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Category: Inspirational

Strategies to Build Business Connections

Strategies to Build Business Connections

February 22, 2021July 15, 2022 Cherith AndesBlog, Inspirational, Professional Developmentbuilding business connections, building relationships, Business Development, networkingLeave a Comment on Strategies to Build Business Connections

Eighty-five percent of professional success comes from people skills. New customers. New business partners. New jobs — all from relationships.

But how do you forge authentic connections and business relationships in an era when handshakes and hugs aren’t possible?

I had the opportunity to roll out a toolbox of relationship-building strategies for a Tech Tuesday seminar with Shop Local Raleigh (SLR).

These effective, tangible tactics employ skills you may already have but aren’t actively using to make new connections, build trust with your contacts or audience, and move them to action. During this business seminar, I explored:

Social Networking

  • Finding connections
  • Initiating meaningful conversations
  • Effective follow-up
  • (And yes, Zoom)

Video
Did you know that 80 percent of your customers would rather see a live video from you than read a blog? Get camera-ready, friends, with easy strategies to use:

  • Personalized video
  • Live video

Thanks to SLR for this fun opportunity to share our insights and connect with amazing local businesses!

Catch the replay here of SLR’s seminar here! 👇🏼👇🏼

At Clairemont, we can help create a strategy to grow your business, too.

Drop Us a Line
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2021 V-Day Gift Guide (At-Home Ed.)

2021 V-Day Gift Guide (At-Home Ed.)

February 4, 2021July 15, 2022 Cherith AndesBlog, In Our Community, Inspirationalbusiness PR, Local Valentine's Gifts, Raleigh Valentine's, Valentine's Gift GuideLeave a Comment on 2021 V-Day Gift Guide (At-Home Ed.)

Staying at home this Valentine’s? We collected some of Raleigh’s favorite experiences, gifts and goodies to create a fun evening at home – both DIY and Done-For-You style.

In fact, it turns out that others love our picks as well! RAL Today published a similar version of our gift guide to share the love across the Triangle!

DIY Couple Kits

Make an evening of DIY deliciousness. DECO offers a Camp Craft Cocktail kit; add your own spirit to these pre-made Mason jars brimming with dried fruit, sugar cubes and garnishes to create your favorite sangria, cranberry martini or more. Or pick up a Culture for Health cheese-making kit (yup! It’s a thing!) to pair with your favorite wine.

Vita Vite Date Night Wine Basket

Curate your favorite date night into a take-home basket. Vita Vite, Raleigh’s wine bar + art gallery (and Clairemont client!), will personalize a collection of goodies — like a bottle of wine or bubbly, a cheese and charcuterie plate to-go, a cheeseboard and cutlery set, a wine-themed candle, wine tumblers, cocktail recipe books and more. You can also grab a single item to brighten your friend’s day. Visit in person to select, call (919) 322-0649 or email info@vitaviteraleigh.com.

Valentine’s (Virtual) Cooking Class

Cook up your own chef-inspired Valentine’s dinner together at home. Join a two-hour virtual cooking class hosted by HL Catering with Chef Houston to create a Chorizo Carbonara and Chocolate Cobbler feast. Check out the details here!

“Sweetheart Meal” To Go

Don’t feel like cooking? Order a French-influenced Valentine’s dinner for two from Farmhouse Café. Its delicious menu features mouthwatering highlights like French cheese and charcuterie for two, Beef Wellington, Salmon en Croute, Chocolate Pot au Crème … and much more! Get the details!

A Picture: Worth a Thousand Words

With so much of our time spent at home, treat your special someone to a fresh look for their favorite room. Vita Vite offers a collection of art by local southern artists, ranging from small pieces to fireplace-worthy beauties. One-of-a-kind pieces for one-of-a-kind friends. Get a quick look at a few pieces! Visit in person to see them all or email info@vitaviteraleigh.com.

There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Bling

Put a personal twist on a traditional Valentine’s favorite. Gift one of Audra Style’s sassy-meet-classy jewelry items; commission a personalized piece from Quercus or take home one of its delicately detailed gem-stone rings, necklaces or earrings.

Forget Love; I’d Rather Fall in Chocolate

Can’t not love this sweet deal! Inspired by the founder’s 10-year-old daughter long ago, Azurelise Chocolates now offers some of the area’s most decadent truffles — which The News & Observer once described as ” … not your typical prettified confections … They’re truffles for the purist, unadorned squares of chocolate that let their flavor do the talking.” Order today!

Want to share in the love? Get ideas for your business growth?

