Blog

Ever since Facebook and Twitter became a fad of the modern generation businesses of all sizes realized their potential and immediately created business pages on the top 10 percent social media sites in the world. Their goal is to attract new customers, build their brand and engage a wider audience. But how do you use the different social media channels to your advantage? Where do you start? And what do the professionals recommend?

In this article, we are going to talk about the 7 best social media marketing tricks to catapult your business into success.

‍

Table of Contents

‍

• Understanding your Audience

• Take Advantage of the Strengths of Each Channel

• Interact with your Audience

• Show There’s a Human Behind the Brand

• Ensure your Senior Executives are Authentic

• Use the Right Tools

• Put the Effort in to Gain Value

‍

1. Understanding your Audience

The first thing you need to do is to understand your audience and why they particularly chose to be in that specific social media channel that you plan to market your business on. The manner in which they use social media should also be looked into. For example, certain users prefer to be on Facebook and Instagram because it allows them to post more texts, photos, videos and create “MyDay” video and picture tidbits of your day and Instagram stories. By comparison, on Twitter they can only post up to 280 characters of texts (which includes links to other sites).

What does this tell you as a marketer? It shows you that one group of users prefer to be more bold and want to build their social media profiles more prominently, while the other group prefers the minimalist style of exposing themselves to the world. Some are just there to become amateur journalists and if we take Elon Musk’s statements about Twitter users being fake bots at face value, then some are there just to become spammers. This tells you to cater your ads to your audience differently in order to capture their interests.

‍

2. Take Advantage of the Strengths of Each Channel

How users engage in ads on different social media channels will determine how your sales output will perform. It would be a very good thing if you did a feasibility studies about this, so you can do effective social media marketing on each social media sites and succeed. Every channel has different strengths. Many businesses use Facebook as a shop window displaying lots of key information such as their location, website and opening hours, so it helps connect with the brand.

Twitter’s strength is based on delivering information straight to the point in 280 characters or less and you make sure your ads are squeezed into these parameters. On the other hand, Linkedin is slightly more formal in tone but has some great tools for engagement like groups and polls, so use this tools to market your business. Now TikTok is the most unique of them all! On TikTok users are allowed to upload videos on a myriad of topics that range from 10 seconds – 3 minutes. But we also know that people nowadays have very short attention span, so you make TikTok video ads that are short but will include all the key points about your business for people to engage.

‍

3. Interact with your Audience

The best thing that social media created is a place where businesses and their customer base can interact on a personal level. It also gives more power to the paying customer and demand more from the businesses that they patronize. A good example of this is PayPal. A good friend of mine told me that his financial issue on PayPal was resolved faster on Facebook or Twitter than by calling them over the phone. Back in the 1990s this would’ve taken someone a week to get resolved and this is not counting the communication between banks and the fintech third party business like PayPal. This is also true on various other businesses and their customer base.

You can also hire professionals on job boards like Upwork, Fiverr and ClousPeeps to handle all the customer service for your business on social media via chat. This means that you’ll also save money on hiring employees and put them on freelance work, instead of hiring people the traditional way and adhere to government mandated salary and benefits and so forth. Some of these contractors go above and beyond to please your customers, which not only makes them happy doing business with you but they keep coming back for more and become repeat customers.

‍

4. Show There’s a Human Behind the Brand

It’s crucial for your business to survive by engaging with your audience in not just a professional way, but also being genuine and human. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you drive a friendly conversation with your audience on social media, preferably with a relaxed tone and letting that human side shine through; although there may be some exceptions, especially with what type of business brand you’re marketing.

Allowing the ‘human side’ to flow unrestrained when you’re a B2B brand means that you come as an honest person rather than a business entity in the eyes of your clients. When you’re a B2B company, you are not appealing to the other company/brand, you’re actually talking to the shareholders and employees working in that company. They are a different kind of customers that you’re trying to reach out to and it’s kind of like a B2B2C. That human side that we’re referring to is absolutely critical once your clients/customers calls in to complain about your products or services – it helps reassure them that their concerns are being seriously considered when they know there is a real person behind the account that they’re communicating with.

‍

5. Ensure your Senior Executives are Authentic

Remind your company execs that despite you respect their personal space and private lives, when they post on social media they’re like politicians and any untoward or negative post or comment or even an emoji reaction can deeply affect the company, therefore they should be careful with what they post on social media. Make sure that you tell your executives to make their interactions on social media to be relatable to the customers in general in order to resonate with their audience.

Basically just tell them to be as authentic as possible as most people can detect their insincerity, which can hurt your company’s reputation. You may call for a meeting with your executives and discuss how they should post on social media; however, try not to takeover their accounts as you could be fighting yourself in that case and you may lose that authenticity that you’re trying so hard to implement among your subordinates.

‍

You may also want to read "How to Setup a Limited Company Online"

‍

6. Use the Right Tools

There are more than 133 social media sites operating on the web as of August 2022 and normally experts recommend that you only market your business on the top 20 of these sites. But managing even with just a fraction of these sites can be time-consuming and exhausting, and you will need tools that can help you manage your social media pages efficiently. Perfectly timed social media posts gets the greatest audience share according to experts, therefore you should use a scheduling tool to help you post important updates on the different time zones in the US and make sure that you post mostly in the morning at around 9 – 10am local time. There are quite a few on the market such as Loomly, Hootsuite and Meltwater. These allow you to spend a couple of hours scheduling all your content for the week ahead.

A sentiment analysis tool like Clarabridge or Onalytica may also be helpful in you calibrating your social media interactions and improve your business transactions with your customers based what people are saying about you on social media. Positive responses from your audience means that you’re on the right track and you ought to keep doing what you’ve been doing. However, if you receive negative feedback from customers and the general public, then this indicates that you need to step up your game in appeasing them. Come up with a sound strategy to win back the hearts and minds of the people to your brand and outmaneuver your competitors.

Lastly, keep track of each social media analytics as this can tell you your KPIs (key performance indicators), which areas are doing well and which areas needs your attention and improvement. If you pay attention to the tiniest of details and keep your ears to the ground, then you’ll do just fine with your social media marketing efforts and be on top of your competitors. Having said that, be creative in engaging with your audience and make your competitors stumble in keeping up with you, instead of the other way around.

‍

7. Put the Effort in to Gain Value

Doing social media marketing and managing your social media pages requires a longterm commitment. You can’t expect to make a big splash in the water by just dipping your toes into it, the same way, you cannot expect to see great results with a few days’ worth of effort. It’s ironic isn’t it? Everything now is digital and can be accomplished with a push of a button or a few clicks of the mouse, and yet still, it takes months and sometimes even years to establish a strong business brand on social media while battling it out with your competitors.

Consistency and perseverance will definitely produce amazing results for your social media marketing efforts and you’ll be very happy after a year or two of doing this, because you will have reaped the benefits of your labor.

‍

It’s very likely that you will setup your first business as a sole trader, which indicates that you are basically self-employed. But after trading for several years, it is only logical to create a private limited company, especially since you should probably now have the financial resources to do so. The formation of a limited company (Ltd) is quite straightforward; however, you must also be aware how your legal position, financial arrangements and other responsibilities will change dramatically from when you were a sole trader.

Small business owners, contractors and freelancers can benefit much from creating their own limited company. In this article, you will learn all about limited company formation plus additional information on how to run this type of business. If you’re confused about the potential benefits and implications of starting a limited company, this guide is for you. This article will enlighten you on how a limited company can save you time and money, and will show you how to setup a limited company online.

‍

Table of Contents

‍

• What is a Limited Company?

• Why Set up a Limited Company?

• When Should I Change from Sole Trader to Limited Company?

• Can I Set Up a Limited Company on My Own?

• The 7 Steps to Setting Up a Limited Company

• How to Register a Limited Company

• How Much Does it Cost to Register a Company?

• What Taxes Will My Company Pay?

• How Long Does it Take to Set Up a Limited Company?

• How Will I Get Paid Through My Limited Company?

• Legal Responsibilities of Running a Company

• Year-End Reporting for Your Company

‍

‍

What is a Limited Company?

