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Is social media marketing right for your business? That was a rhetorical question and the answer is yes! Hopefully you have a strategic plan in place and an ever expanding social media presence, however, if you’re still wavering on the idea of ‘tweeting’ on behalf of your business, perhaps the following 10 points might persuade you… 1)    It’s free! The majority of social media sites are free to sign up to and you can create a profile for your business in minutes. Advanced options are often available where a fee then becomes applicable, however, general usage incurs no cost. 2)    You are in control. The amount of time and energy you wish to spend on the sites is entirely up to you. The levels of communication you wish to enter into do obviously affect your return on investment (which can be hard to measure), but online tools are available to help you and accessibility is very straightforward. 3)    Increased exposure. Communication via these platforms...

“ Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. “ Confucius             In blogging terms, Mondays can ignite a spark of imagination, or a writers block of epic proportions. So, taking the bull by the horns, here are a few thoughts on Mondays… “ The worst day of the week” , you may cry (* fist waving menacingly*) , however, perhaps there are some not so hidden positive points that we need to take note of. Make It Better: Evaluate your typical Monday- is it really that bad or is just the end of a great weekend that you’re mourning? If you’re truly unhappy then work out why. Would a new job, a new outlook, or a new outfit help- what will make you happier? No time is ever right for those big changes so you may as well crack on. If big steps aren’t currently realistic then start with something little… a confidence booster. If you hate Mondays try and inject a little fun (I don’t mean letting the boss’s tyres do...

On reading a few words from Richard Branson on industry and marketing, he states that you should be having fun in running your business- a concept it is all too easy to forget. When Toucan launched over 11 years ago, it was founded on a base of passion and excitement, and the willingness to create good graphic design for local businesses. A decade later the values still underpin our work, and we balance a fun outlook with a highly professional service. Psychology researchers Juliano Laran and Chris Janiszeski, conducted a series of experiments where they studied people’s responses to tasks deemed either as ‘work’ or ‘fun’.   Participants were split into two groups and asked to hold a sweet in their mouth for 5 seconds, remove and then repeat multiple times. Whilst conducting other tasks, they were allowed as many sweets as they liked. The group that perceived the task as an obligation to work ate significantly more sweets than the group that perceived it as an opportunity to h...