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Category: Blog

Yas, Carlene and Chris all joined the team this month. And each one of them brings something unique and exciting to the team.

Yasmin Ranasinghe

Yasmin joins the charity team with a creative flair and an eye for anything artsy. But with style to envy, she’s got the substance to back it.

A background in events means her professional approach is naturally organised, creative and imaginative. Idea generation is her bag, and she loves seeing her ground-breaking solutions come into fruition through her precise and top-notch project management.   

When not in the office, sociable Yasmin can be found dancing her way around a music festival, enjoying the great outdoors, or pursuing more charity work.

Christopher Mayes

Chris was snapped up after popping into the office for a ‘chat’. The team were quick to identify not only his potential and value to the business, but a passion to succeed – something that just can’t be taught!

Chris’ efficient and result-driven work ethic is a much-needed addition to our growing Corporate Accounts team and he’ll be picking up design briefs, website projects and marketing strategies for some of our top corporate clients.

In his spare time, a hidden talent for rhythm and notes sees Chris enjoying live gigs, or writing and performing music.

Carlene Macfarlane

Carlene has filled the spot for our much-anticipated PA/Administrator role. With business growing and a need for someone to step in and whip everything into shape, Carlene was our ideal candidate. Admin-savvy with a bubbly personality and a proactive attitude, Carlene has hit the ground running from day one.

Carlene has previously worked for brands such as BMW and McLaren, and carries a love and knowledge of everything automotive. When she’s not overseeing the running of the Bluestep office, she enjoys spending time with her doggies, or sunning herself on a beach somewhere exotic.

Not only has Carlene made a difference to the day to day running of Bluestep but MD Ben is a much happier boss now all of the paperwork is off his desk!

Dreamland Amusement Park re-opens today!

The retro-themed amusement park in sunny Margate reopens and fans are delighted, following fears that the park would never return after falling into administration.

This big opening sees a bit of a rebrand, tweaking their events strategy to target a more quirky, creative, and artsy audience.

One of the key aims for the park now is to transform it into a major music venue, making it to the go-to live music venue for gig-loving hipsters across the country.

We’re excited to see how things pan out for Dreamland, and have enjoyed supporting them with some quirky merchandise items ahead of the big opening! Take a look at some of the cool items including the infamous rubber duck!

The Neon Run! It pretty much does what it says on the tin…

Charity fundraisers gather in Poole Park to run, walk, and dance their way around the 5k route, in the dark of the night and head to toe in fluorescent attire.

Think Neon accessories, tutus, headtorches and all sorts of other bling!

Bluestep are proud to support Diverse Abilities: a charity that deserve way more recognition and limelight. Based in Dorset, the charity work to support children and adults with profound physical and learning difficulties across the county.

We supported the race by supplying all fluorescent gear to light up the Dorset night.
Watch it here.

We’re hoping to see more of the Neon Run in years to come, potentially in other areas of the country too. Regardless of age, gender, physical fitness of ability – pretty much anyone can get involved!

Find out more about the incredible work Diverse Abilities promote.

Dedicated pet lovers across the country unite for the #MyPetMadeMe movement!

Whether it’s fine-dining on all fours, bathing in jelly beans, or glugging cabbage smoothies, it’s clear the UK’s animal lovers will stop at nothing to raise vital funds for their friends in need.

Be it homeless, injured or abandoned pets, Blue Cross are here to help nurture pets back to good health. And their friendly, warm and comedic brand presence could not be truer.

The mass participation event saw pets and their lovable owners (😊) club together to raise funds AND awareness in a crowded fundraising market. We needed to communicate the campaign’s objectives effectively across relevant platforms, generating noise and excitement around the events.

The savvy Blue Cross team were a pleasure to work with, approaching Bluestep with a concept and a vision. They required all creative components to get the campaign off the ground, including logo and visual identity to slogan and copywriting.

To involve pets of all shapes and sizes, the campaign sees pets choose their owners’ fate, in a fantastic fundraising format that lets pets choose their fate.

The #MyPetMadeMe hashtag is dominating social media feeds across the fundraising community, with snaps and videos of questionable yet comedic content (think CEOs in tiger onesies. Check it out and get involved at: https://www.bluecross.org.uk/mypetmademe and remember, YOUR SHAME. THEIR GAIN.

