Growing A Business, Helping People, Horizons, Last Time, market, Marketing, Podcasts, Post Office, Pragmatic Approach, rebrand, rebranding, Savvy Business, Sherie Griffiths, Speak for Yourself, Specialising, talk business, talking business, Traditional Radio, verbal communication, Wardrobe — sheriegriffiths.com @ 9:16 am

No, I’m not getting personal. I don’t want to know about the size of your girth – I’m talking about your business’s clothes.

On 1st august, I wrote a blog called: ‘My baby eats cash and poohs paper’, about the similarities I could see between bringing up a child and growing a business. One of those similarities is they both grow out of their clothes.

The last time mine got a whole new wardrobe was when it came into the world, in 2008 – until yesterday.

I’ve been quite personally attached to the name, ‘Savvy Business’, ever since it came to me in a flash of inspiration, in the shower, in 2008; but a few months ago, I realised we’d outgrown it. When we started, it worked with all the podcast series we were doing: – ‘Law Savvy’, ‘US Savvy’, ‘People Savvy’ – you name it, it fitted.

Since then, though, our horizons have broadened. Podcasting is still a very important part of what the business does (teaching people to do it themselves, or doing it for them), but there’s so much more to it now.

The fact is that the company which started out as a business network making podcasts has evolved into an organization specialising in helping people to talk business in the 21st century – live presentation, doing business on the phone and using on and offline media –that includes podcasting, of course, as well as traditional radio.

So the time had come to kit the company out with a new outfit – a new logo, a new website – and (scariest of all!), a new name.

It’s a big decision, to move away from a name everyone’s familiar with. It’s backfired on certain large organizations (remember the Post Office’s attempt to rebrand?)

I’ve taken the pragmatic approach though – far better to take my growing business out in clothes that fit and that reflect ‘who’ it is and where it’s heading, than to go on squeezing it into what it wore as a newborn, just because ‘it’s familiar’.

So, as of yesterday, the trading face of Savvy Business Communications Ltd is Speak For Yourself. The new name, and the new logo and website that go with it, are much more suitable to its personality now – and there’s plenty of room for growth!

Have you ever gone through a major rebrand? What prompted it? – and how did it go? Or perhaps you’ve thought about it and shied away from the idea, in case you lose the mindshare you’ve spent years building up within your market? Either way, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line – at my nice shiny new email address!

A lot of what I’ve been doing over the last couple of months has revolved around branding – mine and other people’s – of which, more next time.

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August 4, 2010

Get PodSavvy – ‘Sound Advice’

Filed under: Business, Get PodSavvy, Marketing, Podcasts — Tags: Assumption, Average Person, Business Audio, Business Communications, Dr Stephen Covey, Ears, Few Minutes, Listening Skills, Poor Relation, Professional Business, Professional Experience, Sound Advice, Television Facilities, Tips And Tricks, Tv Sound, Usp — sheriegriffiths.com @ 2:32 pm

Last week, we released the second episode of our monthly business communications podcast, ‘Get PodSavvy’ –. This month’s theme is ‘Where do I start?’ So of course that was the question I looked at in the first episode of my ‘Sound Advice’ feature (which will appear within each monthly show). The series gives me the chance to share some tips and tricks on the subject of professional business audio.

The answer to the question is, of course, ‘with research’. If you have no experience of this kind of project, the starting point for that research is listening – soaking up as much of other people’s content as you can get your ears on! Dr Stephen Covey says that out of reading, writing, speaking and listening, listening is the activity we spend the highest percentage of our time doing (or at least attempting to do) but the lowest percentage of our time learning. I’d go along with that – although I have to say, in my professional experience, the average person’s listening skills are better than they think. I’m consistently surprised by clients who swear they’re ‘no good at listening’, then proceed to spot a flawed piece of audio on first hearing. They can’t always tell me straight off what’s wrong with it – but they know it isn’t right; it isn’t ‘comfortable’ to listen to.

I set you a challenge in the programme – to turn away from the tv for a few minutes, just listen, and see what you pick up on. I try this with all my training clients –with some really interesting results. If you give it a go, do let me know what happens.

The July show is the first I’ve recorded in USP’s new studios – which include some very swish television facilities. So I had to be a bit careful what I said about tv sound – although I still had to tell it like it is – traditionally, it’s been ‘the poor relation’, the assumption being that the viewer will be so preoccupied with the pictures, the sound really doesn’t matter. Even I assumed that was the case for a lot of people – until recently, when I was talking to someone who makes videos for business and he commented that the standard of the audio behind the pictures could make or break the whole presentation.

For this month’s competition, I’m asking you to identify what’s wrong with a sound clip. Obviously, you need to listen to be able to have a crack at it.

The winner of the June competition was Tim Carter of Attwaters Solicitors in Harlow, Essex. He was the only person correctly to identify that Ivan Newman was reciting ‘Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll. The stakes have gone up this month – not only do you get an hour of me for free, you also get an hour with Ivan. Between us, we can help you improve your customer service – and sound professional when you shout about it!

Talking of the relationship between sound and pictures (as I was just now), next week, I’ll tell you a bit about the first ‘Get PodSavvy’ feature to go visual.

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