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Accelerating growth: Tips to drive your Business forward

28/6/2022

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Growing a business is a challenge, but there are ways to accelerate expansion and drive your business forward. If you’re on a mission to go further, faster, here are some tips.

Modernize your marketing strategy
Marketing can be a hugely effective way to raise brand awareness and increase profits. Spending money on marketing is beneficial, but it doesn’t always guarantee success. If your marketing campaigns are not delivering results, or you think you could achieve more, it’s wise to review and refresh your strategy to optimize ROI. Consider seeking professional advice if you don’t have marketers on your team and use analytics. Streamline your strategy to focus on methods and channels that will reach the target audience and make sure the content and materials you share are relevant to your ideal customer. 

Marketing evolves constantly, and it’s important to be aware of the impact of new techniques and trends. If your business targets young people aged 16-35, for example, have you thought about increasing spending on social media marketing and working with influencers? Influencer marketing can boost sales quickly, but it’s important to choose the right influencers and draw up an agreement with commercial solicitors. The influencer should be relatable to your target audience and they should have an interest in your industry or field. It’s also essential to consider the type of content you produce and share. Studies suggest that videos are more likely to be shared than images and text. 

Outsource
Outsourcing can be beneficial for businesses across all industries. It offers an alternative to hiring and recruiting while enabling company owners to access skills they don’t have on their team. Look for opportunities to outsource time-consuming tasks and take advantage of skills and services you don’t have in-house. Outsourcing should help you improve your business performance and free up time for your core team. If you run a clothing store with an online shop, for example, you may decide to outsource digital marketing and logistics. If you own a medical or dental practice, you could outsource IT support, cleaning and marketing. 

Boost client retention rates
Attracting new customers will help you to expand your business, but it’s crucial to keep hold of loyal clients. Research shows that existing customers spend more and they also play an instrumental role in helping you to find new clients through referrals, recommendations and positive reviews. Boosting client retention rates will enhance your brand image and reputation, increase sales and help you grow your client base. You can improve retention rates by rewarding loyalty, offering exclusive access to perks and discounts for loyal customers and staying competitive. Use customer feedback to make improvements and keep an eye on your competitors to make sure that you offer your clients the best service. 

Many business owners dream of growing their company. If you’re eager to expand and you have ambitions to drive your business forward, modernize your marketing strategy, consider outsourcing and try to boost client retention rates. Keep up with marketing trends, use outsourcing to boost efficiency and improve performance, and focus on keeping hold of loyal customers as well as attracting new clients.
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Make the most of business events to grow your network

15/6/2022

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Image credit: Austin Distel from Unsplash
Attending business events can be a fantastic tool to boost your career and chances of reaching new clients. Indeed, from trading shows to workshops, events can help you gather like-minded professionals who share the same values and interests. So, as a professional, if you are going to build a powerful network, your priority is to attend top quality events. 

​How does one recognize a valuable event? More often than not, the list of attendants and the activity schedule can provide insightful clues into what you can expect. Additionally, it can be a good idea to consider the event organizers. Indeed, professional organizers such as www.catalystevents.com.au have a long experience in running successful events for a variety of organizations. Therefore, you can trust a seasoned organizer with activity planning, service management, and attendant comfort and safety. Chances are that other participants and visitors will be suitable interlocutors to grow your professional network. 

Don't be your own enemy
Networking can be challenging. But, as a rule of thumb, the most successful networkers are those who do not let social and professional fears stand in their way. Indeed, being afraid of reaching out and meeting new people doesn't just affect your ability to network. It can also make you more likely to be overlooked by recruiters or managers because people tend to remember those they interacted with. 

Practice your lines
It can be awkward to introduce yourself at an event. But you can work on your introduction line to make your first move easier. Introducing yourself by name only may not be sufficient. Instead, you may need to set up the context, so people can easily build a connection. For instance, you could comment on a specific conference you attended with other participants and ask about their opinions. Alternatively, you can also state your name and company before explaining what you want to achieve from the event. Context makes you unforgettable and can bring you and your interlocutors closer.

Have a confidence booster with you
Whether you call it your feel-good item or your lucky charm, we all need a mood booster. It goes without saying that meeting new people can be daunting. So, you may feel more confident if you take something that puts a smile on your lips, whether it is the tie your kids got you for your latest birthday or a sweet note your partner left for you.

Be knowledgeable about the event and its participants
How do you know who you should talk to when attending an event? It can be a good idea to do your homework and carefully research each participant if the list is public. You can check company names and team profiles to recognize people. 
You can also consider LinkedIn research, so you can identify the most valuable contacts to talk to. It will also make it a lot easier to remember people's names and engage in conversations when you already have a good idea of their needs and interests. 

Networking can significantly benefit your career, helping you meet potential clients, future partners, or even employers. A solid network can open the doors to many unexpected opportunities. Yet, you need to seize the chance to turn event attendance into a networking sport that delivers career growth!
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How to create the wow factor for your in-store marketing campaigns

4/6/2022

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Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
A great first impression in business doesn't guarantee conversions. But it will certainly give your company a better shot at success. Therefore, creating the wow factor when building your marketing strategies should be king.

While this concept can go a long way to unlocking the full potential of your website, it should also ring true for in-store items. Here are some of the easiest and most effective ways to make it happen.

Get visual
Fancy animations and video marketing have delivered the wow factor for many years. However, the growing accessibility for SMEs means that your business cannot afford to ignore it. Teaming up with Projection Mapping Specialists will allow you to design ultra modern displays. From building walls to ornaments and non-flat surfaces, any object can become a part of the immersive experience.

Aside from using tech to its potential, it shows a commitment to detail and an ability to push boundaries. From impressing existing clients to winning new leads, it is the perfect starting point for your revamped marketing ideas.
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Image credit: Rodger Shija from Pixabay
Introduce VR and AR
Virtual reality and augmented reality have become major marketing aspects in recent years. In fact, there were many companies that used it heavily throughout the pandemic. It can now play a significant role for modern in-store experience across many sectors. It could show customers how different products would look on them, or how a hairstyle would influence their look. They are just two of many, many examples.

People love modern tech, and the use of VR and AR can create a wow factor for anyone who hasn’t used it before. It can speed up your processes while creating additional data capture points. In turn, this will help you tailor ongoing user experiences.

Use mobile POS terminals
Nobody wants to line up for ages in your store, especially when holding a promotional event. It was true in 2019, and feels even more significant in the post-pandemic era. Adding a mobile POS terminal adds versatility. And it allows staff members to deliver a convenient and personalised service to individuals. This gives them the VIP treatment time and time again while also accepting a wide range of payment types.

It may seem like a simple suggestion, but it has a massive impact on the consumer experience. When added to the opportunities to use this to improve trade shows and other events, ignoring it would be naive.

Choose the best packaging
Modern tech and modern features can impress customers as they visit your store. However, loving the brand counts for nothing if they don’t love the products too. Appreciating the importance of packaging design can have a huge influence on your sales figures. Selecting the right colour schemes, using eye-catching text, and using greener materials are all good options. It means products will stand out in third-party outlets.

Interacting with the packaging and opening a product is a central part of the consumer experience. As such, it can lead to increased loyalty for increased customer lifetime values. And that will leave you saying ‘wow’ too.
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How to personalize your marketing messages for maximum impact

19/5/2022

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​Did you know that personalising your marketing messages can increase your response rate by 50%? It's true! In this blog post, we will discuss the best ways to personalise your marketing messages to have maximum impact on your target audience.

Collect as much data as possible
The first step in personalising your marketing messages is to collect as much data as possible about your target audience. This data can include information like demographics, interests, and purchase history. You can collect data by conducting surveys, doing market research, or using customer relationship management (
CRM) software.


