Category

Marketing

This section provides in-depth guides on the different marketing strategies and techniques small businesses can apply to help plan, promote, position and price their products and services.

Making a success of direct mail

The key to building a winning direct mail campaign is having a clear idea of your target market and selecting a list that matches this market.

Marketing

Marketing

Marketing on a budget

What is the difference between the businesses that succeed and the ones that don't? Quite simply, customers.

Marketing

Benefit from podcasting

Even in the fad-friendly world of the internet, podcasting has become something of a phenomenon of late. But is podcasting simply the latest craze being toyed with by creative media types or is there more commercial substance behind it? Opinion is divided.

Marketing

A guide to pay-per-click advertising

Internet advertising has rapidly come of age and is a method by which small businesses trading online can drive large numbers of customers to their sites at relatively little cost. This guide should prove useful in getting started on the pay-per-click road.

Marketing

Is radio advertising for you?

You can't close your ears. That's the principle behind claims that radio is one of the best mediums for advertisers. Growing businesses in a range of sectors find it significantly boosts brand awareness, especially in conjunction with other media.

Marketing

The value of networking events

This is all about learning from other people who are experiencing, or have experienced, similar things to yourself. You get more from networking events if you're an active participant so get involved in debates, discussions, social events and exhibitions. Networking is valuable whether you're starting up or have been running a business for years.

Marketing

Create the perfect business card

Egotistical, gimmicky and grim. That is the description of millions of business cards creating a bad impression to prospective clients according to research from Lancaster University and print group The Entwistle Group. What does your card say about you and your business?

Marketing

Guide to organising a mail shot

Use this guide for ways of building and maintaining a mailing list and to find out how to encourage people to read what you send them rather than throwing it in the recycling.

Marketing

Create the perfect business card

Egotistical, gimmicky and grim. That is the description of millions of business cards creating a bad impression to prospective clients according to research from Lancaster University and print group The Entwistle Group. What does your card say about you and your business?

Marketing

Guide to organising a mail shot

Use this guide for ways of building and maintaining a mailing list and to find out how to encourage people to read what you send them rather than throwing it in the recycling.

Marketing

Internet marketing: Search engine optimisation

Online marketing is becoming increasingly important to UK business, as recent research from the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) suggests.

Marketing

Price hikes get the message across

If you are looking to announce a price increase, it’s important to test the market first with a few customers by telephone or face-to-face, to gauge reaction.

Marketing

How to set up a marketing database

Allocating time and resources to gaining new customers can be a difficult issue for small businesses – purchasing a database for marketing purposes can sometimes be out of the question.

Marketing

How to use your website to win customers

UK, small businesses are being urged to be cleverer with their websites to give themselves a competitive edge.

Business Loans

A guide to getting a small business loan

Everything you need to know on what small business loans are and what types of loan are available for your business.

Business Technology

Future-proof your business communications set-up

Landlines as we know them will be scrapped in 2027 – along with a raft of upcoming business changes. Here's how to ensure your communications set-up is fit for whatever the future brings

Business Technology

Friendly guide – top tips for small businesses switching to VoIP

With the landline shutdown coming fast, there’s never been a better time to switch to VoIP. Don’t let your small business be left behind!

Export & Import

Avoid delays with exports and imports

Many factors can affect products’ journeys from A to B. Here are some tips for best practice for successful shipping in the modern world