Author: Franz Malten Buemann

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If your business is reasonably successful, you may come up with many reasons why an effective website isn’t all that relevant for you.

Sure, you understand the need to have some web presence, but you might not believe that an effective website is going to make that big of a difference for your particular business — especially if you’re already plenty profitable.
What do you think? Do you need a website to run a successful business?
This article discusses reasons why having a business website is a wise investment and why you sometimes don’t need a website.

Does My Business Need a Website?
Many business owners ask, “Since I have a small business with a small workforce, and since we don’t sell anything online, do I need a website?”
The answer is YES!
If you have a business, you should have a website to avoid losing business to competitors that already have one.
Furthermore, are you sure you can’t sell your product online? COVID-19 has altered the retail landscape, with millions of shoppers online looking for everything from books to clips to houses to natural gas and more. So while you dither, your competitor has likely seen how effective a website can be for their business.
You definitely don’t want to be left behind.
But you might ask, “Doesn’t my Facebook page count?”
Do I Need a Website if I Have a Facebook Page?
It’s common for businesses to rely on Facebook or other social media platforms as their main advertisement channel. And these channels offer advantages.
For example, they help build a larger audience and even help you carry out market research. However, a Facebook page should not replace your business website. Here are some reasons why.
1. You Don’t Own Your Facebook Page
What happens if, one morning, Facebook decides that it won’t support businesses anymore? If your Facebook page were your sole online presence, all the clients and followers you built would likely disappear.
In fact, not too long ago, Facebook was down globally, causing moments of frenzy.
And while it’s doubtful Facebook will stop supporting businesses, you don’t have any say in the changes Facebook chooses to implement.
However, with your website, you have total control over your websites’ appearance and features.
2. Facebook Has SEO Limitations
Think about it. Where do you go when looking for a business locally? Facebook or Google? The 3.5 billion daily queries on Google show that most people turn to search engines over social networks to find information.
A business website allows you to position yourself so people will find you when they make search queries concerning the products you sell or the services you provide. Even if you can easily compete with larger websites, you can optimize your site for local searches to attract an audience in your area.
3. A Website is More Credible
A business website is a badge of trust, and people only buy from businesses they know, like, and trust. So while it might be quicker to create a Facebook page, you would be able to command more authority and trust with a business website.
4. Attention is Fleeting on Facebook
Facebook is massively competitive. Having your business listed on Facebook means that you’re constantly fighting off competition from several other companies.
What’s more, you have to compete with your potential client’s Facebook friends. Many people find advertisements annoying, especially when they want to interact with friends, making them ignore your business posts or ads.
On the other hand, a business website ensures that you have a potential client’s full attention. So while you might do some legwork to get them over to your website, once they’re on your website, the chances of patronage are higher.
Now, we aren’t saying you shouldn’t have a Facebook page for your business. But, instead, your Facebook page and other social media should support your website—not replace it.
Benefits of a Website
Whether you’re a small or big business, a business website offers plenty of advantages. Here are the most significant benefits of having a business website.
1. A Business Website Makes You Look Professional
Anyone can create a company page on Facebook; it’s free and can be done in a jiffy. This low barrier to entry takes away much of the credibility of a business social media page. Customers don’t know who’s behind a Facebook page, where they are, and whether it’s all a scam.
On the other hand, creating a business website is not free and indicates that you’re relatively serious about your business. Therefore, a business website makes you look more professional and credible.
2. It’s an Essential Step in Your Customer’s Journey
An effective website is where you want your audience from different channels to end up. It’s on the website that you’ll inspire action from your potential clients.
Your website is like a physical shop—people walk by it until they come in to look at what you offer. So even if they don’t buy something the first time they walk in, they might buy something on subsequent visits.
On a similar vein, customers come across your business via different channels like social media feeds. If the social feed ad is interesting, they’ll expect to visit your website to find out more about the business. If there isn’t a website, they might not take the next logical step in the customer journey.
3. A Website Increases Your Visibility
There are over 4.5 billion active internet users worldwide, and over 90% of them accessed the Internet via mobile devices.
Without a website, your business is virtually invisible to these people. With COVID-19 pushing the global market even more digital, your business will become invisible to those that matter unless you invest in a website.
4. It’s Essential For Local Businesses
Many small business owners don’t see the need to invest in an effective business website. However, they’re currently missing out on an incredible source of revenue.
The following statistics show how important a website is for a local business:

