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$5,000 Business Basics Grants Program – Applications Now Open!

May 31, 2021

Are you a Queensland based mall business needing support to increase core skills and adopt best practice?
Good News! The Business Basics Grants Program is now open for Applications!

WHAT IS THE BUSINESS BASICS GRANTS PROGRAM?

The Business Basics Grants Program is administered by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT). It helps give your business a boost by providing support in funded activities in five priorities with a single up-front fixed grant payment of $5,000.
The five priorities and activities include:

Training and coaching

*Business development, marketing, human resources or business planning topics
*Training or coaching

Website build or upgrades

*Website build or upgrade (including website refresh)
*Adding e‑commerce
*Developing new website content

Professional business advice

*Business plans

Strategic marketing services

*Strategic marketing plans including search engine optimisation advice

Business continuity and succession

*Business continuity or succession plans
*Cybersafety training and tools

IS MY BUSINESS ELIGIBLE?

Your business must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply for this grant:
*have fewer than 20 employees at the time of applying for the grant
*have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST
*have a Queensland headquarters
*have a turnover of $300,000 or less for the current financial year
*not be insolvent or have owners/directors that are undischarged bankrupt.

Don’t miss this great funding opportunity for your business!

For more information and to APPLY, visit: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/advice-support/grants/business-basics-grant

But don’t delay – this is a competitive grant and will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received, or on 30th June 2021.

This application requires Supplier Quotes detailing a description of the work, services, and key activities. This is where Concept Designs & Marketing can help. We provide eligible grant activities, including marketing, website build or upgrade, e‑commerce, and SEO to meet your application needs. We also have experience in successful applications of similar grants.

Just get in touch with us to get started now!

Call us on: 0425 266 783, or email us at: info@concept-designs.com.au

The Importance & Opportunities in Local Area Marketing Campaigns for Your Business

March 20, 2021

With the increasing necessity of online and web-based businesses, we can quickly expand reach far and wide. However, many industries still require marketing in their local area, and we mustn’t overlook the importance of planning and running local area marketing campaigns.

What do you need to look at when planning a Local Area Marketing Campaign (LAM), and what opportunities can this present?

Fully Optimised Google My Business (GMB) Listings

GMB is a free tool that you can use to create and manage Google listings. Setting this up correctly is key to Local SEO and opportunities in your local area. It is essential to get this right from the start and maintaining up-to-date information. This is where your potential customers might find you by performing a local search, such as “(type of industry/ business) near me” – you might have even come across this feature yourself, say if you were looking for a local plumber to come to your home.

Be sure to complete the verification process so that you can promote your business with photo, videos, products and posts and track analytics to understand your local customers. Encourage your customers to leave positive Google Reviews if they are happy about your product or service. Think about how you would choose a local business yourself — a fully optimised and up-to-date GMB will present yourself as credible and a ‘leader’ in your local community.

A new feature that Google is starting to roll out is messages through your GMB listing. This is hot off the press, and I can’t wait to see how this improves local businesses’ conversions.

Competitor Analysis & Call to Action

How do you know what your target market is searching for in your local area?
How do you narrow down what keywords to use in your campaign?

One thing that we do for all our clients is to run a competitor analysis. The purpose of this is two-fold:
1, to see what keywords Google sees on your website, alongside your competitor’s websites
2, to determine the best keywords for your business based on the number of searches per month and the keyword difficulty — that is, how competitive a keyword is.

Sound like a competitor analysis would be helpful for your business? Research and identify the top 5 – 10 competitors URLs in your local region and get in touch. We will run a competitor analysis to give you a clear picture and gain insight into what people are searching for. This is where you can create a solid and unique Call to Action based on the data and information you gather from researching your competitors and how you can find opportunities to make your business stand out in the local area.

