District32 Business Prophet February 2023

INFLUENCER INSIGHTS

Why Content-First SEO Is Key For Online Growth

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is essential for every website, and it's something you should think about from the start. With a content-first SEO approach, you can ensure your website content is exciting and relevant, and more likely to appear in search engine results.

Here's a guideline for creating a content-first SEO approach, to ensure your website is found more easily.

Content-first SEO

Content-first SEO should be on top of your list, even when you're just beginning to build your website. It ensures your website is optimised for search engine visibility. Investing in this approach ensures your website reaches the right people, at the right time.

Understand key search terms

To maximise your website's visibility and reach, it's essential to understand key search terms related to your website and its content.

SEO optimised pages can lead to increased traffic and better brand visibility, ensuring you are reaching and engaging with more potential customers.

Using keywords to create helpful and engaging content

Content-first SEO is content your audience will find useful and relevant. By providing value to your readers first, and optimising for search engine rankings second, you can establish yourself as an authority in your industry. This will help build a loyal following of readers who come back for more. Content-first SEO is the key to your SEO strategy.

Titles and descriptions must include keywords

Carefully selecting relevant and descriptive keywords and phrases for each page ensures you are targeting the right audience and demonstrating your expertise. Additionally, optimising your website with content-first SEO strategies will help you rank higher in search engine results.

Keeping track of the latest trends will ensure your website remains optimised for the best user experience, giving you an edge over your competition.

Conclusion

SEO is an essential tool for businesses looking to drive more traffic to their website.

Following a content-first SEO approach, ensures your website is optimised for search engine results and provides valuable content for your customers.

Staying up to date with the latest SEO trends, will maximise your website's potential. With a proactive attitude towards SEO, you can take full advantage of all the benefits higher rankings can offer.

For more information on search engine optimisation visit our blog here.

Business Grant Funding – Handy Tips From NAJA Business Consulting Services

Whether you're a start-up looking for access to initial capital funding or an established business seeking development funds, an online search will reveal a myriad of sites with funding opportunities offered by government, industry and community sectors.

Examples of grant websites:

Business.gov.au/grants-andprograms

Thegrantshub.com.au

Mybusinessgrant.com.au

Smallbusiness.wa.gov.au

The trick is matching your needs with the funding body and writing a compelling application that clearly articulates why your project is worth investing in and how your organisation will deliver the objectives of the grant.

Before you start you need to ask yourself:

If the answers are yes, the following tips will give you the best chance of submitting a successful application:

Engage the reader by telling a vivid story in a clear, professional, visually appealing way

Present information in a logical and consistent way

Provide evidence of benefits and use SMART goals and objectives

Paul Rosair, principal at NAJA Business Consulting Services is the pre-eminent provider of services to guide businesses through the funding application process.

Contact Paul Rosair for a free Funding Navigation and Application Hints booklet or to book a free initial consultation.

Do I have the time, skills and information needed?

Do I have access to funds if the grant requires a co-contribution?

info@naja.com.au

0419 930 467

www.naja.com.au

5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

CO.LAB BY

Complimentary Visitor Event

Join us as a GUEST at this complimentary District32 information evening and learn how to drive new business, create new referral opportunities, and meet up to 100 new connections!

Experience first-hand an opportunity to connect, learn, and grow with other like-minded business owners.

We'll cover networking for growth, lead generation and social media, and of course, you'll learn how District32 can help you to grow YOUR business!

Find out how District32 can help you and enjoy pitching on the night and engaging in business growth conversations.

Members and guests leave District32 business growth events feeling buzzed, with practical business strategies to grow their business AND those who join District32 on the night will receive special business growth bonuses!

District32 is a business growth network that exists to help business owners to create more:

✔ Profit

✔ Growth

✔ Speed

Reset Your Mind For Success In 2023

District32 Ladies Connect Event

MARCH 2023

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

MT. LAWLEY GOLF

Outcomes:

Discover the power of your thoughts and how they can open the gateway to your ultimate success.

Could your vision of success be limiting your capacity to achieve it?

Unlock your competitive edge with a simple yet powerful habit to outpace your competition and fast-track the realization of your goals.

Businesswoman and Author of Entrepreneur to Megapreneur, Lesa Hinchliffe, reveals the elusive formula for mega success and what successful Megapreneurs DO, that most of us don't.

