Sophie Garrett Marketing

The Creative Entrepreneur

Sophie Garrett — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:29:15 +0000

This book was recommended to me a couple of years ago when I was redoing a business plan. It’s really designed for very creative people who have problems finding their left brain (supposedly the logical bit). I found it interesting and just following a different take on the old process helped me get on and do it properly.

I’ve told several creative folks about it, and they’ve always come back to me and told me how pleased they were to find it, so here are the details.

Ironically it finally proved to me that I don’t have a right brain, at all. (And to those of you that are shouting websites designed and years of drawing from life, I’ll just say, I know the rules, and I’m pretty good at applying them in a logical way…)

SyncNorwich

Sophie Garrett — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 22:02:40 +0000

There is a great new networking group in Norwich for technical people, startups and anyone interested in these areas: SyncNorwich.

The first meetings were very well attended (60-70 people) with a great buzz in the room, I can’t make tomorrow’s meeting but they also have a monthly lunch meetup and I’ll be there next Thursday.

Great marketing info

Sophie Garrett — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:56:49 +0000

I keep an eye on the Open Coffee London meetup for internet startups and this week there have been two particularly good threads:

Marketing an internet product (but much of it applies to any new business with a web presence). The lengthy sections by Iqbal Gandham and Peter Cunningham are excellent.
Finding the right venue for a launch event has some excellent ideas (read the thread by Sam P)

Norfolk business networks

Sophie Garrett — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:49:08 +0000

Last night at WiRE Norwich, we pooled our knowledge of Norfolk business networks and I’ve put the information together into one list. The networks are constantly changing, and I’ll update this occasionally, let me know if you see anything that needs amending.

Network	Contact
25 am Business Group	Mark Foley
4N	Jonathan White
Attleborough and Snetterton Business Forum	Robert Ediker
Best of Norwich	Chris & Sara Greenfield
BNI	Dan Kelly
Breakaway	Heather Cook, Clapham & Collinge
Broadland Business Forum	Robert Ediker
Business Coaching Network	Anne Francis & others
BforB	Lorna Burroughes
Business Womens Club	Judith Flowerday
Buy Local	Scott Aldridge
BWN	Bridget Greenwood
Chamber of Commerce	Caroline Williams
Country Landowners Association	Rob Wise
Coffee @ Caistor	Sarah Greenfield
East Anglia SME Business Forum	Stuart & Selina Noton
Enterprising Women
Fastolff Open Days	Eileen Derrick / Ian Stirling
FIG (Financial Industry Group)	Marjorie Eade
FSB	Martin Lake
Hot Source	tom.wood@foolproof.co.uk
Institute of Directors	Richard Powell
ipatter	Edd Crabtree
NABO (National Alliance of Business Owners)	Ian Stirling
NFU	Rachel Carrington
Norfolk Ethical Business Network
Norfolk Netwalking	Chris & Sara Greenfield
Norfolk Network	Lucy Marks
Norfolk New Biz (part of Engage with Business)	Kate Wilde & Neil Burr
Norfolk Way	Robert Ashton
North Norfolk Business Group	Ian Doughty
Norwich Business Group	Himu Gupta/Emma Alfieri
Norwich Businesswomen’s Network	Mary Jane Kingsland
Norwich Jelly	Sophie Garrett
BS Jelly Norwich	Jean McNeil
Norwich Kitty	Paul Rudd
Norwich startups	Juliana Meyer
Office Drinks	Jex Middleton
Procurement Group	David Pratt
Property Investment Network	Richard Kerrison & Jeremy
ra! Business Club	Chris Sanger
Rogers & Nortons Solicitors (PLONC)	Amy Walpole
South Norfolk Business Forum	Robert Ediker
SyncNorwich	Seb Butcher, John Fagan, Paul Grenyer, Juliana Meyer, Stephen Pengilley
The Acorn Network	Alice Bason
The Cromer Network	Facebook page
The Holt Network	Facebook page
The North Norfolk Network	Facebook page
The Norwich Network	Facebook page
The Sheringham Network	Facebook page
The Grapevine Dinner Club	Heather Cook, Clapham & Collinge
Theatre Royal Business Suppers	Sally Thompson
Thetford Business Forum	Valerie Bullard
Wayland Women in Business	Jane Richards
Weetu	Lucy Hogg
Women in Rural Enterprise	Sophie Garrett
Women Professional Network
Women’s Work	Lesley Kershaw
WREF	Haja Al Dajani
Wymondham I N	Alan Carpenter & Ian Stirling
Yes Group	Louise & Tosin

