Week 12 Part A: Using Business Specific Online Tools

     There are many tools to help me manage and grow my business that I didn't even know exist. Some of them will work for my business and many won't. Here are some that will work and some stuff I found out about them by doing research and using them:

LinkedIn

    LinkedIn would work well for my business because since my business is a clothing brand I will need employees eventually, so using the "jobs" tab feature would be a great way to get connected to the perfect people for the job. It is a great place to make connections, find helpful resources, and have helpful discussions. While using LinkedIn, I found out that there are many courses on LinkedIn that can help you learn many things, including things that could help my business like creating a new clothing business, designing clothing, and building outfits (which I can use when I need to make outfits to take pictures of for the website, social media, and even advertisements). There were also groups and people I could talk to about clothing-related things so I can improve my business. Overall, LinkedIn has many tools such as groups and articles that I would use and I think can help business owners.

Meet Up

    Meet Up is a good place to meet new individuals. I have seen classes/meetings on there for people who want to learn things on there. I have also seen meets and groups for people with similar interests. I think it could be a great way to meet new people and make connections that I could collaborate with and help. I could easily get ideas and get tips on how to improve my designs and such. I have noticed they have online and in-person events. So, that could really be helpful to fit my schedule. If I really want to make connections or I'm not busy, I could go to in-person events, and if I just want to learn things or don't have much time, I could just go to an online event. There is a downside however, there aren't many events or groups close by related to designing clothing, so I will have to drive an hour or more to go to some events. Online events are still an option though. I could potentially make my own events to bring in more people to my business and gain other people's confidence. There are groups and events about improving and growing your business, so I could go to those too.

Google for Business

    Google for business is not only a useful tool for physical businesses, but can potentially be a great tool for online businesses. When it comes to physical businesses, Google for Business helps bring in customers by showing where your physical location is and allows people to rate it. According to Google's "Google for Business" website, "Over 70% of consumers use google search to research before they make a purchase". This means that plenty of people use Google to see what a business has to offer, therefore many businesses should use Google for Business to help their business grow. Taking advantage of this will allow my business and many others to be seen much easier. From using Google for Business, I have found that they make it really simple to update information on your business profile. I can easily use google for business when I get a physical location to help me advertise my business for free and let me read what customers think of my business so I can improve the business. You can easily add pictures, change the time you are open, and you can allow potential customers to easily and directly contact you through Google's "chat" feature. Google for business also helps online businesses. They make it easy to bring a business online or start a brand new online business. They have a section called "Google for Small Business". They help you get a web address, get a business email, build a website, and let you make a Google Business profile. Using Google for business will get me ahead of the game because it can help me with many of the basic components of making an online store so I can easily get those parts done and move on.