Today in business we’re all thrown into social media as a way of marketing. However, we’re not all confident or have the skills yet to show up online as small business owners in the way we need to in order to sell. This can leave us clutching at straws, taking the wrong advice and looking for the ever-elusive overnight success.
As small business or charity owners, social media is yet another hat you have to wear on top of the many other hats you’re trying to juggle! If you’re not intentional with your social media strategy, it can start to feel like a burden.
But, if you follow the right steps you can do social media in a way that’s right for you and your life! It’s possible to create a social media strategy that not only converts your followers to sales but also allows you to have fun at the same time!
We’ve rounded up our top ten social media myths and in this blog Allexia, one of the amazing social media mentors in our community, is going to bust them for us so that you can get more confident growing your business on social media!
Hashtags don't work
Of course they do, they’re the filing system of social media! If you don’t use hashtags, your post doesn’t get to the right person.
I like to think of it using a mail analogy. Imagine that the algorithm is your postman and you want to send your posts to your friends. The algorithm will use your hashtags like postcodes to ensure that your posts get delivered to the right people, in the right place!
Social media platforms want to be good postmen and ensure posts are reaching the right people, so the better you use hashtags, the happier your platforms will be.
Trending audio guarantees engagement
Viral audio puts you into a popular space, but the content should always match your ideal client. Remember, it’s not the audio that works, it’s the content that’s working. And if your content isn't working, viral audio isn't going to fix that! Try stripping things back and reconnecting with what your audience wants to see from you and focus your energy on that rather than trending audio 😊
The algorithm doesn't like posts created with scheduling tools
The platforms want content and they want you to create the right content for the right people. It doesn’t make sense for platforms to not like posts created with scheduling tools. What they don’t like is links taking your audience off-platform. More likely if your post hasn’t done well when you’ve scheduled content, it’s likely another part of your post that has affected the performance, not the scheduler. Do a deep dive into your graphics, copy and most importantly calls to action (CTA) and ensure that every part of your content is engaging your audience 🧡
Posting multiple times a day is the only way to grow your audience
This is one of the most common myths we see! Posting consistently is part of making your account seem credible to the algorithm - but so is engaging and consuming other content on your chosen platform. When you're growing your channels, engaging on the platforms is arguably more important than posting multiple times a day!
Here are my tips on how to be an active platform user so that the algorithm recognises and prioritises your account:
- Don’t post and ghost! When you post content, take time to engage with your audience and have real conversations.
- Watch reels right to the end when you can
- Watch and engage with other creators' Stories
- Like, comment, save and share content that you enjoy
You don't need a website if you have social media platforms
Think of social media platforms as rented spaces - you own the content but you don't own the space that you're posting on. Whereas with a website, you own the content and the space - so you have full control! If the worst-case scenario happened and your social media channels were taken down for some reason, your website is a guaranteed space where you have full control over your content and how you communicate with your audience.
So you definitely need a website! It's a good idea to create a funnel that moves your audience over to your website so that you can connect with them through your email list and engage them there.
Dance videos are the only content that works on TikTok
Dance videos are the most popular content on TikTok because they’re entertaining and they stop the scroll. But remember, other things can also stop the scroll! For example, entertaining educational content is just as capable of holding your audience's attention as a dance video 💃 TikTok is mainly good for highly creative, imaginative brands to shine in inventive ways. Don’t just resort to dance videos as a quick win, they may not be right for your audience. Think of other creative ways to engage your audience on TikTok - the most important thing is to have fun with it!
LinkedIn isn't right for small businesses
LinkedIn is a corporate space so it can take longer to grow but with employee advocacy (where employees share the business's content with their own opinions to their network) it can work really well and result in the growth of loyal followers! Tapping into your employee network boosts loyalty and trust, and gives an existing, connected audience base.
You need to be on all social media platforms to grow your business
No, you shouldn’t be on every platform! By being on all of the platforms, you're at risk of spreading yourself too thin and will likely struggle to create valuable, engaging content. It’s all about being on the right platforms for your audience, not all the platforms. Choose a few platforms and do them well as a small business.
Facebook is dead for small businesses
Facebook could be the place where your ideal audience is based so don't write it off! There are lots of small businesses that have highly engaged audiences and are driving huge growth through their pages! It’s dependent on your business and the clients you want to attract.
A high follower number = a successful account
Absolutely not! It's not about the number of followers, it’s about the followers being the right audience for your brand and your product. Followers mean nothing if they don’t convert to sales. The most important thing is having your ideal clients ready to convert through your content.
Conclusion
Social media doesn’t have to be scary and it’s something that everyone can master! By using simple strategies, staying true to you and your brand, and focusing on creating real connections in the virtual world, you’ll be on track to nailing your social media as a small business in no time at all!
Want an extra helping hand? We have hundreds of amazing volunteer mentors like Allexia who are all here to help you as you grow your business 🎉 All our mentoring sessions are 100% free and completely unlimited, so you can access support whenever you need it 🩵
Meet the mentor
Allexia is the founder of Soash Media, she helps start-ups and small businesses navigate the minefield of social media. She takes a simple approach to social media, aiming to reduce overwhelm for founders and provide them with a clear plan for their social media and business goals! Allexia volunteers her time as a mentor for Digital Boost to help small businesses and charities with their social media and marketing!
Meet Robyn, co-founder of Salters Events! She’s making waves in the catering industry and has seen enormous growth in the last few years. She credits this growth with the support of the free business mentoring she received through Digital Boost. With their help, she was able to pivot when the Pandemic hit, dig deep into her new offering, and go on to not only survive but thrive!
Taking the leap into entrepreneurship
Having gathered many years of experience in the industry as chefs, Robyn and her husband Ian had the idea to start a family-run catering business. With a wealth of experience under their belts, they knew they could bring something new to the market. In 2017, they started catering private events alongside their full-time roles and running gorgeous supper clubs 🍝 In 2019, the family decided they were ready for Ian to leave his job to focus on Salters Events full-time and have a go at making the dream a reality!
The very real impact of the Pandemic
In March 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic changed many industries, including the hospitality industry. Overnight, Robyn and her family went down to one salary and a business that couldn’t safely open to customers, an experience that Robyn describes as ‘terrifying’.
Pivoting and finding a new niche
At that moment, Robyn knew it was ‘do or die’, so she set about pivoting the business. Throughout the lockdowns, it wasn’t possible to open the business or offer any in-person catering. But when a regular customer wanted to cater for a 40th birthday party, Robyn realised there was a way they could help and keep their customers safe! They created an at-home dining kit for their customer and began offering them to their audience as a way to experience chef-level food in the safety of their homes.
📸 image taken from https://www.saltersevents.co.uk/
Looking for support to pivot
With this new pivot, Robyn knew that they needed to continue to adapt and change with the market and that they needed support to get their new messaging out there. At the time, Robyn was in several small business communities on Facebook, and a contact there kindly recommended Digital Boost as a free resource for small businesses to access!
At first, Robyn was a little sceptical about the free support, wondering who was profiting from the service. But she soon realised that the volunteer mentors truly support small businesses for the love of it!
She threw herself head first into learning as much as she could about marketing and the ins and outs of running a small business.
Developing her personal toolkit
Although a hugely accomplished chef, Robyn herself acknowledges that you don’t learn the skills you necessarily need to be an entrepreneur when you’re in such a different industry. She was fantastic at creating and making the dining kits, picnic baskets, and menus for bespoke events. But when it came to skills like marketing, finance and strategy, Robyn knew she needed to get support to develop her skills and learn as much as she could to help her family business succeed.