The term “limited company” refers to a business organization that’s considered as a separate entity (legally and financially) from the individual(s) managing this business organization (e.g. the company’s board of directors). The reason why this kind of business structure was created is to allow business owners to have limited liability. By contrast, when you register your company as a sole trader, when your company is sued for whatever reason, it is you who will take the bulk of the responsibility of that lawsuit and nothing will be protected from the government seizing even your personal assets when you lost the case.

On the other hand, if your business is a limited company, you are only liable for the face value of your share in the business and the judge cannot order for your personal assets to be siezed as it is not part of the company. A limited company has one or more directors (having more than 2 directors are called board of directors), may have one or more bank accounts, has its own tax designation by the HMRC, can be auctioned or sold as an IPO (initial public offer) company shares, and is required to be registered with Companies House.

Why Set up a Limited Company?

Most of the benefits of setting up a limited company is already mentioned above and the last advantage of having a limited company is that it allows you to pay a lower tax rate compared to a sole trader company. This means you will save more money for other company projects, or pay out dividends to your shareholders.

When Should I Change from Sole Trader to Limited Company?

Creating a sole trader business has its own pros and cons (usually it has lesser pros and more cons) like testing how your business model will work against the real world market and refine it. Among the benefits of being a sole trader includes no registration fees, little to no administration work, and you can make decisions without having to consult with your board of directors or shareholders. Meanwhile, the cons include sole trader tax is categorized as income tax and not corporation tax, which means its a higher tax rate than corporate tax, plus all business debts is your personal responsibility (meaning you have full liability).

Therefore, it makes more sense to form a private limited company instead of keeping your sole trader business, as your revenue grows.

One advantage that forming a limited company is that you can find more ways to finance your business. As a limited company you can get private equity funding (i.e. selling shares in your business), whereas a sole trader business can only get business loans from bank. Also being a limited company you can do either or both.

Can I Set Up a Limited Company on My Own?

Companies House allows individuals to set up their own private limited company even if they’re the only employee and director of their company. This is a safe bet for contractors because it limits the risk of their clients treating them as regular employees and find loopholes in their tax and legal obligations. It also keeps contractors safe from the legal ramifications if and when they are sued by their clients. Contractors can also outsource their company administration to an umbrella company in order to save time, energy and resources.

The 7 Steps to Setting Up a Limited Company

Below are the steps you need to take in forming your private limited company.

1.) Check it’s right for you

Decide which business structure suites you best, limited company or sole trader?

2.) Choose your company name

The company name you’ll chose for your limited company will be your company’s legal business name, therefore it must be unique and must bear no resemblance to other existing company names. Your company name must not make false implications (i.e. imply regulation or approval by a body where none exists) and must not contain any offensive words. You can also operate your business under a different name; however, you cannot include the suffix “Ltd” to this name if your business was not registered under this name.

3.) Appoint at least one director

Your limited company can have at least one company director (which can be you, typically), but it can also have more than one director. The job of the company director or board of directors is to vote on making important decisions for the company, follow their rules set prior to the launching of the business and filling the company accounts, as well as ensure that corporation tax are properly remitted to the HMRC.

Though not required, you may appoint a company secretary. The company secretary would be the enforcer of the board of directors and he or she ensures that their decisions are carried out all over the different departments. He or she also makes certain that the company adheres to regulatory requirements and does all other administrative tasks.

4.) Decide who will be shareholders

Your company shareholders are those individuals who have financially contributed to the formation of your company. As the business owner you can be the founder, CEO and shareholder of your company. Another type of shareholders are the people who have purchased a significant amount of company shares that were offered as IPOs (initial public offer). Those that have huge percentage of the company shares becomes one of the company board of directors. A shareholder with more than 25% of the shares is a “person of significant control” (PSC) and will usually have the strongest voting power in the board. Some companies who have made well for themselves only sells less than 40% of their shares, thereby giving them the controlling interest of the company whenever the board of directors meet to vote on any crucial company decision.

5.) Create your company documents

Your limited company is required by the UK’s Companies House to have legal company formation documents that indicates how it should be operated. These are:

The memorandum of association

This is a legal statement saying that all initial shareholders have agreed in writing their will to form the company together as a group.

The articles of association

These documents lists all the company rules and regulations and how it should be operated, which is signed by shareholders, directors and company secretary. If this is your first time forming a company, you can find examples of articles of association and use that as a guide to create your own.

6.) Confirm what records you need to keep

Records keeping is also one of the requirements in company formation, which may include the company’s PCSs and all of its accounting records. Records must be kept for at least 6 years.

7.) Register with Companies House

The last step involves registering your company at Companies House (be sure to include your physical address when you do). Select the appropriate SIC code, as this specifies the nature of your business. Save time and effort by registering for corporation tax the same day.

How to Register a Limited Company

Go to the website of Companies House and fill up the company formation form, or you can also use the form IN01 and register by post. Should you decide to not use “limited” in your company name, then you must register by post. Typically, your new limited company will be registered within 24 hours after receiving your application (if done online). It can take up to 10 days for postal registrations to complete.

A 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) will be mailed to the physical address of your company within a couple of days after your company has been registered. Your UTR is important, so keep it safe. The Companies House will also send you a ‘certificate of incorporation’, which confirms that your company is now in their records and that it legally exists. This document also includes the company number and date of formation.

How Much Does it Cost to Register a Company?

It’s very cheap to register your company online, just £12. It cost £40 for postal registration; however, Companies House has a a same-day postal registration option for £100, if you want your company formation to be fast-tracked.

What Taxes Will My Company Pay?

The UK government requires all limited company to pay corporation tax based on their fiscal profits. Companies House requires you to also register your company for corporation tax within 3 months after it has been registered and starts trading (you can register for both company formation and corporation tax at the same time). An actively trading company means that your business is providing services or selling its products and is receiving income or making profits. You can consult with your accountant if you’re not sure whether this applies to your company or not. But be informed that missing the deadline for filing corporation tax could get you fined, or worse, be sued for tax evasion.

You also need to file an annual company tax return to the HMRC based on the deadline they’ve set for your company. You’re also required to register for PAYE (pay as you earn) if your company gives employees and other individuals financial compensation (including your own as CEO or company director). Value Added Tax or VAT is also one of the requirements for your company to register with HMRC. Whether you provide services or sell products VAT will be calculated.

How Long Does it Take to Set Up a Limited Company?

Usually it takes about 8 – 10 business days for your limited company to be registered in Companies House, if you do it by post. Or you can work with us and we will fast track your company formation in a matter of hours!

How Will I Get Paid Through My Limited Company?

Compensating yourself from your limited company involves 2 ways.

1.) By taking a fixed monthly salary

2.) By paying yourself dividends out of the company profits (usually paid quarterly)

The best way to go about it is to choose both options, because you benefit through a reduced tax rate.

The greatest benefit of getting dividends is minimal tax due on them and they usually come in huge sums, because they are taken out of the entire company profits. But it takes 3 months at a time before you get paid dividends and there are no added benefits besides that. There are also drawbacks like if the company made negative profits, which will get you zero dividends.

On the other hand, getting compensated with a fixed monthly income will include other benefits such as state pension and maternity or paternity benefits. And on top of that you will get paid whether or not the company makes a profit because unlike dividends, your salary does not depend on the company profits. However, salary is considered as income and is taxed at a higher rate compared to dividends which is considered as capital gains.

Legal Responsibilities of Running a Company

True, while being the CEO and director of your company has its perks, it does not come without responsibilities and some are delicate because they have legal implications. Among them include managing accounts and giving notice to other shareholders whether or not you will personally benefit from certain transactions of the company. Of course, you may also hire a secretary to do these things on your behalf and cut down on the day-to-day grind – just keep in mind that the buck stops with you.

Year-End Reporting for Your Company

You are required to submit annual accounts and a confirmation statement to HMRC and Companies House every fiscal year. The UK government, as well as the company shareholders, investors, creditors and the general public need to know accurate information about your limited company and that it pays its taxes accurately as well. Consult with us if you intend to setup your private limited company.

‍

Table of Contents

‍

• How to register a Dormant Company

• What Is a Dormant Company?

