Introducing our latest platform update - say hello to our new Messaging Centre!
Communication is Key
Communication is at the heart of everything that we do here at Digital Boost, so after receiving awesome feedback from our community, we knew we needed to develop a kick-ass new messaging feature that would make it easier than ever for our community to connect and collaborate after their mentoring sessions.
Building our dream feature
The team spent months working on this feature, making sure that every little detail was totally perfect. We're all perfectionists and we won't ever release anything for our members until we're completely happy with the experience we're creating for our community ๐ช
We're delighted to now have a Messaging Centre that allows our members to see all their messages in one place and makes it easier than ever to book follow-up sessions!
Features that go above and beyond
โ Allows you to contact any mentor or mentee that you've previously met with
๐ฌ Control who has access to contacting you
๐ค Easily book follow-up sessions and take action
๐ Stores all your messages in one place, so they're easy to manage
As a community of volunteer mentors, we're delighted to be celebrating Volunteers' Week here in the UK ๐
We're incredibly passionate about volunteering, but don't just take our word for how awesome it is! Read on to find out about the positive benefits of volunteering ๐ช
Creating Purpose
We all get busy, and sometimes we can get so lost in the weeds of our 9-5s that we lose focus on what's important to us. Volunteering allows you to get out of your comfort zone and reconnect with what lights you up.
Whether your purpose comes from sharing your skills, your time, or just connecting with new people, there are amazing volunteering opportunities out there that will allow you to reconnect with your purpose and give back to society ๐ฅฐ
Build Your Skills
Volunteering offers a unique opportunity to not only give back but to also develop personally too! Whether you choose to volunteer at a food bank, animal shelter, or share your skills as a mentor, all of these opportunities will hone skills you already have and teach you new ones too ๐ช
Learn & Grow
Volunteering is often seen as the act of giving, but what most people don't know is that actually, there's so much that you as a volunteer can gain from volunteering!
The volunteer mentors in our community constantly report that they learn just as much as their mentees during their mentoring sessions. Often you'll be sharing your expertise, but you'll be learning about an industry that's maybe new to you or learning more about the world through the eyes of a small business ๐
Build Meaningful Relationships
Volunteering connects you with people from all walks of life, who you may never have met if you hadn't started volunteering ๐ It also allows you to build deep relationships with people who are connected through a shared purpose. Meaningful connections like these have been shown to improve the quality of our lives and make us happier overall!
Lots of our volunteer mentors end up offering ongoing mentoring to the mentees that they meet because of the deep and lasting connections they build in their sessions together ๐
If you feel inspired to get involved with Volunteers' Week, why not become one of our volunteer mentors today?
Meet John, our Mentor of the Month for May! ๐
This week marks John's 2-year anniversary volunteering with Digital Boost, so we caught up with him to find out why he loves mentoring small businesses ๐งก
Where are you based in the world?
Belfast, Ireland
What's your day job?
Regional Ecosystem Manager at Ulster Bank and Dealmaker for Department for Business and Trade
What's one thing you're amazing at?
Taking complex things and simplifying them down... or in a word, storytelling.
What do you love about mentoring small businesses and charities?
Being able to play a small part in helping someone move closer to their dream is what brings me happiness.
If you could start your own business, what would it be and why?
I have, I previously launched a wifi software company. Next time it'll definitely be something more fun. As an ex-food critic, I'd definitely love to build something that crosses over food and tech.
What's one top tip you always share with small businesses?
Saying you're an expert and mentor is easy to do on LinkedIn, but it doesn't make it true. Just because you see someone wearing a vintage Nirvana 1992 Reading Festival t-shirt doesn't mean they were at one of the most iconic concerts of all time. Investors do diligence on entrepreneurs before investing money into a business. You're basing strategic decisions on an expert's advice. Make sure you've done your own diligence to know you can rely on that advice.
If you could sit next to one famous person at a dinner party (dead or alive) who would you choose and why?
I like a raucous party, so I'll pivot and say my dinner party is loud (with a mix of punk and grunge music blasting) so everyone can dance. And I'll invite along Kurt Cobain, Joan Jett, and Anthony Bourdain.
