30 – 07 – 2020

Words by Caitlyn

the art

Of Working From Home

With the whirlwind that has been 2020 we have been reflecting on what we’ve noticed while everyone transitioned to that work from home life. It’s been a messy and fruitful ride as we’ve watched people struggle, learn and make it work for themselves. While everyone learnt how to work from home, we felt quite at ease. We started working remotely in July of 2018 and while at the beginning the transition was hard, 2 years in, we’ve got it down (most of the time).

It was interesting to watch everyone go through the mixture of emotions that we had gone through. Starting with how great it is to work from bed to how we miss sitting at our desk in the office. From feeling lonely to wishing everyone would stop messaging on the workgroup and zoom calling you while you’re in your pjs. From thinking you’ll have so much more extra time to realising your time hasn’t changed at all, it probably got even busier.

What we noticed was that we’re all pretty similar and at the end of the day we are our own worst enemy. Change takes adaptation and we can be so bad at that sometimes! We don’t want to change the system we’ve created even though our environment has been flipped upside down. Home means relaxing to most of us and adapting that mindset that it can be both a place of work and relaxation takes some time.

Some things work, some things don’t but from what we have seen and learnt there are 3 simple rules to follow that can really help you get the whole working at home thing down. While some might seem obvious and you’ve heard it a million times, trust us, in practice they work.

1. Act like you’re going to work

Just because you’re not going to work does not mean you’re not going to work when you wake up on a weekday morning! Monday to Friday, 8-5 has not changed, you’re just doing the work a few meters from your bed. So do what you would usually do.

• Wake up early, get dressed, make breakfast, text your friends good morning, and then start working. It’s tempting to just roll out of bed 5 minutes before work, land at your desk, and get going but keep your routine. Just because you no longer have to get ready for your commute, doesn’t mean you sleep in and skip the important stuff. Eat breakfast before you start working or you’ll end up skipping it all together, get out of your pjs, and get your day started. Sure, wear your comfy sweatpants and a loose T but don’t stay in what you slept in. 
• You know it but do you actually do it? Don’t work from your bed or on your couch. We know it’s so tempting but don’t do it, don’t get too comfy. You’re at work! So sit at your desk or designated work area and get going. We’re not saying don’t take an hour break on your couch when your back gets sore but don’t spend your day there and expect to be productive. 
• Break up your day like you normally would, take your lunch breaks and tea breaks, and those minutes you spend chatting. It’s easy to overwork when you’re working from home because you don’t have the little distractions that you usually would but those distractions often make you more productive. They give your brain time to rest, reset, and split your working time up. Don’t let that ‘my boss will think I’m not working because I’m at home’ guilt stop you from taking your well-deserved breather! 
• If you get easily distracted and can’t help yourself from getting consumed by social media or a deep dive into recipes for dinner, now that there’s no one watching you work, then take the precautionary steps to stop yourself. Logout of all your social media accounts so it’s harder to just switch onto the app and get lost in it. Use Chrome’s ‘people’ option and have a work toolbar and personal toolbar. This means while you’re on your work profile/ toolbar that you’ll stick to the task at hand.

2. Set those boundaries

You need to set boundaries with your boss and colleagues, whoever is at home with you and most importantly with yourself. Just because you’re at home all day and don’t get to work at a certain time and leave at a certain time doesn’t mean the rules have changed!

• You more likely than not have working hours. Stick to them. It is your responsibility to ensure that not only do you stick to them but that your boss and colleagues respect them too. Would your work contact you before or after your working hours usually? No. Would you stop making dinner or doing that after-work chore and quickly finish that one thing your teammate needs? No. Just because there’s no going home time to signal the end of the workday doesn’t mean that the workday isn’t over. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you to do more work after or before working hours. When you let this happen once it will keep happening.
• The same goes for you! Don’t ‘just quickly finish the task’ after work has finished. That extra hour or 2 you spend on that takes up your actual time at home where you have other responsibilities, like chores and simply taking care of yourself. If you don’t set those boundaries for yourself, no one else will and you will burnout and end up working much slower.
• It’s easy to feel like you haven’t done enough so use a tool like Toggl to track how much time you’re spending on each task and how many hours you’ve worked that day. You’ll see if you’re spending too long on something and at the end of the day, you can see where you spent your time and that you actually did get tasks done. Plus, it’ll stop you from working that 9 or 10 hour day!
• Leave the chores until after work! Just because you’re at home all day doesn’t mean you need to get the household chores done. Household chores are for before and after work and that shouldn’t change. You’ll only distract yourself and tire yourself out by completing other tasks during work hours. 
• With that being said, you need to set boundaries with those you live with too. You need to make sure their expectations are managed about how much time during the day you have for them, how much space you need, and how much they can expect from you in terms of housework. Just because you’re at home all day doesn’t mean you’re not working and have time for other things.