Segment your audience

The first step to personalising your marketing messages is to
segment your audience. You can more easily identify their specific needs and desires by segmenting your target market. This will allow you to create targeted messages that are more likely to resonate with each customer.


There are several different ways that you can segment your audience. Some standard methods include:


-Demographic information such as age, gender, location, and income level

-Psychographic information such as interests, lifestyle, and values
-Behavioural information such as purchase history, web browsing behaviour, and email engagement

Identify unique content for each persona

Now that you have segmented your audience, it's time to identify unique content for each
persona. This content should be relevant to their needs and interests. It should also be tailored to the different stages of the buyer's journey. For example, you might send a different message to someone just starting their research than you would to someone ready to make a purchase.


Create customised messages

With so much competition out there, it's more important than ever to make sure your marketing messages are personalised. Here are a few tips to get you started:

- First, think about your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What do they care about?
- Once you know who you're targeting, craft a message that speaks to their specific needs and interests.
- Finally, don't be afraid to get creative! There are endless ways to personalise your marketing messages, so have fun with it and experiment until you find what works best for you and your business.

Turn To The Professionals for Help

When personalising your marketing messages, it's essential to seek professional help. A
full service marketing agency can assist you in creating custom content that resonates with your target audience. They will also have the necessary tools and resources to properly track and measure the success of your personalised marketing campaign.


Test, Test, Test

The final step in personalising your marketing messages is to test, test, test. Send out different versions of your message to different audience segments and see which ones have the best response rate. Then, you can fine-tune your notifications until you find the perfect mix that will have maximum impact on your target audience.


In conclusion, personalising your marketing messages is a great way to ensure that you reach your target audience in the most effective way possible. Seek out professional help, test different versions of your message, and fine-tune until you find the perfect mix. Doing so will help you achieve maximum impact with your marketing campaigns.

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8 departments where Business owners should focus on to increase their profits

29/4/2022

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One of the most essential aspects of running a successful business is focusing on your bottom line. To do this, you need to make sure that you're putting your resources and energy into the areas of your company that can help generate the most profit.

To help you pinpoint these key departments, 

Here Are 8 Departments Where Business Owners Should Focus Their Efforts To Increase Their Profits:

1. Sales And Marketing:

Many business owners know that they need to have strong sales and marketing processes in place to attract new customers and grow their customer base. 
However, many entrepreneurs don't always realise how important it is to have effective systems in place for lead generation and closing sales deals as quickly as possible. 
By making sure that your sales and marketing teams are working efficiently and effectively, you can help ensure that your company is bringing in new revenue on a regular basis.

2. Human Resources: 

It's no secret that your employees are one of your most valuable assets. That's why it's so important to have a strong human resources department that can help you attract and retain top talent. 
By offering competitive salaries and benefits and creating a positive work environment, you can help keep your best employees happy and reduce turnover.

3. Finance: 

Many business owners believe that the only way to increase profits is to bring in more revenue. However, this isn't always the case. One of the best ways to boost your bottom line is to focus on reducing your costs and expenses. 
That's why it's so important to have a strong finance department that can help you identify opportunities for cost savings and find ways to optimise your spending and improve your cash flow.

4. 
IT: 
Suppose you're not investing in technology and other tools that can help streamline your business processes. In that case, you could be wasting valuable time and resources on manual tasks that could easily be handled by machines or software applications. 
That's why it's so important to invest in an effective IT team that can implement systems and tools to help automate many of the tasks your employees are currently performing manually. This will help eliminate waste and allow your workers more time to focus on revenue-generating tasks.

5. Customer Service: 

Excellent customer service is one of the most important aspects of any business, yet it's often one of the most neglected. If your customers are unhappy with your products or services, they're likely to take their business elsewhere. 
That's why it's so important to make sure that your customer service team is providing responsive, courteous service at all times. By ensuring that your customers are always happy with their experience, you can help reduce churn and keep them coming back for more.

6. Manufacturing: 
In many businesses, manufacturing is one of the most important parts of the operation. However, it's also one of the most challenging to optimise. If you're not carefully managing your manufacturing processes, you could be wasting time and money on inefficient production methods. 
That's why it's so important to have a team in place that can help you streamline your manufacturing processes and ensure that you're producing quality products at a lower cost.

7. Shipping and Logistics: 

If you're selling physical products, then shipping and logistics are essential for your business. However, many entrepreneurs don't realise how complex and challenging this area can be. Having a strong shipping and logistics team in place can help ensure that your products are delivered on time and without any damage. This will not only improve customer satisfaction but also help reduce your costs.

8. Legal: 

Last but not least, if you don't have a strong legal team to handle all of your business-related legal needs, you could be putting your company at risk with every transaction. By having a talented lawyer on hand to address any legal concerns as they arise, you can help ensure that your business stays compliant and protected at all times. 
With this insight into some of the most important departments for business growth, it should be easier for you to build out an effective team that can help take your company to new heights. Just remember to focus on filling roles based on each department's unique strengths and needs.

In conclusion
Each department has its own unique set of responsibilities and tasks that contribute to the overall success of a business. By ensuring that each department is staffed with talented individuals who can carry out their roles effectively, you can help ensure that your company can reach its full potential.​
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Is your online marketing content failing? Here’s what to do

17/2/2022

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Image credit: Munee Farman from Pexels
Online marketing has gained traction over the years, especially when it comes to social media. 56% of B2B marketers increased their spending on it in 2018. Additionally, 84% use social media, while 81% include email marketing. There are a lot of benefits that come with putting effort into your content. Fortunately, there are several tips you can use to achieve this, including those below.

1. Ask the important questions
Creating content for content's sake is not a good idea as you will be shooting yourself in the foot. It will be easy to lose focus without a plan or strategy, and your marketing effort may not yield any results. Some of the questions that experts recommend that you ask include the following: What value are you offering? Why are you creating content? Who is your audience? What experience are you offering your audience? All these questions will serve as guidelines for you to create the right content to yield the desired results. It will also allow you to choose the right tools to use when creating your content. For example, if you create video content, you know you might need background music. That means looking up sites like jsroyaltyfreemusic.com. 

2. Stick to what you know

Marketing aims to increase awareness about your brand and products, and there are many ways to do so. Additionally, there's a lot of information and opinions on how to create content, and you are likely to get overwhelmed by it all. However, if you are pulled in many different directions, you might miss the mark. That makes it necessary to stick to what you know and do it well. Your focus should be on the primary objectives like creating inspiring content, starting conversations, and attracting attention that helps you achieve your goals. That way, you can narrow down your strategy. You shouldn't try to be perfect; instead, do your best with what you have. 

3. Don't make boring content

One of the things that draw attention is humor, and you can use it to build a relationship with your audience. You're more likely to get a positive response from your audience if you add a little bit of fun to your content. That's because you humanize your brand and make it more authentic and relatable. It's also a way to be more interesting, especially when tackling mundane issues that are not likely to gain traction if presented raw. In this case, visual content like pictures and videos are better options, as they help you tell a better story. This method of content creation is good for stimulating the mind. 

4. Be strategic about posting times

Timing is crucial for ensuring the right people see your content. Therefore, it will be good to know what times your audience is available to reach them when you post. Relying on the quality of the content to build traffic might not be a good idea. This will depend on the platform you're using and the type of content you intend to create.
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Here are the factors you must consider choosing a Marketing company

5/1/2022

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When you are running a business, you need to make sure that you work with the right companies and choose the best solutions. If you fail to do this, then it is going to impact your brand in the long term and could damage your chances of seeing significant levels of success. Here are some of the key factors that you should keep in mind when you are choosing a marketing agency.

