IMAGE are no exception – a good-natured company with an evident passion for their brand and what it represents. I like dealing with people who care about their brand – beats dealing with “whatever you think yourself”. Passion is infectious – it raises expectations, creates a desire to deliver something special. 

The IMAGE website is a massive improvement on what was there – nothing worse than a company being embarrassed by their website or their identity – it’s a hugely influential point of contact – it needs to impress. The new website required a lot of new features: polls, blogs, competitions, an advertising manager, a payment system to sell subscriptions online, a photo gallery.. The nicest thing to note was how the IMAGE team have wholeheartedly engaged with the website – making it a living breathing thing. Blogs are updated weekly with funky images and interesting editorial. Photos from PR events and launches where all the beautiful people are to be found in Dublin are captured on camera and posted to Miranda’s Diary – the image gallery. 

IMAGE is still work in motion – the payment system, polling and street style section is yet to be unveiled – get on the site and post a comment or two – it’ll make the editors smile to read feedback to their posts: www.image.ie

They came to me through the greatly valuable BNI network and I’m glad they did. One excitable and charming Italian with oodles of passion and energy repeating every instruction twice and often a 3rd time for good measure to ensure I have understood everything correctly. When the tone changes from exuberant to frantic, I enjoy taking calls from the other two partners who are an oasis of calm in comparison.

Nonetheless the combination of enthusiasm and appreciation has been a pleasure to deal with – a nice surprise to be rewarded with one of their quality Bodega Proseccos after delivering the brochure, stationery and website within a demanding turnaround time of 8 weeks – a bubbly indulgence I savoured at the end of a hectic week

I’ll be watching this website perform with interest and hope the Irish market responds with the same gusto invested by QIW in this business – a lot of energy and time went into their wine selection – apparently Enrico travelled the length and breadth of Italy sampling the best the vineyards had to offer (wouldn’t mind a career swap myself) and personally handpicked the selection currently available. They care about their wine, their customers and this little island of ours so I’d be very surprised if the wine didn’t live up to expectations.

Colum is in my BNI chapter – full of life and positive energy that makes him a popular member of the group. He only agreed to go ahead and get a website after 2 years of increasing pressure and public harrassment at our weekly meetings. Amazing that Guardian has never had a website to boast of in all its 10 year life span – I suppose when the owner seems to know everybody and is known by everybody, its easier to be referred business offline. But when 2008 slapped Ireland with a tough dose of economic hardship, most SMEs offering professional services (bar debt collection and liquidations) had to work harder to get bang for their buck. Colum decided a website was worth a try.

I wanted to see if I could make a difference – if I could prove to him and to myself the value of having a website – a point of reference that would inform and ultimately win over new prospects. Apparently research shows that over 75% of prospective clients check out your website before deciding whether or not to business with you. Not having a website rules out a big majority of prospects.

Colum is constantly receiving positive feedback from clients in the chapter for his services – highly valued for his pro-active nature – if there’s a way of saving more money, he’ll be quick to advise how. So we decided to set up a newsletter to put this valuable advice in writing for the benefit of existing clients who may choose to forward on to prospective clients in need of a pro-active and informative accountancy service.

I’m watching his space with interest!