46% of search on Google include local intent
97% of users use search to find local businesses
28% of users purchased an item after a local search
70% of users will visit a store because of what they found online

A business website will help you capture all of this potential and make your business even more profitable.
5. It Offers Social Proof
What your customers say about your business can determine whether others patronize you or not. So while review websites like Yelp are good, your website is the best place for people to get more information about your business.
Displaying your best testimonials on your website is an effective way to establish trust and social proof. What is more, publishing your best reviews on your website ensures that third-party review sites don’t minimize the good things people say about your business.
6. A Business Website Gives Lasting Value
One of the best things about investing in a business website is how it continues to generate value for you even years after you’ve created it.
When you pay for ads on social media, your potential clients only see your ads for as long as you run them. If they don’t see it, you’ll have to pay again to run the ad campaign.
On the other hand, a business website will give you ROI over time. Even if it doesn’t give you returns in the first year, you have time to tweak things until you get returns.
7. Creating a Business Website is Easier and Cheaper Than You Think
Many business owners refuse to create a website because they believe it’s difficult and expensive to create an effective website. However, that’s not true.
There has never been an easier and cheaper time to create high-quality websites. There are affordable, easy-to-use website builders available to you. Creating a website and hosting a website is pretty straightforward.
8. A Business Website Lets You Sell Online
Ecommerce sales are exploding and are projected to hit over $5.4 trillion in 2022. Surely, none of these sales happen with businesses that don’t own websites.
Even if you aren’t a traditional ecommerce business, having an online storefront can help you attract new customers and help you continue selling even when your physical store is closed.
9. You Have Complete Control Over Your Website
Since your website is your property, you get absolute design freedom — unlike with social media platforms.
You can share user reviews, videos, images, and whatever else you desire.
Also, you don’t have to follow the constantly updated rules of social platforms. And if there’s a social media blackout, like when Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all disappeared for several hours, your website and its content remain safe.
10. A Business Website is Easy to Manage
Managing websites used to be daunting. However, with a content management system (CMS) like CMS Hub or WordPress, it’s now easier than ever to manage a website. In addition, you don’t need any technical skills to keep your website up to date.
11. Websites Improve Customer Service
An effective website will contain plenty of important information your customers need. Therefore, there’s no need for them to call about location, hours of operation, and other simple questions. By helping customers, a website improves the overall customer experience.
Furthermore, since simple questions from customers don’t bog down your workforce, they can focus on other vital processes that increase company productivity.
12. A Website Helps You Edge Out The Competition
Even as a small business, an effective website allows you to compete with your industry’s “big boys.” If you play your cards right and properly optimize your website, it’s possible to outrank bigger websites, and get quality leads organically from search engines.
But even with the many benefits a website provides, is it still possible that you don’t need one for your business? Yes, and here are some reasons why.
5 Reasons Why Your Business Doesn’t Need a Website
Here are some reasons why your business might not need a website.
1. You’re Not Looking to Grow
One of the primary reasons for having a working, effective website is to increase the number of clients you have and grow your revenues. If you’re not looking to grow your business significantly, there’s probably little reason to try and find more clients or increase your revenues.
2. You Have Enough Leads
Many businesses do a great job of getting referral customers and tapping their existing network for new business. If this is you, then perhaps a website is not that important. This assumes, of course, that your Rolodex will continue to be an effective mechanism for you to get all the new business you need.
3. You’re Not Hiring Any Time Soon
If you are looking to increase staff, the chances are that your prospective hires will likely want to learn more about you. And they’ll probably turn to your website.
With all other things being equal, potential recruits will pick a company with a vibrant website over one with a brochure on the web.
Small businesses would be well served by a website, as they don’t have the resources that can help attract exceptional people outside of their immediate network. A website can help with that.
But if you’re not looking to hire top talent, then you can do without a business website.
4. You’re Operating in a Virtual Monopoly
If you have the luxury of running a business for which there’s very little (if any) competition, and you’ve got an offering that people must have, a website is probably not crucial. Your clients need what you have, and there’s nowhere else to go. Congratulations! Though a shiny new website might impress your spouse and colleagues, you probably don’t need one to improve your business.
5. You Don’t Expect to Sell the Company Any Time Soon
For more and more types of businesses, the website is an important asset that factors into valuation discussions. This is particularly true if you have a startup business, a hi-tech business, or one that “scales” well (i.e., adding new customers does not increase costs proportionately).
The reason is quite simple. If you have an effective website and can demonstrate that it is successful at helping you get new clients, you have a better business than someone who doesn’t. The Internet is an excellent way for many companies to have a low customer acquisition cost.
The other nice thing about the Internet as a vehicle for marketing and sales is that it can be more easily measured. Imagine if you are selling your business and showing the acquirer a chart of your web traffic (and how it’s grown over time) and precise data on how that traffic translates into revenues — you will likely find that the two are highly correlated. If I were on the buying side, I’d sit up and take notice.
Final Thoughts
The decision to either create a website for your business or not is ultimately yours to make. However, if part of your business goals is to improve lead generation, visibility, social proof, and authority, then creating a website is an excellent place to start.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2006 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Blogging is not a major piece of artwork like the Sistine Chapel, but there is an art to making your blog a masterpiece. Blogs are a combination of timely and evergreen content.