• What are Dormant Company Filing requirements?

• Starting a New Dormant Company

• Dormant Company Checklist

• Alternatives to Registering a Dormant Company

• Sole Trader Business

• Limiting Reputational Damage

• Protect your Business by Buying a Company and Keeping it Dormant

• Preserving your Limited Company

• Closing Notes

‍

‍

How to Register a Dormant Company

Making your company dormant is very similar to registering any limited company to Companies House. The same required formalities that you needed when you setup your company when you started trading will be required of you again. Among what’s required in switching your company’s status from ‘active’ to ‘dormant’ involves selecting an "SIC code" for your company. A unique SIC code is given to every dormant company.

This becomes apparent when you enter an SIC code "99999" in the registration form from Companies House that you intend to keep your company dormant until you are ready to trade again. Once your company has been registered as ‘dormant’ in Companies House, your company’s registered the SIC code will be publicly available.

‍

What Is a Dormant Company?

A dormant company is a limited company that has been incorporated and is registered with Companies House, but its owners/board of directors have decided to keep it inactive and not trade. Normally, the reason why companies choose this option is to prevent other businesses to use their legally registered name, or perhaps they only want to get a legal business name quickly, but they intend to trade at a later time.

A Dormant Company will have no "significant accounting transactions" and as such will not pay any taxes or engage in any business activity.

‍

What are Dormant Company Filing requirements?

Companies House requires dormant companies to continue filing annual accounts and a confirmation statement every fiscal year. The dormant companies accounts will show up on the filing history of the company in Companies House, which auditors and other interested parties can access.

Starting a New Dormant Company

If you wish to start a new dormant company (a company which has been incorporated, but has never traded or has no intention to trade), then include your company legal name, as well as your preferred suffix (e.g. “Limited” or “Ltd.”) in the Companies House page dedicated to making companies dormant and hit “enter.” Don’t forget to also include the domain name, which you’ve purchased from a hosting site for your company, because you will need it once you resume trading operations.

‍

Dormant Company Checklist:

‍

1. Carry out a company name search.

2. Register your limited company name.

3. Inform HMRC of your intention to keep the company dormant

4. Submit dormant company accounts and confirmation statements where necessary

5. Then when you're ready – start trading

6. (Don't forget to inform HMRC when you do).

7. Start trading and engage in business activities

‍

Once you’ve registered your company as dormant or inactive in the Companies House database, it will remain that way for only 1 year. If you want to keep your company dormant for a certain period of time until you’re ready to trade again, then you must file company dormant accounts and annual confirmation statements every year. You’ll also need to inform the HMRC that you’re putting your company in dormant mode and you do this by getting a copy of their CT41G form after you’ve informed them of your intent to make your company dormant.

‍

Alternatives to Registering a Dormant Company

You can also go to a third party company that assist other companies in processing their businesses in order to make them dormant like Companies Made Simple, and of course, us Your Virtual Office London. You’ll get the added benefit of gaining a better credit rating and find it easier to acquire investment. People will also have a higher trust rating towards you because you’ve partnered with a trustworthy company like us.

‍

The benefits of owning a dormant limited company are:

‍

1. Your interests are protected – no one can use your legal business name and having the ability to take time to craft a business strategy and financing before resuming trading.

2. Preserving your limited company including all of its related legal rights, while allowing you to prepare years in advance before you resume trading.

‍

Alternatively, you can also make your company dormant with the intent of having it hold assets such as real estate or a freehold property. However this purpose is of limited relevance to small business owners, so it will not be covered in this guide.

‍

Sole Trader Business

Perhaps the most common reason why business owners make their companies dormant is to protect their businesses when they’re operating as a sole trader (sole proprietorship in the US, or also commonly referred to as being self-employed). Operating your business as a sole trader gives you more advantages as a small business owner than registering your business as a limited company. Overall it’s also cheaper and simpler to run your business as a sole trader, it’s the reason why there are so many SMEs (small business enterprise) and start-ups opt for this type of business than the more complicated ones.

But there is one drawback to this option also, and it’s when you failed to trademark your business name, it gives other people freedom to register your business name as their own, as you have no legal grounds to prevent them from doing so.

‍

You may also be interested to read Who Can Be A Company Director?

‍

Limiting Reputational Damage

Through the power of social media, any kind of news (good or bad) can go viral and reach global proportions in minutes and can damage your company’s reputation with little to no warning. It’s even worse if another company has a nearly identical business name as you have, (i.e. Domnio XL Consultancy Services vs. Domnio XL Consultancy Services LLC), then several customers had a bad experience with your competitor, but when they left reviews online it was your company was tagged, or was tagged along with the culprit. In order to protect your company’s reputation, you register it as dormant which will prevent other people from registering with your company name and avoid the problem in the first place.

‍

Protect your Business by Buying a Company and Keeping it Dormant

It’s a common practice in the UK for business owners and a company’s board of directors to unilaterally decide to put their company in dormant mode. This business tactic is important because it helps protect their business from being exploited by potential competitors (e.g. the copycat company registering a new business under the same name, which can cause serious problems for the original company). The formations process of making your company dormant and allowing it to trade once more is the same and it is done through Companies House. Pay £12.95 to have your company registered as dormant in the Companies House database and submit company dormant accounts and annual confirmation statements yearly to keep your company in dormant mode.

‍

Preserving your Limited Company

Another scenario where a dormant company can be beneficial to you is when your limited company has been around for a certain period of time now, but you encounter an unexpected emergency and you need to put it on hold. It could be that you need to go abroad for some important work to do that’s not connected with your business, or from which your business depends a lot on and you’ve considered the costs of keeping it running vs. making it dormant, and the second option seems more reasonable.

The problem with keeping your company running is that you are required by the UK’s Companies House to file full company accounts and pay corporate taxes year after year. You will obviously need to hire an accountant to produce and submit these accounts, which will cost a significant amount. But even more problematic is if you’ll have to hire a temporary manager to help you manage your business too! This person will also charge you an insane amount of money, especially if they know how important your business is to the area where it’s operating and to you personally.

By making your limited company dormant, you can avoid much of the cost of maintaining your company, and you won’t need to go through the administrative process of closing down your limited company.

‍

Closing Notes

Opting to put your company on hold or making it dormant may not always be your first choice when faced with a certain obstacle in your business operations, but it is worth knowing about it when the time will come that this is the best and only option you have in protecting your limited company and its interests. Be sure to talk to your company accountant about registering your limited company as dormant in Companies House before considering doing it. You can also talk to us and get free consultations.

‍

In this modern digital age, is it time to ditch the idea of a traditional office structure?Many new start-ups are adopting the 'lean' method of operation where they only use the bare bones of a company structure to function. This means that less time and money is wasted on facilities that are not essential to their business in this day and age, like a bricks-and-mortar office set-up.Many businesses have been adopting the technology to go paperless for the past few years, and many organisations have taken things a step further by eliminating the daily commute to work in favour of their staff choosing to work remotely from home.So is it now time for everyone to think differently by going virtual and outsourcing as many office tasks as possible? Judging by the growth in the popularity of virtual office services over recent years, the answer in a lot of cases is yes!By freeing up your time and using a high-quality virtual office service provider, such as Your Virtual Office, you can give yourself more time to be productive as you will be free of all of your time-consuming office-based tasks.

The benefits of going virtual

There are several very valuable benefits to be had by choosing a virtual office service. However, if you already have an established office, you may worry that switching to using a virtual office service may disrupt and upset your existing staff.One thing to consider is that by getting rid of your bricks-and-mortar office and allowing your employee's to work from home can save you thousands of pounds in office rental costs as well as the costs associated with power, IT infrastructure and other utilities.In the USA, a study by Stanford University found companies can save as much as $2,000 per employee just by letting them work from home.You could introduce remote working for your existing staff while at the same time outsource your every-day office administration tasks to a Complete Virtual Office Service such as the package offered by Capital Office, London.This means that you will still be able to have your incoming business calls answered professionally in your company name and either has your calls forwarded to you, or messages took when you are busy and passed on to you electronically.

