Invest in Angus

Email marketing for business
2023-03-23 09:00 - 11:00 UTC
Connecting with your audience through effective email marketing campaigns is a great way to improve your marketing strategy and boost sales. In this webinar, we’ll explore what makes an email campaign effective and ensure you are able to:

Segment your audiences and target them effectively
Create a quality marketing email and measure its effectiveness
Identify the most suitable platforms and tools for email marketing campaigns, including different paid-for account levels
Identify the different components of a successful email campaign, including design, HTML v text and other formats
Use reporting and key metrics to make sure your campaigns are successful
Be compliant with legal requirements relating to email communications

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism businesses – Part 1
2023-03-23 11:00 - 12:30
It’s more vital than ever to get your business to the first few places in the online search results page. These two 90-minute events will tell you all you need to know to improve your rankings, including how search engines work.
This first session will show you how search engines work and we’ll show you the anatomy of results pages and what customers and clients look at on these pages.
You’ll see how to find out what key words people are using when they search for your service, and we’ll demonstrate how you use that information to greatly increase your ranking in results pages.

Access to funding
2023-03-23 11:30 - 12:30
Are you a business considering a fundraising campaign?
Do you need advice on what funding options are available? How do you get Funder ready?
What alternative finance is available to help grow my business?
What are the benefits of Debt and Equity?

How to Write Outstanding Tenders - The Invitation to Tender (ITT) Stage
2023-03-23 14:00 - 15:30
Understanding what a buyer is looking for and creating a response to show how you are the best candidate for the job can be tricky.
At this training, you will learn what skills are needed for your business to write a good tender response and stand out from your competitors. One of SDP’s expert trainers will also explain how to analyse the tender documents and how to find hidden clues in the tender documents to help you develop a well-round response.
Overview of what you will learn:

What work can be done pre-tender to make the process of creating a bid less stressful?
How can use Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) and Public Contracts Scotland-Tender (PCS-T) to submit tenders?
What work needs to go into preparing for the ITT before the tender documents are released.
Which skills do you need to have in your bid team to write winning bids?
What good looks like in a bid response

At the end of the session, there will be an interactive Q&A session where you will have the opportunity to ask any burning questions you may have. As well as have the chance to hear what other SME businesses in Scotland have to say.
This event is suitable for Level 2 (Intermediate), for people who know about bidding but need to develop specific knowledge and skills.

The business benefits of running a sustainable business
2023-03-23 14:00 - 16:00
It’s becoming increasingly important to customers to source their products from companies who have strong green credentials. This webinar will show how by becoming more sustainable you can increase sales and profits.
We will look at:
Understanding the problem
What is sustainability and why it is important
Innovation
Profiting from being a green business
Embracing a purpose beyond profit
The sustainability triple bottom line
Developing your own green charter
Examples of those practicing this way of growth with remarkable success
Top tips for going green

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help your business marketing
2023-03-23 14:00 - 16:00
You’ve heard of Artificial Intelligence, but do you know how it can help you as you run your business? This brand new practical webinar will explore how AI can help revolutionise your business marketing to be more efficient and cost-effective, through the automatic creation of content for all your digital platforms; as well as helping you better understand your customers and business opportunities.
This webinar will include:

What is Artificial Intelligence
Current AI tools and systems to use right now (including ChatGPT and Dall-E 2)
Automating Digital Content for Blogs and Social Media
Using AI for business strategy and customer profiling
The pros and cons of AI for small businesses

This webinar will help you understand how you can integrate AI into your existing marketing, looking at the potential consequences (good and bad) of Artificial Intelligence, and its impact on small businesses and their customers.

Fife Tourism Talks: Accessibility - practical advice
2023-03-23 15:30 - 16:30
The Fife Tourism Partnership is hosting a series of webinars on key current issues in the tourism industry.
These free webinars are a great way of hearing from industry experts, case studies from local businesses and a chance to meet other likeminded businesses. All the sessions will be held on Thursday afternoons at 3.30pm, via Teams.
This talk we welcome Euans Guide, the disabled access charity best known for EuansGuide.com, the disabled access review website.

Video production for social media
2023-03-23 18:00 - 20:00
Video captures people’s attention online and is important for getting your message across, while engaging with your target audience.
Learn how to:

Choose what type of video to create to suit your business objectives
Plan, shoot, edit, and upload video without special kit or expertise.
Get to know the various digital platforms that can be utilised to view and share video content.
See what editing apps are available and how to add music and subtitles.