Robyn credits Digital Boost with giving her her own ‘personal toolkit’ of everything she needed to build and grow her business! From marketing, to HR, to website design, Robyn’s mentors have supported her to learn new skills and apply them to her business.
For Robyn, having access to thousands of mentors who had the skills she needed to harness was invaluable for the business. All of the mentors she’s met with have offered new and different perspectives, and each has been able to help her a little further along her journey.
Accessing the Jumpstart Programme
Through Digital Boost’s services, Robyn had the chance to take part in the Jumpstart Programme. A 6-week programme run in collaboration with the BT team that “jumpstarts” small businesses needing a little push and helping them to grow! As part of the programme, Robyn had access to exclusive live sessions where she could learn about a topic, and then apply what she’d learnt in the session to her business with the support of her peers in breakout sessions. Robyn particularly enjoyed the support and collaboration that she experienced in these breakout sessions!
The impact of mentoring on small businesses
As a result of the free business mentoring and support she received from Digital Boost, Robyn’s business has not only survived but thrived. Despite the chaos the pandemic had on the hospitality industry and the tough economic climate that has followed it, Salters Events has consistently remained profitable and is set to grow even more as the financial year approaches in 2024.
Want to work on your own personal toolkit? Whatever support you need to grow your organisation, we can help!
We have mentors in 70+ business topics, ranging from social media marketing, to hiring your team, to working in international trade! All our mentoring sessions are 100% free and totally unlimited thanks to the kindness of our volunteer mentors 😊
Instagram can be a total game changer for small businesses trying to connect with their audience! But with the ever-changing algorithm, you might be wondering, how do I grow my business on Instagram in 2024? 🤔
In this blog, BT’s social media manager, Henry, will walk you through his tips and tricks to grow your small business on Instagram!
Why small businesses should be using Instagram
Instagram has been in our world for over 10 years now, and it’s not going anywhere! It’s one of the most powerful marketing tools out there for small businesses. Thanks to its focus on the visual, it’s ideal for showcasing your products and services.
As of 2021, 64% of marketers plan to increase their activities on Instagram. If you want to shift your focus to Instagram and start leveraging it to grow your small business, here are our top tips.
Before delving into content creation, it's crucial to establish a clear strategy for your channel. Define your goals and start with one or two small goals to get the ball rolling. Once you get comfortable with those goals, you’ll be able to expand into even bigger goals for your channel! Having these goals and strategies in place will help you to theme your content and make your brand more consistent and relatable.
Create a strategy for your Instagram profile
Goals you might like to consider to kick things off:
- Increasing organic sales
- Growing audience
- Improving brand loyalty
- Driving website traffic
What are the different content types on Instagram?
Instagram has four main content types on its platform. We recommend using a mix to hit every possible angle to engage your audience!
- Grid posts - these live on your profile indefinitely
- Stories - these are live on your story for 24 hours
- Reels - these are short-form videos that live on your profile indefinitely
- Lives - these are live videos that you can record directly within the Instagram app and then get stored on your profile the same as grid posts and reels.
Get clear on your content
Often when you’re starting or rethinking your channel, content can be the hardest thing to come up with! So here are Henry’s top content ideas and why they convert 🙌
Behind-the-Scenes Content
Offer a glimpse into your small business operations or product creation process. This creates a personal connection with your audience and allows you to give them a sneak peek at what’s coming up in your business!
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Encourage customers to share content featuring your products. This builds authenticity and trust with your audience and can be a powerful promotional tool too! We love brands like Astrid and Miyu and they're a great example of how user-generated content can grow your business
Polls and Surveys
Engage your audience by seeking their opinions using Instagram’s Poll feature on Stories. This interactive content not only entertains but also provides valuable insights into what your audience is interested in.
Giveaways and Competitions
Organising giveaways and competitions can be an amazing way to engage your audience on Instagram. Make sure you encourage your audience to share your content as part of the competition for maximum impact. Giveaways are also a great way to collaborate and support other small businesses on Instagram. Need some inspiration? Check out this guide to creating a small business giveaway by Sprout Social!
Educational Content
A key pillar of your content should be educational to help you stand out in your industry. By creating educational content you’re positioning yourself as an authority AND adding value to your audience too!
Product Launches
When your audience loves your business as much as you do, they’ll be excited to hear when you have a new product or service launching! You can create even more excitement by sharing sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes content about your upcoming launches! Looking for inspiration? We love Tala's product launch strategy - check out their socials here.
Motivational Content
Sharing inspiring or motivational content can work really well on Instagram. It engages your audience on a personal level and allows you to create a more familiar relationship with them.
How to create Instagram success
So now you've got your content ideas, you might be wondering how to bring it all together! Read on to find out Henry's best practices as you go forward on your Instagram journey 🚀
Start with your profile
It’s often overlooked, but the best place to start when rethinking your Instagram is your profile!
- Set a clear profile picture
- Concisely sum up your business in your bio
- Include your contact information in your bio so it’s easy for your audience to get in touch!
Be relatable, not salesy
Most people are using Instagram as their down time, it’s an app for fun! So focus on creating engaging content and building relationships with your audience rather than constantly promoting and selling to them.
Engage with your audience
Don’t post and ghost! When your audience takes the time to engage with you, return the favour so it feels like a real relationship. Respond to comments, follow back, and get involved with conversations on other people’s posts just as you would in a real-life conversation.
Don’t shortcut your way to the top
The worst thing you can do is buy followers. It’s a longer game but if you follow our guide, you’ll slowly but surely build a highly engaged audience who love what you do - and that’s worth more than any number of followers you might be chasing!
Maximise your reach with hashtags
Hashtags are used to categorise your content on the Instagram app. It helps Instagram to show your content to the right people and has the power to get your content seen by non-followers! So make sure you’re using relevant hashtags on all your posts to increase your visibility. Experiment using a mix of popular hashtags and more niche hashtags to see what works for you and your followers.
Experiment with carousel posts
Carousel posts allow you to share multiple images in one post, a bit like a mini photo album! Instagram have recently launched a new feature where if someone sees your carousel post and doesn’t engage, they’ll then be shown the post again at a later date but with a different image from the carousel. This means you’ve got a greater chance of engaging your audience on that particular post so definitely give them a go if they’re not already in your content plan!
Be consistent with your posts
You don’t need to be posting 10 times a day, 7 days a week. But you do need to be posting regularly in a way that feels right for you. Figure out how often you can consistently post and stick to it! Whether that’s once a week or a couple of times a week, find what’s right for you. And remember, you don’t have to physically be posting the content one post at a time! Make the most of handy scheduling apps like Buffer, Hootsuite and Sprout Social to schedule your posts and free up more time for you to work on your business.
Track your progress
It’s important to celebrate your milestones and figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Instagram business and creator accounts give you access to handy metrics that you can track for free in the app. We recommend tracking your follower count, impressions, and link clicks amongst other metrics to see how your profile is growing!
Conclusion
If you give Henry’s tips and tricks a go, we have no doubt that your small business will grow on Instagram in no time at all!
Need a helping hand? We know social media can be daunting, so if you’d benefit from some 1:1 support - we can help!
We have hundreds of amazing mentors like Henry on our free mentoring platform who give personalised support to help you grow your organisation.
"I can’t believe more people aren’t doing it. Everybody should be using Digital Boost"
With an extensive business background, Nicola was looking for support to grow the social media for her new sustainable small business. Thanks to Meta’s She Means Business programme, she found Digital Boost’s free mentoring and her business has since gone from strength to strength!
