Even though we don’t have access to the office, it is still business as usual, so don’t hesitate to call or email us if you need work done. Phone (03) 374 9929, your call will be diverted to our home office so don’t be surprised if you here small voices in the background!

6 Sept. 2010

The Hot PJ office is currently closed due to the earthquake. As many of our client’s know, our office is located in the CBD in an old brick building, and we have been unable to gain access. It is still undergoing structural, health and safety checks.

We keep a back-up archive of client’s files offsite, and most of our current work is on laptops, which are carried with us, so we only anticipate minimal problems regarding client’s artwork.

You can still contact us via email, however once we gain access to the office we anticipate we will be out of contact while assess the situation. You are also welcome to contact us via cellphone: 021 054 8655 if there is any work you require.

We hope that our Canterbury clients are all safe and unscathed, – it will certainly be a challenging time for business and unsettling for all personally. Let’s hope it is a case of ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’!

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Whether you believe we are coming out of the recession or not, one thing is certain,marketing to your existing customers is still the easiest way to get more business.

Too often businesses plough large sums of money into trying to attract new customers at the expense of their current customers. They forget, or worse don’t realise, that they already have a ready supply of customers who would happily buy again, if only they were asked.

And it’s not hard to do… read the rest of the article on our website

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You couldn’t get more central than this!

The Old Weekly Press Building is a refurbished historic building which overlooks the City Mall, on Cashel Street, opposite the Guthrey Centre (Bridge of Remembrance end). The building is a hub for emerging and established technology businesses.

Space is available in the office of Hot Pyjama Productions, a design and market communications company. The office overlooks the City Mall on one side, and a private out door courtyard on the other.

It really is a hidden treasure in the centre of the city.

Your space is approximately 22 square metres, with room for two work spaces, or one and a meeting space. Open plan but with about 8 foot high dividing walls giving you privacy in your own space. Rental term available for 2 years in a sub lease arrangement. Rent negotiable at around $9,000 per year.

Large shared entrance/meeting/chill out space plus storage room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities. Plus fabulous sunny shared courtyard, a perfect place for lunch or after work drinks.

Your space comes furnished with desk, chair, storage shelving, whiteboard, small meeting table and chairs.

Would suit a small business, sole trader or partnership in the IT, business consulting, online business, professional service, or related industries.

Enquire Hot Pyjama Productions Ltd

Level 1, Old Weekly Press Building
107-109 Cashel St, City Mall
Christchurch, New Zealand

Phone: (03) 375 9929

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Joining a business network group can be a good way for sales and marketing staff to actively seek referrals, but before you fill out an application form and shell out hundreds of dollars in joining fees, be sure you check out the fine print first.

BNI can leave a business out of pocket through no fault of its own

Take Business Network International, or BNI as an example – which promotes itself as a ‘business and professional networking organisation that allows only one person from each profession to join any group or chapter’. The website says it is aimed at SMEs or sales and marketing staff in large businesses. However it has a number of fish hooks that can see a business out of membership and out of pocket through no fault of their own.

Despite its name, Business Network International claims their memberships are personal or individual. If your business pays for a staff member to join a group, and that staff member later leaves your employ, there is absolutely no guarantee that their replacement will be accepted into the same group.

BNI will not automatically transfer a membership nor refund the membership costs if they decide for any reason to reject your replacement.

What is even more absurd is that BNI suggested any claims for a refund should be taken up with the staff member who had resigned!

Is it a good return on your investment?

So before handing over your business’ hard earned cash to a commercial networking organisation, be sure it is going to be money well invested.

Don’t forget to allow for all the costs associated with being a member. At BNI members must pay for breakfasts and social events on top of the membership – and at about $20 a pop for breakfast that could be $1000 per year!.

Add to that the cost of your time (at 1.5 hours a week for meetings alone, that’s around 75 hours a year) and you need to be sure you’ll gain at least that amount back in referrals to recover your costs.

Do the rounds first

There are lots of networking groups that don’t have hefty joining fees and crippling conditions. My advice  – do the rounds first.

If you are interested in BNI, visit all the chapters where there are spaces available in your profession and take every opportunity offered to speak about your business and distribute your business cards. You can do all this without having to join!

And don’t forget to ask around – you may find its not all it’s cracked up to be.

For another perspective visit: http://bit.ly/why-BNI-sucks

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It’s not possible to do this by just designing pretty brochures and websites. We take the time to get to know as much about our client’s business as we can; their target audience and how they behave, the business’ key capabilities, their product or service offering and how it sits alongside their competitors’,  what past promotional campaigns have they run, how they were resourced, implemented and measured, and how they performed… plus many more aspects. We do this long before we start discussing the design or shape the communication will take.

Free 45 minute Think Tank

One of the services we offer free to any business struggling with getting a marketing promotion off the ground is 45 minutes to tap into the many years of marketing, sales and design knowledge we have at Hot PJ. Perhaps, like one business owner this week, you have an idea in mind but aren’t sure if it has legs. Talking it over with someone outside your business who has  extensive marketing and design knowledge can help to focus your thinking.