John offers mentoring in Fundraising, Public Relations and Leadership and Founder Advice, find him on our platform here๐
Thinking about dipping your toe into the world of AI? This easy-to-use guide will walk you through what you can do with AI to grow your small business and teach you the golden 80/20 rule that will ensure your business stays human ๐
Uses of AI for small businesses
Streamlining Operations
Running a small business often means wearing multiple hats and juggling a million different tasks, but with a few simple AI tweaks, you can automate a lot of easy processes and free up some of your time โฐ
Tasks you might like to automate:
- Simple customer inquiries ๐ AI-powered chatbots
- Social media manual posting ๐ social media scheduling tools (check out Canva, Later and Hootsuite!)
- Reviewing CVs manually ๐ AI recruitment & candidate screening
- Writing meeting notes ๐ Automated notetaking
Data Analytics
If data analysis is giving you a headache, AI can help to take that off your plate!
AI can be used in conjunction with data tools like Google Analytics to help you analyse and interpret your data and make things that little bit easier to understand ๐ช
Content Creation
When you're a solopreneur, trying to produce content for your socials, emails, ads and more can feel pretty daunting!
The most common use of AI that we're seeing is content creation, and if you're looking to save some time it can be really helpful ๐ช
Programmes like ChatGPT can create basic content for you to then build on, removing that awful feeling of staring at a blank page!
Sales
If you work in an industry where you're presenting often to clients - don't reinvent the wheel each time you do a presentation!
You can use AI to build your presentations for you and have them looking super professional in no time - allowing you to focus on the selling and not the creation ๐
But how do we keep it human?
We all know that people buy from people, so it's crucial that as you begin to move into the world of AI, ensure we're keeping the human front and centre of your business ๐ค
As our mentor John from TryAI Consulting recommends, stick to the 80/20 rule - 80%, 20% human.
So what does 80/20 look like?
Well, when you're using AI to create a blog post for example, allow the AI to get you 80% of the way there, but then allow yourself time to review the content, tone of voice the blog post and ensure it's on brand and looks and feels how you would have written it! That should give you the 20% you need to humanise your content whilst halving your workload ๐ช
Want to do a deep dive? Check out John's webinar, AI for Small Businesses here ๐
You know what you need help with, you've selected your preferred mentors and now it's time to write your request ๐
Read on to find out how you can write the perfect mentoring request and increase your chances of being matched with a mentor ๐
Imagine you're chatting in-person
We're a family at Digital Boost, so when you send a request in, remember there's always a person at the end reading it!
When you write a request, you might like to imagine you're already sitting down and chatting with a group of our mentors who are there to help you ๐ It'll help you to write a more chatty and personable request that will get our mentors' attention!
Just make sure to not address your request to a specific mentor! Check out our golden rules for more information on this at the end of this blog ๐
Make it personal
Similarly to our first point, when you start writing your request remember to include a little bit about you and your business - this helps your mentor to get to know you and start building a picture of your business โ
Context is king
As you're likely meeting your mentor for the very first time, they're not going to know anything about your business journey yet! So it's really helpful if you can give some context about what you need help with and what you've done up until this point to tackle the topic or issue. Your mentor will then understand your situation and tailor their advice to you and your business.
Leverage your links
The more information you can give your mentor, the better! Whether you need help with your social media, website, or fundraising, ensure you link your website, social media channels, and any other relevant materials that will help your mentor to establish how best to support you ๐ค
Golden Rules
- Never share personal information in your requests - we've set everything up so that you can request and join sessions right from within our platform, so you'll never need to share personal contact information with anyone in our community โค๏ธ
- Avoid addressing mentors by name - if your preferred mentor isn't available, we'll ask our wider community to help! Using names can cause confusion, so keep your request nameless ๐
Looking for inspiration? Check out our example here to help you get started ๐
Ready to write your own perfect request?
After hitting rock bottom, Sallyanne was able to turn it around and start making money in her business thanks to the help of Digital Boost's small business mentoring.
In the aftermath of the Pandemic, Sallyanne's beauty school was struggling financially and she was "in a really dark place", struggling to keep it going after working so hard to keep her business afloat.
She tried everything, turning to family and friends and anyone who might be able to help her keep the business going - but nothing was quite working.
In her own words, "there was no light at the end of the tunnel" and it was a "horrendous time" for her and her mental health โค๏ธโ๐ฉน
Finding NatWest unlocked mentoring for Sallyanne
Sallyanne was "clutching at anything and everything" and one day whilst Googling to try and find some support, she stumbled across a link to a NatWest Business account and started exploring NatWest's free resources for small businesses.