Are you looking at increasing sales and awareness in your local area? Concept Designs & Marketing can help. Our dedicated team can tailor a local marketing campaign and strategy to suit your industry, from setting you up on GMB, running a competitor analysis, as well as optimising your local SEO. We can also help you rank Page 1 on Google and run a website health check to ensure you are targeting customers with the right keywords.

Get in touch to find out more about our Concept SEO packages today. Call Jenny on 0425 266 783 or email info@concept-designs.com.au

Facebook Live Broadcasting from Messenger Rooms

July 25, 2020

In light of the recent pandemic, more and more people are turning to online options to communicate and staying in touch.

Recently you may have noticed that Facebook introduced Messenger Rooms which are joinable group video calls to help people stay connected. Video calls have more than doubled across the world since the pandemic began. In some instances, the number of group video calls has increased over 10-fold!

Now, Facebook is rolling out a new feature* that allows you to turn your Messenger Room into a Facebook Live broadcast!

First things first – what are Messenger Rooms again?

If you haven’t had a chance to experience Messenger Rooms, they are basically group video calls that you can invite anyone to join, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. Create a room from Messenger or Facebook and you can host a meeting or ‘online event’ that can hold up to 50 people, and start sharing the room on your news feed, groups, or event so people can drop by.

What about Facebook Live?
As the name suggests, these are Live broadcasts from Facebook Pages, a live video option that has grown in popularity since its introduction, with live broadcast videos doubling in June 2020 compared to the same time last year!

From Messenger Rooms to Live Broadcast
Now, there is a new way to broadcast live to Facebook from your Messenger Room, so you can Go Live together with other people! This is a great way for you to connect with customers and provide them with valuable content that has a personal touch. You can interact with your audiences and host a VIP event, get feedback about your service or products, or just get to know your customers better.

You can control the live broadcast as the Room Creator, including who can view the broadcast and who to invite to join or tune in. Broadcast your Room to a page or group that you manage, and you can also lock or unlock a Room during the Live Broadcast.

All the Room participants can also choose to leave a room before it goes live or anytime during broadcast, allowing the flexibility for those who just want to pop by and check it out. As with other Live Videos on Facebook, don’t forget that your interactions still need to follow Facebook Community Standards.

This exciting new feature of merging Messenger Rooms and Facebook Live is being rolled out progressively starting today, so be sure to keep an eye out and give it a try!

If you need a hand with your business on Facebook, or just want to find out how you can build up your audience on social media, Concept Designs and Marketing can help! We have packages available from setting up your page through to monthly updating and monitoring.

Get in touch for an obligation free quote today: info@concept-designs.com.au or Call: 0425 266 783

*Reference:

A New Way to Go Live on Facebook From Messenger Rooms

4 Ways Your Business Could Benefit From Engaging A Digital Marketing Agency On Sydney’s Northern Beaches

February 13, 2020

Going into business is one of the most challenging career decisions one can make, irrespective of your industry sector. While some industries are more competitive to navigate than others, there’s always the challenge of getting your business idea off the ground and keeping it afloat, especially when faced with the challenges of 2020.

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Create A 5‑Star Content Plan To Increase Your Lead Generation

January 19, 2020

If you want to create the best content marketing plan which will dramatically increase your leads, it’s all about establishing clear goals, defining your audience in detail and compiling great content. Sounds simple right? Well, it is. Of course, if you need any help, we are here to help to establish you as the thought leader in your industry.

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Round 6 of the Small Business Digital Grants is Now Open!

June 21, 2019

Don’t miss out on the Small Business Digital Grant which is now OPEN for Round 6 and is closing soon! If you’re a small business in Queensland, and need help with Digital Marketing but struggling to come up with a decent spending budget, then this grant might be for you!

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WHAT IS THE BUSINESS BASICS GRANTS PROGRAM?

Training and coaching

Website build or upgrades

Professional business advice

Strategic marketing services

Business continuity and succession

IS MY BUSINESS ELIGIBLE?

We want to let you in on a few secrets…