10 Best Tools for Small Business Owners

As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to be across almost everything that goes on in your business. Tools for small businesses can help you effortlessly manage your day-to-day needs while keeping to your work schedule and completing projects on time. 

However, it can be challenging to find the best small business tools for entrepreneurs – this article will help you find the ones best suited to you and your company.

Best Tools For Small Business Owners

Below are some of the excellent small business tools for entrepreneurs to have in 2024:

Slack

Slack is a collaborative platform used by many companies to connect staff in a quick and easy way. It’s a cloud-based application that lets team members chat in real time using channels and direct messages, share files, and connect with other tools and services. Small companies can benefit from using Slack in several ways, including:

  • Communication within the team: Slack lets team members connect in real-time, eliminating the need for lengthy emails or in-person meetings.
  • Sharing files: Slack allows team members to easily share files, including images, documents, and videos.
  • Integrations: Slack integrates with many other applications and tools, such as Trello and Asana, making it effective for managing different work areas.
  • Collaboration: Slack lets team members collaborate on projects in real time, making it an excellent collaboration tool.

Google Analytics

If you have an online presence or are engaged in content or marketing, you’ll find that Google Analytics is a must-have tool for small businesses. It’s free and helps track the performance of your website or campaign. 

Get deep insights that only Google can collect, helping you create an image of your target audience, where they’re coming from, and what they’d like to see.

Loom

Loom is video software that allows users to create videos and distribute them to clients without needing live chat, speeding up the design process. 

You can present preliminary logo concepts and web wireframes by recording the screen with an audio-over while you talk. Your face can be seen in the lower left-hand corner of the screen when you speak, making it feel more personal. 

The people you share videos with don’t need a Loom account. 

Tutorials can be stored in different folders within your account and sent to clients or team members. You can also change permission settings to ensure that only selected people can view the videos within specific folders.

Calendly

Are you a B2B small business owner who regularly schedules calls or meetings in person? Calendly is the answer you’ve been looking for. Calendly allows users to set up appointments automatically, rather than wasting time trying to find the ideal slot for both parties. 

Calendly lets you provide a link to your clients and inquirers so they can check your availability and set an appointment time. 

This is a particularly helpful time-saving tool for small business owners. Calendly offers a free basic package as well as paid upgrades depending on your need.

Zoom

Zoom has become the standard for virtual meetings. Trusted by companies like Uber and Slack, it has changed how businesses conduct meetings. 

With HD audio and video, recording capabilities, and webinars that accommodate up to 100 panellists, Zoom is ideal for everything from one-on-one conferences to webinars accommodating 100 participants. There is a free option as well as paid premium services.

Trello

Trello is among the most well-known productivity tools used by small businesses. It’s a visual tool that lets you organise your tasks and projects into boards. You can create boards for different projects and invite your team members to work with you. Trello is free, but there are also paid plans with more features.

Trello Key Features:

  • Email Notifications
  • Activity Logs
  • Individual/Group Task Assignment
  • Information Backup
  • Information Retrieval
  • SSL Data Encryption
  • Mobile-Friendly Views
  • Developer API
  • Client Support

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an excellent free online tool for business owners. It’s an online marketing tool used by small companies to create and send newsletters, promotional emails, and other marketing emails. 

You can sign up for an account for free and enjoy various options and integrations, making it ideal for companies seeking to increase their email marketing efforts.

Key Features:

  • Email Templates: Mailchimp offers a range of email templates with customisable designs, allowing small companies to create professional-looking emails without needing expert design skills.
  • Segmentation and Targeting: Mailchimp allows businesses to segment their email lists and target specific groups of recipients with particular types of emails, increasing the efficiency of marketing emails.
  • Analytics and Reporting: Mailchimp offers detailed statistics and reports on the effectiveness of your emails, including metrics such as open and click-through rates.
  • Integrations: Mailchimp is compatible with various tools, such as eCommerce platforms and CRM software systems, making integration into a larger marketing workflow simple.
  • Automation: Mailchimp has automation capabilities that allow companies to create trigger-based email campaigns, such as welcome emails or abandoned cart emails. These can increase the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.

HeyOrca

HeyOrca is a powerful social media scheduling tool that is the foundation of Posts Planning. Business owners can use HeyOrca to schedule and create content for clients. 

It’s one of the most excellent social media marketing tools, allowing clients to view and access articles before publication. This feature gives users access to past, current, and future posts. 

Users can review posts and make any changes before they go live. They can also use HeyOrca to create new posts or schedule additional posts if needed.

