Invest in Angus

How to improve your Google search rankings - Part 2: Off page optimisation & technical considerations
2023-10-09 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-09-27 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
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

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help your business marketing
2023-10-09 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 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.

How to improve your Google search rankings - Part 1: On page optimisation
2023-10-06 14:00 - 16:00
Join us to look at how Google and other search engines decide the order in which they list their search results. We will show you how to maximise your chances of appearing towards the top of the search rankings, ensuring you understand what key words and phrases your potential customers are using when searching online, and how to optimise your website as a result.
We will cover:

How search engines work, and the ‘on-page’ factors used to rank your site
Understanding customer search behaviour
Keyword research tools and how to benefit from them
Optimising your website content for search engines

The basics of trading on eBay, Etsy and Amazon Marketplaces
2023-10-06 10:00 - 12:00
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.

The Basics of Starting a Business
2023-10-05 18:00 - 20:00
This webinar will give you the information needed to build a start up action plan. The plan will enable you to consider which actions are relevant to your plan, start building a set of SMART Goals, give thought to business skills development and provide a clear path for steps to launch your business.
You will also learn about the key considerations when starting a business and what steps you will need to take from legal, financial and strategic standpoints.
By the end of the webinar, you will have the information required to start building an action plan and be confident about understanding the next steps.

How to start a business: The basics
2023-10-05 18:00 - 20:00
Whatever your reasons may be for considering being your own boss, Business Gateway is here to support you and help you decide if this is the right path for you. Helping you consider your plans from exploring your potential customers to looking at the key activities and costs involved.
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

Facebook for business
2023-10-05 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.

Tourism businesses: Instagram, TikTok & YouTube - should you be on them and how?
2023-10-05 11:00 - 12:30
Learn how to maximise your content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube with our webinar designed specifically for tourism businesses.
Attendees will gain insights into:

Understanding key Social Media platforms: Learn about the differences between Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, including the best content to share for each.
Your brand’s voice: This includes creating your unique social voice and the importance of creating personas for your business.
Platform best practices: Learn how to create meaningful, engaging, original and consistent content, along with platform-specific best practices and creative content ideas for your business.
Short-form video creation: Understanding the importance of short-form video content, creating a video checklist, adhering to best practices, and using templates to create video’s
Travel trends analysis: The webinar will also explore the latest travel trends on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping you stay on top of current social media trends.

Online Sales: Improve, develop & make more money
2023-10-04 14:00 - 16:00
What’s the best way to sell your products online? The key to improving your online business is measuring its effectiveness – you can then take steps to optimise its performance. Should you be using your own eCommerce store or Amazon, neither or both? This webinar will help you decide.
We will cover:

Factors to consider when selling online.
What eCommerce options exist, and the benefits of each
Differences in available eCommerce platforms
Benefits of automation
Key items to optimise performance

Targeting the US and Australia with your own website
2023-10-04 10:00 - 13:30
This webinar will explore opportunities and techniques for selling in America and Australia through your business website.
Learn about best practices around customer acquisition channels, user experience, fulfilment and administration.

Producing engaging online content
2023-10-04 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. 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.
This session 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

Recruitment Excellence: Strategies for Success
2023-10-04 10:00 - 11:30
Across all sectors and sizes of company, recruiting and keeping the right people is one of the greatest challenges businesses face.
This 90-minute masterclass webinar (hosted by Taylor Clarke) will explore the most effective ways to plan for your recruitment and to ensure that you attract and retain the right talent.
You’ll learn about emerging best practices from across the public and private sectors. You’ll also get a chance to reflect on areas you would like to improve in your business’s recruitment processes.
The masterclass will explore:

The importance of considering your future workforce skills requirements
Developing a strong employer brand
How to attract the people that will help your business thrive
The most effective ways to ensure that your recruitment process encourages candidates to accept your offer – and creates the foundation for an emotional connection to your business that makes them want to stay

The masterclass will be followed by the opportunity to attend an interactive workshop.
In this workshop, the key themes related to recruitment and retention of talent will be explored further and you’ll get a chance to discuss your specific business challenges with the masterclass hosts.

An Introduction to Innovation
2023-10-04 10:00 - 11:00
This webinar provides an introduction to the tools & techniques you need to start or move to the next stage of your innovation journey.
Run by Scottish Enterprise Innovation Specialists, this session will introduce you to top innovation concepts, tools, and the Scottish Enterprise support available to help your business innovate and grow.
Speakers will also provide an overview of the organisation’s flagship innovation programme — Advanced Innovation Roadmap Development — so you can gauge whether it’s right to support your business in its innovation journey, now or in the future.

