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
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
Everyone knows that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is important. And many believe that the only way to get potential customers to click on their listing is via paid advertising. While this certainly can improve the ranking on search results pages, there are things you can do to improve your chances of being clicked. While SEO
Helping your visitors know your venue is suitable for them. Accessible or Inclusive tourism encompasses a range of concepts and terms relating to ideas that tourism should be accessible to all. There are several terms in general use including accessible tourism, adapted tourism, Tourism for All, Barrier Free Tourism (BFT), Easy Access Tourism and Universal Tourism.
The accommodation industry is being increasingly targeted by acts of cybercrime. Brendan Granger from AccomNews writes that in November 2018, Marriott announced that the data of up to 500 million guests had been hacked over a four-year period. Just recently, researchers uncovered a massive data breach that could have serious implications for hotel chains around
Towards more direct bookings In this second post about Bed & Breakfast websites we’ll look at a strategy to land direct bookings from your website. Currently, the travel and accommodation landscape is being hijacked by the multinational Online Travel Agencies. Not being registered with the OTA’s can significantly reduce the visibility of a B&B in
So, you are running a B&B There are a multitude of reasons why you might decide to buy an existing Bed & Breakfast business or start your own from scratch. Assuming you do all the required due diligence regarding location, market segment, seasonality factors, prevailing and predicted economic landscape and 101 more things – you
TalentIdentify are a Melbourne-based business that provides businesses seeking to understand their workforces with the intelligence they need to develop talent, build better performing teams, and drive a more effective culture. The software takes individuals through an in-depth set of questions and delivers a smartly formatted report. Talentidentify combines four types of analytics into one
As more and more entrepreneurs are pursuing new-business-related opportunities globally, your startup needs a competitive advantage. Strategic planning gives your business the competitive edge you need. This includes the adoption of various tactics. which includes email marketing for your startup. A well-designed and targetted email newsletter campaign is a cost-effective way for startups to increase sales
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that was launched in 2003 for professional development and networking. While it primarily serves individual professionals, allowing them to post accomplishments and work histories, as well as upload resumes and other supporting material, it also provides opportunities for businesses to post jobs, showcase new products and services, and network
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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 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
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 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 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
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 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
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
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
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.
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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