Far from basic, this rebrand saw the invention of a relatable, snappy brand that reflects the affordable price tag. Moving away from their ‘basic’ reputation, the branding aimed to recharge communication of their value range.

The biggest change perhaps focusing on the notion of simplicity, the fresh, new branding uses humour and wit to imply empathy and heighten customer engagement.

We absolutely love the short, snappy product descriptions that tell it like it is.
Click. Open. Read. Share.
Simple.

Based in the beautiful South West coastline of Wales, Oakwood opens its doors again for Summer this Good Friday.

And this year sees a celebration of the park’s 30th anniversary! Bluestep have been in talks with Oakwood over the last six months in preparation for the big opening, and we’ve produced some fantastic promotional materials to help with the running of the park.

Whether you’ve been to the park or not, here’s what we think makes Oakwood one of the most unique and exciting theme parks of its kind.

A WOODEN rollercoaster?!

Yep, believe it or not, Megafobia is totally constructed from wood. Built in 1996, the ride was implemented by Custom Coasters International who wanted to showcase their company in Europe.

Remember James?

Take a trip down memory lane, or treat the kids to some old-school Roald Dahl. The James And The Giant Peach ride opens this year and Bluestep are helping to propel the launch marketing with the production of branded merchandise.

Easter Eggstravaganza

You can win a family ticket to the Park’s Easter Eggstravaganza! All you have to do is follow the click on this link and answer the simple question….

Whether it be e-commerce or brochure, the best website design will always show a return on investment.

There's an old saying that goes something like: ‘Good, fast, or cheap. Pick two.’ This is still true when it comes to cheap website design. Like most things - buy cheap, buy twice.

So, what makes a good website?

Relevant content

A good website knows its target audience. It’s designed with them in mind. Language, colours, content, structure, images, and navigations are all built with purpose. With content, it’s quality over quantity. Remember, content is king!

Good design

A good website must be easy to read and easy to use. All navigations and links should be clear, concise and functional. A good website design should be aesthetically pleasing, but a great website has substance too. ‘Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.’ (Steve Jobs)

Responsive

‘80% of internet users own a mobile device.’ (Smart Insights, 2016). And this number is only increasing. Don’t forget tablets, iPads, iPhones, androids, Macs and PCs. A good website should work fabulously across all devices.

User-friendly

Not everyone will appreciate your decorative script font. Make sure your website promotes a good experience to everyone, including those with learning difficulties, disabilities and visual impairment. Designers – opt for something like ‘FS Me’ which was created especially for dyslexic users. It’s clean, accessible and simple.

Google-friendly

To get your website high up on SERPs you need to make friends with Google’s crawlers. One bad link and they’ll scarper. Digital Synopsis reckon ‘Page 2 of Google search results is the best place to hide a dead body’, because simply put, no one ever looks there.

Fast-loading

It’s 2017. We want everything, and we want it now. People won’t revisit a website that takes longer to load than it takes to brew a cup of tea. We live in time of instant gratification, and it’s up to you to match the expectations of your visitors.

Author Bio

Nicola Risi is our in-house Content, Copywriting and SEO specialist. She has been working closely with our web developers and designers in building some of our best websites yet. Nicola helps our clients ensure their content is user- (and Google) friendly by optimising copy and implementing SEO techniques.

The roads are full of dedicated runners in high vis and head torches, the UK is experiencing a shortage of spinach (yes, that’s really happening!), and there’s a bake sale on every corner…it must be marathon season!

This year, I finally landed myself a place running for a charity that’s close to my heart - Sue Ryder.

As a bit of a fitness freak already, I didn’t think twice about applying, but now it’s less than 15 weeks away and I’m still recovering from the Christmas/New Year slump, reality is sinking in! It’s not just the physical demand but, mentally, I’m struggling to prepare myself for the distance. 26.2 miles! At my current pace that’s about 4.5 hours of running! My stomach’s in knots as I write this…

But as marathon newbie, I’m still tainted with the naïve innocence of a “it can’t be that bad” attitude. I mean, people go back and do it again, don’t they?
(I suspect I’ll feel differently on the 18th mile….)

