Higher Priorities

Writing Panto, a year in the making

Cycling – stopped in the winter, starting back up now the weather is getting better

Accountability – making sure you don’t let other people down

Helps to make sure you do things you say you will

Learning together so you can help each other

Dropped Handlebars – more comfortable

Live shows are starting to book

Zoom shows are also still booking

Families and friends who are not local to each other are used to zooming now

This trend is continuing even as lockdown is easing

Live shows have instant feedback

Happy Birthday sounds horrible on zoom shows

Muscle memory is coming back for routines that haven’t been performed in a year

Change and update your BNI elevator pitches

Taylor challenged to create new pitch for the next 4 meetings

There is no try, there is only do or don’t

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

*Affiliate link – we may receive some compensation if you make a purchase that helps towards the cost of running the podcast

We got haircuts and vaccinations

Hockeystack Analytics* – https://hockeystack.com/?ref=drayson

Use it to be able to see how people are using your website

Where they are going, what information they are looking at

Which pages they visit and in which order

How long they stay on your website and so on

Alternative to Google Analytics

Problems are that Google use your information in exchange for letting you use their analytics for free

Google uses Cookies – a small piece of code saved on users devices

Hockeystack can be used without cookies – GDPR friendly

Set up Goals and Funnels with insights

Stats. help you to change your website to convert more

Hockeystack is highly recommended

Problem-solving

Shopify template for WordPress checkouts

Shopify – https://www.shopify.co.uk

Create a “favourites” system for WordPress posts

Favourites Plugin – https://favoriteposts.com

Privacy is changing in browsers giving the user more control

Adblocker to browse quicker

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

*Affiliate link – we may receive some compensation if you make a purchase that helps towards the cost of running the podcast

AppSumo – Lifetime deals for software

https://appsumo.com

Mostly good for SaaS – Software as a Service

Marketplace is the new kid on the block

Non-vetted products – courses, digital downloads, software, ebooks etc.

Quality is variable, however, there are some gems in there

Buyer beware – do your research

Read the questions to get an idea of what the product is like

Ignore the reviews – some of these are incentivised

Code Canyon – https://codecanyon.net

Let us know if you find anything good on AppSumo

Fun with data – API’s

Internet Movie Data Base – https://www.imdb.com

The Open Movie Database API – http://www.omdbapi.com

Collecting information from a movie id such as reviews, poster, cast crew, etc.

Javascript library for Instagram broken – Taylor went to create his own version

Finding an endpoint – allowing you to extract data

Library now available for free to pull in Instagram data

TCT Instagram Feed – https://github.com/tdrayson/TCT-Instagram-Feed

Code has been documented

Video tutorial

News – Paypal have changed their T&Cs – charging you £9 a year if you have a Paypal account that hasn’t been used in the last 12 months, but only if you have credit

Extract your Paypal balance to a bank account instead of leaving it in there

eBay changes as well – old, 10% of purchase fee, plus paypal charges on top

New – 12.8% plus 30p – if you use Paypal to collect your payments you will probably be better off

If you collect payments by BACS or on collection then you will be 2.8% worse off

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Booking in shows now we have a roadmap

Car problems

OBS – Open Broadcaster Software – https://obsproject.com

Create a better quality zoom video

Add sources, like a webcam, or an image

OBS allows you to size the camera image and show multiple angles

Perfect when I am performing close up magic, while keeping the connection with the audience

Screenshare without needing the host to give you that ability

Many add-ons available – https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/categories/obs-studio-plugins.6/

Move is one of my favourites – https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/move-transition.913/

Add lower thirds with your name and company details

Create personalised holding screens if you have to step out for a moment

Automation using Alfred (Mac only) – https://www.alfredapp.com

Track the usage of our Sodastream – not as silly as it sounds

Learning skills to be used in more important projects like Zoho

Proposify – Proposal creation software – https://www.proposify.com

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

The booklets have arrived

A new motorised standing desk

Changing the height regularly is good for your health

Helps to give you a boost of energy and allows you to stretch your muscles

Arrived in two separate deliveries on the same day

The extra desk depth helps with the hand position when typing

Standing for meetings is better for the voice

Having your camera at eye height gives the most flattering image

Mood-boards – helps to understand a look and feel for a project

Colours, style, texture, typefaces, font-weights, other designs as a reference and many other things that help with the way a website or design will end up

