Distinguish Your Store Front

The 'credit crunch' come 'recession' come 'economic downturn' has had a big impact on UK consumerism. Consumers have become far more discerning in what they are looking for and where they look for it. They want the best possible product at the lowest possible price; they will settle for nothing less than a voucher code, discount voucher or special offer. Unfortunately having all of these things still may not be enough. Plenty of small businesses can tick every box above so how do you get people to buy from you? The first challenge is to get them through the shop door.

Shoppers are no less superficial than they have ever been and a drab shop front just will not encourage them to come in. It may be time to consider researching a suitable building service or possibly carpentry specialist. Find out what they might be able to do to make your shop draw in a crowd. Once they are in your shop you will be able to wow them with your excellent quality, amazing value product.

On the same token, shop landlords should consider how they can make their shops more appealing to businesses looking to rent a shop space. Another drab empty shop front isn't making the landlord any money and occupied or not, a drab shop front isn't likely to make anyone much money. It may be worth contacting a local builder or carpenter to have a look. A small spending spree now could provide a sizable return on investment for a considerable time period.

The Year of the Discount Voucher

It may not be recognised by any particular culture but it cannot be denied the 2010 has been the year of the discount voucher. Eighteen months ago people would have been embarrassed to pull out a 241 voucher to pay for lunch, now they are embarrassed if they forgot to print it off!

I now receive at least two weekly emails with discount vouchers and deals, one from Money Saving Expert and one from Voucher Codes. These slightly older style of money saving email inform me of any special offers running, any discount codes which I can use and any vouchers which I can print off to use in store.

I have also recently signed up to the daily deals from Groupon and Living Social. These have a slightly different approach to discount codes than the previous category. With these you generally pay £x for a voucher which you can redeem in a shop/restaurant etc for a greater value than you paid, e.g. £2x. This requires you to pay up-front and the deals are usually only available for 24 hours, however the vouchers tend to be valid for at least a month, usually three months. The risk here is that you will not get around to using your voucher before it expires.

As you can imagine, my email inbox is fairly inundated with deals, vouchers and special offers and I love it! I scan the emails and delete them if they are not of interest or save or buy from them if they are. As a result of Groupon vouchers I have purchased I have eaten at two very nice restaurants, which I would not have thought to go to without the voucher, for excellent value in the last month. I will also be getting my teeth whitened at a £110 saving! Not to mention the hundreds of savings I have made from the Money Saving Expert emails which I have been receiving for over a year now. How did we live without them?!?

I think the key question is, what are the implications of this to businesses? Chain restaurants are now almost constantly offering BOGOFF, 241, 241 for £1, 2 for £10/£12 or 50% off, so would you go there without a voucher or deal? It doesn't matter how appetising those excluded sections of the menu are, the food covered by the voucher is delicious and great value and probably what I would get anyway so I am not going to pay full price for something I can usually get exactly the same at a discount.

On the other hand, one meal which was worth around £45 and cost me £19 (for two people) with a Groupon introduced me to a restaurant I had never been to before. I had a delicious meal and liked the staff and ambiance and would happily go back to that restaurant on another occasion. I was willing to take the risk and try somewhere new because it was only £19, however this was a one-off and I am aware that if I go back I will have to pay full price.

The psychology of discounting is a complicated one, which I cannot begin to fathom. However, you cannot deny that 2010 has been the year of the discount!

Why is it always the hard way?

How many times in your life to you think 'I should have done that when I was younger and had the opportunity'? It could be about any number of things, from a holiday, to a career opportunity, to a lifestyle choice, to learning something new. Sometimes the opportunity re-presents itself, sometimes it does not. My latest one is a combination of all four really. I am trying to make up for it now, but it really is much harder!

I want to learn to speak Italian. I started to study Italian at University but gave up because, to be honest, it was just too much work. My motivation to re-study it stems from all four of the reasons as it will allow me to travel around Italy, improve my career prospects, give me more flexible lifestyle options and obviously learn something new. Unfortunately learning a language at night School once a week, whilst working full time and having a social life is no walk in the park. Hence the 'I should have done it when I had the chance'. Nevertheless, I am determined to do my best and with any luck succeed in mastering a reasonable level of understanding and communication by the end of my course next summer!

Why is it that we have to learn things the hard way??? Still, it seems to motivate people considerably more than the easy option.

How well do you communicate your personality?

The way you look is the first impression someone will have of you, from your cleanliness to your hairstyle to your clothes and shoes. These should immediately communicate your personality.

It is the way you think and interpret things which influences your choices, whether they are the clothes you buy, the way you walk, your relationships with people, I could go on. Buying clothes is very rarely a rash choice, you spend time looking around and already have ideas of the types of clothes which suit you and what you are looking for. Your hair style will be thought out and will tell people how outgoing or reserved you are, how confident or shy you are, how conservative or outrageous. Do these features accurately represent you?