Making digital content accessible
2023-03-24 10:00 - 12:00
Everyone consumes and understands information differently, with some facing additional challenges that aren’t always considered. In this webinar, we’ll explore the challenges that people can have when accessing digital content and we’ll look at the ways you can improve your digital content to be inclusive and considerate for all.
By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

Understand and consider the barriers and challenges faced by others when accessing digital content.
Assess your digital content on how easy it is for others to access, consume and understand.
Review your website content with an understanding of what adjustments you should make to ensure that your content is catering to all.
Use social media functions and tools to help make your content more accessible.
Understand and use an ‘Accessibility Ready Checklist’ for any of your content to ensure you are designing and developing content for all of your audience.

HR – Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
2023-03-24 16:00 - 18:00
One of the scariest things you can do as a business is take on staff – from hiring, interviewing, payroll, pensions, contracts, remote working and more, it is a minefield for the business owner.
This webinar will allow you to have the key information in your possession to take on staff and manage your team.
Topics covered:

Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
Attracting and recruiting the best and right people for our business
Our obligations as employers
Managing people to stay with us
Moving on
Dismissal
Restructure/Redundancy

We will also look at:

How in the current climate you can manage staff and teams in a remote environment, considering their productivity, efficiency, and the issues of home working
How you can best manage staff to ensure productivity is kept and mental health is supported
The impact of companies who may be considering restructuring and therefore redundancy for the first time and how that can be managed

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism businesses
2023-03-27 11:00 - 12:30
Join the second of two 90-minute webinars designed specifically to tell you how to improve the search engine results rankings of your tourism business.
In part 1, we saw how search engines work and how to find out what people are searching for.
In part 2, we’ll look at the many factors that influence how far up the search rankings you go.
You’ll see how to optimise these factors and how to keep up with future changes in the algorithms that search engines use. You’ll be shown how use tools and plug-ins such as Google Search Console, Google Business Profile and robots.txt
We’ll then demonstrate how to avoid ‘violations’ and their consequent penalties.

The essentials of bookkeeping and what expenses you can claim
2023-03-27 11:30 - 13:30
This webinar is for those who are entering business for the first time or require an understanding of what is involved in financially managing a business, including basic bookkeeping, and creating a profit and loss account. You will also get an understanding of what expenses the business can claim and then how to fund your business. At the end of the session, you will receive a workbook on excel to help you manage and monitor costs and sales.
At the end of this session, you will be able to:

Implement basic bookkeeping skills across your business
Create a profit and loss account
Understand what expenses can and cannot be claimed
Use financial management to increase revenues and profits
Understand capital and revenue costs and how they are treated

Thorntons Immigration Law Webinar - What to expect in 2023
2023-03-28 09:30 - 11:30
Immigration law is always a dynamic and fast-changing area, and practitioners, individuals and businesses alike will be looking to our new government for signs of what is to come in 2023.
This webinar will explore the potential developments including:

The review of the Shortage Occupation List
Increase in sponsor licence applications
Increase in illegal working checks
Changes to the student dependent visa

The basics of trading on eBay, Etsy and Amazon Marketplaces
2023-03-28 14:00 - 16:00
As a consumer, you’ve almost certainly purchased online from one of the global marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy or Amazon, so why wouldn’t your customers do the same and buy from you?
We will cover:

Why to sell via a Marketplace, your own website, or both
Choosing the right Marketplace – looking specificly at eBay, Etsy and Amazon

Understanding Profit Margins and how Marketplace fees affect them

An overview of some of the rules and regulations enforced by these platforms
Trading internationally – what’s possible?

You’ll leave with a better understanding of how online marketplaces can help you reach your target audience, which marketplace is best for you, and how to get started selling quickly and easily.

Building a Sustainable Business
2023-03-29 09:30 - 13:00 | Kirriemuir Parish Church, Bank Street, Kirriemuir, DD8 4BG
This workshop, run by our sustainability advisors will give you everything you need to know to start integrating this new, exciting part of business into your company.
By the end of this session, you will be confident with the definition of sustainability and how it relates to your business, know how to go about making your business more sustainable, and be able to identify methods to enhance your business’ sustainability and the opportunities surrounding this.

