Category: Marketing blog

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3 Reasons You Need To Pay For Excel Training

If you’re just starting out in the business world, there is a reasonable chance you will think about employee training and which courses are most suitable for your team. Today, this article will make a case for ensuring people in particular positions within your company get appropriate training in using Excel. Read the information below.

 

Excel training will save you money

Firstly, it’s vital to note that people who know how to use Excel properly can save your business a lot of money. That is because you won’t have to spend a fortune on accounting or inventory software. Instead, you can use custom-made spreadsheets to do the same job.

 

Excel training will save you time

At some point, you will want to query sales information and work out financial and other trends within your organisation. When your team knows how to use Excel, that process can take a matter of minutes rather than days. So, you will save a significant amount of time.

 

Excel training will save you from disaster

If you don’t believe that Excel training can save your company from disaster, then it’s probably a sensible move to check out the infographic published at the bottom of this article. There are some shocking examples of how schoolboy errors can cost you dearly.

 

You should now understand why Excel training is vital to the success of your company in the long run. Arranging some in-house or outsourced courses for people working in your ordering and accounts departments is always a wise move.

 

Best of luck!


Infographic about how troublesome  Excel can be

Marketing blog

The Simple 6 Step Social Media Strategy

According to Dream grow, 95% of Online adults aged 18-34 are most likely to follow a brand via social networking, and 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. 

So it’s not hard to believe that 92% of retail brands use at least 2 social media platforms or more to connect to their audience base.

But firstly, you need a strategy!

Social media strategies can be confusing, especially when it comes to calculating your ROI. I like to see social media as a way to connect with my audience base and to raise my brand awareness.

If you’re thinking more along the lines ‘How much money can we make from Twitter this month’ then you’ll likely to be disappointed.

But if you’re willing to invest the time getting to know what makes your audience tick, and engage with them, then it definitely can boost your traffic and brand awareness, and these are the key ingredients that can lead to sales!

Here are my 6 simple social media steps!

1. Create Your Goals 

Here are just a few goals you could consider for your content marketing strategy. Did you know that people who write down their goals are likely to be 33 times more successful than someone who doesn’t?

  • Brand awareness
  • More traffic to your business blog
  • Community Engagement
  • More newsletter subscribers
  • Create a loyal fanbase
  • Increase retention

 

 

2. Research your audience

Nearly 79% of adults use Facebook, but how many REALLY engage with your business page? Remember that the majority of people use Facebook to connect with family & friends, NOT brands and that’s why you need to understand where to find your audience base and how to engage withe them.

  • Understand the general demographics for each social media platform. If your target market is 60 years plus, then using Instagram may not be the best audience considering most of their audience is within the 18-29 years bracket.
  • Where is your audience based?
  • What do they like to do in their time off work? Hobbies & Interests?
  • What is their professional/ Employment status?
  • Which social media platforms do they like to hang out in on their time off?

 

3. Establish Key Metrics

This will give you a better idea of your ROI. It can be tricky to track social media progress but there are some key elements that can help you along the way.

  • How many weekly impressions did you post receive?
  • How many likes?
  • How many people engaged with your content?
  • How much of your traffic came from your social media platforms?
  • How much reach did your Tweets have?

 

4. Research your competitive landscape

Researching your competitors can give you so much information! Brands that are well evolved have already done all the hard work in finding their niche market and you can tap into this too. Then, once you get the basics down, you can make it your own!

  • What platforms do they get the most engagement from?
  • Do they have a similar audience base to you?
  • Which content receives the most engagement?
  • Do they hold competitions on their Facebook pages?
  • Can you follow and engage with their Twitter followers?

 

 

5. Creating your content 

You can manage your content by using scheduling platforms such as Buffer or Hootsuite but remember that unless you log in to engage for at least 15 minutes a day, it’s unlikely your account will receive any attention! When creating your content you want to think about;

  • Using Twitter lists for your influencers to see their most popular tweets
  • Create a list purely for interesting content 
  • Researching on Buzzfeed content using keywords, what was the most popular post?
  • Remember content with images and videos will receive triple the engagement
  • Do you incorporate Facebook live and Instastories too?
  • Will you post on trending topics?

 

 

Then pop in daily to Engage, Engage, Engage!!

6. Tracking your results

Around 80% of marketers find it difficult to work out how much revenue their efforts actually created and tend to monitor engagement. To get you started think about;

  • How many likes did your content receive?
  • Did any sales from google analytics come from Social media?
  • Did you have a high number of newsletter signs ups and which traffic source did they come from?
  • Can you see an overall increase in Twitter followers and impressions?
  • Are more people visiting your Twitter profile?
  • Did you receive anymore Facebook page likes?

 

Ok so here is just a quick snapshot of the basic 6 step social media strategy.

Do you need help to create your own strategy? Get in touch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing blog

Beyond The Chair Of Running A Hairdressers

One the most used businesses in our daily lives is the hairdressers. It’s something that is in a bit of strange position. We don’t usually see it as a necessity such as we go grocery shopping. On the other hand, our hair isn’t going to stop growing, so we have to use it. Over time a salon or barber can become a sanctuary for some people. It’s a place they come to converse and share their joys and lows in their lives. It’s also a place where the end is going to be positive because getting a slick haircut uplifts your spirit and confidence. It’s totally understandable if you’re ready and excited about opening and running your own salon or beauty shop. However, like all businesses, there are some gremlins you have to flush out before you put your foot to the floor.

Protect yourself

All kinds of business need protection or varying sorts. It doesn’t matter if you sell fruit and vegetables, or cars and suits, you need to have a safety net. After all, you’re dealing with customers who have that human condition streak within them. One day they can be fine and agreeable, the next day they suddenly want to take you to court for something. What you salon business needs is insurance that is specific to its nature. It’s not just to shield yourself from angry clients but internal disputes that could cost you your business. If you have hired a stylist, they could somewhere down the road decide to break up with you and steal some of your business such as logos, branding etc. With adequate employer liability protection, you stand a high chance of sidestepping this battle.

Safe floors

Like a men’s barber but only higher, salons have a chance of causing an injury to a client because of the condition of the floors. Wet and dry hair litters the floor and makes it slippery. If someone is wearing inadequate footwear or perhaps is old and frail, slipping and falling can cause great injury. But at the same time, it can feel like trying to stem a tide with your hands. Hair is going to scour the floor of a salon no matter what. Taking the time to brush the floor regularly is a good stopgap measure, but really, you need to have a floor that provides friction. Wooden flooring may be stylish but not very practical for a salon. Instead, you can get rubber flooring tiles or a composite or plastic. With this kind of material, the soles of shoes gain more grip and less likely to slip even when hair is trapped underneath.

 

Section sections

Salons are a whirlwind of activity at the best of times. Some clients may want to highlight their hair, get a high-quality shampoo and conditioner, and or blow dry their style into a fixed position. For this to work safely, you have to section your sections properly. Keep one side purely for drying hair, another purely for water usage, and another where the initial and or final scissor cuts are made.

Barbers and salons are great places for the community to regularly come, spend their hard-earned money and feel good about themselves. But beyond the chair, running the business is just like any other. It’s complex, it’s risky but ultimately if done properly, incredibly rewarding.

 

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