Anyway, I’ve become a bit of a marathon geek as of late, reading up on everything and anything I can get my hands on. A marathon diary, a marathon journal, a Pinterest board… you name it, I’ve got it. And I feel it’s only fair I share some of this new-found knowledge!

Training schedule

Working full time, I’ve had to really prioritise my training. I take a non-negotiable approach. My friends, family and boyfriend know that my long runs happen on a Sunday and a Thursday; rest days are Wednesday and Fridays. It sounds selfish but once you have that discipline instilled, it’s so much easier to stick to your schedule. A few little slips here and there are inevitable, and it’s important to have a bit of flexibility (you can’t expect your mum to cancel her birthday because it collides with your long run…), so if you’ve got a big event on a Saturday night, shift your schedule a bit that week and do your long run on Saturday morning rather than Sunday.

Something else I’ve learnt from my fellow runners is to mix up your training by implementing some hill sprints and interval training. Run after run after run can take its toll on your body. Interval training and hill sprints will build up the strength in your legs, making those long runs feel so much easier.

Food prep!

I tend to do my running in the evenings after work. I don’t actually mind a morning workout, but I much prefer having the time to warm up/cool down properly, and enjoy a nice warm bubble bath after a run. One thing I can’t face afterwards though, is cooking…

I’ve taken to preparing large portions of nice and stodgy, marathon friendly food, that I can either throw in the oven whilst I’m out running, or quickly heat up in the microwave after to feed those hungry muscles. Here are some of my go tos:

Lasagne/cottage pie

Lean steak mince, loads of veg, and lots of cheese! Cook up a big batch and freeze your portions and you have all the nutrition you need after a long, hard run.

Jacket potatoes

Cheap, easy, nutritious carbs. Load up with tuna mayo, baked beans or Mexican chilli. These can be popped into the oven before a run. Rub a little olive oil and salt and pepper on before for an extra crispy skin. A lovely warming meal to come home to.

Pasta, of all kinds!

Fresh, egg pasta is a favourite of mine as it takes absolutely no time at all to cook. Just boil up in 5 mins! Although, I have started preparing a batch of either turkey meatball, or sausage pasta on a Sunday, which I can portion and heat up quickly when I get in from a run. This can be enjoyed cold too!
Nicola Running

On the day

Chafing

I read somewhere that Vaseline will be your best friend on the day. Rub Vaseline on any part of your body that touches another part. You’ll thank me later, I promise!

Sports drinks

You should actually start drinking these about 2 -3 days before marathon day, to ensure your electrolyte stores are well topped up!

Carb loading

Don’t overdo it! There’s nothing worse than running on a full stomach. Eat what has worked for you in the past, and remember, overeating is just as bad as undereating.

Trainers

Wear the trainers you have been wearing to train in (or completed at least 3-4 long runs in). Don’t think it’s a good idea to save a new pair for the day. You never know how your feet will react and the last thing you need is to contend with nasty blisters!

Those of you who already know Bluestep will know that the Outdoor and Education sector is a core part of our services. Currently providing product and merchandise solutions for 45% of the UK’s outdoor and education centres, the workload has been increasing and demanded an extra hand. In October last year, we took on account manager, Sarah Kilgannon to help manage those extra projects.

The team have been up and down the country visiting some of the nation’s most loved and well known tourist attractions and leisure centres, focusing on promotional and retail items. Our plush toy orders are already on the rise and we’re excited about what Summer 2017 has to bring in the way of tourism and leisure. So, there could be big changes for the sector this year. Keep an eye out for new and exciting case studies and blog posts! Remember, our Outdoor and Education team work with a bespoke online stock management system to help with efficiencies and fluidity of stock control and ordering. If you would like to see how we fare in the way of products, give one of our friendly team members a shout and they’ll be happy to discuss rates and stock management with you.

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, it’s essential to keep up with trends and changes and be ahead of the game. If you’re on social media, it’s likely you’ve noticed the stark presence of animated content popping up in both your news feeds and affiliated ad slots. Lately, particularly in the healthcare sector, video animations have become extremely prevalent. As a vibrant and engaging way of displaying stats, figures and stories, animation is the new way forward for digital marketing.

So, why should you be using animation?