The journey to becoming an entrepreneur
Having been an entrepreneur since 2007, Nicola jokingly says she was practically ‘unemployable’ so a 9-5 job was never on the table for her. She’s a natural businesswoman, with a list on her phone of all the crazy inventions and ideas she’s had over the years. After exiting her first business, she knew she wanted to create something more, but none of her ideas were exciting her.
Eye-opening waste
📸 image from citytosea.org.uk
Based in Devon, Nicola spent much of the Pandemic exploring the local estuary with her children. She was horrified at how much plastic waste was washing into the estuary, and even more shocked at how much of it was menstrual waste.
In the UK, over 200,00 tonnes of menstrual waste goes to landfill every single year and can damage the environment like Nicola experienced.
Spending time cleaning up the estuary during the Pandemic ignited a passion in Nicola to address the period plastic issue. When she discovered this passion, Nicola knew it had to be her next business. She got ‘goose pimples’ and ‘that whoosh’ that made her know she was on the right track!
Support from Meta and NatWest
“Without the programme [...] I wouldn’t be where I am now”
After spending the first year of her business developing her products and researching manufacturers, Nicola knew she needed support to dive into the Digital world. Her business was a far cry from her previous business in the wine industry, so she knew she needed a helping hand.
Through NatWest, she found the application for Meta’s She Means Business programme. Nicola was one of 50 female founders selected out of over 3000 applications - something she’s immensely proud of.
Nicola credits the programme with giving her the push she needed to really digitalise her business. She says that without the programme, she ‘would still be sitting on the periphery of working in a digital market’ and wouldn’t have known how to take her business from idea to success.
Through the programme, Nicola received credits for Facebook Ads and support from Meta to develop an ad campaign. Social media for small businesses can feel daunting and it can be easy to feel boxed out by “the big players” when your budget is small. It’s why programmes like this are so important as they give amazing businesses like Power of Pants the chance to upskill and understand how to leverage social media to grow their businesses!
The programme also gave Nicola much-needed accountability and a focus that allowed her to move her business forward. Knowing that she had homework to complete, meetings to attend, and networking sessions to take advantage of motivated Nicola to complete the programme - leading to success!
Finding Digital Boost
The She Means Business programme was supported by NatWest and Digital Boost, with Digital Boost facilitating panel discussions, round-table sessions and unlimited free mentoring for the programme participants.
Nicola discovered Digital Boost through the programme and was totally blown away by the free mentoring and Masterclasses she could access.
Now, thanks to the ongoing support of Digital Boost’s mentors, a year on and things are ‘looking clearer’ for Nicola.
She acknowledges that she had everything she needed, but it was all ‘jumbled’ in her head before she found Digital Boost.
Social media for small businesses
During her mentoring sessions, Nicola has been able to get clarity around her ideal client and put this to work in her social media marketing.
With over 20 million potential ideal clients, ranging in age, circumstance and gender, Nicola had struggled to get clear on how to attract her dream customers.
She’s now worked with mentors to get clear on her audience, taken SEO Masterclasses, and had support to develop Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns.
Nicola credits Digital Boost with learning how to ‘really understand social media’. She’s learnt the ‘mechanics of how to do [social media]’ and ‘how to reach people’ which she says has been ‘invaluable’ for her business.
@powerofpants on Instagram
An 'amazing' introduction to Visa
"It was like the stars aligned’
Through their partnership with Visa, Digital Boost was able to invite Nicola to an exclusive mentoring day with members of the European Leadership team!
Nicola joined a 3-hour personalised workshop with two members of the team to workshop ideas to grow Nicola’s business.
Serendipitously, Nicola’s mentors were huge sporting advocates and realised her vision to challenge the way periods prevent many people from taking part in sports.
Through their network, they were able to introduce Nicola to key experts to support her as she took on this new challenge with her messaging.
For Nicola, having mentors not only offer advice but also show so much enthusiasm and open doors to further her business was invaluable. The confidence it gave her was unmatched and she left the workshop totally blown away by this newfound energy!
Impact
“[I] 100% would not be in the position I am now if I hadn’t done any of this and met the mentors and gone through the programmes”
It’s been an absolute delight to see Nicola go from strength thanks to the support she’s received from us and our partners at Meta, NatWest and Visa.
It just goes to show that no matter where you are in your business journey, or what previous experience you have, support is beneficial for everyone! And when it’s personalised through mentorship, there’s no limit to how much a business like Nicola’s can grow!
Want to get on track for success like Nicola did? Whether you’re looking for help with social media, strategy, marketing, fundraising or HR we’ve got you covered with our free mentoring for small businesses and charities!
As a founder, it's often hard to take time out to reflect, but it's an essential part of running your own business. The end of a year is the ideal time to reflect on your growth and achievements over the past twelve months and set new goals, both for yourself and your small business. 🚀
As well as looking at what worked well, it's equally as important (but let's be honest, way less fun) to look at what didn't work so you know what to work on next year. We've put together some tips to help you with your small business reflection for 2023 ⬇️
⏳ Dedicate time for your small business reflection
Firstly, it's important to dedicate some time to doing a small business reflection. It doesn't need to be hours and hours, but if you can set aside a little bit of time without any distractions, you'll be able to think about the year as a whole and make the whole exercise more rewarding. You could try to block time out in your calendar, do it on a weekend or evening, or split it up and do a little bit every morning or evening!
💭 Compare your current position to where you were at the beginning of the year
Did you set any goals at the beginning of the year? If so, now is a great time to compare where you are now to those goals! Remember not to be too hard on yourself if you haven't reached all of them though. For small businesses, a year is a long time and things change very quickly! You may have grown in a completely different way from how you expected, but that's still growth! And it's a good time to look back at those goals and see if they're still right for you.
If you didn't set any goals - don't worry! Instead, compare where you are now to where you were at the beginning of the year. Look at your:
- Finances
- Sales
- Strategy and priorities
- Branding and positioning
- Marketing (look at the quality of your outputs, your following, the amount of engagement on your posts, your conversion rate etc.)
- Feedback from your customers
🏆 What were your wins this year?
It's so important to celebrate your wins! If nothing else, you are running your own business and working SO hard to achieve your dream. You're still going and still trying - that itself is a win! 🥳
Start with milestones - think about your sales, your social media following, and the number of years your business has been around - is there anything you can celebrate there?
Did you receive glowing feedback from a customer? Did you solve a problem for a customer and provide a great service to them?
Did you complete a project? Did you launch a new product? Did you revamp your website? Did you improve your conversion rate? Did you start new activities, like sending out newsletters?
Think about all of the things you've done, make a list of your wins, and be proud of yourself!! You've managed another year as a small business owner 🤩 Have a look at our own list of wins from this year to see what our team is most proud of!
Top tip - from January, try keeping a ta-da list alongside your to-do list. A ta-da list is a list of these achievements and positive comments that, next year, when you do your small business reflection (or whenever you need a little pick-me-up!), you can look back and see how much you've achieved!
🫠 What didn't go to plan?
Next, think about what didn't go to plan. It's more common than you think for things to feel like they're all going wrong and it's often these moments that are the biggest lessons! Think about some of the bigger things that didn't go to plan but also the little day-to-day things. Think about:
- What specifically didn't go to plan?
- Was it something you had control over?
- If not, how can you factor this into future plans so you're prepared for it?
- What could you do differently next time?
For example, if you had a product launch delayed due to a stock delivery issue, you could consider reviewing suppliers but also think about scheduling launch dates further in advance so you can allow extra time for delayed deliveries.