The Price
Price is not the only factor that matters when you are choosing a marketing service, but you should still keep it in mind. You should look at the costs of different services and then compare them to get a base price that you can work with. Be aware that you should think about how they determine price as well. The best marketing agencies will want as much information as possible about your business before settling on a price. You need to be wary of businesses that quote a price while knowing nothing about your business. It’s likely that they are delivering a cookie cutter service that won’t provide many long term benefits.


Reviews

Businesses can make a lot of promises and argue a lot of points about the services that they offer in marketing and promotion. But the proof that you need will be in the reviews of these same companies. You need to make sure that you find a business which has helped similar companies to yours and is focused on the methods that you are interested in. Companies such as
RSM Marketing are well known for receiving great reviews and referrals from all their clients. 


Outsourcing 

Next, you should consider whether the company you are interested in uses outsourcing solutions. Outsourcing is not necessarily going to be a black mark against a company. However, you need to know a little about the businesses that they are working with behind the scenes. If you can, you should guarantee that they are all delivering the same standards in terms of quality. 


Ideally, the right marketing business will maintain transparency. This means that they will provide any information that you seek about the services they offer including who might be working on your project behind the scenes. 


Connectivity

Finally, you need to make sure that it is easy to connect and engage with any marketing service that you choose. Don’t fall into the trap of selecting a marketing company that is going to take your money and then disappear for months before showing you any evidence of
measurable results. You should be provided with a point of contact by a marketing agency to someone in charge of your campaign. You should also be able to check on progress at any point that you like to give you peace of mind. 


We hope this helps you understand some of the key factors that you should consider when you are choosing a marketing service for your business. The right agency will ensure that you are in the best position to grow your audience and expand the overall reach of your company while ensuring the longevity of your business model.

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How to boost your small business profits in 2022

4/1/2022

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Image credit: Nicole Wolf from Unsplash
It’s a brand new year, the perfect time to set yourself some new business goals. If you’re looking to increase your profits, what you need is a strategic plan. With these ideas, your business can aim higher in 2022.

1 . Improve your marketing 
It’s difficult to improve your business profits without great marketing. If you want to grow your company in 2022 start by revamping your marketing strategy. First you can assess your marketing campaigns from 2021. Figure out what worked well and where you could make improvements? For some general areas of focus, consider the following:
  • Focus on the most important Google ranking factors, use these to optimize your website and content.
  • Run video marketing campaigns, these are a fantastic way to engage your audience.
  • Social media competitions can be useful to generate a buzz around your brand.
  • In-person events are a great way to encourage people to visit your brick-and-mortar store.

2. Finance professionals
Not all business owners are finance experts, when you’ve got plenty to do it can be useful to hire financial professionals to help you. RDV Business Solutions can support businesses with accounting services, financial planning and budgeting, and debt management. There are plenty of benefits of organizing your business finances, including:
  • Budgeting can help you to improve your financial health, growing your profits at the same time.
  • Finance professionals can help you to remain compliant and meet tax deadlines.
  • Advice on growing your wealth, investment decisions, and lots more.

3. Utilize customer feedback
Collecting customer feedback can help you in several different ways. Your customers have insights that can support you to improve your products and your overall user experience. When you provide improved products and an enhanced customer experience, you’ll soon see your profits start to grow. There are several different ways that you can collect customer feedback including:
  • Send out email surveys.
  • Create pop-up questionnaires as part of your website.
  • Add chatbots to your website.
  • Heat Mapping tools are a useful way to monitor user behaviour.

4. Rework your branding 
Your brand helps you to stand out from the crowd, when you have strong branding, you’ll keep on growing your business. There are lots of ways to improve your branding, here are a few considerations to get you started:
  • Do you have a clear brand story? Could your brand story be improved?
  • How can you communicate your brand story to your audience?
  • Is your branding consistent across all channels?
  • Are you representing the values of your audience?

5. Reduce waste
Wasting materials and resources can end up costing you money. After a while, this waste will start eating into your profits. To improve your financial health, and boost sustainability, you’ll need to think about how you can reduce waste. Lean production processes can help you to manage waste and improve efficiency too.

These five tips will help you to boost your small business profits in 2022. Growing a small business isn’t easy, especially when there’s so much competition. Start by assessing your performance from last year, and set yourself a few productivity goals. Whether it’s improving your financial health or revamping your marketing campaign, there are plenty of ways to take your business to new heights.
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Enhancing your digital marketing campaign: A few must-haves

23/10/2021

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Digital marketing campaigns are becoming increasingly popular. They allow companies to connect with their audience in new ways and interact with them on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. If you want to increase your digital marketing campaign, then there are a few must-haves that you need to make sure you have in place.

Understand Your Target Audience
Through surveys on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you could better understand who's reading your posts and why certain types of content resonate with them more than others.

In addition, if there is a particular demographic/psychographic finding from these polls that isn't represented enough in your current marketing efforts. Try focusing future strategies around those people specifically rather than trying to appeal broadly across demographics at once. You can also use Geofence advertising to enhance your marketing and concentrate it on reaching the right audience.

You can understand your audience through research. The first step is to create buyer personas, which are essentially fictional characters representing the interests of different types of people who shop for your product or service.

You need to know the basics, such as the gender and age range of your target audience. Then you can get more specific by understanding their interests, likes/dislikes, and location. Understanding how these user groups interact with content will help you better reach them online.

Create a Marketing Experience
A marketing experience refers to the entire process that a person goes through, from being aware of your brand to trying it, using it, and then recommending you. It is the goal as far as marketing campaigns go.
You can achieve this by making sure all aspects of your campaign are memorable, whether they're on point or not:
* Your website needs to have a great design so people will want to explore more about who you are and what you do
* The user experience should be smooth. Your product/service should work well naturally but also with minimal effort from their end. If someone has had an unpleasant experience with one aspect of something, there's a good chance that they'll transfer those feelings onto others which will affect your brand in a negative light

* Your product/service should have an element of uniqueness to it that will make people want to talk about you
* Follow up on the customer service side of things
* Keep Them Coming Back Through Loyalty Programs
Being unique means differentiating yourself from all the other companies that offer similar services/products as yours. So, consider adding perks like free shipping to gain an edge over other businesses in your industry. In addition, keeping up to date with current trends and offering new products will allow you to stay fresh and exciting rather than monotonous and boring among competitors.

Get a Social Media Manager
A social media manager is someone who can manage all your social media accounts. It will help you ensure that you post regularly and with quality content, which is essential when engaging with fans or customers.

Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several things you must do to be successful in digital marketing. You'll need to understand your target audience and create a unique experience for them online. Additionally, you will require good customer service and engagement practices, get a social media manager if necessary, strive for original content creation that is valuable to the reader, and reach out across multiple platforms at once.
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Why is your marketing strategy failing?

18/10/2021

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Marketing will always be an essential element of any business. Without the right marketing push, your company is going to be dead in the water. It’s also going to take up a massive chunk of your total budget. Indeed, research shows that you should spend about 20% of your funds on marketing each year. That’s why it can be devastating when you realise that your marketing strategy isn’t delivering any results. Here’s what could be going wrong and what you can do to fix the situation.

Missing The Mark
For your marketing strategy to be a success, you need to make sure that you do find the right target audience and this isn’t always going to be easy to do. It will often depend on your level of research. If you don’t find your audience then you’re going to end up marketing to people who are never going to want your products or your services. It’s one of the reasons why direct mail marketing can be such an effective strategy for the typical business. With an option like this, you will be able to connect with an audience that you know has the key traits you need for a purchase decision. 

Negative SEO
Your marketing strategy could be on point, but this won’t matter if there is a negative SEO attack against you. A negative SEO attack involves creating content specifically to damage the reputation of your brand online. One of the ways that you can deal with this is by making sure that you do check for mentions of your brand and specifically any articles high up in the SERPs. If you do find evidence of this, you’ll need to tackle it head on. 

