We all have to sell ourselves at some point – whether it be as a corporate warrior, a small business owner, a ‘disruptor’ or as an individual. But how do we gain a following and self promote WITHOUT looking like a T***?
Small Business Marketing
Small Business Marketing is a broad term that involves many activities, including advertising, promotions and public relations. The success of a small business or SME depends on the business owner’s ability to market their products and services cost effectively. You may have a great product and stellar customer service, but if people don’t know your business exists, you are not going to have any sales.
Your marketing efforts are important to keep your small business or SME afloat. It gets the message out to potential clients and entices them to give your business a try.

How To Get Free Customers and Clients
Let’s look at one of the cheapest ways to boost your business status and marketing with networking.

Cool Ways to Use Video Marketing Content
Video marketing is incredibly popular, and still growing. There’s one simple reason for this: because it works!

How to Create a Customer Loyalty Scheme That Works
It can cost up to five times as much to attract a new customer as opposed to retaining an existing one! With numbers like that, it makes sense to focus on customer satisfaction and retention at least as much as you focus on bringing in new leads for your business.

Guest Posting: Is It Worth It? (And How to Get Started)
Guest posting – writing content for other websites which include a link back to yours – is well known as a strategy for boosting your business profile. But is it still worth it? And if so, how do you even do it?

8 Customer Retention Tricks for Small Businesses
If your business is to stay profitable for the long-haul, customer retention is essential. And we’ll show you how to do it…

No Degree? No Problem! (How to Build Credibility Without Going Back to School)
Let’s clear up a persistent myth: you don’t necessarily need an MBA to run a business! You might not even need a degree at all. They can be helpful, of course, and academic study is the right route into business for a lot of people.

A Small Business Owners’ Guide to Beating Procrastination
Have you ever started the day full of good intentions, only to realise that it’s suddenly 3pm and you haven’t achieved anything? Yes – me too. Procrastination gets the best of all of us sometimes, and it can be a real problem for small business owners.

Why You Shouldn’t Strive to Be the Cheapest
If you’re in small business, this is a race you don’t want to win…the race to the bottom and being the cheapest in your industry

What to Do When the Customer is Wrong
If there is one business cliche that I want to consign to the past where it belongs, it’s this: the customer is always right.
Why? Because it’s not true.

How to Run a Contest or Giveaway That Generates Leads
We’ve talked before about how strategically giving stuff away for free can boost your sales and bring in new customers. But do you know what people love almost as much as free stuff? The chance to win something!

Email Deliverability: Why It Matters and How to Boost It
Are you following all the rules of good email marketing but not seeing the return you’d like? Perhaps you’re close to concluding that
If this sounds familiar, don’t give up yet. According to Salescycle, 73% of marketers rate the return on investment (ROI) of email marketing as either “excellent” or “good”. That’s higher than the score for any other marketing channel. In other words, you need to get email marketing right.
If you’re having trouble getting that high ROI, it’s possible that your email deliverability is at fault. But what is email deliverability and how can you improve it? Read on to find out.
Small Business Management

COVID’s Lasting Small Business Changes (and Why They Can Be Good News)
COVID has brought big changes to the world of small business. Learn why we don’t think they’re all (necessarily) bad news.

Half of Staff Like The Work/Life Balance – Double Trouble for Small Businesses
Do you run a small business that employs staff currently working from home?
How are they doing?
Do you know what they’re doing when they’re meant to be working for you?
Is this the way you see the future of your business?
Well according to one survey, nearly half of employees think they’d rather quit their job than work in the ‘office’ again.

The Rise of The Small Business Food ‘Preneur That Might Make You Sick
There has been a “concerning” rise in food based small businesses operating out of people’s homes during lockdown, according to the food safety watchdog.
Latest Posts

Small Businesses Wait to See What’s in The Budget For Them
Some are saying this is one of the most important budget speeches since World War 2. Others are frustrated at the Governments continuous ‘leaks’ to the press about what’s going to be announced later this afternoon. But there could well be more help for the self-employed which are due to be announced in the Budget, including the possibility of first grants for an estimated 600,000 people.

17 Ultimate Business Card Designs for Small Businesses
Lockdown has forced virtually everyone ‘online’ for networking. Which probably means that printers have got a little uncomfortable knowing that one income stream has gone by-the-by for the last 12 months. Business cards.
There are those small business owners that will throw them out like they own a business card machine gun at every networking event. Many will sit at the bottom of bags, or in back pockets never to be seen again. But what about doing something fun, memorable and really makes a mark?
Well here are 17 business cards for small business owners that certainly will do that for your potential customers and networking events as the year goes on…

The Apprentice Levy Has Failed Every Small Business
Since the days of the Youth Training Scheme, the Government has always tried to publicly ‘push’ the idea of Apprentices and what they can do for businesses both large and small. However the reality of Apprenticeships is less a mixed bag of results, more a bag of pitiful re-engineering that is not fit for purpose.
Business Growth

Small Businesses Can Lead The Charge on Dealing With Plastic Waste
New data has revealed that almost three-quarters of UK consumers (71%) think brands, retailers and small businesses are NOT doing enough to make their beauty and personal care* purchases more sustainable. They also identified plastic waste as the main culprit – around half (46%) see it as the biggest sustainability challenge facing the industry.

eBay Friend of The Small Business – Posts Impressive Results
Friend of the Small Business owner, eBay has posted some impressive figures after Christmas 2020

Debenhams – Another Nail in The High Street Coffin -Thanks to Boohoo
Boohoo, the online fashion retailer, has bought the Debenhams brand and website for £55m, but will not take on any of the businesses remaining 118 High Street stores or its workforce.
Big Interviews

Mike Michalowicz – How To Fix Your Small Business Easily
New York Times Bestseller Mike Michalowicz, talks to YBKBS about how to ‘Fix’ your small business easily. A must read for small business owners.
Read/Watch/Listen to the full interview only at YBKBS Small Business News for Smart Business Owners

From Translator to Business Powerhouse
There comes a point where an opportunity presents itself. Here’s a story about Ciao Beleza who took his and his experience can teach small business owners to see the opportunities in the opportunity.

PR for Small Business with Lucy Werner – Part 2
Part 2 of 2 – Today’s guest is a PR expert, founder, author and teacher. She set up her own business in 2015 because she was completely disillusioned by how traditional agencies weren’t servicing the independents and small businesses of the UK in the way they needed…we’ll show you how to be better.