When thinking about the day-to-day things that don't go to plan, think about whether there are any quick wins you could do. For example, if you struggle to manage all the hundreds of things founders have to do, you could think about trying to block out time in your calendar for specific tasks so you ensure you're allocating time to everything.
Here is a blog post with some tips on what to do when your plan doesn't go to plan.
👏 Think about your personal growth
You will have undoubtedly grown your personal skills this year, which is definitely something to celebrate! Take a few minutes to reflect on everything you've done for the first time this year. Think about everything you've had to search on Google or YouTube because you got stuck (that you now know how to do!), the Masterclasses you've joined, and everything you've talked to your mentors about. You've had to grow your own skills in order to grow your business because for most founders, they *are* the business and have to do everything for the business.
💪 What do you personally want to improve?
What skills do you want to improve on next year? Would you like to learn more about marketing? Do you want to be more confident in networking? It could be something completely new or it could be something that you've noticed isn't your strongest skill. Make a list of everything you'd like to work on and keep it handy throughout next year.
It can feel impossible to take time out to learn new things when you're a small business owner, but it doesn't have to be so disruptive! One of the best things about Digital Boost is that our mentoring is 100% flexible to you. Each of our 1:1 mentoring sessions is one hour long and you can submit the dates and times you're available to speak to a mentor. Take a look at the topics our mentors can help with. Our Masterclasses are all recorded so if something comes up and you can't make it last minute, we'll send you the recording to catch up.
Set goals for the future!
It's a good idea to set some goals so you can have some direction and focus for the next year. Think about where you want to be in 12 months - what do you want to see when you do your small business reflection next year? Then, list everything you need to do to get there. Put some timeframes against these to help you figure out what to prioritise and to keep you on track! Here are some more detailed tips on how you can set goals to push your business forward.
In 2023, we’ve been able to support thousands of businesses and offer countless hours of mentoring to help them grow. This is all thanks to the amazing support of our mentors who all volunteer their time to help small businesses and charities.
To show our appreciation, every year we announce our Mentors of the Year 🎉 These are mentors who have stood out to us through the support and energy that they’ve given to our community.
Come and meet them here ⬇️
Most mentoring sessions - Ian D.
Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Ian from the BT team who has supported 117 businesses with his mentoring sessions this year!
Ian is a huge champion for small businesses and we’re really lucky to have him supporting and cheering on our mentees! You’ll find Ian hosting mentoring sessions and Masterclasses for our community, on a net-walk meeting small business owners, or running a JiJitsu class in his spare time.
Ian is the Programme Manager for BT and has a huge skillset including Digital Marketing, Business strategy and more - all of which he brings to his mentoring sessions. Through his skills and experience, Ian has been able to help amazing businesses from all over the UK to thrive. You can read how he helped Gary to increase his sales by 1400% here and he’s also helped Keri from Snow Windows to maximise her Facebook ads so she’s generating 1000s of views on her ads!
Here’s what our mentees have to say about Ian:
"Thank you for your feedback on my website strategy. Your no-nonsense approach was the prompt I needed to make the crucial changes to my strategy, messaging and website that I had been putting off for some time. I guess I just needed someone else to confirm what I already knew! It's got me unstuck and I now feel like I am making some real progress that's going to make all the difference! So thank you 🙏🏻"
"Ian is a great mentor who is definitely an expert in his field. I came away with so much more understanding into the areas of branding and marketing that I need right now. I am clearer about my next steps and that’s valuable, I can’t imagine how many mistakes or how costly my advertising would be without proper strategies in place. I’ve got some work to do and I’ll be looking for another session. I would highly recommend Ian to anyone having similar issues, he knows his work and explains it in such simple terms anyone will come away feeling the same. Thank you all at Digital Boost 🙏🏿 You’re providing an awesome service"
Most Masterclasses hosted - Louis I.
Meet Louis, one of the awesome mentors in our community who’s hosted the most Masterclasses for us this year! Louis is a Marketing Manager who after many years working in the digital world, went on to complete a Masters in Business in Madrid 😀
Louis is a joy to work with and his Masterclasses are fantastic. Every presentation is well thought-out, provides the audience with tangible takeaways and always ensures that everyone leaves with more digital skills than they came with! This year Louis has hosted Masterclasses about sales, AI and customer experience to support our community as they grow their businesses.
Here’s what Louis’ mentees had to say:
"Thank you so much for your time, Louis! I was left with so many takeaways and things to action upon... looking forward to putting some into practice. Appreciate your support."
"We wish to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for the remarkable guidance you provided in the area of website marketing. Your willingness to share your expertise and insights has made a profound impact on our understanding and approach to effectively promoting our website. Your mentorship has been invaluable in helping us navigate the complexities of online marketing strategies."
Marketing mentor - Gurpreet D.
The first, much-coveted award of Marketing Mentor goes to… Gurpreet! Gurpreet has been with us since 2021 and in that time he’s provided support to hundreds of businesses around the world.
Gurpreet is an award-winning marketing expert with over 18 years helping businesses to deliver exceptional marketing strategies. He's also the founder of Digital D, a marketing agency that aims to create tangible marketing campaigns that convert!
What makes Gurpreet such an amazing mentor? He’s excellent at breaking down complex marketing problems and turning them into digestible and actionable steps for our businesses to take. Our community particularly love how Gurpreet can tailor his advice to meet a mentee’s prior knowledge and how confident he leaves them feeling after the session!
Here’s what Gurpreet’s mentees had to say:
"It was a very informative and practical session. I learned in an hour more than I could in a day or two. Gurpreet helped me to understand how Google ads work and how to set it up. He was polite and professional, he is an expert in digital advertising. Highly recommended.
I'm immensely grateful for your guidance on how to increase traffic to our website. Your insights and advice have been invaluable. They did not only help me understand the intricacies of website marketing but also gave me the confidence to implement effective strategies to enhance my online presence. Your mentorship has truly made a positive impact."
Marketing Mentor (2!) - Tom P.
Marketing is such a massive topic and we simply couldn't pick one mentor! So let us introduce you to Tom from the BT team, our joint Marketing Mentor for 2023! 😊 Tom has been an enormous support to our community this year. He's helped our mentees to take their marketing to the next level and truly grow their businesses! He's been a particular support to Thalia and has helped her to keep growing Sparkle Lighting ✨
Tom mentors through BT's volunteering programme. He works on the Digital Products team and has experience leading teams to develop products from lifecycle right through to launch! His skills and experience are vital to helping our mentees to thrive and we're so grateful to have him volunteering his time to help our small businesses 😊
Here's what Tom's mentees had to say:
"Tom was a great mentor and helped me implement some changes to try and improve the results of my Google Ads campaigns. Thanks so much"
"Tom’s input has been immensely helpful in shaping my user feedback project."
Leadership mentor - Lisa
Lisa is the queen of leadership, so it’s a pleasure to be able to recognise her and her work this year!
Lisa volunteers with us through our partners at NatWest and since she joined us in 2021, she’s been a total powerhouse. She’s a regular Masterclass host, offers 1:1 mentoring to our community and even most recently joined us for our first in-person event as one of our expert speakers.
Lisa is a finance lawyer, mentor, coach, entrepreneur and yoga teacher to name just a few of her amazing skills. She strongly advocates for mindful leadership and brings her unique approach to holistic living into all areas of her mentoring. We’re extremely lucky to have worked with her on so many projects and we look forward to many more in the future!
Here’s what Lisa’s mentees had to say:
"I am so very grateful for the session. Lisa is a very engaged, encouraging, and constructive mentor. Her clear, composed, organised thinking is reassuring and helps to define a path. I would love to keep her updated!"
