by Nick Throlson | Dec 9, 2016 | Business, SEO
It?s an admirable goal to try and keep the future of your business away from digital tech and the internet in favor of good old-fashioned hard work, but sadly it won?t last forever.It might be time to, well, get with the times.
Thankfully, it?s not too hard to get your business starting off on the right foot in the digital age, and once you grab hold of the basics, you might be a master in no time at all.So, does your business have a website? If not, why not? A website can help you network, promote your business, act as a marketplace or run as a customer service platform. A website can give your business, more business. Sites like Wix.com and Squarespace can give you the tools to get started. If you want to really race ahead, consider speaking to an SEO expert, and you can get the right words embedded into your site to attract the visitors you want.You might also like to check their free SEO competitor analysis tool: Now you?ve got your site sorted out, maybe you should think about what social media platforms you want to use. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are basically free promotional tools for your company, and if you use them the right way, you can see the benefits instantly. Social media offers a platform to speak to customers one to one and deal with customer service issues over the internet. You can also market your brand with the right language and content!?How to Increase Sales Using Social MediaDigital marketing is something you?d want to look at as well. But you have to figure out your exact target audience to market your digital presence to any degree of success.Next up is the cloud. Gone are the days of backing up to flimsy hard-drives. You can now upload your data and work to internet based storage drives that give you the option to access your work remotely from anywhere. Not only that, but it?s secure and there are numerous opportunities for your business on the market. Most cloud storage solutions offer you and your employees the ability to collaborate on documents remotely and simultaneously. Communication platforms like Slack can connect to your cloud and ensure collaboration and communication are consistent across the business.Outfitting yourself and your staff with a company smartphone? encrypted with a VPN ensures everyone can keep in touch and work remotely. They even have access to your cloud-based storage, so it?s truly a mobile solution and can solve many issues with networking and connectivity.Giving your business the digital edge is going to increase your internet profile, and that will attract cyber-criminals. It?s best to secure your data, install anti-virus software and keep your systems protected and updated.
If you start off, you?ll give your business a substantial digital presence in no time, and you?ll be able to identify and strengthen your business?s weaknesses by hiring and speaking to the right people if you can?t solve the issues yourself. If you follow these tips, you?ll be on the right path and your business will benefit!
by Nick Throlson | Dec 9, 2016 | Business
When you are setting up your own business, you will find that you have a lot of things on your plate! In the first few years of your new business, you will be responsible for pretty much everything that needs doing. Especially if you aren?t in a position to hire any full-time staff just yet. But that?s no reason to start getting stressed out. After all, you can always outsource some of these tasks. In fact, there are many important tasks that you may well be better off outsourcing from the beginning. Interested to know which tasks are worth outsourcing? Read on to find out about the four most common ones!
FinanceThere isn?t much point trying to take care of your business?s finances entirely on your own. If you don?t have much experience in this, there is a good chance you could make a mistake and end up getting in the tax man?s bad books! Thankfully, hiring an accountant shouldn?t cost you too much. And they will be able to keep your books in perfect order. You also won?t have to worry too much about filing your taxes. Simply send your accountant all your information and they will do the difficult sums for you!Digital MarketingThese days online marketing is everything. Unfortunately, if you don?t have all the right IT and computer skills, this may seem like a very daunting task indeed! But don?t worry, there are plenty of people who can take care of this for you. For instance, if you outsource all of your online tasks and marketing jobs to an ecommerce agency, web designer, and social media specialist to help you get even more traffic to your website. You?ll soon find that once you hand over your digital marketing to the experts, your online presence will start to increase and become very influential!LegalSome firms try and handle all their legal stuff on their own. This is perfectly fine if you have plenty of legal experience. However, if you don?t, this is a surefire way to give yourself a huge headache! Why not take the easy route, and simply hire a legal expert to take care of this? They will be able to provide you and your business with professional legal protection and will also be able to step in if you need any quick legal advice or action.Human ResourcesFinally, you should also consider outsourcing all the HR processes in your company. An HR contract worker will be able to take care of your entire recruitment process. Not only that, though, but they will also be able to draft up any potential documents that you may need. You will also find that outsourcing your HR tasks will work out a lot cheaper than hiring an entire team to make up a human resource department.Outsourcing can really revolutionize your business. Once you start outsourcing all of the above, you will certainly notice the benefits and may want to start outsourcing even more areas in your business!
