Burnaby Business News Jan 2016

BurnabyNOW WEDNESDAY January 27, 2016 13

BURNABY

BUSINESS NEWS

How strong is your business’s online presence?

By Michael Keller michael@bbot.ca

PHOTO: Depositphotos/Rawplxel

Without an online presence, your business practically doesn’t exist. With a poor online presence, it might as well not exist.

Modern Canadian consumers love to shop online and they are savvy and extraordinarily technologically literate. Even if they are standing on the curb in front of your storefront, they are still probably pulling up your website and independent reviews on their smart device before stepping through your door. What does this mean for your business? It means that if you want to compete in the marketplace you have to have a professional website that is also mobile friendly.

Having a polished and professional online presence will help convert visitors into customers, but it’s not enough on its own if people can’t find you. Don’t wait for them to find you, you must find them.

This is where

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14 WEDNESDAY January 27, 2016 • BurnabyNOW

The Reading Room

?

What do we live

for

The Reading Room can help you find answers to important questions in life.

What is the purpose of life?

Why is there so much suffering in the world?

Is there more in this life than we can see?

Can I get eternal life? .... and more The Reading Room is a place where you can find a lot of information about: - Christian Religion;

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity FRIDAY JAN 29, MOVIE NIGHT C. S. Lewis, Life Story with a Purpose Join us in learning about the life and writings of C. S. Lewis and his journey from atheism to Christianity. We will take time to discuss his thoughts on joy and the purpose of life and much more.

In the spirit of the “Inklings” we will have food to share, as well as fun and fellowship, so bring a friend!

- God and Jesus Christ; - Faith, death and life; - the Christian Church.

But also more specific questions, for instance about:

Join us for Bible Study:

- the Reformation;

We meet to study the bible every Wednesday at 8:00pm.

For more information visit:

- the Covenant of God with mankind;

www.BurnabyBibleStudy.ca

- Calvinism and the Five Points of Calvinism;

If you are looking for a Bible Study in Korean join us on Saturdays starting at 2:00pm.

- Covenant and Infant baptism; - What are the differences between all those churches?

- and much more ...

If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of our volunteers and we will help you to find answers to your questions. We have a lot of literature available to help you in your research, or if you prefer to talk to a volunteer, you can do so as well.

Games or Movie Night: Join us for games or a Movie Night on Friday evenings from 7-9pm.

Visit our website for details: www.thereadingroom.info Come by during our regular hours simply for a quiet place to read and study.

www.thereadingroom.info

The Reading Room

5272 Grimmer Street • 778-379-7055 OPEN mon-fri 2:00-7:00 | sat 12:00-5:00

Free Coffee • Free Wifi • Free Bible

BurnabyNOW WEDNESDAY January 27, 2016 15

BBN 3

Online presence con’t from cover that (sometimes dreaded) social media comes into play. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or something else, find out where your audience is, and engage. This means you need to regularly create new and interesting content, and you need to share it.

What’s the point in writing a great blog post if no one sees it?

HOW TO GET YOUR CONTENT SEEN Consider boosting your post or page on Facebook. Set a maximum budget, target your audience by location, profession, age, etc. (the more targeted the fewer “wasted clicks”), and let Facebook take care of the rest. Pricing is based on clicks, likes, and shares (known as engagements), and can be quite affordable - a popular post averages less than twenty cents per engagement, and a targeted audience means a higher likelihood of conversion. No wasted clicks, and the best part is you only pay for real exposure.

LEARNED ANYTHING NEW YET? PROBABLY NOT …

Chances are you haven’t learned much from this article yet. There are literally millions of blog posts saying the same thing, and most of them probably include far more in the way of specific tips, extensive lists, or imposing statistics. These come from the very companies, including

bbot.ca

your competitors, who understand that content is king, and they are using it for lead generation, brand recognition, and general traffic direction to their impressive website and social media channels.

They get it. Or they pay someone who does. And that’s the hard part isn’t it? Not understanding the need for a strong online presence, but finding the time and having the talent. Make no mistake, marketing is a skillset and a talent.

Here’s a perfectly crude analogy: an engineer (for example) is likely to be as effective of a marketer as a professional marketer is likely to be at engineering. Not to disrespect all those marketing engineers out there.

IF YOU’RE NOT A CREATIVE WRITER, BE A CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVER If you don’t consider yourself an effective communicator or great writer, you may need to look for outside help, and here’s where budget comes into play. There are plenty of digital marketing agencies who would be happy for your business. If money is tight, instead look for talent in your existing workforce - maybe your administrative intern has some chops for this sort of thing. If you’re a really tiny business, even consider looking within your family, or consult local colleges and high schools for tech savvy students eager to get some hands-on experience.

Employment Service Free Diverse Ability hop for Employers Workshop Diversifying your workforce is beneficial and inevitable in a globalized economy.

