And what can the biggest strongest companies do to help?

In a Crisis some people take advantage and in business it’s often the same.

Let’s hope Corvid19 brings the best out of big business.

A lot of SME’s will say they have always had to ‘rob Peter to pay Pay Paul’.

It’s a sad fact that some large businesses have been allowed to dictate payment terms and this has become a common and huge problem for the SME. ‘rtfacts payment terms are 30 days or less please’ but if you win a big new customer and their terms are 60/90 days, what would you do?

We have been fortunate to have a lot of great clients that pay on, or before due time which really helps. One lovely customer, Memorials of Distinction, paid an invoice in 30 seconds, a record that will never be beaten I’m sure, unless our invoice lands more perfectly than it did that day, as he was on the bank website just as it pinged in!

30 day payments or less should work for everyone, but we’ve worked with some giants – Nameless as I’d rather not get sued, that aren’t such great payers! Lovely people to work with, and great high profile work, but the payment side is really poor.

Prompt payment from the likes of them would transform good little businesses into great little businesses.

To be fair BT pioneered this practice back as far as 1993 and it was them that really put rtfacts on the map. Their money allowed us to prosper and grow and become a great little business.

So what’s the actual problem?

If the work we’ve done is outsourced, like print, photography, illustration, copywriting, or web development, those suppliers want paying monthly and we want to pay them, that’s how great relationships are built, (and its how we all feed our kids), so we are sometimes forced to use the money paid promptly by other clients, to fund the projects weve worked on for slower payers. Any discrepancy quickly becomes a cash flow crisis which has to be managed. Borrowing money since the crash is a heart in the mouth process and today, an impossibility!

Try and talk to your bank – be prepared for a very lonnnngggg wait and a very negative answer if you ever get through.

If SME businesses get into trouble and Corvid19 isn’t helping, paying supplier/partners on time becomes even more impossible and then the failure writing is on the wall. SO, we need to get back to proper business models that work for us all and not just the big boys holding all the cash.

The supermarkets have a terrible reputation for paying bottom dollar and paying very slowly. (We don’t work with any, so this isn’t personal experience), Big cash rich businesses need to lead the way. If the big companies with all the money, get the money moving down the food chain quickly, cash flow is improved and more businesses can weather the odd financial blip.

It’s a big ask. I’d put money on the fact that every FD in the land is telling their financial teams to ‘hold on to our money’, BUT that will kill the myriad of SME’s that have supported them and contributed to their success over the years, so its pretty short sighted and tough to hear if you’re on the recieving end.

And its not just the big boys that are to blame! SME’s are our own worst enemy, chasing the money and pushing costs to rock bottom, in an attempt to beat the opposition into submission, hopefully before we all go bust! We must not commoditise professional services, be confident in our ability to change businesses for the better and be prepared to talk to the big companies and ask for prompt payments. It’s amazing how well they respond and this has worked for rtfacts.

I’m really grateful we have such a great bunch of clients in this difficult time, THANK YOU ALL. AND In the spirit of supporting each other, please follow this link and subscribe: Let’s Talk?

We can print and apply just about any material, any shape, any size and apply it to any substrate. It’s a big statement for large format graphics.

But our heads are as big as our abilities – Put us to the test.

Let’s Talk and why not sign up?

Memorials of Distinction take as much pride in the printing of their product brochure as they do with EVERY memorial stone they manufacture. 

With natural stone, perfection is often a challenge, but it’s what they aim for every time and rtfacts applies the same ethos to every print project, however large or small.

This week we have printed 4000, 60 page A4 landscape brochures for memorials of distinction, Of course they needed to pass on press, so that’s a coordination process in itself. We also did 2000 A6 postcards, 100 data sheets and 50 A4, 4 page case studies.

The cost for each project was chalk and cheese, but the care and attention to detail was exactly the same, as were the internationally recognised eco credentials.

How many experts does a print job take? Give us a call about your project and we will tell you and explain the rtfacts way of managing print.

07831700081 option 2 or 07831 7000 81or why not subscribe – Let’s talk!

OH YES – PRINTING IS VERY NOISY!

For as long as I can remember, clients have continued to suprise us after events where they have been fed, watered, entertained and generally wow’d, by multiple forms of media by saying:
“Those promotional pens went down an absolute storm you know? “
It’s as frustrating as it’s fantastic!

The WebCam Cover should take over this top billing, as in every dimension they are a far better reflection of your business and say so much more.

