Keith Shirley

The IIA has published the Social Media Working Groups (SMWG) guide to Blogging for Business. I’ve mentioned it a few times before – the working group is focusing on how various types of Social Media Tools (Blogs, Podcasts etc) can be used in a business environment. My work with them has focused on blogs – resulting in this whitepaper. Other guides will be published in the near future.

The guide is free for all until May 6th at which point it will be available to IIA Members only. You can doanload it from http://www.iia.ie/smwg along with the results of the survey we ran. There will also be weekly case studies available. You can see all the the blog postings for the SMWG on the IIA website.

The guide includes sections

• explaining the fundamentals of blogging;
• investigating why businesses are adding blogging to their communications and marketing strategies;
• analysing the results from a survey of Irish business bloggers about their motivations and objectives and how they measure those objectives;
• with key advice on managing blogging resources, comments and content;
• and numerous links to further information and recommended reading for those who wish to take it further.

As part of my work with the IIA’s Social Media Working Group I’ll be going to the launch on Wednesday of the Business Blogging Whitepaper – of which I was a co-author. The event is a simple breakfast seminar with some guests and the chair of the working group (Brendan Hughes) giving presentations on the business impacts that their blogs have had. I will link from here to the whitepaper when it is available online. You can use the subscribe option at the end of the post to be automatically updated.

Full Details are available on the IIA Website but in summary:

Event Date : 22 Apr 2009
Time : 7.45am – 9.30am
Location : Burlington Hotel, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4

The IIA Social Media Working Group present a breakfast briefing dedicated to the business applications of blogging.

Thinking about starting a company blog? Should your communications team engage with bloggers? Is it time to get on Twitter? These are some of the questions that the IIA’s Social Media Working Group will address at this event.

This breakfast briefing for business owners & communication managers will present the findings from the working group’s recent analysis and research into the business benefits and potential risks associated with blogging in Ireland.

An overview of blogs and micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter) will be given. Case studies will be presented of how Irish businesses are using these tools to achieve real business benefits and cost savings. The critical issue of measuring return on investment will also be addressed and time will be allowed for addressing questions and concerns from the attendees.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Business Blogging In Ireland: A Review Of The IIA Social Media Working Group Workshop (krishnade.com)
• Business Blogging Survey (keithshirley.ie)
• Blog Research (keithshirley.ie)

Like most people I’m good at bitching about things but don’t come up with too many solutions. If I do come up with solutions I sure as hell don’t want to get involved in politics to try and implement them. By its very nature it’s a thankless job. You can’t keep everyone happy – and I love to be loved. Awww.

I’m not well versed in who’s who in local (or even national) politics. It’s just one of those things that I should know more about but never made the time for.

With the aim of broadening my horizons recently I gate crashed one of the local political meetings. I’m sorry to say it was a big disappointment. Far from the fired up speeches about how they were going to kick ass in the next election I found it to be a very low key event. Possibly this was because it was a local party meeting rather than a public rally. There was only one candidate that I thought had the required polish. Even with that I’m probably biased as he was a boyhood friend of mine.

So it was with interest that I heard from T2 that they had developed an election info site in cooperation with KCLR. The site – www.localelections.ie - will provide all sorts of details on the elections and the candidates. Hopefully they can really get the candidates involved. I’m a bit fed up of all the junk mail that comes through the letter box but still gives me no idea of who the people really are.

Ken McGuire also wrote about it on his site -as I’m sure will a number of other local bloggers as T2 is hunting them down.

The site has a seperate Blog for Carlow and Kilkenny in addition to a blog by Sue Nunn from KCLR. The site is a bit text heavy at the moment but I’m glad it’s available. Maybe this election I’ll manage to educate myself properly.

Now I need to find out how and when I can get into the council meetings to see what goes on there.

For the first of the series of Showcase articles I was lucky enough that Lorna Sixsmith from Garrendenny Lane was willing to help get the ball rolling.

Before we get started – Lorna will be on RTE 1 tonight (Wednesday 1 April 09) at 8:30pm for an episode of “Not Enough Hours” – a great chance to get to know the person behind the business a little bit better.

So who is Garrendenn Lane Interiors?

Garrendenny Lane Interiors is owned by Lorna Sixsmith, it offers a new and unique way to shop for your home; you can visit our showroom based in rural Carlow with plenty of easy parking, enjoy a coffee and browse the many fabric and wallpaper collections, furniture, stylish gifts, gorgeous bedlinen, vases, mirrors, clocks, candleholders, pottery and other enticing giftware collections. The intention is to offer a personal and friendly service within a relaxed ‘home’ environment. I also offer an interior design service. Garrendenny Lane Interiors is based only five miles from Castlecomer which has a lovely park, walks, cafe and fishing lakes so you can make a day of it with family and friends.

The online shop www.garrendennylane.ie opened last August and it stocks items such as kitchenware, bedlinen, accessories for children, gifts, teasets, clocks, candleholders ….

What kind of services and products do you offer?