Sometimes, inclusion can be more difficult than not.

Our goal is to establish a constructive dialogue where people can identify and dispel common myths and stereotypes in the workplace.

Curious about how you can engage your team to create a healthier, more productive and profitable business?

Call 604-291-1902, or sign up for the next free session:

www.pesworks.ca/planning-to-hire

Head Office: #307-3680 Hastings Street, Vancouver

Here’s another budget-friendly approach: look at your professional network. Maybe you have a client, supplier, or service provider who can help in an “in kind” or “contra” arrangement. Or, if you know someone with existing content relevant to your industry, maybe you can help distribute that material

through your channels for both of your mutual benefit.

However you are able to do it, building your online presence is essential for businesses small, medium, and large. It’s time to stop reading about it, and find a way to do it! ■

Calling all mobile business operators Last year, following a successful two year pilot project, The City of Burnaby passed a new bylaw to make permanent the Inter-Municipal Business License (IMBL) for construction and trade-related businesses.

The Burnaby Board of Trade is now working with other Lower Mainland Chambers/Boards to encourage municipal Councils to unite the four Inter-Municipal Business License programs (Fraser Valley, Metro Vancouver West, Tri-Cities and North Vancouver) into one application that would cover all municipalities in the region from Hope to West Vancouver.

A survey has been created to find out how many businesses are currently utilizing any of the IMBL programs and provide mobile businesses with the opportunity to provide input on the proposed program expansion.

The survey can found in the news section of the Burnaby Board of Trade website at bbot.ca. ■

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16 WEDNESDAY January 27, 2016 • BurnabyNOW BBN 4

From the Burnaby Board of Trade: Best wishes and Happy New Year in 2016 A healthy business community goes in hand with a healthy board of trade/chamber of commerce— the organization working every day to advocate on business interests, promote sustainability, and make it a little bit easier for companies small, medium and large to prosper and grow right here in Burnaby.

In order to make sure we’re living up to our end of the bargain, each year we conduct a survey of our approximately 1,100 member organizations to find out how we’re doing and where we can improve.

trade-related businesses, following BBOT advocacy efforts and a successful two year pilot project.

Moving forward this year, we will continue to use the survey data and the advice of our members to pursue new ways to make business better in Burnaby. I would like to sincerely thank all those who take the time to provide their feedback so that we might continue to improve and not only meet but exceed the rightfully lofty expectations that are placed on our organization.

If your business is not already a member of the Burnaby Board of Trade, I would strongly encourage you to give us the opportunity to show you how the BBOT can help strengthen your business. Call 604.412.0100 for more information or to register for one of our regularly scheduled free Lunch and Learn sessions.

If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our service to you, please let me know at paul@bbot.ca. I wish you all a happy and successful 2016. ■

· FORTIUS SPORT & HEALTH · LEGACIES FINANCIAL GROUP · INDUS TRAVELS INC. · WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP (CORAZON TUIZA) · TOTAL PROCUREMENT SOLUTIONS · L.A.R.G.E. CONTRACTING · OFF ISLAND MEDIA · DIGITAL STORM

· SAMSUNG RESEARCH CANADA · LEDCOR · TMT NAILS · ROCKY COAST CREATIVE · ADVANTAGE PLUS SALES SOLUTIONS · BARTEC FIRE SAFETY SYSTEMS · CARLY FRANKLIN, REALTOR · AGILITY INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING GROUP INC.

· ENCOREFX · GOOD LIFE FITNESS KINGSWAY · GOOD LIFE FITNESS NORTH ROAD · BOB ZHANG CGA · BC CARE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION · FANDINE · STAND AND DELIVER WORKSHOPS · BUSINESS CENTRE SOLUTIONS · PHOTON CONTROL

Paul Holden, BBOT President & CEO paul@bbot.ca

· SANDBOX WEST · GUANGDONG TRADE COUNCIL (CCPIT) · EXPENSE REDUCTION ANALYSTS · URANUS HOLDINGS

Burnaby Hospital Foundation

CARING

for every generation donate now

604.431.2881

bbot.ca

I’m very pleased that this year’s results show that over 99% of respondents have expressed satisfaction with their membership, which I consider to be a monumental achievement, especially given the high standards we place on ourselves in operating under a triple bottom-line mandate of economic, social, and environmental results.

The membership survey guides many of our initiatives throughout the year. While I encourage you to visit the news and advocacy sections on bbot.ca to view some of our most significant achievements, a few notable ones I will mentioned here include our successfully passed resolution at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce calling for a national water sustainability framework, and our calls to fix the PST by beginning to remove the tax burden on business investments in new equipment, machinery and software. We are also very proud that the City of Burnaby has made permanent the Inter-Municipal Business License (IMBL) for construction and

w w w. b h f o u n d a t i o n . c a