And what does your scent say about you? How much time do you spend choosing your fragrance? On what criteria did you select it? I find buying perfume stressfull and confusing. After smelling two or three fragrances they all merge and I can rarely keep track of the one I liked the most. As a result I have been using the same perfume, Chanel Chance for the last seven years. But then I discovered the Penhaligon's perfume profiling service. It was amazing and FREE! They literally match a scent to your personality so you know that you will smell as great and unique as your personality. They ask you questions which can be as random as "describe your favourite dress" and "what is the layout of your living room?" and after half an hour or so they will select a fragrance or two from their range for you to blind smell and you ultimately choose one. It was great fun and I love my new perfume, Malabah which is semi-oriental, subtle and just amazing!

So think about how well you communicate your personality to people when you first meet them. What do your clothes say about you? What about your jewellery? What about your scent?

Good Book: Rudolf Vrba, I Escaped From Auschwitz

I first encountered I Escaped From Auschwitz at University whilst studying Primo Levi's, If This Is A Man. We were required to analyse a related text for perspective. I bought and studied/analysed I Escaped From Auschwitz and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a History and Politics graduate I have a natural affinity to historical fiction. I love books based on real historical events which include a fictional love story or similar. I Escaped From Auschwitz is an entirely factual work which nevertheless appealed to the romantic in me.

Vrba, a Scientist by profession, successfully communicates every emotion, undoubtedly strengthened by the knowledge that they were real, so that you can truly understand his experiences.

In his Prologue Vrba talks about contributing to the defeat of Nazism by opening peoples' eyes. This book undeniably achieves that. I know that when I told people what I was reading they would say 'oh!' or 'that's not very nice' and considered it a horrible topic, or a historical source. Vrba's I Escaped From Auschwitz is in fact both BUT, it personalises an unpleasant subject in a way that the everyday public can appreciate and is a historical source to the general public who can learn so much from one man's experiences and bravery.

I am re-reading this book because I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe that it should be a much greater part of popular reading than it currently is.

Nick Clegg's Vision

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party today published a copy of his 'New Year Message' on his website www.nickclegg.com. This is an interesting read and would probably appeal to a majority of people.

I wholeheartedly agree with Clegg's criticisms of the current government and like his ideas for the future, however you have to consider how viable these changes are. You can't just 'press the political reset button', as he suggests! It is very easy to have ideals and make plans in advance, but when (if) the authority to make the proposed changes is put in the Liberal Democrats hands how will they cope with other things which come up? How will they manage the reactions of the EU, USA and Commonwealth to these drastic changes? How will the changes be moderated to ensure they do not go to far, like in 1930s Germany?

I do not disagree that 2009 has brought to light existing problems within the UK political system and these need to be addressed. Furthermore, I would support a Liberal Democrat plan for change but only if a clear, step by step plan can be put together which considers every consequence of the changes and covers planning for unexpected eventualities along the way. In addition, there can be no better moderator of the changes than the British public, so I would suggest that referendums are required at certain stages before changes can be fully implemented. A fine line needs to be walked between rushing the process, thereby causing upheaval and taking too long so that things do not change/improve.

Yes Clegg's policies are good now, so were Blair's in 1997, but once you get that position of power there is very little the British public can do to influence government policy or ensure that campaign promises are kept, look at our involvement in the Iraq War. I doubt that Clegg will gain support with vague suggestions of drastic change and may even alienate current supporters. Whilst the ideals are good more reassurances are needed as to the when, how and why.

I suggest that the focus of the Liberal Democrat's campaign be formulating and promoting such a plan to incentivise people to get up and actually vote and acknowledge that there is an alternative to Conservative and New Labour.

Fury over Inaccurate and Presumptuous News Article

So yesterday wasn't my best day at work. I was tired and having computer freezing issues! In the afternoon I saw a tweet which turned my day around!

On Tuesday the Brighton Argus put an article on their website entitled, 'Fury over Brighton's £10 pub crawl'. This article outlined the Brighton community's outrage at a weekly £10 pub crawl being organised by a private company, Boozed Brighton which involves being taken to 7 bars around Brighton and getting 6 drinks included in the price. The article included disapproving quotes from members of Sussex police who said that the pub crawls would probably result in antisocial behaviour, yet the Argus were the first to bring the event to Sussex Police's attention so the preceding event must not have caused any problems!!

The really entertaining element of the article are the comments. If you scroll to the bottom of the article you can read 39 indignant reader's opinions on the piece. They generally are along the lines of:

• Great deal, where can you sign up?!
• Six free drinks, that's not binge drinking!
• The pub crawl is a good idea to help prevent bars closing and offering customers a good deal.

As you have probably gathered most people supported Boozed Brighton and thought the article was ridiculous. All I can say is the Argus created a great piece of PR for a company they were attempting to discourage and discredit, despite linking to every possibly website in the article except Boozed Brighton!