Category Archives: Business Blog

Business Communication – Breaking the Commodity Myth

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By Chris Potts, sales & marketing manager at ANT Telecom

 

The growing sophistication and complexity of communications technologies offers organisations the chance to transform performance. Yet by persisting in treating communications – from new telephones to Wi-Fi – as a commodity, the vast majority of organisations are failing to make the best buying decisions. With no outside help, no assessment of business needs and a cost first attitude, organisations are making expensive mistakes and missing out on business critical innovation. Continue reading →

Top tips for writing the perfect press release and distributing online

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By Ben Austin, MD of Digital Marketing Agency SEO Positive

Press release distribution sites are constantly being adopted by online marketers up and down the country as part of their SEO strategies and it’s not hard to see why.

As well as being one of the more affordable approaches, web masters are likely to see their work ranking highly within Google’s search pages.

However, this is only half the battle won, you still need to persuade people to read it and in order to do that you need an interesting well written press release:

  • Keep your title concise. Probably the most important advice to remember is that short headings work best. When briefly scanning a page a web user is not likely to spend time reading through long waffling titles. Think about how your title will appear to your audience on a webpage before you submit it.
  • Consider mobile users. Mobile search accounts for an increasingly large percentage of the market so it is important to make sure your work translates well to this platform. Again this is where short, succinct headings work well, with limited screen space available.
  • Be creative…. When listed alongside a multitude of other press releases you need to do something to make yours stand out. Catchy phrases, a play on words or a snappy title are more likely to draw people towards you.
  •  Keep capitals and exclamation marks to a minimum. Nothing screams desperation louder than SHOUTING, and nothing looks more spammy than a line of exclamation marks!!!! If your release has to resort to these tactics to be appealing than you may be best off re-writing it.
  • Make it visually appealing. As we know, internet users are notoriously impatient, so breaking up your text with images not only makes it easier to read, but keeps your audience captivated for longer. Including your company’s logo is also a good way of spreading awareness of your brand. If you want to really modernise your approach you could also include infographics, an increasingly popular trend amongst online businesses and a more interesting way to explain your point.
  • With some press release distribution services, it is also possible to include videos. These videos could vary from demonstrating how your products work, to displaying a member of staff hosting a presentation. As long as you believe your video could enhance your readers’ experience it is worth including.
  • Adjust your language. Traditionally press releases were written very formally, with language often stilted by keywords and industry jargon. Now Google’s algorithms have evolved to such an extent to understand context, it is time to take advantage of this. Write for your audience rather than the search engines, and aim to entertain as well as educate and there’s a good chance you’ll be rewarded in the rankings.
  • Share your content socially. Another way to make your press releases relevant to 2012 is to post, share and tweet about them within your social media networks. If you’ve followed the steps so far to produce the perfect modernised press release, make sure you promote this throughout your platforms.

Vodafone welcome Clegg’s plans for flexitime working patterns

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Nick Clegg has unveiled plans for flexitime working patterns. The Deputy Prime Minister wants to implement a flexitime working system that give all workers the right to demand flexible working, so people can work at home, reduce their hours or take advantage of flexitime arrangements, especially new parents.

Clegg’s proposals’ aim to benefit businesses and to stimulate growth in the UK economy. Clegg said, “ “Ultimately, this change is good for business: firms will be able to retain their best staff. And it’s good for our economy: a modern workforce is a flexible workforce.”

Telecommunications,Vodafone welcomes today’s announcement from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlining plans to give all employees the right to request flexible working.

Peter Kelly, Director of Vodafone Enterprise, said:

“The proposed extension of the right to request flexible working beyond parents and some carers shows just how far attitudes to flexible working have moved on in the UK over recent years. The Government is demonstrating that it understands the new realities of the UK workplace.
“The extension of the right to request flexible working is a win-win for employees and employers alike.

On the one hand, it will help parents share the responsibility of raising children and ease childcare issues, as well as helping to improve work-life balance.