Timely content focuses on trends, news articles, and pop culture events, while evergreen content stays relevant and provides value for a long time. It is rare to update timely content simply because it’s old news; however, there is value in updating and reviving old evergreen content.

Leveraging old blog posts and their established place on the web can extend the life of your best content. It is especially beneficial when your content has reached a traffic plateau — a period where your growth rate is stagnant.
John Bonini, the Director of Marketing at Databox, says, “Your best opportunity for increasing organic traffic short-term is in updating the content you’ve already published, not (exclusively) publishing new stuff.” Updating this content can boost your ranking on search engine page results (SERPs) and drive more traffic to your post.
Traffic to your post also comes from backlinks. It takes time to acquire backlinks to new content. Alternatively, old content is less likely to receive new backlinks because the information is outdated. Updating old blog posts can help you keep the backlinks your page has already received and acquire new backlinks by reinforcing the value and authority of your content with current information.
Imagine a years-old blog post listing “Minority-Owned Restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina.” Looking at this post today might have some use, but overall, this post is severely outdated. Consider how fickle the restaurant business can be, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a chance that some of the restaurants on this list are no longer open. Other minority-owned restaurants could have opened up in their place. Updating this blog post with current information will immediately increase its value and improve its standing with users and search engines.
Reviving an old blog post for SEO isn’t a one-and-done process. Let’s take a look at how you can update your content with a few key steps.
How To Revive An Old Blog Post
Let’s turn your blog post into a masterpiece. Before reviving an old blog post, how do you choose which posts are worth bringing back to life? To hit short-term growth goals, John Bonini recommends updating the following content:

The Biggest Losers: Content that’s decayed (lost organic traffic) at a high volume over the last 3-6 months.
The Almost Famous: Content that’s currently ranking on page 2.
The Nobodies: Content that’s targeting high-intent, high-volume keywords that are not ranking at all.

Bonini suggests that updating old content can drive organic traffic to previously successful but declining posts, and boost the ranking of content sitting on page 2 of the SERPs. For blog posts that are not ranking at all due to high-volume keywords and keyword difficulty, consider a complete overhaul to rewrite and restructure the content.
To revive an old blog post, you should:

Target new keywords.
Update the on-page SEO.
Update the body content.
Internally link to new content.
Add and optimize new images and videos.
Fix the format.
Correct typos and improve readability.
Update the blog post with a new date.
Reindex your blog post with Google.

1. Target new keywords.
How old is your blog post? Depending on its initial publish date, one of two things could be true. One, you were targeting keywords based on keyword difficulty and search volume at that time. Two, you didn’t have the SEO knowledge to implement keyword research.
Search volume indicates how many people are entering a keyword into a search engine. This metric, commonly referred to as Monthly Search Volume (MSV), anticipates how much traffic is available for that keyword. Evaluate search volume with keyword difficulty. Keyword difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to rank on the first page of a SERP for a specific keyword. Neither keyword difficulty nor search volume can solely determine your target keywords.
If your blog post is from years ago and you knew about SEO and keyword research, the keyword difficulty and search volume for your target keywords have likely changed. If you were unaware of the importance of SEO, your content is likely missing keywords altogether. That is why targeting new keywords is crucial.
How do you find new keywords? You will need to:

Identify industry-related terms in your niche.
Use keyword research tools to produce long-tail keywords.
Select keywords based on search volume and keyword difficulty.