"Lisa clearly genuinely wants to help and that came across. She was very patient with me and explained things well and gave me excellent advice. I'm very appreciative."
Business strategy mentor - Veronique
Meet Veronique, one of the new volunteers in our community this year! Since she joined us, she’s been a huge advocate for Digital Boost which we’re enormously grateful for. With experience as a VP and board member, Veronique is well-placed to guide our small businesses through every stage of their journey.
She’s been a massive support to our community and has thrown herself into mentoring, going on to host her first Masterclass all about networking in November! And even joining us for our first in-person event to offer speed mentoring to our audience. Our community absolutely love Veronique and the support she gives 😀
Here’s what Veronique’s mentees had to say:
"Veronique was knowledgeable, giving and great at explaining ideas and processes. Thank you so much"
"A really informative and educational session but in a warm and friendly environment. Thank you."
Most enthusiastic mentor - Ceren
We’re excited to announce a new category for our awards this year, Most Enthusiastic Mentor of the year! We wanted to create this new category as we have so many incredible volunteers who are so passionate and excited about what they do with us which is so special to see 🥰
We couldn’t think of anyone better to receive this award than Ceren! She’s got the most infectious energy and brings such passion and enthusiasm to all her sessions. She’s really pushed herself this year, signing up to host her first Masterclass with us which was a total success! And she also joined us for our in-person event in November to offer speed mentoring to our community.
Ceren brings a wealth of knowledge to her mentoring sessions, having over 5 years under her belt in email marketing. She’s one of our most specialised mentors and we’re grateful to have her supporting our mentees with their email marketing campaigns!
Here’s what Ceren’s mentees had to say:
"Ceren was lovely, very pleasant to talk to and she provided really thoughtful, customised and helpful feedback on our email marketing. She was supportive, shared feedback in a very positive manner and took the time to answer all the questions we had. We look forward to implementing everything she shared and booking a follow-up meeting with her in a month's time. Thank you Ceren and Digital Boost!"
"Ceren was really helpful, she gave me great advice and ideas that were tailored to the type of business I run. Would highly recommend her, thank you!"
SEO mentor- Alan
We’re delighted to be recognising the voluntary work of Alan from Hedgehog Digital this year! SEO is a topic we’ve seen rising in popularity this year, and with this being such a key area that SMEs need to upskill in, it’s fantastic to have experts like Alan volunteering their time to our community.
Alan is the founder of Hedgehog Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Cornwall with hubs in Bedford and São Paulo. He specialises in supporting organisations to drive relevant traffic to their websites through search engines!
Alan’s support has enabled many members of our community to understand SEO and how it can help their businesses to grow! His mentoring has been invaluable and we’re so grateful for his support this year.
Here’s what Alan’s mentees had to say:
"It's immeasurably valuable to be able to speak to experts. I started with a very specific question, however soon realised that I had asked the wrong question... and what I needed to do was build strong foundations. Alan really understands the core principles of SEO and gave me a great push in the right direction. Thanks for help."
"Alan provided such valuable and informative information. He was patient and professional. I learnt so much and got so many amazing ideas, my mind is buzzing now, in such a short time, it was incredible. Thank you so much for your time!"
Money mentor - Kevin
Understanding finance is a key area that many small businesses need to focus on, so we’re delighted to be able to recognise the support that Kevin has given to our SMEs this year!
Kevin volunteers with us through our partners at NatWest and, given his extensive background as a chartered accountant, he’s fantastically placed to support our SMEs with all things finance.
Kevin has a wonderful energy about him and he’s easy to talk to which puts so many of our mentees at easy 😀 Finance can often feel overwhelming for many business owners, but with experts like Kevin volunteering their time, it can feel that little bit less daunting.
Here’s what Kevin’s mentees had to say:
"The session with Kevin was truly exceptional. As a highly effective and commercially astute Chartered Accountant, his expertise was evident throughout the discussion. His ability to analyze complex financial matters with clarity was impressive. Kevin provided valuable insights that deepened my understanding of the project at hand. His guidance and practical advice instilled a sense of confidence in me, equipping me with the necessary tools to navigate challenges successfully."
Sales mentor - Colin
Nailing sales can be a real sticking point for SMEs, but with a business mentor like Colin, sales can start to feel a lot more manageable!
Colin joined us way back in 2021 through our partners at BT, and in that time he’s been able to support many small businesses and charities to thrive. With an extensive commercial background and experience in multiple industries and sectors, Colin is well-placed to support our community with their sales. His passion for supporting small businesses is infectious and we’ve loved seeing all the amazing feedback Colin has received from our community over the years!
Here’s what Colin’s mentees had to say:
"Colin is really helpful and gives new ideas and strategies in a professional, motivational way. I came away from the call with lots of exciting ideas!"
"Colin was well-prepared, curious, supportive and knowledgable. I felt immediate rapport and his suggestions were excellent"
AI mentor - John
Although AI has been around for a while, 2023 was definitely the year of AI 🤖 We saw a huge spike in demand for mentoring in AI and machine learning. We’re big believers in digitisation and being ahead of the curve, so we were delighted to be able to offer AI as a new mentoring category this year, as well as to host a number of Masterclasses about ChatGPT and other popular AI tools.
John from JMAC Marketing has been a huge support to us this year in this field. He’s shared his knowledge of machine learning and AI through 1:1 sessions and Masterclasses to help our community upskill. John is a fantastic mentor and what we loved about his Masterclasses is the way he made AI accessible for everyone, no matter where they were in their journey.
For many small business owners, AI is way outside their comfort zone and is something brand new to learn. So it’s fantastic to have mentors like John helping our community to upskill and future-proof their businesses!
Here’s what John’s mentees had to say:
"John did a fantastic job. He was friendly, punctual, well-informed, and easy to get along with. It was a pleasure to talk to him about my business and future plans."
"John seemed to understand the situation I am in, but he was not judgemental, but he was very supportive and interested in me, my business and helping me find a solution."
Sustainability - Anthony
If AI was the topic that defined 2023, Sustainability was the quiet grower that closely followed in its footsteps. With so many of us focusing on how we can individually do our part to create a greater future, it was fantastic to see the small business world following suit 💚
Sustainability was another mentoring topic that we introduced this year with subtopics in carbon reduction, green products and responsible business practices.
It was great to see so many of our mentors adding these skills to their profiles, and it’s why we wanted to highlight Anthony from the Aviva team this year!
Since joining us, he’s been able to support our community across several topics, including sustainability and development. With his extensive knowledge in the corporate tech world, he’s well placed to help small businesses navigate the move to greener processes and it’s been a delight to have his support with this.
Here’s what Anthony’s mentees had to say:
"I wanted to thank you for the mentoring session we had today. Your thoughts towards sustainability and guidance throughout the session were extremely helpful and greatly appreciated."
Longest serving mentor - Emilie
This is another new category that we’ve added because we want to recognise the amazing mentors who’ve been with us right from the very start.
Emilie joined us way back when we started in 2020 - in fact, she was the 8th volunteer to join our community! During her time with us, she’s been able to support some amazing businesses and we’re so grateful that she’s gone on this journey with us 😀
What Emilie’s mentees had to say:
"My session with Emilie was fantastic. I found it really helpful in finding clarity with what I am about, where I am at, and the direction I want to head in. I found Emilie compassionate, wise and an amazing listener, instantly getting to the core of things and providing really clear support and guidance. Thank you!"
All-rounder - Emma
It’s difficult to pick just one person who’s shone this year, BUT Emma from Fresh Approach Digital has totally blown us away this year. So we’re super excited to announce her as our all-around mentor of the year! She’s been with us since we first started in 2020 and in that time, she’s supported multiple founders to nail their business and marketing strategies.
