Small Business News and Articles
Cold outreach email study
Sending ‘cold’ emails to prospective clients has a bad reputation. Mainly because of the sheer volume of such marketing attempts and also because of poor execution. It’s therefore understandable that we are reluctant to contribute to the noise but it can be a powerful tool when executed effectively. Getting cold email outreach right. The ultimate
Logo Design
Recently, I was asked by a client about logo design. With plenty of ‘logo design’ tools online, people are often tempted to take a DIY approach in order to save some money. My response to the client was that I recommend engaging a specialist Graphic Designer for something as important as a company logo. While
Project feature: Derwent Valley Tasmania
The locals know that the Derwent Valley is Tasmania’s best kept secret. It is their secret. Their secret, perfect piece of the world. Perfectly, sublimely beautiful. Pristine. Vast, with warm pockets of civilisation. Since it earliest history, the Derwent Valley has always been a favourite destination for Tasmanians, first for the indigenous peoples and later
Contact page considerations
Most business websites have a goal of generating leads from potential customers. So it makes sense to create a frictionless path so they can do so via the method that suits them best.
Customer Reviews and why you need them
Today’s consumers are increasingly relying on reviews to make decisions about the products and services they are thinking about purchasing. Local business owners are aware that positive online reviews are great for their business but perhaps not the extent. 92% of consumers rely on reviews when making a local buying decision. 88% of buyers trust
Project feature: Neighbourhood Watch Tasmania
Neighbourhood Watch Tasmania website refresh. The board of the Neighbourhood Watch Tasmania organisation responded very positively to our approach in late 2018 when we suggested their existing online presence could use a renovation. The site hadn’t been updated for many years, and while there were lots of essential information available it wasn’t presented in a
eCommerce Options in Australia
It’s true that Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region has witnessed an online buying boom over the last ten years. By population, the region which includes China, India, Japan and Indonesia has the largest global online market and although smaller by population, the Australian eCommerce market has shown remarkable growth and is currently a top-ten
2019 web trends
What visual delights can we expect this year? With 2018 now behind us I thought it would be interesting to look forward to what types of website styles and functionalities we can expect to see in 2019. To achieve this I’ve researched a few of the main web-design-centric websites from around the world to come
Gutenberg: a major WordPress change
Over 30% of websites on the internet are powered by WordPress and something big is coming. If you are a WordPress user and aren’t already aware, a new ‘editor’ interface, called Gutenberg, will replace the current visual editor that people have become accustomed to. As this new feature will become the new standard, WordPress has been encouraging
Project feature: Scalene Group
Scalene Group is a Melbourne-based company that enables retailers worldwide to use analytics for profit growth. They have deep retail experience and data analytics expertise that is highly sought after. Among their product and service offerings are: Space Management Space measurement and data management Optimisation of store space allocations Space management process design Network evaluation
Keyword mistakes to avoid
Keyword mistakes can be avoided with a bit of knowledge Getting your website found online continues to be a major challenge for businesses. Search Engine Optimisation is a dark-art and most people either don’t have the time or the interest to do it right. Constantly changing algorithms add to the frustration but there are some golden
4 Steps to Google My Business
Google My Business explained. Anyone in business selling products or services have probably tried many ways to attract traffic to their websites. This includes via hits from the various search engines. ‘Page Rank’ particularly from the Google algorithm are impacted by various paid strategies. These include Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns and social media campaigns via
Focus your website
Why is it so important to focus your website? All business websites need to stand out from the crowd. Whether you do it yourself or engage a professional web designer there are some golden rules to consider. Building a website is fraught with traps if you don’t do enough pre-planning. A major aspect of getting
Project feature: Customised Supplements
Customised Supplements is a personalised nutrition business, underpinned by a network of progressive health professionals in the areas of nutrition, dietetics, naturopathy, pharmaceutical chemistry and nutrition-orientated scientific research. They believe that every individual is special, unique and dynamic. In order for every person to realise health benefits from nutritional supplementation, they wanted to provide an
Website trends for 2018
We’ve hit 2018, the internet keeps moving and the designs for websites of all kinds will evolve again this year. While most small businesses don’t need their sites to be on the bleeding edge of design it is a good time to take a look at what the expected trends are for 2018. More video
Cashflow after Christmas
Cashflow after the festive season can be a killer. Regardless of your business having a pre-Christmas sales bonanza – cashflow is a major difficulty at a time when everyone else is enjoying a wonderful time of the year. Usually, as consumers get into the festive spending spirit, it’s a profitable time for retail businesses. Some retailers
Negative Review Response Plan
Getting a negative review need not be the end of the world. Online customer reviews are very important for local businesses. Reviews display what other people, your customers, think of your product or services. If you respond to reviews, you show potential customers that you care about their opinion. It also makes your business stand out
ATO Support Resources
I’m from the Tax office and I’m here to help. While not always a statement met with confidence, small business operators can benefit from the assistance the team from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have on offer. Do you want to learn more about tax basics, good record-keeping and employer essentials? Would you like to
Using Customer Questions
There’s a range of benefits of asking your customers questions. For example, you can use feedback to further improve your customer experience and product development. But you can also ask your customers questions online and monitor their feedback, to improve your lead generation. Google launched a Questions & Answers feature that integrates with Google My Business.
