Quirky Web

February 21, 2018
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I’m now a Hootsuite Platform Certified Professional

Anyone who is managing multiple social media accounts across platforms will find it hard to stay on track unless they are using some sort of tool. There’s quite a few out there and they range from free versions to professional and enterprise paid for versions.

I’ve played around with a few now and found the Hootsuite free version is pretty good. You can manage three social media profiles with it and you get some analytics too. Obviously three platforms might be less than you need, but c’mon this one is free!

Obviously you can upgrade your account and upgrade the number of social profiles and users. I’ve noticed they sometimes offer 30 and 60 free trials of the upgrades too. It’s worth keeping an eye open and trying the Professional version for free for 60 days if you can.

Another cool thing that Hootsuite do is they have some free online courses. The courses range from using their platform through to social marketing, strategy and advertising. The courses are in nice and simple bite size videos which makes it easy to dip in and out of the training. After completing the course you then have the option of paying to take the exam. If you pass then you get a certification and you can have a listing in their Certified Professionals Directory.

Well whilst I was getting up to speed with using Hootsuite I decided to do the online training.

Anyway, today I decided to take the exam. At the time of writing, the course is just $99. I passed today with the rather pleasing score of 90% – you need 80% to pass. I’m now also listed in their Certified Professionals Directory:

https://directory.hootsuite.com/julieplumb

Pretty cool eh?

I love how much online training there is out there and how much of it is free. Just before Christmas I went through Google Digital Garage and took their exam – both the training and the exam are free for this. I found it was a really good refresher for Google and brilliant at updating my knowledge with the newer aspects of Google. It is suitable for both beginners and professionals.

Have you found any useful free training that has helped you to update your online skills?

January 21, 2018
by quirkyp Leave a comment

Getting back into the swing of social media

OK, I’ve been working in the online world for way longer than I’d like to remember…

I’ve been taking a career break after having my little girl. She is now 4 (where did that time go) so will be starting Reception in September.

During this time I have been running Quirky Purple and it’s been a blast! It has allowed me to use my creative side and made lots of lovely handmade goodies but also to keep my online skills up to date by running a WordPress site, Etsy, Folksy, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter sites. Because it’s a micro-business and there’s just me, I can flex the work up and down and even close my shop when I need to. OK, it doesn’t make a lot of money, but its fun and keeps my skills ticking over.

Now, ticking over – there’s a problem.

I decided last year that I needed to get cracking on updating my skills if I wanted to be properly ‘work ready’ by September. I spent a lot of time going to open days and looking up courses. I was accepted on another MSc (I’ve already got one in Networked Information Engineering) but unfortunately the university couldn’t seem to get to grips with my need to know in advance when I would need to be physically in the university so I could arrange childcare.

Anyway, I finally came across Digital Mums. They run a 6 month course on Strategic Social Media Management. Not only do they understand that we sometimes have to work around our children but they actively promote #workthatworks and flexible working. The really cool bit is that you work with a real life client though the course and run a real social media campaign for them.

So far it’s been brilliant starting to getting back up to speed in the fast changing online world. It’s also very cool working with like-minded people again!

September 2, 2013
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Focus on Facebook

If you’ve been reading these regular blog posts, you’ll have noticed that Facebook features quite a bit. Well, there’s a reason for that – it can be a lot of things to a lot of people.

Simple web presence

Setting up a Facebook page can often be the quickest and easiest way of getting a web presence. For many small businesses, it is their only web presence – and Facebook can work well!

It’s so easy to set up a page and do a simple bit of customising. Very often this can be done with a profile and a header picture. You can then easily add in some photos of your products and you have your starting point.

Simple Sales

Countless small businesses will also use Facebook as their main selling platform. There are a number of ways to do this. The simplest ways is to add photos of your stock and then add information to each picture, including the price. Put a note to ask people to message you if they want to buy and then you can send them a PayPal invoice. This method is used effectively by many small crafters.

Driving sales

If you use eBay, Etsy or Folksy as your main selling platform you can use Facebook to drive sales across. All of these selling platforms will let you share your products on Facebook which includes a direct link to your product sales page. Statistics on those sites will also let you check how many people clicked through from Facebook.

There’s also a second stage where you can use a Facebook app to create a tab on your Facebook page which list all of your products with clickthroughs to the product sales pages. Many are free such as EasySocialShop and easy to set up.

Don’t forget Facebook ads too. They can be used to increase the likes on your page or drive traffic through to your sales platform.

Keeping people interested

Although ultimately you would like people to buy your products or services, you have to make sure that you are not just doing the hard sell all the time.

