3C Digital

Digital Marketing for Small Business

content creation

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Be the subject matter expert

Be the subject matter expert

Small business owners are the best subject matter experts. You don’t believe us? Keep reading below as to why we think so.

Running your own small business isn’t a small feat. There are learning curves so steep it sometimes seem insurmountable. But you figure it out, and you use your skills to run your business.

In the process of doing so, you learn a thing or two on top of the things you already know. The knowledge you have makes you an expert. Here are some steps to help you figure out what you’re an expert of.

What have you learned?

Think about the business you’re running. The fact that you have a business means there is a skill there that you can talk about. Now add to that the things you learned while researching how to set up your own business. That’s another thing you can talk about with authority. No one else went through that same exact journey as you. But what you went through will help others who are thinking of doing the same thing as you.

Be the subject matter expertWhat were your mistakes?

Yes, your mistakes. You can either be embarrassed by it or you can use it to your advantage. With every mistake comes a lesson learned. Your issues with permits, financial advise, picking a location, so on and so forth are great experiences that can become even better subject matters. You’d be amazed just how much information you know that are important to other businesses or aspiring business owners. How did you solve the problems? What could you have done better? Think about all the hardships you’ve gone through and the lessons you learned along the way.

What were your questions?

Think of all the questions you asked before you set up your business. The answers you accumulated over time through your own research and personal experiences are great resources for others. Write them down and think of what you went through to figure out the answers. Did anyone help you? Did you seek professional advice? Were there free events you went to that helped you? Share the external resources you have learned over time.

 

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Why your small business needs a blog

If you are a small business owner you might have wondered why your business needs a blog. What is a blog anyway? A blog can be part of your website that’s written in an informal tone, aimed to give you more credibility while providing free helpful information to your readers and customers at the same time. In this post, we will discuss why your small business blog will help you.

A blog gives you street cred

You know that you know what you’re doing but aside from family and friends, others might not know that. Writing blog posts on topics related to your business will show to your customers (and potential customers) that you know what you are talking about. You are the expert of your business. That expertise will show when you share knowledge that others find helpful. You might think you have very little to share or talk about but if you sat down and thought about it, you’ll find that there’s more than you initially thought.

small business blogIt helps people find your site

A well written, helpful and SEO-healthy blog post is a big boost for your website’s online presence. Without making it too complicated, it basically means when people Google certain topics ones that you’ve written about on your blog will pop up on the search. But you need to make sure that your blog posts are SEO healthy. Stuff like featured image, internal and external links as well as keywords will help boost your online presence.

A blog helps convert readers into customers

Your blog posts will show readers you know your business and your products/services inside and out. This gives them confidence that you are there for the long haul. It also shows them that you can help them with whatever it is that they need because you have the capability to do it. The confidence they have on you will convert them into new customers. Once they become customers, and they love you, they will then share your site and blog posts on their social media sites, bringing new readers to your website. It’s an evergreen process.

If you need ideas for blog topics, try Googling ‘blog ideas generator’ – there are plenty of sites out there that can help you.

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3 Things to remember when setting up your website

Things to remember when setting up your website

  1. Pick a good copywriter
  2. Make sure your copy is compelling
  3. Use professional photos
  4. Ask for a quote and what’s included
  5. Set a timeline on when it’ll be finished

For some, creating a website can be quite daunting. Seeing codes and management systems that are unfamiliar can be enough to give you a headache. But in this day and age, having an online presence is important for small businesses. Here are some things to consider when setting up your website.

It’s not as expensive as you think

Gone are the days when your website will cost over $15,000 to create. The truth is that you only need to pay that much money if you want a complicated site that requires a lot of things (i.e., ecommerce, donations etc). If you just want something beautiful and/or professional but pretty straightforward, your annual cost for hosting and domain registration can be as low as $50 a year. All you’ll have to do is pick a ready-made template from the thousands of website designers out there who sell their templates from $69 up.

Pick a good copywriter

The design of your site is as good as the words written on it. There are a lot of copywriters out there who can express what you want to your clients in the best possible way. Go through their previous work and decide the best one that suits you. It is best to pick copywriters who have previous experience with writing copy for a small business website, that way they can also help you with things like the best way to present your business.

Get a good photo

Don’t use a selfie for your About page. This doesn’t mean that you need to hire an expensive professional photographer. These days, smartphones have great resolutions for photos. All you need to do is make sure you have a great background, great lighting and a great flattering pose. It’s a matter of knowing how to take a good photo more than buying expensive equipment. We all know that budget is tight but it doesn’t have to mean you have an amateur photo.

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Our favourite social media tools

Top social media tools

  1. Buffer
  2. Canva
  3. Onlypult
  4. Feedly
  5. Animoto
  6. Hootsuite
  7. Pexels
  8. Google Alert
  9. Mailchimp
  10. WordPress

There’s no denying the fact that if your business is not on social media then you are missing out on some important connections with your existing and potential customers. As a small business owner ourselves, social media plays a crucial role in maintaining that open line of communication with our customers. Here are a few of favourite social media tools.

Buffer

Buffer is by far one of the best social media management platforms out there. Your business can be on social media without you needing to be there all the time! You can even track how well your posts are doing with their super nifty analytics tool. They’ve also just added their “pause posts” feature, especially handy in times of crisis or world breaking news.

bufferCanva

This site is a blessing for companies who are clueless about graphic design. Their free templates and photos are very useful. Their premium ones are quite affordable as well. Small businesses will have an easy time using this site.

