Marketing tips for small businesses

BE IMAGE CONSCIOUS AND FLEXIBLE: MARKETING TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. IT IS ESSENTIAL YOU THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THE IMAGE YOU WANT TO PROJECT AND SPEND TIME ON A MARKETING PLAN – BY JAMES CAAN

Marketing is essential for the success of any business. It doesn’t matter how great the product or service you are offering is if nobody knows about it. You need to market every strand of your business – and that includes yourself.

Businesses are built by people and their success is dependent on the quality of those people. Both you and your employees represent your company so it is essential you think about the image you are projecting. When creating and implementing your marketing plan, it is important to think about your branding and how you want your business to be perceived, both in the short and longer term. Here are my key tips for successfully marketing a small business.

Read more of this “Guardian’…

 

Meeting Room Special: Book One, Get One 50% off

 

The Rostie Group - Book One Get One Summer Special

 

After a long and dreary winter, we are ready to celebrate SUMMER. We are excited to be offering a summer special for meeting room reservations.

Book your meeting online with one click!

During July and August, when you book one meeting room, you get the second one for 50% off.  Simply book both your meetings at the same time and get 50% off the second one. Please note that the discount is applied to a second meeting reservation of equal or lesser value and does not include catering or AV requirements.

The Rostie Group is Toronto’s premier mid-sized meetings and conference centre and boutique provider of fully furnished personal and shared workspaces including virtual offices, team rooms, workstations, pro and coworking spaces as well as event spaces. Situated at Bay and Queen’s Quay in the city’s thriving south core, our experienced and professional staff are always on hand and dedicated to your business success.

Please feel free to contact our team if you would like to take advantage of this limited time offer or if you have any questions. We can be reached at 416-214-1840 or meetings@rostiegroup.com

Meetings

 

 

Hiring For Small Business — Overcoming Challenges And Tips For Success

By Jason Whitman (Huffington Post)

According to the most recent ADP employment report, small businesses added 82,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in April. Also, according to the Small Business Administration, small businesses provide more than half of all jobs in the U.S. But, as every small business owner knows, each and every one of these individuals within your business makes a difference and has the opportunity to move the needle depending on whether that individual is the right fit for the business.

We interact with small business owners every day to help make that right hire that is so essential to the bottom line. It’s clear that not having the right person in an open role can make or break the future success of your small business. But hiring that perfect talent for an opening is not always something that small businesses feel well-equipped to tackle.

Often, small business owners feel a lot of similar pain points, which typically fall within three major areas:

Time is of the essence for a small business owner looking to hire talent. In contrast with a larger company, where hiring managers do workforce planning, have some flexibility and often can afford to be patient when hiring, small business owners can’t. Typically, if they don’t fill an “empty seat” quickly, the work to be done accelerates in a ripple effect, seriously increasing the workload of the rest of the employees.

Read more of this ‘Huffington Post’ article here…

Working on the Go? 5 Ways to Protect Your Mobile Device

Published Tuesday, May 13th, 2014, by Jo Disney – News and Features Editor, U.K. (Officing Today)

With mobile working and BYOD becoming the norm, the question of security is nudging its way ever higher up the priority list.

We live in a world where there are more mobile devices than people. Research suggests that soon, the average person will carry 1.5 mobile devices (although, you’re probably already on 2 or 3 yourself).

The question is, in a world obsessed by mobile technology, how do you keep your devices safe and secure?

We’re not just talking viruses. Shoulder-to-shoulder working in coffee shops, walking to the station or leaving your laptop in the car can leave you open to the risk of theft. How do you protect against theft? And if your device is stolen, how do you keep sensitive data locked away?

Read more of this ‘Officing Today’ article here…

5 Tips for Launching a Successful Product

GroundReport | Author: KM123
Filed Under: HealthLifestyle | Posted: 05/13/2014 at 6:28PM
Region: Colorado | United States

According to the Small Business Association,small businesses have provided 55 percent of all jobs and 66 percent of all net new jobs since the 1970s. In today’s economy, small businesses are struggling; although many people have great product ideas, few of them follow the fundamental steps necessary to successfully bring those products to market. A success story, Peter Champe’s idea for a new kind of nasal aspirator started with a personal need—his infant son was chronically congested and he discovered that the standard bulb and battery-powered aspirators didn’t work. From this problem grew the Baby Comfy Nose, a nasal aspirator that uses the parent’s own suction, now sold at 7800 Walgreens retail stores nationwide, and he is sharing his five tips for launching a successful product.

“In the process of creating and marketing my first invention Baby Comfy Nose and then founding the larger company Baby Comfy Care, I have some advice that could be useful for others developing their own products” explains Peter Champe, engineer and owner of Baby Comfy Care. “I’ve condensed these ideas down to 5 principles to make them easier to apply.”

 

Read more of this ‘Ground Report’ article here…

 

Starting A Business? Two Common Management Issues And How To Solve Them

By Gabie Boko, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Sage North America

Is there a downside to job market recovery?  If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, there may be.

A recent Kauffman study showed that entrepreneurship suffers when the job market is in recovery mode.  In 2013, 476,000 new businesses were created each month, down 7 percent from 2012 when 514,000 new businesses were created monthly; highlighting that people who might have started their own business became employees instead.

As an advisor to small business owners, here are some of the biggest personal and business issues I see entrepreneurs face when getting started, and some thoughts on how burgeoning business owners can move past these challenges:

Read more of this ‘Forbes’ article here…

Can you use Pinterest to build your Small Business?