  1. One minute of video is the equivalent of 1.8 million words.
  2. Videos make up 35% of total online ad spending according to Break Media.
  3. After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online according to ComScore.
  4. 50% of executives look for more information after seeing a product/service in a video, according to Forbes.
  5. Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.

What are you waiting for? Get in touch and talk to us, about taking things up a notch.

The approaching new year symbolises a time to reflect, show gratitude, appreciation and make goals for the next year…
So to say our goodbyes to what has been a fantastic year, we’ve put together a list of the top ten memories from 2016.

1) London Charity Softball

Bluestep sponsored the London Charity Softball team and supported the event by providing the branded kits and marketing collateral ahead of the event. The Bluestep team showed an appearance with a fully stocked sandwich stall, helping to feed the hungry players post-match. On a hot summers day, we ended the night with a few bevvies together in Hyde Park. A great day which deserves to be up here as one of our top memories of 2016.

2) Bluestep Bake Off

Shockingly competitive, the Bluestep Bake off saw the team go head to head in a bid to become the Star Baker. Each week we saw three bakers slave away in the kitchen to create their culinary masterpiece. Chocolate, banana, coffee, shortbread, scones…we had it all. Despite all of the tasty treats, a sour taste was left in our mouths (not just from Ben’s coffee cake) when it became apparent someone had used shop-bought pastry which lead to a disqualification from the final!

3) New employees

Since the beginning of 2016, we’ve seen ten new starters walk through the doors of Bluestep. All to fill new roles which have been created as a result of our increased workload. Since the office is getting pretty cosy, we’ve decided to expand our office into the next unit to make room for even more Bluesteppers in the new year!

4) Bluestep Summer BBQ

It seems like a distant memory now, but remember that scorcher of a week we had back in July? The boys set up a disposable BBQ in the courtyard and we finished off the hottest week of the summer with burgers and some ice cold bevvies. Bring on #Summer2017

5) NHS Expo ‘16

Bluestep’s healthcare team took a road trip up to Manchester back in September to host our own stand at the NHS Innovation Expo ’16. Designed by the very talented Becca Tyler, the stand was a huge success. We shared insight and spoke to a whole host of NHS professionals and stakeholders, absorbing as much as we could from all the talks and events. It was full on, but our energetic team kept up by fuelling up on all the free sweets!

6) Bluestep’s 6th Birthday

Possibly one of the biggest milestones – our 6th birthday! Who’d have thought six years how Bluestep was comprised of Ben, his kitchen table, a landline phone and a stapler? Amazing how much you can achieve with sheer determination and ambition.

7) Redecorating

One late night for the team and a fresh new look for the office. Rather than pay for a painter, we thought it’d be a fun, team building activity to just chip in and do it ourselves! There were laughs, there were arguments and there were spillages, but we’re pretty proud of our lush new office.

8) Seminars

Ben started to identify everyone’s individual talents and realised that a lot of the team were bringing additional skills to their role and further improving the company. Although the team were dubious about presenting in front of their peers, Ben finally persuaded us to start giving monthly seminars which have actually proven to be a lot of fun! We’ve shared some of our knowledge in our blog ‘Bluestep Seminars’, if you fancy some insight.

9) Charity Brochure …hot off the press

The highly-anticipated charity brochure was one of our most chopped and changed internal projects! In a bid to ensure it was absolutely perfect, it was in and out of the studio more times than we can count. Ten final, final proofreads later and we were finally happy to send it to print. Hot off the press, it was better than we had envisaged and we hope our clients have found it a useful reference for all of our offerings!

10) Secret Santa

And finally, the most recent, festive highlight. Ben receives a giant German sausage for Secret Santa…don’t ask.

Aron is the newest addition to the Bluestep studio, joining us as a fully-fledged web designer. Affectionately nicknamed the ‘Unicorn’ by his fellow designees, Aron comes equipped with the knowledge and skills to design and build iconic websites from scratch. So when did it all start for Aron

Cast your mind back to 2007, when Aron began writing code and building websites. A broken leg left his curiosity festering and after getting hold of a beat-up laptop, he began to create his first web pages. After much hard work and practice he went on to building websites for cold, hard cash. Fast forward ten years and he is now knocking out large scale e-commerce sites, designing and building software and perhaps most significantly, revamping the Bluestep website (watch this space!).