Last week we spoke to a consultant who came to us with a promotion he had put together himself. Designwise it wasn’t bad, just needed some tweaks that any designer worth their salt could suggest. However, when we drilled down, we found he hadn’t defined his target market – that is those organisations and businesses he wanted as his clients. To get a picture of who these businesses could be we talked about the types of work he had done in the past, those that he had enjoyed dealing with and (importantly) those that were prepared to pay him well for his service.

This revealed two distinct industry groups which we further narrowed by geography. In order to effectively communicate with these prospective clients he needed to identify and locate the key decision makers within those groups – the person he ultimately needed to convince in order to win them as a client. We assisted with ideas on ways he could find these people, but warned him that there was a strong chance his research would reveal at least two types of decision makers that will require quite different messages. A business owner will have different needs to an employee, they will have different triggers so may well require a different message and offer. We discussed all this before we even looked at the type of promotion he was planning and the design he had created.

This is what I mean by taking a strategic approach – one which differs from many other design companies. So if you have a marketing dilemma or hurdle you don’t know how to get over, take advantage of our free 45 minute ‘think tank’.

Contact Hot PJ to make a time.

Photo: World Athletics Championships 2007 in Osaka – 400 metres hurdles favourite Bershawn Jackson struggling at the last hurdle, which leads to his competitors overtaking him and him dropping out in the semifinal. Photo by Eckhard Pecher

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It is easy to do and can avoid lots of headaches should you ever wish to part company with the person or company who registered the domain name on your behalf and may hold all the information. This way all communications regarding your domain name will go straight to you, rather than someone else, and there is less chance of loosing the domain name because someone forgot to pass the renewal notice on.

If your domain name is already registered you can easily check who is listed as the registrant on most domain name registration websites, such as Discount Domains or Domains 4 Less. If it isn’t registered to you, and you think it should be, you can request the registrant transfer the domain name to you.

2. Know your site host FTP details

The FTP details are the ‘keys’ to your site, make sure you get them from your developer or whoever has organised the hosting for your site.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used to download and upload your website files to and from the host server (the place where your website lives).

FTP details typically consist of three sets of information; an IP address (a series of numbers separated by full stops), a login and your password. Keep them in a safe place. Should you wish to change developers you will need to have this information available so your website files can be downloaded from the host server and worked on, then the new files uploaded.

3. Make sure your host company is regularly backing up your website

Websites are meant to be dynamic, meaning the information on them changes over time. If your hosting company is not backing up your site and they have a problem resulting in your website files being lost or damaged, you could be faced with having to build your website again from scratch.

4. Know how to access and best use your website’s statistical data.

Most commercial hosting packages come with access to historical information on who, where and when visitors came to your site. Google Analytics is also a wonderful tool that can be easily integrated into most sites. Ensure you know how to access this information and also how to best use the data they provide. If in doubt ask your developer or hosting company.

Information such as least and most popular site pages and downloads, entry and exit pages, referrers (search engines and other sites directing visitors to your site), can help you to make improvements to your site in key areas.

For more useful information on websites, design and marketing issues check out our archive of ‘Hot Gossip’ newsletter articles.

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• Small funky inner-city design studio
• Flexible hours to suit your lifestyle
• Competitive package for the right candidate

Hot Pyjama Productions is a well established design studio located in central Christchurch. We are currently looking for a Business Development Manager to join our small team and help us create more magic.

In your new role you will be responsible for actively going out and seeking new business, while also helping to maintain the relationships with our existing clients. These clients range from large publicly listed companies with marketing teams, through to small start-up businesses looking for help and advice on how to best communicate with their target audience, so each day will bring new and exciting challenges.

You will be responsible for analysing what the clients’ requirements are and putting together a proposal that meets their needs, while wowing them with your charm, professionalism and considered approach.

The person who fills these shoes will be a vital part of the business, so we would require the following skills and attributes:

• At least 4 years in a professional sales role, preferably in the design or print production fields, we will however consider stars from any solution based industry.
• Exceptional communication and relationship building skills
• Resilient go-getting character
• Attention to detail
• Mature and level-headed approach
• Thrives in a small team environment
• Creative thinker who can think outside the square
• Proficiency in MS word, excel and the ability to pick up CRM packages (we use ACT)
• Active networker (both online and in person)

Bring your passion to help us with our continued success and in return you will receive a competitive remuneration package based on your level of experience (good base salary plus target driven bonus scheme), and join a company that truly cares, and appreciates the need for a work life balance. You will find the open management style and flexibility this position provides refreshing.

If you believe you are the person we need, we look forward to receiving your application. We however request only people legally entitled to work in NZ, and are able to attend the interview in Christchurch apply.

