How to create an effective social media calendar

Having a well-planned and engaging social media presence is nowadays a core aspect of marketing. With 77% of consumers more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media, it is important to plan your content ahead of posting to maintain a successful social media campaign, avoid any mistakes and ensure posts will help you achieve your business goals. Creating an effective social media calendar will often involve four key areas that can help you make the most out of your social media presence.

Key information:
This is normally presented in a table format that provides details of what is being posted, such as the date and time for posting, content type, hashtags, the image and text to be posted and what platforms it is being shared on. It is also useful to integrate an evaluation section you can fill in after each post has been made that provides information such as reach, engagement, shares, comments, reaction, follower increase/decrease.

Plan content strategy:
It is a good idea to have a strategic content plan rather than just sharing whatever you feel like. This can involve determining which topics your content can cover and when, investigating the needs and wants of your audience and catering to them, and what order posts should be shared in.

Content check:
When planning future content, remember that posts that may be relevant now may not be so appropriate by the time you actually post them. Check if any of the content is out of date and whether it can be updated or should be deleted. For more variety, try planning posts around a special event or holiday that is coming up to make content more interesting.

KiwiSaver statements to show retirement incomes and likely total savings

KiwiSaver annual statements will soon show projected balances at retirement and income figures to help consumers make a better decision about their savings.

This initiative intends to provide people with clear, easy-to-understand information about their current savings and how that tracks towards retirement. Statements will show people an estimate of the savings built-up by the time they are 65 and will include the weekly retirement income that sum would provide over 25 years.

The changes made to annual statements will take place after consultation with providers. Expectations from the government are that this amendment will be executed without substantial delay.

The collaboration also resulted in the introduction of the requirement of KiwiSaver providers to disclose to investors the total dollar fees they have charged them throughout the year.

The improvements to KiwiSaver are to allow individuals to make informed and confident decisions about their retirement savings.

Managing workplace flexibility

Offering flexibility in the workplace can boost productivity, attract top talent and enhance performance; however, many businesses are yet to offer flexible work hours.

Flexible workplaces give employees autonomy in where and when they conduct their work, allowing them to match their work to fit in with their life commitments and energy levels to determine their best working arrangement. This flexibility often leads to higher levels of engagement, commitment to the business and more motivation to achieve results.

Although flexible workspaces are not suitable for everyone or every business; flexible working does come in many forms and not all employees need turn into telecommuters. For some workplaces, it may involve a job redesign or that employees can use half of their work time at times and places other than the office. Whereas, full-time telecommuting may be more appropriate for other types of workplaces.

Whether your workplace encourages flexible working or not, employers do have the responsibility to consider requests for flexibility. Here are three ways employers can best manage flexibility in their workplace:

Understand your employee’s circumstances
Not all employees will benefit or prefer flexible working, so it is best to assess employees on an individual basis. Some workers may find parental commitments or commuting time interferes with their ability to perform well, whereas some employees may just find they work better by self-managing their own work. Consider offering employees a trial period to see if flexible arrangements are successful or if employees struggle to keep up.

Develop a system for reviewing performance
Issues with performance can arise when working remotely if proper support systems are not in place. It is a good idea to implement a system for reviewing performance to ensure staff are coping with their work responsibilities and are meeting performance standards. Scheduling regular performance reviews and asking for feedback can increase productivity as they have measurable targets to aim for.

Consider the impact on your workplace
Carefully consider how flexible working arrangements would impact your workplace. Remember, there are many benefits for both employees and employers. Employers can benefit from the cost savings of less staff in the office, the increase in operating hours without the increase in wage costs and overall enhanced employee morale and reduced personal leave costs.

Benefits of a flexible working space

Although flexible work spaces are not suitable for everyone or every business, there are significant benefits to offering flexible working arrangements.

Businesses can deliver better results from allowing employees to work from where they need – whether it be home, a cafe or even on their daily commute.

Flexible working can increase employee productivity as it gives employees the option to determine their best working arrangement to meet their personal needs. This can lead to higher levels of engagement, commitment to the business and more motivation to achieve results.

Offering flexible working arrangements can also help when looking to recruit new staff. Flexible working is a highly desirable benefit, especially for younger generations. Flexible policies demonstrate that your business is willing to adapt to changing environments, which can help attract top talent.