NatWest champions small businesses and supports Digital Boost in providing free support to SMEs. After exploring the NatWest resources, Sallyanne discovered Digital Boost's free small business mentoring platform.
Having tried nearly everything to keep her business afloat, she thought she had nothing to lose by giving Digital Boost a try ๐
A match made in Heaven
Once Sallyanne joined Digital Boost's community, she was matched with an amazing small business mentor, Karen, who Sallyanne calls her "guardian angel" ๐
At the end of the hour Sallyanne spent with Karen, she felt like there was finally a "glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel" she'd been stuck in โจ
Sallyanne realised "there are people out there who can help me" - she just needed to find the right people!
Mentoring made progress inevitable for Sallyanne
After that first life-changing call, Sallyanne has thrown herself into mentoring, having many sessions with Digital Boost experts and really going all-in to turn her business around.
With Karen's support, Sallyanne identified she needed to get her business visible in order to start driving sales, so we matched her with Sam from OneLinkMedia, another of the incredible volunteers on our platform who provides search engine optimisation mentoring and support. In just six weeks, with Sam's guidance, Sallyanne was able to start climbing the SEO ranks and within a few months, she was generating sales from organic searches!
Since we interviewed Sallyanne, she's gone from strength to strength and has made even more progress! We're so proud of Sallyanne and the journey she's been on with us and we're excited to keep supporting her through our mentoring programme ๐
If you're in that dark place, don't suffer alone โค๏ธ We have incredible mentors who can support you and your small business, entirely free of charge!
Your small business is growing and you think you might be ready to bring some extra hands on board to ease the workload ๐ช
But if you've never hired before, the process can feel pretty daunting right? Don't worry, this beginner's guide will take you from entrepreneur to employer in no time ๐
Review your business strategy
This will help you figure out what gaps you need to fill and how those will feed into your overall business goals
Develop job descriptions
Once you know what roles you need to fill, now you can start creating job descriptions! Make sure you're super clear about the responsibilities, qualifications, and skills you're looking for with each role.
Share your job roles
Get your jobs in front of the right candidates so that you can attract the best talent โ
Here are some websites you might find handy:
Remember to leverage your network! There may be amazing referrals that your network can connect you with ๐ค
Screen candidates
Spend some extra time on this step, making sure anyone you choose to talk to has all the skills and qualities you're looking for in your ideal candidate!
Hold interviews
Now for the fun part! It's time to schedule interviews with your most promising candidates.
Make sure you have a list of questions prepared to help you decide whether your candidates are the right fit for the roles you're looking to fill.
๐ก Top Tips
- Ask open-ended questions
- Don't be afraid of silence - your candidates will need time to think carefully about your questions!
- Dig deeper - help your candidates to shine by asking them to expand on any vague or short answers so that you can really asses their skillset
Once you've completed interviews, you'll be ready to check references, make an offer and look forward to onboarding your brand new employee ๐
Hiring employees can be a big step for a solopreneur, but it can also be very rewarding and can take a huge amount off your plate as you grow your business ๐
If you're beginning your hiring journey, why not book a 1:1 mentoring session with one of our HR experts? They'll be able to walk you through this process and provide advice to help you succeed ๐ช
Want to learn more? Watch our step-by-step Masterclass on hiring your first employee ๐
Whether you're looking into getting a business loan or you want to learn more about angel investing, we've got you covered with a rundown of the top ways to find funding for your business ๐ธ
Types of Funding
There are two "traditional" forms of funding: funding provided through a banking body and non-bank funding.
Bank Funding
Bank funding includes:
- Loan
- Overdraft
- Asset Finance
Before you speak to your bank, we recommend chatting with one of our Fundraising experts. They'll be able to give you advice on how to prepare to approach your bank!
