How to build a digital marketing plan
2025-02-10 14:00 - 16:00 UTC
This webinar will guide you through the steps needed to create an effective digital marketing strategy, ensuring you focus on the right tactics to meet your business objectives and goals.
We will cover:

The importance of planning your digital marketing activities
Building your plan around a simple framework
Conducting a situational analysis (and understanding customers and competitors)
Developing your brand and tone of voice
Planning your content strategy
Prioritising digital channels
Evaluating your Digital Marketing efforts

Social media essentials: TikTok and Instagram Reels
2025-02-10 18:00 - 20:00
TikTok and Instagram Reels aren’t just for dance trends and lip-synching videos, they can also be a fantastic opportunity to engage with your customers and increase the reach of your business online. Learn how to create bitesize video content for more effective business communication on two of the most popular social platforms.
We will cover:

How to optimise your TikTok and Instagram accounts for the best results with video
How to discover the latest trends on each platform and leverage this to create popular videos for your business
Ideas for creating content to entertain, inspire or educate your audience (with lots of examples from a variety of relevant TikTok and Reels accounts)
How to increase engagement and reach by paying attention to your videos’ structure, duration, titles and understanding hashtags and algorithms
The best kit, apps and workflow to create bitesize vertical videos for both platforms

Kickstart your Marketing
2025-02-11 10:00 - 12:00
The workshop will cover the basic principles of marketing, including target audience identification, competitor analysis, value proposition, and the development of marketing strategies.
The workshop will also explore the importance of measuring the success of marketing strategies and how adhering to good business practice can positively influence Customer Generated Content
Overall, this workshop is ideal for businesses – new and existing – who want to gain a solid understanding of the basics. By the end of the workshop, you should have the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and execute an effective marketing strategy for your business.

How to create engaging content
2025-02-11 10:00 - 12:00
Producing quality content is an excellent way of helping your customers develop a meaningful relationship with your brand, services and products. In this webinar we will show you how to source and develop a variety of content for your website and social channels.
This session is ideal for businesses that already have a business website or use social media and now want to take it a step further, and develop the skills to show your audience that you are a trusted operator in your field.
We will help you:

Understand what kind of content your customers are looking for
Source, write and deliver that content
Amplify your brand and message and boost engagement online

An introduction to business strategy
2025-02-11 13:00 - 15:00
This webinar is practical, outcome driven, and designed to fit with the needs of small businesses in both B2C and B2B environments. It will help you develop a strategically led approach that can turbo charge business growth, identify the core growth strategy(ies) that are right for your business, and develop an action plan.
We will look at:

Your business today – identifying your strengths and areas for development
The key pillars of a business and why balancing all areas is essential for success
Personal and business ambitions and using these to guide strategy development
Ansoff’s Matrix as a tool for identifying core growth strategies
The core components of your business delivery
How to develop a methodical, strategic approach to developing your business for future success

After the webinar, you will understand:

How to undertake a balanced review of where your business is that helps identify areas for development
Ansoff’s Matrix and how to use it as a core strategic planning tool
How to create a strategic plan for growing your business

Creating an effective email marketing strategy
2025-02-12 09:30 - 11:30
Customers buy from businesses that they know, like and trust. Email marketing is powerful and affordable tool in your digital marketing toolkit to build these relationships.Most businesses send monthly newsletters to stay in touch with their audience, but your results will improve with a structured plan and the best practices that will be explored in this webinar. Whether you’re new to email marketing or you’re looking to optimise your email strategy, this webinar enable you to:

Adopt email marketing into your wider marketing strategy and gain insight into your target audience
Understand the key stages of an effective marketing strategy
Segment your audiences and to target and position your offering to them effectively
Create a value-driven and customer-focussed content for email marketing whilst measuring and testing it’s effectiveness
Identify the most suitable platforms and tools for email marketing campaigns, including different paid-for account levels
Optimise the different components of a successful email campaign
Use reporting and key metrics to make sure your campaigns are successful
Be compliant with legal requirements relating to email communications and use best practices for escaping the spam folder

