Update each social media profile

When was the last time you logged in to each social media profile and made sure that all of the ‘boxes’ were filled in? These ‘boxes’ change on a regular basis and you could be missing out on a new feature that could increase your digital asset value and help you appear in both search and AI chat results. For instance, that old Facebook Profile will let you link to all of your other social media platforms! I recommend doing this every six months. Make sure your logos and descriptions are consistent too and make sure you only have one profile for each platform.

Goal: Log in and update all of your social media accounts once every six months.

Search for and delete duplicate accounts

I worked with one client who had six YouTube accounts because they didn’t keep their login details so every time they published a new video, a staff member would create a new YouTube account with a different email address. There are a lot of individuals and enterprises that have duplicate or multiple accounts that they don’t need. Finding the login details or reissuing passwords can take time, but the reality is that these duplicate profiles reduce your chances of appearing in aligned search results. Make sure you also take a backup of the account and the content there before you delete the profile.

Goal: Keep all of your login details up to date and accessible to people who need it so you never create another duplicate account.

Check your website social media links

Have you listed all of your social media profiles on your business website and when you click on the logos, does it take the website visitor to the right account? I am always staggered by the number of businesses that have forgotten to include all of their social media profiles on their website and haven’t added these links to their Google Business Profile https://business.google.com either.

Goal: Review your website functionality after every update and make sure all social media logo links work.

Invite key people to follow you

When was the last time you invited your key clients, stakeholders and referral partners to follow you on your socials and click the Notification Bell so that they see more of your content in their newsfeed? Yes, the logos may be visible on your email signature, email newsletter and/or website but do you ever provide instructions to ‘Follow us’ as well? When you onboard a new client, do you invite them to follow you as part of your onboarding process? As a minimum, I would suggest that you invite every person who contacts you via email, phone, text, DM etc to connect with you on LinkedIn – from now on (my three favourite words). If they don’t buy from you now, they may remember you in the future.

Goal: Invite 80 per cent of everyone you meet online or in person to connect on LinkedIn.

Follow people and enterprises that are important to you

If you want to support word of mouth referrals and potential search results, you need to be connected and that means making sure that you follow your supporters. When was the last time you liked and commented on one of their social media posts? This process will help you curate your own newsfeed with content that will matter to your business. If you support others, they are more likely to support you.

Goal: Engage with the newsfeed of the most aligned social media platform for your business once a week for 10 minutes.

Write reviews for others

When was the last time you wrote a review for someone? If you sign up to Local Guides Connect https://www.localguidesconnect.com, your Google reviews will earn points and your reviews will appear above other reviews which is fantastic free publicity. Don’t just stick with Google Reviews either! Facebook reviews will appear in Bing / Microsoft Edge results and there are far fewer reviews there so you can really stand out. Make sure your own business has a website page for reviews so you can publish other reviews you receive directly without asking your clients to do any extra work (apart from getting their permission to publish it or you can share it anonymously).

Goal: Write one review for someone else once a week.

Revisit your posting strategy

Is it consistent (at least once a week)? Is it quality (within your style guide)? Do you share a variety of content (images, videos, polls, carousels)? Is it systemised (not necessarily automated)? Do you batch produce content and schedule it? Do you engage with all comments? Personally, I recommend that all content be published on your website first (the only online real estate you own) and then shared on social media. Naturally, each platform wants you to use their tools to upload and edit content, but if you don’t have time for that, making sure something appears on all of your platforms once a week means that any future clients can do their due diligence on their preferred social media platform.

Goal: Publish one new piece of content on your website and share it on all of your social channels once a week.

Consider developing an engagement strategy

Social media works when people listen (react) and speak (post). So it is up to you to make sure your business listens more than it speaks. If you have identified your favourite accounts and clicked the notification bell, you can spend some time engaging with their content in your newsfeed with reactions (likes) as well as comments (lengthy comments will earn you lots of brownie points). Ideally, aim for an engagement ratio of at least 3:1 – three engagements, one post. Naturally, the more engagements you make, the more likely your content will be shared by the algorithm to others.

Goal: Engage more often than you post on social media, at least at the ratio of 3:1 or more.

Prioritise the right metrics

Platforms like TikTok have moved away from the number of ‘followers’ to the number of ‘views.’ In other words, your content will reach more people if it is viewed for longer rather than if you have a lot of followers. This is a major change and in some cases, it makes people create content that is highly emotive and is designed for a ‘reaction’ rather than ‘value.’ Be warned. This is very dangerous for a business that needs leads and sales, not views. Please stick to your core messages of education and value with the occasional call to action that will suit your ideal client otherwise you will attract unwanted interest from people who are not going to purchase.

Goal: Keep your business in mind with all social media activity and don’t be distracted by views or shiny objects.

Abide by the user agreements

It can be very tempting to ‘game’ the social media platforms to get the results you need. Don’t waste your time. Bad behaviour is quickly identified and you risk losing your account without warning. Be curious. Explore new features when they come out. Make it easier for everyone to consume your content (visible and embedded captions). Add to the conversation. Remain solution-focused. Provide value. Be authentic. Most importantly, decide on your strategy and consistently show up in a way that is sustainable for you and your business. Then get back to business.

Goal: Maintain your integrity on all social media at all times.

The post Maximise your social media presence in 2025 with these 10 simple tweaks appeared first on Inside Small Business.

Let’s face it: unless we are prepared to learn continuously, especially with the rate of change, we are likely to fall behind very quickly.

So if you are prepared to take some time out to work on your business instead of in your business, here are some options for you!

Financial skills

Most of the online accounting SAAS platforms provide online training, for free! Have you completed any of these? You do not need to be a paying customer to access this information.

