A Guide to Etiquette When Handling Business Abroad

International Business Infographic Part 2

If you handle, or plan to handle, business overseas then you need to be made aware of the local customs, traditions and policies that are carried out.

This helpful infographic that was put together by WD Storage covers the etiquette to follow in the countries of Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Egypt, Russia, Spain and the USA. What offends someone in one country might be a friendly greeting in another. A simple handshake can mean different things depending on what part of the world you come from. Ensuring that you know what’s what in each region will help you to close out the most business deals possible.

Stay ahead of anyone competing for a foreign client’s business by dressing correctly, buying (or not buying!) the correct gifts and talking about the right things over a business meal.

If you found this helpful but wanted to see a greater range of countries included, you can also check out Part 1 of the International Guide to Business Etiquette.

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Ensure Employee Safety in a Busy Working Environment

With so much to do at work on a daily basis, be it overseeing factory work or ordering industrial paint, it can be easy to let basic health and safety practices slip – but this is simply not acceptable. If anyone is injured on your premises you could have a costly lawsuit on your hands, so here’s how to minimise risks and ensure employees stay safe

Control hazardous substances
If you work with dangerous chemicals like acids, lubricants, detergents, chlorine or anything else considered harmful, you must do all you can to comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. This might mean reading the safety data sheet of any products that are ‘dangerous to supply’ in order to really understand the risks, or it might mean implementing control measures such as reducing the amount of people who come into contact with such products. You might also decide to get rid of harmful products altogether, switching them for safer alternatives or researching those that give off less harmful fumes.

Of course, thanks to scientific research, we are now more aware of things that can cause us harm, with substances like lead paint being replaced by the more user-friendly varieties offered today. That said, there are still very toxic chemicals out there, as well as those that are explosive, flammable and dangerous to the environment. Make sure you know what you’re working with.

Carry out a thorough risk assessment
No matter what you do for a living or what business you run, you must carry out a thorough risk assessment of your premises. Not only will this help you to identify anything that could be putting staff at risk, it will enable you to make your workplace safer. Not sure how to go about this procedure? Well, the Health and Safety Executive advises employers to use the following five steps as a guide.

Step 1: Identify hazards
It’s the responsibility of all employers to assess the health and safety risks faced by workers including physical, mental, chemical and biological dangers.

Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how
When assessing staff you must take into account the risks faced by full-time and part-time staff as well as agency workers and contractors. Employers must also review what staff members do in all the different locations they are employed to ensure they’re being looked after in the best possible way.

Step 3: Assess the risks and take action
Once you’ve identified risky behaviours, activities, procedures and equipment you should take steps to lower the risk levels. This might mean lowering the hours someone works to improve their mental health or simply providing additional personal protective equipment for those faced with hazardous tasks.

What’s more, the Health and Safety (Safety Sign and Signals) Regulations 1996 require signs to be used to convey relevant messages, so investing in the correct posters and signs could be all it takes to help protect those who work for you.

Step 4: Make a record of the findings
If you hire five or more staff, the law requires you to write down all main findings from the risk assessment, so don’t forget this important detail.

Step 5: Review the risk assessment
A risk assessment is designed to keep your workforce safe, so make sure you keep it under constant review to ensure agreed safe working practices continue. You should also take into account any new working practices, machinery, job roles, more demanding work targets and other elements of work that could impact health and safety.

Minimising risk is extremely important at work, so do all you can to keep you and your staff – as well as visitors and clients – as safe as possible.

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The Personal Touch: Why Direct Mail Marketing Still Rules in the Digital Age

When everyone has access to their email in the palm of their hand at all times, does sending out physical marketing materials in the form of brochures, letters, postcards and catalogs matter anymore? It tends to come as a surprise to many that direct mail, as this marketing approach is known, continues to thrive.

While many marketing gurus have predicted the fading away of direct mail, these materials bring clear advantages to the marketing efforts of businesses both large and small, ones that are simply not possible with email. One of the most noticeable benefits is that unlike email that often ends up in spam folders or that simply gets lost among hundreds of other marketing email, brochures and catalogs usually do make their way into the hands of most recipients, and they are not easy to get rid of. Marketing materials, once they arrive in a recipient’s home or office, float around for days, which means that unlike email, they stay active for an impressive length of time.

Direct mail can be effective in many other ways, as well. 

To begin, people aren’t tired of direct mail at this point 

Years ago, when people received bunches of direct mail, it was dismissed as junk. Today, with most companies having switched to email and other forms of digital marketing, most consumers and b2b customers have a problem with it.

