Over the weekend I watched this video clip, I’m not sure how it came to me but was instantly inspired by it and I wrote the following:

WHY
The reason Koogar was born was because we found that business owners where being misled by people who claimed to be “web designers”, but in actual fact they had no idea about the Internet industry and had never worked for an organisation.

We wanted to give people the on-line presence they deserve as well as get them the results they want.

We also wanted people to understand about the Internet and not feel baffled by it or the people who made their website. Like anything, the Internet is easy its just who you get to explain it to you that makes the difference.

We feel that being a friendly face with no jargon is the best way to get great results and designs that really work.

HOW
The founder of Koogar has been a professional within the Internet/Marketing industry for 11 years and has worked for large organisations during her career.

At Koogar we create a brand and develop it into what you deserve not only for the company but also for your clients. We will sit with you to understand where you are and where you want to be to help you achieve the results you want from business.

Not only do we do this by creating websites but we can help in all aspects of Marketing and if we can’t help you, we know someone who is reliable who can.

WHAT
We create customised marketing packages to suit the needs of your business and the needs of your clients!

Do you want to buy one?

To find out why I did this I would suggest you watch the clip by Simon Sinek.

Remember this was done on a Sunday afternoon…

We would love to hear what you think of the video clip and if it has inspired you.

In the Matrix, Neo is updated within seconds when he needs or wants to know something new because his situation has changed.

Within your industry… how often do things change and what changes?

When it does change what do you do about it? Do you go on courses, read up with PDP (Personal Development Plan) time.
Do you make sure you do this once a month?
How often do you get updated?

Koogar recently attended a Web Seminar called Speak the Web held in Liverpool but also at various locations around the North.

I have always wanted to attend a web seminar which is where designers, developers, programmers and others find out about whats happening now within the Internet/digital and design. The latest code to use, the latest design styles, programmes available, best practises and how others do things.

I was very nervous when I got there, didn’t know what to expect but by the time I had left I had a ton of new ideas, things to go and check out and try out too! I was so excited I cant tell you… I just wanted to pop!

I also won a book by Paul Boag a guy I have been following for a while (in terms of podcasts and blogs).

Since this experience I want to be the best person, designer and business owner I can be even more than before!

Simon Collinson who was one of the speakers of the night REALLY inspired me! Again Simon is another person I have been following for years and there he was in front of me, delivering a talk and explaining his philosophy of work and ethics.

I would highly recommend going to a seminar held for your industry, you WILL pick up ideas, meet some new people and you may even win a prize like I did. I will be going again if they hold it and have also decided to attend a few GeekUps in my area (Chester and Liverpool). My advice to you is read more, go back to basics and most importantly enjoy what your doing and have fun!

So, what do you do to keep up with the latest trends within your industry?
You don’t want to fall behind now, do you…

I don’t know about you, but I do a lot of networking as this is how I get business for Koogar. Meeting new people at different events and locations around the Northwest is a great way to speak to and find potential clients.

In the tail end of last year I met a person who says “I do the same thing as you…“.

Have you ever met people who say that to you?

How can another company do the same thing as your company as all businesses are different:

• different way of producing work
• different quality of work
• different experience within their field
• use different products/software
• are able to sell to different types of people/businesses
• have different products
• and so on…

There are a lot of factors that are not the same… and most importantly Koogar’s USP is different.

I feel at Koogar we walk the talk and deliver what our clients need and want to attract new clients/customers.

However recently we have been subject to what is called a Professional Business Stalker. Its a bit of a grand name for what this person actually does…

Just wondered… Have you ever experienced this? If you have what have you done to deal with the person involved… If you haven’t what would you do in my shoes?

Passing yourself off as another company must be illegal… surely…

When networking, don’t tell people you do the same thing as someone else as you probably don’t. You should have your own USP, target clients and pricing structure… but what cant be helped is if your a step ahead of your competition.

We would love to hear from you and your thoughts.

Matt Buchanan is an Illustration and Animation student who is coming to work with Koogar on a Work placement. He has a certain style that we like and have asked him to work with on various different projects. We are looking forward to working with Matt as we know what we want and what he is capable of.

Read more below as Amanda interview Matt to find out a little more about him

My full name is Matthew Josh Buchanan, I live on the Wirral and was born in Arrow Park Hospital, but have also lived in Derby as I went to University for 3 years but stayed for a further year.

I completed a BA Hons Degree in illustration for Animation using digital composition, animating characters using flash starting simple and progressing onto After Effects and Final Cut Pro. We weren’t given tight briefs as we were given encouragement to develop our own styles.

My inspiration are people like Patrick Coldfield – I like the use of colour and bold lines and Edward Hopper – with him I like the use of light and the Night Hawks project.

My ideal job would be to be working in the creative industry, being given a lot of freedom to do what I want with the requirements from a client. I enjoy creating characters and bringing them to life and also creating worlds for the characters. I could work in the gaming industry but I’m not technically trained.