On the other hand, the government’s approach should help embed progressive practices such as home and remote working, which in turn with help UK employers attract, motivate and retain the talent they need to compete on a global scale.

Many UK companies are now getting rid of outdated, rigid working structures and corporate procedures, and are giving talented people more freedom in how they work and build a corporate culture that supports rather than segregates them.

Not only is this likely to help with talent acquisition and retention, our own research shows that it boosts productivity and staff morale. We found that 54 percent of employees felt more productive when empowered to work from a variety of locations, while 75 per cent stated that it boosted their job satisfaction.

Workplace flexibility really can have dramatic financial and competitive benefits for UK business, and the economy as a whole.”

Going global: Top five tips for trading internationally

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By Guy Mucklow, Managing Director of Postcode Anywhere

 

For any business, the internet has made selling your goods and services to a global market size-agnostic. The beauty of e-commerce means that you have the potential to sell to people from around the world, while you sit comfortably in front of the computer in your pyjamas watching Homes Under the Hammer. However, many businesses that are trading online – whether that is through a dedicated e-commerce website or a mass-market platform such as eBay – often expect to make instant international sales, yet are missing some fundamental steps that will help in conversion.

Even some of the biggest brands are not meeting the basics of trading overseas and famously falling at the first hurdle.  The car company Vauxhall famously launched its Nova model as Opel Nova in Spain, which translated as ‘doesn’t go’ in the native language – almost definitely the complete opposite of the company’s intentions with the marketing on this car!

With the pound at a weak point, it is a great time for UK businesses to start trading to an international market over the internet. Here are the five key steps that any business selling online should take before making the plunge:

1. Take advantage of online payment services

Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium are four of the largest e-commerce markets in Europe, however, they use credit cards very little. Therefore, it is essential that your website offers an appropriate variety of payment methods for the country or region that you are targeting.

PayPal has more than 35 million active accounts across Europe and trade in 25 currencies. WorldPay has a dedicated site for small business and offers the opportunity to start trading and receiving payments online in one basic package. There is also PlanetPayment and Google Checkout; all of these services provide a more efficient way to develop your payment options when first expanding internationally.

2. Localise, localise, localise

It’s imperative that any online copy, especially that on a product description and during the transaction process is translated using a native language speaker, and never with a free online tool or machine. This can be spotted a mile off by your customers and will reflect poorly on your brand. Unfortunately the issue goes much further when you take into account how different cultures interpret information differently. Ensure that colours, symbols and graphic devices are appropriate for your new market. A business cannot afford to underestimate the importance of people’s sensitivity to language and culture when moving products and services into new markets.

Of course, displaying prices in local currencies is a no-brainer; at the very least you should provide a currency converter. Better yet, use a payment service, such as PayPal, that can provide an accurate price.

3. Address the addressing

International address formats, foreign characters and language barriers make capturing an international address seem like an uphill struggle. If a billing or delivery form doesn’t cater for a particular market, it could even portray to a potential customer that the business doesn’t actually ship internationally, and cause them to go to a competitor. In addition, with the cost of international postage to contend with, the price of getting it wrong can be amplified tenfold. It is worth thinking about investing in an online tool where customers can type in a fragment of an address and have a complete and fully validated record returned, in the correct country format. Avoid the headaches that come with international addressing by ensuring that the data is accurate at the point of entry, eliminating any issues at the outset.

4. Reduce customer effort

Customer expectations from businesses are getting higher, increasingly so for online retailers, as it is a sector that is highly competitive on customer service. Customers do not want to have to contact a business unless absolutely necessary, and if they do it will cost your company money. There are some very simple ways to reduce customer effort and be more proactive about the information that you provide your customers. It is crucial to include information on estimated shipping times for international buyers, as well as product availability and any international returns policies. Explaining any additional shipping costs here is a good way to discourage cart abandonment and avoid unnecessary calls and emails.

It’s always a good idea to include a full list of contact information as well as customer service hours of operation in relation to specific time zones. Most people will naturally presume that the hours referred to are in their own time zone and could find it frustrating if they cannot get hold of the company, not realising that it is out of business hours.