by Nick Throlson | Nov 25, 2016 | Business, SEO
A professional website is a must-have for every business. It can help push your business forward in many ways. It?s one way to get across your company identity to customers and other viewers. You can also use your website to sell online. One of the most useful functions of a professional website is marketing.A site can be used in conjunction with many inexpensive marketing solutions to make a profit. By redirecting people to your site, you can convert them into customers. Here are a few of the useful ways having a website will help with your marketing efforts.Search Engine OptimizationIf you don?t already know about search engine optimization (SEO), you need to learn about it now. A global survey of businesses found that SEO is considered the most effective form of marketing. It entails getting your site listed high on search engines like Google to bring attention to your website.Search engine optimization
involves numerous techniques for boosting your ranking on search sites. Using specific keywords and building affiliate links can help increase your visibility. Climbing to the top of Google can be complicated. But SEO marketing firms can help. You can learn more from guides such as SEO Services: When You Get It Right, The ROI Is Phenomenal. SEO helps with website traffic, and those hits can eventually become profit. It?s one of the main reasons a professional website helps with marketing.Web AdvertisingYou can also use advertising links to market your website. Google offers a pay-per-click ad service with which you can pay for extra traffic. Sites like Facebook also use paid ads. By paying for advertising space on popular websites, you can generate traffic for your business site.This method has its downfalls. Just directing people to your website doesn?t guarantee that you?ll make sales. But some ad services target your advertisements at your desired audience to help. It?s another way your site can come in handy for marketing.Content MarketingYour business website isn?t just for news and information about your company. It can also be a home for all kinds of interesting content to catch people?s attention.The best way to start is with a blog. Tools like WordPress let you integrate an easy-to-use blog to any website. You can create user accounts so multiple people can post on your blog. You could create interesting top-ten lists and how-to guides to appeal to your desired audience.Blogs aren?t the only form of content marketing, though. You could also create videos on sites like YouTube. These often have the potential to go viral, and you can draw people to your site with a website link in the description.Social MediaSocial media marketing is becoming a useful practice for businesses. By building up a following on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn you can gain a loyal customer base. As well as keeping your followers entertained, you can potentially bring new ones to your business.Your social media channels can be used to promote your website. By posting links to your content, you can direct followers to your site. You can also post sales promotions to entice people. These posts can also be shared by others, bringing more eyes to your business.
by Nick Throlson | Nov 22, 2016 | Business
Is your online presence failing to set the world alight? Are you struggling to attract visitors and make sales? If so, there?s a good chance you are making some - or all - of the following mistakes. Take a look at these common issues that can have a considerable impact on your website?s success - and learn how to fix them.
Poor mathematicsHow?s your math? The plain and simple truth about failing businesses is that the numbers just don?t add up. Either you are spending too much money to be sustainable, or you aren?t charging enough to survive. There is a delicate balance to strike, but the sooner you nail your figures, the better your results will be. If you are struggling in this area, I suggest hiring an accountant or getting financial help. While you will pay them a fee, the benefits they will bring to your business are priceless. An accountant will reduce your tax payments, highlight areas where you can save money, and give you solid financial advice. But, most importantly, they will help you develop a plan to make you more financially resilient.There?s no strategyOK, so you have a website - that?s a good start. But why do you have one? What is the point of having it? And what is your plan for the next five years? A few simple thoughts about why you want to be online is all you need to start developing a strategy. It could be to give yourself a chance of making more sales. It might be to give your customers a better service, or more resources. Or, it could be to create an audience for a particular range of your products. The point is, without that clear idea of what you want, there is no way of developing a strategy to get there.No maintenance or upgradesIf the last time you updated your site was a few years ago, it should be no surprise that you are going to fail. Web technology - and all the information you present - move forward at an incredible pace. Whether it?s updating an old blog post, so it is more current to making changes to allow for Google?s Penguin 4 update, updates are critical. Failure to keep with the times will result in a bad performance - it's that simple.Focus on appearanceLooking good online is a ?nice to have?. But, more important is your website?s functionality. If people arrive on your site and find it hard to find what they are looking for, they will leave. If your site prevents them from navigating in a sensible and logical way, they will go elsewhere. And, if you invest piles of money into a fancy design without addressing user experience, your site will fail. Some of the most successful websites ever are simple, basic, and could even be called ugly. But they work - and are a success - because they are easy to use.Hard to buyAre you struggling with abandoned shopping carts? If so, you are in good company. Billions of dollars are left in carts over the course of a year, and there are some simple reasons why. Primarily, people want to see something and buy it as fast as possible. They don?t want to fill out countless forms or sign up for numerous other services. Make it easy for them, and you will reduce your abandoned cart rates by a significant amount.Here is a great article about Abandoned Shopping Carts:?https://magemail.co/blog/best-abandoned-cart-emails/Here is a great article about Where To Learn About UX Design:https://uxplanet.org/top-10-online-platforms-to-learn-ui-ux-design-dcfb613d097a