Applications accepted only through our listing on Seek.co.nz

Find out more:  About Hot PJ |  Our team |   Where we are located |  Philosophy

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hello my name is richard badspeller.
i am from mangatautari.

looking to move down to christchurch soon. and i was
wandering if you had any job opportunities?

i have just finished a degree in media arts majoring in graphic design,
and a bit of illustration.i have attached my portfolio, i work by drawing
all my ideas then scanning them into the computer. all my work in my
portfolio is of finished/final work.

i have not had much experience other than 2 and a half years of studding
i have worked in a signwriters (4-Months) before i started my degree
and i interned at TVMG for 4-weeks.

thank you for your time and consideration. i appreciate it.
richard badspeller

As a graphic designer he should know that first impressions count. Not being able to use the shift key, spell checker or a proof reader severely limits his chances of competing for a job.

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The deal seems really good; their readers are your target audience, and they are offering it for hundreds of dollars instead of the usual thousands for a full page ad.  It is too good to pass by, so you get to work, throwing an ad together with the publication to meet their short deadline.

But before you congratulate yourself on securing such a good deal, take a few minutes to review the content of your ad. Does it have a good headline that will draw in the readers? Is there a compelling offer, with a call to action, that gives the reader a reason to contact you now?

An appealing offer can form the basis of the headline, designed to capture the attention of the reader and draw them in to the ad.

Here’s some examples of headlines taken from ads in a website magazine:

Good headline:

• “Spend $1, get back $43″
  A strong headline showing an obvious benefit makes the reader want to read on to find out how.

Irrelevant headlines:

• “Relax and let ABCompany monitor your website” (accompanied by picture of man on the phone in the middle of a field!)
  This isn’t an ad for a leisure company or an overseas holiday, so the headline has little relevancy to the target audience – business website administrators and owners.
• “Serious Search Analytics & SEM Tools for Serious Affiliates”
  A nonsense headline hoping to leverage off a large wacky image of a hairy cross eyed man. The copy is features-based and buried at the bottom is the only benefit: a free 14 day trial. A better headline: “Save time on keyword analysis and enjoy a FREE 14 day trial”
  
• “Recondition your Business Image” (picture of lycra clad woman in a body building pose)
  Again no benefit mentioned here. This ad was for bundled website design and hosting solutions which included a limited 25% off special offer. The headline has little relevancy to the offer.

Bad headlines:

• “Website Traffic”
• “We believe” (followed by 5 paragraphs starting with the same words)
  They are meaningless and communicate nothing. No appeal, no benefit, no reason to read the ad!

You’ll need 4 key things to ensure an effective ad:

1. A compelling offer
2. A call to action
3. A means to measure the effectiveness of the ad
4. Advertising content that supports all these

If you don’t have any of these, or money to burn, then you might be better off saying ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to that last minute advertising deal.

More articles on the same topic:

• Hot to write headlines that get read
• 3 Ways to improve your marketing
• How to write good print ads

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I was chatting to a fellow business person last week about a friend who is a ‘search marketing expert’. “Don’t talk to me about search marketing” he replied in utter disgust. Of course I had to ask what had prompted such a response.

He had received a call from someone claiming to be ‘from Google’. Now as soon as I heard this alarm bells went off in my head. It would have been enough for me to say “yeah, right, and I’m the Queen of England”, but to some these words hold weight.

“How would you like your business to be on the front page of Google?”

The businessman’s eyes lite up. For a 3 month trial he could have his business listed on the ‘front page of Google’ (Google Adwords).

He asked to be sent an invoice, but of course they wanted his credit card details on the spot!

8 weeks prior to the end of the trial he rang to cancel his business. “No!” they said, “You had to let us know 10 weeks before the end of the trial, it says so in our terms and conditions.”

A bitter exchange followed with this company refusing to listen to the concerns of their client (who had not received the terms and conditions), and taking two further payments from his credit card for the next 12 months – over $1000 per business category.

“Did they talk to you about how you would measure the success of this campaign?” I asked.

“Did they talk about having tailored landing pages to convert those visits, because you know it is all very well to draw people to your site, but your site must lead them to pick up the phone or email you about doing business.” His sales rep nodded in agreement. It’s sales 101!

“No they didn’t!” the business owner replied.

I checked out this search marketing company’s website. On first look it seemed to be genuine; the content on search marketing appears to be in line with current thinking, if light on detail. They also offer website design services but don’t show any samples of their work – their own website looks like it has been built from a pre-designed template downloaded from the web.

None of the testimonials on their site were from Australasian businesses despite their claim that they help ‘local business’. I am also very suspicious of business websites that display a PO Box address instead of a street address, and do not identify or profile any of their staff or management.

I raised this whole issue in Twitter and it turns out this is all too common. Other businesses have received the exact same calls – on a fairly regular basis.

The moral of this story is to be on your guard

We all know the saying that if something sounds too good to be true it usually is just that! Check out the credibility of any cold calls of this nature with your website developer or business colleagues. Ask for the contact details of other local businesses who they have done work for.

Dodgy search marketing companies rely on the power of ‘Google’ and the relatively open nature of it – using it to their advantage. They also know business people are very busy and aren’t always well informed when it comes to search marketing.

Don’t let them take another victim!

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