Bad Reviews
Of course, it’s possible that customers are actually giving your business bad reviews, killing word of mouth and conversions. If you are having this issue, then you need to think about how to manage bad reviews the right way. You can’t ignore these. If you do then it will result in a massive number of missed sales. Don’t forget that 80% of customers will check out reviews for a business before they commit to the purchase of a product or a service. So, a particularly well written negative review can be a brand killer. 

Old Tricks
Finally, while you might be able to teach a dog new tricks, you shouldn’t rely on old marketing tactics. These have been abandoned for a reason and this issue can crop up when you use outsourced marketing solutions. You should make sure that you are always questioning a marketing team that you are planning to use. Make sure that you know what tactics they favor and how they plan to help you achieve your marketing goals. They should have a clear long term plan that they can easily explain to you in terms you can understand. 


We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to ensure that you correct your failing marketing strategy. 
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How to build more customers through social media

10/9/2021

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Image credit: Tracy Le Blanc
Social media has become a valuable marketing platform for businesses. When used correctly, it can be a way of not just building brand exposure but generating new customers. Below are some of the tricks for building customers through social media.

Create eye-catching content
Getting people to notice you on social media requires creating eye-catching content. Ideally, it needs to not just be evocative but provocative - when people see your posts they should have the urge to interact either by liking it or commenting on it. So just how do you create such content?
​

Images and videos tend to be the best option for encouraging engagement. When it comes to images, you should consider content such as attention-grabbing photos of your product or service, fascinating infographics related to your industry or humorous original image memes. When it comes to videos, you could consider a product advertisement, an educational video that boosts your credibility or possibly even a semi-educational behind-the-scenes video of you making your product. In most cases, you’ll want to hire a professional to help you create this content such as a product photographer, graphic designer, animator or video production company. This will ensure that your content is high quality.
Text content can still be eye-catching but you should generally keep it snappy so that it can be read at a glance. Consider spicing it up with emojis and hashtags. Text should always accompany images and videos. 

Promote events and deals
Most people follow brand accounts to keep updated on events or deals. Make sure that you’re posting this type of content from time to time.
When it comes to events, make sure to advertise all the necessary information such as date, time and location. It’s worth creating a hashtag for your event that people involved can share. If it’s a ticketed event, make sure to share a link to a page where people can buy tickets. Start promoting early so that people have enough time to plan ahead.
When it comes to deals like discounts and 2-for-one offers, use images and emojis to help your posts stand out. Supply a link to a webpage where people can buy the discounted product or service. If it’s for a limited time or there is limited stock, make sure to make this clear. 

Run competitions
Social media competitions are great for generating buzz around your company. In turn, they can help you to convert customers.
Competitions typically involve giving away a product or service for free to a single winner. They can take the form of a raffle or lottery in which contestants are put into a random draw. Alternatively, you can challenge contestants to answer a question: you could challenge people to come up with a name for your next product and give a prize to the contestant with the best suggestion, or you could challenge customers to guess how many sweets are in a jar (or something similar and industry-relevant) and then give away a prize to the most accurate answer. 
It’s worth adding a link to a competition webpage where contestants can sign up opposed to relying on social media comments. As part of entering your competition, you could encourage contestants to follow you on social media or join your mailing list. All in all, use the competition as a chance to build buzz around your company - you may encourage some contestants that aren’t winners to buy your product or use your service in the future. 

Make use of targeted adverts
Targeted adverts allow you to pay money to target posts at specific audiences. You get to set parameters such as location, sex and age. This can be great for helping your content to reach the right people, helping you to build customers and not just engagements. 
It’s worth keeping a budget when running adverts to avoid spending too much. Use performance reports on your advertisement campaigns in order to improve future advertisement campaigns. 

Respond promptly to queries
Social media is one of the few publicly interactive forms of marketing. Consumers that are interested in your product have the option to comment and ask questions. A well-run social media brand account is able to respond to these queries promptly in order to convert leads while they are still hot. This involves checking your social media accounts daily. 
On top of responding to queries, there may be other comments worth replying to. Complaints and false statements should be diffused so that they don’t have a negative impression on other potential leads - this could include apologising for mistakes or correcting false rumours. If people show interest with comments such as ‘this is great!’ capitalize on this with a link to your product.

Build recommendations
Facebook has got rid of its review system but now has a recommendations feature. It’s worth asking happy customers to recommend you on Facebook. This could help improve trust in consumers looking at your Facebook page, possibly encouraging them to buy your product or use your service. 

Check analytics
Analytics can tell you which type of content is performing well so that you can repost or replicate these types of content. When it comes to posts containing links, it’s worth looking at how many people have clicked on the link and whether this has created any customers - this is a better indicator of whether a post is successful than the amount of likes and comments.  You can use social media analytics and website analytics to work out this information. 

Look at what your competitors are doing
It could be worth checking your competitors to see what they are up to. There may be content ideas that you can take inspiration from. At the same time, there may be ways in which you can set yourself apart. 
Be wary of taking part in ‘brand wars’. This has become popular among large established brands and involves jokily criticising competitor brands. With local small brands it may not have the same impact and may damage your reputation. 
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How to turn your local Business into an international Business

3/9/2021

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Image credit: Tyler Franta from Unsplash
Whether you have turned a hobby into a career or managed to turn a great business idea into something profitable, you should always be on the lookout for ways to grow your business. This is due to the fact that consumer habits are continuously changing - and you have to be able to change and grow alongside them if you want to remain relevant and in demand. In many cases, failure to adapt results in company closure. ​

One way in which you can grow your business is by turning your local business into an international company. Here are some tips to get you started! 
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  • Company growth is rooted in your ability to lead your team, delegate tasks, and get the job done. Therefore, if you want to expand into the international market, you also need to become a better leader. One way in which you can achieve these goals is by signing up for leadership courses. You should also ensure that you develop a strong bond with your employees, as your ability to work together will impact how your business grows. 
  • Before launching your international site, focus on growing your online presence - paying particular attention to your metrics. For example, how many followers do you have in each country? This can give you some indication of the areas in which your products or services may be in demand and provide you with a sense of direction moving forward.
  • Ensure that your website is easily accessible, no matter where in the world your customers may be viewing the site from. You may also want to consider working alongside a translator so that you can have a few different versions of the site running at once. This makes it easier for customers to understand what you have to offer, and therefore increases the chances of them making a purchase. 
  • Do your research ahead of time so that you are aware of the various complexities associated with international trade and product shipments. This way, you can put your best foot forward as you begin to offer your services to a wider audience. For example, you may want to look into professional customs brokerage services to ensure that you can transport your products in a calm, risk-free manner. 
  • The amount of customers you obtain is paramount to your success, therefore, you need to ensure you give them plenty of reasons to purchase a product from your company. Thankfully, there are various ways in which you can achieve this goal. For example, you can grow your brand’s reputation by featuring positive reviews and testimonials on your website. 
  • Do not presume that the market in one country will be exactly the same in the other - as consumer habits, behaviors, and responses often vary largely from place to place. Therefore, you may benefit from hiring additional staff who have experience working in various different countries. For example, if you were planning to launch a German website for your business, having a person on board who understands the German market and perhaps even speaks the language can make a huge difference.
  • Update your market strategy regularly, and assess the success of your previous campaigns to see if any changes need to be made. For example, if you are spending a lot of money on social media advertising that you are not earning back in sales, this is a clear indicator that your social media presence needs some work. 
  • Stand out from the crowd (even in the international market) by figuring out what you offer to your customers that they cannot get elsewhere. This is known as your Unique Selling Point, and it can help to set you apart from the rest of your competition and reel in new customers. Once you’ve figured out your USP, ensure that you factor this into your advertising and marketing campaigns.
  • When working on the sale page of your website, make it as easy as possible for your customers to make a purchase, as a complicated process is likely to turn people away. For example, you may want to ensure that products can be purchased in a number of different currencies as opposed to dollars alone.
  • When expanding your business, you’ll also need to think carefully about your finances. Even if you are doing a good trade, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the extra cash in the bank to fulfill your scalability dreams, according to financing expert, Aurora Capital. The good news is that you don’t always have to bootstrap your way to success. If external people with capital believe in your idea, they will be keen to finance it and make it a reality.  Improve your marketing materials and look for ways to create a convincing case for expansion. The more attractive you make your vision of the future, and the more believable it is, the more money will gravitate towards your enterprise.