After running his own business, Aron missed the creative working environment and having that day-in day-out inspiration from colleagues. Coming to Bluestep has excited him after seeing its potential and the rapid rate at which it is flourishing. As a true design advocate, Aron believes that it’s about more than just how things look but rather, how things work – a principle applied in everything he produces. We have faith that Aron’s approach is going to do good things for our clients and their objectives, and we can’t wait to see more of his work.

When not tapping away at his keyboard, Aron is either teaching himself some tunes on the Ukulele, having a beer with friends, or enjoying the great outdoors.
Welcome aboard, Aron!

In case you haven’t heard, we’ve had a new buddy in the office recently.

Inca has been helping us out recently with a list of admin, housekeeping and tea making chores to give her a brief introduction to life in the office. To help us monitor the effectiveness of her stay at Bluestep we asked her to keep a log of her time, and since it was so brilliant, we decided to make it this week’s blog post:


09.00: They’re all complaining about traffic when they arrive this morning, but I’m not sure what that is. I loved my journey in. I love going in the car. Especially when I can stick my head out the window.
10.00: CHRISTY THREW SOMETHING! Please do it again, human!

11.15: Been brought into the meeting room to discuss what types of biscuits to order this month. I said Pedigree chums but they went for Hob Nobs. They said I’m not allowed the chocolate ones, things got a little hairy.

12.00: Chased my tail for 30 minutes, until I got hounded by the boss again…

12:30: Woofles for lunch, yum!

13.00: SOMEONE DROPPED CHICKEN ON THE FLOOR!

14.05: Sarah’s showing me how to make a spreadsheet. I’m thinking, why can’t I grab the little arrow moving about on the screen??

15.15: The man with the drawings on his arms. I like him best. I gave him a kiss and everyone laughed. So I did it again. I’m not sure he liked it.

15:30: Maybe I can I win him over with a gift…

16.00: SOMETHING FLEW PAST THE WINDOW!

16.10: I’m bored now, can I go and run around the car park?

17.00: Hey, where’s my toy?

17.05: THERE IT IS!

17:25: Pawformance review – didn’t go well. Man that was ruff.

A sentimental storyline, an iconic soundtrack and a loveable furry friend …it’s the Nation’s sign that Christmas is officially on its way. As the hotly anticipated seasonal masterpiece went live this morning, the Bluesteppers congregated in the meeting room over mince pies and crackers to enjoy a premier of the ad together. #BustertheBoxer had us all entranced as we watched intently, and as with every other UK creative agency, wished it was us who made the ad!

As a bunch of big kids (and looking for any excuse to eat mince pies), we saw the release of the video as the perfect excuse to hold our own Christmas launch party, and we’re now on the official countdown to Christmas 2016!

And if you haven’t already seen/heard/read enough about the ad yet, we’ve put together a list of five fun facts about the John Lewis Christmas ad for you!

  1. The ad was actually filmed back in July this year, the after effects and post-production was only signed off this week. #cuttingitfine
  2. The total cost of the John Lewis Christmas campaign is £7million, including production and TV slots. Yikes!
  3. The little girl in the ad (Summer, aged 6) is going to have her very own trampoline delivered today as gift from John Lewis.
  4. Viewers are taking to social media to express their concern and confusion over the fact the little girl’s dad is building the trampoline in the garden, and not Santa Claus!
  5. John Lewis have vowed to make a donation to The Wildlife Trusts from the sale of toys of the characters which feature in the advert.

Say hello to Sarah and Matt. More new starters here at Bluestep this month. It’s getting a bit cosy up here in the accounts team, but we can’t complain with these lovely new faces!

Meet Matt

Matt hayes
Our budding charity department were on the lookout for a fresh, energetic and motivated addition to the team and after meeting with us just once, Matt was quickly snapped up to fill the role! Matt showed us he’s a perfect fit for Bluestep with his friendly and outgoing personality, and history in sales and the CST service.

Sporty Matt spent his Uni days studying Sports Psychology at Leeds Met, and the Chelsea supporter enjoys his footy, betting and dogs. We think the other lads will be extremely glad of the change in conversation, in what has always been our ‘female dominated’ sector!

