"Bloody gold star. It’s like word porn for my ears! You can quote me on that!"

More great feedback from a fabulous client - the beautiful Sazzle!

Of course the best feedback of all is when great clients come back again and again.

And that happens a lot with me. I am very lucky.

I did the gratefulness thing ages ago on Facebook. You know, 3 things to be thankful for, for 7 days, and I have been practicing gratefulness for a while now and know the boost it can give. It feeds back into my work and just keeps giving in a virtuous circle!

A la, the more good stuff I do, the more good stuff I want to do. It's exciting!

The Facebook activity helped to focus that thankfulness and make me realise that it is such a worthwhile thing to do for life and well-being in general, but also to re-fire your imagination and ambition at work.

That's true whether you're working as part of a multi-national team or a sole trader.  

So, as a (mostly) home-working, low profile, B2B supplier for whom employee recognition schemes and award ceremonies are few and far between, this is my own little trophy cabinet that means more that any crystal decanter.

Thank you lovely people. You know who you are ;)

“I got some feedback from the client and they were really impressed that you managed to make construction adhesive sound interesting!”

  ________

“Did you write all this? Are all these your words just from the conversation I had with you? I’ve got  goosebumps and it’s not even my business! This is unreal, magic! I can’t wait to read the full treatment!”

  ________

“Love it. U r good Lou Roo!”

  ________

“Hey, it was liked :-) Good job. It’s with client now!!”

 ________

“Hi Lou, sorry for not replying sooner, this was perfect!”

  ________

“That is great - love the tone of voice and approach – cheers!”

  ________

“There once was a writer called Lou,

Who, when asked to write copy, could do

great copy on time,

(either print or online)

All on brief and well written. And that's true.”

  ________

“Hi Lou, thanks for these – reads really well.”

  ________

“Brilliant! Client came back saying it's perfect and she loves it, good work as always Lou!”

 ________

“Spot on Lou! Thanks, J”

 ________

“Thanks Lou! This is great.”

 ________

“I love how you take my complicated mind and make it simple :)”

 ________

“No worries Lou, this is great thanks so much.”

 ________

“They look great Lou – I really like the lines.”

  ________

“Just going through all the new posts on the Facebook page. 

AMAZING – Louise, I LOVE IT!!!

  ________

"Looking good, I really like your tone."

 ________

"Thank you for all your work so far, 

it has read wonderfully."  

 ________

I'm at lou@louroo.com or on 078 0316 4657 if there's anything I can help you with...

In Meat We Trust

In Meat We Trust

Burger Republic – Delicious Brand Work

I’ve been working with Shelley of ASHA Design to help come up with a new, authentic brand look and feel for the lovely peeps at Burger Republic.

Having worked with all kinds of businesses – some really very big, others pretty small and every kind in-between - I know that each has their own vision and their own way to achieve it. It might be to compete on price or to focus on service. In almost every case people want to talk about quality.

When that quality is already evident in every respect, you know you’re going to get a great result. It’s not that it makes my job easier. It makes it more enjoyable.  You’re starting from a higher bar, with people who have already invested in their business. And so you can quickly go beyond establishing quality to living and breathing it. Having fun with it. The kind of fun that their customers will immediately warm to.

Working with people like this is fab. They have a stronger, clearer vision and with that they’re open to bigger, better ideas. Their business or product or service already stands apart from the competition so it’s a lovely and fun job to elevate it even more.

Everything just seems to fall into place.

It helps that Shelley’s a fantastic designer. That Burger Republic know how to – with the help of McGreevy’s Butchers – put together a burger that’s far superior to any other you’re ever tasted, and that all together, we could quickly see the kind of direction that would excite customers and put together the look and tone that really bring the Republic's commitment to great street food to life.

For Burger Republic, we produced the Pledge to set the tone and inform the design which runs across all collateral, from menus to t-shirts.

Tasty.

Follow Burger Republic on Twitter @inmeatwetrust and find a new friend on Facebook

Hardcore design geeks can see more on Behance. 

Asha Design

LouRoo

Burger Republic isn’t just a superior patty. It’s a place.

Burger Republic is a country on the move in more ways than one: you’ll find our 1964 Airstream Overlander wherever people of great taste gather to listen to good music, shop ‘til they drop or just chill with friends.  

Burger Republic is also fast-forwarding the story of the ultimate fast-food: from its roots in the 19th century through the swinging '60s to the present day.

We’re bringing bland burgers back to life, starting with our own recipe gourmet hamburgers, grilled to perfection, with delicious dressing, sauces and beautiful bread.

The President and First Lady of Burger Republic commissioned their own master butcher to produce particular patties of 100% Irish beef. And you can be assured every single ingredient is just as fresh, local wherever possible and selected only for superior taste and flavour.