by Nick Throlson | Nov 21, 2016 | Business, Social Media
?Much has been written about the subject of marketing, particularly for businesses which are just getting off the ground. If that is where your business currently lies, then it is wise to try and promote it as cheaply as you can. The good news is that there are always plenty of ways to promote a business without overspending on your company budget. What?s more, many of these methods are even entirely free of charge. Yes, they are still effective marketing solutions - and no, you won?t have to sell your soul. Let?s take a look at some of the best, cheapest marketing solutions for any small business. Budget-Friendly Ideas to Promote Your BusinessSocial MediaWe will start with something which no business can afford to ignore. The fact is, social media is one of the best things to happen to marketing for many years. The great thing about social media marketing is that you can easily connect with many people with no effort at all - and all for a cost of nothing. With social media, your business can enjoy a surprising influx of new customers - provided that you do it right, of course. For maximum effect, be sure to try and make genuine connections with people on these sites. That is the best way to ensure that you attract as many people as possible. For more on this, see https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/7-ways-to-promote-your-business-online-for-free/. MerchandiseOften, the old ways are the best. This is certainly true when you are trying to promote a new business, and you don?t know where to begin. Although you might not have thought it, the fact is that merchandise remains one of the most effective means of spreading the word. It really doesn?t matter what the actual merchandise is, so long as it is something which people are likely to use in their daily lives. And, of course. Provided that your business name is nice and prominent on the product. Take a look at promotionalproductscenter.com/printed-drink-bottles for examples of powerful merchandise options.Word-Of-MouthAs we have seen, the oldest methods are often the most effective. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the process of word-of-mouth. This is one of those methods which no business can do without. If you are not making the most of this, then it is unlikely that your business will get very far. In a manner of speaking, word of mouth is how businesses get going in the early days. Most businesses rely on word of mouth, at least at the very beginning, in order to grow and expand.Press ReleasesThis is one method which is often overlooked, and yet it is surprisingly powerful. Sending out a press release is a great way of getting the word out that is completely free of charge. If you are releasing a new product, for example, then you could write a press release informing the press of that. You might be surprised at what an effect this can have on a young business. Above all, you should make sure that you learn how to write them so that they give the best impression.
by Nick Throlson | Nov 21, 2016 | Business
If you?ve just started your own business, you may already have big visions set on the future. But before you attempt world domination, it may be worth getting the most out of your local area first. Even if you wouldn?t consider your business to be a local service ? even if you?re a web designer or the seller of a niche product - there may be a market on your doorstep that you didn?t even realize was there. Here are several easy marketing strategies for any business owner hoping to make a splash locally.Join Local Facebook Groups and ForumsThere are many groups on Facebook aimed at local businesses where you can promote your brand. Some may require you to be invited to the group ? message them and let them know that you?re a fresh and exciting local business. Be wary of some interest groups that don?t accept business promotion and are more aimed at activism or discussion.Join local business clubs and organizations Every town or village will have a local community group catered for the self-employed, whether it?s a rotary club or business initiative group. These clubs may require a fee, but are worth it for making contacts. Most group will hold a weekly meeting or a monthly lunch. Here you can mingle and get to know other local businesses. Get pally with another business owner there, and they may be able to recommend you to people or do some kind of cross-promotion (you promote their service and they promote yours)Do a Talk at a School or Youth GroupInspire the young with your business acumen by doing a talk at a school or youth group. This could just be in front of a small class ? for instance, a French class if you happen to work as a translator, a Maths class if you happen to work as an accountant. Teachers are always eager to prove the relevance of their subject on the wider world. Youth groups such as Scouts and Guide also regularly welcome talks from key local members.Produce Flyers and PostersFlyers and posters are still as popular as even in the 21st Century, largely down to how to cheap they are to produce compared to other forms of advertisement. Even if you don?t fancy shelling out on a printing company, you can do it affordably from your own home. There are many pieces of software available to download that will offer free flyer templates, allowing you to get creative and design your own flyers.Once you?ve printed off a few copies, post them around your local neighborhood. Target areas that you think would be most likely to engage with your product ? for example if your product is high end, target a more upmarket area of your local community. Also look out for local noticeboards where you can pin up a leaflet or poster. Council buildings, libraries, dentist surgeries, hospitals, barbers and hairdressers, newsagents, coffee bars and even some pubs will usually be able to put your leaflet somewhere.Remember to put all necessary contact details on and don?t be afraid to boast the fact that you?re local!
