I have a little bit of good news for those of you in Queensland. Right now there are two opportunities for you to engage a coach/ mentor for your business plus another to put towards your digital marking/digital presence (round 2 opened on 8 March 2017 and round 3 opened and closed during the later part of 2017 as well). We have MANY coaches and mentors (myself included) in our Green Valley Digital network who are awesome and who can help you with the applications and work with you once you receive funding (note the positivity).

(This next section I have written… this is not canned text):

There are soo many amazing ways to grow your business using digital… and it’s not just the obvious stuff like using social media in creative, impressive, meaningful, engaging and useful ways. Here are just some ideas:

• An awesome website (a ‘MASSIVE Value Website’ as we like to call them)! This is the first step to your digital marketing future/ your online business presence or ‘business representation online’ and digital growth.
• Podcasting Channel (iTunes) <– most digital marketers get the best market/audience growth once they start doing this.
• Developing an Affiliate Marketing program
• Videos, Vodcasting, Video Viral Traction, marketing videos, etc
• A fantastic blog, text and video content strategy. Check out Sarah Moore’s new online course — right now she is offering a VERY limited time early bird rate. The course has just been released. Click this link to check it out.
• Invest in more Personal Development and Training. Doing courses through Digital Marketer, HubSpot (plus their other free courses), Sarah Moore (as mentioned above), Dale Beaumont (his Business Blueprint course info is here), Troy Dean (his ‘build and market’ an E Learning Course is excellent), CopyBlogger, the AMAZINGLY free content from MOZ and SOO many other awesome training providers.
• Self Publish your own physical or virtual books (including books created as interactive Apps for kids… and ‘Choose Your Own Adventure Books’ created as a kid-friendly App). Kylie and I can help you with coming up with ideas and the self-publishing of the book(s) and the marketing. Kylie and one of the other groups she is involved with have released 5 non-fiction books already… they are available on Amazon and other places online.
• Buying more books and also keep using Kindle and Audible.
• Doing a Crowdfunding campaign
• Start your own online TV show or VOD (Video On Demand) channel. See the site launched by Cilla Slack as a starting point example. Click here to check it out.
• Adwords Campaigning
• Sales Funnels, Landing Pages, Lead Magnets, Autoresponders and other forms of Marketing Automation.
• Start looking at ways to monetize your blog website(s).
• Formulating a Growth Hack campaign.
• Developing a real world referral system
• Kicking off and growing your own online forum, facebook closed group, etc. See our own facebook closed group here.
• Staff Training and Processes and Procedures Wiki so you don’t have to repeat yourself all the time and also to ensure training new staff in the future will be easier.
• An awesome CRM
• eCommerce and Accountancy Software integration
• An online shop (eCommerce)
• Setup a quality ‘Cart Abandonment System’ within your Online Shop website if it is not already setup. Learn why this is SOO important here and then read this.
• Further enhance your various types of Website Conversion Rates – there are MANY strategies and techniques that I can introduce you to that will make your website work/perform EVEN harder for your business.
• Local SEO if you are purely a local business… and/or Local SEO Tutoring which I also offer. Info here.
• And SOO much more.

The info about each Grant opportunity is below. Sorry they are long-ish reads… I just don’t have time right now to condense them.

If you are not based in Queensland let me know if you hear of any similar type of Grant Funding opportunity in your State or Territory.

Time for me to get back into work now. Have a great day!!

Grant info is here (I did not write this text):

1/ Small Business Digital Grants Program

The Small Business Digital Grants Program provides small businesses with access to digital technologies and services to enable them to work smarter, engage with the global economy and make the most of online business opportunities arising from digital disruption.

Read all the info here

Available funding

Matching funding of up to $10,000 (excluding GST) may be provided to eligible businesses for the purchase of hardware, software and services (such as digital coaching). The business must show that the digital technology or service purchased and adopted will enhance the digital capabilities of their business and help them to be more competitive and employ more staff.

Up to 20% of the applicant’s co-contribution amount can be an in-kind element for their personal time being trained in new technologies.

The digital technology or service must fall under one of five identified priority areas:

• digital marketing and social media
• digital content (web pages, mobile apps, media etc.)
• receiving payments or selling online
• specialised digital technology or software (business specific)
• digital planning and advice/training.

Payment will be made directly to the business on completion of the project and on presentation of proof of payment for the product or service. The value of the grant payment will be increased to compensate for any GST.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible the business must:

• have fewer than 20 employees at the time of applying for the grant
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST
• have Queensland headquarters or significant Queensland-based operations
• declare if any owners or directors of the business are an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent.

If you want to apply, I recommend speaking with myself and my team. We can help you brainstorm and identify what will be the best next stage digital activities to refer to in your application… so they can be implemented as ‘priority jobs’. We use various prioritisation methodologies and know which activities need to be done in which order to get the best result for your business. Everything is also tailored specifically to your business; there are no ‘cookie-cutter approaches here. We can also assist with the application writing activity. Click here to contact us.

2/ The Queensland Government is providing $3 million in grant funding over 3 years to established Queensland-based small businesses to engage business mentors, coaches, or an advisory board, for 6 to 12 months.

Read all the info here

The Accelerate Small Business Grants Program provides targeted assistance to small businesses that demonstrate high-growth and employment aspirations, to engage high-level expertise for their business.

Matching funding of up to $10,000 (excluding GST) may be provided to eligible businesses to engage business mentors, coaches, or an advisory board, for 6 to 12 months. The funding must be matched by a cash contribution from the participating business.

Two grant payments will be made directly to the business, with 50% paid on approval and a further 50% paid on successful completion of the project.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this grant, the business must:

• have a minimum trading history of 4 years
• have a minimum turnover of $750,000
• have a maximum headcount of 20 employees at the time of application
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• have Queensland headquarters or significant Queensland operations
• have competitive opportunities in domestic or international markets
• be experiencing growth and have clearly defined high-growth opportunities
• declare if any owners or directors of the business are, or have previously been, bankrupt or insolvent.

Whilst the application process is reasonably simple, I have asked my grants writer to provide a quote for any business wanting us to write the application on your behalf.

If you’d like to discuss further on how you can use this to engage professional coaching, consulting or mentoring services, contact us and we’ll assist further.

About the Author: Jay Daniells

Jay Daniells has been doing advanced Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work for clients since 2010. He is an SEO specialist. He first started doing SEO work in 2005. He has also been creating websites full-time since 2003. Amongst things Jay is also a graphic designer, digital marketing consultant and creative person. His focus is helping businesses, community groups, clubs, charities, organisations and other entities achieve their goals. He is the owner of Green Valley Digital.

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