Try to get a good balance between selling and non-selling. Like pages and updates that you think will interest your followers. Post up interesting articles or pictures. Try and relate your posts to special dates, news or celebrations – Valentine’s Day, Royal baby news, for example.

You could even start your own funny Friday photo!

July 31, 2013
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How much time should you spend online?

I don’t have time to run my social media properly.

How much time should I spend updating things?

I seem to spend forever online and don’t get anything useful done.

Does this sound like you? Here are some tips to make the most out of both your social media and your time.

1. Information overload

Well first things first – have you gone for an all out approach and have set up every conceivable type, of social media? Well you need to take stock and only concentrate on the ones that help to grow your business and your business network. Look at which ones are engaging people more or the ones that you know bring in more business. These are your real goers and the ones you need to spend your valuable time updating.

2. Time is tight

These days time seems to get eaten up so quickly. The best thing to do here is to look at how your day is scheduled and how much time you may have for online updates. You may find that the morning is the best time for checking through your social media and websites, so allocate yourself a slot.

Make sure that you don’t post 10 updates, one after the other, on each site though. People may miss it or just ignore it as it’s just a whole block from your company. Make use of available tools and schedule some of your updates. Hootsuite constantly comes out very high in reviews of social media management tools and starts off free. Also don’t forget you can simply use Facebook to schedule your Facebook updates. If you write a blog, most blog sites will also have a scheduling feature. You can also do some shortcuts like linking your Twitter to Facebook so one update shows on both.

3. Sucked into the online void

It’s very easy to pop online to update your Facebook and suddenly 2 hours later, after following a few links, you find yourself reading a blog about link building. What you need to do is focus on the task in hand. If you are going to pop onto Facebook, then read through your feed and then like and share relevant things and then do your updates. Give yourself, say, 10 minutes. Then move onto your Twitter and so the same. Don’t be tempted to follow any links until you’ve finished your updates!

For my full article, written for the Nottingham Post, click here.

July 31, 2013
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A Picture Paints a Thousand Words Online

Well they say a picture paints a thousand words and on the Internet that can be very valuable.

There are lots of sites out there that are dedicated to pictures rather than words. And they are free!

This site is growing in popularity and becoming more useful to small businesses. You can set up any number or boards. These are like good old fashioned pin boards. Don’t just set one up for products but think about what your customers might like. Then you can also start to pin some of your own work.

For example; a wedding dress shop may set up boards for colour inspiration, a restaurant may set up boards for recipes, and a builder might set up boards for different project inspirations like loft extensions.

Flickr

This photo sharing site can be useful to use pictures to tell the story of your business or showcase some of your products. Encourage your customers to share pictures of their experiences with your business and products.

For example; a hairdresser may showcase new styles and ask customers to post up pictures of themselves out an about sporting their new hairstyle, or clothing company may ask for pictures of customers wearing the clothes.

Instagram

Are you out and about for your small business? This could be a good one for you. You can take a picture on your phone and post it up, sharing it on other social media sites. I can really get across the flavour of our brand

For example; you are at an event and you can post behind the scenes photos, or you are part way through tiling a new kitchen and you post how good it’s starting to look.

Youtube

Although YouTube is known for entertaining content, it is also used by many people for help, instructions and information. Videos of how to do things are very popular. As a small business you have skills that you can share with your customers. Videos aren’t expected to be some major production, but if they are useful and informative, they will be watched and shared.

For example; an electrician can show people how to change a plug, a makeup artist can show you how to get the perfect eye makeup, or a crafter can demonstrate craft tasters.

Interested? Just remember the golden rule of not trying to do the hard sell on any social media and you’ll be fine.

To read my full article, written for the Nottingham Post, click here.

July 31, 2013
by quirkyp Leave a comment

Do you want to start selling online?

Are you a new business and want to start to sell your products online? Are you an existing business that wants to branch out and sell their products online?

Most people think that to start selling their products online they will need a costly ecommerce website. Well, that’s not always the case. It also depends on what you are selling.

eBay

Most people have heard of eBay these days and, as they say, you can buy anything on eBay It’s an easy way to start selling online as the whole ecommerce platform is there, including taking payments. It’s a good way to dip your toes into online selling, and most huge High Street Stores have an eBay store.

Pros

Large ready-made audience
The whole platform is there ready to use
You can start small and expand to a store later

Cons

Your branding will be minimal. Stores give more options
Fees – you need to factor these into your prices
eBay audiences can expect a bargain, so handmade and high-end goods are not always suited

Etsy

It’s very similar to eBay but tries to create more of a community. The audience outside of the UK is pretty large. You are restricted to selling handmade, vintage and craft supplies.