3. Move, talk and laugh

It’s not all about work! It’s all about balance. No one can do their job properly if they’re not getting the stimulation they need. You’re no longer commuting to work, climbing the stairs to your floor, walking to lunch, or chatting with your peers but those things are important so make them happen!

• You’re already getting dressed for work, so why not meet a friend for lunch? A break can do wonders for your productivity and having a laugh will boost your mood.
• Call your friends, your mom, or your partner for a 15-minute vent or catch up. You can keep your distance and still get that human contact in.
• Don’t just end your team meeting when the important topics for the day have been discussed, stick around for a little chat afterwards. If you were at work you wouldn’t just pack up and leave to your desk, you’d walk with a peer or grab a coffee with them while chatting before getting down to business.
• Ugh, we know, someone else telling you to exercise? But for real, you’re probably getting out of bed, sitting at your desk, making dinner, relaxing on the couch, and then going to bed again. Your body and your brain needs a little bit more than that to feel happy. At least have a walk up your street and back, especially if you’re living in a flat and don’t have a garden for some fresh air.

At the end of the day, we’re all resilient, adaptable, and always far more capable than we think but only if we allow ourselves to be. Making changes is hard but everything that has been scary and different has always become our new normal quicker than we expected! 

Happy home working!

24 – 06 – 2020

Words by Caitlyn & Emma-Kate

four of four

A Social Media Series

“Alright stop, 
collaborate and listen!”

 You can’t tell us that you didn’t read that in Vanilla Ice’s voice.

When it comes to building an account on social media, one of the most powerful tools we can use is the power of collaboration. This means coming together and working as a team to produce incredible results!

Great things happen when brands unite to create something special. Collaboration is a positive tool to bring additional exposure and growth to your social media accounts! It creates a space where new relationships can be formed, builds trust, curates an environment of innovation, and is a great way to learn from others.

There are many avenues within collaboration that brands can take to ensure that the partnership is equally beneficial for all parties involved. It’s important to hear each other out and see what everyone would like to achieve through working together. It’s good to adopt the mindset of “we all need to win!”

Collaborating with the right brands will also connect you with customers within your target market that you may have not reached before your partnership. Before you start working with other brands, make sure that they align with your vibe and style to make sure that your project looks and feels authentic and true to your brand. Don’t wait to be approached, reach out to other business owners who you would like to be associated with, and propose a collaboration. You never know ~ they might just say yes!

Here are some tips, tricks, and suggestions to run an effective collaboration:

1. Join forced with brands who are in a similar field as you, and work together instead of competing with each other.
2. Run a giveaway where entrants have to follow all parties involved. This is a super helpful way to gain some following! (Just ensure that there aren’t too many parties involved. The list can sometimes get a bit too long.)
3. Work alongside someone who is an influencer and get them to do a review of your products!
4. Ensure that you and all parties involved are all benefitting from the collaboration.
5. Create a collaboration piece with a brand! Bring your skills together to create something beautiful.
6. Propose & pitch your collaboration well. It’s always good to go into a collaboration knowing what you want to achieve, and be clear about it with the brands you are working with.

One way we love to collaborate with brands is to help remove the pressure of them having to handle their social media, and give them the freedom of growing their brand to where it needs to be! We are all about working together to achieve the best results. 

As Conceptual Creatives, we want to make sure that you are getting the most out of your social media accounts. Collaboration with a team of people who want to take your brand’s online presence to new heights. We collaborate with you to curate authentic social media content that expresses the core of who you are. Social media can be a lot to handle, especially when running collaborations with brands. 

We hope you have found this post helpful! Why not brainstorm a collaboration idea and give it a go? The worst thing that could happen is someone could say no, and then it’s the perfect opportunity to learn and try again!

All our love,

The Conceptual Team

09 – 06 – 2020

Words by Caitlyn & Emma-Kate

three of four

A Social Media Series

We have covered the importance of having social media, how to clearly communicate your brand’s values, and the importance of planning ~ so what’s next?

Curating an online presence is one thing, but how do you build your brand’s social media to become a force to be reckoned with? It may not be as easy as 1 2 3 but there are a few simple steps to creating healthy habits that create a strong, authentic, and growing presence. There is no universal formula for growth, and while planning and creating content will get the ball rolling, engagement is going to accelerate the growth of your community (i.e. all the people you need to build you up!)

You may have a successful Instagram page with tons of followers, but if you aren’t reaching out to the occasional olive branch, your page will start to feel like it is missing something! Even if your brand is focused on looking sleek and professional, there is a human element to social media that helps accounts thrive. 