Ticket price includes a book 'From Entrepreneur to Megapreneur'

Speaker: Lesa Hinchliffe

How To Close More Customers And Maximise Your Sales Opportunities

Business Maximiser Event

MARCH 2023

1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

CO.LAB BY LIBERTY

Outcomes:

Psychology of Sales

Finding the Trust Value of your Business

Emotional Selling

The entire sales process can be draining. The amount of time, effort and hope trying to convert each new prospect is only worth it if it results in a sale. If you understand what it is you really are offering, how it can help your clients and get them to emotional engage as to why they need it, your sales will increase, your time will be worth it and your business will grow. Come and learn the tools on how to identify the value of your product and how to effective communicate this message close more deals.

Speaker: Jeff Barnes

A Reflection On 20 Years In Business

EOS IT

Last year, Karl and Kelly Winrow celebrated 20 years in their IT business, EOS IT. The journey has not been without many challenges and self-reflection along the way.

Technology is a fast-moving and everevolving industry and the company has reinvented itself on more than one occasion.

It all began in 2002, when Karl Winrow, Managing Director, and wife Kelly Winrow, Director, moved from the UK to Western Australia.

Karl noticed a gap in the local market for a computer specialist to help and support business and the general public with their computers, so EOS Computer Specialists was founded.

Over the past 20 years, the backbone and the 'why' for both Karl and Kelly has always been to offer technical help, support, and guidance to their clients.

Kelly reflects on the last 20 years, which has been a juggle for both her and Karl, managing and growing the business along with the addition of two children and numerous pets along the way:

District32 Is About Making Connections With Other Business Owners

….but can you form a real connection after just a brief chat?

If that is what you expect, then, believe me, you are short-changing yourself.

Today more than ever, business is about building strong relationships and making solid connections. In a group situation, most information is superficial. A short chat at a networking event is best used to set up a meeting and a relaxed conversation over a coffee.

This is where you have the time to get to know the other person and discover how you can help one another.

When you attend a networking event for the first time, you will be cautious, and rightly so. This brings us to the 4 stages of forming meaningful connections:

1. When you first meet someone, you emotionally protect yourself by sticking to facts in a conversation. This reduces your chance of getting hurt.

2. When rapport and trust are established, you feel safe enough to add emotion.

3. As you start to trust the person isn't out to get you, the barriers drop even lower. When you feel safe, you reveal your feelings, leaving you vulnerable.

At this stage, you are emotionally open to rejection or even ridicule.

4.The fourth stage leaves you fully exposed, yet it is by far the most meaningful. It is where real growth can occur. This requires an extremely high degree of trust because your defences are down. You have no protection. You are vulnerable and exposed.

So, establishing a good connection always starts with an exchange of information. What you do, your past, your goals and aspirations. As the relationship matures and you feel safe, feelings are revealed. The deeper the

connection, the higher the trust - and trust is like gold.

A relationship may start with a brief chat, but you must meet for a private one-to-one conversation to create a better connection.

Are you just a sales target?

Do you know how to side-step being a telco sucker?

Tips For Saving Money On Bills

With life getting busier and bill paying getting easier with automatic payments, it can be months, or even years, before we take the time to review them!

General: Mobile:

Avoid lock-in contracts wherever possible.

Pay on time discounts/late fees –stay on top of due dates to avoid excess charges.

Payment method – some companies charge for paying by credit card, ask for alternative ways to pay to avoid these charges.

Cancellation fees – be aware of any costs for cancelling.

Determine average data usage and choose the lowest plan needed and move up to a higher plan only if, or when, necessary.

Tablet:

Are you paying for a data plan, but your tablet is rarely used outside of your home or business? Connect to Wi-Fi and cancel the plan or get a long-expiry plan.

*Hot Tip – data only plans are often more expensive than a regular voice/data plan – either can be used in a tablet, so go for the cheaper option!

Payment Processing:

Did you know that you can change your EFTPOS provider without the hassle of changing your bank account?

If possible, when purchasing a new phone, buy it outright. Plans that come with a phone are often less competitive than stand-alone plans.

The Importance Of Video In The Marketing Mix

In the current age, it is imperative for organisations to adapt technological advances and market trends to survive and thrive in a competitive landscape amidst unfavourable economic headwinds.