X (Twitter) for business
2023-10-03 14:00 - 16:00
This webinar will help you develop and hone your social media strategy in order to amplify your marketing using ‘X’. You will gain a deeper understanding of where X fits into your overall plan, and how it differs from other platforms.
You will also learn about:

What makes a good X profile (and the options available to you).
X best practice content and what makes the perfect post.
Social Media Dashboards such as Hootsuite to help you manage and integrate your social media accounts and schedule content.
Advanced techniques for social listening and pro-actively finding content and customers.
The basics of X paid advertising.
The benefits of subscribing to “Blue” (and the paid features on offer).

Tourism businesses: Make your website work for your customers – best practice in user experience (UX)
2023-10-03 11:00 - 12:00
Your website is your shop window to the world. It’s important to manage it well, so find out how to attract and delight customers with it.
At the end of this webinar you will:

Understand how users consume content.
Understand the importance of knowing your online users’ experience and tailoring the customer journey on your website accordingly.
Find out how to measure user experience cost-effectively.
Have some great examples of making user experience work.

The essentials of bookkeeping and what expenses you can claim
2023-10-02 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-09-28 09:00 - 11:00
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

Video production for social media
2023-10-02 10:00 - 12:00
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.

TikTok and Instagram Reels for business
2023-09-28 14:00 - 16:00
You might view TikTok as a stream of dance trends and lip-synching videos, but it can also be a fantastic place to engage with your customers and increase the reach of your business online. Explore how to create bitesize vertical video content and how to use this new format for more effective business communication.
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.

Community Development Programme of Support - Introducing Community Shares
2023-09-27 18:00 - 19:30
Angus Council Vibrant Communities, in collaboration with Angus Rural Partnership, have commissioned a programme of events for community groups and organisations.
The new programme of workshops will help local groups and organisations:

successfully form a sustainable group
plan their projects
apply for funding
deliver their aspirations

Workshop Five:
Community shares are a way for people to invest in what matter to them, from community woodlands, pubs, shops, visitor centres to village halls.
Get an overview from the Community Shares Scotland team about how community shares have helped to launch, and grow, a wide range of thriving community enterprises, and the support available through all stages

HR – Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
2023-09-27 13:00 - 15:00
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

APAC Offshore Wind Market Overview 2023
2023-09-27 09:00 - 10:00
This webinar will provide an overview of the offshore wind market and opportunities across APAC markets: Australia, China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Taiwan.
Join our team of expert trade specialists based in market to learn more.

The business benefits of running a sustainable business
2023-09-26 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 to get visibility on LinkedIn with Laurie Macpherson
2023-09-26 13:00 - 14:00
One of the ways Laurie helps women has to do with how to get visibility on LinkedIn.
It’s not a dusty old corporate platform any more. Instead it’s a place to find your ideal people, see and be seen by them, join in great conversations and create content that draws them to you.
In this one hour session, Laurie will show you how and answer any of your questions.

Unlock your potential – Overcome the fear of success
2023-09-26 10:30 - 11:30
Success often comes with added responsibilities and expectations, especially for small businesses, and some fear the increased visibility and demands.
Sean McGrath, CEO of Entrepreneurial Scotland, and Hugh Lightbody, Chief Officer of Business Gateway, will tackle this, exploring:

Why Scotland as a nation struggles to celebrate success
Is there a genuine ‘fear of success’ and what impact does this have?
Top tips for changing the mindset around success
The broader impacts if we as a nation and as businesses don’t shout about our successes
How to maintain that positive mindset

Tay Cities Clean Growth - Clean Energy & Green Agri-tech and innovation
2023-09-26 10:00 - 14:00 | Arbikie Distillery Experience, Arbikie Highland Estate, Lunan, DD10 9TR
With its central geography, mixed economy and broad base of academic, professional expertise and active developments, Tayside is a great place to exploit this ongoing economic transformation as we address climate change and post Covid recovery.
At this event we are focussing on:

Clean Energy (wind to small scale green hydrogen generation)
Green agri-tech and agri innovation

Come along and meet members of the Clean Growth community that works together to maximise the Tay Region’s clean growth opportunities. See how we can create synergies for a collective Unique Selling Point.
Clean Growth in the Tayside has a special focus on: Green Agri-tech, Clean Energy, Circular Economy, Sustainable Mobility and Data and Digital Solutions. There will be networking opportunities to meet and talk to project owners from the five focus areas, likeminded attendees as well as local authority, Scottish Enterprise & Scottish Development International representatives.

How to generate and increase sales
2023-09-26 10:00 - 12:00
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 write and develop your business plan
2023-09-25 13:00 - 15:00
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

An introduction to business websites & what you need to consider
2023-09-25 10:00 - 12:00
This webinar will take you through all the steps required to design, build and host a business website. You will learn about:

The need to determine website objectives
The importance of knowing who your audience is and measuring results
Setting clear calls to action and creating engaging content
Creating your brand’s visual identity online, your site’s blueprint and how you can structure your site map
What’s involved in registering your domain, maintaining your site content, and options for hosting it

This webinar will also offer guidance on when and how to outsource your website development. Covering topics such as choosing a suitable content management system, what to organise first and costing for the work.