Emma is the founder of Fresh Approach Digital, a digital marketing agency that helps businesses to get noticed on social media. With more and more businesses needing to adapt to the ever-evolving digital landscape, experts like Emma are more important than ever to support our community through these changes 🙌
This year Emma was also able to join us at our first-ever in-person event as a guest speaker! It was a really lovely full-circle moment given that Emma has been with us since the very beginning 🤗 Her enthusiasm for seeing small businesses thrive is infectious and we feel very lucky to have her in our community.
What Emma's mentees had to say:
"Hi Emma was very helpful. She boosted my confidence with enthusiasm and provided me with a technique to find my new business name. Emma also gave some feedback on the sponsorship strategy I applied for my main business. She didn't have an answer for some specific questions but got in touch with other professionals to find a solution - very appreciated."
Rising star - Henry
So many incredible volunteers have joined our community this year and we’re very excited to announce Henry as our Rising Star of 2023!
Henry began mentoring with us through the BT volunteering programme. Henry is BT’s social media manager and brings a wealth of digital marketing experience to the community.
Through BT’s volunteer programme, Henry was put forward to host a Digital Marketing Masterclass all about LinkedIn for our community. Leveraging social platforms like LinkedIn is really important for SMEs to grow, so we were delighted that Henry hosted this with us!
With such a fantastic introduction to the community, it’s been amazing seeing Henry throw himself into the Digital Boost world. He joined us to offer speed mentoring at our in-person event in November and his mentees absolutely loved meeting him! Henry is already set to host more social media Masterclasses with us in 2024 and we’re very excited to see his star rise next year! ⭐
B2B sales - Max
Last, but definitely not least! Our B2B Sales mentor of the year is Max! Max joined our community earlier this year and since then has gone on to help numerous mentees to smash their B2B sales 💪
We’ve seen B2B sales mentoring requests rising in our community in the last 12 months so it’s been fantastic having the expertise of mentors like Max to guide our community on their journeys 🚀
Here’s what Max’s mentees had to say:
"Max really helped me in my question, seems that he is an experienced professional in e-commerce and know everything about sales and career in this path. Our call was really helpful and we have managed to create a list of actions for me to achieve my goal. Thanks Max!"
Conclusion
We’re extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful community of volunteers, giving their time to founders and making a difference in the world.
If you’ve ever volunteered with us, we just want to say a huge thank you - we appreciate you!
If you’ve been inspired by our Mentors of the Year and fancy joining our community of volunteers - we’d love to have you onboard 🥳
Welcome to our 2023 Wrap Up!
This year feels like it has flown by! The Digital Boost team met in person to celebrate the festive season and we started to reflect on what we had achieved in the year. We quickly realised just how busy 2023 was for us, in the absolute best way possible! 🤩 If you haven't done a reflection for your small business yet, we would highly recommend it. Looking back at everything you've done for your business is a useful and rewarding activity as we don't often take the time to celebrate our wins as much as we should!
Our growing community 🥰
Our growing community of people helping each other now includes nearly 4,000 volunteer mentors and 8,000+ entrepreneurs, 59% of whom identify as female. We've offered over 14,000 live hours of support for small businesses in 2023 alone and have now made 10,000 mentoring connections! 🥳
Highlights from 2023 🚀
This year, we've added lots of new ways for businesses to connect, including in-person events, peer learning, and hands-on clinics - all with a focus on driving real action and impact.
We've put together a timeline of our big highlights from each month & some of our personal favourites below ⬇️
A year of firsts 🙌
🤩 We held our first in-person event in London - a day of learning, networking, and action planning, where we had 5 Masterclasses as well as 100 live mentoring sessions in one day!
🎓 We created mentor training resources for new and existing mentors
🚀 Six-week peer learning accelerators, where small businesses learn together and build a plan of action called Small Business Jumpstart with BT (we held 3 cohorts!)
🧑💻 We started running our monthly Planning Power Hour sessions too, which our community are loving!
🙋♀️ We launched dedicated communities on our platform, such as Royal Bank of Scotland's programme for Women in Business, through our white-label mentoring platform
Updates and new features ✨
If you've been part of our community for a while, you'll have noticed some changes to our appearance this year, including a more user-friendly navigation and this brand new website! We've also made some upgrades to our platform:
💌 We launched our messaging centre, making it easier for you to chat with your mentees and mentors - you can now send attachments too!
🙌 We also updated the mentoring topics we offer, including AI, Pricing, TikTok and more
🤝 We created a Community Requests area on our platform which allows mentors to pick up additional requests and help even more founders!
👋 We also created a rebooking link for mentors to share with mentees so they can book directly with them
Our plans for 2024 👀
We don't want to give too much away but we have BIG plans for 2024! We've been listening to your feedback and adding all of your requests to our to-do list and we're very excited for you to see what we've been working on. Stay tuned for more services all with the same goal - personalised support to help you grow your small business for free 🚀
As the world becomes even more digital, your website has to act as your online storefront. These 12 tips will improve your website and ensure you’re never losing a customer because of your site (or if you don't yet have a website, this'll come in handy when you're ready to start!).
Getting started
This blog is aimed at small business owners and charities who already have a website that they’re looking to improve. But if you don’t have a website yet, this will also be a really useful checklist to ensure when you create your website, it’s practically perfect.
Tip #1 - Text alignment
As humans, we like to read left to right, so when creating your website, ensure the text is left-aligned where possible. This is particularly important on your homepage and above the fold. We want to ensure that when your potential client visits your site, they can read the text as quickly as possible!
Tip #2 - Use clear CTAs
It sounds so simple, but you’d be surprised how many websites you land on that don’t tell the customer what they want them to do!
CTA stands for ‘Call To Action’ and essentially it’s the action that you want your customer to take.
So for example, if you owned a stationery brand you might want the CTA on your homepage to be ‘Shop our collection’.
Keep your CTA simple and clear and above the fold if you can 😀
Tip #3 - Use accessible colours
It’s important to ensure any colour combinations you use on your website and in your branding our accessible to everyone.
Although rose gold and white look lovely together (and were very popular recently!), it’s unfortunately not accessible for everyone.
Not sure if your brand colours are accessible? Use this tool to check 🎨
If you need help with branding, our mentors are here to help! Request a mentoring call with one of our branding mentors here.
Image taken from www.onepercentfortheplanet.org
Tip #4 - Use white space
One easy way to improve your website is to use more white space. Simple right?!
When adding text or images to your site, factor in some white space around your content. It helps to break up your content and make things easier to digest for your customers.
Tip #5 - Nail your GDPR
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation.
On your website, you should have some form of GDPR consent. This can look like a pop-up, a toast or a banner. It needs to stop your customer from using the website until they’ve confirmed their consent.
GDPR can be tricky if it’s not something you’ve experienced before, so don’t struggle alone! We have mentors who can support you and ensure you’re GDPR compliant. Request a free mentoring session here.
Tip #6 - Optimise for mobile
With over 50% of website traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s more important than ever to optimise your website for mobile. Not sure if your website is optimised? Simply grab your phone and Google your website! You’ll quickly see how layouts can differ when viewed on a mobile.
If you need help optimising your website for mobile. Our mentors can help! Click here to have a mentor review your website.
Image taken from www.typeform.com
Tip #7 - Use social proof
Even if you’re relatively new to your business, we’re sure you’ve got a testimonial or two that you can use on your website. Social proof is really important as it shows potential customers that you’re a trustworthy business with a proven track record of delivering your goods or services.
