Jo on building relationships online…
"Small businesses can go online and use networks like Facebook and Twitter to network with other local people. You can search for people talking about your local area, and start following them and get into an online conversation with them. At that stage they have an opportunity to find out a bit more about you and your company.
"I help a local pub market themselves using email, which came about because I met them on Twitter; they arranged a ‘Tweet up’, which is an offline meeting of people who are on Twitter. I went to one or two of those and as a result they asked me to help in their retail marketing."
On where to go for help...
"Business owners interested in getting their website set up but don’t know what to do – that’s a big issue, because if they don’t know much about it, people can do the smoke and mirrors with them.
"I have two free reports on my website that business owners can download. One is called ‘Seven simple steps to great online marketing’, which is for local business, and the other is ‘Five things your web designer won't tell you'."
On staying ahead of the curve…
"People are put off by the difficulty of writing content, and if it's not right, I probably don’t want to do it yet. The beauty of Word Press [blogging software] is that you can change it any time you like.
"You will need to make changes as technology develops, and the social media perrspective changes, so you will need a flexible website to do that.
"Our main idea is to give a business all the tools they need in the beginning, and support them through any changes in the future as well."