Hungry? Satisfaction is on the menu.

 

Welcome to gourmet hamburger country.

Where lovers of good hamburgers live life to the full.

Big Brands & One Man Bands.

Everyone I've ever written for. Well, most of them.

Putting together a wee talk about what I do for the U of U meant making a wee list of everyone I've ever written for. It's a long list. Not everyone's on there. But it's kind of made me wonder. I can pretty much remember what I did for each of them, big jobs and small. 

And it's made me think about who I what to work for and what I want to write for them in the future.

Generally, that means writing less, better, for people who know that's a good way to go.

Anyway, have a gander. See anyone you know?

Anderson Advertising (now ASG), Dixons Stores Group (Dixons/Currys/PC World), Logica, Barclays Bank, Lloyds TSB, RBS, GCHQ, Stena Line, Gerber Juice, Belfast Telegraph, Ennsikillen Hotel, Charles Hurst, Bristol NHS Trust, Central Manchester Children’s Hospital, Irwin’s, NIFRS, Visit Belfast, Navigator Blue, AV Browne, BT, Think RLA, Porter Dodson, Harry Corry, Titanic Belfast, Creative Media, The Cleaning Doctor, Ovo Energy, Endsleigh, thomsonlocal, destinationskin, Bath Building Society, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Stewarts Wine Barrel, Ford, Jaguar, Honda, Barnardos, Burger King, The Web Bureau,  Southern Water, Aardman Animation, Screwfix, Makro, Diageo, Welcome Break, Lusty Beg Island, Learning Pool, Pink Squid, FeatherBrooksbank, 5x5 People, ThrityThree, DNA, Yellow Comms, WORK, RIFT, Clarks, The National Trust, NFU Mutual, Siemens, LV, Argento, Subway, Deanes, Titanic Belfast, Forestside, WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons, Manchester Airports Group, The Soundhouse, B&Q, MaxiZoo, DuPont, FIRST Group, TMP Worldwide, Adipose Clinic, RIFT Tax Refunds, Monsoon Accessorize, Afro-Mic Productions.

“Does my bum look big in this?”

There was me and the Internet (the Internet and I) having a chat and he (? for talk’s sake) came out with it...

The question every woman dreads. How do you answer that truthfully, without lying (obvs), trying to be constructive and in the interests of helping us all move a little further towards being our best selves?

The thing is, I really like the Internet. We haven’t said the L word yet but there’s a good chance that’s on the cards.

If we can just get this damn bottom thing out of the way.

So, because I really like the Internet and I want to grow our relationship, I delicately said:

“You have the biggest fucking ass I’ve ever seen. In fact, at times, you are the biggest fucking ass I’ve ever met. Your ass is out of control. Sometimes, when we’re having a nice time, and I get lost in the moment and inadvertently scroll down, I look at your ass and it scares the complete bejaysus out of me.”

And the Internet looked at me with a modicum of sadness but mostly understanding, for which I was grateful, and said “But the song: fat bottomed girls make the rocking world go round.”

Which made me smile a sympathetic smile.

“Not fat bottomed girls with huge festering boily buttocks like yours. All red and angry and ready to erupt at any moment. Your bottom half is rude and pushy, uninformed and it can’t spell. It’s reactionary and selfish with a small world view. A lot of the time, it’s an out and out troll. It contradicts itself and is utterly contrary. It has no sense of humour and is hell bent on self-destruction. But worst of all, its full of its own self-importance, thinking its little brain farts of half thought out ideas are actually worth the paper they’re printed on.”

“Ah now. Come on. That’s unfair. You’re really only talking about the comments section in the Daily Mail and the Belfast Telegraph. I’m not responsible for what people write on my bottom half.”

“That’s as maybe. But you do facilitate it.”

“Hang on: are you pro-censorship?”

That pissed me off no end.

“How fucking dare you! Just keep your big fat wobbly smelly bottom out of my face.”

“No problem.”

And we had a quiet moment.    

  

And the Internet sent me a cat meme. And I smiled and said:

“Sometimes your ass is funny though. And on the rare occasions it tries to be funny and succeeds? Well, those moments are to be treasured.”

Anyway, overall, the Internet took it well. It has a thick skin. Especially on it's bottom. And me and the Internet (the Internet and I) agreed that here, at LouRoo.com, where it’s just me and the Internet, he would control his (? for talk’s sake) bottom, keeping it under wraps and ELSEWHERE AT ALL TIMES.

So, you’ll find no bottom half of the Internet here, but that doesn’t mean you have no right to reply. If you really take offence or want to troll me, you’ll have to learn how to spell, think through your argument rationally and constructively and maybe tweet me (@louroohq) or Facebook me (https://www.facebook.com/louroocopy) or email me.