You have heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words, therefore a moving picture with sound must be worth a lot more. The powerful and exciting medium of video is all about moving pictures. Moving pictures demonstrate services, train, educate, advertise and sell. In the past television was the exclusive domain for large companies with sizable advertising budgets. With the advent of technology, the internet and realistic investment schedules, the production of a promo video is accessible to all businesses today.

The rise of smartphone technology has made watching videos easier and more convenient.

The pandemic boosted online media consumption by 215% in the US. In 2022, audiences spent an average of 19 hours a week watching videos online.

Video is the second most popular content type on social media for increasing engagement. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok have always been about video. Instagram and Facebook are focusing on video.

Platforms that don't offer native video uploads emphasise the value of video marketing.

Video Tweets on Twitter get 10x more engagement

68% of video marketers plan to use LinkedIn video this year

People watch almost a billion videos a day on Pinterest.

Video content is more engaging than traditional media.

Kirsty Thompson is the Managing Director at Astute Bookkeeping & Advisory Pty Ltd, a fast-growing bookkeeping, BAS and business advisory firm based in Western Australia, with a mission to remove confusion, fear & uncertainty by replacing it with clarity, freedom & control.

Astute Bookkeeping & Advisory was formed out of Kirsty's passion for educating for success. Astute not only assist business owners with financial efficiency and adherence in compliance with taxation law, they also provide frameworks that give you a fresh perspective, an opportunity to step out of the box & look at the big picture.

kirsty@astutebookkeeping.net.au | 048 317 1616 | www.astutebookkeeping.com.au

Website Security – A Tale of Woe

GroupSupport was approached by a valued client in 2022 to assist with making some changes to their websitenormally managed in-house by the client.

While scoping the work, the GroupSupport team discovered over 750 published, live but unauthorised posts, created by a 'black hat' (hacker) using credentials harvested from a hack on a separate business. These pages were causing the Google ranking of the site to plummet, but the client didn't know why.

We confirmed that these posts and pages had been injected using valid login credentials. The pages contained all manner of horrible content including pornography, links to gambling sites, spam and phishing sites and advertisements for medications, to name a few. But because the authorisation was used, the pages avoided being detected by the automatic scanning / security firewall the client had installed.

The GroupSupport team removed the foreign pages and other material from the website, upgraded the authentication requirements and put the site on our maintenance plan. Our work also included assistance to the client by changing the same credentials used on other platforms.

This scenario is a perfect example of why regular maintenance of your website is needed, by experienced operators outside of your business, work that should include more than just a check on credential security.

With the rest, get an experienced VA (Virtual Assistant) to do the grunt work in combination with a good CRM. Or outsource specialist tasks to an agency partner i.e. Bookkeeper. Click here to read the whole article.

Calcium in Perth Water is Distressful for Residents

"We can't get over how hard Perth water is!" This is a comment we hear regularly from people who are in Perth from Victoria, New South Wales, Europe and Bali.

It is costly putting up with this level of calcium in our Perth water.

Costly to our health – skin, hair and kidneys. (Hard water can contribute to kidney stones!)

Costly to our home – it means we must replace appliances more often

High Calcium/limescale in Perth Water:

Costly to the environment –adding to landfill.

These costs can be radically reduced, by filtering the water coming into your home. We invite you to change your story (and your hard water) now!

Special offer to share with your customers: District32 Member referrals receive a 10% discount

We would love to show you how you can enjoy Perth water with our simple filtration system!

The Perth-Based Giving Circle Empowering Women Around The World.

In 2014, Alicia Curtis co-founded 100 Women after learning about the extreme disadvantage and inequity women around the world face because of their gender. Inspired by the book "Half The Sky" written by Pulitzer Prize winning team, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Alicia and a group of seven other women decided to change this perpetual narrative of inequity, and to encourage others to do the same.

Now, almost 10 years on, the Perth based giving circle has achieved a major milestone of raising more than $1 million in grant funding, spread across 34 grassroots initiatives. To date, almost 35,000 women and girls have been impacted by 100 Women grants both here in Western Australia and in nine developing countries such as Nepal, Cambodia, and Sierra Leone.

By Karen Brittain, Executive Officer

1300 55 22 93

info@district32.com.au

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District32 Business Growth Network 20/50 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000

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Disclaimer

The views and comments expressed by the authors may not always be those of the publisher While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of content, District32 accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or resultant damages or loss due arising from content in this publication.