 

Meet Sarah

Sarah kilgannon
With our Outdoor and Education sector taking off, we were crying out for a talented account manager to come on board and help juggle the mountains of orders, client relationship and business growth. Sarah was the perfect candidate after showing us her effervescent personality, natural people skills and experience in retail and brand development.

Super talented Sarah began her career path seeking bright lights and fame in London studying Musical Theatre, and although she’s reluctant to show us, she’s actually a pretty good singer! (Karaoke for this year’s team building activity?) After chasing the Beyonce dream she was soon snapped back down to earth when she found love in Northampton and is now a proud Mum, wife and trusty Bluestepper!

Was it a profound moment of mental clarity that led our MD to choose this almost household name, or an unprecedented set of circumstances that led fate to make the decision for him? The name’s even been adapted these days to affectionately refer to our colleagues as our trusty Bluesteppers.
So how did Ben come up with the name, Bluestep?

Take our multiple-choice quiz and test your Bluestep knowledge...

A. The business was actually first registered under the name ‘Skindawg Cooperations’, but after business took off and the team moved into a converted barn office (painted bright blue), they decided to give the business a reputable and professional name and came up with Bluestep.

B. Our MD Ben has a wardrobe to rival Steve Jobs’. Every morning, he decides whether to wear his blue chinos, his pale blue chinos or his mid-blue chinos. For special occasions, he has a pair of dark blue chinos. Usually, he settles on a nice pair of blue chinos and a white shirt. It only seemed right that with the number of steps taken wearing blue chinos, the business should be rightly called Bluestep.

C. After dressing up as smurfs to compete in a charity sporting event, Harry and Ben checked their Fitbits the next day and realised they had taken a combined 54,798 steps over the weekend: the equivalent of a marathon. They soon took on the nickname ‘the Bluesteppers’ and after working together closely before business took off, made the combined decision to name the business Bluestep.

D.‘Blue’ – calming, reassuring, steady, reliable. ‘Step’ – progress, moving up, moving forward, growth. Ben combined the two words to create Bluestep as he felt the meaning behind it illustrated his thoughts about how he wanted to portray his business. BS also happens to be his initials!

Think you’ve worked out the answer? Send your answers to our social media platforms and you could be in with the chance of winning a *prize!

Each month, one Bluestepper takes on the task of hosting a breakfast seminar on a subject they are particularly passionate about. Not only have a we found this a great team morale and bonding exercise – but getting together an hour before work over croissants and OJ, and brushing up on subjects we might otherwise not come across, is a great learning experience and helps keep the whole team up to date on relevant skills and subjects!
So what has been presented so far and how is it benefitting the team?

Shanice Martin – Social Media for business

Media savvy Shanice kicked off the seminars as a tender newbie back in May this year. She wanted to fill the team in on the latest social media trends, strategies and success rates.
Always have a strategy. It’s all well and good if you’re posting x3 times a day but if you have no strategy or relevance, your audience will tail off.
Consistency is key. Consistency across TOV, imagery and posting times is a must to ensure you keep audiences engaged and active.
Pick the right channels. Twitter is great for exposure…if you have plenty of followers. Know your audience and know their preferred platforms.

Ben Johnson – Negotiation skills

Straight talking Ben chose to educate the team on negotiation skills. With a clever multiple choice quiz, we were soon able to point out the softer team members from the feistier negotiators.
Find a middle ground. If you’re struggling to make a deal, try and meet the customer half way.
Negotiation is a fundamental part of life! We negotiate every day, even if we don’t realise it, so you may as well be good at it.
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. As with most business scenarios, it’s essential you’re adequately prepared. Know your facts and figures before confidently closing a deal.

Rebecca Tyler – Branding

Becca’s passion for all things design shone through in her branding seminar. After taking a course on branding earlier this year, Becca wanted to share some of her insight to the team.Find your brand personality. Where do you sit in the world of brands? Are you the hero? The lover? The optimist? Establish your personality and stick to it!
Consider a rebrand. It’s worked for some of the biggest brands in the world. Keep up to date with the fast paced industry and keep your brand fresh.
More than just a logo. A brand is so much more than a logo. People connect with a brand on a higher level, and remain loyal to a brand that has served them well. Remember this when communicating with your audience.