The important thing is me and the Internet is still strong.

Here’s to you, Internet, you legend. Bottoms up. 

Aww! LouRoo takes a Tumbl...

Flippin’ heck. Talk about having to take the rough with the smooth.

Last week, we was on the up with growth in double figures (2 is a double figure, no??). 

This week, we’ve done a 180 and halved in two.

As the big guys will tell you, there are ups and downs in everything. It’s just nice to be in the water and still swimming. It’s time for LouRoo to retreat and regroup and think about how we (I) should develop as a company. Let’s hit the boardroom for a brainstorm people! (AKA go to the kettle on my ownio for a mull).

OK, back to writing. 

It’s been nearly a week since the work experience departed. And I’m afraid, as you probably noticed, we didn’t hit our social media targets, neither in terms of numbers or engagement. Unless you count a Facebook PM from The Moon on a Stick telling me he lolled. Result? I think so.

Anyway, what with me scribbling my socks off constantly for eating purposes, and herself tumbling about on Tumblr for recreational purposes (what with it being her every need is taken care of with the scribbling) being sociable wasn’t high on our list of priorities.

However, I am about to set that right. I asked the RooToo to share her thoughts on Tumblr. And she did!!! Result. I think so. I can’t see any of this being of any interest to me. But you might like it. What with you being a hipster an’ all.

Happy Tumbling & Tubing!

AoifeRoo’s Tumbler & Tube Top Three

       I spend about 99% of my spare time alternating between Tumblr and watching as many episodes of Supernatural as I can. (I’m already on season eight, which is pretty darn sweet.) If I’m not doing either of these things, I am probably watching QI on the TV or reading a book. Or Youtube. Yeah, definitely Youtube. (If I’m reading a book, I’m probably hunched over it, crying over the fictional characters within. This is normal. I do this a lot. Daily. Sometimes half-hourly.)

Today, my blogging task was to put my Powers of Procrastination (capital letters because they’re magical – or as about as close to magic I will get, sitting in front of a computer. Crying.) to good use. So I’m going to help you procrastinate too! [canned audience cheering] Most of these blogs are artsy and are more often than not to do with something I’m a fan of (Supernatural, Doctor Who, crying over Supernatural, and crying over Doctor Who).

I’m going to show you my top 3 Tumblr blogs and my top 3 Youtube channels; I was originally asked to do my top 10 tumblrs, but I found that a lot of the blogs I followed didn’t adhere to a specific theme that made them great as a standalone blog.

T U M B L R

My first blog is… well, my first blog – the one that pretty much started my addiction for this website. It’s an artsy blog by a girl named Jackie, and I absolutely adore it. All her drawings have lovely Disney influences, and overall she’s a pretty cool gal!

http://muchacha11.tumblr.com/

My second is one that anyone can enjoy and relate to, especially if you’re a student. This blog recounts the weekly struggles of a 21-year-old girl from Connecticut (currently studying Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore) in the form of humorous comics. Her different styles contrast awesomely! I absolutely love this blog and you should check it out right now. Like, right now. Stop reading this article. Just go.

 http://sarahseeandersen.tumblr.com

 This next blog is yet another visual indulgence, but more of the photographic nature. It’s a fashion blog, which I haven’t been following for long, but every now and again I like to take a little dander over and admire the view. It sorts all the pictures into chunks of colour, and scrolling down it’s easy to see a rainbow emerging. I just kind of love it.

http://cfda.tumblr.com/

Y O U T U B E

My number one favourite youtuber OF ALL TIME would have to be Jon Cozart, who goes by the online alias of “Paint”. He creates the most fantastic and catchy musical medleys, and whether they like it or not, my entire family knows them off by heart. I’m obsessed. You should be too.

http://www.youtube.com/paint

Numero dos of my fave youtubers was a toss-up between many, but in the end it would obviously have to be Dan Howell, aka danisnotonfire. How could it not be? He’s pretty freakin’ funny. A lot of his stuff is about being socially incompetent and turning to the internet for help, which (you'll be surprised to hear) I can relate to.

http://www.youtube.com/danisnotonfire

My last one was a toss-up between various musical artists and science channels, so I had to toss a coin, and my answer was – ASAPScience! I absolutely love this channel, because it satisfies my unending hunger for useless trivia that will get me nowhere. Check out their videos “Amazing Facts to Blow Your Mind” parts one and two. They’re basically the reason I got hooked.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AsapSCIENCE

New to LouRoo: The Work Experience Kid presents "What is Work?"

Yesterday, as you knew, LouRoo doubled in two!

It's great having another person in the office. She's no Stephen Baxter-Crawford, but she'll do.