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is an excellent tool for small companies looking to reach their desired demographics. It connects businesses within its field.

Key Features:

  • Creates a database of relevant influential people for your company and makes contact with affiliations.
  • Helps you determine the increasing amount of content on the competitor’s site.
  • Reviews trends and mentions.
  • Analyse sharing-worthy content, who’s linking to it, and how you could integrate it.

InMotion

InMotion is another trusted hosting service that provides excellent security support and storage space. Its built-in web-based builder allows you to create your company’s website. 

The company offers six types of hosting services: shared, VPS, dedicated, cloud, reseller, and WordPress.

Last Thoughts

Marketing is an essential element of the work of small-scale business owners. It is the most efficient way to reach new clients and retain existing ones. 

A successful marketing campaign can make a major difference. 

Planning and running a successful marketing campaign and coordinating multiple email channels, social media platforms, and other communications can be time-consuming, particularly if you do it on your own or with a small group. 

These tools can help you streamline your marketing efforts online, boost the quality of your services to clients, and, in turn, increase your earnings. Make sure you look for the marketing tools that match your requirements!

Contact

Ready to tick social media marketing off your to-do list?

Serving 1000+ small B2B business owners since 2017, 100 Pound Social provide done-for-you social media plans – from £100 a month:

Your dedicated UK-based Content Creator will:

🧑‍💻 Create high-quality, bespoke social media content (no AI or bots) 

📈 Build a cohesive social media presence for your business 

🕥 Allow you to save time and focus on your business

Visit 100poundsocial.com to find out how 100 Pound Social will:

✅ Boost your business online with consistent & relevant content 

✅ Save you 18x the cost of hiring in-house 

✅ Save you 20 hours per month

Find out more:

👉🏻 Plans

👉🏻 Book a call

Read More…

How to Use LinkedIn for Business?

Are you ready to unlock LinkedIn’s opportunities for your business? With more than 875 million users, LinkedIn is the ultimate platform for networking with professionals, positioning your brand as the leading player in your industry. 

Remember, an active and engaging profile is a key and powerful tool for building valuable connections. In business, it’s all about people, not just corporations, and LinkedIn is your gateway to potential clients. 

So, harness the power of this social channel for your brand. But to truly maximise your LinkedIn marketing efforts, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of how to use LinkedIn for business. So, read on and arm yourself with all the information you need.

What is a LinkedIn Business Page?

Your LinkedIn business page is your company’s LinkedIn account. Here, you can post on behalf of your B2B brand, react to other posts as the company, and comment as a business. People go to your LinkedIn page to get to know your business. They are interested in knowing what the business is, what services you offer, and what values you embrace.

LinkedIn company pages usually have:

1. A business logo 

2. One-sentence description of the company’s work

3. Featured clients 

Effective Ideas for the Success of a LinkedIn Business Page

Here are some result-driven strategies to maximise your potential for a LinkedIn business page:

1. Always Ensure Your LinkedIn Profile is Current

Keeping your profile updated is one of the most important strategies for enhancing engagement on this social platform. Your LinkedIn business page lets your target audience interact with more than just your brand. People like to know who they’re doing business with, so profiles are essential.

To optimise your LinkedIn business page:

Make sure your LinkedIn page includes all the needed information related to your business.

Acquire new skills, get some awards, and show your most recent work projects.

Introduce your brand voice and try to be unique and genuine.

2. Determine Your Target Demographic Objectives

Your main objective on this social channel should be targeting your potential market. Whatever strategy you use, raising awareness or engaging people, you should focus on reaching your potential clients. For this, you need to map out a clear plan.

After figuring out what you want to achieve, it will be easier to set the target group. Suppose your company is offering marketing tools for social media. In that case, your aim must be to increase brand awareness among LinkedIn members whose job titles are “social media manager” or “social media lead.” 

When you know what kind of audience you want to target, lead generation will be easier and more effective. 

3. Make Your Page Optimised

A well-optimised LinkedIn business page can help you increase your visibility among people who are searching for your company’s offerings.

Insert keywords: In your content, embed the keywords and phrases people are likely to type in while looking for your service. Let them be part of the About tab overview, outlining who you are and what you offer.

Link to your Page: Links are the key to achieving a higher search ranking. Connecting your page to your website is an easy win here. 

Share relevant content: Try to share more often. If your followers regularly interact with the content you share, it will make your Page stand out in search results.

4. Post Captivating Content on Your Business Page

You should post the content that your target audience wants to read. It is easy to be persuasive when selling your service, but you must remember that content that sounds “salesy” will not do well on LinkedIn.