• Xero – Small Business Guides https://www.xero.com/au/guides
• Xero – Resources includes podcasts and video guides https://www.xero.com/au/resources
• Quickbooks – Tools and Templates https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/tools-and-templates
• Quickbooks – Growth Hub https://quickbooks.intuit.com/au/accountants-and-bookkeepers/growth
• MYOB – Business Guides https://www.myob.com/au/resources/guides
• MYOB – Resources and Templates https://www.myob.com/au/templates/resource-templates

Remember that these resources are designed for a range of learners, focused on practical solutions.

Each state or territory government has specific content including:

• Business Victoria https://business.vic.gov.au/business-information/finance
• Service NSW Business Bureau https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/business
• Business Queensland https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business
• Office for Small and Family Business South Australia https://business.sa.gov.au/information
• Western Australia Small Business Development Corporation https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/
• Western Australia Business Support https://www.wa.gov.au/service/business-support
• Business Tasmania https://www.business.tas.gov.au/managing
• ACT Business https://www.act.gov.au/business
• NT Business and Industry https://nt.gov.au/industry

These websites group information together and allow you to ‘shop’ for what is most relevant to you. I particularly appreciate how there are resources for solopreneurs as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

I am also glad they do not say ‘do more on social media’ as I believe that the best business marketing is still word of mouth (with the proviso that your reputation can be verified online).

If you would like something more generic, the Australian government has Business.gov.au with an entire section on Planning https://business.gov.au/planning and Moneysmart https://moneysmart.gov.au can help you manage your money better and connect you with free and confidential financial counselling https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling if you are struggling. 

Technical skills

How many of us continue to develop technical skills ‘on the job’ or through ‘immediate need’ rather than through some sort of structured learning? 

It can be hard to focus on improving technical skills if you are running hard just to make ends meet. Most of us have heard about the concept of ‘sharpening the saw’ before attempting to cut down a tree. 

I know that for me, I copied what was done previously for nearly a year before I realised that if I had learnt what I was doing, it was a very simple process of addition and subtraction!

The technical skills you need for your job can often be found in micro-learning or short-course environments. You do not need to enrol in an expensive formal education course through a university, even if you are contemplating a move into a new direction.  

However, some universities and colleges offer free or low-cost technical short courses as an ‘introduction’ to their other broader offerings – so check out what is available from your closest provider. 

You can find free online courses from across the world at Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) https://www.mooc.organd government funded courses listed by state at https://www.training.com.au/government-funded-courses

One of my favourites is LinkedIn Learning https://learning.linkedin.com which you can access free of charge with your local library membership and logging in to the local library website. It is also free if you have purchased LinkedIn Premium or you are a student or employee of certain educational institutions. These courses are particularly well structured with written and video content but they do have a slightly USA focus. 

Remember to update your own LinkedIn Profile once you have completed any courses or training!

I hope these recommendations get you thinking and that you click on at least one link and spend five minutes having a quick browse. 

I am confident that you will learn more in five minutes from one of these websites than 50 minutes scrolling through social media videos!

The post The ultimate free course masterlist for small-business owners appeared first on Inside Small Business.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen-AI)

Whilst your business may have postponed implementing artificial intelligence AI tools within your systems and processes, you and your customers are probably using Generative AI tools on a semi-regular basis.

You may have heard of:

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Google Gemini
• Microsoft Copilot
• Perplexity

These tools allow you to enter prompts and generate answers and re-generate answers if you would like more information.

Target audience behaviour

If your target audience already knows about you, then they are likely to use an online search tool (like Google or Bing) to find you. You will appear in search results if you have optimised your online presence, the search robots have found your content and the algorithms have added your content to their database.

If your target audience has a favourite social media platform where they doom scroll or micro-learn on a regular basis, if your audience needs a product or service, they may search within the social media platform first. If you don’t have a quality presence there, they probably won’t find you.

If your target audience decides to start their search on Gen-AI, your business needs to be in their dataset. This content is mostly scraped from websites. This includes your own website and where you are mentioned on other websites. All of this content will be processed by machine learning, natural language processing and large language models so you need to increase your probability of being found by publishing more content, more often on the best websites.

Places to publish quality content

Which website locations will help you appear in the most Gen-AI results?

1. Your own website (the only content on the internet that you own). Make sure you add content here regularly, ideally in a categorised blog
2. High Domain Authority websites – media, government, educational, large corporates etc. Essentially, websites with extensive quality content
3. Major directory listings – Google Business, Bingplaces, Professional Association listings, Yellow Pages (yes, you get a free link to your website!)
4. Published Books – that have an ISBN code
5. Social Media content that is public – consider permanent LinkedIn Articles and/or Newsletters, YouTube videos, and X tweets
6. Online Reviews – on Google, Facebook (especially for Microsoft Copilot) and other review sites for your industry
7. Awards, Honours, Expert Lists, Collaborations – online content that showcases leaders of industry or profession

Gen-AI-friendly content

Whilst many businesses are using generative AI to create content, that doesn’t mean that the Generative AI tools will favour that content in Generative AI chat results. Ideally, your content needs to be:

1. Well referenced
2. Include a byline (author’s name)
3. Accurate
4. Distinctive
5. Detailed (headings, aligned words, unique labelled images)
6. Of good quality and includes new information on your topic
7. Uniquely published on a consistent basis over time

Finally

There is no silver bullet here. The best time to start is ‘from now on.’ Rest assured, if you don’t start now, someone else will…

I encourage you to take the first step right now!

The post How to get your small business into Gen-AI results appeared first on Inside Small Business.