Green Heat Geothermal Workshop
2023-03-29 09:30 - 16:00 | Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, 50 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6HQ
An interactive workshop to explore the types of collaboration and innovation needed to overcome barriers and accelerate the uptake of minewater as a heat source for UK homes and buildings.
Decarbonising heating and cooling is a major opportunity for Scotland that could deliver significant emissions reductions, commercial opportunities, and bring comfort and health benefits to communities and homeowners.  By 2045 the Scottish Government targets require that over 1 million homes and 50K non-domestic properties must switch to low emissions systems such as geothermal energy.
In order to deliver these targets and  deliver the level of heat demand required we need to explore mine water geothermal energy as a resource.
In Scotland there is potential availability of 600km3 of disused mineworkings in the Midland Valley (theoretically meeting 8% of Scotland’s domestic heating requirement and up to 40% of Glasgow’s heat demand) could make Scotland a world leader in this sector.
Scottish Enterprise is offering in person, practical and interactive full-day workshop on minewater heat to provide an opportunity for a range of organisations, mainly SMEs, across Scotland to build relationships, and share innovative ideas to address the barriers and accelerate the roll out and adoption of minewater as a heat source.
Who is this for?
We welcome companies who are driving innovation and growth in mine water geothermal energy, including heat abstraction, digital and data, components and systems and subsurface modelling.  Each workshop will be limited to 20 participants in order to maximise the level of discussion and interaction.
The workshop will be delivered in March 2023 in Glasgow. A networking lunch will be provided.
To maximise the day there will be the opportunity to exchange insights beforehand.

Using Public Contract Scotland (PCS) – How to Find and Bid for Opportunities
2023-03-29 10:30 - 12:00
Public Contracts Scotland is the national public sector tender portal for Scotland. It lists contract opportunities for all public sector bodies and has a “Quick Quote” function for lower value contracts. This webinar will help you to ensure that you’re not only comfortable using the PCS website but also know how to generate business from it.
This event is suitable for Level 1 (Beginners). This workshop is the first step to tendering for new or inexperienced bidders.
During this course, you will learn:

What is Public Contracts Scotland (PCS)?
How do I set myself up on PCS?
What functions do I need to use on PCS?
What is PCS-Tender (PCS-T)?
What is a Quick Quote?
How does e-invoicing work?

How to write and develop your business plan
2023-03-30 09:00 - 11:00
New and established businesses will require a business plan for getting a loan, grant or just to consider the direction they wish to go in. This webinar will teach you what you need to include and how. We will walk you through what should be included within a business plan, how a business plan is used to improve your prospects for a loan or a grant, and how you can develop a business plan to meet your needs.
We will:

Provide a structure for a business plan
Review each section of what should be included within the business plan
Explain when and how to use a business plan
Explore the connections (and importance) between the words and the numbers
Look at how to identify and manage cashflow within the business planning process

Grow your Business online - Meet the experts
2023-03-30 09:30 - 16:00 | Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, 50 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6HQ
These days, selling online involves much more than just a company website. Many manufacturing and retail businesses are expanding their ecommerce presence on to well-known marketplaces such as Amazon, Wayfair, Etsy, eBay and Alibaba.
With opportunities for selling to both retail and wholesale customers, and to expand from the UK into international markets, this is a great time to grow your ecommerce potential.
Register for this unmissable event, which will be delivered by three experts. You’ll benefit from six insightful sessions and join peers for Q&A and discussion time.
With up-to-date content backed up by practical examples, this event could help you to take the next steps in your ecommerce plans.

Blogging for tourism businesses
2023-03-30 11:00 - 12:30
Learn the fundamentals of cost-effectively preparing, writing, and distributing blogs that your visitors will read. Making sure that your effort inspires and helps your visitor to plan and book their trip with you.
Get tools to help you research, understand your customer and write highly targeted content which will help to optimise your website and grow your list of followers.

Develop a successful international ready website and social media presence
2023-04-03 10:00 - 11:00
There’s a lot to think about when you’re creating an international website and social presence. From selecting the best domain to language localisation, having a truly global digital presence requires some additional steps to traditional website building.
This webinar will take you through all those steps, covering the following topics:

Selecting a domain
Registering with search engines
Choosing a web host
Language
Payment and shipping
Localising your social media

Presented by Stephen Whitelaw, an entrepreneur and digital guru with over 30 years’ experience, this free webinar is a must for business owners looking to grow internationally.

Cloud essentials for business
2023-04-03 15:00 - 17:00
Business owners and managers are busy. You’re wearing many hats, and your time is always in short supply. Cloud-based digital tools help you to run a more productive business by embracing the right digital processes.
We’ll focus on exploring a range of tools on the market which will help you to enhance your customer service operation, improve your project management, organise your digital storage and much more. By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

Understand what the cloud is and what its benefits are
Understand your own ‘digital back office’
Use up-to-date knowledge on current cloud services and tools to help you with your business operations
Make informed decisions about improving your digital processes based on scalability, security, efficiency and affordability

Build your brand and promotional graphics
2023-04-04 09:00 - 11:00
This webinar will define what a brand is (and is not) and explain how it is more than just creating a logo. We will explore how a business can use their brand to show its identity, purpose, personality, message, and values in order to stand out from competitors, build a loyal customer base and make more sales.
This session will:

Provide you with a clear understanding of the difference between brands and branding
Help you understand what a brand is
Show you why branding is important
Look at your brand strategy, brand identity and action
Help you learn how to develop your brand’s positioning, character, and purpose to differentiate your business from its competitors
Demonstrate how to set up a brand kit and style guide to ensure consistency across websites, social media, business cards, posters etc.
Teach you how to create simple promotional graphics using a variety of tools including Canva
Highlight a variety of free tools including Google Drive, Hubspot and Mailchimp that can save time and simplify marketing tasks

An Introduction to Chinese E-Commerce and Marketing
2023-04-04 10:00 - 11:00
Thanks to Ecommerce platforms, businesses are no longer limited to certain markets by proximity. From wherever you are, you can access the world’s biggest markets.
This event will explore the opportunities associated with the Chinese market for internationally ambitious businesses, and cover everything you need to know to start trading with it.
Presenter James Buchanan will provide practical guidance on how to reach Chinese consumers through effective digital and eCommerce strategies, as well as sharing some first-hand experiences from Scottish companies.
The session will also dive into:

Why you should trade with China
Cultural differences
Digital differences
Payments – Alipay, WeChat Pay
Digital platforms
eCommerce and Cross-Border – Tmall, JD.com, Taobao, WeChat Shops, Little Red Book
Digital marketing – WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Baidu, Zhihu, RED

Leading Through Turbulent Times
2023-04-04 10:00 - 11:00
The events of the last three years – COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the risks of another global recession – have all stretched leaders and forced them to develop new skills to lead their teams through shock, crisis, and uncertainty. While keeping the basics of leadership, such as strategizing and executing for results, placing human-centric traits at the core of leadership is a long-term win-win for organizations.
Delivered by Senior Researcher in Human Capital at the Conference Board Marion Devine, this webinar will provide insights into the skills needed to lead through turbulent times, and offer practical steps for organizations that face challenges in equipping their leaders with the right skills.

Keep your business safe online
2023-04-04 10:00 - 12:00
Join us to find out how criminals are targeting small businesses online, the risks you face, and what you can do to minimise your exposure to online crime.
This webinar includes a number of live demos, covering the following areas:

What are the main online threats to your business?
The 5 pillars of prevention (Backup, Malware prevention, Securing your hardware, Passwords & Phishing attacks)
Simple and practical measures you can implement to protect yourself and your business
Best practice recovery steps for your business if the worst should happen

As a result of attending this webinar, you will gain a deeper understanding of the digital threats facing your business and what you need to do to secure your website, social media and company data from cyber criminals.

Digital tools to help run your business remotely
2023-04-04 18:00 - 20:00
Are you ready to ‘go live’ and engage your audience with a live stream? What about running webinars or working remotely with clients or collaborators on the other side of the world? Let us guide you through:

How to use video live streaming, webinars and remote collaboration tools to get results for your business
Equipment you need to get started
An overview of the tools and platforms currently available
Examples of what others are doing
How to monetise this way of working

An Introduction to Self-Employment and Starting your own Business
2023-04-04 18:00 - 20:00
This workshop will be held online via zoom. Joining instructions will be shared with you once you have booked your space.
The workshop will provide you with the opportunity to network with other business owners and will also highlight useful sources of information, advice and guidance.
There will also be information on additional services from Business Gateway and details of other workshops and webinars which may be appropriate for you.
If you would prefer an in person / interactive workshop, we will be hosting this event in Monifieth on the 12th April.

International Marketing: Product, Positioning, Target Markets & Gap Analysis
2023-04-05 09:30 - 13:30
Moving into a new market is both exciting and terrifying. There are tremendous opportunities as well as challenges – but how do you navigate these from a sales and marketing perspective?
In this webinar, presenter John McCallum will explore just that, covering:

Brand positioning in a new market
What to look out for in different markets
Understanding the importance of your brand
Practical GAP Analysis tools

At the end of the session, you’ll have a clearer understanding of what sales and marketing should consider before entering a new market.

Build a customer focused business
2023-04-05 10:00 - 12:00
Did you know that a returning customer will typically spend more than two thirds more with your business than a brand new one?
Did you know that retaining just 5% of your customer base can give an increase of over 20% in profits for your business?
Having an effective strategy in place for your business to deliver great customer service is critical for your business.
We will cover:

Why good customer service is critical for business growth
What are the essentials of delivering great customer service and how should this be delivered?
How to effectively manage different types of customers and their expectations
How, why, and when you should measure the service a business delivers
How to use the service provided to promote a business and enable growth