In short, there are various steps you can take to turn your local business into an international business, many of which revolve around simply marketing yourself correctly and ensuring that you enter the market at the perfect time. To put it simply, you need to find a gap in the market that none of your competitors are filling - and ensure that you take up the space. 
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Why your Business needs a billboard

30/8/2021

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Have you ever considered how a billboard is going to help your business? You would advertise in any way if you knew it would work for you, right? A billboard is going to help you to promote your business and help you to get your brand out there in front of others. It works in the way that your business signage would work, too. Billboards have been a promotional tool since forever, and you have to think about whether you want to pump some cash into your business billboard, too.

There are plenty of advertising options out there, but a billboard is going to change the game for your marketing strategy. You would invest money in ICE Signs for your business signage, so why wouldn't you look at billboards as your next strategy? Below, we’ve put together a few ways your business needs a billboard!

  1. You’ll be more visible! Your business is going to thrive if you can become far more visible and a billboard does that without too much work from you. Your billboard is going to enhance your business and its value, and as they’re so enormous and catchy, everyone in your community is going to see it! Because they’re so big and if you place them well, they’ll be a 24-hour method of advertising for you!
  2. Easy to maintain. If you want your business to have a low-maintenance option for your marketing, a billboard is the way to go. You just need to install it once, and you are then sorted for a few months. You only need to buy and install your billboard once, and once it’s up you have a permanent method of advertising.
  3. It’s cheap! A billboard is a cheap option for the amount of exposure your business gets. You don't have to spend a ton of money to invest in your business billboard, which makes it one of the most cost effective marketing methods around. It’s a good thing that you can do for your business as it’s going to keep your spending down while getting your advertising up.
  4. You’ll attract the right customers. A billboard in the right place with the right advertising message is going to help to attract the right customers. It shows off your creativity as a business and it helps you to have a much wider scope than other marketing options. 
  5. You’re going to engage your audience. When your customers message you to tell you that they are interested in what you have to offer, and they tell you that it’s because of your billboard, you’re going to know that your marketing is working. If you have the right billboards out there, you’re going to engage a wider audience and help your customers to learn more about you!
A billboard makes a difference to your business, but only if the message is correct. Make a point of collaborating with an external agency if you want to ensure that your business is going to get the right response.

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Market your Business properly with this ultimate guide

26/8/2021

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If you want to market your business effectively, then you have come to the right place. Here you can find out everything you need to know about taking your company to that next, level while also finding out the steps you need to take to guarantee success in the future.

Media Relations

Media relations is otherwise known as PR. Media relations is simply about getting posts about you or your business out there. It may be that you have won a new contract, or that you have launched a new service. On the flip side, something quirky might have happened within your business, and you want to let your clients know. Either way, PR is a fantastic way for you to boost the potential of your company and it could really help you with your social media coverage. If you are struggling to get awareness of your company out there, then it is a good idea for you to try and hire a PR agency.

Digital Advertising

Targeting specific audiences and executing strategies that are data-led will really help you to market your business. The main advertising channels out there include PPC,
blogs, paid social and SEO. All of them run across both desktop devices and mobile devices. Digital advertising can be a real minefield, but it is transparent and accountable at the same time. You can see everything that is happening, and you can also see where your budget has gone. On top of this, you can see the results you’re achieving so it should never be difficult for you to see where you stand.


Press Advertising

If you want your company to be effective in newspapers, then you have to make sure that your advertisement is both big and bold. If you know that your advertisement doesn’t stop someone in their tracks and if it doesn’t make them take note, then you will have wasted your money. If you want to stand out from the crowd then you have to make sure that you put in the work. A
print company can help you out a lot here, so don’t overlook this if you want to take things to that next level.


Direct Mail

Back in the day, digital mail earned the nickname “junk mail”. Not a single day went by without there being a huge pile of letters or even leaflets on the doormat. That being said, this has quickly changed. In this day and age, direct mail is wonderfully effective if you follow a few rules. Some rules include using good data. If you manage your database, ensure that it is clean and that it is up to date as well. You might also want to send content that is relevant to the recipient. If you can do this, then you will soon find that it is easier than ever for you to ensure that everything is going as it should. If you need some help with your campaign, then remember that there are companies that you can hire to help you with this


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Two marketing strategies for small to medium Enterprises

22/8/2021

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​Organisations and their marketing strategies naturally vary from one another. Some hire marketing agencies to do their marketing while some do them alone. The marketing strategies used by small businesses are normally determined by the size of the business which is directly proportional to its ability to spend on marketing campaigns. This means that the marketing strategy for small firms differs from that used by large companies. Their marketing strategies are usually simpler and more direct like using a Direct mailing service or a Social Media agency. Those used by large corporations are usually expansive marketing plans, using complex distribution channels or highly specialized divisions.
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Networking know-how: How to get your name out there

20/8/2021

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As a business owner, you know you should be networking. We are not going to list all of the benefits of doing it because we know that you know the importance. The problem is actually doing it. Networking takes a degree of confidence that not everyone has. Perhaps you are a bit of an introvert and the thought of striking up a conversation with someone that you do not know brings a sense of terror. It can also feel more than a little spammy if not done quite right. Here, we look at some tips to make networking a little bit easier and more comfortable, and dare we say it - fun?

Be you
Business owners on the whole are savvy. That’s why they own their own business! They can spot an insincere and fake personality front he get-go, so it is important to go into networking being your real self. You are good enough - that is why you are here in the first palace. Plus, networking is about making connections with like-minded people who you can help and who can help you, and if you are not being you, how do you know whether you will click?

Be ready
Be ready to network at any given opportunity - you never quite know when you will meet someone who could be valuable to you. It might be at the school gate, the bar, or the doctor’s office. Being ready is important, but be careful not to turn every single person you meet into a potential customer. That can be offputting. Instead, have business card on your person at all times, or if you want to be really snazzy, digital business cards! Remember to be professional at all times - watch your language while you are out and about and be mindful of your behavior. There could be a potential client watching you!

Know when to jump in
Nothing quite kills a conversation or an opportunity than barging into a conversation and taking over. It can leave a bad taste and completely destroy the flow. Smile, listen in, and get an idea of what is being talked about before offering your thoughts and opinions. No one likes a bulldozer!

Stop saying sorry
A key mistake that those lacking in networking experience or confidence tend to make is to apologize. Stop! You are not imposing on anyone; you are building a relationship with someone that can be mutually beneficial. By apologizing, you look inexperienced, unprofessional, and lacking in confidence which are all offputting traits in a business person. You are not asking them to do you a favor, you are asking for help or support which in turn will give them an advantage in one way or another.