So what does social proof look like? Social proof can be a page of testimonials or success stories on your blog. It might be quotes from feedback you’ve received on your sales or home page to reassure customers that you’re safe to do business with.
Top tip: Trustpilot and Google My Business are free to use and allow you to build up verified reviews. Having verified reviews makes you even more trustworthy! They also both have widgets that can be embedded into your websites and shared on social media to celebrate all the amazing reviews you’re getting!
Image taken from www.drowsysleepco.com
Tip #8 - Leverage your unique story
One easy way to improve your website is to leverage your unique story. People buy from people, so make sure that when your customer lands on your site, they get a feel for your personality!
Be confident sharing your story and why you do what you do. Even if you can’t share this on your homepage, make sure it’s shared on your ‘About’ page. Top tip: include at least one photo of yourself on your About page so your customers know who they’re buying from! It helps your credibility and makes them feel they’re dealing with a real-life human
Tip #9 - break up big sections of text
Try breaking up big blocks of text so that they’re easier to read for your customer! Use subheadings, banners and images to break things up and add variety. Subheadings in particular help clients access the information they need easily AND they count towards your SEO - so it’s a win-win!
Tip #10 - Create a blog
Blogging can be a really easy way to improve your website’s performance. A study found that the average company that blogs results in 55% more traffic. Blogging also allows you to showcase how great your products and services are!
Top tip: turn your FAQs into blog posts for easy content! If there are questions you routinely get asked about, try turning them into a blog post. E.G. ‘Why we use polar fleece for our dog jackets’, ‘How to measure your dog for their coat’ etc.
Bonus points: How-to guides can make great blog content and can create huge value for your audience. Try things like ‘How to use AI to maximise your time’, ‘How to create menus in Canva’ etc.
These blog posts all count towards your SEO and can be repurposed as evergreen content across your social media and newsletters too! So it’s worth investing the time in blogging.
Image taken from www.lydiaelisemillen.com
Tip #11 - Use relevant images
Improving your website can be as simple as ensuring you have relevant images across your site. It’s tempting to grab any placeholder image from a stock photo site. But spend some time collecting images that are truly relevant to your business. The more relevant the image, the stronger your branding and the better your trust from the customer!
Top tip: when choosing images, ensure they’re good quality but that they’re not too big. If your images are too big, you risk slowing down the speed of your site. Likewise, don’t embed big videos onto your site. Use streaming sites like YouTube or Vimeo to embed your videos and protect your site’s speed.
Tip #12 - Newsletter sign up
The final way to improve your website is to ensure you have a newsletter sign-up box. Email lists aren’t dead and they can be an amazing way to connect with a warm audience.
Ensure you have a newsletter sign-up box somewhere on your website. Whether it’s a pop-up when you first land on the page, included in the footer, or a side pop-out, ensure it’s easy to find for your customer.
Make sure your customer knows why they should sign up for your email list. Maybe you’re offering a discount on your products, a free download, a discovery call, or just offering valuable advice and updates, make sure your customer is confident when they sign up.
Top tip: Add your social media links alongside the email bar so that you can drive customers to your socials as well.
Conclusion
With a few simple tweaks, it’s easy to improve your website and create an amazing customer experience that your audience will love!
If you’re not sure where to start, we have mentors who can review your website in one of our free mentoring sessions and show you what needs changing.
Last week, we held our very first in-person mentoring event at the NatWest Conference Centre in London. Over 100 small business owners and founders joined us to experience the power of mentoring in person.
It was an amazing day, and we wanted to take you behind the scenes and show you the impact that a mentoring event like this can have on small business owners!
The vision
Our community absolutely love the mentoring and Masterclasses that we offer virtually through our platform and we kept that in mind when we started thinking about what we wanted our first-ever in-person event to include.
Mentoring is what we do best, so we wanted our audience to experience the power of in-person mentoring at this event! But we also know how integral our Masterclasses are in helping our founders to deepen their knowledge and digital skills.
And most of all, we knew we wanted this event to help our community take action. So many small businesses struggle to put their learning into action, so we wanted everyone to leave our event knowing their next steps to grow their business 💪
And so we thought what better way to bring our platform to life than by facilitating an event where guests experienced in-person mentoring and live Masterclasses!
The Event
Over 100 founders and mentors came down to London for a day of Masterclasses, mentoring and networking. As with everything we do here at Digital Boost, the day was totally free! Thanks to the kindness of our partners at NatWest we were able to provide an amazing breakfast and lunch reception which went down a treat with our guests!
It was extremely important to us that there were no barriers to accessing this event. Absolutely everyone was welcome; whether you were someone with a dream, someone building a side hustle alongside their full-time job, or someone working full-time in their business looking to scale: everyone was welcome. This is what makes us different, there are no barriers to our support and we’re proud that we were able to stay true to that with our mentoring event.
The Masterclasses
For this mentoring event, everything we designed was to help our small businesses to take action. So we set out to cover five main topics we thought would have the most bang for their buck.
Mindset
We kicked off our mentoring event with a Masterclass all about mindset. Having the right mindset as an entrepreneur can be the difference between success and failure.
Lisa got everyone thinking about what a growth mindset looks like and how you could achieve it. Our guests worked through a series of prompts to reflect on their own mindset and how they could reprogramme some of the beliefs they had!
Business strategy
Getting out of the weeds of the day-to-day can be really hard for business owners, so we knew that we wanted to create a really simple yet actionable business strategy session for our guess.
Karen, Managing Director of Digital Boost (and mentor / Masterclass host extraordinaire!), hosted this session and showed our guests how they could use a simple prioritisation matrix and SWOT analysis framework to grow their business. Our guests loved this session because they immediately highlighted areas of their business that they could prioritize and see huge growth in quickly!
Branding
Ian, one of our awesome volunteers from BT, led a session all about branding. Branding can often be overlooked as the colours you choose for your business - but it’s so much more!
Ian led our guests through a series of exercises to help them really think about what their brand is *actually* saying to their audience. All our guests left with a clearer idea of how they wanted their brand to be perceived. And they left with a framework for creating a brand positioning statement to help guide their next steps as they grow their business!
Marketing
We were delighted to have Emma, one of our incredible volunteer mentors and founder of Fresh PR join us to host our Marketing Masterclass on the day. Emma joined us when we started way back in 2020, so it was a real full-circle moment to be able to invite her to our first in-person event!
Emma gave an amazing Masterclass on the importance of Marketing for small businesses. Digital Marketing is a huge topic and one that can often leave founders overwhelmed and stuck in analysis paralysis. But Emma did an amazing job of stripping things back and sharing simple tips and ideas to leave our guests feeling empowered and ready to supercharge their marketing. For example, Emma spoke about the importance of having a plan for your marketing. Even if that plan is simply to post once a week on Instagram, just having that plan creates accountability and momentum.
Pitching
To round of the day, we wanted to bring all of the things we learned together. So Lucy Guthrie from NatWest ran an incredible interactive session on how founders can create a captivating 30-second pitch.
Our guests went away and used Lucy’s framework to work on their pitch and then some of them came on stage to put their pitch to the test. It was amazing to see so many of the guests step out of their comfort zone and pitch to a room of hundreds of business owners! The energy everyone brought to this session was incredible and everyone left saying how energised they felt afterwards.
The Mentoring
As mentioned at the start of this blog, we really wanted mentoring to be the focus of this event. As a business focused on 1:1 mentoring, we know just how powerful it is for small businesses, but we also know it can be daunting trying something for the first time.