Onlypult

Instagram won’t let you schedule photos for your account but there’s always a way around that. Onlypult is the answer to being able to manage your Instagram posts. It’s a paid service but it’s affordable.

Feedly

Feedly allows you to organise and collate all the sites you follow most. This will ensure that you don’t miss any news story or important feature stories that relate to your business and your industry. It’s easy to use and you can get started for free.

Animoto

Everything is about video these days. People love movement – short, rapid, informative and to the point. Animoto allows you to do that. It has a monthly fee but if you want to push your content above everyone else, it’s worth the investment.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to manage all your profiles into one app. It can be for your business or personal profile. It is easy to arrange and to use.

Pexels

Your blog posts, site and all your social media posts need good photos to catch the eye of consumers. Where do you get all these free photos? Pexels is a good site to start. They add photos all the time and you can search for something specific to your need.

Google alerts

If you need  to be constantly updated about your business and any news relating to your industry the moment it is mentioned, add a Google alert for certain keywords. The moment something is mentioned online, it will send you an email about it.

Mailchimp

Newsletters are a great way to send your loyal followers updates about your business, or promos and events you want them to know about. Mailchimp is free to use and easy enough to understand. You don’t have to be a tech genius to be able to navigate its features.

WordPress

If you want an easy way to manage your own site – without having to fork out a lot of money – WordPress is the best one to use. There are heaps of ready-made themes you ca buy under $100. The back end is also easy to familiarise with – clear and doesn’t need that much technical knowledge.

 

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Why you need good content on your small business website

Why you need good content on your small business website

  1. Shows professionalism
  2. Expresses what you’re all about
  3. Helps your customers
  4. Shows your expertise
  5. Helps with SEO

Never underestimate the power of good content. You might think that just because you’re a small business, it shouldn’t matter that much what content you have on there. But you’d be wrong. Because you’re a small business you need more convincing content on your site so you can compete with the bigger guys. In this post, we tell you three reasons why you need good content on your small business website.

Good content shows professionalism

Bad grammar, typos and badly written content turn people off. How many times have you checked a website and felt like you couldn’t trust them because of the content on their site? Having said that, you also don’t need to sound super posh when you’re writing for your site. Be conversational if that’s what you’re comfortable doing. It’ll still come through well and it’ll prove that you’re not dodgy. Good grammar and good content express what your small business is all about. Remember, you only have seconds to capture your audience’s attention so make the most of it.

Good content helps your customers

When your message is clear, it is easy for your customers to know what your small business can do for them. How are you going to convey how you’re solving their problems? How are you going to tell them your products/services are better than your competitors? Good content can do this for your small business. The information you place on your blog and your website needs to be easy to read so it helps your customers. You want to be able to tell them your story without confusion. You want them to leave your website with the information they need. It’s all about your audience and their experience after landing on your website.

Good content helps with SEO

If you want to land that much coveted first page on any search engine, then you need to focus on your SEO strategy. Luckily, when you have good content on your website that helps boost your SEO a lot. These days, it’s not just about keywords anymore. Yes, you should still think of your keywords but when you dump too much keywords on your website, you actually get penalised by search engines. These days they are looking at context too. SEO is more about good content nowadays so it’s worth double checking what’s on your site.

Need help with content for your small business? Contact us for a FREE 30-minute strategy call!

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What not to do on your small business blog

What not to do on your small business blog

  1. Plagiarise
  2. Copying and pasting other articles
  3. Not crediting sources
  4. Not using quotes
  5. Not researching trends

We’ve previously written about why small business websites need a blog. Not only does it help with your SEO ranking, it also provides good information for your customers (if you do it right). It’s a lot of hassle, we know. It can also be quite daunting especially if you’re new at this. In this post, we will give you some tips on what NOT to do on your blog. You really need to read this because we’ve seen these mistakes in some of our clients. And they can get you in trouble.

Plagiarise

This is the most serious one of the lot. What is plagiarism? It’s when you copy all or part of an article published somewhere else, written by someone else, and then passing it of as your own. You and your small business can get in serious trouble with this. No matter how ‘small’ the website is, or how unknown, you shouldn’t just copy and paste the content and put it on your site. We’ve met clients where their previous ‘website guy’ just copied and pasted entire articles from another website. Then they just placed a tiny accreditation of the website at the bottom of the page. That’s still plagiarism.

Not crediting sources

If you are using a part of the content from another website or source, you need to make sure you credit them. How do you do this? Add their name on the post you’re writing, with link to their website and their position. You always give credit to the website/writer and use quotations marks when you lift a blurb from a certain article. Also, linking out to the original article is also good for your SEO. Not giving credit where credit is due is just bad form. And also, it makes your small business blog look dodgy.

Not researching trends

There are hot topics in your small business industry all the time. You want your content to stay current so you need to do some research as to what everyone is talking about right now. If you don’t do your research you are going to get left behind. Also, it will be good for your small business to stay on top of things if you figure out what’s hot and what’s not. Pick a hot topic, find your angle, and write a post on your blog about it. Your spin to the latest trend will make your content original and relevant.

Need help with content for your small business? Contact us for more info!