I talked her through what I do, the clients I write and get ideas and blog for. And I asked her to write a blog about 'What is work?' and she said 'But I have no interest in that" and I said but this is work experience and gave her a deadline and we wrestled (I'm sure there are laws against that in the work place?? Can she sue me?) and she wrote this.   

Work: Why Does It Matter?

Nothing in the world is free. That’s a saying that everyone hears through the course of their lives – and as a kid, I didn’t believe it to be so. What about those free samples you get at the shop? What about the water out of the tap? I soon came to realise that while there might not be a visible price tag on something, it doesn’t mean it didn’t come at a cost. 

Free samples of food or a product still had to be made, by a chef or a factory line worker, and those people still had to be paid and those materials still had to be bought; money was still involved. And water – someone had to install the pipes, and someone has to pay the water bill. Everything comes at a cost, and so we need money. 

The best way to get money is obviously to work. Everyone should have to work, and everyone should make the right amount of money accordance to how much work they do – of course, life never follows the rules of what is right.

For example, take a single mother working two or three jobs to support her family; she is most likely getting the minimum wage for all, and will probably be involved in manual labour. In cases like this, she will be making just enough to cover all her costs, and will not have enough money for luxury, such as days out, DVDs or books. 

Let’s compare this hardworking mother working hard and making just enough to pay her bills, to people such as the Kardashian sisters or Paris Hilton. These are women who are basically paid to exist – socialite heiresses to large sums of money, leeching off their parent’s financial success, making even more money from TV shows that document their ridiculously lavish lives, and then even more money by marrying into other wealthy families or to musicians worth millions. 

If I were to look at just these two types of women, who could very well live within a thirty-mile radius of each other, I could say that work doesn’t matter at all. 

The woman working her ass off makes less than the woman who spends her time partying her ass off.

So, why then, is work important? I suppose it depends on what you mean by work. The aforementioned manual labour is considered work, and yet it doesn’t make that much. Many people being paid the minimum wage are doing repetitive, manual jobs such as cleaning, cooking, and babysitting and then have to deal with the disrespect of their employers and service users. 

Well, for those of us not lucky enough to be the product of the union of two stupidly rich people, it’s really the only way to make money. Everything is work if it makes you money. However, not everything feels like work if you do something you enjoy, such as writing or painting or singing. 

If you’re exceptionally good or just happen to be lucky, you could make thousands doing anything. Money makes the world go round and so therefore does hardworking individuals; or maybe not-so-hardworking.

Isn't her spelling good????

I think that's a good place to start in a world where we still have trouble with the concept of work and what we get out of it, whether you're just looking for a wage or a real sense of fulfillment. Do you live to work or work to live? Do you love what you do or just get through? Is it even up to you? Or are the jobs just not out there?  

What is work? is a really big question. 

LouRoo Grew!!!

Woo hoo! Since last week, LouRoo has doubled in size!

Things have been going really well of late and with some great agency and direct business clients on board, rapid expansion was pretty much inevitable.

So I duly embarked on a carefully strategised and extensive recruitment process, which was a bit of an eye opener to be honest. Because while I’ve had lots of experience of creating recruitment communications for lots of clients, doing it for yourself is quite different.

I kind of asked around and it turns out nobody wants to work with me. They’ve no clue what I do (creative copywriter if ya don’t mind. A la Peggy Olson. Look her up) (and I can be a bit crazy). 

In the end, I spotted a great wee blog right here http://animeaniyou.wordpress.com/ and signed her up immediately!  

So, on Friday, it was just me. Today, it’s me and Fe. Fe the work experience kid.

I know Fe well, we go way back. We’re so close, in fact, she even calls me mum (small m).

So this week should be a blast. I’m easing her in this morning by asking her to call me Boss (capital B) and letting her surf the interweb while I do some admin.

Already, she’s said “I’m a professional, Mum.” so that’s progress but there’s still work to be done.

And so far, there’s been a good bit of giggling from her desk. But we’ll soon see about that. We’re not here to have fun.

(Even though I do believe that what is written without interest/fun/humour is read in the same way. But that’s another blog.) We are here to WORK.

So, without further ado, consider yourself introduced to Fe Roo.

This week, as well as me enjoying sporadic super-fan-girl insight from the likes of Supernatural and The Hunger Games, we’ll be looking at what I do (ideas and writing), and getting her to take a look at my social media  (She is a digital native after all. Should be wee buns). 

Watch out neglected blog. You won’t know what hit you!!!

So, get us started: ask Fe a question. 

What would you like to know an intelligent and articulate 15yo thinks about branding and marketing, advertising, capitalism, religion (careful now), politics (down with that sort of thing), the world at large, and the driver getting to pick the music while shotgun gets to shut their cakehole??? (I know that one: It's totally unfair.)

And she’ll blog about the one that catches her interest. Should be fun. Go!