So we decided to try something new with this event, and put on a series of mini-mentoring sessions! These sessions ran for 20 minutes, just enough time to dig into a mentoring topic with a mentor and get quick tips to apply to their business, but quick enough that it didn’t feel too overwhelming for someone trying this for the first time!
This was totally new concept for us, and we were so grateful to our amazing volunteer mentors who joined us on the day. They threw themselves into these sessions with passion and energy and they helped to deliver over 100 mentoring sessions in one day which was incredible.
Our guests absolutely loved the mentoring sessions and we received amazing feedback. Many of our guests went on to book follow-up mentoring sessions with their mentors, to continue learning and also stay on track with the plans that they set!
Meeting the founders
A highlight of this mentoring event was having the opportunity to invite founders that we’ve already mentored to join us on the day and share their experiences of building a business.
Being a small business owner can be lonely, and often you’ve not got peers you can look to for inspiration or guidance. So it was really special to have some of our mentees join us for this event!
They shared advice on how they’d built their businesses, lessons they’d learned along the way and how our mentoring had helped them to grow their businesses. The inspiration and energy that our mentees brought to the event was something else, and our guests absolutely loved hearing their inspiring stories!
The Impact
We’re delighted to report that our first event was a huge success! Our guests left the event feeling ‘energised’ and inspired to keep working away on their businesses. Our volunteer mentors were blown away by the founders that they met and the conversations they had in their mentoring sessions. And as for our team, we were just over the moon to have brought so many amazing people together and see so much magic happen! We see this magic happen every day on our online platform, but there was something extra special about seeing it happen on such a big scale before our very eyes.
We’ve had such an overwhelmingly positive reaction to our first event that we’re planning to host more in the future! If you’re interested in joining us for future events, make sure you’re in our community to be the first to hear 🥳
Finding it hard to keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape 🤯 We've got you covered with the best social media hashtags designed to boost your small business!
What is a hashtag and why do I need them?
Good question! A hashtag is just adding a '#' sign in front of a word on any of your social media posts. Hashtags act as a way to categorise content on social media platforms, making it easier for users to find content they'll enjoy.
Choosing the right hashtags can significantly impact the reach and effectiveness of your social media posts. If you're struggling to get your audience or new customers to see your content, using more targeted hashtags may be your ticket to success 🎟️
Instagram Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #ShopLocal
- #SupportSmallBusiness
- #SmallBizSaturday
- #ShopSmall
- #BusinessOwner
- #EntrepreneurLife
- #ShopSmallBiz
- #SmallBusinessLove
- #BuyLocal
- #SupportLocal
- #ShopSmallBusiness
- #ShopLocalShopSmall
- #SmallBusinessSaturday
- #SupportLocalBusiness
- #SupportSmallBiz
- #SmallBusinessOwners
- #SmallBizLife
- #IndependentBusiness
- #LocalBusinessLove
- #SmallBusinessSuccess
These hashtags will help you to connect with the wider small business community and engage potential customers who champion small businesses! Make sure to include hashtags that are relevant to your specific industry to get even more targeted with your hashtags.
TikTok Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #SmallBizMagic
- #BehindTheBusiness
- #SmallBusinessHustle
- #TikTokBizTips
- #DIYBusiness
- #SmallBusinessJourney
- #BizTokCreators
- #SmallBusiness
- #SmallBusinessesRock
- #ShopLocal
- #SmallBizOwner
- #SupportSmallBusiness
- #SmallBizTikTok
- #SmallBusinessTikTok
- #SmallBiz
- #SmallBusinessLover
- #SmallBizUnboxing
- #SmallBizTok
- #TikTokforBusiness
- #StartUp
TikTok is a very creative platform, so have some fun with your hashtags! Check out other creators and make note of what hashtags they're using and see how they can inspire your own unique content.
LinkedIn Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #SmallBusiness
- #Entrepreneurship
- #BusinessOwners
- #StartupLife
- #SmallBizTips
- #BusinessDevelopment
- #SMBs
- #LinkedInForBusiness
- #BusinessLeadership
- #SmallBusinessAdvice
- #EntrepreneurMindset
- #LeadershipDevelopment
- #BusinessGrowth
- #SMEs
- #BusinessStrategy
- #TeamCulture
- #SmallBusinessInsights
- #LeadershipSkills
- #BusinessInnovation
- #SmallBusinessOwner
LinkedIn tends to be more geared towards a professional audience, so these hashtags will work well with thought leadership posts and behind-the-scenes of what it's like being an entrepreneur! Again, it's important to dig deep into your niche and include specific hashtags for your industry.
X Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #SmallBiz
- #Entrepreneurship
- #BusinessOwners
- #Startups
- #SMBs
- #BizTips
- #TwitterBusiness
- #BusinessSuccess
- #SmallBusinessLove
- #ShopLocal
- #SupportSmallBusiness
- #BusinessStrategy
- #MarketingTips
- #EntrepreneurLife
- #DigitalMarketing
- #BizChat
- #SmallBizSaturday
- #BusinessGrowth
- #SmallBusinessHustle
- #SmallBizTalk
X (formerly Twitter) is very versatile and offers a range of topics to get involved in! So whether you're sharing small business advice, enticing customers, or talking about thought leadership, these hashtags will help you to get seen 👀 Remember to mix up your hashtags and keep an eye out for trending topics so you can get ahead of the curve!
YouTube Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #SmallBusiness
- #Entrepreneurship
- #BusinessTips
- #SmallBizSuccess
- #StartupLife
- #BusinessVlog
- #YouTubeBusiness
- #SmallBusinessOwners
- #BusinessAdvice
- #ShopLocal
- #BehindTheBusiness
- #SmallBizJourney
- #BusinessTutorials
- #BusinessInnovation
- #EntrepreneurialMindset
- #SmallBusinessHustle
- #YouTubeForBusiness
- #SmallBusinessCommunity
- #CreativeBusiness
- #VlogYourBusiness
YouTube is a platform where you can really get creative and show a more personal side to your business! These hashtags will help you to reach a wider audience and drive more brand awareness.
Facebook Hashtags for Small Businesses
- #SmallBusiness
- #ShopLocal
- #SupportSmallBusiness
- #BusinessOwners
- #EntrepreneurLife
- #LocalBusinessLove
- #SmallBizSuccess
- #FacebookBusiness
- #ShopSmallBiz
- #BusinessCommunity
- #SmallBusinessSupport
- #FBEntrepreneurs
- #SmallBizTips
- #StartupSaturday
- #BusinessGrowth
- #SmallBusinessSpotlight
- #SmallBusinessSaturday
- #LocalBusinessOwners
- #SMBMarketing
- #FacebookForBusiness
Facebook is one of the longest-standing platforms, but it's definitely still relevant! Try using these hashtags to really tap into the small business and local business communities and engage new customers there.
Final thoughts
Social media platforms are constantly evolving, so make sure to mix up your hashtags and find ones that work for you and your business. Keep an eye out for trending topics and get involved early if you can to stay ahead of the curve! And you might also find it useful to create hashtags that are unique to your business. It's a useful way to build your brand and also a great way to involve your customers in your content. We love Astrid and Miyu's #MusesofAM hashtag as an example of a unique hashtag you can create to involve your audience and build your brand!
Once you've worked out what hashtags you're going to try, use our Social Media for Small Businesses learning journey to ensure you've got a water-tight plan set up!
Need some help with your social media hashtags?
It can be hard to stay afloat of new trends and figure out how to be consistent with your content. So if you're struggling, why not book a 1:1 mentoring session with one of our social media mentors? They'll be able to review your current content with you and give you simple tips and tricks to grow your social media following!