FinanceThere isn?t much point trying to take care of your business?s finances entirely on your own. If you don?t have much experience in this, there is a good chance you could make a mistake and end up getting in the tax man?s bad books! Thankfully, hiring an accountant shouldn?t cost you too much. And they will be able to keep your books in perfect order. You also won?t have to worry too much about filing your taxes. Simply send your accountant all your information and they will do the difficult sums for you!Digital MarketingThese days online marketing is everything. Unfortunately, if you don?t have all the right IT and computer skills, this may seem like a very daunting task indeed! But don?t worry, there are plenty of people who can take care of this for you. For instance, if you outsource all of your online tasks and marketing jobs to an ecommerce agency, web designer, and social media specialist to help you get even more traffic to your website. You?ll soon find that once you hand over your digital marketing to the experts, your online presence will start to increase and become very influential!LegalSome firms try and handle all their legal stuff on their own. This is perfectly fine if you have plenty of legal experience. However, if you don?t, this is a surefire way to give yourself a huge headache! Why not take the easy route, and simply hire a legal expert to take care of this? They will be able to provide you and your business with professional legal protection and will also be able to step in if you need any quick legal advice or action.Human ResourcesFinally, you should also consider outsourcing all the HR processes in your company. An HR contract worker will be able to take care of your entire recruitment process. Not only that, though, but they will also be able to draft up any potential documents that you may need. You will also find that outsourcing your HR tasks will work out a lot cheaper than hiring an entire team to make up a human resource department.Outsourcing can really revolutionize your business. Once you start outsourcing all of the above, you will certainly notice the benefits and may want to start outsourcing even more areas in your business!
involves numerous techniques for boosting your ranking on search sites. Using specific keywords and building affiliate links can help increase your visibility. Climbing to the top of Google can be complicated. But SEO marketing firms can help. You can learn more from guides such as SEO Services: When You Get It Right, The ROI Is Phenomenal. SEO helps with website traffic, and those hits can eventually become profit. It?s one of the main reasons a professional website helps with marketing.Web AdvertisingYou can also use advertising links to market your website. Google offers a pay-per-click ad service with which you can pay for extra traffic. Sites like Facebook also use paid ads. By paying for advertising space on popular websites, you can generate traffic for your business site.This method has its downfalls. Just directing people to your website doesn?t guarantee that you?ll make sales. But some ad services target your advertisements at your desired audience to help. It?s another way your site can come in handy for marketing.Content MarketingYour business website isn?t just for news and information about your company. It can also be a home for all kinds of interesting content to catch people?s attention.The best way to start is with a blog. Tools like WordPress let you integrate an easy-to-use blog to any website. You can create user accounts so multiple people can post on your blog. You could create interesting top-ten lists and how-to guides to appeal to your desired audience.Blogs aren?t the only form of content marketing, though. You could also create videos on sites like YouTube. These often have the potential to go viral, and you can draw people to your site with a website link in the description.Social MediaSocial media marketing is becoming a useful practice for businesses. By building up a following on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn you can gain a loyal customer base. As well as keeping your followers entertained, you can potentially bring new ones to your business.Your social media channels can be used to promote your website. By posting links to your content, you can direct followers to your site. You can also post sales promotions to entice people. These posts can also be shared by others, bringing more eyes to your business.
Poor mathematicsHow?s your math? The plain and simple truth about failing businesses is that the numbers just don?t add up. Either you are spending too much money to be sustainable, or you aren?t charging enough to survive. There is a delicate balance to strike, but the sooner you nail your figures, the better your results will be. If you are struggling in this area, I suggest hiring an accountant or getting financial help. While you will pay them a fee, the benefits they will bring to your business are priceless. An accountant will reduce your tax payments, highlight areas where you can save money, and give you solid financial advice. But, most importantly, they will help you develop a plan to make you more financially resilient.There?s no strategyOK, so you have a website - that?s a good start. But why do you have one? What is the point of having it? And what is your plan for the next five years? A few simple thoughts about why you want to be online is all you need to start developing a strategy. It could be to give yourself a chance of making more sales. It might be to give your customers a better service, or more resources. Or, it could be to create an audience for a particular range of your products. The point is, without that clear idea of what you want, there is no way of developing a strategy to get there.
