Blog
Learning on the job
Running a small business requires a multitude of skills and as undoubtedly small business owners will be great at some of them and lacking in others it’s therefore essential to invest in training in the areas you need to improve. Training is a great way to keep you motivated as well as of course broadening your skills base.
I love doing training courses but they do take up a large chunk of time, something small business owners don’t have much of. It’s also sometimes difficult to translate the knowledge gained to your situation, because of this we’ve found an increasing demand for one to one training with our clients. It means you’re not taking time away but actually working on the tasks that need doing and learning at the same time.
One such client is Nicky Grace who works with vintage fabric to make lovely art pieces and gifts (nickygrace.co.uk). We’ve worked with Nicky to set up her own blog, twitter, facebook & pinterest and now she does everything herself with very little help from us.
Nicky had this to say:
‘A few months ago I was practically computer illiterate, and now thanks to Lindsay@RedDesk I use a business page on Facebook, I blog, tweet, upload, download, use Pinterest, and manage my e-commerce website. She has calmly and patiently taught me how to use social media which I find essential for my business and more fun than I ever expected. Without Lindsay I’d still be in the dark ages ! ‘
I’ve been working mainly on social media with Nicky but we can help with many other areas of running a business, however if you prefer a classroom setting for your training then I would recommend City Lit based in Holborn. Adult education colleges offer a wealth of different training courses at very reasonable prices, training does not need to cost a fortune.
So if there’s some aspect of running your business that you’re struggling with book up for some training and it will save you loads of time and money in the long run.
If you need any help then you can contact me on:
Find me on Twitter @reddeskVA
Find me on Facebook Red Desk VA
Newsletters and email campaigns
In this series of articles I want to draw people’s attention to the on-line tools available that really can make to a difference to the quality & quantity of your work, you simply need to spend a bit of time setting them up (or get red desk to do it for you).
Last time I covered BACK-UPS & FILE SHARING, this time I want to talk about NEWSLETTERS.
These days it’s integral to your business to invest sometime in on-line marketing & networking (even if it’s simply joining LINKEDIN). Newsletters can be a great way to build up a continual contact with your clients or prospective clients. You can use them to give out free & useful information, to update your clients on new price offers or to let your customers know of new products or services that they may not know you offer!
There are a whole host of websites that can help you to create Newsletters & email Campaigns. The three that I find the clearest to understand & the most effective are mailchimp, Graphicmail & ConstantContact
All three websites allow you to store your subscribers email addresses, the number of subscribers you can store depends on the level of the account you sign up to, Mailchimp offer a free account that allows up to 1000 subscribers & up to 6000 emails per month (however you do have the mailchimp logo at the bottom of the emails), Constant Contact & Graphic mail offer a minimum account of $15 per month, but both do offer a free trials.
Once you have your email addresses stored, you can design your Newsletter using the templates supplied, they are easy to use & give a really professional look. You can also link your newsletters to any of the most popular social networking sites (I will be covering social networking sites in my next article).
Finally the great asset of using these sites for your newsletters is the ability to monitor & evaluate the response. You can track opens, clicks, forwards, subscribe /unsubscribe & delivery allowing you to see how well your campaign is meeting your goals.
If you need any help with setting up your own email campaigns then give red desk call.
red desk can help you organise your workload & make more time for you!
lindsay@reddesk.co.uk
Twitter: reddeskVA
Facebook Page: Red Desk VA
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