Small Office, Home Office Information

Well the move is over - our part of the business is totally unpacked and in operation and we’ve got a huge week of meetings and proposals in front of us. Our biggest undertaking - worth many thousands of dollars - will start this week as will several smaller ones.

So we’re feeling pretty excited about our small business right now.

While we’re getting excited about the week ahead here’s something for you to consider.

“Writers using short words and short sentences tend to sell more.

It is easy to think that if you just do more and add more value that you will make more money, but sometimes doing more just means simplifying and clarifying your words, or publishing in a more friendly format. If you want people to take action, to believe they can afford it, making them feel confident and comfortable works.”

It comes from Aaron Wall’s SEO Book blog and you’ll find the rest of the post here.

by Stuart Livesey 

Just a little while ago Toni and I were round at one of our client’s when we had a chance to speak to another small business owner who is involved in the fitting out of our new office. He was there doing some work and we needed to arrange times so that someone could be there when he needed to get into our new office.

As we talked a third small business owner came in and he is someone we’ve done work for in the past. Without a moment’s hesitation he said to the person we were talking to “Toni and Stuart are good people - they do good work.”

It’s a great feeling when someone says that about your business.

We now have an appointment with the person we were talking to do some work on their website.

… and do it from the day it’s born. 

by Stuart Livesey

If you’ve been reading my scribblings here over the last few weeks you will know that we’re expanding. In fact we’re basically bursting at the seams with new staff, new clients and new premises.

It might seem that this expansion of our business has been sudden and almost unexpected but that’s not how it has really been. Instead we have been planning for this expansion for quite some time and Toni has been developing her business to be ready for this expansion.

We’ve even carefully planned for the added overheads that we will be facing and we can meet those overheads right now … we haven’t hit the new premises and taken on new overheads and then looked for the work to cover these added expenses.

The work is there already and it’s going to be there for the long-term - we don’t have to rush around in a panic looking for new work just to pay the rent or the wages.

Instead, even before the move actually takes place (we’ll be there from next Tuesday) we’ve already begun executing a marketing plan that will take us to the next level. We may not be as ‘out there’ as some of our competitors are right now but we’re also not facing the same problems that they could be facing … if the local grapevine is to be believed.

So our suggestion to you is that you plan to expand your small business right from the start and that way, when the chance to expand does come, you’ll have your plans in place and you won’t make any sudden decisions that you may regret later.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been missing in action for the last two weeks. The time has just gone by in a blur of activity. Not only have we been preparing for the move to the new office - we’ve spent the weekend packing because the move is happening this coming week - but we’ve also been given a challenge by another small business.

The challenge is to launch a new website for them … nationally. They want to hit the ground running and get the site in front of as many eyes right across the country as possible. First of course we have to build the site but that’s under control and something we can do without any difficulty.

The challenge comes with the promoting the site … there are so many possibilities … so many different ways to promote a new website … and neither we nor our client are just thinking of promoting the site on the Web.

There are billboards, television, print media, buses, trains, cabs - and that’s just the start of the marketing options that are out there. Our client has the vision and the drive to succeed and we have the challenge of making it all happen for him so this is undoubtedly going to one very wild ride but one that we are definitely not going to pass on.

We’ll keep you posted