It’s important for marketers to take note of the change. Most people don’t even look at the marketing emails that they get. On the other hand, studies by the US postal service show that three out of four consumers will look at physical mail at least once when they receive it whether the open the envelope or not. Many direct mail marketers in printing envelopes with the most important part of their message on the outside to make sure that they do get their message across.

Direct mail gets the undivided attention of consumers

When people look at their email, they usually have many other things going on — other tabs, Twitter and Facebook notifications, and so on, all on the same screen. With email, then, it can be hard to get a consumer’s undivided attention. It’s different with physical mail — presented on a medium that is clearly distinct from the electronic screens that display distractions, it tends to hold consumers attention better. To any marketer attempting to convert someone through the force of their persuasiveness or through the personal touch, it’s likely to go through much better with physical materials.

Email comes with a limited bag of tricks 

If you want to show your email recipients the results of a study, letters of appreciation by happy customers and so on, it can be difficult to do with anything other than attachments or links; unfortunately, these methods tend to make people suspicious. With direct mail, on the other hand, you can attach anything you want. Studies show that the fatter a packet, the more trustworthy it is seen to be.

There’s far more versatility with direct mail 

With email, no matter how much effort you put into its design, all you get to attract the recipient was at first is a few words on the subject line. Not so with direct mail. From envelope color and shape to the blurb that you put on the envelope and the freebies that you get to stuff inside, there are so many choices they can help you stand out. You can even go with expensive scents and the use of high-quality paper. Direct mail is simply easier for dramatic effect.

Direct mail does get results 

According to research by the Direct Marketing Association, email tends to do with a response rate of barely 0.1%; in other words, for every 1,000 emails sent out, only one actually elicits some form of response. Direct mail on the other hand, gets a 3.4% response rate. It is 34 times as effective. It is clearly the superior medium.

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Improve Customer Service Almost Immediately With These 6 Tips

Customer service, like it or loathe it, is all the rage in business these days. Whether the hype can be blamed on every individual having access to countless eyes and ears via social media or on an actual decline in quality customer service, the businesses that are offering customers the best service are often growing leaps and bounds compared to their competitors. Whether you sell shoes or offer piano tuning, your customers expect a lot from you. Start exceeding expectations by improving your customer service almost immediately with the following six tips.

1. Get Interactive

How do your customers want to interact with you when they have a problem, a question, or a complaint? Depends on the customer, right? With a SaaS customer service solution like eGain, you won’t have to constantly monitor every channel your customers might be frequenting. Instead, you can simply inhabit their omnichannel world. Interact with your customers and potential customers everywhere and in every way they want to from email and social media to live chat and virtual assistant. There’s no need to hamstring yourself when it comes to the ways in which you can offer service. The easier you are to get a hold of, and the more readily you respond via the channels your customers prefer, the better you’ll be perceived when it comes to customer service.

2. Empower Employees

Far too often, the natural inclinations of employees to do what’s right when it comes to the customer are hampered by the rules and regulations of the company for which they work. Don’t keep your employees from solving your customers’ problems. Instead, empower them to grant customers the good service you say you want to provide. When it comes to fixes that are clear, related to errors on your part, or not too expensive, don’t require a manager to sign off. Let your customer service rep OK the change and you’ll have happier customers — and employees — almost immediately.

3. Always Be Available

Even banks don’t keep banker’s hours anymore — at least not on the World Wide Web. The days of addressing customer concerns during “business hours” have long passed. With the advent of the Internet and its global reach, customer service has become something that must occur at all times, or a business won’t be able to remain competitive. Whether you outsource it or staff it, you need to make sure that, when it comes to customer questions, complaints, or concerns, your door is never closed.

4. Use Names

In many ways, this next piece of advice should be followed in nearly every interaction one has with another human being. Use the person’s name. Regardless of whether you were contacted via email, phone, Twitter, or chat, address your customer by name (or handle), and instruct your employees to use their names as well.

What follows will be a personal exchange between people, rather than a customer service exchange between a company and a customer. Are you still a company and customer? Of course. It’s just that people enjoy being treated like the individuals they are. It’s a simple move and takes little effort, but using your customers’ names will pay big dividends in the customer service department.

5. Be Nice

While it should no longer need any mention on a list like this one, the reality of poor customer service dictates that “niceness” be given ample attention. Far too often, companies view customer needs as silly, secondary, or lacking in merit. When customers are seen in this light, they’re subject to poor treatment. Avoid this trap by always, in every circumstance, regardless of the complaint or the way in which it is made, treating your customers with kindness and respect. If your organization’s default is to be nice, even if a customer doesn’t get a demand met, he’ll at least know he was treated like an individual with value.

