Archive for category Advice for Small Businesses
Why a directory of business blog posts?
Posted by Admin in Advice for Small Businesses, Great Sites on October 25, 2009
If you’re anything like us, then you may like reading business blog posts. There is so much information to glean from others who have invested so much time into their blogging endeavours. There are also far too many for Great Sites to read through all by ourselves. So we have created this directory for you to use to easily find a relevant blog post, or, if you are a business blogger, to add your blog post on easily yourself.
This directory is available at our main website: http://www.greatsitesctk.co.uk/intro/business+blogs.html
To help other users, there is a rating feature where you may rate existing posts.
There are lots of possible uses that you could use this for – as a blog author, or as a reader. If you are an author of business blog posts, why not analyse the directory to see which topics are most popular for posting? Then you could create your own contribution on the article or you could offer a radical counter-viewpoint.
Further, you now no longer need to submit your post into the black-hole that is cyberspace, but now you can submit it onto this directory where it can be found in a systematic manner by someone who is looking for what you are offering.
As a reader, find new and interesting perspectives within different categories. You could quickly compare viewpoints within the same issues, and use rss feeds to keep up to date with the latest postings on your chosen categories (coming soon). All these ideas and many, many more are possible – why not suggest a few to us?! Please contribute your ideas as to how we could improve this directory. ( One idea that we plan to implement within the next few months is a review of the top rated blog posts on the directory….coming soon!)
Business Blog Post directory now live
Posted by Admin in Advice for Small Businesses, Great Sites on October 24, 2009
Our directory of business blog posts is now live and available at our main site at http://www.greatsitesctk.co.uk/intro/business-blogs.html.
This directory is free to submit to and free to read. We hope to create a directory where different blog authors can submit their posts, and know that their posts can be found by whoever wants to read them, or whoever is interested in those particular categories.
So fellow blog authors we urge you, please submit your posts today.
There is also a rating feature where posts can be given total rating out of 5 stars. Each post can also be reviewed by readers, so each reader can explain what they liked or learned from your post.
As with blogging generally, the key to getting a higher profile is simply to post more articles. So if you’ve already got a library of blog articles, why not start posting today? Share your distinctive voice with our readers, and win more loyalty for your blog.
Any thoughts or ideas on this? We are always keen to hear how we could extend our ideas – please let us know. This directory would be for you, so please let us know how we could make it more useful for you. 
Introducing LinkedIn.com
Posted by Admin in Advice for Small Businesses on October 19, 2009
LinkedIn.com is one of the most exciting projects we have recently been getting involved with here on Great Sites. If you are not already a user, and you have or run a small business, then we strongly recommend that you should get logged in and start using it actively.
What LinkedIn is: LinkedIn.com is a business social networking forum that potentially connects you to thousands of users all over the world. If you are a business owner, then these people could be potential customers, or suppliers, or competitors, or employees. The format of LinkedIn means you can easily ask someone a question, or look at their profile, or get involved with a new idea.
Why use LinkedIn?
At Great Sites, we have discovered many strengths of LinkedIn that have we have not discovered in other social networking sites.
Firstly, people use it! Many users are actively on the site, looking for business opportunities or trying to promote their businesses. This is different from a platform like, for instance, Facebook that users might sneakily use while at work. LinkedIn users use LinkedIn FOR work,to find their next contracts etc, so it is very dynamic and fast moving.
How to use Linked In: This may vary depending on your business type or structure. As a website design company, this is what we have found useful for our company:
Groups – We have joined many groups that contain possible customers of our company. Once you join a group, you can then create a discussion, or post a notice on the jobs board. We have then simply asked if anyone would appreciate a free website with a content management system. You can also use this system to promote specific articles from your blog etc. By targeting the biggest groups, you will be likely to expose your company to the most people. For Great Sites, the rate of response has been very impressive.
Asking Support questions: There are a number of active Question and Answer forums divided by industry on LinkedIn. I have been impressed that I have asked a couple of questions, and most questions receive a number of replies within only a couple of hours. This might be specific to the Web Design field where we all live online anyway – however, I think it is worthwhile to ask others in your field about their advice on an issue, or their experience with such and such. Users also use the discussion feature described above for this purpose.
Networking: LinkedIn also allows you to network with other users by adding them as contacts. This is a great way of “meeting” lots of interesting people doing lots of interesting things, and bouncing ideas off one another, or offering your services.
So these are a few ways that we have found of working with this resource. There are probably loads more that you will find for your organisation.
In all, highly recommended!
And now, a question to people who already use LinkedIn – is there any other obvious and vital way of using LinkedIn that we have missed? Please let us know! Also, if you are on LinkedIn – please connect with us!
Long time no post!
Posted by Admin in Advice for Small Businesses, Great Sites on October 8, 2009
OK, it’s been a wee while since we posted anything here at Great Sites. Things have been quite busy! However, we are still greatly interested in featuring you and your business, so please send in your details about your company.
Why not help us out by making a suggestion about what to post? Or giving us a business blog post to analyse… Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!
The Great Sites Networking Challenge
Posted by Admin in Advice for Small Businesses on October 3, 2009
This is a specific Great Sites challenge, that I have devised myself, without looking at any other website, at all! Why not give it a try, and let me know how it works for you?
Networking exercise – something for you to try – make a list of everyone you ALREADY know within the existing categories of “whom you should network with” (previous article). Now, separate them into 2 categories – people you really like or feel an affinity for, or are excited about, or care about – and everyone else. Be thoroughly honest with yourself about this. Now for those people that you really like, make a list of everything you know about them, what they do etc. Again, divide the list into people for whom you can see easy ways for them to get involved with your business or buy from it, and everyone else.
Now the challenge is to get in touch with these people that you are genuinely interested in or excited by – but make sure you keep the dialogue alive – find out what is happening in their world – invite them out for coffee. Use the two separate categories – people who could easily get involved with your business, and everyone else. Make sure you make time for people whom you cannot see actively supporting your business, so that you are not 100% concerned with issues revolving around your own business all the time.
The listening challenge. Try not to say ANYTHING about you or your business, but simply listen – how are things genuinely with them? How are they managing the current economic crisis? Try to listen, try to understand.
Keep talking to them! If you struggle to speak to someone, ask yourself if you are really that interested in who they are or what they do. It should be a lot easier to keep up with your contacts if you deliberately cultivate contacts that you are genuinely excited about.
Now in business, practically speaking, you cannot deal only with people that you like. However, it may be that by focusing on these people and what genuinely exercises your interest, it will help you to be more excited about your business, and this will help you to be more positive for everyone!
Did it work for you? Did you find yourself giving more of yourself, or being more enthusiastic about your business, or even winning more business for yourself? In that case, why not make it a monthly exercise? Please let me have your thoughts below – what do you think of this exercise? Is it worthwhile, or hopelessly doomed to failure? I’d always love to hear what you all think!