Drop Us a Line!
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Primary Insights into Color Marketing

Primary Insights into Color Marketing

October 20, 2020July 15, 2022 Clairemont InternBlog, Inspirational, Marketingbranding, Color Marketing, MarketingLeave a Comment on Primary Insights into Color Marketing

Colors and marketing are complementary. They work together, bringing vivid visualizations to campaigns, persuading buying decisions and shaping consumer perceptions. The strategic use of hues and shades not only makes a business logo stylish, but it also communicates a clear message to your audience. 

When it comes to your brand’s image, what kind of picture are you painting?

The Psychology of Color in Marketing

People tend to associate certain colors with specific emotions, making color a valuable communications and marketing tool. For example, red conveys power, strength, hunger or love, while blue channels a calm, cool and collected vibe. Therefore, knowledge and application of the emotions that color can evoke are vital to any brand campaign or advertising endeavor. 

Recognizing that colors can communicate feelings, emotions and perceptions in relation to a brand is powerful knowledge.  

Painting Your Brand in a Positive Light

In the study titled Impact of Color on Marketing, analysts found that up to 90 percent of a brand’s first impressions are made on the basis of color. Potential consumers make snap judgments on colors and brands based on perceived appropriateness of the use of the color with a specific brand. In other words, consumers want to know: do these colors align with what this brand is selling?

What would Coca-Cola be without its uplifting and energetic red logo? Would anyone easily recognize a Tiffany’s package without its signature teal box and white ribbon? If McDonald’s made its golden arches green, how would it influence its brand image?

At Clairemont, we love the happy hues of pink, teal and light green. 

  • Pink showcases our imaginative campaign ideas and boundless creativity.  
  • Green highlights our desire for personal and professional growth along with our team’s positive energy, of course! 
  • Teal emphasizes Clairemont’s professionalism and reliability, and channels our signature “keeping calm under pressure” promise. 

As Coco Chanel says, “The best color in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.” As your organization crafts campaigns, brainstorms social media posts and launches advertisements, consider which colors “look good” on your business. How do they further your message and align with your brand’s mission?  

Brightening Audience Impact

When we use colors effectively, we not only catch our audience’s attention, but we also increase its memory, engagement and knowledge of our brand. 

Flashing back to 2000, Heinz took its classic red ketchup and made it green. This innovative “EZ Squirt Blastin’ Green Ketchup” sold more than 10 million bottles in its first seven months on the market. Changing a condiment color from red to green led to Heinz raking in about $23 million in sales that year, its highest revenue increase to date. Kids’ excitement over colorful ketchup led to orange, purple, teal, blue and pink joining the product lineup. While the hype for this wonderfully weird product ultimately died down, it was enough to garner attention to the Heinz Company and significantly boost sales while the product was popular.

Heinz hasn’t been the only company to recognize the power of color. When Apple introduced a stock of colorful iPhones, Macbooks and iPods, the simple shift of color in its product offering revitalized its brand and sales. Even Skittles’ long-running advertising slogan “Taste the Rainbow” is clear evidence of color’s influence in marketing campaigns. 

Curious for a deeper look into color and its impact on an audience? Give this guide a read!

Colorful Personalities

Your brand isn’t the only thing that can be explained and better understood using color theory. The True Colors Personality Test uses four colors — green, blue, orange and gold — to classify and describe an individual’s core traits and motivations. 

Using the method of color to understand values, self-perception and preferred methods of communication is an interesting tool that can be leveraged to improve self-awareness and communication with teammates and peers. 

Curious about your true color? Take the test here!

From personalities to branding, color possesses the power to make a positive impact. So don’t be afraid to get creative and scribble a little outside the lines.

Orange you glad you gave this a read? Give a few more of our bright ideas a skim in the Creative Challenge section of our blog!

By Clairemont intern Anna Beth Adcock, a senior at NC State.

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Making Our Own Summer Fun

Making Our Own Summer Fun

August 10, 2020July 15, 2022 Clairemont InternBlog, Inspirational, The Clairemont Teamfamily, fun, moving, Public Relations, summer, team, work-life balanceLeave a Comment on Making Our Own Summer Fun

What has your favorite PR team been up to this summer, you ask? Here’s how we’ve been spending our warm days while working from home!

Tracy Lathan

The Lathans are moving! I’m not sure if moving during COVID is perfect timing or the worst idea ever, but nonetheless we are packing up! Much of our summer has been filled with house projects, sorting, packing and making a few more memories. While we are excited about this next chapter, we are also sad to say goodbye to the house where we raised our babies. Here’s to a new adventure! 

