Small Business News and Articles
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.
Website support and why you need it
Website support for your business is important. You’ve invested time and money in establishing your website and everything looks great. Neat, tidy, cool and inviting for visitors to engage with you or buy from you. But that’s just the beginning. The internet is ever-changing and you have to keep pace with it to avoid damage
7 Social Proof Website Examples
Using feedback from your existing customers Social proof from your current customers helps when potential customers are researching you online. They’re getting to know you by way of the content of your website. Understandably, many of them might be skeptical or hesitant to trust you right away. To prove the value of what you have to offer, why not let
5 Things to Help Facebook Search Find Your Biz
How to make sure you’re found on Facebook search. Heard about Facebook Search? It’s true that Google reigns supreme with over 95% of the online search market. However social media giant, Facebook are actively making changes to grab their slice of the action. Yet despite the potential, Facebook hadn’t in recent years been able to effectively
Mature Age Investment
Mature Age Investment in Human Capital In this post about SMEs employing mature age staff we highlight an excellent article from Inside Small Business. The article was originally written by Margaret Paton, Journalist/Copywriter, Communications: Keeping It Real. Taking on a mature-aged workers can mean reaping benefits. Knowledge and experience Hire a worker aged 50 + and you’ll tap
Sell Global – 7 Benefits of e-Commerce for Local Business
Think local – sell global To sell global, local businesses need a well-designed website so they can benefit from potentially lucrative new markets. There is a massive amount of at-your-fingertips information to show how easy it is to go online. Ever improving software applications make it easier than ever to construct your own e-commerce solution
4 EOFY Stress Points and Where to Get Help
End of Financial Year (EOFY) has always been a tough time for small to medium size enterprises. A recent EOFY report published by the Bank of Queensland showed more than a third of small business owners say the end of financial year is the most stressful time of the year. Of the 520 small business
3 Reasons Why You Need a Contact Form
Okay so you have your website setup and are open for online business. Use a Contact Form to fulfill your site goal. You have decided you key goal is to have site visitors contact you. You spent a lot of time, energy and money getting potential customers on your page so achieving a completion
Protecting Honest Businesses – ATO
Electronic systems are in-favour with the Australia Taxation Office (ATO). They know that most business owners are honest and that running a business can be difficult. So they are looking at industry-wide patterns so they can see who may need assistance. The ATO say that, unfortunately, there are businesses that operate in the cash and hidden
5 Ways to Save Time With FAQs
Save Time Spent Answering the Same Old Questions. Save time you and your team spend handling everyday enquiries from existing potential customers. We suggest to business operators that they implement a good FAQ page on their websites. It can be a very powerful tool. In addition to helping establish your expertise, it can boost your
Online business isn’t always simple
The following online business article is an excerpt from a recent post by Akiva Szental, Co-Founder, Ozen. It was published on the Inside Small Business site which I highly recommend. Akiva outlines some great points for any business operator who is considering the big step of taking their business online. From the outside, starting an online
Responsive Website – What It Is, Why You Need It
Everyone expects a responsive website whenever they are online. A ‘responsive website’ is one that delivers the visitor a pleasant visual and functional experience regardless of whether they are using a desktop, laptop, tablet or modern mobile phone. Any web designer worth hiring has the knowledge, skills and tools to produce a fully functional site
5 Focus Points to Grow Business in Any Market
5 Essential Focus Points To Grow Business In Any Market Small business owners can’t change the macroeconomic market conditions in any given period. However, there are ways to not just survive but thrive even in downmarket times. Financial crises come and go and the geo-political landscape may look disturbing but local businesses continue to serve
Cybercrime Awareness in Small Business
NSW Small Business Commissioner research SME attitudes and views of cybercrime awareness. The purpose was to better inform stakeholders of cyber crime awareness amongst small to medium-sized business owners in NSW. While the report only included businesses based in NSW the findings probably exist with enterprises in all states of Australia. What is cybercrime? Cybercrime
Leave your SEO to Yoast
On-page SEO – Why we use Yoast on all our client websites. From time to time we like to provide a peek behind the curtain in our web development shop by shining a light on the tools we use to build great websites for small businesses. We generally use WordPress for various reasons including how
Google My Business
Google My Business is Here and it’s free ! 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
Brand Logo Ideas for 2017