The pen that was so well recieved, often lives in a pot never to be seen again or is ‘borrowed’ by someone, usually when you put it down for a second, who has no interest in you, your company or what you do!

The Cam Cover sits pride of place, front and centre on your clients laptop or desktop and covers the video camera with the name of your business 24/7/365. The ones we are promoting can be printed 100% and come in a credit card sized pack with your message on the front and itting instructions on the reverse. (Both sides are a blank space so you can say what you like). 

I honestly think they are better than sliced bread and last much much longer. Get in touch today and your company Web Cam Cover could be on your clients computer in three weeks or less! Simple.

design@rtfacts.co.uk or call 07831700081 and talk to Rog or Em or join our community?

rtfacts exists to provide a 100% outsourced marketing service for small to medium sized businesses in the private and public sector. Chip shop to blue chip says it all.

We help you avoid the expense – and often limited return on investment – of an in-house marketing resource.

Turn us ON like a tap when you need us and OFF when you don’t!

When rtfacts acts as your Marketing Department, at a fraction of the cost of in house, and with zero HR responsibility, you get access to our experience working in multiple sectors and 26 years hands on providing strategic solutions and services for businesses across the public and private sector.

Don’t pay us to learn on your time.

One of our team will be your Marketing Director and will always remain media and execution neutral, either accessing

resources within our company or outside if it’s better, harder, faster, cheaper.

We will happily work with any existing or recommended third parties.

With ‘owner’s eyes’ when strategically driving your company, we will align both marketing, business and sales experience to deliver the goals we set and agree together.

We can promise a 100% focus on results from the beginning with an eye on the vision and message.

Our commitment to producing fresh, relevant and customised content across your channels is probably the most important factor in your marketing success.

Making a good decision is as easy as picking up the phone – 07831700081
and if you’re not ready to talk just yet register your interest here: HERE?

Clients often ask for promotional items that have been recycled or made from repurposed materials and that support their CSR strategy?

It all sounds a bit vainglorious but, it’s far easier than you’d imagine and there’s a tonne of products that are socially responsible & really useful. In 30 years we’ve done more pads than I care to mention and all of them FSC, responsibly sourced and recyclable.

We drink 1000,000,000 cups o tea every day in the UK so it makes sense to make cups from recycled/recyclable/reuseable/responsible materials?

Bamboo is really sustainable.

Coffee cups are a great example & becoming more and more popular with responsible businesses.

2.5 BILLION last year in the UK! And many were used once and then thrown away!

Include the lids and card grips and that’s a colossal waste mountain. If we said the average man and woman drink 2 coffees per day, giving them a re-useable coffee cup would seem to make great sense, both In terms of enjoyment of the drink (what could be more important), and the opportunities to see your brand.

We have some great promotional examples and offers. If coffee is important to your people, show them you care about the environment and show everyone they bump into, you care about them too.

The ubiquitous Pen is mightier than most every other item!

Cheap, useful and universally loved, there are few promotional items that provoke such a positive reaction and it never fails to amuse me the effort and time rtfacts put into creating really cutting edge and unique desk drops, to be rewarded with, “We loved the pens”.

They come in every size shape, colour and size and we can print in single colour to full 4 colour process. The pen example in the picture is made from recycled plastic bottles and says so on the barrel. We have delivered millions of pens over the years and nothing makes us happier than delivering products that are responsibly sourced and manufactured. Mores the pity that these are made in Italy and not the UK. Pens made from denim, tyres, money, newspapers all available!

Coasters sit nicely with the coffee and tea conversation and are now equally recyclable and sustainable.

Plastics have had a poor press recently with some justification. Recycling the raw material and making a useful desk item that prints beautifully has to make sense. I really think pubs and bars could do a great trade in recycled plastic coasters and rid themselves of the board versions that curl and peel when wet and are really only fit for purpose as who’s the toughest ‘Ninja little finger’ (I can do three coasters if you want a challenge), and I’d love to get my mates to have a go with the plastic ones! ha ha ha.

Responsibly sourcing your promotional items isn’t difficult and doesn’t cost more!

The product and print quality is easily as good and the ‘feel good’ factor as a result is way way better. Talk to rtfacts about all your promotional needs and that includes: #Pens, #pencils, #bags, #drinkware, #school & kids, #paper, #desk and office, #conference, #events, #lanyards, #house & home, #sweets, #confectionery #health and fitness, #seeds & flowers.