Let’s walk through the process. Imagine you are a fashion blogger updating a post on androgynous clothing. “Androgynous” will be an industry term that serves as the base for your target keywords.
Next, use keyword research tools. Google Keyword Planner is a popular tool among bloggers and marketers; however, other resources include Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, SEMRush, and Soovle. After entering the term “androgynous” into these tools, they will produce long-tail keywords. For example, a Google Keyword Planner search for this term yields long-tail keywords such as androgynous style, androgynous clothing, androgynous alternative fashion, and about 50 more options. Once you have a list of keywords to work with, evaluate their keyword difficulty and search volume.
Search volume is directly related to how many people are searching for that target keyword. While high search volume can mean more visitors, it is directly affected by keyword difficulty. That is why it is best to evaluate both at the same time.
Let’s compare the keywords “androgynous style” and “androgynous clothing.” Google Keyword Planner shows MSV results at 1K-10K searches for both keywords. Because the search volume is the same, the deciding favor comes from each term’s keyword difficulty. Using the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, “androgynous style” has a difficulty score of 10 versus a score of 34 for “androgynous clothing.” Remember — keyword difficulty is a measure of how difficult it would be to rank for a particular keyword. Androgynous style has the lower difficulty score, meaning it would be easier to rank for this term.
Keyword research is a significant part of SEO; however, updating other on-page SEO factors can improve your content’s ranking.
2. Update the on-page SEO.
Updating and implementing your SEO strategy on an old blog post takes place in a few key areas. You will need to update and optimize your:

SEO Title Tag
Meta Description
Article Title
Subheadings

SEO Title Tag
The SEO title tag is often the first thing noticed on a SERP. It is the clickable name of the webpage that leads to the post. Update this title to reflect any new target keywords. Be mindful that while there is no limit to the length of SEO title tags, Google search results only show the first 70 characters. To maximize your post and its perceived relevance, include the keyword at the beginning of the title.
Meta Description
You can find the meta description on a SERP as the featured text beneath the SEO title tag and URL. This text should include your target keyword and clue readers into the purpose of your content. Make it good! An eye-catching meta description could be what causes readers to click on your content or keep scrolling to another result.
Article Title
Some bloggers fail to realize that your SEO title yag and article title don’t have to be the same. While the title tag appears on the search engine results page, the article title appears on the destination page. Update this title with any new keywords as well.
Subheadings
Subheadings act as an outline of your content. Before readers decide to commit to your blog post, many will skim through it to determine if it is worth their time. Add your keyword to the main header of your content. It will increase the perceived relevance of your content and help boost your rankings.
After you make changes to the title tag, meta description, article title, and subheadings, it is time to move on to where the most changes happen — the body content.
3. Update the content.
The bulk of your updates will happen in the body content. Begin by rewriting your introduction. Continue by updating the rest of the content as needed. It will be done in two steps — removing out-of-date content and adding current information.
When removing out-of-date content, start with information that no longer applies. Let’s revisit the keyword “androgynous style” from before. Imagine a fashion blogger writing a piece this yearon androgynous style and its style icons from the last ten years. They might write about Prince and David Bowie. With both musicians having passed away a few years ago, their information would no longer apply to a future update of this blog post.
Removing out-of-date content also includes removing old sources from your post. How old is too old? Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) recommends using sources published within the last ten years for arts, humanities, literature, and history. For fast-paced fields, such as online marketing and tech, aim to use resources from the last 2-3 years.
When removing old sources and content, your goal should be to replace them with new information. As you update your content, remember to build your internal links.
4. Focus on links.
Using links to revive an old blog post is a significant way to boost SEO. Links can boost your ranking on a search engine results page and increase the credibility of your post. Update your links in two steps.
First, search for broken links. Broken links are dead ends that take visitors to a 404 error page. If a reader clicks on a link, it’s because they want more information. If they find a broken link, it immediately diminishes the quality and credibility of your content and increases their frustration. Remove, repair, or redirect any broken links.
Second, refresh internal links. Interlinking is when you link to other relevant blog posts on your site. This practice keeps users on your site longer, boosts your content quality, and improves SEO. As you update your content, add new links to existing content on your website.
5. Add and optimize new images and videos.
High-quality blogs have high-quality visuals. Adding images and videos brings us back to the two benefits of reviving an old blog post — providing a better user experience and increased opportunities for SEO.
Adding and optimizing new images and videos can:

Increase user time on your page.
Drive more traffic to your post.
Break up solid text.
Encourage social media sharing.
Make your post easier to understand.

Comparatively, a lot more goes into image SEO than video SEO. Here are the steps you need to take to revive your old blog post with images.
Find the Right Image
The first thing you want to do is prioritize original images if it is within your means. Taking originals often comes with the added cost of hiring a photographer. If this expense is out of your budget, use a combination of free and paid stock images. When selecting the right image for your post, choose candid images versus staged pictures.

Let’s use an example with two images we took from the free stock website Pexels. Generally speaking, most photography is staged, but there is a clear difference in the image above. A candid picture is when the subject doesn’t know they’re being photographed. The image on the left is not candid, but it appears as one. Compare it to the image on the right. While this image is significantly better than most over-posed, white background stock images out there, this image still feels less natural than that on the left. When selecting the right image, you want it to feel as natural as possible.
Finding the right image also means making sure they are relevant. Revisiting our fashion blog idea of androgynous style, it wouldn’t make sense to include examples of distinctly “masculine” or “feminine” styles unless they were tools for comparison. Make sure your images are relevant and match your content.
Once you have the right image, it’s time to name it.
Choose the Right File Name
The file name of your image is another way to improve SEO. Google indexes images found in blog posts. For them to understand what the image is about, the file name needs to do two things. It needs to include your keyword and describe the picture.
Say you were using an image of David Bowie during his iconic Ziggy Stardust tour. A name for the file could be androgynous-style-ziggy-stardust-tour.jpg. You might be wondering why Ziggy Stardust is used instead of David Bowie. In short, it’s not descriptive enough. David Bowie spent decades touring, so including his name in the file image is very broad. Because the alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, is associated with him in every corner of the internet, Google will have no trouble connecting the image to him.
Enhance Images with Alt Text
Alt text serves two purposes. One, it is the descriptive text for an image in case it can’t be displayed. It can happen if the user experiences technical issues. Including alt text for your images makes sure that the reader doesn’t lose any critical information.
Two, alt text serves to help when your image cannot be viewed. And yes, there is a difference. Accessibility is necessary for those who are blind or have other visual disabilities. Even when pictures appear in your blog post, the alt text will describe the image for those who can’t see it.
Use your keyword in your alt text, but focus your efforts on a good description of the image.
6. Fix or change the format.
Fix your format to match SEO best practices. As previously mentioned, online marketing is a fast-paced industry, which means the best practices often change over time. Current SEO best practices for format changes include adding a definition of your target keyword, adding numbered lists near the top of the post, and using headings and subheadings to strengthen your keyword.
7. Correct typos and improve readability.
First, let’s correct the typos. Tell me who and when. Who wrote the original blog post, and when was it written? The answer to this question can dictate how many typos you’d expect to find in the original post. It depends on the strength of the writer at that time.
Years ago, it felt as if we would live and die by the corrections provided by Microsoft Word. Now, there are options. Grammarly and Ginger are two popular proofreading tools that instantly identify grammar and punctuation errors. They also help improve readability.
Why is readability important? Readability directly connects to user experience. Readers will “bounce off” or exit the page if they decide that your blog post is too hard to read. High bounce rates negatively affect SEO. It sends a message to search engines that your content was irrelevant to users and that users are unlikely to read the content.
Readability measures how easy it is to read something. Higher scores mean that the content is easier to read. The words and sentences used in your post affect this score. Improve your content’s readability by:

Writing shorter sentences.
Breaking up long paragraphs.
Avoiding passive voice.
Removing filler words.