6. Get Feedback

Whether you routinely win accolades from customers or you’re routinely maligned, ask for feedback regarding your customer service. Customer insight is valuable — even when what they have to say stings. Allow for more than just a standardized, multiple-choice response, and when a theme emerges — or a really good idea — act on it. Nobody knows more about what the customer wants than the customer. As much as you can, give it to them.

Improving customer service can feel akin to hunting Bigfoot, but it doesn’t have to. Follow these six tips, and your organization will improve customer service almost immediately.

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Integrate Reviews to Your Website to Increase your Conversion Rate

Branding and brand image is important but the ultimate goal of any ecommerce website is to gain more targeted organic traffic that they can convert in to paying customers. No matter what your website is, this is what you are looking for at the end of the day.

But, getting conversions and sales using unhealthy tactics will not only help in the short coming but in the longer run it will also affect your brand image which definitely will hurt your overall sales and conversions.

In this post I am going to discuss few ethical ideas that you can use to improve the conversion rate of your ecommerce website at the same time it has several other websites.

  • This will minimize the pressure of customer service team on phone, emails and live chat. When potential customer will get positive reviews they tend to ask fewer questions and feel more comfortable converting.
  • Reviews not only increase conversion rate, they also help you with branding. Which simply means more reviews means better brand image.

1. Getting Feedback

When user land on your website for the first time, he moves around just to establish the fact that you are credible and trust-able business within the niche. There are tons of ways you can do that and one of the important ways is by integrating reviews section on the product pages.

Remember, if you are a credible business you will end up getting more conversions from your website and this is because more than 70% of the customers trust customer reviews. When you show them that there are other people who have already tried the product and are happy about it, chances are they will end up converting in to paying customers.

When a customer leaves a review on the website, they are actually influencing other potential customers buying decision! If the reviews will be good, chances are your conversion rate will improve to a greater extent.

Problem: Most customers usually do not leave review (neither positive nor negative) once they purchase the product from the website.

Solution: This is common but if you send an email asking for feedback of their purchases, you might start getting product based reviews. You can also gamify it by offering some special discount on their next purchase if they leave a review on the product they bought.

2. Facing negative reviews

This is one of the fundamental reasons why most ecommerce website does not integrate customer reviews at the first place. But again, if you integrate it, it will only help you increase your conversion rate.

The next step after integrating the reviews section on the website is to face the bad reviews. Not 100% customers can be happy with you but if you listen to your bad reviews and take appropriate actions accordingly, this will not only increase your conversion rate but will also help you emerge as a human friendly brand.

Reviews will also allow you to alter your featured products as per the need of your audience. If the reviews are positive just move that product to featured product section and if the reviews are bad just remove it from the featured product section and fox the problem accordingly.

Problem: People prefer leaving bad reviews more than good reviews. If they are happy they don’t really leave reviews.

Solution: Again, building relationship with your customer base is the ultimate solution this problem. This can be done by frequently communicating with them. Take example of Verizon wireless here, they tend to communicate with their customers and help them solve their problems via twitter.

3. Reviews and SEO

Customer reviews on product pages not only help you increase your brand value and allow potential customers to convert, they also have a power to push up your rankings in search engine from the relevant keyphrases.

Search Engine love new content, the problem with most product pages is that they are static and do not update on regular bases. By integrating reviews on the product pages, you will see more dynamic content that Google will love and as a result Google give you better visibility in search engines from the targeted key phrases as compare to your competitors.

If your bounce rate for the website will be balanced and below average, chances are you will be able to maintain those position and move forward. Sophie and Trey is a one brand where I worked and managed to reduce their bounce rate to around 25% as a result not only their conversion rate increased but it also help increase their rankings in search engines.

Problem: Even if people leave reviews on product pages, the rate of content updated is very slow.

Solution: We at Workplace Depot help customers about how to use website efficiently from time to time via our blog section. If you do that and include your blog section in your newsletters the rate of reviews will be increased to a good extent.

4. Reviews influences buying decision

I gave a hint about this in the first point. Selling online is tougher because when a purchaser rush in to the store they have more chances and more time to do their research before they actually buy the product.

According to marketing land, 90% of the shoppers agree that their buying decision is influenced by online reviews. This makes pretty much clear that if you integrate online reviews on your website and manage it properly, chances are you will be able to increase your conversion rate just by doing nothing.