Social Media Marketing Tactics
Businesses with a social media marketing plan get a big head start. 1. Join your professional peers on LinkedIn. Social media marketing over time has seen LinkedIn become a key online business-to-business channel. Now having a diverse community, LinkedIn offers huge marketing opportunities. Tactics range from simple conversations all the way through to direct marketing
Invoicing – 5 ways to get paid
Invoicing would seem like a no-brainer for businesses. But new figures show an alarming number of Australian small businesses are not set up properly for invoicing in a timely fashion which creates a major problem. In an article by AJ Singh, Managing Director, ezyCollect, a survey of over 3500 small businesses revealed that close to one
HTTPS Explained
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) secures the connection to the website you are visiting. No doubt you’ve seen this online. Take a look at the address bar in the browser and find the lock icon on the left side. If the lock is closed then the connection is secure. If it’s open or is there
7 Cyber Security Tips for Business
Cyber security continues to be a major consideration for businesses who are more and more relying on online activity. It is important you keep all your business and client information secure. If your data is lost or compromised, it can be very difficult or very costly to recover it. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) have
Online bookings for local business
Online bookings trend continues. Last year we published an article about the trend of small businesses integrating online bookings into their websites. Back then there were many options to choose from and now there are even more. Wading through each one to make a choice is difficult and time-consuming. Although many small business operators agree
Responsive Design Basics
Responsive design for business websites. Mobile device usage continues to grow therefore people are increasing using them to access websites. This means that it’s never been more important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Responsive web design is an overall approach to building websites. It encompasses web specification standards and flexible design models. The
Structuring Your Website
Why structuring your website and menus is important. Visual structuring your website is, in most cases, presented by the menu of your website. Permalinks and breadcrumbs assist but these are not important for your visitor. Your main navigation menu is crucial. To keeps things orderly and focussed the menu consists of a limited number of top-level items. Ideally,
Social sharing – 3 golden rules
Social sharing is here to stay. Social media platforms will come and go over time. However people are social creatures and love to tell their friends (and in some case families) what they are up to. Social media is great for marketers, but should your business join in the fun? Everyone online knows that social
Small Business is Still a Tough Path
A new small business index and report has been launched. It looks at how Australia’s small business landscape of more than two million operators and how they are faring. Not much has improved following an ATO initiative 12 months ago. The problems of getting paid is still a major concern for business owners. (see ‘Late
7 Mobile Website Design tips
Mobile website design is crucial for business. The percentage of internet users with mobile devices is at 80% and climbing. So that’s millions of people looking for products and services online with small screens. In order to satisfy potential customers, every business must make their site easy to navigate on mobile devices. Besides being findable
Business Blog Guidelines
What should you write for your business blog? Business Blog publishing essentially needs to be interesting and relevant to your audience but also needs to be well structured and easy to consume. Grabbing attention and ensuring readers get to the end and follow through on your desired action are two goals for all online articles.