Sister Snog

Mags and rags
PR is traditionally associated with paper print such as magazines and newspapers. But there's also an incredibily accessible arena ready, willing and eager to hear about you, your business, your expertise, thoughts, observations and opinions. PR is the perfect passport to fame, fans and followers in the digital world.

Forget-me-not
Think about what happens when someone reads about you or your company in a mag or rag. Unless you're a household brand such as Heinz, Max Factor or Dove or an A-Lister such as Cheryl, Madge or Kylie then chances are they'll struggle to remember your name. Let alone your website.

Right click. Left click
How many time has a business or brand grabbed your attention while you're getting your locks coiffed or your pearlies cleaned and you're having a Gracia fix. Then when you get back to the office you've promptly forgotten all about them. Well that could be you. However if someone happens to stumble upon you online, they're just a click away to becoming a follower or fan, client or customer. Tantilising eh?

Hop on the Merry Go Round
Online PR is a virtual circle. To create a digital footprint all you have to do is get tip-tapping on the keyboard. Write a blog. Or an article. It'll start a chain reaction. A mention here. A tweet there. Write more. Get more mentions. More tweets and re-tweets. The result. A flow of visitors to your site. Increased site traffic leads to higher ranking on search engines when surfers search under your key words and phrases. Google-icious. Bing! Bong! Print is 'ere-today, 'istory-tomorrow. A digital footprint sticks around. Now how cool is that!

Cheap as chips
Online PR and marketing is a gift. Beautifully wrapped with a big bow. The cost. Your time. Forget paying for all-singing-all-dancing brochures, which are quickly out of date. Postage. No charge. All you need. A well conceived email accompanied by the relevant documents. A press release. Photographs. Articles. Followed up with a phone call. Small investment. Big return.

Trackability
Hitting the headlines in the mags and rags and tracking site visitors back to a specific article or offer is not an exact science. Tracking online PR and marketing on the other hand is rather more straightforward. By accessing web statistics you can see the addresses of the sites where your visitors are coming from. Then you can make more than an educated guess on how the stats correspond to your efforts and activity. And, on that note...

Buyability
...if you're getting a flock of clicks from a particular site, but no one's buying, you can make more than an educated guess why that might be. Perhaps they're clicking through on a message that doesn't really convey what you're selling, that might need a tweak. Equally, gateway sites that drive traffic should be treated with love, care and attention.

Fame costs!
Indeed. But before you think about sending out another press release via snail mail, stop.  Take a good, long look at email and give some serious thought on how you could become the one to watch in the digital sphere.

Paula Gardner
Do Your Own PR
Twitter : @doyourownpr

Hey Good-Lookin! What you got cookin?
The kitchen is the heart of a home. A place of delicious aromas. Stews. Soups. Sunday lunches. Freshly baked bread. Time for family, friends and parties. Fanny made a career out of hers in the 60s. In the 70s Tom and Barbara shared a bottle of nettle wine or something stronger if Margo and Jerry popped round. The Golden Girls hung out in there during the 80s. Mr Lewie never ventured out of it.  And today Nigella and Jamie invite you into theirs.

Kitchens speak volumes
The kitchen is the number one improvement that prospective buyers look for. So it's worth investing in yours. Particulary if you feel like you’ve stepped into a time machine when you walk in to make a cuppa. If it’s time for a complete kitchen make over here’s Part I of Top-Tips on how you can achieve a trendy cooking space and still be able to cook.

Floor show
Good flooring can make or break a kitchen as well as setting the tone for the whole room. It needs to cope with knocks, spills, scratches and stains. Killer heels. Welly boots. Dirty paws. Flood or fire. Well, you’re spoilt for choice. Vinyl. Linoleum. Porcelain. Natural stone. Rubber. Cork. Even bamboo!

Hard-working-worktops
Worktops are one of the most visible elements in a kitchen. So why shouldn't they be as stylish as your wardrobe as well as hard-wearing and hard-working. Choosing the right worktop will take into account design, budget and maintenance. Traditionally the choice was between laminate for the cheap and cheerful, wooden for the rustic country kitchen or granite for a great look that lasts. Now there's quartz as a modern alternative. Looks good and is is super scratch resistant, stain resistant and wear resistant. Hmm! There's a thought.

Put your kitchen in the spotlight
Lighting is key. Be clever. Be creative using a combination of accent, task, decorative and ambient lighting to enhance the overall appearance of the kitchen. Use plinth lights. Incorporate stylish pendants over an island.  Or a chandelier for real dramatic effect.

Fantasy Island
Space permitting, incorporate an island into your kitchen. Mobile or static, it’s guaranteed to add a stylish focal point with a multitude of uses.  From storage and food prep to relaxed dining. Entertaining en masse or drinks a deux with a friend.

The sociable kitchen
Kitchens are not just for cooking. They're the hub of the home. A sociable place for family and friends. For invitations and celebrations. Think about adding a breakfast bar to a work surface or soft seating area for sitting, sipping or snoozing.

Samantha Morgan
Head of Design
Concept Interiors
www.concept-interior.co.uk
Follow Samantha on Twitter @smorganconcept

Take a pair of toe tappers. Hot red. Ebony black leather. With a sheen that’s glacé. Like a Maraschino cherry. Liquorice laces. Good enough to eat. A cheeky pair of toe tappers. Irresistible.

As fashion follows art and interior design typically follows fashion, here’s how a pair of shoes might walk into a crash pad or club and inspire the interior decor.


A toe tappers crash pad
There's something rather Bugsy Malone about these shoes. So, we're thinking bachelor crash pad with an air of minimalism and an eye for the practical. Space is at a premium in crash pads so everything needs to be easily at hand.  Minus the clutter. Voilà. Built-in ‘storage walls’. Full height. Wall-to-wall giant sliding doors that conceal all manner of things. Kitchen units. Bathrooms. Wardrobes. Even a home office. Not to mention the compulsory sound and vision gadget-tastic-paraphernalia.

Crash pads may be compact but the trick is to make full use of the vertical height of the rooms. Use Poliform. Black leather sliding doors from the Bangkok range. Perfect. Those liquorice laces become a rug. Made of woven recycled bicycle inner tubes.

A splash of red. A touch of the oriental. The result? A statement piece for storage. Come home. Sit back. Crash out. And watch Raise The Red Lantern.

Toe tappers in the club
Roll out a red carpet of light as the toe tappers create a bold statement on the dance floor and inspire the interior of a hot and happening Mayfair club.

A black stallion greets members in the lobby, while the A-listers are ushered through black velvet curtains to the VIP area where acoustic berries adorn the walls, floating lights bob to the sound of Bollinger bubbles being poured into Swarovski crystal flutes while guests recline and relax on red patent leather chairs and giant poufs!