Utilising each of these simple functions will help let people know that you’re not only present on your brand’s page but that there are actual people behind it all, that care! Your potential and current consumers want to feel like they know you, can rely on you, and are a part of the team. You can’t build this trust or community if you aren’t communicating on a smaller and individual level than just your posts. Each person wants to feel heard and be soon and it’s as easy as;

Like

Comment

Respond

Too simple? We don’t think so!

LIKE

Use that little heart button to your heart’s content! Double-tap on posts that you are tagged in, posts of those who are in the same industry, and those of your customers. Liking is a simple way of keeping your brand at the back of people’s minds and in their notifications.

COMMENT

Comment on content that you see on your timeline. Keep it short, encouraging, and fun! Commenting is a great way to interact with other brands and clients showing them your support and interest. It may seem simple, but a short and sweet, “We adore this beautiful photo!” can go a very long way.

RESPOND

Respond to all your messages and comments (except spam, we are not here for spam!) When someone pops you a message regarding your products or services, make sure to shoot one back. There is a not-so-nice feeling that comes about when you reach out to a brand that you have supported, and they leave questions unanswered or praise unappreciated. Make sure you are keeping your genuine connections alive with responding and reacting to tags, comments, and messages. Also, check your requests (they’re easy to miss, we know!).

Engagement takes work, but it’s work that’s worth investing your time into. Dedicate time every day to engaging with the people on your feed. A daily dedication to this means you keep ahead of the algorithm while building the reach of your brand!

Like, comment & respond.

27 – 05 – 2020

Words by Emma-Kate & Nica

two of four

A Social Media Series

On a scale of 1-10, how organised would you say you are? 1 being the classic, “I roll with the punches, I don’t know what day it is (ever) and I still can’t find the planner I bought 3 years ago,” and 10 being, “I know where everything is, my to-do list is always ticked off task by task, and my house is spotless.”

For the 1’s out there, we salute you! However, one thing we can be sure of is that organising your social media is one of the most helpful ways to ensure that you are effectively using it. This week we are diving deep into our first C – connection (read our first blog post of the series to learn more about the 3 C’s of social media). To grow your social platforms, you first need to know who you want to build a connection with. How can you appeal to your target market if you don’t know who they are?

Every time we work with a new client on social media, branding or web design project, we ask them to describe their target audience. It helps us understand exactly who we are designing for – their likes, dislikes, age, gender, and more. If you haven’t completed any market research, you won’t know who you are creating content for. Once you can identify who your target audience is, where to find them, how to attract, speak, and create content for them to engage with your business.

With a few simple tips and tricks, you can ensure that you are having a maximum impact with your socials without the hassle of coming up with a caption every single day. Trust us, you will thank yourself later!

Here are some helpful ways to get your social media accounts organised!

1. Plan Ahead

2020 has proven that things don’t always go to plan however, it has also taught us to plan for the things we can control. For instance, we may not know what the state of Covid-19 may be next month, but what we do know is we would like to reach 800 followers more. What we can also plan is a general idea of what we would like to put out. Working on your content ahead of time also helps to keep you focused on your target audience and making sure you are creating posts of value. If there is no goal/reasoning behind your posts and you are simply posting to post chances are your target audience will pick it up.

For an example:

Say you are a skincare brand. You know that in our southern hemisphere climate, June is a cold month and a lot of people struggle with dry skin in the winter. Due to this problem, you can know that you are going to need to market some heavy moisturisers during this time. 

2. Pre Write Your Captions Where You Can

It may feel mundane and slightly excessive, however, when you are posting consistently and constantly putting content out, it becomes difficult to keep your captions (or copy) original and punchy. A great tip for writing captions is to use an online thesaurus to help you find some original ways of saying the same thing (don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone!) Make sure you’re keeping your captions short, to the point, and punchy! However, there is also room for lengthier copy. Whatever feels right for your brand, head in that direction. Remember to make use of call to actions and regularly ask for feedback in your captions.  

3. Schedule Your Posts

If you are posting all of the content yourself (and not utilising a social media manager) we would suggest scheduling your social media posts. There are many free tools like Later & Hootsuite to help you schedule and plan your social media posts! Scheduling helps you save time in the long run, and also keeps your posts at a consistent posting time. Once you have scheduled everything, the most you will need to do is check that your posts have actually gone out!

4. Look At Important Dates And Plan Accordingly!

Planning your month in advance will help you stay aware of public holidays, special occasions, and events that are coming up that you can use to engage with your target audience. This will help you create relevant marketing campaigns, plus it will assist you to wrap your head around the content you would like to share!

We hope these tips help you stay organised, build stronger connections with your dream target audience, and have some fun with your social media! Planning may seem like a mundane task, but it will truly help you get the absolute best out of your social platforms.