Saving money on a business relocation

One of the main benefits of using virtual office services is that you can free up valuable space in your workplace and put it to better use.For example, if your business is growing rapidly, you may face the expense of having to move your business to larger premises. This can mean incurring expensive moving costs, having a new IT infrastructure installed in your new workplace to meet your needs, extension or replacement of the business fire alarm system, higher business insurance costs etc.Instead of having to move premises rapidly to meet your accommodation needs, you can stay put for longer by getting rid of your office and converting the room for more production workspace.

Putting your plans in place

When you have decided that you want to go virtual with your office, it is time to put together a plan of action.Depending on where you are starting from, there could be big changes that you have to face. For a solo-entrepreneur working from home or from a rented workspace, this will be easy because you don't have an office as such.However, for an already-established business owner with a brick-and-mortar office, there will be a major impact ahead for everyone concerned.Sit down with your staff (if you have any) and work out a transition plan for how your business will get its work tasks done.Moving to a virtual office isn't as easy as ditching the office cubicle. You need to agree on how your existing staff are going to work together and collaborate on projects. This could be by working remotely from home and using a tool such as Trello to communicate and share work with colleagues.

Introduce your virtual office service early

By bringing on board and using your virtual office services as early as possible, you and your staff can get used to how the service works and how it allows you and your staff the free time to concentrate on your transitional plans.This allows your workplace to start from a position of understanding instead of confusion about your plans and having to cope with a lot of changes all at once.

Hire a well-established, trusted virtual office service provider

To make the transition as smooth as possible for your company, choose to work with a well-established and experienced Complete Virtual Office Service provider, such as us.Capital Office, London is always willing to go that extra mile for our clients. based in City Road, London, since 1971 we have been in operation for many years and are an integral part of thousands of UK businesses of all sizes.Our London-based virtual office staff have years of experience in customer service and business support roles and are perfectly placed to ease your business into the digital world.

What services are included?

The main aim of using a complete virtual office is to completely replace your every-day reception and administration duties that would normally need a brick-and-mortar office and a team of staff to complete for you.You don't need to worry because Your Virtual Office can take care of everything for you leaving you free to concentrate on your important work without the telephone distracting you or having to stand and open all of your incoming business mail every day.Complete Virtual Office London Package Overview:

• Choose an 0207 or 0203 Telephone Number
• Divert Calls Your Calls to Us
• Forward / Scan / Collect your mail
• Free EC1 Meeting Room Use
• Global Mail Forwarding Service
• Impressive London Address
• London based PA’s taking your calls
• Out of hours voicemail to email
• Packets & Parcels signed for
• Secure Online Payment
• Under 60 Second Sign up
• Unlimited Calls Included
• Unlimited Letters Included
• Use your Existing Number

Improve your business image

For a sole trader or solo-entrepreneur without an existing office, having your own complete virtual office at your fingertips will give you a professional virtual PA and will really help to boost your company image.It can be difficult for many micro-business owners to be taken seriously by their target audience, especially if you are wanting to break into the B2B market. Most large companies do not like dealing with sole traders, so even though you can do your job with one hand tied behind your back, it can be hard to convince a large company to work with you.However, when you have your own professional PA taking your calls and relaying messages, it gives your business a more professional image and status. This may be all you need to get your foot in the door and into the good books of a B2B partner.Our complete virtual office package combines our highly sought-after central London business mail forwarding address with a professional and experienced virtual PA telephone answering service.

Make your communication key

When you have remote staff working from home and a team of virtual office workers, you should always make sure that communications are kept up between everyone.Communications with your staff and services should be done on a continuous basis, but this is even more important in a virtual world where you no longer share a physical workspace with your employees.By using good collaboration tools such as Trello, shared emails and conducting Skype meetings to keep up your connections, you will help to keep everyone informed and ensure that no-one feels neglected or isolated from the team.

Arrange social meet-ups

Although you are moving to a more digital-driven, virtual workplace, you should still set aside some time for meetings and social events.While many of your staff may be content for you to stay in contact via online chat functions, you may still want to connect with your best people outside of the virtual world to reinforce your company culture and make them feel valued as a person.While it is easier to set up a virtual office from scratch for a solo-entrepreneur, it still can be the right choice for your expanding company. As long as you hire the services of a professional virtual office provider such as Capital Office as Your Virtual Office, London, you will never regret your choice to step into the virtual world.

PRODUCTIVITY. This has to be one of the most talked-about buzz-words of the 21st Century. There seems to always be a steady stream of great productivity strategies out there that people simply cannot get enough of.However, what tips work for one person may not work for the next. So you mustn't stress yourself out when you try some new productivity strategies that just don't seem to work for you.The best way forward is to create your own set of effective strategies that work for you and stick with them until they become second nature. Many people say that to form a new habit can take up to 2-weeks of constant practice.You should focus on finding the productivity techniques that work best for you and repeat them until they stick. Always remember to allow yourself enough time for them to work effectively and become routine. Some techniques will stick, others, not so much.If your workload is becoming a bit too much for you to cope with, take a look at some of these strategies we have picked up along the way to improve your work time.

1: Make a morning to-do list

This isn't a list to make in the morning when you start work. You will have far too many distractions happening to make this happen.Instead, you need to make your morning to-do list last thing at the end of every day. Summarise what you want to achieve the next day and prioritise any jobs at the top of your list that you didn't manage to get completed today.Cross off each task on your list with a big red marker pen. This way you have a visual record of your achievements for the day that you can be proud of!

2: Cut your procrastination time

You know those horrible or very boring tasks that you know need doing, but you don't want to do? Yes, those tasks that you end up talking yourself out of doing each day.If you actually stopped procrastinating about them and used your time to get them done instead, you will be far more productive with your time.When faced with one of these dreadful tasks, give yourself 3 seconds to cut your procrastination. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Count down from 3, 2, 1, open your eyes and do it!This 3-second countdown will effectively cut your procrastination time to zero and will deliver you with more time to focus on other tasks on your list.

3: Do your hardest task first

You will have a few tasks to complete on your to-do list, but it is wise to schedule your most difficult tasks at the top. This is because you will be able to tackle these tasks when you are fresh and well-rested with plenty of energy and concentration.Getting these more tricky tasks out of the way first will be much more effective than leaving them until the end of the day when your energy and concentration levels may be flagging.

4: Cut large tasks into bite-sized pieces

There can be nothing more exhausting or energy-draining that trying to tackle a huge task head-on. Biting off more than you can chew at once will simply result in your struggling to make any effective headway.This can lead to you dithering around with little enthusiasm to get the task finished. By dividing up the work into smaller bite-sized tasks you will be able to set yourself small and more achievable goals to finish step-by-step. Taking regular breaks after each small step will give you the energy to get through to the end of a gargantuan task.

5: Verbalise your problems

You know when you are working out a problem in your head and then something happens that breaks your train of thought? Yes? Annoying, isn't it.Working out difficult problems that require a lot of thought can be better beaten out if you get those thoughts out of your head. A good way to do this is to verbalise your thoughts.You can do this by discussing the problem with someone else, maybe a work colleague for example. However, if you work alone you can record your conversation and play it back to yourself.Verbalising a problem can work very well to fix something that needs a lot of thought. Try it the next time you need to chew something over.

6: The post-it notes trick

Using post-it notes, an ideas whiteboard or an online tool such as Trello to note down your thoughts and possible solutions is a great way to get things out of your head into something visible for you to focus on. This can serve as a memory aid.You can do this with new tasks as they pop into your head or appear in emails. At the end of the day, you can look at all of your notes and rearrange them into a priority list that will form tomorrow's to-do list. It is a great way to de-clutter your mind.

7: Ditch the guilt

Although this post is all about improving your productivity, you simply cannot be expected to perform at 100% efficiency all of the time.Don't expect perfection all of the time. Give yourself some wiggle-room. Shelve that guilty feeling because you failed to finish everything on today's to-do list. We know you may feel a sense of failure to be hitting your goals, but no one is setting those goals for you.You are setting your own goals, so if you physically and mentally cannot manage your present workload then this can lead to you worrying and fretting about it so much that it can affect your mood, your ability to recharge and re-energise and to sleep.Look at what you have achieved today and be proud of your accomplishments. Shrug off those tasks still outstanding from your list and simply move them on to your list for tomorrow.They will get done eventually – and done well as long as you allow yourself to switch off the guilt and recharge your batteries enough for the next day's challenges.

