When you start in business it is essential that you harness the correct basic digital ingredients. If not, you WILL struggle and be left behind.

Running a small business is as complicated as running a big company. You may not think so when you start off; however you will learn fast! As the company grows you then delegate to others. Essential though is that YOU need to understand how to capitalise, using modern technology, on the digital tools available.

To quote Bill Gates: The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life.

Website
This is a prospective client’s first point of call. Ensure it is strong, clean and slick. This will provide confidence in your viewers. Target audience reach is essential so consider Yoast. Yoast provides an invaluable SEO tool and should be incorporated into your website right from the start. It is a learning tool for those unfamiliar with building websites.

Social Media
Very much a horses for courses scenario. Depending on the product for sale there are four key players in this:

Linked-In
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Never under-estimate these useful tools. Whilst Linked-In is very much the ‘professional’ amongst these otherwise ‘social’ buddies they all have their place in the workplace. But remember time is money and don’t get carried away with thinking all are vital to your success. Study them and choose wisely.

You can also read our blog post which explains what to consider when starting your “Social Media Journey“. Whilst this blog post was primarily written for the legal sector, we think has some great points to consider.

OutSec’s Media and Interviews Division can transcribe podcasts, webinars and educational video content ensuring that you have additional ways in which to share your original social media content (but also increase your website’s content and your digital content’s SEO making it searchable online).

OutSec’s Commercial Division have transcriptionists that can transcribe blog posts, which you can then share on social media. This allows you to drive traffic back to your website from your social media channels.

Online Calendar
Incorporate an online calendar system into your everyday life. They are easy to use and provide a digital record of appointments both current and past.

Simply use Outlook’s Office 365 facility or the Google App.

Outsourcing
The old idea of an office block is long past. Companies no longer boast of how many employees they have; rather they choose key personnel and outsource the day-to-day admin, such as:

Typing
Billing
Accounting
IT
PR & Media
Marketing
Tax Preparation & Filing
Wages
Outsourcing of any kind dramatically reduces cost and ensures in-house staff can concentrate on growing your business.

For outsourcing your typing needs, OutSec is the UK’s leading online transcription service, and we can help you dramatically reduce costs. We have our free online calculator to enable you to see what cost savings could be achieved by outsourcing your typing provision. You can read more in our blog post: “The Significance of Flexible Typing Provision“.

Marketing
Mailchimp

While a basic email service, this is the best option if you’re starting out and need to send thousands of email newsletters to customers. It provides great design templates for a professional touch and provides all your marketing needs in one place.

Incorporating all of the above tools will kick-start your business in the right direction.

And finally, in the words of the mighty Bill Gates:

Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.