Previous tips on this list that improve readability including using headings and subheadings, bulleted lists, and images.
8. Publish the blog post with a new date.
It is one of the easiest ways to revive an old blog post for SEO. To emphasize it again, people do not gravitate to out-of-date content. Make sure your updated blog post reflects the current date. Another common practice is adding the current year to your SEO title tag. SearchPilot conducted a case study that demonstrated a 5% increase in organic traffic for a blog post with an SEO title tag that included the date versus one without. Adding the date to your title tag will show that your content is new — which users and SERPs prioritize.
9. Reindex your blog post with Google.
The whole point of updating your blog post is to get it noticed. Make sure it does. After you’ve republished your blog post, reindex it with Google. If your site is set up in Google Search Console, paste the URL of your blog post in the URL Inspection tool and request indexing. While Google will eventually reindex your content on its own, using this tool will speed up the process, allowing users to find your updated blog post as soon as possible.
Revive to stay alive.
Online marketing, which includes SEO, is a fast-paced industry. Its best practices are constantly changing. To keep up with current SEO practices and craft a great user experience, it is necessary to perform regular updates on your content. Use the steps and tips in this post to revive your blog posts and keep them alive in the eyes of your users and search engines.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2008 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

A memo (also known as a memorandum, or “reminder”) is used for internal communications regarding procedures or official business within an organization.
Unlike an email, a memo is a message you send to a large group of employees, like your entire department or everyone at the company. You might need to write a memo to inform staff of upcoming events, or broadcast internal changes.

If you need to inform your employees of official internal business, here’s an easy-to-follow business memo template, as well as examples for further guidance.
Business Memo Template
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
I’m writing to inform you that [reason for writing memo].
As our company continues to grow … [evidence or reason to support your opening paragraph].
Please let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, I’d appreciate your cooperation as [official business information] takes place.