As a customer, create your own mood-board to present to your designer

It all helps to get the result you are looking for

Collaboard – https://www.collaboard.app

Let us know if you have a suggestion for a future topic

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Collaborating on Side Projects

Talking to people on Cafecito – https://www.meetcafecito.com – [edit – no Longer running]

Getting another view on things

Strengths and weaknesses

Bringing in others with different styles and concepts

Every design is based on an existing design

Solopreneurs only have a limited amount of time to earn

Bringing in help with the skills needed can allow you to grow

Promotional Booklets – Freebie Upsells

Amazing Card Tricks customised booklet for Pip Kennedy

Folded by the printing company – saves time in the long run and is a much better fold

Given away or sold as an upsell

Top tip – give away something that would be interesting for your target customer

Giving away pens appeal to people who like free stuff, not necessarily someone who will become a customer

Giving away information for free positions you as the expert

Use for lead generation

A famous plumbing story

Small bottles of sealant given away in hotels!

Give away needs to have value to the user

Very low cost, high perceived value

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Looking at side projects

Making it once, and selling many times

Passive income for service focussed businesses

New projects may require customer support, which is on-going

Research is important to make sure there is a need for your product

Product / Brand name – make sure it fits your style and mission statement

Should you go for a very specific name like ToysRUs or a generic name like Apple

First impressions count

What do existing brands bring to mind like Nike, Amazon and Apple

Make sure that the name looks right when viewed

Graphics on the side of a Starbucks van gave a very bad impression

Make sure the name doesn’t mean something very different in other languages

Investing in your company

Talent and skills as well as assets

One way to justify increasing your prices

Road map for social media for when performances can start up again

Investing on upgrading equipment to give a better service

Learn how to use the new equipment to get the best out of them

Buy quality equipment to allow you to resell on if you need to

Higher quality keep their resell value

Visit the website: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Another interesting week

Designing posters for local theatre companies

Missing theatre shows

Sending out quotes

Branding Guidelines

How your branding assets can be used

Company colours, typefaces, look and feel

The rulebook to keep your image on brand

Online Booking Assistant – OBA – https://www.onlinebookingassistant.com

Helping you to close the sale using email with automated customised chasers and follow ups

The shorter the form, the more people will fill it in

Adding points of contact with useful information

Perfect for people in the entertainment industry

Find out more by visiting the website

Free 30-day trial available

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Putting the room back together after decorating

Having a clear-out

Inbox Zero – is it even possible?

Keeping your email inbox clear by archiving to Evernote or dealing with

Leaving emails unread to deal with, didn’t work for me

Came down from 1000 unread emails to 50 !!

Flagging emails worked well for one of us

Mailtags plugin is worth a look – https://smallcubed.com

Filing emails in a folder structure allows them to be found when needed

Giving feedback suggestions

The problem – client says be creative – but within very strict guides

Difficult to understand what needs changing and what the client wants

A clear process for giving feedback can help

Client frustration when they don’t see what they want

Best accessory for Everynote…

Fujitsu Scansnap ix500 – allows for scanning of a document, double-sided, which is then OCR’d and uploaded to a new Evernote note

Scans letters, drawings, sketches, whatever you need – Makes life really easy

https://www.fujitsu.com/uk/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/ix500/

We are now on Spotify – check us out here: https://open.spotify.com/show/78Z99IfnyI00SOcspfNX5B

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook

Sleeping downstairs

Upgrading zoom meetings

Redecorating the whole room

Lesson learnt: Getting a pro in will normally get you a better result

Experience counts for a lot

Evernote – https://evernote.com

Paperless office

Getting your digital filing organised

Free / Basic version available

Use for audio recordings as well

Alternatives available – such as Notion

News: Last Pass is changing – https://www.lastpass.com

Free version is going to limit you to one platform access in March

https://www.theverge.com/22285499/password-manager-lastpass-free-bitwarden-zoho

Free alternative – https://www.bitwarden.com

Drayson Design Website – https://www.draysondesign.com

Facebook: https://www.thisweekwith.co.uk/facebook