Problem: People prefer to leave their experience on other review website but not on the website by itself.

Solution: Having reviews (especially positive) reviews on 3rd party websites is very important and if your customers are doing this, it’s great! Just reach out to them and offer them some discount on their next purchase and politely ask if they can also write their experience on the exact product they bought.

Chances are they will be happy to do that as they are already happy from your customer service.

There are tons of more ideas but if you implement above 4 ideas you will see a good increase in your conversion rate and this will happen without hiring any growth hacker for your website.

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InterTradeIreland: 84% of Companies Across the Island are Stable or Growing

Cross-border economies are growing
The latest InterTradeIreland Business Monitor Report for Quarter three (July – September 2015) shows that the economy is continuing to grow. All sectors are performing well but the professional services sector is taking the lead with 50% of businesses expanding and 95% stable or expanding.

Divergence
The report also revealed that there is now a clear divergence emerging in sales performance and employment numbers between both jurisdictions, with Ireland faring better in both areas. This is not unexpected and reflects structural differences in the two economies that differentiate their ability to take advantage of economic tailwinds.

Although relatively close in the final months of 2012, there is now an 8% difference in businesses increasing sales in the last quarter (Ireland at 41% vs Northern Ireland at 33%) which is also reflected in the number of businesses expanding employment levels with 12% in Ireland and 8% in Northern Ireland.

Capacity in firms high
In total, growth is still being driven by less than half of all firms (42%) with many companies reporting considerable spare capacity and less than one in three (31%) reporting to be working at full capacity.

Evidence of economic improvements
The economic upturn is reflected in the key challenges which businesses now say they are facing. Normal business pressures are now at the fore of issues facing firms with cash flow at 11%, new competition, late payments and internal costs all at 9%. Concerns over energy costs have dropped from 15% this time last year to 6% and business costs in general have decreased though remain significant for the manufacturing sector.

Staff salaries increase
33% of companies report that they plan to increase staff salaries with Northern Ireland (35%) leading the way from Ireland (32%). Large industry is ahead of the pack with 51% of firms of more than 50 employees planning to increase wages and 38% of manufacturing companies following suit.

This bodes well for the introduction of the National Living Wage in April 2016. The majority of firms (80%), with the exception of the hospitality industry, are not expecting this to have any negative impact. The hospitality sector continues to feel the strain of energy prices and is concerned about the impact of the Living National Wage next year. However, cash flow issues will need to be addressed before salaries can be raised across the board.

InterTradeIreland’s Business Monitor
InterTradeIreland’s quarterly Business Monitor survey is the largest and most comprehensive business survey on the island and is based on the views of more than 750 business managers across Northern Ireland and Ireland.

It differs from other surveys in that it is seen to be the ‘voice of local businesses’ feeding directly from telephone interviews conducted with a robust sample of firms of all sizes across a range of sectors to track all-island economic indicators such as sales, employment, business outlook and other specific topical research areas on a quarter by quarter basis.

Further information
For more information on InterTradeIreland and their business support programmes, please visit www.intertradeireland.com . A copy of the 2015 Q3 InterTradeIreland Business Monitor Executive Summary can be viewed at: www.intertradeireland.com/researchandpublications/business_monitor/

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5 Reasons Why Small Business Should Work With a Financial Broker

For those who aren’t that familiar with the term, Commercial Mortgage is a type of mortgage loan acquired for the development of commercial property. This can certainly be a great way how SMEs can benefit from Commercial Mortgage to expand their businesses. Due to their lack of experience and credibility, it is often hard for small enterprises to get easy access to loans and funding. Thus securing a loan through a commercial broker is a great way to get more funds for additional operations in a growing business. Listed below are the various reasons why working with a commercial broker is beneficial for small businesses and startups.

Lender Contacts

The number one reason for working with a commercial broker is the sheer number of contacts they have. As a business owner, you can do additional research to get a huge list of lenders whom you can contact. Nevertheless, there’s hardly a chance you can make much progress without proper reference of a repute broker. Helping lenders invest their money is the bread and butter of a business finance broker. Thus working with one will provide you access to a plethora of lenders to expand your growing business.

Lower Risk

Without a reputed broker, there’s a high chance that you will end up getting financed by a single lender. While that doesn’t sound bad, working with a single lender has a plethora of problems. The loan approval time is often long and several terms are non-negotiable due to the lack of options. Also, there might be a chance that you loan may not get approved at all. Such instances can be extremely devastating on your company’s morale and should be avoided. As a commercial broker arrange finances from a huge list of lenders and the terms are certainly more negotiable. A commercial broker will also provide a surety of you getting the desired finance lowering the risk of failures.