Header:
In your header, you’ll want to clearly label your content “Memorandum” so your readers know exactly they’re receiving. Then, you’ll want to include “TO”, “FROM”, “DATE”, and “SUBJECT”. This information is relevant for providing content, like who you’re addressing, and why.
Paragraph One:
In the first paragraph, you’ll want to quickly and clearly state the purpose of your memo. You might begin your sentence with the phrase, “I’m writing to inform you … ” or “I’m writing to request … “. A memo is meant to be short, clear, and to-the-point. You’ll want to deliver your most critical information upfront, and then use subsequent paragraphs as opportunities to dive into more detail.
Paragraph Two:
In the second paragraph, you’ll want to provide context or supporting evidence. For instance, let’s say your memo is informing the company of an internal re-organization. If this is the case, paragraph two should say something like, “As our company continues to grow, we’ve decided it makes more sense to separate our video production team from our content team. This way, those teams can focus more on their individual goals.”
Paragraph Three:
In the third paragraph, you’ll want to include your specific request of each employee — if you’re planning a team outing, this is the space you’d include, “Please RSVP with dietary restrictions,” or “Please email me with questions.”
On the contrary, if you’re informing staff of upcoming construction to the building, you might say, “I’d appreciate your cooperation during this time.” Even if there isn’t any specific action you expect from employees, it’s helpful to include how you hope they’ll handle the news and whether you expect them to do something in response to the memo.
Downloadable Memo Template
Want to see the above memo format in its final form? Download HubSpot’s free business memo templates, shown below. The document gives you a framework that sorts your memorandum into subtopics to help employees better digest the information and understand what’s expected of them after reading it.
Download this Template
Business Memo Template Format
The format depicted in the templates above is designed to effectively communicate your message. A memo should disseminate the necessary information in a way that is easy for a mass number of employees to digest.
An accurate subject line will alert them that this memo is relevant to them specifically. And beginning with an executive summary allows recipients to understand the general message before you dive deeper into the details. The background information offers context to the message, and the overview and timeline should answer questions that are likely to come up.
Business Memo Template Examples
Different industries or situations will require slightly different memos. Certain ones will need to be longer or shorter, others may not have a timeline, and some will have extensive background information. The format of your memo should change to fit the message you want your employees to receive.
Launch Delay Memo
The objective of this memo is to announce that the launch of a product will be delayed. The introduction includes the new date, so a timeline or long overview isn’t necessary. This format of memo could be applied to other situations where a simple, but important, change is occurring. Other date changes, promotions, milestones, or product announcements could also utilize this format.
Building Update Memo
There are logistical aspects of a business that concern your employees, but don’t necessarily involve their work. This memo depicts an example about the kitchen in the office. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but shouldn’t affect their work much. This could be applied to other building updates, work from home days, or other widespread but minor announcements.
Community Memo
Celebrations, events, theme days, or other fun things for your employees can also be communicated through memos. Community memos like this example are generally shorter because they don’t require much background information or many details. These just need to include a summary, date, and location at minimum.
Write Your Memos To the Point
The main difference between a memo and just an email is not the level of complexity, it’s the size of the audience. A memo can be simple or intricate, as long as it effectively communicates your message and is relevant to the receiving group of employees. And the message itself should be clear and concise, no matter which memo format you use.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to rage in March 2020, Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boulder, Colorado faced a similar challenge to small businesses around the world: how to stay afloat.
Employees wanted an honest financial picture of what was happening with their employer. They also had tons of ideas on how to keep the business afloat and they wanted a bigger voice as the group of people who interacted with customers on a regular basis.
It turned out employee-ownership solved both problems, offering transparency and a newfound path toward sustainability and growth.
Open for over 40 years and initially owned by four partners, one owner sold their shares to employees, increasing the total number of owners to 13 and welcoming employees to buy shares of the company after one year of employment.
In a situation some people might decry as an anti-capitalist nightmare, Trident Booksellers and Cafe (also known as “the Trident”) not only found a new lease on life but also discovered growth opportunities stemming from its newly minted employee-owners.
Featuring insights from Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons podcast episode four, and the accompanying unpublished interview, multiple employee-owners of the Trident shared why the bookstore moved to employee ownership and how the shift positively impacted the business.
The partners at Trident Booksellers and CafeSelling shares to employees
After decades of ownership, one of Trident’s four owners wanted to cash out his shares during the pandemic. He began the process of looking for a buyer and noticed one promising opportunity: his employees.
Initially not on anyone’s mind when the Trident partner wanted to sell his shares, an employee buyout made immediate sense given the Trident’s history and how employees showed up in the company.
The cafe attracted a serious crowd of regulars, some who had been coming for decades, citing the quirky culture, friendly staff, and historic building as key reasons for always coming back. Employees and regulars built strong bonds of friendship over the years. Sophia, a barista-owner at the Trident, even said one regular feels almost like her uncle rather than just a customer.
This kind of environment made employee ownership attractive to the Trident’s other three owners. They realized that the strong bonds employees had with customers could benefit the whole organization.
Employees regularly acted like owners within the Trident, sharing ideas upward and caring deeply for customers. So giving them the opportunity to actually become owners was a great next step as it not only rewarded loyalty in employees but also helped ensure the Trident would retain its unique culture under new ownership.
Cyanne Stonesmith, an employee-owner who runs the Trident’s bookstore business, explained that “with all the uncertainty that was happening” with the pandemic, “it felt like the right time” for employees to buy into the business. Nine employees bought shares at the time and Cyanne said employees collectively own one-third of the business.
Everyone can speak to the manager
A distinct positive shift occurred for the Trident after it became employee-owned. Previously, regulars that had questions or wanted to speak with an owner – feedback from customers had always been part of the culture – required a big song and dance. Employees would either have to grab an owner if they were around or relay the notes upward and hope someone listened.
Now, every customer can speak to the manager because chances are they just made your coffee. And with the new cooperative ownership structure, the original three owners also occasionally work shifts at the Trident to be closer to their customers and co-owners.
Jake, an Assistant Manager and part-owner who runs the beer and wine program at the Trident, shared his feelings about this shift.
“We’re not just trying to make it to the next quarter and grow and grow and grow,” said Jake. “Which is nice. It feels like people’s voices are respected. They feel heard.”
Part of that newfound feeling that employees feel heard stems from the Trident’s new consensus-focused management style. Under the previous ownership structure, the four owners made decisions, and employees executed those decisions. Employee feedback was always welcome, but it didn’t always make it to the decision-making table. Now, Cyanne shared that the 13 owners focus more on building consensus for decisions and use a majority vote structure to make decisions.
“It’s not about an individual,” said Cyanne. “It’s about a community, and being able to work with your co-workers and your co-owners is one of the most rewarding things.”
It’s a priority in meetings to ensure everyone’s ideas are heard before a vote, then the team operates on a disagree-and-commit style structure so decisions don’t get lost in endless conversations. This means that people don’t get their way all the time, but the weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) structure of management meetings offers everyone the time to say their bit.
“Everyone’s opinion is respected, everyone gets a say, and then at the end of those discussions, if we need to make a yes or no decision, we take a vote and it’s a majority vote,” said Cyanne. “And so even if everyone doesn’t agree, or everyone doesn’t get the outcome that they wanted, we all really respect each other’s opinions and our thoughts.”
The impacts of ownership
The Trident has been a central figure in Boulder since its founding over 40 years ago, cultivating a community that has global reach. Baristas have even been recognized in different countries by travellers who visited the Trident, with regulars and holiday guests alike thrilled that their favorite barista is also a part-owner in the company.
An unexpected benefit for the Trident is that employee ownership became its own marketing campaign of sorts. Cyanne said new customers – both from Boulder and tourists to the area – chose to stop at the Trident because they are fascinated by a cafe where the baristas own a piece of the business. This wasn’t intentional nor was it actively marketed, but the tight-knit culture of the Trident meant regulars heard about the shift, word got out, and people were drawn in with fascination.
Underneath the global recognition and cool-factor, though, lies the real impact of employee ownership: not only do employees feel a renewed sense of pride for their company now that they own a piece of it, but owning part of an asset gives employees real leverage in their lives. As homeownership for millennials and Gen-Z is increasingly out of reach in cities like Boulder, owning shares in a business becomes the asset that employees can borrow against, leverage, and have a deeper personal impact on.
Further, since the Trident is already set up for consensus-style management and new employees are welcome to buy into the company after one year of work, there’s even more opportunity for the Trident to have impact beyond creating local jobs. And the 13 current owners are excited to see who comes along next.
“I’m really excited for more people to buy in,” said Cyanne.