Smile
Most importantly, smile and look friendly. Even if you are uncomfortable and hate networking, plaster a smile on your face and try to make it look genuine. No one is going to come and chat with you if you are frowning or grimacing or looking like you would rather be anywhere else. Be approachable.
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Make your Business known on the market

4/8/2021

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​Your business needs a lot of things if it is going to succeed, and one of these is that it needs to be known. Your marketing needs to be updated constantly if it’s going to help your business see any level of success, and that’s what we’re here to help you with. You’ve got to think outside the box and ensure that whatever you are doing is really getting your name out there so that people know who you are. If you would like to find out more about this topic, and how you can actually do this, keep reading down below.
Do Something Nobody Else Is Doing
First, we recommend that you try to do something that nobody else is doing. If you want to stand out, then you can’t be doing the
same old things that all the other businesses are doing, you have got to be different. Try to come up with ideas that you know nobody else is either brave enough to do, or have ideas that are original. Run these past a focus group before you put them into practice as otherwise you could find yourself accidentally offending people or losing their interest. A focus group is an integral part of the marketing process as it gives you constructive feedback that you can use. 


Put Your Logo Out There

Another thing that you are going to need to do is put your logo out there. At the end of the day, you want people to recognize your logo as belonging to your business. When they see it somewhere, they need to know who it belongs to and what that business does. As such, we recommend that everyone should have something on them at all times that has the logo on them if they work for your company. You should also have items that you give out at promotional events that have the logo on them. We recommend looking at a
commercial embroidery machine so that you can do this yourself if you want to!


Make Good Use Of Social Media

Finally, social media is a huge
opportunity for business and you can’t afford to miss out on it. If you want your business to be known on the market, you have got to be present on all the major platforms. At the moment, we would say as long as you have a profile on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, you’re going to be okay.


Ensure that you are updating this on a regular basis to avoid being the company whose page is blank all the time. People want excitement, they want to engage with your business, so you’ve got to give them something to engage with.


We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you can do to make your business known on the market. The most important thing is that you are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get your business name out there. If you can do this, then you are more likely to see success! We wish you the very best of luck.

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3 basic website design best practices

4/8/2021

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The interest that you gain on your website can convert visitors into potential customers and possibly loyal followers. Likewise, many experts will tell you that if a website design is done poorly you run the risk of driving them away and lowering conversion rates. Potential customers will be driven from a website if they feel confused or frustrated when attempting to navigate around it. They can likewise decide they are not interested if the design of the website is not up to standard, or just looks bad. The following article goes through website design best practices for when you’re starting out and want to know how to build a better website, with some considerations to think about.   

Website Design With SEO
SEO web design optimization means that your website has been created for search engines to easily index the content for users to find. When SEO strategies have been done effectively you increase the chance of gaining more organic traffic to your website through higher placement in search engines. Web design focuses on on-page and off-page SEO strategies. 

Off-page Seo strategies include using links to your advantage through research and enough value that other websites begin linking to different content within your site. The on-page SEO strategies are also website best practices to consider.

  • Consistent and appealing aesthetics that are on brand. This is created through the design and content having a consistent brand look that feels unified while looking good.
  • Scannable information and design. Having a clean website structure that isnt too cluttered with information and is easy to read or navigate.  
  • A responsive website design. When a websites content is able to adapt to multiple devices and give a consistently smooth experience throughout it is fully responsive.
  • High value content and CTAs. Great content that provides value with internal link structures, fully optimized high quality images or videos, and relevant keywords. Call to Actions or CTAs lead customers to learn more or complete actions that provide value.

Fast Loading times
Loading times are very important because the longer a site or page loads the less attention it gains. A visitor will take 3-4 seconds to decide whether the time it takes to load a page is worth it, and many take that time to leave. This can likewise make sure that your SEO rankings are relatively high. The ways that you can get faster response times are through ensuring:

  • Optimized databases and media content
  • Content delivery networks
  • Good hosting platforms

Strong A/B Testing
A/B testing helps you understand what works best for you and your market. Also known as split testing, it measures and compares the responses of your target market. If you have designed two different options it gives you the ability to analyze what version is the better option.  

Anyone venturing into the world of small business marketing will tell you that websites are essential. Not only do they display product and service information, but they also form a web presence for your business online. Done right you can get visitors interested in less than 50 milliseconds on what you have to offer and the brand story surrounding the business. Thats why you need to thoroughly weigh whether DIY or professional website development is best. 
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How to grow your brand's reputation

3/8/2021

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When you own a business, reputation matters. You'll soon realise that without a large audience ready and waiting for your products and service, you won't be able to generate enough funds to cover your costs. Thankfully, growing your reputation and spreading the word about your brand doesn't have to be as difficult as you might expect, as there are in fact just a few key tips and tricks that you can make the most of to achieve your goals in no time at all. So, if you're interested in finding out more, then simply read on to uncover some of the most effective marketing techniques that you can utilize today.

Develop A Social Media Presence
One of the best ways to increase your reach as a brand in the modern day involves developing a strong social media presence. Billions of people use social media platforms every single day, often for upwards of 6 hours, so failing to cash in on such an opportunity for your brand could have catastrophic consequences. It's super simple to start your own social media page, as you need nothing more than a company email address and a few key pieces of information about your brand to get started. Most if not all social media platforms allow you to create a 'business' profile, which gives you the chance to link your posts to your products or website, as well as being able to monitor the interactions that take place on your profile. You can use your page to build a network of interest individuals by utilizing handy features such as #hashtags that catapult your content onto the screens of your target audience. Always remember that aesthetics matter online, so it's a good idea to maintain an attractive theme or style through your content to visually appeal to other users. 

Make Your Image Memorable
A boring brand name with a tired logo and a basic form of packaging is no doubt going to encourage potential customers to look the other way, as you need to make sure that your products are eye-catching and your image is memorable if you wish to become a successful brand. Begin with your logo, focusing on creating the most aesthetically pleasing graphic that can accurately represent your business and what you stand for. Next, focus on your product's packaging - does it currently focus on function over image? Though your products need to do what they say on the tin, the tin has to be attractive enough to draw them in! It's a good idea to get in touch with a skilled third party packaging company that can help you to upgrade your look. If you get the chance to secure your own retail store, then the style that you maintain on the shop floor must be suitable for your brand! 

Growing your brand's reputation has never been so simple when you can take the time to make the most of some of the brilliant tips and tricks carefully detailed above. 
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4 ways to get your Business noticed in a big way

8/7/2021

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All aspiring entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they want to compete with the big boys who have already made a name for themselves in the business world. No matter what line of industry you're in, you'll almost certainly have a rival, and it may be hard to stand out and be discovered when you're new to the game. So, how can you catch the attention of your target audience while you're fresh to the game in order to ensure that your business survives? Check out some of our fantastic and effective methods to get your business noticed in a big way.

Utilise GoogleAds 

While there are many other forms of advertising available on the internet, we recommend Google Ads since it is not only the most popular search engine, but it also tailors its advertisements to both consumers and companies. It's actually a very simple premise that works by showing ads that are related to the consumer's search history. Customers will see ads for items they are likely to be interested in, and companies will not have to worry about their ads being shown to the incorrect people. You'll have total control over your ads and be able to see precise analytics on how they're working.


Do something unexpected

Trying to conform to what every other similar company is doing isn't going to help you stand out. While it may seem to be the rational thing to do, taking a chance and doing something entirely unexpected will attract attention. This may be as simple as designing a billboard that no one would anticipate from your field of business, or as radical as making a promise that your customers can't resist such as creating a world where everyone is connected, just like
https://worldmobile.io/smartvillage do. Different is always better, no matter which path you take.


Write your own jingle

We've all had a catchy jingle stuck in our brains at some stage, which is why it's a great way to advertise your business. Radio and television commercials are effective ways to engage people and keep your product or service in front of their thoughts. All you have to do now is come up with a creative jingle and get the word out!