Selling Your Business Masterclass
2025-02-13 10:00 - 12:00
Have you considered a succession plan for your business? It’s never too early to start thinking about your options. Employee ownership is quickly becoming the preferred exit route for business owners.
Aimed at business owners who are considering an exit from their company, this session will give attendees the opportunity to hear from engineering design consultancy, MHB Consultants and Esteem Training. Speakers from the company will explain considerations they undertook when choosing employee ownership and how things have worked out as a result.
Andrew Harrison from Co-ownership Solutions will talk through all ownership succession options before focussing on employee ownership and how to ensure the employee buyout is a smooth process.

An introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for small businesses
2025-02-13 10:00 - 12:00
You’ve heard of Artificial Intelligence, but do you know how it can help you as you run your business? This practical webinar will explore how AI can help improve 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 cover:

What is Artificial Intelligence
Current AI tools and systems to use right now (including ChatGPT and MidJourney)
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.

How to generate and increase sales
2025-02-13 13:00 - 15:00
Sales are the lifeblood of every business. This webinar focuses on a pragmatic approach to sales strategy and delivery and is designed to fit with the needs of small businesses in both B2C and B2B environments.
We will cover:

Why a clear understanding of what an ideal customer looks like, and a good understanding of their problems, needs and wants is key to sales success
How to develop your sales platform using digital tools, platforms, and techniques
The different motivations potential customers may have and how to identify which ‘buttons’ your business needs to press
The key phases in prospecting, qualifying, and converting sales prospects
The value of a ‘sales funnel’ and how it can be used to help plan and achieve sales
Why keeping the customers you already have is the best sales strategy of all
The importance of appropriate customer service in retaining customers

How to improve your Google search rankings - Part 2: Off page optimisation & technical considerations
2025-02-14 10:00 - 12:00
Join us as we take a further, more detailed look at how the Google search engines indexes and ranks websites based on a number of external (off-page) and technical factors. Implementing this learning will increase your chances of customers discovering your business through Google – the world’s leading research tool.
We will cover:

How to block or control what websites are allowed to ‘index’
The importance of a fast loading mobile website
How security and usability influence Google
What “off-page” optimisation means, and tactics to generate back-links
The importance of Local SEO, and why a “Google Business Profile” is vital

A step-by-step guide to building your business plan
2025-02-17 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-02-25 14:00 - 16:00
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

East Lothian Agritourism Showcase
2025-02-17 10:00 - 14:00 | The Fraser Centre, 3 Winton Place, Tranent, EH33 1AF
Paul MacLennan MSP and Scottish Agritourism invite you to an event showcasing support for the agritourism sector in East Lothian. The agenda will include presentations, discussion, networking and a panel session with representatives from Scottish Government, East Lothian Council, national sector body Scottish Agritourism and East Lothian agritourism business owners, who will also share their first hand experiences of starting and growing an agritourism businesses in the area.
The event is not exclusively for East Lothian residents and is open to all farms/agribusinesses who would like to find out more about agritourism and how this is supported in the area.
50 spaces are available and a sandwich lunch will be provided.

Business Support – Drop In Sessions (Carnoustie Library)
2025-02-17 13:00 - 16:00 | Carnoustie Library, 21 High Street, Carnoustie, DD7 6AN
The Business Gateway team will be at Carnoustie Library to offer expert advice and support for all your business questions.
Drop in and speak to us, or use the book now button and a member of the team will be in touch to book an appointment.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow business, our advisers are here for you every step of the way.