8: Get adequate rest

Don't neglect your downtime in favour of completing more work. Too many people will get up earlier in the morning so they can get an extra hour or two of work done before the rest of their work colleagues even arrive.While you may feel good about how much work you can achieve by giving yourself more time, you will be losing it from somewhere else in your life. This usually means less sleep, rushed meal times or forgoing coffee breaks.The problem with doing this is that when you return to your normal schedule, your productivity levels will fall. You will then feel compelled to keep cutting into your rest time to increase your productivity once again.A lot of aspiring entrepreneurs will substitute sleep for work, but will quickly find themselves burning out and being unable to function well.If you need 8 hours of solid sleep, don't try to get by on just 6. What will happen over time is that you will not be on-the-ball for most of the day. This can negatively affect your productivity levels because you won't have the energy to focus and complete your tasks effectively.

9: Set up a self-care routine

One of the most effective ways to keep up your productivity levels while at the same time giving you time to recharge your batteries and clear your mind throughout the day is to use a Pomodoro timer.This handy time management tool will schedule regular 25 minute sessions for you to concentrate on your work followed by a short break. You should take these break times away from your work to give your body and mind time to recharge.Shake off tired and cramped muscles by taking a five-minute walk around your building, go outside for some fresh air or perform 5-minute mini-workouts to save some gym time. Go and make yourself a coffee, chat with a colleague, practice some deep breathing or meditation in a quiet corner away from your workstation.Your break time action doesn't have to be huge or profound. Just focus them on a few minutes of self-care to clear your mind and stretch your muscles. Making it deliberate and forming a routine will help you to re-focus your mind when you return to working on your task.

10: Allocate a time slot for social media

Everyone knows what a time-drain social media platforms can be. It can be so tempting to check your Facebook feeds or to catch up with your tweets only to find yourself fully absorbed in your feed with precious work time ticking away.Consign your social media catch-up to a specific time of day and resist the temptation to quickly check throughout the day. This can mean switching off alerts on your phone and locking your phone away in a desk drawer during working hours.

Conclusion

Try out these productivity tips to see which ones work for you and adopt them for at least two weeks to make sure that they stick and become part of your working routine.You will see your productivity increase and your procrastinating reduce, as well as giving your well-being a boost at the same time!You can also save yourself a lot of time by outsourcing your everyday admin tasks. This will free up your precious time to dedicate to more important tasks that you need to get done.Make good use of virtual services such as professional call answering, mail sorting and forwarding or complete virtual office service that incorporates everything you need.

There is no denying that the invention of the internet has changed the face of work for the better. No longer do people need to be an employee and have to commute to a place of work every day to earn their living.Being a solo-entrepreneur and trading online can give an individual the freedom they desire from the shackles of a traditional 9 to 5 job where you are working to line the pockets of others.Long gone are the days when the whole purpose of starting up a business was to keep growing it until it reaches the size of some giant monolith to completely dominate a business sector.These days more individuals are choosing to become solo-entrepreneurs to provide themselves with a comfortable living to equal that of a regular day job.One of the most popular home-based choices is to work in e-commerce selling goods, services, information or unique products that people can create themselves.

The need to be a savvy entrepreneur

There is also no doubt that if you want to succeed in the world of online selling that you need to be savvy about what you choose to sell, especially on selling platforms such as eBay, Amazon or via your own online shop.For those who buy in products to sell online, you need to have more than a gut feeling that something you buy to sell on for a profit is going to work. This is where you should make good use of free product research tools to spot the latest trend and jump onboard.

Product research tools for spotting trends

One of the best tools for seeing what is trending on eBay is HERE. You can use this tool to spot the current 'hot products' that people cannot get enough of, but also what products are on the rise that can be your next lucrative best seller.This tool will also help you to see what products are taking a nose-dive, so if you are currently stocking items that are falling in popularity, you can decide to jump ship to a trending product to ride that wave instead.Researching what products are hot can give you some inspiration on what to sell if you are starting from scratch and have no idea where to start.Another very useful tool is the eBay Most Popular Tool. You can look at potential new markets to enter that you have an interest in or some background knowledge about. Use this tool like a search engine for eBay. Key in your search terms and the tool will generate a list of current auctions.Not only will you be able to see specific auctions that match your search terms but you will also see which auctions have the most bids and watchers. You will quickly get an idea just how popular a certain niche is that you may want to enter.

Don't put all of your eggs into one basket!

While the above research tools are very handy, try not to get stuck into the mindset of only selling on eBay to make a profit.

There is a potentially better way to use the data that you can glean from these research tools:

1: Find out what is trending2: Source them at the best possible price3: Sell these products elsewhereFor example, instead of buying in a trending stock to list on eBay, look at selling on Amazon, other online auction sites, through your own Shopify store or even via Facebook.By doing this you will be selling hot products that are in demand but via different media channels that may not be nearly as saturated a marketplace like eBay.

eBay vs Facebook marketplace

eBay has been around for a few years now and it has become the 'go-to' place for selling off the junk from your attic, your old baby clothes and second-hand goods that you no longer want.However, the savvy entrepreneur saw a lucrative opening here to source new and second-hand goods to sell on for a tidy profit very early on in the auction site's history.Now over 4 million people are selling on eBay in the UK alone, with an estimated 190,000+ registered businesses trading on the selling platform.This can feel a little overwhelming to a sole trader trying to establish a niche on eBay. It can be a very saturated marketplace where competition is high.However, a great alternative to eBay can be Facebook. There are not only local selling groups on the network but the Facebook Marketplace is now positioned itself to be hot on the heels of eBay and a genuine competitor for those looking to sell products online.

It's all about the fees

What is great about selling on Facebook is the fact that there are ZERO fees. This means you get to keep all of your profit from the sale. With eBay, you will have to pay selling fees which cut into your profits.You need to weigh up your options here because you do get a wider audience with eBay so if you are selling something small, lightweight and easy to post, you may be better off paying the fees to reach a wider audience.eBay will take 10% of the total sale price including postage when your items sell. Factor in your PayPal fees on top of this and what you are left with isn't so appealing.Most of Facebook's sales happen at the local level through local selling groups. This is a great option if you have something to sell that your local community will be interested in.In a test conducted by a team from Money Saving Expert where they sold 20 various items on eBay and Facebook, they found that 14 out of the 20 items sold for more on Facebook after fees were taken into consideration.Facebook is all about connecting with people and supporting your local community, so people are now looking to harness the power of Facebook to sell their goods to the local community through local selling groups for free.

How do you sell on Facebook?

So, let's say, for example, that you have sourced a job lot of t-shirts. You simply post an ad on Facebook advertising your shirts, and interested buyers will contact you.From here you can arrange for them to drop in to look at your shirts and pay you cash for one or more if they are happy with them. It is a bit like a modern take on the old newspaper classified ads.Again, if you try to diversify your selling through various sites and platforms such as eBay, Amazon, other auction sites and Facebook, you will reach a wider audience than simply sticking to eBay.However, one surprising fact that the Money Saving Team discovered while testing both sites was they found it quicker to shift things on local groups that remained unsold on eBay. Something to think about if you are carrying a lot of dead-stock that is listed on eBay!

The downside to selling on Facebook

No selling platform is going to be perfect and with Facebook, you do have to factor in that their local selling groups are run by volunteers.This means that Facebook won't get involved in the transactions between you and your customer. But it also means that there is very little comeback if you experience problems with your customers.If you run your business from home and your Facebook customers drop in to pick up their good from you, then any unhappy or disgruntled customer will know where you live.This can be a worry if you have young children or elderly relatives living with you that you will want to protect. So this needs to be weighed up before you decide to invite strangers around to your house.