Contact online influencers

In today's world, almost everything centers around the internet, and many people have taken advantage of this by using it to spread the word about something they care about. There are a slew of top bloggers and vloggers who can spread the word about something in the blink of an eye, so
reaching out to these influencers to work out an agreement could be worthwhile. To get your name out there, you might utilise link placement, banners on their website, item reviews, or even sponsorship.


Putting your name out there isn't easy, but if you use the ideas we've provided, we're confident that your company will stand out from the crowd in no time, and you'll be getting the customers you want for your business.




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How to help your staff be more proactive at work

10/6/2021

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It’s not always easy to be proactive at work. It’s defined by the behaviour of the people in your organization and if you have staff who are not proactive in what they do, you are going to fail in your business. You need to ensure that your employees don't have to be asked to do their jobs, and you shouldn't have to micromanage them into it. Your staff should want to be proactive in their jobs, and if you ensure that you are working with a great group of self-motivated individuals, they will be more proactive without being asked about it. 

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If you want to make sure that the employees you have hired maintain their ability to be proactive in their roles, you have to promote the right environment for it. This means knowing when to introduce construction document management software into your day to day business. It means knowing when to implement employee training and when to teach your staff to be more organized. It means helping your employees before they need to ask for it. You can take plenty of steps to become more proactive at work and you can keep your employees proactive, too. Proactive employees help each other and when you yourself are more proactive in keeping others motivated, you can ensure that your business is one that is successful. You can organize your time better, and schedule your tasks better, too. You need to have the right amount of downtime and do what you can to keep your life in balance. So, how can you help your staff to be more proactive?
  • Be more positive. You need to maintain a positive mental attitude if you want your team to be proactive - in fact, it should be at the top of the list. Approaching the tasks you have from the most positive angle is important and it can help you to help your staff who are willing and able to be counted on. You need team players who are reliable and available, and it’s easier to do that when you are a problem solver.
  • Get in front of your responsibilities. From the tasks that you have to do to the priorities that you have on your list, you need to know what your current responsibilities are so that you can solve problems. When you know what you have to do, you can better manage your working day and the timings that you have for your employees to follow.
  • Finding a role model. Which of your employees stand out among the rest? This is the employee who can be the role model of the group. When possible, spend time with your staff and communicate with them properly. You can gain some insight into their behavior and try out the techniques that work for each of them. You can then help them to build their own repertoire. 
  • Help your staff to create their own opportunities. Don't wait until you ask someone what they want to do - present your ideas to them and be the manager that they need.
  • Help your staff to reach their goals. You and your staff can better work on projects together when you are there, enabling them to reach their goals and achieve the highest possible outcomes. The smaller goals lead to the better results, and you can help your staff to overcome their fears in their role, too. You can step right outside their comfort zone and help them to get comfortable with that, too.
  • Allow your staff to strive for excellence. Know your staff and their goals and then do what you can to make it happen for them. Be passionate about what you do and give it your all. You need to know that you will be far more effective with your team when you put your energy into it. Your staff will be better at what they do when you allow them to be, and you can celebrate all of their goals with them. Remember that people work better with the right support, and you can offer this to them as their manager!
  • Be flexible. With your employees working for you, you need to be as flexible as possible to allow them to achieve the things that they want to achieve. You cannot plan for every outcome in the office but if you ensure that your employees know what they’re working toward and you are flexible with that, you can be aware of the context of any issues in the office.
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Making the most of your resources in Business

9/6/2021

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Image credit: Free-Photos from Pixabay
Running a successful business is tough work, not least in the post-pandemic era. Thankfully, you can give your hopes of success a serious boost through added resourcefulness.

While it won’t guarantee success, focusing on the following factors will build a stronger foundation for your business. Better still, it can work wonders for startups, expanding businesses, and firms just wanting more stability. Here’s all you need to know.

Money
There are many ways to analyse a company’s performances. In reality, though, none of the other aspects will matter if you cannot get the finances under control. Profitability will rely heavily on sales revenue, but improving this can take time. Improving your bottom line through better expenditure control delivers far faster results.

Every business owner should look to cut financial waste. Firstly, you must ensure that you are getting the best value for money on insurance quotes, energy rates, courier services, and supplies. Integrating money-saving ideas from greener tech to VoIP digital telephony systems will help. 

It’s important to recognise that cheap doesn’t always translate to value. Still, when you cut out unnecessary expenses and excessive costs, your company will be in a better place. If nothing else, it allows you to stay competitively priced.

Time 
The old cliche states that time is money. Therefore, it makes sense to pay greater attention to your time management aspects too. From a personal perspective, hiring a PA or outsourcing admin tasks can be very wise. This allows you to dedicate more time to the jobs that will actually drive the company to greatness. 

Crucially, you must find ways to remain productive even in difficult circumstances. However, it’s not all about your personal workload. Losing unnecessary team meetings or business travel can save valuable time for your entire team of employees. Utilising tech to automate some of their daily tasks can have a telling influence too.

When time is used efficiently, the results are huge. It encourages increased productivity while the business will be able to keep progressing. This prevents any threat of the company being left behind by its competitors. Perfect.
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Employees
Employees are the catalyst for business success. While saving time on their behalf is a great starting point, you must do more. It’s not only a bad worker who will blame the tools if the equipment is genuinely lacking. Ensuring that teams are supported by effective machinery, A.I. systems, and software is key

Perhaps more importantly, all employees deserve clarity. Investing in staff training will ensure that their skills stay relevant and teamwork reaches the desired levels. Unity will boost the speed of productivity and consistency across the brand. This extends to customer interactions, which will have a huge role to play.

Cultivating a positive employer-employee bond as well as staff-client bonds will serve you well. You must not forget remote employees, though. When your team works harder and smarter, it makes your managerial role simpler.

Workspaces
Renting offices, shops, and warehouses will be among your biggest expenses. Maximising the potential of your premises allows you to operate from smaller, cheaper spaces. Adding a mezzanine floor to warehouses can be a great example. Not least because it helps you expand the operation without moving or taking on extra costs.

It’s important to avoid clutter or taking up space unnecessarily. Archive storage enables you to keep hold of important files without taking up valuable on-site space. Another positive step is to outsource items like customer care or IT support. This will allow you to utilise the workspaces for other issues.

Of course, the right interior design steps will work wonders for the situation too. It can range from standing workstations to compact storage facilities. Making the spaces work smarter will have an immensely positive influence.
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Customers
In many ways, customers are the most important people in your venture. After all, they have the power to determine whether your products sell or not. It is a lot easier and cheaper to retarget an existing client to boost their lifetime value to the company. Therefore, focusing on loyalty schemes and incentives to keep coming back is advised.


It is equally important for businesses to think about how existing clients can bring new ones. The power of recommendation is greater than ever. Therefore, using affiliate rewards programmes and
referral marketing are ideal steps. Similarly, getting positive testimonials from past clients can help build trust. In turn, that brings more sales.


When the business is more customer-centric, there is every chance that it will see better results. Besides, you can use the insights and analysis provided to tweak the brand for even greater progress.


Network

A strong network is one of the most valuable resources to possess in business. Regardless of your industry or background, you should want to make the most of it. There are many ways to utilise your network for increased business success. For starters, joining forces with local non-competing firms allows you to build a joint audience base.


Furthermore, you can create B2B opportunities and skills trades. For example, a
cleaning company and a food business could help each other out. The former can clean the food company’s reception areas in return for free lunches for the staff. Likewise, marketing companies can link up with various businesses.


Another option is for companies to share partial truckloads for their deliveries. When added to the tutoring that can be gained from your network, there’s no doubting its value. In short, it never has to be your company versus the world.

Picture
Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Brand
The majority of senior marketing experts say that brand awareness is a bigger task than getting conversions. So, any opportunity to embrace the brand to build stronger connections should be grabbed with both hands. Consumers want to align themselves with brands that share the same outlooks on life. You are the biggest USP.