Non-Bank Funding Options
Non-bank funding includes:
- Angel Investment (learn more here)
- Family & Friends
- Crowd Funding
- Savings
- Grants (learn more here)
Handy websites to help you decide which option might be right for you:
There are many options out there to explore, so watch our handy video from Nick, one of our volunteers from NatWest, to get a sense of which funding option might be right for you! ๐
Once you've watched the video, don't forget to book your free 1:1 call with a Fundraising expert who can help you on your own personal journey to fundraising for your business ๐
Youโre all excited, another mentoring request has just landed on your Dashboard and youโre thinking, okay letโs take this to the next level - how can I make this my best mentoring session yet? ๐ญ
We hear you! Whether youโre new to our mentoring community or youโre a longstanding mentor looking to level up your sessions, this guide will help you to become one of our top mentors in no time.
Prepare
'Fail to prepare: prepare to fail'
Okay itโs not that serious! BUT the best mentoring sessions are the ones where our mentors have taken some time to prepare beforehand.
And it doesnโt have to take long!
Key things to prepare could include:
- Checking out your menteeโs website
- Checking their request and making a note of the key things theyโre looking to discuss during the call - head to your Dashboard and click 'manage call' on your meeting to see your mentee's request
- Checking the health of their business so that you can tailor your advice to where your mentee is at - you can find the health of the business by heading to 'manage call' and then clicking on your mentee's profile photo ๐
- Taking a look at our popular resources - we have lots of written resources on popular learning topics that you can use to guide your sessions or share with your mentee to further their learning ๐ค ๐
Settle in nice and early
Weโve all fallen foul to the dreaded Zoom install minutes before youโre call is about to start - so donโt let this be you!
Make sure youโve logged into your Dashboard a couple of minutes before the session and youโve joined your call ready to start promptly at the time of the session. It creates a great first impression and ensures youโre not all flustered when you start the call.
Put your mentee at ease
Our mentees are often feeling overwhelmed and alone when they first join Digital Boost and joining a mentoring session can be a big step in their journey.
So putting them at ease early on in the call can be the difference between a good session and a great one.
Ways to put your mentee at ease:
- Take control of the call by introducing yourself and asking them to do the same
- Start with something light - itโs a cliche but asking about the weather or what coffee theyโre drinking can be a fun and easy way to get your mentee chatting!
- When youโre ready to start talking business, try to summarise what theyโve asked for help with and give a rough agenda for how youโre going to be helping them on the call - this helps to keep you on track AND will reassure your mentee.
Ask the right questions
These questions will help you to dig deeper with your mentee:
- What do you think is working well with your [business, content, website etc.]?
- What are you finding challenging about [your business, content, website etc.]?
- Where is the majority of your time spent in your business?
- If you could make one major shift in your [business, content, website etc.], what would that shift look like?
Using open-ended questions like these will help you to assess where your mentee is at and identify areas that they may need to work on. Once youโve identified these areas, youโll be able to use your expertise to help them navigate through them ๐
Listen
Mentoring is as much about listening as it is about advising. Donโt be afraid to let your mentee sit quietly to mull over a question!
Itโs often in these moments of quiet that mentees can experience breakthroughs, and by giving them the space to feel listened to and heard, youโre playing an integral role in their growth as a business owner.
And there you have it! These are the 5 steps you can take to have your best mentoring session yet. If you try out any of these tips, let us know how you get on!
Creating a business plan can feel overwhelming, but we've got an amazing tool that's going to help you create a plan that actually works for you and your business ๐ช
I don't know about you, but whenever I need to sit down and plan something, the blank page just stares back at me and I get NOTHING done ๐
Sound familiar? If you're trying to create a business plan - I feel your pain! It can be so daunting knowing where to start, which is why I'm really excited to share this handy tool from our friends at NatWest with you ๐
The clever team at NatWest has created a Business Model Canvas free template that allows you to get a birdseye view of EVERYTHING in your business so you can become a strategy pro and plan your next steps ๐ช
So how does the Model Canvas work?
The Business Model Canvas is an easy-to-use template that's divided into 9 sections that help you to reflect on the overall running of your business.
When you use the template you'll review:
- Your key activities e.g where are you spending your time in your business
- Your channels i.e social media, email etc.
- Your value proposition
- Your revenue streams and more!
Watch this handy walkthrough video from Asy, one of our volunteer mentors from NatWest, to help you fill out your template!
Wanting a little extra help with your business plan?
Check out our top business strategy resources here.
Or why not take it one step further and book a call with one of our amazing business strategy mentors?
They'll be able to meet with you 1:1 and provide support that's personalised to you and your business so that you can nail your business plan ๐