I offer an interior design service whereby a client can either come to the showroom to peruse the collections or I can visit their home.  If visiting their home, the first visit will generally be just to have a chat, take a look at the room or rooms in question, perhaps take some photographs and measurements if the client is looking for new curtains/blinds and/or wallpaper.  Then on the second visit, I bring the fabric and wallpaper samples or whatever it is the client requires.  I can help clients as little or as much as they need – some simply require help selecting paint colours or putting the finishing touches to the room, others have a blank canvas and wish to have the whole room designed and others may wish to change the wallpaper or curtains and require assistance as they wish to co-ordinate with the existing furniture and flooring.

I also provide a complete curtain making and measuring service.  Naturally, clients are free to use their own curtain maker if they wish but I find that most people prefer me to measure, arrange the making of the curtains and arrange to have them professionally hung.

I stock fabrics and wallpapers from a range of renowned designers.  Those that fall into the mid-range price bracket would include Lorient, Voyage, Swaffer and Sanderson.  Designers Guild, Jab, James Brindley, Andrew Martin, Chivasso and GP & J Baker tend to be more expensive but are oh, so so gorgeous.

I can also help clients choose the perfect sofa, armchair, occasional chair and ottoman as I use a wonderful established furniture making company and the beauty of  this is that each item of furniture can be totally individual as it is made especially for you.  You can choose the style, size, shape of arm, type of filling, different leg options, box or scatter cushions, the list goes on but the piece de resistance is that you can choose whatever upholstery fabric you wish to use (with our advice) rather than being limited by the choices in many furniture stores.  The workmanship is superb and the order time is only six weeks.  So, whether it’s a 3 piece suite or an occasional chair for a hall or bedroom, you can enjoy truly individual and original seating at a ordinary price.

For the ultimate in hassle-free shopping, you can even email photos of your room and I can offer interior design advice by phone and email, putting samples in the post and then arranging for the fabric and/or wallpaper to be delivered to your door.

The online shop stocks competitively prices ranges of stylish giftware, including items from Cath Kidston, Rachel Allen, Lene Bjerre, Black & Blum, Designers Guild, Joseph Joseph and many others.  Items are despatched the following day (unless the details contain the information then it may be longer).

Who are your typical customers?

My customers tend to be quite varied but I guess one thing that is common amongst them is that they often just need the reassurance that they are making the right decisions.  Some clients will leave the decisions up to me but some just find it difficult to be objective when it comes to making decorating decisions about their own home and simply require guidance and reassurance.  I tend to come up with at least 2 or 3 decorating schemes so that the client can choose their favourite.

Clients include those who have built their new home and want help choosing paint colours, wall finishes, fabric for curtains and blinds, and flooring.  Others will have decorated some of the rooms in the house and have become devoid of ideas for the remaining rooms, perhaps requiring help with the finishing touches for the rooms done so far too.

Some clients will have used ready-made curtains in the bedrooms and wish to fit made-to-measure curtains downstairs and contact me for help with measuring for the curtains and choosing fabric.  I am also finding that families are extending their houses instead of moving to a bigger house and are building on an extra sitting room (that will often be a ‘good’ sitting room) and an extra bedroom and bathroom.

What makes your business special?

The one-to-one service.  As it is a one-woman show, I offer a personal, homely, friendly service.

I also ensure that the interior design choices for each client reflects their own personality and suits the use of each room by using the initial visit to do my research and then leaving sufficient time to put a scheme together before I visit again.

I visit the European trade fairs and source items that are unusual, different and yet are not expensive – I like sourcing items that look like they cost more than they do!  I have had many customers comment on the reasonable prices of the accessories and gifts.

Are there any other things that you work on that are not necessarily part of your core business?

I blog regularly about interiors, home products, farming, life in general.  I send out a monthly newsletter to subscribers which contains items such as tips on the latest trends, special offers, upcoming events and information on new products.

I have also contributed to articles for interior design magazines – Irish Homes (which ceased publication in January) and Munster Interiors.

Is there anything about you or your background that stands out or that you’d like to highlight?

Indeed, I’m going on television as I had difficulties balancing my family, work & home balance and organising my priorities!!  But that’s all sorted now!

Interior design is a relatively new career choice for me, having worked as a teacher, lecturer and head of department previously.  Within those roles, I had to plan, deliver, work to targets, (persuade teenagers to complete coursework – easier said than done!), work to time scales and lead teams.  In the past, my husband and I renovated and decorated five houses when we lived in England.  The first one took us 5 years as we were both working and studying at the time.  However, the other four were completed in time scales of 9 months to 2 years and all came in either at or under budget.  3 of the 4 houses had to be completely gutted, new electrics, plumbing, central heating, new kitchens and bathrooms, some structural work, new floors, some new ceilings, renovation of period features and the most enjoyable part – the decorating.

However, now that I am working as an Interior Designer, I find that my own home is last to be done (almost like the cobbler’s children going barefoot! – well, no, not quite that bad) but with 2 small children and a busy farm too, I find I don’t have as much time as I would like to make as many changes to my own home as I’d like. But then, I was accustomed to moving house (and décor) every two years so do tend to like to redecorate quite often.

Lorna can be contacted at:

Garrendenny Lane Interiors
Crettyard
Carlow
Eire

www.garrendennylane.ie
T: 086 1051007
F: 056 4442310

—–

Please feel free to leave any useful feedback in the comments section and if you know anyone that might be interested in having their business listed then send them the link www.short.ie/showcase or my contact details.