Additional Support

A good commercial or business finance broker not only provides assured finances from lenders, but will also provide additional support. Regular updates of your loan status, helpline and accounting solutions etc. are the various services that a repute commercial broker offers their clients. This not only provides a much needed respite to the business owners, but also provides them with a chance to work with seasoned professionals in the finance industry.

Protection from Over-hyped Interest Rates

You certainly cannot hope to win a court case without a lawyer, then why do the same with commercial mortgage? Working with the broker will not only ensure that you get the desired funds, but will also support you in negotiating the interest rates with the lenders. A good broker will accompany you during all the meetings with the clients and lenders, and will do their best in getting you a good deal.

Financial Advice

There are several benefits of working with an experienced financial broker. Being the owner of a startup, you would certainly want to learn more about managing your finances by working with experienced professionals. A financial broker not just helps you get the required finances but will also help you in managing the acquired funds and putting them to best use. Small business owners can certainly learn a lot when working with an experienced commercial finance broker.

Trying to get a commercial mortgage without a broker is like going to the court without a lawyer. The above reasons not only prove how important commercial brokers are, but also show that for a little fee, small businesses can say goodbye to their financial worries.

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Everything Your Business Needs To Know About Seasonal Recruitment

Many sectors of the UK economy rely on seasonal recruitment in order to develop their businesses and satisfy consumer demand. Agriculture, tourism and hospitality are just a few examples of industries that can only function efficiently as a result of seasonal recruitment.

Use a reputable agency for your seasonal recruitment needs

There is nothing wrong with placing an advertisement in a local newspaper when you need to recruit. The problem arises when you have to sift through the myriad of applications and then assess which candidates you should interview. You should ask yourself whether you can really afford the time to go through the recruitment process. Often, it’s much easier and efficient to engage the services of an experienced recruitment agency, for example, The SmartList, that will be able to weed out candidates on your behalf.

If you are using a temporary workforce, the agency will be also able to act as the employer, rather than you having to satisfy cumbersome HMRC demands.

Checking your candidates

If you do decide to recruit your staff directly, rather than using an agency you must be aware of your legal responsibilities. In May 2015 the government introduced the Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks, and any employer who fails to follow the terms and conditions of this regulation, will find themselves in trouble. These checks have to be carried out before your hire the employee. So, farmers looking to harvest crops or a restaurant that employs extra staff during the Christmas rush will have to factor this legal obligation into their hiring process.

Speaking about the need for applying checks to all immigrant workers, the immigration minister, James Brokenshire, stated that, ‘rogue employers who give jobs to illegal migrants are denying work to UK citizens and legal migrants.’ According to the BBC website fines of up to £20,000 or even prison sentences will be imposed if employers don’t follow these rules.

Coping with fluctuating needs

The needs of businesses that employ seasonal workers may fluctuate on an annual basis. This is especially relevant to those who work within the agricultural sector. Many farmers use Gangmasters in order to cope with seasonal demand and as long as the Gangmaster can show that they hold a Gangmaster’s Licence, this might be an employment solution for a busy farmer.

Make sure your business is up to date with insurance

A seasonal workforce means that business owners will have to check that they have the right health and safety practices in place. As well as being a legal requirement, your insurers will have to be informed if your workforce expands from just a few members of staff to additional teams of contract workers during busy periods.

As long as you follow the government guidelines on employment, pay a decent wage and learn how to deal with some of the problems that may arise with a larger workforce on your premises, a seasonal workforce can help you grow and make the most from your business.

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New food spaces to open soon in Ardee

If you are a food producer and if you are based in Louth or in the North East Region, you should take note.

New facilities for food producers in Ardee

Ardee Community Development Company are proud to announce a new facility which will establish Ardee as the centre for small food producers in the North East region. This facility to be known as the North East Regional Food Centre (NERFC) will comprise of a timeshare fully fitted kitchen, food finished production units and a training suite which will provide training in all aspects of food related issues and product development.  

Timeshare kitchen

The timeshare kitchen will be available for rental on a daily, or half day basis. This facility will be of particular interest to small producers who wish to trial new products or existing producers who wish to look at new possibilities in a confidential research situation. Since the premises are approved by the EHO, and has an extensive range of food production equipment, it will be suitable for batch production for farmers markets and specialist products. 