5. Please the taxman

You need to ensure that your international website takes into account any additional charges or taxes that apply to the jurisdiction you are selling to. VAT and Custom Duty rules are complex and will differ depending on factors such as whether the business is trading in or outside the EU, the value of the goods in question, and whether the supplies are to business or non-business customers. Breaching these rules can result in hefty fees for the business and the customer itself.

Trading in any international country comes with myriad of challenges and rewards. However, the businesses that succeed will be the ones that look and feel like they have been built within the local market.

Can A Blog Really Build Your Business?

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CEOs and small business owners are blogging more now than ever before.  But is this really the way to seek out and engage with that core of loyal customers who will spend their hard earned money with you no matter what your baying competitors lay before them? Or is it just another way to fruitlessly flitter away your precious time?

Rough estimates currently put the number of worldwide blogs at around the 100 million mark.  We live in an age where everyone can instantly have a potentially global voice.  Undoubtedly, of those 100 million blogs, a vast majority might well be regaling readers with the side splitting antics of their domestic house cat and have no relevance (or no interest) to your customers but, rest assured, whatever expertise you and your business possess, there are going to be people already writing about it.

And with vast competition vying for the short attention span of any reader, those considering starting a business blog should carefully decide whether it will help or hinder their business.

Writing and maintaining a top notch blog is a unique and powerful tool to engage with customers on a personal level.  But it’s not easy. So what are the dos and don’ts of business blogging, the tricks to utilise and the traps to avoid?

For all the answers, just read my personal blog at …

Not really.

How to engage your audience and attract followers

Do Not Sell

When you cease being a business person and don that comfortable jumper of a regular citizen (also known as a consumer) you will no doubt be aware that we are all marketed to incessantly. From pop ups to banners, to flyers, to those mid-evening long distance phone calls, we are constantly having the latest and greatest must-haves thrust before us. The last thing we look for, therefore, in our quality ‘consumer decision making, product/service evaluation time’ is for more of the same.

Make sure your blog a resource for readers interested in your business or the wider industry and not a sales pitch.

Become an industry expert

Use your blog to educate and inform. Be the voice of reason, of calm and authority in your chosen field. If you sell cars, give people the insider knowledge of what they should look out for before buying a new car. If you sell insurance, simplify for your readers the complicated Ts & Cs – help them to understand what’s important and what they can ignore.

Always look to gain their trust and their respect.

Commit to your Blog & follow through

Blogs are a slow burn. They take time to build and inevitably there will be a period at the beginning where you will require persistence in your task, even when you feel you are (and you may well be) writing for just the merest smattering of readers.

With the unfathomable power of sharing links to attractive content through social networks, an articulate and morally sound voice of authority and reason within any industry will find its readers. So commit to it, make sure your blog’s content is of value or is, at the very least, enjoyable to read for your target audience. Spread the word of its existence through your website, your own social media pages and your existing company contacts. And then trust the process.

More followers mean more business?

Whilst business owners might enjoy having a blog that’s popular, it’s of little use if it doesn’t grow the business itself.

A general increase in awareness of your business through a popular blog is a wonderful thing. The hidden gem though is that potential customers are able to get to know your organisation and its leaders personally, as though you were sat with them on a comfortable sofa enjoying a glass of single malt.

Whether intentionally written about or not, a blog will, nine times out of ten, provide real insight into your company’s ethics and character and, when it comes to consumer decision making, the importance of these factors should certainly not be underestimated.  What you are meticulously cultivating is that illusive animal – consumer trust.

We all buy from companies we trust. Maybe we trust that they will give us the very best value or at least won’t steal our money, maybe we trust that they know more about what looks good to wear than we do, but we buy from them, and return to them, because we have, for one reason or another, formed a positive association with what they stand for.

So if the time is right for you, clear your diary, build your blog, clear your throat and … begin.

By Ken Builder, MD WebEden.co.uk