How to protect your home address when you have a home-based business

One of the main worries for entrepreneurs running a business from home is how to keep your private home address off the public record to help keep your family safe.The last thing you want is for an unhappy customer to be banging aggressively on your front door and upsetting your family members.There is a very professional way around this problem that many thousands of solo-entrepreneurs use to keep their personal address private. This solution also offers the extra benefit of giving your small business a more businesslike image.What we are talking about here is using a business office address service such as our London Office Address and Mail Forwarding package.By using our service you can give your home-based business a professional image with a highly prestigious London business address. Your company address would be based in the heart of London's business district at:Your business or personal nameKemp House152 – 160 City RoadLondon, EC1V 2NXBut it is not only having a highly prestigious company address that you can benefit from. Our in-built mail forwarding service is also included in this package.This means that we will receive your business letters, parcels and signed-for documentation at our London based offices and you can then choose what you want to do with your mail.You could choose to have all of your mail forwarded to your home address, scanned and emailed to you, or if you are local you can call in and collect your post in person – keeping your private residential address off the Public Register of Businesses kept at Companies House.Our London address and mail forwarding services are trusted by thousands of small businesses that want to keep their home address private to protect their family and property.This is an instant service that once set up can be used immediately. You even get the free use of a modern, well equipped London based business meeting room.Overall you get to protect your home address, keep your family life and business life separate and also impress your customers with prestigious London-based bricks and mortar business address.Give our friendly team a call for more information on +44 (0) 207 5663939 or email us at office@capital-office.co.uk if you need more help.

It can be seriously difficult to learn ways for managing stress effectively when you are a busy entrepreneur launching and building up your new business.You spend your time rushing from one urgent task to the next with little thought given to how juggling so many jobs at once can have a negative impact on your mental health.This is why so many new entrepreneurs burn themselves out in the first three years of business and end up having to fold their business because they can no longer cope with the strain.

The Difficulty of creating a healthy balance between work and home life

While stress can affect anyone, it can be much easier for a paid employee working a stressful job to switch off when they leave the office. This isn't always possible for an entrepreneur to do, especially when they have the success of the business weighing heavy on their shoulders 24/7.Solo entrepreneurs are more likely to have stress-related health problems because they will have a more difficult task managing every aspect of the business over the long-term.Learning how to leave your work at the office is your first crucial step towards successfully managing your stress levels.While most entrepreneurs function well without much help, it is the fact that they are carrying the whole load of the business and working so many different roles within the workplace that ends up dragging them down.Let's take a look at some top tips to help you better manage your stress levels and keep you motivated and productive at the same time.

1: Stop burning the candle at both ends

The most beneficial thing you can do for your health is to get adequate sleep. When we sleep we not only repair and regenerate our brain and body, but going without enough sleep will leave you more stressed and unable to concentrate or make good business decisions.Make your bedroom as peaceful and comfortable as possible. This means removing any electronic devices at night that could disturb your sleep.Think about making your bedroom into a tranquil escape where you can close the door and forget about the world. Here are some tips:

• Fit blackout blinds on your windows. Studies show people sleep deeper and for longer when their bedroom is as dark as possible.

• Remove electrical gadgets such as your TV, mobile phone, laptop, tablet and games machines.

• Splash out on some luxury bed linen that makes you feel pampered when you go to bed.

• Invest in a memory foam mattress and soft pillows for ultimate comfort.

• Get an essential oil diffuser and use relaxing essential oils to gently fragrance the room.

Make sure you schedule regular time away from work each week so that you are not working every single day. Treat yourself to a family day out or a romantic meal with your partner.

2: Manage your time more effectively

There have been lots of studies over the years that show that entrepreneurs become more stressed out when they are running a chaotic schedule.What you need to do is to maximise your productivity and make every minute count. You can do this by writing yourself a to-do list that prioritises the six most important tasks you need to complete each day and list them in order of priority.Ignore everything else that is not on your list. Don't get distracted by emails or social media, just focus on working through your 6 tasks on the list for that day.If you don't get everything on the list done, then move that to the top spot on your list for the next day.If you work on a computer, download a Pomodoro tracker to help break down your time into 25-minute bites. The tracker will give you a short break after every 25 minutes to stretch your legs, get a drink and refresh your mind.

3: Outsource your non-income generating tasks

As an entrepreneur, especially if you work on your own, you will be tasked with doing every single job needed to keep your business going.This means that you will be spending a large proportion of your waking hours on tasks that don't directly generate any money for your business.While these tasks are important and essential for running your business smoothly, your time could be better spent on tasks that will bring in money to improve your bottom line.Think about outsourcing your necessary everyday financial and administrative tasks to professionals who can handle these jobs on your behalf. These tasks include:

• Your business bookkeeping and accounts
• Answering your business phone calls
• Opening and organising your mail
• Complete virtual office services

This doesn't necessarily mean that you need to employ your own office staff or bookkeeper.If you can pass off what you can to other people via using a local accountant and using virtual office services it will work out cheaper than employing your own staff and having to move to larger and more expensive premises.

Using virtual office services

As an entrepreneur, you cannot be an expert at everything. It is practically impossible to manage everything yourself – there simply isn't enough of you to go around or enough hours in the day!To be an effective and successful entrepreneur, you need to learn to delegate tasks to others so you can focus your own time and effort on tasks that will be more lucrative for your business.Look into using a complete virtual office service such as Capital Office, London for a very high level of support at competitive rates.

4: Don't let your business consume you

Find things to enjoy that are not business-related. It can be easy to lose your self-identity when it becomes wrapped up in your business. You are far more than your business, so find other things away from work to be passionate about.Be careful not to spread your focus in too many different directions though, or become overly distracted with something that is also very mentally draining or time-consuming.Finding a nice balance between work and your social life is the key here. Choose things that energize you rather than drain you of energy.

5: Don't be afraid to say NO!

As an entrepreneur, it can feel like you are going against nature to turn down work opportunities.However, you need to realise that your time is precious. You need to focus on doing a good job with your tasks that are already in hand rather than accept everything that comes your way and spread yourself too thin.Think quality over quantity! At the end of the day, this is what will bring people back to you for some return custom.To reduce your stress levels and lead a healthier life, you need to appreciate the value of your time and effort. Learn how to say NO to things, especially if you have a bad gut feeling about them.Admit to yourself that you simply don't have the time to take on the job or have the available focus needed to be able to deliver high-quality results.

Practice saying NO!

If you have never said no to anyone so far, it may take a bit of getting used to. Practice saying no and rehearsing what you are going to say ahead of time.This way you will feel more confident about refusing a request that you know you cannot handle or will struggle with.

Don't wait any longer - start today!

Start today by getting the support you deserve from Capital Office, London.Take a look at our Complete Virtual Office services to see how you can benefit from using our top-rated professional business administrative services.

What's included:

• Choose a 0207 or 0203 Telephone Number
• Divert Your Calls to Us
• Forward / Scan / Collect your mail
• Free EC1 Meeting Room Use
• Global Mail Forwarding Service
• Impressive London Address
• London based PA’s taking your calls
• Out of hours voicemail to email
• Packets & Parcels signed for
• Secure Online Payment
• Unlimited Calls Included
• Unlimited Letters Included
• Use your Existing Number

If you only want us to handle your business calls on your behalf, then take a look at our professional Unlimited Call Answering Service.

Professional Call Answering Service Overview:

• Unique 0203 or 0207 London number
• Unlimited Calls Included – No Cost Per Call
• Calls are taken in the name of your business
• Unlimited volume of calls
• Quick Online Secure Payment
• Messages taken or call transferred
• London based PA’s taking your calls
• Out of hours voicemail to email
• Use your existing number
• Live Call Transfers

Still not sure? Don't hesitate to contact our friendly team who will be happy to help you! You can email or call us:Tel: 0207 5663939Email: office@capital-office.co.uk

Most of us have heard the saying that 'content is king' when it comes to marketing your business, but to small business owners content is more than King – it is the heart and soul of your operation.Now, more than ever, a small business owner needs to create and share very worthy content as part of your business marketing strategy. Without good quality content, no-one is going to be aware of your business and what you have to offer.