20 – 05 – 2020

Words by Emma-Kate & Nica

one of four

A Social Media Series

Do you remember creating your first Facebook profile? Choosing your profile picture, and posting that first status that could have been along the lines of, “I Luv FaCeBoOk XD*”. It was truly the era for literary gold. Perhaps Myspace was your first dive into an online community. Whichever platform it was, social media has been around for a very long time.

Since creating our first Facebook profiles, the social media world has transformed from completely personal to a hub for marketing, networking, and brand awareness. In our day and age, it seems like social media is more of a necessity than a luxury. Of course, it’s an incredible mechanism to stay in touch with friends and family from afar, but why is it important for a business to utilise social media? Is it that essential? 

Our short answer; yes. 

But here is our longer answer.

There are 3 C’s that help us understand why social media is as important to businesses as it is.

Connection

Community

Collaboration

Connection ~ as in, connecting with customers on a relatable and down to earth way. We all have social media profiles, and it can be a super simple and easy way to curate authentic relationships with the very people who are helping keep your business alive. When we create an authentic and genuine connection, we are creating opportunities to have long-lasting relationships. Social media isn’t just about broadcasting what you want people to know about your business – it is about building relationships. Once you have done that you can save your business a lot of money by communicating to your target audience directly and asking the questions needed to take your brand to new heights. There is nothing better for growth than direct feedback from your target audience.

Community ~ social media can be the perfect tool to help you find your people and your authentic community of like-minded business people and creatives. You can interact with those who share the same industry as your brand. We understand how competitive it can be, however when used correctly, social media is an incredible hub to ask questions, learn, and gain access to free resources that will help take your business forward. Best of all, you might even get some free user-generated content for your brand which 90% of shoppers say influenced their decision to purchase. This is higher than any other type of advertising. 

Collaboration ~ this is a great tool for brand awareness. Collaborating with brands who may not offer the same product or service as you, but are in the same sphere of influence as you, will help bring in some mutually beneficial marketing. It is a healthy, fun, and fresh way to create relationships with other brands, as well as to expand your horizons as a business. As with anything in life it is about quality and not quantity, so if you want to collab with another brand don’t just look at the numbers, but focus on how relatable they are to your brand ethos. If they have similar values than you, their followers will love you too. 

Now looking at these 3 C’s and having a slightly deeper understanding of why social media is essential to any brand, here are 3 questions you can ask yourself to help you communicate what you are wanting to showcase through your social media account.

1. What is the vision/mission of my brand? (ie. What is your product, what does it do, why do people need it?)
2. What sets us apart in the industry? (i.e. Are you a mother-daughter duo sharing a mutual love for the service you provide? Eco friendly? Find your niche.)
3. What is the language of our brand? (i.e. Friendly and conversational, or corporate and clear?)

 Once you have taken the time to answer these 3 questions, you have some direction on how you can communicate what you are marketing. Who you are, what you do, how you do it, and why you do it should be communicated through your social platforms!

Over the next week, we will dive deep into social media giving you some tips and tricks to help you grow your social platforms. 

19 – 05 – 2019 

Words by Nica Kruger 

evolve

(noun) 

Develop gradually

Artwork by Matisse

While doing brand research the word echoed through my thoughts. In every moment we will always be evolving. It is a gradual act of movement, balance, strength and pushing through.

Do we even REALLY understand what this means? Or what it takes to do this? We will always progress without even breaking a drop of sweat. It is a natural act.

As we build brands for a living this got me thinking (I mean REALLY thinking). The act of development is what distinguishes the good from the great. The secret to it lies in maintaining a balance whilst gradually moving forward..

This is true for your brand as well.

1. Start with intention 

If you do not actively choose to evolve, chances are you will never reach your full potential.  You need to lay down your brand goals and make sure your strategy is in place before you jump into the look and feel.  Know where you are and where you want to be – it makes the process easier if you understand the purpose of your brand.

CC’s purpose is to deliver value to the lives of our clients. It is a concept that has driven me personally since I can remember – the thought of working on something bigger – something that can change the lives of others. Sounds ridiculous, I know! It has been many people’s purpose before me and will always be but it drives me. I diligently work for the smile and the thought of playing a part in contributing to the endless evolving of brands that I believe in.

3. Strength

In order to play an extraordinary part in the endless process you will need to persist. All businesses have their ups and downs and let me tell you, you will at one stage or another feel like you have had enough. You will wish that you had your free time back and question if your brand is worth all the effort. Drink a glass of wine, take a nap and continue on course in spite of the difficulty.

Now that we have covered personal strength, let’s talk about your brand’s strength.

The four factors that contribute to developing some brand muscles are perception, awareness, loyalty and association. In order to achieve new heights it is crucial to relook your strategy once in a while and ask for feedback from people (clients as well as those who don’t necessarily know your brand). Discovering what your brand’s weaknesses are is vital for growth.

Take a step back to evaluate & appreciate your brand’s progress. Become aware of your evolvement.