There are many ways that you can use the brand to your advantage. Using
Corporate Social Responsibility to its full potential should be at the top of your agenda. This shows what you care about and can help you connect to your audience. Besides, it will deliver a host of self-satisfying outcomes. You deserve it.


Successful banding should go beyond the idea of simply selling products. Building a community that covers employees, customers, and partners is the ultimate success. When supported by the ideas above, your business will look better than ever.

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Is your business missing any of these vital services?

3/6/2021

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Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Does your business have all of the vital services that it needs? The answer is probably not, because too many businesses miss out at least one in the name of saving money. However, when you have these services they are going to more than pay for themselves, so you need to stop doing this. Down below, we are going to take a look at some of the vital services that you are going to need, so keep reading to find out more.

IT
The first thing that you are going to need to think about is IT. Instead of hiring a full-time employee to take care of this, you are better off hiring an outside company that offers managed IT services. The reason for this is because this way, you know that you are getting professionals, and one of the services that is usually on offer is 24/7 monitoring. This is not something that is offered when you hire your own employee, and you pay more for a salaried employee as well.

When things go wrong with your IT, it needs to be fixed ASAP. You can’t afford to wait because all of the downtime is going to be losing you profits. We know this isn’t what you want, so hire professionals and they will ensure the least amount of downtime possible.

Marketing
The next thing that we are going to mention is marketing. Too many business owners are of the opinion that marketing is a waste of time. While they are wrong, their loss is your gain. You now have the upper hand because you will be marketing your business well, bringing in more business than you have ever seen, maybe even some of the competitors' clients. If you don’t market, people aren’t going to know anything about your business, which means they aren’t going to use your services. 

When you hire a marketing service, all of your needs will be taken care of through this company, and you won’t have to stress about it at all.

Human Resources
The final service that we are going to look at is human resources. While people might not hear about HR that often, they are always around. You need them to mediate and moderate the interactions and issues between employees and yourself, or between employees and other employees. They are essential for dispute resolution and a number of other things. You should never run a business without either a HR service, or a HR department on your side.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the services that are vital for your business. If you are currently missing any of them, then it’s essential that you get this sorted out sooner rather than later. The thing that you need to remember is that while it might feel like a lot of money right now, it’s an investment into the future. We wish you the very best of luck and hope that you get some of these services soon.
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How to succeed in business as an introvert

2/6/2021

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Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pexels
If you’re an introvert, you could be forgiven for thinking that the world of business is not for you, but if you’re ambitious and you want to a company for yourself, you should not let your introversion put you off.

Here, you will find a few things that can help you succeed in business even if you are an introvert:

Choose your business wisely
If you’re an introvert and you want to be successful in business, then it makes sense to choose your business wisely and ensure that it is introvert-friendly, For example, if you choose to set up a web design business, you could spend most of your time alone working on code or if you start a food contract company, you could spend a lot of time in a small team developing products for consumers, rather than attending lots of meetings or having to be out there on show all the time. Choose a business that meets your pace and you will be just fine.

Embrace it
It might seem like being an introvert is a downside in the world of business where networking and drawing attention are seen to be so important, but the fact is, introverts have their own skills and abilities that are just as valuable, For instance, introverts tend to be far more perspective to their environments, which means you may be more easily able to read the needs of your customers and improve your products and services to beat the competition.

Network the way you want
Networking is generally pretty important for successful business owners, so it may seem like a real sticking point for you as a potential business owner, but it really doesn’t have to be. You just need to find a way to network on your terms, which could include participating in message boards and online chats where you feel more comfortable. If you do attend physical meetups, just stay for a short while, meet the people you want to meet, and retreat to the solitude of your hotel room for a while before you’re ready to go again.

Delegate
The greatest thing about running a business in the 21st century is that it has never been easier to delegate tasks to the abundance of freelance workers at your fingertips. So, if there are things you absolutely don’t want to do, you can always delegate them to a competent third party who is maybe a bit more extroverted than you.

Partner up
Something else you may want to think about is going into partnership with someone who is an extrovert. That way, you get the best of both worlds and you can both play to your strengths while eliminating your weaknesses., This will need to be someone you trust and who has the same vision as you, but if you can find this person, it could be a good way to be successful in your business.

Being an introvert is totally normal, so don’t let it hold you back from achieving your business dreams.
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Build your brand this month with these tips

2/6/2021

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Picture
Image credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Branding for a new business can be a difficult thing, and it is a process that can take a long time to nail down. When marketing for your business, there are a lot of spinning plates, and often you will need more than one set of hands to truly help you along the way. 

Today we want to talk about some of the ways that you can build a successful brand this year and thrive even in an overcrowded market. 

Get HubSpot 
If you have any familiarity with sales and marketing you may be aware of HubSpot. HubSpot is an all-in-one tool that allows you to track leads, conversions, website visits, social media activity, and more in one place. If you are new to managing marketing, a tool like this will collate all the data in one place and make it easy for you to understand. Once you have HubSpot connected to your website and social media channels you will be able to do a lot of things: 
  • Live chat on your website 
  • Manage email leads 
  • Schedule social media 
  • Manage contacts 
  • Create pop-up and drop-down ads
It is a pricey tool so make sure you know where you stand and teach yourself a little about the software before you implement it into your business. Having that HubSpot expert in your corner might be just what you need when trying to learn what exactly it is compatible of.  Whitehat is one of the most experienced HubSpot partners and are a Platinum level agency and HubSpot partner for over fours years. For all things content professional onboarding, check out exactly how they can provide both technical guidance to properly configure the HubSpot software, and campaign assistance to leverage the HubSpot tools and Inbound Methodology. 

Design using Canva 
If you are not a natural graphic design whizz - it’s ok! You don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to create some great content for your brand. Canva is a free graphic design tool that allows you to create anything from leaflets and brochures to logos and social media posts. It provides hundreds of templates that you can edit from, and it will make your life so much easier when trying to create winning content.  

Generate your brand colours
One of the most challenging aspects of building your brand is deciding on a colour scheme. You might have a colour in mind, but then finding others that work alongside it can be difficult. That’s why using Coolors.co to generate a colour palette is a must. Once you lock in a colour you like, you can randomise the selection until you find a palette that suits you. It will save you choosing colours that don’t work together and don’t look right for your brand. 

Try leaflets 
One of the best ways to generate some interest in your brand is to create leaflets that showcase a product or a selection of your products. You can create leaflets and print them with www.stressfreeprint.co.uk, and hand them out through postal drops, on the street, at trade shows, or even leave them in the foyer of your office for visitors. Leaflets add an air of professionalism to your brand and people will most likely trust you more if you have them.

Hire a billboard 
If you really want to make an impression this year as a small brand, consider investing money in a billboard. Billboard advertising is a brilliant way to get your name in front of an audience and you can leave it for a month or a few months at a time for maximum marketability. 

Try a TV ad
TV is a powerful marketing tool, and many people use TV ads to help sell their products or market services. If you want to try something different in terms of marketing this year, consider making a TV advert for your brand. There are so many fun ways to create TV ads to promote yourself and you can really have some fun with it.

Run a blog
​
A blog is a useful way to get content out into the world and also increase your reach as a business. When running a blog you can create articles around your subject of choice and be informative to your audience. Providing content online like this is a great way to gain some visibility for your brand and it will also likely improve your engagement. 

Create a video series 
YouTube is one of the most popular social media channels in the world, and people make videos every day. It is a great idea for you to create videos on YouTube either talking about products, creating tutorials, or sharing news from your industry. This can be a brilliant way to gain a new audience and also start earning money through ad revenue. 

Consider some of these different ways to help you improve your brand this year and build your business into something incredible.
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