Dana Phelps

Photo scavenger hunts have helped me keep my sanity this summer! They get me out of my house, and instead of thinking about the alarming headlines while I’m walking, my brain is occupied with what I’m going to photograph. Sometimes I engage a group of friends via text and ask each person to name an item for the scavenger hunt. One day that meant that I took pictures of an ant, a bee and berries, and spent a lot of time trying to find a lily pad that was nowhere to be seen on my walk! However, my default is flowers. I love flowers. Thank goodness Raleigh offers months of different blooms so that when all else fails, I can always lace up my sneakers and head out to find flowers that I haven’t yet photographed. 

Anna Beth Adcock

This may not sound like too much fun, but I’ve spent almost every day this summer running! While the heat during a North Carolina summer is no joke, running has been a great way for me to clear my mind, listen to my favorite songs (Taylor Swift just came out with a new album), and catch up on the latest podcasts. Sometimes, I can even convince a friend or two to join me on a socially distanced jog! In addition to running, I have enjoyed one of my favorite foods (avocado toast) with one of my favorite people, my sister, several times over the course of the summer.

Cherith Andes

This summer, my sister and her family jaunted down to North Carolina to visit my parents. We scrapped our traditional vacation travel plans and instead concocted our own theme park in the suburbs of Raleigh. In addition to a gigantic inflatable water slide (12 hours of wet, splooshy adventures), we rented an at-home cotton candy machine for all-you-can-eat North Carolina State Fair goodness. 

Kelli Fletcher

This summer has been all about family for me. My sister, who is expecting her first baby, left NYC with her family to come to Emerald Isle and stay for three months. We visited them multiple times, and I got to watch her belly grow – something I thought was going to be impossible when the pandemic hit in March. She’s back in NYC now, and I don’t know when I’ll see them again/meet the baby. But the memories we made during this summer, which we all thought was surely canceled, will carry me through until that day.

Hungry for more? Eat up a few inspirational ideas from the Clairemont team.

By Clairemont intern, Anna Beth Adcock, a rising senior at NC State.

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Thanksgiving in July

Thanksgiving in July

July 31, 2020July 15, 2022 Clairemont InternBlog, Inspirational, The Clairemont Teamcommunity, summer, team, thankful, ThanksgivingLeave a Comment on Thanksgiving in July

While we might be months away from the turkey, mashed potatoes and pecan pie of Thanksgiving, there’s no time like the present to acknowledge a few ways we’re grateful! Without further ado, welcome to the Clairemont team’s rendition of “Thanksgiving in July.”

Tracy Lathan

During all the craziness of the past few months, I have been so very thankful for the opportunity to spend extended time at our family home at Harkers Island. Everyone is happier there, and it feels like life is normal, even if only for a few days. This porch is the perfect place for morning coffee, afternoon reading, sunsets, family dinners and especially “God winks,” like this one:

Dana Phelps

During the pandemic, I have been so grateful for my front porch. It is a respite from being inside my home that gives me a safely distanced connection to my neighbors. I love seeing families walking together, kids riding bikes by my house and most of all, neighborhood doggies out for their evening strolls!

Anna Beth Adcock

Over the past few months, I have been especially grateful for my family and for any opportunity I can catch to spend time outdoors. When I’m lucky, family and outdoor adventures combine, like the backpacking trip I recently took with my brother along with a few sporadic trips with my sister to visit our aunt (and her dog) in Wilmington. Family, time at the beach and a precious pup makes for three really big reasons to be thankful!

Cherith Andes

When COVID quarantine hit, I needed a “something” — a hobby to channel my attention. And for the first time, I tried my hand at being a green thumb. These potted plants grew from tiny little sprigs into these lovely blooms, and they have brought me so much joy and a reminder to enjoy life, growth and vibrancy.

Kelli Fletcher

As we wrap up month FIVE of this COVID craziness, it has gotten a bit harder for me to find those sparks of joy in each day. However, I remain so grateful for my family. We are lucky to see both sets of grandparents who live not too far from us in Raleigh. At their houses, the kids can explore new backyards, visit community lakes to feed the fish and get a whole new set of snacks! Through these actions, I’ve become MOST grateful for my kids’ simple – almost naive – outlook on the world. Seeing such a strong joy and wonder in their eyes makes it impossible to not feel the same and during this time, it’s a nice mental break. 

Curious about more of our quarantine chronicles and other team-related escapades? Check out the Clairemont Team section of the blog!

By Clairemont intern Anna Beth Adcock, a rising senior at NC State.

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