No maintenance or upgradesIf the last time you updated your site was a few years ago, it should be no surprise that you are going to fail. Web technology - and all the information you present - move forward at an incredible pace. Whether it?s updating an old blog post, so it is more current to making changes to allow for Google?s Penguin 4 update, updates are critical. Failure to keep with the times will result in a bad performance - it's that simple.Focus on appearanceLooking good online is a ?nice to have?. But, more important is your website?s functionality. If people arrive on your site and find it hard to find what they are looking for, they will leave. If your site prevents them from navigating in a sensible and logical way, they will go elsewhere. And, if you invest piles of money into a fancy design without addressing user experience, your site will fail. Some of the most successful websites ever are simple, basic, and could even be called ugly. But they work - and are a success - because they are easy to use.Hard to buyAre you struggling with abandoned shopping carts? If so, you are in good company. Billions of dollars are left in carts over the course of a year, and there are some simple reasons why. Primarily, people want to see something and buy it as fast as possible. They don?t want to fill out countless forms or sign up for numerous other services. Make it easy for them, and you will reduce your abandoned cart rates by a significant amount.Here is a great article about Abandoned Shopping Carts:?https://magemail.co/blog/best-abandoned-cart-emails/Here is a great article about Where To Learn About UX Design:https://uxplanet.org/top-10-online-platforms-to-learn-ui-ux-design-dcfb613d097a
Social MediaWe will start with something which no business can afford to ignore. The fact is, social media is one of the best things to happen to marketing for many years. The great thing about social media marketing is that you can easily connect with many people with no effort at all - and all for a cost of nothing. With social media, your business can enjoy a surprising influx of new customers - provided that you do it right, of course. For maximum effect, be sure to try and make genuine connections with people on these sites. That is the best way to ensure that you attract as many people as possible. For more on this, see https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/7-ways-to-promote-your-business-online-for-free/. MerchandiseOften, the old ways are the best. This is certainly true when you are trying to promote a new business, and you don?t know where to begin. Although you might not have thought it, the fact is that merchandise remains one of the most effective means of spreading the word. It really doesn?t matter what the actual merchandise is, so long as it is something which people are likely to use in their daily lives. And, of course. Provided that your business name is nice and prominent on the product. Take a look at promotionalproductscenter.com/printed-drink-bottles for examples of powerful merchandise options.
Word-Of-MouthAs we have seen, the oldest methods are often the most effective. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the process of word-of-mouth. This is one of those methods which no business can do without. If you are not making the most of this, then it is unlikely that your business will get very far. In a manner of speaking, word of mouth is how businesses get going in the early days. Most businesses rely on word of mouth, at least at the very beginning, in order to grow and expand.Press ReleasesThis is one method which is often overlooked, and yet it is surprisingly powerful. Sending out a press release is a great way of getting the word out that is completely free of charge. If you are releasing a new product, for example, then you could write a press release informing the press of that. You might be surprised at what an effect this can have on a young business. Above all, you should make sure that you learn how to write them so that they give the best impression.
If you?ve just started your own business, you may already have big visions set on the future. But before you attempt world domination, it may be worth getting the most out of your local area first. Even if you wouldn?t consider your business to be a local service ? even if you?re a web designer or the seller of a niche product - there may be a market on your doorstep that you didn?t even realize was there. Here are several easy marketing strategies for any business owner hoping to make a splash locally.Join Local Facebook Groups and ForumsThere are many groups on Facebook aimed at local businesses where you can promote your brand. Some may require you to be invited to the group ? message them and let them know that you?re a fresh and exciting local business. Be wary of some interest groups that don?t accept business promotion and are more aimed at activism or discussion.Join local business clubs and organizations Every town or village will have a local community group catered for the self-employed, whether it?s a rotary club or business initiative group. These clubs may require a fee, but are worth it for making contacts. Most group will hold a weekly meeting or a monthly lunch. Here you can mingle and get to know other local businesses. Get pally with another business owner there, and they may be able to recommend you to people or do some kind of cross-promotion (you promote their service and they promote yours)Do a Talk at a School or Youth GroupInspire the young with your business acumen by doing a talk at a school or youth group. This could just be in front of a small class ? for instance, a French class if you happen to work as a translator, a Maths class if you happen to work as an accountant. Teachers are always eager to prove the relevance of their subject on the wider world. Youth groups such as Scouts and Guide also regularly welcome talks from key local members.Produce Flyers and PostersFlyers and posters are still as popular as even in the 21st Century, largely down to how to cheap they are to produce compared to other forms of advertisement. Even if you don?t fancy shelling out on a printing company, you can do it affordably from your own home. There are many pieces of software available to download that will offer free flyer templates, allowing you to get creative and design your own flyers.Once you?ve printed off a few copies, post them around your local neighborhood. Target areas that you think would be most likely to engage with your product ? for example if your product is high end, target a more upmarket area of your local community. Also look out for local noticeboards where you can pin up a leaflet or poster. Council buildings, libraries, dentist surgeries, hospitals, barbers and hairdressers, newsagents, coffee bars and even some pubs will usually be able to put your leaflet somewhere.Remember to put all necessary contact details on and don?t be afraid to boast the fact that you?re local!