Call 07831700081 today and start the responsible revolution! Or lets just talk!

If you’re a start up and you want a new website quickly prepare to be shocked. Go to any self respecting Web Agency and they will probably tell you it will take 3 Months from brief to go live!

Well, we are a self respecting design for web and print Agency and we’ve been around the block, so we know what we are on about, but a Month is doable if you have all your ducks in a row.

This site https://insurtech.rainmaking.io/ was ready to be populated by the client in 3 weeks and the client (with a little help) did the rest. Pretty impressive and shows what’s possible so aim high, even if you do need to be live in a jiffy!
The client said:  And she is happy to talk to you;

“The team were incredibly responsive, understood our needs and came back with a solution that worked. Fast, effective and within our budget.  They were always available when I needed some help so the project never felt like it was running away from me.  Rather, they had it all under control.  A great feeling when you’re working fast. And the product speaks for itself.  We’ve got a solution that we can manage, and continue to improve upon.“

If you want some, talk to Roger today 07831 7000 81 design@rtfacts.co.uk and if you want to talk to a client or two we can arrange that too.

While we are building your site get yourself ready to get the best DIY traffic. 

We run courses all the time and would love to squeeze you onto one, where you will learn the following:

Social Media 

• Why are you doing it?
• Who are you talking to?
• Which platform should you use?
• What should you say?
• When should you say it?
• How do you measure it?

We talk about the importance of keywords, images & video and look at the similarities/differences on the big four platforms:
Linked In, Twitter, Facebook/Instagram and You Tube and create a week plan with benchmarks to monitor.

Google Analytics 

• Install the code and start tracking data
• Understand the terminology
• Set up filters & dashboards
• Create KPIs for future benchmarking
• Create audience, Acquisition, Behaviour & Conversion Reports
• See where visitors are coming from and what devices they’re using
• Discover which websites are linking to and referring visitors to yours
• Track key events with goals & funnels
• See visitor’s journey and draw meaningful conclusions

DIY SEO

• Want to get the best out of Google organically?  
• Why Google is the only real game in town
• SEO in plain English that even my Nan understands
• Free tools that you really need to know about
• Your website is your voice online, what is it saying?
• The impact you can make on and off the page for free

rtfacts launch 2 websites this week and wanted to share the first one:

CORVID PayGate are saving companies £000’s and will automate all your payments for long-term efficiency.

Reduce costs, manage cash flow and navigate the changing payment landscape with smarter credit and debit operations.

Its a powerful, cost-effective all-in-one solution for Bacs and international payment transactions.  Data validation, direct debit management, process automation and consultancy solutions blend with the CORVID PayGate brand of honest customer care to give you total peace of mind.

They proudly boast – We’re not just Bacs-approved software suppliers to our customers; we’re trusted experts working in partnership to keep payment security, efficiency and automation at the heart of your business.

“PayGate has helped us cut the time required to process our submissions by 75%, saving us over £25k each year.”

The Canbury Arms Kingston has had a brilliant makeover and is up and running.

If you’re in the vicinity and in need of refreshment or food, or both ideally, it comes highly recommended.

This is what they say about themselves: The Canbury Arms, Kingston upon Thames is a smart community pub with great fresh food, where eaters and drinkers alike are looked after with the same friendly and professional service.

Go on you know you want to. 

When we started rtfacts, in July 1993, 

I never imagined sitting here 30 years later doing the same job!

But here we are! Other than being a bit older, greyer and wiser, we are mostly the same team and still working with lovely clients.

We are moving office for the third time in as many years, to cater for the ever-expanding family working at rtfacts towers and this means more tidying. As a result, I’ve chucked away a tonne of interesting but now obsolete rt facts. I did find a folder with Testimonials (Faxed) and our letter from BT to say we were a roster agency (in Jan 1994) due largely to the help and influence of Tracey Wallace and Elaine Bradford. Thank you ladies, forever in your debt as we worked for BT for 13 years. Let’s say it was financially rewarding, we were half the price of London and double the cost we could have charged to still make a profit. It meant we did everything to perfection and got a lot of praise. I’ve added a few here just in case anyone nostalgic stumbles across this post and wants a read. Good old Andy Cooper and Glenn Tongue and we LOVED working with Marcia and Wendy! Nina, what can I say. The wife of our great friend Christian Devereux who died doing what he loved – racing cars. 

Nostalgia sucks sometimes. Let’s talk!