Your logo is a key asset for your business. They may only take up a small piece of your online real estate but your logo plays a big role in your business. The team over at Wix.com have put together a great article that outlines the main considerations and goals for online branding. The main
5 Things That Annoy Site Visitors
Website Annoyances Solved with the Right Booking Engine. Keeping visitors on your hotel website can be challenging, but it is an important part of your business. The more difficult it is to navigate your website, the less likely potential guests are to complete their bookings. – Jeff Hamilton from RoomKeyPMS RoomKeyPMS is cloud-powered software that
6 Elements of Attractive Web Design and Why it’s Important
Attractive Web Design Tips. A Digital Influence Index report from 2012 revealed that 89% of customers searched online ahead of making a purchasing decision (Digital Influence Index 2012). Fast-forward 5 years and you can expect that percentage to be even higher. How does your website stack up in the beauty stakes? Often your website is
Motel Bookings 6 Website Must Haves
Motel and B&B Website Must Haves. Accommodation providers need an effective customer-facing site. The overall look of the site needs to be professional and inviting by using modern fonts and top-quality images to encourage site visitors to stay on your page and make a reservation. While it’s tempting to start a blog, it is time-consuming for you and
SEO for Shakespeare
Wherefore art thou Romeo? If Shakespeare had a website and wanted people to find his works he, like all of us online business-people would have to understand Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). At the heart of being found online is ‘Keyword research’ which is a catchall term for the activities you undertake to create a good
2 Options for Serving Video Content
It’s no surprise that video content is continuing to grow in popularity. The YouTube video platform is the second most used search engine after Google. Creating video content and publishing it on YouTube will assist your website to gain traction with your target audience. Here are two ways to integrate video on your site so let’s
Every Website Should Have a Blog Right?
Should every website have a blog? Well maybe not if the time, effort and expense put into it fails to result in meeting your website goals. The chances that your blog will stand out from the rest is unlikely but that alone doesn’t mean you should decide against blogging. Personal blogs are one thing but
5 Reasons to Use a CRM system
Finding it hard to track your leads? Here’s 5 reasons to use a CRM system. It’s a place to store all of your clients’ contact information in one place. Keeping track of customer and lead information is essential to growing your business and maintaining a healthy client base. Customer relationship management solutions, or CRM, are more than
Women’s Online Network for Entrepreneurs
Launched in mid 2016 the Women’s Online Network (WON) is kicking goals for business-savvy ladies in NSW. It is a digital platform enabling female entrepreneurs to network and share resources at any stage of the business cycle. The platform features a suite of resources including business plan templates, business viability assessment tools, an event calendar, creative
Need New Staff for Christmas?
The festive season is now upon us and for some businesses that may mean a need to employ additional staff. The team at business.gov.au have released some great information and advice if it’s the first time you’ve employed short term staff, or if you haven’t had to hire staff since the last holiday period. Do an internal
How to Handle Complex Bookings
A solution for businesses which need to handle complex bookings. All service business owners know that while appointment booking may simply be using a book at the front desk next to the phone, it’s not as simple as sticking a person’s name on a calendar. There are several factors that go into scheduling appointments. You can’t
3 Reasons Appointment Text Reminders Work
Let’s limit the frustration from client no-shows. Okay so you have spent time, money and energy into achieving a client scheduling an appointment. You don’t want to risk losing the booking but the reality is that people have to make changes to accommodate work, family or leisure activities which may mean they need to re-schedule their
7 Profitable Collaboration Steps
Ever thought about setting up a collaboration with another business? In a recent post written by Peta Di Palma for FlyingSolo.com.au this opportunity can “determine the business opportunities you receive, the contracts you win, new clients you get and word-of-mouth referrals you generate”. Peta is a master connector and strategic collaborator. Based in Sydney her
Common Concerns About Online Bookings
Will online booking lead to less time talking with clients and less sales as a result? Offering online booking does not have to replace phone call appointment setting. Fitness business websites can offer clients the choice of scheduling via the phone or online. Some clients are going to prefer the phone and others to schedule
The First Deadly Round of Email Roulette
Running a business is tough enough without having to deal with email roulette and telephone ping pong. While most of us just grit our teeth and carry on, Gavin Zuchlinski, Founder and CEO of Acuity Scheduling decided to solve the problem that he saw with his Mother’s business. Now all of us who rely on appointments