Pros

Cheaper than eBay. Shops are free
Audience that understands the value of handmade items

Cons

Not as large a ready-made audience
Restrictions on what you can sell

Folksy

The chances are that you might not have heard of this one. It could almost be described as a quirky UK-based Etsy. You have to be UK based to sell on this website.

Pros

It is the cheapest. A one off fee to list as many items plus selling fees

Cons

Doesn’t have the larger audiences of the other websites
Tighter restriction of selling categories

There are others out there, but using one of these websites is a good way to test the waters and try and sell your products online.

By dipping your toes in one of these ways you can try out your online markets, narrow down your target audiences, and try online advertising. All straight away and with minimal costs.

Finally, you can go out to an agency and get a brand spanking new ecommerce website built for your business, but, hey, it’s your money!

To read my full article, written for the Nottingham Post, click here.

April 12, 2013
by quirkyp Leave a comment

Wondering about Pinterest?

I’ll bet you keep hearing about Pinterest? Have you been and had a look? What do you think? Could you work out why you might use it?

In some respects I think Pinterest is the new Twitter. People have heard about how great this chunk of social media is, but don’t really know how they’ll use it.

Well, I’d advise you to pop on over the Pinterest and have a look around.

It’s actually a great pinboard type tool. Imagine that you are looking for a new kitchen, looking for ideas for your wedding, or looking for new spring outfits. Pinterest can help here and let you pin collections of pictures. Lots of ordinary people are already doing this.

Where do businesses come in? The figures are now starting to quote 60% f the top 100 businesses having a presence on Pinterest.

Well, you are probably experts in what you do. I’ll bet there are a lot of images to do with your business? I don’t mean pictures of your products – a Pinterest board of these will soon turn people off. An example might be that you knit and sell dog jackets for various breads of dogs. You want to connect with and engage dog lovers – well I guess they’re your target audience? You could creat Pinterest boards of different dog breeds, dog kennels, dressed up dogs, dogs coats etc. Dog lovers will start to see your pinboards and hopefully start to follow them. It gets your name out there… you then might occassionally post up some of your own products.

The Huffington Post has a pretty good article – Pinterest and Quora for Business? Ignore at your peril.

Like the Post suggests, you need to look at what the top brands are doing on Pinterest. Look at how they are engaging customers without using any sort of hard sell.

Just because these are big businesses doesn’t mean that this doesn’t translate down for small businesses – remember Pinterest is another free tool that you can use to help to grown your own business!

Have a look at how Quirky Purple uses Pinterest to engage with their customers and potential customers – Quirky Purple Pinterest Site

If you want some help with getting started with Pinterest then Contact Us today!

April 12, 2013
by quirkyp Leave a comment

Small businesses can dip their toes into the web for free

OK, so you’ve got a small business, and everyone keeps asking you if you’re online. Where do you start?

You could be a plumber, an electrician, a mobile hairdresser, or a builder. These different businesses will have different requirements and different customers, but the main thing here is that using the internet is an easy way to potentially reach a growing audience.

One thing you need to bear in mind is that getting online need not cost you any money at all.

Here’s how you can do it yourself, and for free!

Get on Facebook

Ask around and you’ll find that a lot of people you know, and your customers are on Facebook. Chances are you’re on Facebook too. Well you can set up a business page for free. Logon to your personal page and then use the link http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Just follow the instructions and add in a couple of photos for you header and profile picture and you’re set. Share the page with customers and friends and ask them to share it too.

Tips

– Pop up some pictures of your work e.g. hairstyles, patios, garages
– Try and get your customers to comment on photos of work you’ve done for them
– Like the pages of similar business and learn from the ones that use Facebook well

Get on Twitter

This is a great way to not only connect your potential customers but also with governing bodies, trade leader and network with peers. It’s a very fast way to keep up to date with what’s going on in your area.

Tips

– Follow similar businesses and see what updates they put out
– Keep up to date with following the governing bodies in your business area
– Check TV programme hashtags (#xfactor). Are there any TV programmes relevant to your business/trade? Get online and join in as you’ll find more followers for your account

Website

If you need a website then again you can make one for free, but with a little more effort than setting up Facebook or Twitter. Use Wordress (www.wordress.org). It’s known as a blog, but works really effectively as a website.

You’ll find many tiny, small, and medium businesses use something like WordPress to run their main website. This website is run on a free WordPress template!

Finally

Has this wetted your appetite for getting your business online?

The only things that should cost money are buying a domain name and selling online. We’ll talk about both of these in a further blog post.

These are just your starters and there are loads more cool things out there that will suit your business.

Make sure you spend some time checking out your competitor and any businesses that you aspire to be like. You’ll soon start to see a way forward for your business.

Don’t forget you can also contact us at Quirky Web. We can get you started or review where you already are and take you to the next stage.