How to plan and schedule your online content
2025-02-17 18:00 - 20:00
Businesses who plan their content in advance, aligning their channels with actual business objectives, customer themes and national events, and then schedule it to ensure it reaches the target market at the right time, on the right platform – hugely increase the chances of achieving impact.
In this webinar, you will learn how to:

Plan content based on your business and your customer needs
Evaluate current social media dashboards and management tools
Create a social media content calendar and schedule updates automatically
Reach more people through automating your blog and email newsletter content
Implement simple automation techniques to increase efficiency

Having great content is just the start. This webinar will help you better organise and setup your content strategy through simple planning and effective scheduling, to achieve great business results.

Startup Essentials: What to Know Before Diving into Your Business Adventure
2025-02-19 12:00 - 13:30
Have you started the new year excited to take your business idea forward but are feeling overwhelmed about where to start and what’s involved?
Join us for an informal interactive session where GrowBiz Enterprise Facilitators, Jenny Lyall and Ang Laurie will provide you with an insight into what self-employment could look like for you, the things you need to consider and how you can go about getting started right now!
Be inspired by Jenny and Ang, both small business owners themselves. They understand the challenges involved in taking the first steps towards turning your business dreams into reality.
The session will include:

Friendly guidance on key considerations
Hearing about existing small business owners and their journey into self-employment
Gaining confidence in your own existing skillset and understand the support available to develop your business toolkit
Interactive discussion about your self-employment idea and deciding your next steps

GrowBiz provides ongoing support throughout your self-employment journey. Begin by joining us in this learning session, assured that we’re here to assist at every stage. You’ll leave this session feeling confident, inspired, and equipped with clear direction for your next steps.
GrowBiz is supported by Perth & Kinross Council, The Scottish Government and the Cairngorms National Park Authority to provide business support to SMALL RURAL BUSINESSES and SELF EMPLOYED, please don’t book a place if you don’t meet this criteria.

Tayside Transform Business Festival
2025-02-20 08:30 - 16:00 | Carnoustie Golf Hotel, Links Parade, Carnoustie, DD7 7JE
The Tayside Transform Business Festival promises to be an incredible day packed full of networking, engaging, learning, connecting, exploring and growing!
The headline events will inspire you and your business to transform.

8.30am – 9:30am: Business Breakfast with Cally Russel CEO and Co-founder of This is Unfolded
12pm – 1:30pm: Networking Lunch with Lynn Sayer CCO Montrose Port Authority

Throughout the day, our carefully selected programme of workshops has something for everyone.

10am – 10.30am: Business Health Check
10.45am – 11.15am: Agritourism in Scotland
11.30am – 12.00pm: Growing your Food and Drink Business
2.00pm – 2.30pm: Social Media Unlocked: Trends, Tactics, and Top Tips
2.45pm – 3.15pm: Impacting the local community through social good
3.30pm – 4.00pm: Photography and videography for Social Media

Join our ‘speakers’ corner’ and hear from local success stories and our partners, for these 15mins bursts throughout the day.

9.45am – 10.00am: Connect Local to Shop Local
10.15am – 10.30am: Handling Conflict Confidently
10.45am – 11.00am: Growing your business with Elevator
1.45pm – 2.00pm: Farming and Tourism Perfect Partners
2.15pm – 2.30pm: Starting a Business with Business Gateway
2.45pm – 3.00pm: Growth and Succession planning

The festival is created and delivered by Business Gateway Tayside and Elevator, along with Angus Council, Dundee City Council and Perth & Kinross Council.

