New sneakers

Picked up these sick trainers from www.sportsdirect.com. They are going for £15.00 for low tops and £20.00 for the high tops but best of all they are reduced from £65 / £70 quid. They come in 4 or 5 other colors including black, blue and Green.

I had to bag 4 pairs of them - well worth picking up before they sell out!

Amazing clients

Sometimes I pick up a new client and it’s a dream come true. Over the last 3 years I have been lucky enough to partner with media owners, record labels, fashion brands, broadcasters, ad agencies, and football clubs. For me, this is right up my street¬–I love all forms of media, fashion and home entertainment! So, recruiting creative teams and managing studio support for my clients, is always a pleasure.

No matter what your industry is, or client base, always try to find out as much as you can about the key people and sectors your business serves. It helps if you are passionate and have a genuine interest in the brands you support and work with. Make life easier on yourself by keeping up to date with current market trends, pitch wins and ad spend.

In today’s competitive world, every company tries to attract clients by providing a low cost service and high quality delivery.

Here are my top ten tips to retain your fab client base:
1. Always under promise and over deliver
2. Inform, don’t harass
3. Be personal, yet professional
4. Be interactive and engaging
5. Deliver a quick service
6. Deliver with added value
7. Always follow up, not chase up
8. Be honest
9. Work with your clients, not for them
10. Find out as much as you can about their business

Finally, keep updating your services. Add new features to keep your clients interested and the hopefully they will never think of any other services again!

Digital Designer vs Front End Developer

Des vs Dev.

I notice more and more that demand for designers with sh*t hot dev skills is increasing. This is because of two main reasons: continuity and cost.

The problem with this is that web designers will always highlight their knowledge (however basic) of web based tech such as basic action script and HTML. To the untrained eye this can become confusing and lead to many digital designers being talked to or put forward for roles that are not quite right for them.

What’s the solution? Make a clear split between your design and dev capabilities. Don’t blur the two in your opening profile. Make sure that you indicate the level i.e: advanced, intermediate or basic. Also, don’t be afraid to take out non relevant skills - there is no demand for designers to know Swift 3D, so why add it to your profile?

Rule of thumb, keep it simple and relevant.

This weeks hot jobs

We have been super busy in the Creative Recruitment freelance department. This week we have been predominantly working on client side roles. The companies and very desirable are easily some of my favourite brands. Here are a few hot ones so far this week:

• Football Club – Production Editor
• Leading fashion retailer – Head of E-Commerce
• Global leading Modelling Agency – Designer
• Global leading entertainment company – IA

If any are of interest to you or a friend please feel free to contact me.

Creative Services

Hello fellow bloggers / readers.

This is my first post and should have been done ages ago.

Firstly I must introduce myself to you all.....

I currently work as a consultant for a UK leading integrated creative services recruitment agency. I have a strong working background (6 years) within Digital Media, Creative Services, Fashion, and Retail. Initially starting my career at a Digital Design Studio then moving in-house to market leading brands such as Selfridges and Arcadia. I have since built up a portfolio of global clients including the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH, Net-A-Porter, and EMI Records to name a few.

I have subsequently joined Creative Recruitment focusing my experience on building and pipelining freelance talent pools for Luxury Fashion, Digital Design and Advertising Agencies. I am a passionate, hardworking individual and love working with all the amazing companies I assist when finding the very best creative a technical talent in the UK for their business.

Lately I have been inspired by and currently loving the following:

Monorex – Secret Wars (as seen on TV).

The Bank - William Hill (ATL 2011 ad).

Boba Fett Rocket - Firing Promo (2010 re-release).

Diesel Black and Gold S/S 2011.

Taking photos of real London graff kings work and uploading them to my Flickr page.

And I shall be adding to it over the coming months!

In my spare time I love chilling out to smooth grooves with an ice cold shandy and the latest copy of Web Designer Magazine updating and re building my e-shops and online community websites.

My blog will be a combination of the latest media and creative services job updates that I am working on, the latest news in the fashion, retail, digital and social media world and a few pearls of fashion wisdom and quotes along the way.

Always happy to engage and participate in discussion with like minded industry professionals and fellow bloggers.

Twitter: @deancousin

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/deancousin