Launch on 11 December

The official launch of the North East Regional Food Centre will take place on 11th December in Ardee Business Park. In conjunction with this it is intended to hold a trade fair for food producers and associated businesses. 

Show your wares

It is hoped to attract artisan and small food producers to show their products at this launch and have it open to the public. There will be a covered Marquee for producers and it is hoped to have the various support agencies at the event.

If you wish to participate please let us know within the next week to secure a place at the event.  

Book

Bookings can be made by contacting 041 6857680 or 0872432258 or by email at the address shown below. The event is free to all participants. 

Details as follows – 

Date/Time – Friday 11th December @12.00 noon

Venue – Ardee Business Park, Hale St. Ardee

Facilities – Marquee and tables

Cost – Free of Charge

Ph- 041-6857680 or 087-2432258

E mail –  info@ardeebusinesspark.ie

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Small Business Branding, SEO and Social Media

With the vast array of opportunities for small businesses to succeed today, it is a necessity for them to ensure that they are taking the proper steps towards attaining their greatest potentials of success. As businesses may find it a difficult time to compete with other businesses in their particular field, there is always an opportunity with today’s online branding strategies. In order for a business to beat out their competitors, they must implement efficient and effective methods of marketing into their functional models/operations. Only by taking these necessary steps will a company have success in creating their own brand. Let’s look at small business Branding and how it relates to online factors like SEO and social media.

As today’s businesses are provided with a myriad of tools online for chances at success, it is important to note that delving into such opportunities will only be effective if the website owner acts proactively in maintaining their updating necessities on a consistent basis. For instance, a website that provides its customer base with a number of products and services will usually be required to update their database’s content every once in awhile to show their persistence and credibility as a brand.

When a business keeps their content up-to-date and in with the current trends, they are sending a message to their customer/client base that they care about them and their needs and will do everything they can to keep producing and providing similar products/services to maintain an entity as an ever-changing brand.

Social Media

Firstly, take advantage of social media when trying to promote your brand. Set up Google+, Twitter and Facebook accounts. We live in a day and age where everything and anything can be shared. Join relevant Google+ communities, tweet out to industry influencers, share your blog posts on Facebook. But most importantly, provide content that makes your business stand out from competitors. For example, create hashtags and share content outside of your brand, but still relevant to your industry. The less commercial you sound, the more willing people are to connect and follow you. Strive to be the account people want to follow and keep tabs on what others in your communities are sharing. This way you’ll not only gain a following, but connect with people and influencers in your industry. Also, don’t overlook the potential these channels have to boost employee recognition. If someone in your company receives an award, right a blog post about it and share it online. You’ll most likely find that the employee recognition ideas that can be incorporated on social channels will be a great way to increase employee buy in and overall engagement.

SEO

One of the most effective strategies of branding is search engine optimization. By incorporating SEO work into one’s web content, the website owner will be able to generate more leads towards their website(s) than ever before. As the web developer intertwines popular keywords and phrases into the site’s overall content, they will have the ability of having their link show towards the beginning of some of today’s most popular search engines. There are many reasons why this is important and vital to one’s success. As there are billions of webpages on the Internet, a business who utilizes website development for the purposes of marketing will need to ensure that their content consists of high quality material to truly grasp the attention of visitors.

However, in order for those visitors to land on the webpage(s) in the first place, they will need to be driven to the site(s) somehow. If the brand hasn’t already built itself up a name and reputation, it is very unlikely for their page(s) to even be seen as there are billions of websites on the Internet. By implementing SEO work into one’s content, the website owner will be able to take advantage of having content with special keywords and phrases that work to drive their webpage(s) towards the front of some of today’s most commonly utilized search engines. When people search for certain products and/or services, they will usually input certain words and phrases into search engine boxes to find what they are looking for. A business that combines popular keywords along with high qualities of content within their webpage(s) will moved towards the front pages of their search result “hit queries”.

Face-to-Face

Video conferencing is another essential function of a solid branding foundation. Video conferencing allows companies to communicate with their clients in a face-to-face setting without having to actually travel from one place to another. Therefore, both parties can comfortably communicate with one another on a personal level without having to leave their homes or place of business. This is a great benefit for small businesses as it brings networking and communications to a platform that cannot be found elsewhere. Any company that is striving to break through in their market should use video conferencing as a form of communication as it can boost their ratings and reputation as a proficient, reliable, and trustworthy company. Furthermore, it shows how a company strives to please their clients/customers by maintaining personal connections.

Have an experience using any of these tactics to grow your small business? Better yet, have an experience where you used a tactic that I left out? Share below in the comments.

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