2009 is Almost Over!

Wow - It seems a lot of people are REALLY looking forward to the break and the start of a brand new year! (We have heard the phrase "saying goodbye to 2009" mentioned in a slightly exasperated voice.) We felt it would be nice in any case to send our Xmas wishes with an update on what's been going on here at Top Left Design, in the hope that you will find it pleasant reading!

In This Issue:

Opening/closing for Xmas
Who won the maltesers?
Social media marketing workshops
Team news
Movember
Blogs
Special offer for January 2010!
2009 projects
Lead by example...
And finally

Top Left Design opening/closing hours

We will be taking our own break from 5pm on the 23rd December 2009 until 9am on the 4th of January 2010. If there is anything you need to ask us, we will be on Twitter or you can email the main Top Left Design email address and Keren will reply quite quickly, if not the same HOUR then the same DAY! In the mean time we are still here for another week and a half for any work you need done.

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Who won the survey prize?

In our "Spooky Sentences" Halloween Newsletter back in October, we ran a survey through the popular online Survey Monkey website. It seems that a lot of you had an interesting Halloween, and whether you were "giving out sweets" or dressed as an "Ali-hipo-rhino-croca-dilli-gator" - we hope you all had fun! You can see the responses to the survey on our blog here.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey - your opinions are extremely valuable to us!
We offered a prize for guessing how many people would actually respond to the survey. Five winners will receive a bag of Maltesers - and we will be in touch with each of you individually to arrange delivery or collection.

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Social media marketing workshops

Whether you like it or not, social media is on the up. And it's evolving. Quickly.

What once was an outlet for teenage girls to tell each other what they had for breakfast has now become one of the most important business marketing tools on the internet. The term 'social media' covers a range of different sites, but the major players are (and shout if you recognise the names) Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Maybe you've used them, maybe you've never even heard of them - but utilising social media as a marketing outlet is quickly becoming one of the best ways to market yourself, your services, and your business, to a target audience chosen by YOU.
And networking has never been easier! If you still feel that social media is a daunting prospect, call our office (020 7486 2629) or Email us and arrange a one to one workshop with Keren - she'll sit with you in our offices and get your business set up for the newest and easiest way to market yourself.

You'll be 'hash-tagging', 'tweeting' and exploring the 'blogosphere' in no time at all, and if it all gets too much, you can still tell people what you had for breakfast - if you really feel like you have to!

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TLD team news

In October, Amy moved to South Africa! Don't worry though, she's still working with us - through the magic of the internet. You have to love that internet - without it, you wouldn't be reading this! We don't blame her though, in fact we're all very jealous of the lovely weather she has to 'endure' every day!

Thankfully, Amy will be coming back to London for Xmas, and it will be just like old times! Until she has to go again that is... :(

2009 has also seen 2 new additions to our team, with Tina joining in January, and Michael in October.

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Michael does Movember

For anyone who doesn't already know, Movember is an annual charity event, where for the month of November, men across the world grow moustaches and get sponsored for doing so - all in the fight against prostate cancer! Our very own Michael took part, and grew an impressive moustache for the cause! He raised £160 for charity, and globally, Movember raised over £21,000,000 - that's 21 million pounds! You can read more about Michael's journey through the month of Movember in our recent blog post here.

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Blogs

This year at Top Left Design we went blog-crazy! So much so that we launched a website all about blogs! See it here at Make My Blog.

You can see a list of the blogs which we have made for clients on the site, and there's been quite a few!

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2009 projects

For the last few years we have created visual thumbnail montages to show all the different projects we have worked on over the year and 2009 has been no different. We have counted 88 website projects in addition to other projects - e-newsletters, blogs, business cards, brochures, flyers, menus, postcards and logos. There is really no better way to illustrate this than if you view our montage of screenshots!

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Our 20% off offer for January

In January 2009 we had 4 people who took advantage of the “TLD-YOPI” offer - we would like to repeat the offer ONCE AGAIN as tradition is sometimes quite nice. This year it's 20% off one of the following:

• A website
• An e-newsletter
• 2 days of website maintenance work
• A customised blog

Terms and Conditions: Just email keren@topleftdesign.com and in the subject line of your email, write TLD-YOPI (don't forget to include the hyphen!) and let us know a bit more about what you need? As before, the offer ends on the 20th January and we would need to start the project by the 25th January, so make sure you click on this link!

NOTE: clicking just means you are enquiring, and that you are eligible for the offer - there is no obligation of course! We are nice that way!

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Lead by example...

Wasn't this newsletter a great idea?! Just as you get ready to settle in to holiday bliss Top Left Design comes along and reminds you that "HEY! We're still here, and wishing you a Merry Xmas...", wasn't that thoughtful of us! Now that we are in your minds you may realise that you also want to send good wishes to your clients and contacts. Why not do so with a great newsletter like this, or a smaller (but just as effective) e-card. Something to spread Christmas cheer, and also to get in the heads of your clients. What a great idea! We're full of them... so contact us at info@topleftdesign.com

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And finally...

2010 - sort of rolls off the tongue doesnt it? "Twenty Ten"! We want to wish you all a wonderful Xmas break, a well deserved rest, and a prosperous and happy new year!