In an effort to separate my work portfolio from the general tips and advice I’ve previously offered business owners, I’ve decided to start a new site in order to give the latter its own home. Called simply ‘Tips For Business’ with a rather neat web address: www.tipsfor.biz , the site is aimed at small business owners, self employed people and those just starting out in business.

For those trying to adapt to the world outside the comfortable confines of regular employment, the transition can be a demanding one. We’re all trying to make it in difficult times at the moment, so I hope you find my advice helpful.

The site is biased towards marketing and promotion as that’s my specialist area, but there is some general stuff on there that I hope will appeal to everybody.

Visit Tips For Business

I had to get the crayons out for this one! My local Parent & Toddler Group, a registered charity, had received some funding from the Lottery and asked me to design and build their web site.

I was keen to oblige, as it made a change from all the usual business stuff I get involved in. The site had to be informative but at the same time reflect the fun informal nature of the group.

The result is a site that they are very pleased with and proud to show off!

Visit www.arleseyparenttoddler.org.uk

Datum Motorsport is a complete race car preparation, set up and development service. They needed a web site that would reflect the high octane excitement of their business and show how they support all aspects of race cars, from engine and gearbox to suspension and chassis.

The site had to highlight the fact that their staff have not only worked on some of the worlds finest vintage and classic sports cars, as well as preparing modern race cars for various teams, from Renault Clio Cup cars and BTCC to the Lotus On Track series.

The result is a site that makes them stand out from the competition, with search engine optimisation built in.

Visit the site.

TagKai Gundogs is a Kennel Club Accredited Breeder of working English Springer and Cocker Spaniels. They wanted a website that would make them stand out in the gundog community as experts on breeding and rearing high pedigree good natured dogs.

The site had to provide information about dogs for sale, litters planned and a gallery of the dogs to show how happy and healthy they are. The result is a website that has gained many positive comments within the gundog community and will help to draw attention to TagKai Gundogs as one of the experts in the field.

Visit the site.

I’m very proud to announce that one of my best clients has won an award in the FSB Hertfordshire Small Business Awards 2010. Women With Waders, the garden pond cleaning and construction service, has won ‘Most Enterprising Business’.

Women With Waders scooped the top prize in the prestigious 2010 awards, organised by the Hertfordshire division of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The awards celebrate the very best of the contribution made by local businesses across the county, and our success is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our team since the company was founded in 2005.

Finalist in ‘Best E-Business’ category

Since I designed and built their website, it has become absolutely integral to their marketing strategy (in fact it generates most of their business) and as well as receiving top prize in the Enterprising Business category, they also earned a finalist place in the Best E-Business Award category. The site was praised for being accessible and user-friendly, which is very pleasing for me as the designer.

You can find out more about Women With Waders by visiting their website.

A web design and logo design project for a startup driving school. Enterprise School of motoring wanted a website with a logo that would make them stand out from the crowd as well as help them achieve a good placing in the search engine results.

I decided to use a shield motif for the logo, to promote the idea of safe driving. It incorporates the ubiquitous L plate design, but I added some distortion to offset the usual flat square look and to give it some dimension and appeal.

Enterprise School of Motoring Logo

The website needed it be visually eye catching and had to incorporate Search Engine Optimisation from the ground up. The result is a site that should serve this startup business well in the coming months.

Visit the site

Mid Beds Locksmiths are a company specialising in restoration ironmongery for nationwide building conservation and preservation projects. I built a new website for them six months ago and today they contacted me to inform me that their business has boomed as a direct result of the new site.

“Just a quick note to thank you for the web site. Our work load and enquiries since its launch has trebled, the reaction from our clients has been very positive indeed.”
Mid Beds Locksmiths (visit site)

This means the site has payed for itself many times over. This is brilliant news for the client and very satisfying for me to hear confirmation that all the design work and built-in search engine optimisation has payed dividends.

The client is so pleased that they have now asked me to design some printed leaflets, adverts and catalogues for them.

If you would like your web site to be a similar success story, please contact me to find out how I can help.

A start-up business providing advice and support for independent schools working to become sustainable schools. Logo and promotional leaflet designed by Adam Bradford.

Click to enlarge:

Sustainable Schools Logo designed by Adam Bradford

Sustainable Schools Leaflet designed by Adam Bradford

Sustainable Schools Leaflet designed by Adam Bradford

A real success story for one of my clients. After first building a site for them in 2006, and then a completely new site in 2009, I have now completed a major overhaul of the site for 2010, in the interests of keeping things fresh.

The client has reached a point where they can rely almost entirely on the web site to generate business, and this has proved a very cost effective form of marketing compared with magazine advertising and other forms of promotion.

This is hardly surprising – a Google search for Pond Cleaning Hertfordshire places Women With Waders at the very top of the results page. Same goes for Pond Cleaning Bedfordshire.

Visit the Women With Waders site.

Would you like a similar success story for your business? Talk to me!

An ecommerce web design and logo design project for a company selling car accessories. The company is the UK distributor for the Door Defender Car Bodywork Protection system and they appointed me to build a new web site with a full shopping cart system.

CMG Distributions Logo - click to enlarge

I had to develop a visual identity including the logo before starting on the web site. The client was very pleased with the result and is intending to expand the site to include further products in the future.

Visit the site