JellyNorfolk

Sophie Garrett — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:58:20 +0000

JellyNorfolk is a new co-working community in Norfolk where people who work on their own meet once a month at Business Revolution based at the Kings Centre in central Norwich and work together for the day. Most bring a laptop, but there is a lot of variety in work done. Occasionally there is some chatter, laughter and sharing of ideas and tips; often companionable silence.

More and more people are working from home, as self-employed freelancers, small business owners and home-based full-time employees. Whilst this has some great benefits, homeworkers often report that they miss the office camaraderie and the chance to bounce ideas off colleagues.

JellyNorfolk is held on the second Monday of each month. The day is split into two sessions: morning and afternoon but people can stay for the whole day by booking both. JellyNorfolk is held at Business Revolution, a new co-working hub, which recently opened at the Kings Centre. JellyNorfolk is free to attend and includes free fast wifi broadband: food and drink are available from the Kings Centre cafe.

Jelly Norfolk is run entirely by volunteers, me and Cassie Tillett, and we both work from home. Jellies have no external funding.

OpenCoffee London

Sophie Garrett — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:23:29 +0000

One of the best forums for internet startups that I know about is OpenCoffee London. Although the group is loosely based around a weekly Meetup at University College London, I understand that about 3000 people now subscribe to the user group and read the many discussion threads. Although the group generates a lot of emails (I filter them into a folder all of their own), this is an incredibly useful group with entrepreneurs (new and experienced) and developers, plus a wide range of helpful people who help startups such as accountants, lawyers etc.

There is a good archive of the discussions held here.

Learning to tweet

Sophie Garrett — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:15:22 +0000

I seem to spend lots of time explaining the (many) benefits of Twitter to different people and showing them how I use Tweetdeck. It is almost impossible to use Twitter without using one of the third party aggregation services like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite - both of which I like and use constantly.

So I was pleased to find these three short videos which explain how to listen, engage and tweet: everything you need to know to get started and they are only about 5 minutes long.

I tweet as @yours2share.

Norfolk Cleaning & Removals

Sophie Garrett — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:16:32 +0000

I’ve just completed a new website for a local cleaning and removals company, See The Difference. It’s often interesting how you get new work: I got chatting to Steve Crisp who runs the business as he was cleaning out windows. He has just expanded from domestic and commercial cleaning to removals, having bought a couple of vans. Much of their business is “end of tenancy” cleans, and these jobs also often require some house clearance. Once he’d invested in the vans, it seemed obvious to offer a removals services as well as offering a “man with a van” facility.

October JellyNorfolk

Sophie Garrett — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:35:04 +0000

The second JellyNorfolk will take place on Monday 11th October at the King’s Centre Norwich. The last Jelly day was a great success with 10 people working together and enjoying a little company and the chance to bounce ideas off each other. There was also much sharing of Excel spreadsheet knowledge and munching of great food from the cafe downstairs.

To book and find out more click on the session you prefer: morning or afternoon (you can come to both, just book them both).

Indigo Partnerships

Sophie Garrett — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:22:51 +0000

Just finished a new website for Indigo Partnerships for Eleanor Bannister. Eleanor is a freelance consultant specialising in search and selection & marketing for the drinks industry. She is based in Catalunya, Spain, and lives in the midst of the vineyards providing grapes for Cava wine.

The website is set up to be multilingual in both English and Spanish and this will be activated once the Spanish translations are completed.