I found out about this opportunity through Jo Turner. It sounded exciting and something t enjoy to get more experience. Eventually I want to get paid for a job I love doing.

I want to work within a team working in collaboration with other people bouncing ideas, also Koogar wants something specific but its also loose enough to do what I want.

The type of person I want to be is disciplined, produce very good work. I don’t want to be rushed. I’m good with ideas which helps me be more productive. I want to produce meaningful pieces of work and generally be a good person. I don’t like wasting time! I like to spend every minute doing something.

“Bite the bullet” is a quote I live by. Embarrassing your fears and get on with something you want to do… Don’t leave it too long, just get on and do it.

Koogar is excited to be working with Matt over the next 3 months. Im sure youll give him a warm welcome if you meet him.

You will have noticed things with Koogar are changing and changing for the better.

The Telephone

When you call us you will no longer get a greating message due to new telephone lines in the office. This will be rectified over the next month.

Emails and Internet

Also this week we have been experiencing technical issues which means we haven’t got a broadband connection for the next week or so until BT have added it to our new telephone line.

We truly apologise for the inconvenience of this as we have a bit of work that is outstanding with a few of our clients. Koogar is doing the best we can to keep in touch with you and get back to you as soon as we can.

If you can bear with us through these “NEW office” teething problems of that we would be grateful!

This morning we finished painting the office. We also got the carpet back down and some of the furniture in.

Its starting to take shape and I cannot tell you how excited we are to be moving in! 1 week today and we will have moved in…

Koogar has been asking over the last few months lots of questions about offices, telephone systems, broadband and much more. We have now chosen the offices we are going to move into and thought it would be nice to see our journey.

Here are a few photographs of what we have been doing during January ready for the move in February!

I was asked by a client who attends a WiRE network meeting if I would give a talk on Social Media, as not everyone knows what its and how it can benefit their business.

Obviously Koogar jumped at the chance of speaking as this is something we would like to do at least once a month.

The presentation I delivered was called “How Social Media WILL benefit your business” and we went through what social media is, how you can use it to benefit your business and also went into what you need to do to setup your profiles.

At the end of this talk Koogar was asked to come back and finish off the talk as it over ran due to a large amount of questions being asked by the audience. We have taken up the offer and will be back speaking to WiRE members (Northwich) in March 2010.

If you would like Koogar to give a presentation on Social Media, please contact Amanda on 0844 811 8464.

During 2009, I have met a lot of people/businesses and regularly get asked what does it mean and where does it come from… so I thought it’s about time I told you.

Most of my life I have had something to do with drawing or painting. I won my first drawing competition when I was 6. It was of a horse in a field, eating.

I did GSCE Art and Design, Textiles and then went onto to do “A” Level Art, an “A” Art Enrichment and History and “A” Level Pottery in 6th form. In the summer months, I attended Art college and went onto do a Repro-Graphics course.

In my 3rd year in college, I changed my last year of Foundation Art to Graphic Design. Most people on this course wanted to be artists or sculptors, who wanted to flick paint like Jackson Pollock or create something out of cardboard to save the earth. I, on the other hand wanted to see my work on billboards for brands and record sleeves for famous bands.

My inspiration came from architecture. People like Antoni Gaudi and Victor Horta, the first graphic designer I got to know was French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and his famous “Chat Noir“.
If you know me you will know I’m a cat person and I love anything feline.

From Withens Lane we (as students) where moved to Borough Road in Birkenhead, where I went onto do a HND in Graphic Design (pre Computers) and this was where the name “Koogar” was born.

I was given a design brief which was to create:

• Shoe box for mountain shoes
• Out of cardboard
• No more than 2 colours (Remembering black and white are not colours)
• Paint
• Cardboard
• Glue

The cougar is a mountain lion which is generally based in America. It has a nice design on its face, which is where the idea for the logo came from. The Koogar logo was designed when I was 18-19 yrs, and has stuck ever since and sometimes people call me Koogar instead of Amanda.

The only thing that has changed in the font.

So, now you know…

Design every day is a challenge that has been set by Smashing Magazine and Koogar is taking up the challenge. We have compiled a list of different subjects, features and layouts we are going to create during each month in 2010 and would like your support and guidance of what you would like to see.

Amanda would like to get her drawing skills back and wants to use this opportunity to do so. “Designing something everyday will help my hand get used to using a pencil/pen again. Working with computers everyday means I don’t use these tools on a daily basis any more and sometimes get cramp when I do use them.”

This opportunity is also a great way to get new ideas down not just for me but for our clients and others too.

So please bear with me while my drawing skills get back to what they used to be…”

In January we have decided to design whatever comes to mind… So you will be seeing some random drawings until February, where we have collated a list of things we would like to create.

Each time Koogar designs something, we will be submitting it for everyone to see on www.koogarsox.co.uk. We will be tweeting the design along with #daily365 so that Smashing Magazine will be picking it up.

Please follow the Koogarsox blog for the updates to see what we have been up to…