Ben Skinner – Business Development

Bluestep MD, Ben, built up a business from scratch, so it was only natural he should brief the team on the ins and outs of business development. As you might already know, Ben is a fan of putting people before business and it’s worked pretty well for him!
Know your customer inside out. Where did they go on holiday this year? How many dogs do they have? Where’s their favourite place to eat?
Be fun to be around. Ever get on so well with a client/supplier that meetings just seem to fly by? It’s always nice to do business with someone you get along with.
Keep in touch. Make regular contact with all clients and customers, even if work is quiet. Make them feel special and remember who you are!

Mark Chamberlain – Websites and Digital

Our go-to coder, Mark, was constantly bombarded with techy questions from the rest of the team, so decided to give us all the low down on everything web and digital!
Not all websites are created equal. Custom-coded, wordpress, e-commerce, one page… with so many options on the market, there’s something for every type of business.
Consider WordPress. If you’re not overly tech-savvy, but low on budget, it might be worth considering a WordPress template. WordPress is super user-friendly and with a content management system, you can easily make updates yourself.
Be responsive. Making your site responsive should go without saying these days, especially since 80% of internet users now own a smartphone!

Nicola Risi – Copywriting

With super speedy typing skills & an eye for typos, Nikki has naturally become Bluestep’s creative copywriter come dictionary. During the seminar, she presented the team with some of the world’s greatest copy ads, and some handy hints & tips on how they can polish up their own copywriting skills.
Write drunk, edit sober. Well, not literally…! Do an initial braindump of everything you want to say, then come back later to edit, correct and refine.
Be flexible. Some days you could be selling shoes to twenty-something London commuters, the next you’re selling cars to middle class family men. Never underestimate a copywriter’s power to adapt their personality and language.
Don’t use big words when a smaller one will do! To quote Joey from friends “They’re prepossessing, humid homo-sapiens with full sized aortic pumps”

Butter bashing, nut crunching, stiff peaks and soggy bottoms...The Great British Bake Off is back. Why we love it SO much, we’ll never know. Perhaps it’s the adorably chic backdrop (set in the English countryside, complemented with pleasingly regular April showers), the quintessentially British narrative, laced with cheeky innuendos and Mel and Sue’s annoyingly addictive puns, or the refreshing inclusion of everyone from the endearing middle class mum and homemaker, to the young and energetic engineering student.

We just can’t get enough, and as our very own Hollywood ‘nod of approval’ to the show, we decided to host our very own Bluestep Bake Off.
Each Bluestepper was assigned a week, with three bakers going head to head each week for StarBaker status. All-star bakers will be automatically sent through to the Bake Off finale, where they’ll be tasked with creating a show-stopping masterpiece!

So how have we fared so far?

We’ve had everything from chocolate mousse cakes and feta tartlets, to orange layer cakes and banana cheesecake. As our belt buckles tighten, the final draws closer. Who will be the winner of the Bluestep Bake Off?

Watch this space!

We’re struggling to keep up with how fast Bluestep is growing at the moment. From new starters, and new clients, to a second office in London – safe to say it’s been a big year for us.
The growth of the business has naturally impacted all of our sectors and we’re seeing each section of the business really come into its own.

At the start of every year, we tend to meticulously plan every last detail down to how many ink cartridges we plan to use! Although we never could’ve predicted the growth we have seen this year… and after we ran away with ourselves recruiting, we had nowhere to seat everyone, doh!

Working with what we’ve got, we’ve turned the office pretty much upside down to utilise every last corner and wall, but when we heard our neighbours next door were moving onto pastures new, we jumped at the opportunity to extend our office further into this beautiful location!

Ideas are already flying around about how the new space will look, but it will all start with knocking the design studio wall through to next door, introducing a whole new office – this is where the charity team will be based. We will then introduce additional meeting rooms, and utilise the rest of the ground floor to create our brand new design studio – complete with breakout areas, bean bags and other quirky add-ons to increase creative stimulation and flow.

Anyone who knows us will be well aware of how much we pride ourselves on our beautiful, countryside location down at Blisworth Hill Farm, so when we heard the equally picturesque Stone Barn – adjacent to our existing office – was up for grabs, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to embed ourselves further into this perfect location. Call it wishful thinking, but we are hoping to have the work complete by Christmas!

Keep an eye on our blogs for more updates and progress pictures.