By Janel Martinez (Madame Noir)

Sure, Twitter and Facebook are great for marketing your small business online, but have you considered Pinterest? Many people think Pinterest is only for home décor collages and party-planning tips. Not true! Small business owners have the potential to take their brand marketing to the next level if they use the social media site wisely.

Last week, Pinterest unveiled its new business site where entrepreneurs can check out Pinterest buttons and widgets to add to their website, sign up for the business newsletter and read how brands such as Nordstrom have grown using the visual discovery tool. Pinterest announced last week that the company is working with a small group of brands across various industries, including Kraft, Target and ABC Family, to help the company test out its Promoted Pins feature. “We hope Promoted Pins give businesses of all sizes a chance to connect with more Pinners,” said Joanne Bradford, head of partnerships, in the company’s blog.

Read more of  this ‘Madame Noir’ article here…

 

Book your meeting online with one click! The Rostie Group is Toronto’s premier mid-sized meetings and conference centre and boutique provider of fully furnished personal and shared workspaces including virtual offices, team rooms, workstations, coworking spaces and event spaces. Situated at Bay and Queen’s Quay in the city’s thriving south core, our experienced and professional staff are always on hand and dedicated to your business success.

Scared to start your own business?

by Ali Gray

Got a big idea? Sometimes all you need is the courage to go for it – and Jenny Dawson is the proof.

The 27-year-old founder of Rubies in the Rubble was working for a Mayfair hedgefund when she came up with the concept for her new venture. She had seen how many perfectly edible fruits and vegetables are discarded from London markets and decided to use the surplus produce to make jams and chutneys. Thus, Rubies in the Rubble was born.

Jenny started her company in 2011, and she’s come a long way since. Today it was announced that she received the Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award for her achievement in business, and Jenny couldn’t be happier.

‘I was actually in the running for this last year as well so, for Veuve Clicquot to follow our progress and growth over the year, see potential in what we are building and acknowledge it, is incredibly encouraging,’ she tells Marie Claire.

Jenny said she also feels honoured to receive an award that highlight’s women in business. ‘I have never felt challenged by being a women, but I do think women in business need to be recognised to encourage more women into leading positions. I love that Veuve Clicquot celebrates women in positions of leadership.’

So how did Jenny accomplish so much at such a young age – and how can you follow suit? It certainly wasn’t easy – but she insists it is doable.

Read more of this ‘Marie Claire’  article here…

 

Book your meeting online with one click! The Rostie Group is Toronto’s premier mid-sized meetings and conference centre and boutique provider of fully furnished personal and shared workspaces including virtual offices, team rooms, workstations, coworking spaces and event spaces. Situated at Bay and Queen’s Quay in the city’s thriving south core, our experienced and professional staff are always on hand and dedicated to your business success.

Essential Tips for Small Business Data Security

FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESS DATA SECURITY – BY GUY CHIARELLO (Huffington Post)

Given the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks in today’s world, it is more important than ever for small businesses to understand the costly effects of a data breach and develop an approach to mitigate the risks. The cost of a data breach for a small merchant can be catastrophic. The lost business and resulting liability from such an event can create significant financial losses, but the damaged reputation could be even more difficult, if not impossible, to recover from at all.

A recent study from Ponemon Institute shows that 90 percent of data breaches impact small merchants. Given that payment data is the target for 65 percent of breaches, small business owners should be concerned by the potential vulnerability of sensitive payment data used to process transactions every day, in multiple ways — in person, online and even via mobile device.

Small businesses can protect their customers and themselves, even though there is no guarantee of complete immunity to the threat. By staying educated and understanding solutions and best practices that are available, small businesses can reduce the risk of a data breach with cost-effective options.

Read more of this ‘Huffington Post’ article here…

Book your meeting online with one click! The Rostie Group is Toronto’s premier mid-sized meetings and conference centre and boutique provider of fully furnished personal and shared workspaces including virtual offices, team rooms, workstations, coworking spaces and event spaces. Situated at Bay and Queen’s Quay in the city’s thriving south core, our experienced and professional staff are always on hand and dedicated to your business success.

Business Tips To Build Lasting Relationships With Your Client

By Deborah Asseraf | Social Pulse | May 12, 2014

It’s not about me – it’s all about YOU!

May 12-16 is National Small Business Week. This annual spotlight on small businesses began in 1963. It recognizes the essential contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. Every day, they’re working to grow small businesses, drive innovation, increase America’s global competitiveness, and jobs. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.

A small business owner must have hundreds maybe even thousands of sales conversations over the course of a year in order grow their business. So there are plenty of opportunities for authentic connections, shared insights and the occasional foot-in-mouth moment.  Here are a few ways to ensure you’re connecting and putting your best foot forward – instead of in your mouth.

Make the conversation about the other person

The need to be heard is one of the most powerful motivating forces in human nature. The first instinct is to share what we know, think or care about instead of putting the focus on the person we’re talking to.

Read the rest of this ‘The Epoch Times’ article, click here …

 

Book your meeting online with one click! The Rostie Group is Toronto’s premier mid-sized meetings and conference centre and boutique provider of fully furnished personal and shared workspaces including virtual offices, team rooms, workstations, coworking spaces and event spaces. Situated at Bay and Queen’s Quay in the city’s thriving south core, our experienced and professional staff are always on hand and dedicated to your business success.