The common opinion among LinkedIn members is that they like fresh ideas the most. Hence, publishing authoritative content on your LinkedIn business page is one of the most effective methods of expanding your audience.

Picture background

Of course, you will want to publish and promote your content as well, but it’s also wise to share other people’s interesting and informative content. It will certainly increase your credibility on this channel, leading to more conversions. 

5. Highlight Your Best Content

You can help get your content into your audience’s feed through sponsored content. It will help you:

Get more followers by putting your updates in front of the right people.

Make use of LinkedIn’s full-on targeting to interact with your desired audience.

Count the leads you get from your ads with conversion tracking.

6. Get Advanced Analytics

Discover the type of content that is most engaging for your audience. To do this, you can use a screenshot of the visitor metrics chart, which is divided into desktop and mobile data. 

You can use LinkedIn Page analytics and publishing on LinkedIn analytics to track and improve your LinkedIn page performance. You can also boost your paid campaign performance with advice from your LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

7. Create Swipeable Document Posts

Sometimes, a single picture or image doesn’t convey the message effectively. LinkedIn posts do not support multiple images, but the platform does support documents. Similar to carousel posts, documents on LinkedIn can contain various images that users can scroll or swipe through.

Documents offer many advantages over carousel posts. They can be downloaded, making them perfect for sharing instructions, checklists, or other valuable information about your B2B business that you want your potential clients to access.

8. Send Personalised Connection Requests

Making personalised connections is an effective method of building connections with potential B2B clients through LinkedIn. 

When you send a connection request, send a personalised message explaining why you want to connect. 

This will help create a personal connection with the recipient and improve the likelihood of receiving your desired response. When you make connections, follow up with the person who accepted your request when they have accepted. 

Send them a thank-you message for connecting, and invite them to join you by posting content, participating in discussions, or scheduling a phone call. This will convert them into clients.

The End Note

We hope that this guide has been of great help to you and has given you some outstanding tips on how to use LinkedIn for business. Remember, transparency and a willingness to help the followers are essential factors for successful LinkedIn marketing. Through establishing trust and cultivating true relationships, you can enhance your brand’s reputation and have a group of loyal followers.

Your LinkedIn business page should be updated with the latest information, and the website owner should be active in LinkedIn groups and conversations for a strong presence on the platform. Don’t forget to make use of features like polls and live events to enhance engagement and visibility.

Using these techniques and emphasising genuine communication can take your company’s LinkedIn profile to the next level and build lasting relationships with your audience.

Contact

Ready to tick social media marketing off your to-do list?

Serving 1000+ small B2B business owners since 2017, 100 Pound Social provide done-for-you social media plans – from £100 a month:

Your dedicated UK-based Content Creator will:

🧑‍💻 Create high-quality, bespoke social media content (no AI or bots) 

📈 Build a cohesive social media presence for your business 

🕥 Allow you to save time and focus on your business

Visit 100poundsocial.com to find out how 100 Pound Social will:

✅ Boost your business online with consistent & relevant content 

✅ Save you 18x the cost of hiring in-house 

✅ Save you 20 hours per month

Find out more:

👉🏻 Plans

👉🏻 Book a call

Read More…

5 B2B Social Media Content Ideas That You Can’t Afford to Miss

In today’s technological world, social media marketing has become one of the most influential mediums for B2B businesses. It helps them reach the right audience and build brand awareness in the dynamic marketplace. 

Successful B2B businesses are leveraging the low-cost and highly result-driven social media marketing strategy to grow their audience. Make sure you’re not being left behind. 

To help you boost your business, we have curated a list of practical B2B social media content ideas. These will increase customer engagement, build brand credibility, and drive conversions for your business.

B2B Social Media Content Ideas

1. Host a Q&A Session on Social Media Platforms

One of the most success-oriented B2B social media content ideas is to host Q&A sessions on social media. This is a unique B2B marketing strategy that helps businesses interact with their audience and provide them with valuable information regarding their services. 

These sessions allow the target audience to understand the benefits of the offerings, ultimately persuading them to engage with the company. 

A Q&A session can also help B2B businesses create plenty of user-generated content and win the trust of their desired audience. This, in the long run, proves to be extremely useful in increasing visibility on social media spaces.

