By Outset client Magdalena Mrvova

1. Every business needs professional photography on their website. Whether it’s selling property, products or services, they all need it. Smaller websites may use stock photographic images but, you have to ask yourself how many other companies might be using the same image and would that make your customers doubt your credibility if the images were not true to your business?

2. Always use good quality images with a sharply-focused object and an out-of-focus background. You can also experiment with using a plain background of a contrasting colour.

3. When choosing the background and image style for your website, consider the overall style and colour palette. They all need to compliment each other and work well together.

4. When organising a photo shoot, think ahead. Get the photographer to shoot some shots for your future advertising and promotions. You need a stock of images you can use to promote your business for a few months or even the first year before you need to update your photography. Most photographers charge a minimum rate of half a day, so bear that in mind.

5. Always brief your photographer well and put everything in writing. A face-to-face meeting is always the best option to discuss all possibilities but always make the final agreement on paper to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding.

6. Don’t attempt to take photos yourself unless you have all the necessary equipment and knowledge. Setting up the lighting correctly is not as simple as it seems and post-production editing is necessary in most cases.

7. Never clutter your photos. Simplicity and clarity is the key! If you photographing a product, make sure it is clean and polished. When taking photos of properties, there are several tricks of the trade to make the space more appealing. These include putting fresh flowers out, accessorising tables and surfaces with fruit, freshly ironed linen, books, fresh coffee, cakes and nice cushions. Create a warm and welcoming look. You may also want to have some detail photos taken too, not only views of whole rooms. Detail shows quality and higher standards.

8. On your website, show images of your product ‘in use’, using lifestyle shots rather than simply product shots. Use them on your website’s blog or banners to promote particular products. Choose the set-up and positioning of any models carefully.

9. Your website is your ’shop window‘,  so you need to keep it up-to-date and renew it every few weeks to keep your customers interested.

10. A cheap photographer is not always the best option and changing your photographer part way through a shoot is not a great idea either. Aim for consistency on your website in photos and in writing style.

Outset is part of the YTKO group, a successful, private sector business with a team of over 80 staff. With headquarters in Cambridge, we have seven regional offices in the UK – and we work in the UK, Europe and internationally.

With more than 30 years’ combined private and public sector expertise, our work with some of the world’s successful private sector businesses informs and under-pins our award-winning public sector work.

YTKO’s knowledge and experience, professionalism, client focus – and most importantly, the results we deliver and the evidence we have gathered – are recognised in the UK and Europe by start-ups and global corporations alike. We’ve made it our business to make a difference.

If you would like to know more about any of YTKO’s services, please contact us at:

YTKO Cambridge

Brookmount Court

Kirkwood Road

Cambridge

CB4 2QH

Email: info@ytko.com

“The Outset programme was very useful to me. It provided me with a good balance of practical and theoretical work that was very relevant to my ‘real life’ business challenges.” Jayne Tarasun, Flock Follie

Outset Cornwall is an ERDF Convergence funded programme which started in October 2009 with the aim of supporting under-represented groups from Cornwall to start their own businesses. The programme comprises 16 different workshops, support and mentoring and an exclusive networking group delivered in over 12 different locations around the county. We pride ourselves on offering flexible and practical support in a fun and supportive environment. This is not an academic qualification, but hands on, vocational support and guidance tailored for you for FREE.

We have worked with hundreds of local people right across the County training, mentoring, supporting and connecting them to help them start successful businesses. See our Success Stories to read about our successes and the testimonials of what people have said about our programme.

Outset Cornwall actively support the following range of ‘under-represented groups’, but if you feel you don’t fit in any of these categories, please contact us anyway as we still may be able to help you;

By Denise White The SMART Research

“What, why, where, when and how?” This was the first piece of advice I was given as a newly qualified researcher. Asking these five simple questions has turned out to be the most valuable piece of advice I’ve been offered in my career. In fact, I’m sure this has saved me a huge amount of time and even more so, now I have created my own business. It has focused me to provide research that is relevant and effective to my clients. Below are some of my own tips which I believe are critical for a successful business.

1. Understand your competitors
Research your competitors and immerse yourself in the research surrounding your products or services. Understand what makes you or your business stand out and learn from competitor’s achievements and failures. Set up RSS feeds to keep an eye on what’s going on in your area of business. Check out Google Alerts.

2. Understand your customers
Who are your customers? For B2C you want to find out consumer characteristics; are they more likely to be older, younger, male, female, students etc? What are their spending habits? Where do they buy from? For B2B, find out who they do business with, how much they charge, and why do they choose them? What can you offer that is more appealing? Finally, ask yourself: ‘What is it I provide that encourages customer loyalty’?

3. Research your product or service
Read trade magazines, articles and stories on your business, industry or products. Visit your local reference library for business directories / trade publications and search the online British Library for industry guides.

4. Consult your market
Is there a market for your product or service? Work with your customers to develop new ideas, get them to help you with your design process. Testing your ideas out first before committing any further development will vastly reduce the risk of making a costly mistake! Use appropriate research techniques for your customer market and consider using someone independent to manage your consultations. If your customers use social media, use Facebook ads and reach statistics to target your consultations.

5.Monitor your business
Monitor satisfaction levels – learn from positive and negative feedback. Monitor productivity and purchases – What are people buying more or less of?

6. Use Research for Marketing
Give customers confidence in your products or services. For B2B, consider asking your customers what difference your service has made. Present any positive feedback and recommendations for PR purposes.

7. Use your findings for Investors
Use your research findings to prove to investors you have a particular demand. Ensure your sample sizes, research techniques and objectivity are unquestionable to instill confidence in your investor.

8. Give yourself time
Never underestimate how long research can take. Set realistic deadlines with allowance for follow-up responses. If you are unfamiliar with finding trustworthy sources, it can take longer than you expect.

9. Get advice
Although many start-up or new businesses cannot afford to commission professional research, it often pays to get advice from an experienced researcher. This will not only ensure your research is conducted effectively and ethically, but also give credibility and confidence to your findings.

10. Keep it simple

Enough said! Good luck!

Winning clients will receive:

• A space on the Outset Cornwall Royal Cornwall Stand
• 1 x pull-up banner to display on the stand
• In-house support on personal selling prior to the event
• Specialist vendor discounts on leaflets and signage for the Fair

This fantastic opportunity is available for Outset clients who have registered their businesses and started trading with other businesses. The show is a great opportunity to meet and network with established Cornish businesses whilst making lasting contacts.

To enter visit our dedicated competition page and submit your entry now.

Kate McEwen, Head of South West Operations. “The Islands, although beautiful, have their own unique challenges when it comes to launching and growing new businesses. Events like the St Mary’s Business fair enable us to bring together all the funded support under one roof to act as a catalyst for not just more new business start-ups, but to also for the growth of existing businesses.”

Representatives from each company will be on hand throughout the day to answer your questions. There are also key focuses throughout the day where a presentation on the support on offer will be given. The timetable of speakers is detailed below:

11.30am - UK Trade and Investment

12noon - South West Manufacturing Advisory Service

12.30pm - European Centre for Environment and Human Health

1pm – Outset Cornwall

1.30pm - Grow Cornwall

2pm - Federation for Small Business

2.30pm – Export Cornwall

The event will run from10.30am through until 3.30pm, and will be held at the Council Chambers, Wesleyan Chapel on St Mary’s. The fair is free to attend and open to all. For more information, please contact Outset Cornwall on 0800 9174 324