Embedding Sustainability: Stories and Steps to Get Started
2025-02-20 10:00 - 11:30
Join us for a discussion about embedding sustainable thinking into your Social Enterprise business model. What does it mean and why is it important?
This session will be led by GrowBiz Enterprise facilitator Janet Hunter, who has a wealth of experience in the sustainability sector. We will be joined by Remake Scotland who promote environmental sustainability as a fundamental of their inspiring reuse and repair charity. They will tell their story to start the conversation, we’ll then break into small groups to enable everyone to share their share experience and ask questions.
We will focus on 4 or 5 main themes including where to start, creating a climate action plan and engaging your whole team to commit to finding sustainable options in decision making.
By the end of this session, you’ll leave with practical ideas, clear next steps, and inspiration to take action on sustainability.
GrowBiz provides ongoing support throughout your self-employment journey. Begin by joining us in this learning session, assured that we’re here to assist at every stage. You’ll leave this session feeling confident, inspired, and equipped with clear direction for your next steps.
GrowBiz is supported by Perth & Kinross Council, The Scottish Government and the Cairngorms National Park Authority to provide business support to SMALL RURAL BUSINESSES and SELF EMPLOYED, please don’t book a place if you don’t meet this criteria.

Delivering profit to drive growth
2025-02-20 10:00 - 12:00
The course covers financial analysis, strategic decision-making, resource allocation, and the role of innovation and scalability in leveraging profit for long-term success.
We will cover:

Getting to know your financials
Controlling growth
Improving decision making
Opportunities
Cash is king
Controlling change
Pricing strategies for maximum profit
Measuring profit

The Employee Ownership Transition: A Deep Dive
2025-02-20 10:00 - 12:30
Are you considering employee ownership as a succession plan for your business? Join us on our deep dive into the process of selling to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
Aimed at business owners considering employee ownership as a succession option, this interactive online workshop will cover topics that are fundamental to every employee ownership transition.
The workshop will include a presentation and a breakout session.
The presentation will cover:

How a transaction or sale of shares to an EOT works
Valuation, purchase price and repayments
Seller protections and the role of the exiting owners
Governance structure of the business post transition
The role of the board and the trust and their relationship with each other
Employee engagement and employee incentives (bonuses and share schemes)

The breakout sessions will be on:

The transition process and legal implementation – led by Louise Fisher, Baxendale Employee Ownership
The importance of employee engagement – led by Hannah Welch, Baxendale Employee Ownership

How to deliver low-cost, high impact marketing
2025-02-20 13:00 - 15:00
When budgets are tight, it can be difficult to find the funds for marketing. This webinar will offer marketing tips and advice that you can then use across your business – without bursting the bank.
We will look at:

How marketing extends way beyond what most businesses consider it to be and how it provides opportunities for businesses to make transformational change with little or minimal extra spend
Identifying marketing priorities and using these to reshape your business
The marketing mix as a tool for reviewing how your business plans and delivers its marketing activity
How your marketing activity is delivered successfully and effectively in your business
A series of top tips including the importance of understanding your customers, the core components of a brand, the value of strong and consistent branding, the value of a clear focus and the power of creativity
The many options available with traditional advertising and promotion as a way a company communicates what it does and what it can offer customers, but also looking how this has changed in a world where marketing has moved online
The foundations of effective marketing in a digital age, looking at how your business can grasp new ways of marketing such as social media, web and digital PR

How to build your brand
2025-02-21 10:00 - 12:00
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

Introduction to Canva
2025-02-21 13:00 - 15:00
Canva is an all-in-one online design tool that makes it simple to create graphics, edit photos/videos and write content.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how to navigate Canva with confidence, starting with a broad overview of what you can create and do with Canva including a live demonstration of the Canva Editor.
We’ll then explore how to:

Design professional printed marketing materials and edit photos with ease.
Create engaging social media content, including videos and images for posts and ads.
Write creative blog content and make stunning presentations.

We’ll finish this beginner’s guide to Canva by looking at some clever strategies for improving how you market your business with your new suite of creative marketing materials.
As a result of attending this webinar, you will gain practical knowledge of the basics of Canva and learn how to save time when marketing your business online. We’ll be focusing on the free features of Canva for this webinar but some paid ‘Canva Pro’ features will be demonstrated also.

