New to business? Scared of going 'online'?
Love it or hate it, if you're in business you really should be using online media as part of your marketing strategy. We know lots of businesses, particularly SMEs, who feel completely 'out of it'. It can be daunting. There's a huge amount of online options and tools available and it's hard to tell what's right for your business and whether it's cost effective or not. Things are changing and updating so fast that it's hard to keep track.
We recently attended the 2011 Online Marketing Conference in Nottingham and we discovered some rather startling facts* (from 2009):
• 77% of SMEs use computers in business (23% don't have computers)
• 72% of businesses use the internet for business
• 96% use broadband (4% still use dial-up)
• 56% have a website
• 65% of users use computers for online trading
Does that surprise you? Does that make you feel better? Whatever type of company you have, whatever stage the business is at, it's vital to it's success and development to have an online presence. Depending on your type of business, you may need to explore different options and some may be of more, or less, use. Here's Liv Design's basic recommendations:
Website
You need a central place where people can go to find out what you do, who you are, and describe your products and services.
Blog
This can be a separate website or be part of your main website. There are many free template based blogs you can create. There are many available to choose, the main ones being Wordpress and Blogger. They are very easy to set up and customise to your requirements. A blog can be used for anything from updating news and events, case studies, reviews, opinions, success stories, demonstrations... The list is endless! You can include images, text, video and links to other websites.
Social Media
A good way of promoting your business to people is to have a Social Media account, such as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. Firstly they're free. Secondly they give you an online presence and as part of a social online community you can quickly find customers, suppliers, information and resource.
Email
It sounds obvious, but people need to get in touch. Email (Electronic mail) is a way of communicating and transferring information digitally from one specific unique address to another. The good thing about email, rather than phone calls, is that information is always there for reference and can be saved, filed, and read at any time. You can attach practically anything to send with an email including images, files, and documents which saves time and money.
Liv Design can create digital products as part of your brand identity and form a complete marketing package including printed material and advertising. Find out more about how Liv Design and how we can help you and your business.
*From @GrahamJones seminar
We recently attended the 2011 Online Marketing Conference in Nottingham and we discovered some rather startling facts* (from 2009):
• 77% of SMEs use computers in business (23% don't have computers)
• 72% of businesses use the internet for business
• 96% use broadband (4% still use dial-up)
• 56% have a website
• 65% of users use computers for online trading
Does that surprise you? Does that make you feel better? Whatever type of company you have, whatever stage the business is at, it's vital to it's success and development to have an online presence. Depending on your type of business, you may need to explore different options and some may be of more, or less, use. Here's Liv Design's basic recommendations:
Website
You need a central place where people can go to find out what you do, who you are, and describe your products and services.
Blog
This can be a separate website or be part of your main website. There are many free template based blogs you can create. There are many available to choose, the main ones being Wordpress and Blogger. They are very easy to set up and customise to your requirements. A blog can be used for anything from updating news and events, case studies, reviews, opinions, success stories, demonstrations... The list is endless! You can include images, text, video and links to other websites.
Social Media
A good way of promoting your business to people is to have a Social Media account, such as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. Firstly they're free. Secondly they give you an online presence and as part of a social online community you can quickly find customers, suppliers, information and resource.
It sounds obvious, but people need to get in touch. Email (Electronic mail) is a way of communicating and transferring information digitally from one specific unique address to another. The good thing about email, rather than phone calls, is that information is always there for reference and can be saved, filed, and read at any time. You can attach practically anything to send with an email including images, files, and documents which saves time and money.
Liv Design can create digital products as part of your brand identity and form a complete marketing package including printed material and advertising. Find out more about how Liv Design and how we can help you and your business.
*From @GrahamJones seminar
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