The importance of relevant content for the small operator

For the solo-entrepreneur, single info-entrepreneur and digital marketers, it is even more critical to make content the very base foundation of your business services that everything else can be built from.No matter where you look for marketing help these days, the advice is always the same – produce unique, highly targeted and good quality content.Your content needs to be authentic and should be able to solve a problem that your target audience has, or helps to educate them further about a particular topic, or alternatively outright entertains them!It is important that you cast your content net as far and as wide as possible, so this means building a well-structured website with solid pages that provide evergreen information and then backing up your website with a blog.You should make a point of updating your blog with fresh information on a regular basis, especially when you start to build a list of followers who will be expecting you to post regularly.Link in your social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and if possible include things such as videos, live webinar chats, podcasts that will engage with your audience and deliver plenty of useful information.

The Heart and Soul of Small Business

As a small business owner or solo-entrepreneur, your content is a reflection of you. You should put yourself into your content and believe in what you create. By producing genuine content you will build a lot of trust in your target audience.What will keep them coming back for more and eventually convince them to buy from you is your sincerity, believability and the passion you put into your content – your very heart and soul.This is especially true for any infopreneurs that are selling informational products. What you sell needs to be believable and genuinely useful to your end customer. Your content and your branding are interlinked and are presented as a package to your target audience.If your customers believe in one they will believe in the other. So if you win their trust by providing them with high-quality content they will learn to trust your brand and will be open to reading the offerings that you send out in the future.

Temper your content well

When you create your content you do not want to just present dry facts and boring information. You need to make your content sound human and very conversational.Think along the lines of sitting down with a friend and having a conversation with them. Offer thought-provoking information and insights that will raise their curiosity and desire to find out more.Opening a dialogue with your audience works really well for customer engagement. It makes your company look and feel more human, approachable and open to a two-way conversation.Making a share-worthy blog where a reader will consume your content and will want to share it with their family or friends will result in your content being actively passed around long after you have posted it.This is the power of using your content wisely on social media platforms where your target audience can read your content then will “Like,” “comment” and “Share” to their own timeline or newsfeed.

Online conversations are free!

One of the greatest things about engaging with your readers on social media platforms is that you will be taking part in online conversations, which is the new medium for marketing your product and services. And what's more your content will be spread around and shared for free!This can be a real bonus for small business owners or sole traders working with very limited marketing budgets.Remember that online engagement and activity is the next big thing in marketing and is on a par with word of mouth marketing where your customers will be recommending your products or services to their peers.By making your content share-worthy your target audience will read your posts and then instantly share it with their friends and family, and most likely a lot of their peers will fit your ideal customer demographic, so you will be reaching out to more people who will like and follow you on social media.

Finding the time to create quality content

The whole point here is to create as much high-quality content as you can and publish it on your blog and across your social media accounts. Even if your content doesn't get shared much it will still count as valuable in the eyes of the major search engines.Google, Bing and other search engines value websites and blogs that contain great content. They will more likely rank you higher in search engine results for your chosen keywords when you are seen to be an active contributor with a good library of published information and someone who posts fresh content on a regular basis.This is why it is important to find a good balance of creating quality content and posting it regularly enough to make a difference.However, if you are a solo-entrepreneur or a small business where you don't have the available staff free to dedicate their time to produce great content on a regular basis, then you could look at outsourcing either your content writing or some of your everyday office tasks.If you have a flair for writing and want to produce your own content, then you can really dedicate your time into pouring your heart and soul into creating rich and vibrant content to share.If you are not very good at writing, on the other hand, it would be worth looking to hire a freelance content creator to do this work for you.Should you want to create your own content, then look at outsourcing your other office-based day to day tasks that will enable you to work undisturbed in peace and quiet to draw up your content.

Outsourcing your essential office tasks

Imagine being left in peace to work on writing your blog posts, creating an infographic or filming an informational video for your business without being disturbed by your ringing phone.You can have your business telephone calls answered in a professional manner by using our Professional Unlimited Call Handling services.Our call answering service is an affordable yet professional service designed to help a variety of clients to manage their incoming calls. With our call answering service, our PA’s answer your phone calls allowing you have peace of mind that you haven’t missed an important call as you were unavailable.Having a professional Virtual PA to answer your calls can add thousand to your business. You can impress your new and existing clients with our professional call handling service. Our team of professional PA’s will personally greet your clients and handle your call with the greatest of care.You can choose to have messages taken or important calls transferred live through to you if you need to speak to any important clients. Our service is flexible and adaptive, designed to add real value to your business. Don’t waste another call, have your calls handled expertly by trained assistants today.We also offer Complete Virtual Office services should you really want your business to be taken seriously and to project a professional image.If you would like to speak to one of our friendly team about how we can help your business to succeed then give us a call on 0207 5663939 or email us at office@capital-office.co.uk

Have you ever watched Black Mirror on TV? It's a British TV drama series that was written by Charlie Brooker and to say it's a bit dark is an understatement! It is compulsive viewing though as each new episode is completely different and like its own film with new characters and storyline that can help your business. How?Well, if you haven't seen it, then it is worth watching on catch-up if you can get it. If you like a good horror mystery set in modern times then you will love it!The main focus of the series is around modern technology such as virtual reality, AI and social media. One episode stands out in particular here called ‘Bandersnatch’.This episode was set in the 1980s and involved a smart teenager creating his own video game based on a ‘choose your own adventure' style, much like the storybooks you could buy in the '80s where you choose the path of your character through the story by selecting actions to take.

Your choices determine your adventure

Wherever you choose to go next will affect the storyline and the eventual outcome. So you could choose to walk through one of three doors, each with a different adventure in store. One door could lead to a battle with a dragon, another could lead you to a castle full of gold, the third may lead you to fall down a well with no escape.But why the Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror stood out was because the main character in the story (the teenage boy) doesn’t realise that he himself is actually inside a ‘choose your own adventure’ game of his own, but one that you and I as viewers had control over.So, as you watched the episode (via Netflix) you are given the option over what path the teenager takes next. Your choices include everything from mundane actions like choosing what to eat, to more dramatic options that you know may cause issues for him.

Small decisions or huge decisions

What the episode highlighted well was that no matter whether you made a small decision, such as choosing what breakfast to eat, or a huge decision, such as jumping from a high balcony, making a choice to follow a path is better than choosing to do nothing to move your story along.It was quite a ground-breaking TV show and was lots of fun! It is easy to see how this type of show using interactive technology will take off in the future.

What does this have to do with my business?

Watching this Black Mirror episode got me thinking about decisions. More specifically the business decisions we choose to make every day and how by making one tiny decision can change the way you work from now on and well into the future.As a business owner, you are faced with making decisions every single day. You may make dozens of decisions a day, or hundreds per week or month, but all of these decisions are conscious choices. Some of them may be pretty insignificant, but others can be far more impactful.

Thinking outside the box

It can be really easy to forget that your choices can have a huge influence on the future success - or failure - of your business. Many business owners may think that their day to day operations are fixed and set up in a certain way that cannot be changed or improved upon.

For example, you may think to yourself:

• “I could never expand my business. I am far too busy with my day to day duties to keep it ticking over. I simply don't have the available time to work on growing my business.”

• “I tried to get more clients, but I am already struggling to manage the ones I have.”

• “I simply cannot escape the office to meet new clients. What if I miss a call from a potential new customer?”

• “I’m stuck in this boring 9-5 routine.”

Sometimes it feels like there is nothing you can do to break free of your routine and move your focus away from performing your every day necessary tasks and simply getting through the day.If you really do feel this way, then NOW is the time to choose to think outside of the box that you have placed yourself in!

Choose your own path to determine where you will end up

It’s not just the huge life decisions that you make which determine where you end up. You can also choose to make small but significant choices that can actually lead you towards remarkable business success.Take that decision to meet up with an old business colleague for a coffee. Catching up with them and giving them some of your time may result in both of you striking up an exciting business opportunity.Choose to clear out some old junk from your garage or home office. Your decision may lead you to discover that a particular item sells really well on eBay, which you could source and add to your online store to sell.Decide to join a gym to help reduce your stress. You may see a lucrative new sales outlet for your sports shoes or hand-made shower gel.If you believe in the theory of Karma that you get out of life what you put in, then you need to be out there 'putting things into life'.