Here are some examples of Q&A sessions that your business can utilise:

  • You can host a live Q&A session on social channels like Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. During these sessions, your user base will ask questions about your products. You can answer their questions and encourage their interest in your company. 
  • Many B2B businesses can also engage in chats and discussions related to their services on X (Twitter). This gives businesses an amazing opportunity to connect with other thought leaders in the same industry and attract new clientele.
  • B2B companies can also answer the target market’s commonly asked questions on social media. This strategy will allow marketers to establish themselves as credible resources and let potential clients learn about everything related to their business.

2. Promote Your Lead Magnets

Promoting your lead magnets is an effective way of generating content for your social media platform. If you’ve created a valuable resource for your target audience, you can promote it using social media to attract more visitors to the landing page.

This way, you can leverage social media to expand the reach of your lead magnet and enable inbound marketing through social media.

The beauty of social media is that it makes it easy to share content, bringing more eyes to your lead magnet and boosting its popularity.

3. Publish Blogs 

Another amazing B2B social media content idea is posting engaging and informational blog posts related to your services on social channels. 

Generating high-quality, error-free content can convert users into potential clients. 

You can also edit previously posted content. Just determine when to edit and identify which old content can complement the ongoing trends. Then, rewrite their headings and include the relevant content that can appeal to those interested individuals. 

4. Generate Interesting Content

Social media users typically spend their time on these platforms to entertain themselves. They don’t want to engage in boring or irrelevant content. Such uninteresting topics usually go unnoticed or overlooked. 

So, when producing content for your target market, always make it engaging and captivating. You should produce short videos with interesting visual effects that can grab people’s attention. 

Quick Tip: B2B businesses can also share result-driven tips or industry best practices that benefit other organisations. Add interesting infographics and user-friendly text to deliver something useful to readers within seconds. 

5. Share Industry Related Tips and Facts

One of the best B2B content ideas is to share knowledge about your industry. Share tips and facts.

If you do so, there are high chances that readers will trust you. Eventually, they will be your loyal clients. Sharing tips on how to grow a B2B business to a target audience will ignite audience interest in your B2B business as well.

How Does Social Media Content Benefit B2B Businesses?

There are numerous ways in which social media content can prove highly beneficial for B2B marketing. 

  • Establish the Authority of a Brand

When a business consistently shares insights about recent happenings on different social channels, it can position itself as an expert in its niche and upscale its brand’s authority. 

It’s a proven strategy that has already brought incredible results for various well-established brands. 

  • Increase Brand Visibility

There is extreme competition in the saturated marketplace, and if you don’t promote your offerings to your clients, you can be lost in the crowd. This is why social media has become so popular for branding businesses. 

One of the greatest B2B social media content ideas is to share updates about your products or services with your target market.

Have you launched a new service or upgraded your existing ones? Stay current and inform your users about everything. 

By doing so, you can keep your audience updated and engaged. This effective B2B content idea will increase engagement and brand visibility.

  • Engagement with Clients and Build Relationships 

When you regularly post engaging and eye-catching content on the relevant social channels for your audience, you can capture their interests. Social media channels are the perfect medium for this. 

They already have a large user base of every age group and spend significant time on these platforms. Make the most of this incredible opportunity, publish consistently on social media spaces and attract a following of loyal clients who are genuinely interested in your business’s offerings.

  • Lead Generation 

Every day, new companies emerge into the market, making the competition excessively tough. And if you want to be distinctive in the saturated business landscape, you need to generate leads that will allow you to foster consistent user engagement. 

To do this, you need to post captivating content on social channels that influence the purchasing behaviours of your potential clients. 

B2B businesses can take a further step and add compelling calls to action and offers into the content they publish. This is a result-driven tactic that can really pay off.

Summary

If you own a B2B company and want to expand its client base, you must take advantage of these 5 B2B social media content ideas. These techniques have been tried and tested by various highly successful organisations.

Whether you’re just starting or have already made your mark in the market, you should incorporate these effective tactics to unlock your business’s maximum potential. 

Contact

Ready to tick social media marketing off your to-do list?

Serving 1000+ small B2B business owners since 2017, 100 Pound Social provide done-for-you social media plans – from £100 a month:


Your dedicated UK-based Content Creator will:

🧑‍💻 Create high-quality, bespoke social media content (no AI or bots) 

📈 Build a cohesive social media presence for your business 

🕥 Allow you to save time and focus on your business

Visit 100poundsocial.com to find out how 100 Pound Social will:

✅ Boost your business online with consistent & relevant content 

✅ Save you 18x the cost of hiring in-house 

✅ Save you 20 hours per month

Find out more:

👉🏻 Plans

👉🏻 Book a call

Read More…