As part of my work i have a need to reach out to affiliates in YouTube based on some criteria from my clients like country, channel category etc and have the affiliate market the product in the channel. This requires searching in YouTube with key words, go to the affiliates channel, check location, solve the captcha, get the email ids and then reach out. I found many of the channels don’t have emails or locations which I have to skip. currently I’m doing this process manually and it takes time and wanted to know if there is a tool or automated way to do this ? Any one else with a need to search in YouTube for contacts and reach out ? Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Last Updated on November 18, 2021 by Rakesh Gupta Why do businesses make purchases? Most times, it’s need-based – we need a better way to interact with our customers. Sometimes there’s a desire component – I’ve worked with this company/product before, and really want to again. And finally, sometimes there’s
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Everyone has their own workflow for creating social media content. In writing, authors who plan out their plot in advance are called “plotters,” while others who fly by the seat of their pants are called “pantsers.” No matter your style when it comes to social media content — personally, I’m more of a plotter, but I love the pantsers I know —  we want to support you. Now, with just a few clicks, you can import content directly into Buffer from Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive. Alongside our recent Canva integration — it has become easier than ever to create and publish social media posts without having to leave Buffer.
More about this new integration with Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive
This integration is rolled out to every Buffer plan, meaning it’s also available if you’re on our Free plan.To get started uploading content to Buffer from any of these integrations, simply log in to your Buffer account and create a new post. You’ll see the buttons for Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive right next to Canva.
Here’s what it looks like to bring in content from Google Drive, right from our composer.For more information about setting up this connection, check out this Help Center article.
What’s next
We’re keen to continue helping small business owners save time while uploading, creating, and publishing content, which is why we’re planning on adding more value with new features.
Over the next few months, our team will continue iterating on this integration as well as working on native image editing functionality, such as cropping, rotating, sharpening, and more. Have a request? Reach out and share it!
Other resources:

Wondering how to plan your content out? Check out this post.
Curious about the integration with Canva? Read more here.
Looking for ideas for creating social media content? Here’s our latest on that.

So what kind of social media content creator are you — a plotter or a pantser? Send us a tweet to let us know. We hope this new integration makes your workflow easier either way! 👖