Free up your time to make your own luck

You need to allow yourself to make small and positive business decisions so you can start to make your own luck in life. If you choose to do nothing, then nothing will improve and you will be actively reducing your chances of business success.A service that can change your business fortunes if you choose to use it would be a Complete Virtual Office. Here you would be utilising the skills of professional virtual assistants to cover your every day essential business tasks that are keeping you from expanding your business.The positives of choosing to use virtual services such as ours would mean that you would no longer be tied down to your office. There will be no chance that you will miss any potential new customer or client phone calls as these will be answered in a very professional manner on your behalf.

Impress potential new customers

What is more, your callers will be immediately impressed that your business can afford to employ a professional receptionist. This can give your company a really polished and professional image. This would be much better than having their call answered by a stressed-out and short-tempered business owner that is obviously struggling to cope.Just think of how much time you can free up to dedicate to growing your business instead of simply being bogged down answering the phones and dealing with your business post for most of the day.Find out more about our Complete Virtual Office services or any of our individual virtual services to discover why thousands of savvy business owners like you are freeing up more of their time from their day to day admin tasks and choosing to make positive choices for their future.

Our human brains are designed to worry and look out for danger – our brains are very good at it too!Leading psychologists have often concluded that humans were not built to be happy, but were built to survive. This strong desire to survive is driven by us looking for potential risks and problems and working out how to overcome them, should they ever occur.It is our cognitive features that have helped us evolve so successfully. From discovering and controlling fire to inventing the wheel, we were driven to develop such things out of fear or to solve a problem.

• Fear of starvation = hunting tools and later agriculture
• Fear of death = medicines and medical treatments
• Fear of threat = organisation of communities and the formation of armies

And the list goes on....Our brains are built to determine the next thing to fix or improve in our lives and this is why sales and marketing techniques aimed at solving human problems and providing solutions to issues are so effective.

Appealing to our restless minds

There are not many people who are in the fortunate position to be able to sit back, relax and be content with their lot. Even those millionaires who appear to have everything at their feet still worry about how they are going to keep their wealth protected and their lifestyles maintained and improved.Instead of our brains being content with our surroundings and how the world is making us feel right now, we will constantly focus on how we can create or fix any problems we have or worrying about what may be on the horizon.Our human brains don't sit comfortably for long wondering, “What can I enjoy today?” But, rather, “What problems can I fix today?”

Making obstacles into business opportunities

Some common human obstacles can become business opportunities if you know how to solve them, or at least provide some temporary relief for a little while.This is exactly how the holiday industry works. You have a stressed out and exhausted worker looking for a solution for their woes. You own a seaside hotel with a pool and spa where people can take a well-earned break away from their busy lives.Your hotel guests get a chance to escape the 9-5 grind and their long and tedious commute to work and back each day. Win-win all round!The skill here is to keep your hotel guest coming back for more. You can do this by keeping in regular contact with them and providing them with exciting news updates and beautiful photographs of your spectacular sea-views, comfortable hotel rooms or tempting new menu.By doing this you are connecting with your customers on an emotional level and you are reminding them that the perfect solution to their problems (overwork and exhaustion) is right here waiting for their return.

Creating a vision for your customers

Everyone is creative – even if you believe otherwise. You are creating new thoughts as you read this. You can help solve your target customer’s problems by creating a positive vision of your solution in their minds.By truly understanding your ideal customer inside out you will know what concerns or issues they will worry about. It is your job to create a vision of their perfect solution and deliver it on a plate directly to them.When you take the time to analyse your target audience and get inside their collective heads you will start to see what things feel good to their senses and things that don't.This way you can avoid switching off your target audience with the wrong message or creating the wrong image of your product or service in their mind.You need to be discerning about their discomfort. The idea and vision you want to create for your product or service is something that is positive and worthwhile. Show them that having what you are providing will enable them to better cope with whatever problems they are experiencing.

Tactile marketing techniques

Despite to huge rise in digital sales over the internet we still have a human need to touch something. This is most common with physical products such as shoes and clothes. We will have a desire to identify the most comfortable texture or the best fit.There is still a huge demand for real books that you can hold and read despite the popularity and convenience of having a digital version to download and read instantly. This is why for self-published authors it can be a good move to offer your book as a digital version on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords and other digital platforms but also offer your book through a print-on-demand service for those who prefer reading physical copies or would like to buy your book to give as a gift.

Emotional marketing with physical materials

As you want to be solving a problem with your product or service you need to connect with your customer on an emotional level. Giving your customer something tactile to connect with can often outstrip digital marketing efforts for gaining sales.A recent study conducted by Millward Brown for Royal Mail found that “this research strongly suggests that greater emotional processing is facilitated by the physical material than the virtual.”Offering your prospective customers a gift or free sample will act to leave a much deeper impression on the brain. This causes your product or service to be better remembered and a positive physical experience will help to build trust in your brand and a stronger desire and motivation to buy from you.

Tactile marketing can be along the lines of these examples:

• Offering free samples of your cookies if you own a bakery shop or market stall
• A free 5-minute hand massage if you are promoting your beauty salon at a local community event
• Hosting a free cheese and wine taster evening if you own a deli or restaurant
• A free sauna or workout session at your gym

Solving problems of your own

While the main focus of your business activities should be towards finding solutions to your customer’s problems, don't forget that there are also great solutions to help you solve your own business problems and issues too!One of the biggest issues a sole trader, solo entrepreneur or small business owner faces is the lack of available time to dedicate to developing their business and making it run more efficiently.As a business owner, you will have problems of your own to solve. So why not consider freeing up more of your time and giving yourself a break by using any of the following tips:

1: Cut down on your time reading and responding to email

Did you know that nearly one-third of an average working day involves dealing with your inbox? Set yourself a rule to only read and respond to emails twice per day. You can set yourself a time limit of half an hour in the morning and the same in the afternoon, for example at 10 am and 3.30 pm.Don't look at your email at other times and only respond to those that you need to. Email can eat up a huge chunk of your day and sending more emails out will only act to increase what comes in.

2: Use productivity apps

There are many free business apps that have been created to help you to better organise your day. Google Calendar, for example, can help to remind you of appointments and important events.Look at using a free Pomodoro timer to help with your concentration and to give you regular short breaks throughout the day to refresh and re-energise your mind.

3: Build an email list

Capture the contact details of your website visitors and build an email list for a low-cost solution to engage with your customers and interested prospect. MailChimp is great for organising your mailing lists and handy for running split-marketing campaigns.

4: Manage your Social Media

We have all fallen into that trap of opening Facebook and then boom! Half the day has gone. Try to curb the time you spend on social media by using a management tool such as HootSuite or outsourcing its management to an outside expert.

5: Outsource your admin tasks

As mentioned above with handing over the management of your social media to an outside expert, you should also look at freeing up your time from other business admin tasks that are just as time-consuming.While essential tasks for the success of your business, admin task are a big time-drain and they are unproductive in the sense that they don't generate any money for your business. Yes, they are necessary, but your time would be better spent focused on other aspects of your business, such as your customer research and marketing plans.Look at freeing up your precious time with services such as those offered by Capital Office London:

• Call Answering: Impress clients with a London telephone number and a team of professional PAs who will personally greet your client and handle your business calls.

• Virtual Office: Our complete virtual office combines our prestigious London virtual address with our leading professional call answering service. Our virtual office is designed to help you convey a professional image whilst ensuring you maximise your productivity.

6: Organise your to-do list

Obey the 2-minute rule where if you have a task will take less than two minutes to complete, do it right away. Getting these little tasks done and crossed off your list will make your to-do list look far less intimidating and you will be encouraged to power through the rest of your tasks with greater energy.

Conclusion

In summary, look at the many ways your product or service can help to solve a particular customer problem. Identify your target audience and work out their likes and dislikes and find where they hang out so you can better reach them with your solution.Don't forget to solve your own problems along the way by making good use of the tools and services that are available to you, from free apps to outsourcing time-draining tasks.With all this extra time you can save yourself, you can better focus your efforts to define your business goals and also give yourself a well-deserved break once in a while.