Successfully utilising Social Media as a marketing tool for your business is a fantastic way of being able to drive new customers towards your website as well as being a great way of interacting with your existing customer base.

In an ideal world your business will be displayed across a variety of social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ to name but a few, all of which effectively utilised can be a fantastic marketing tool for any company.

Audience Interaction

Particularly with e-commerce websites ensure that your homepage and your products in particular have easy to use sharing buttons. Having your customer share your product is far more powerful than your own endorsements.

Don’t be too focused on sales

When posting to social media sites mix up your promotional posts with informative content such as blogs, tips and where applicable your inspirations. Don’t be afraid to interact with your audience, replying to posts and messages allows you to ensure that you’re in touch with your audience.

Photos & Infographics

As well as your regular content ensure that you integrate photos, infographics and quotes which can be an effective way to create and share eye catching content. Your audience may be more inclined to repost, retweet or share this type of content which will then give you the opportunity for your business to be opened up to a wider audience.

The stats

Across many of the social media platforms is a wide range of information detailing your performance levels. This provides you with the opportunity to see what type of content is working for you best and what areas you could improve.

Show your customers your appreciation

From a simple “thanks” to giveaways and exclusive promotional offers, giving a little back to your audience ensures that they know you appreciate their business whilst also inviting them to use your business again.

Getting the best out of your Pay Per Click Campaigns can often be a tricky proposition. Using Google Adwords can be a powerful way of quickly generating business and attracting customers. One great example of a company successfully utilising PPC is Ivinghoe Turf. By combining SEO and PPC, Ivinghoe Turf are able to generate both organic searches from potential customers and draw in customers using attractive PPC adverts. This has seen their business turnover more than double in the last year alone.

Statistics have shown that having both a presence with organic search results and having your business appear in paid advertisements can provide your company with more credibility which can result in driving up more business to your website.

Ivinghoe Turf

By utilising a strict budget and carefully targeting specific areas Ivinghoe Turf have been able to utilise a cost effective way of marketing their business across a wide audience. Google Adwords gives users the ability for local businesses to be able to quickly aim their adverts to specific areas. This means that your budget won’t be wasted on customers who live in areas you don’t necessarily want to advertise your business.

They have done this by simply having well written advertisements that are clear and concise. And by also carefully maintaining bids on each keyword to budget which makes for a successful pay per click campaign.

The personal computer has revolutionised small business within only 20 years. The modern office looks completely different to that of the 1980′s, all thanks to a small box.

The PC has automated many processes that would take hours for a person to complete, and now smartphones are providing the same time saving functionality in your pocket.

Many tasks can be automated using technology in fact, saving time and money: a vital resource for any small business. Technology is making business more efficient and dynamic: you no doubt already take for granted the improvements things like calculators, phones and printers have made to your business. Here are some other ideas for devices that can further enhance your business at minimal cost:

Currency Counting Machines

One product that can save many small businesses money is a money counting or sorting machine. For any business that accepts cash, cashing up at the end of the day is a time consuming process that requires constant accuracy. By investing in a bank note counting machine you can save yourself and your staff hours a day that can be re-invested into developing your business.

You can purchase money counting machines online delivered directly to your business.

Company File Servers

Cloud based storage is becoming a massive part of business infrastructure. Being able to access your files securely and safely from anywhere in the world is an incredibly useful service. For small businesses that deal in services an accessible file server can be an invaluable investment.

There are numerous server options available: from physical hardware to internet based services offered from Google, Apple & many other providers. If you are interested in a physical file server you first need to decide whether you are using a Windows, Apple Mac or Linux operating system. Speak to whoever supplies the computer hardware for your company about which option is best for you.

Most businesses find that good communication is the lynchpin of a happy and successful company.

Good communication both within the business between co-workers and also reaching out to clients, customers and suppliers makes for an efficient organisation whose operation runs smoothly.

Within the organisation itself there should be clearly laid out and agreed channels for communication. Obviously face to face communication can be very beneficial to help develop  good working relationships, but even this is not necessarily the Gold Standard if used alone. Without some form of written or recorded communication it is quite possible that instructions, requests or protocols can be easily misinterpreted or forgotten. It may be helpful to reinforce all but the most casual of exchanges with a written note, email or voice-mail just to ensure the communication has been received and understood. Clarity and brevity in such communications is helpful for the recipient and time saving for the sender.

In communication outside the organisation, with clients, customers and suppliers a business has to be guided in which channels of communication to use by the methods that suit both parties and it may be that this will vary from one partner to another. The commonly used methods to be used would be:

• Face to face meetings
• Telephone communication-direct or via voice-mail
• Text message
• Email
• Video conferencing
• Social Media

Some businesses would find the idea of communication via Facebook or similar an abhorrent idea whilst others will find it accessible and the ideal solution for fast open communication. For most businesses it will be best to have the means and capability to embrace all methods of communication and keep an open mind-although perhaps carrier pigeon may be pushing things a little far!

Whatever your communication solutions the best approach is to communicate frequently and respond promptly and cheerfully-its quite amazing how you can detect a smile even in an email.

Welcome to the small business ideas blog!

On this blog you will find regular content aimed at small business owners looking for tips on how to start, finance and run a small business from the ground up.
We will have interviews with prominent business owners who have grown their business from nothing to successful operations.