For many businesses, flexible working also results in less office space, providing the potential to save money on desk space. In addition, flexible workers are shown to have higher levels of job satisfaction and are more likely to stay with your business, leading to lower turnover rates and hiring costs.

FBT on the private use of a motor vehicle

Fringe benefit tax (FBT) is payable for any whole or part day (24-hour period) a motor vehicle is available for private use.

The default FBT day starts from midnight, unless an alternative start time, i.e. 9am is selected. If a vehicle is taken home overnight, it will generally incur two days’ FBT.

For example, where an employee takes a work car home at 6pm and returns it to their employer’s premises the following day at 2pm, the employer will have to account for two days’ FBT.

Electing an alternative start time applies to all motor vehicles an employer files an FBT return for. The start time will apply for at least two years. In some situations, changes to the alternative start time during the two years may be considered.

Half of Kiwi businesses do not have a website

Despite small and medium sized businesses making up the majority of New Zealand’s business community, half of them still do not have a website.

According to the survey of SME Digital Readiness by Yellow, 50 per cent of Kiwi small businesses did not have a website and nearly 20 per cent were not utilising any online tools for marketing and sales.

Despite social media sites such as facebook and twitter long acknowledged to have a significant impact on the success and presence of a business both in the real and digital world, small businesses were not embracing this business strategy. This is seen as a particular concern as consumer behaviour skews heavily towards online engagement with businesses and their products, and not capitalising on this digital space means many small businesses are not reaching their consumers.

More than half of Kiwis use the web to search for businesses, products and services, with 17 per cent of those using the internet exclusively.

Riding out 2013

Rural business boosts the economy

New Zealand commodity prices rose for a second month in September, in the strongest monthly gain in a year-and-a-half, led by skim milk powder and aluminium.

The largest increase was shared by skim milk powder and aluminium, both up 11 per cent, followed by butter and whole milk powder up 8 per cent, wool and apple prices gaining 6 per cent, cheese climbing 5 per cent, venison up 2 per cent and logs and beef rising 0.5 per cent.

The price of pelts bucked the trend falling 10 per cent, with casein and kiwifruit prices down 2 per cent. Lamb prices eased 1 per cent.

In New Zealand dollar terms, the commodity price index rose for the first month in nine, up 3 per cent.

The strong kiwi dollar has damped the potential returns for local exporters, recently trading near its recent six month high of 82.81 US cents.

Running an effective home office Part 2

Invest in a fast Internet connection if you’re working from home full-time. Once you get used to fast service and being constantly connected to the Internet, it makes email communication and finding information much easier.

When you work from home, area you’ll quickly deal with is which expenses are deductible as business expenses and which are not.

Most normal business expenses that you would incur whether or not you were working from home: postage, office supplies, advertising, wages are all treated the same way as any other business. You can deduct those expenses as part of your regular deductions for the cost of doing business.

However, you have an additional tax savings option on your home office if you qualify, the home office deduction, enabling you to deduct a portion of the cost of your house or apartment used exclusively for business. Be careful! There are many things to consider before taking a home office deduction, including the fact that it is closely examined by the tax office.

Running an effective home office Part 1

For those who have a home office, the flexibility and extra time spent with the family are the most rewarding aspect.  It is also much more cost effective than renting or owning a business premises.  There are a few potential issues that come with operating out of your house; here are key points to a few main ones.

Now days much communication with customers is done electronically, but what about those times where a face to face meeting is necessary?   If you cannot arrange a meeting at the customer’s place of business, you must arrange your space to look professional and efficient.

Ideally, your office needs to be separately from your family surroundings. If possible, have a separate entrance or at least a path to your office that doesn’t go through the kids’ playroom or the kitchen.  If this is unavoidable always make sure your home is as clean and tidy as possible, a dirty house is a real turn off for potential clients.

If you need to, meet customers somewhere else, look for “neutral” locations, such as meeting them in a cafe. If you have an ongoing need, see if you can “sublet” or “rent” a meeting space or conference room on an hourly basis. “Executive suite” services — short-term office rentals — often offer hourly rentals as well secretarial services.

A separate business line or mobile is essential if you’re doing business from your home on an ongoing basis. Once your toddler answers a call from your most important client, you’ll see the necessity of a separate line for incoming business calls. If you want to be listed in the Yellow Pages or “business” section of the phone book, many local phone companies require you to have a “business” line.