Standfirst: Three elementary tech tips to help boost your small business’s brand and make your life easier.
If you’ve been toying with tech or studying up on social, the new financial year is a great time to make a resolution to improve your digital skills. When you are building a brand from the ground up, you need all the help you can get, and a little bit of tech know-how can go a long way.
While the digital realm can seem a little daunting, you don’t need to be a tech expert to create and run great online marketing assets. For Tahlia Plant, owner and founder of Brisbane-based soy candle and diffuser company Bulb & Fossa, moving her business online was the key to success.
“Without an online presence, my business wouldn’t be what it is today,” she says. “It’s how I reach new customers and retain my current customers. It also allows me to showcase my products, engage with new markets, compare myself against competitors and see how I can differentiate myself in a saturated market.”
Equally, for Andrea Webster, who runs retail, hospitality and workplace interior design business Realeyes Design, her website is an essential tool to demonstrate her small business’s proven history and experience.
“We have to have a history and an experience level for our customers to believe in us. So, that’s why a website is really important,” she says.
Here are three tips from successful Aussie small-business owners if you’re looking to become more tech-savvy this financial year:
1. Spread your wings onto social media
If you haven’t explored the world of social media for your business, this might be the year to give it a go, with 20 million Aussies reportedly now using a social platform.
“I can easily connect my website store with my Facebook shop.”
Tahlia wished she had started an online Instagram and Facebook shop earlier because of the boost it has given her business. “It took me a while to figure out how to actually create a Facebook shop,” she says.
“I could have connected better with my network and customers earlier if I had done this. I love that now that I know, I can easily connect my website store with my Facebook shop.”
Tahlia’s new financial year digital resolution is to spread her wings a little further afield and try some new social media platforms. “I would love to be more immersed in Instagram and TikTok and educate myself more on how to create relatable and engaging content based on viral needs.”
Thomas McNally co-founded real-estate photography business Picture it Sold and says one of his best social marketing tips is to link your business social media account to your website.
“We actually have a link to our Instagram on our website so that it’s always getting fresh [content], because when we do a few Instagram posts a day, it’s always continually getting updated photos on there as well,” he says.
He also discovered real-estate agents are very active on social media and are often likely to share his content if he tags them in it, creating great engagement and sales leads.
2. Choose tech that makes running your business easier
If there’s one commodity that’s in short supply for small-business owners, it’s time. Choosing the right tech products can help automate some tasks, give visibility to others and help take some of the angst out of the day-to-day.
“The seamlessness between social media platform shops (Facebook and Instagram) and my GoDaddy website has made it easy for my customers to see my product range,” Tahlia says. “In addition, the way that I can manage all my stock, orders and tracking information on the same application through my website has made for a positive experience, especially when life gets busy.”
Website and social media providers often also provide dashboard tools to give you analytics that can make you accountable and motivated as your business grows.
They can help track data like customer orders and website performance. “I can then use this information to compare how I am performing this year vs previous years in terms of sales, customers, and order volumes,” Tahlia says.
Andrea from Realeyes Design uses an accounting and project management software that helps track and report on jobs.
“I can, at the tip of my fingers, tell how profitable a job is or what’s next on our task list,” she says. “It is just good, instead of having endless Excel spreadsheets. I know what’s been quoted, what’s been invoiced, what the profit level is, what our expenses are. So, that has been really invaluable.”
3. Tap into your creative side
Online, a little bit of creativity can go a long way when you are trying to promote your business. Plus, if you can master a few creative tips with online tools like GoDaddy Studio, it can help save money when your business is small and margins are tight. Tahlia says the best digital skill she’s learned is how to photograph her products. “I can actually take nice photos of my products and have a creative flair for doing this. All you need is a phone with a camera, your products, a backdrop and some natural lighting.”
If you want to make the new financial year the start of something fresh for your small business, taking a dive into digital could be just the change you need.
This article first appeared in issue 38 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