How to start a business: The basics
2025-02-22 10:00 - 12:00
Whatever your reasons may be for considering being your own boss, we are here to support you and help you decide if this is the right path for you.
We will cover:

Personal finance
Planning – how much do you need to earn?
Researching your market – who your customers are, understanding your competition and what the trends are within your chosen field
Business structure – what are the core business structures? How to decide which is right for you and how to register as a business
Creating your start-up action plan – an outline
Marketing
Pricing
Naming the business
Basic bookkeeping
Forecasting
Financing, banking, insurance, and VAT
Tax

Bookkeeping essentials
2025-02-24 10:00 - 12:00
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

Social media essentials: Facebook
2025-02-24 14:00 - 16:00
Get to grips with Facebook – the world’s most popular social networking platform.
In this webinar you will:

Learn how to get the most out of Facebook and how it could fit into your business’s digital marketing strategy
Better understand the algorithm behind Facebook, and how to create great content that achieves a bigger reach and impact
Learn from the stats and data you can get from the system and discover who your most interested customers/clients are
Understand the power of Facebook advertising, and other selling options available to you
Discover other business opportunities presented by Facebook, including how to promote and sell products and services
Be introduced to ‘Business Suite’ – a free Facebook dashboard to manage all your business activity

Social media essentials: LinkedIn
2025-02-25 10:00 - 12:00
No longer just an online CV, LinkedIn can be an incredibly powerful – and profitable – business tool.
During this webinar, you will:

Learn how to create a LinkedIn strategy to boost your business reputation via marketing and brand promotion initiatives
Learn the difference between personal and company profiles and how to optimise them for both maximum visibility and brand awareness
Understand that content is king on LinkedIn, and we’ll show you how to plan and produce captivating content that enriches your brand

Meta Suite: Taming the Monster
2025-02-25 10:00 - 13:00 | Strathmore Rugby Club, Inchmacoble Park, Forfar, DD8 1RL
An intermediate workshop on mastering Meta Suite. Please bring a laptop or device and ensure you have access to your social media and website accounts.
What we’ll cover:

Aligning Meta Suite with your website
Verifying your domain name
Inserting Pixel/Dataset onto your website for advertising tracking purposes
Creating events for website tracking
Creating Business Manager and Ads Manager accounts for Facebook advertising (note: Ads Manager is different from Ads Centre; don’t just boost your posts)
Aligning Meta Suite with owners and assets
Creating a simple, target market-focused ads campaign

This workshop will equip you with the tools to effectively manage and track your business activities through Meta Suite. Book your place now!

Level Up Your Business Designs with Canva
2025-02-25 11:00 - 12:30
The beauty of Canva is that it suits everyone’s creative ability: those feeling less creative have a huge number of templates to chose from, and those who want to show-off their creative flair have all the tools they could possibly need.
This session will focus on the variety and diversity of material that you can produce using Canva, it’s easier than you think to design a:

Business card
Invoice
Flyer
Social media post
Video
Banners
Menu
Presentation
Zoom backdrop

GrowBiz Enterprise Facilitator, Caron Ironside will expertly guide you through a case study to enable you to see the kind of design collateral you too can produce.
Join us to take the first steps in creating beautiful, consistent designs for your business. Build confidence in your branding, learn how to assess your current look, and discover how to make a lasting impression with professional visuals.
Whilst no creative experience is needed, this session is best suited to those who have already created a free Canva account and want to get more out of this online resource. Caron will also help you to understand the benefit of perhaps investing in a monthly subscription at some point in the future.

AgriFood Innovations - Technological Innovations for a Nature Positive Future
2025-02-26 09:00 - 12:00
At this online webinar series, you will hear about ways in which the carbon footprint of food production can be reduced, by different thematic areas.
These webinars will feature keynote speakers providing expertise in their given field and insights from Innovate UK funded projects. There will be an opportunity to network, and pose questions to the innovators.
From packaging to livestock supply chain, artificial intelligence to novel low emissions food production systems, join us for insightful discussions and explore innovations in sustainable agriculture and food systems that will drive us towards a nature positive future.
