Issue #20 - Holidays are coming..? 🤶

Why Halloween was a scream for this SME | How to get your business ready for Christmas | What is Meta? | A Budget round up for business owners | Tunes | Podcasts | More

Nov 05, 2021

Can you feel it? 🙌

With Halloween out of the way and Bonfire Night going out with a bang this weekend, now seems as good a time as any to get your business ready for the festive season.

Along with our 12 tips of Christmas, we’ve also got another Halloween-themed small business story, and we’ll be taking a look at why Facebook has changed its name to Meta. Or has it?

But before all that, here’s our obligatory bit on business energy - prices are still turbulent and there was no mention of any help with business energy bills in last week’s Budget. So, our message remains the same - if your business energy contract is coming to an end, it makes sense to run a price comparison with us to see if you can get cheaper rates than your supplier’s out of contract ones.

It costs nothing to run a price comparison with Bionic and you could save money.

Right, let’s get back to business - here’s Issue #20 of The Backbone…

🗣 S H O U T O U T

#BionicBusinessStory - Hever Castle 🦇

Bionic spoke to Jess Cutts, who manages events at historic Hever Castle. She told us all about their brand new ‘Halloween Scream’ event which was a huge hit with a whole new customer base.

Bionic: How did the team come up with the idea for ‘Halloween Scream’?

Jess Cutts: We worked very closely with AtmosFEAR on this new, exciting event and they designed the scares to accompany the stories.

B: How does the Hever team keep motivated and what spurs them on?

JC: We keep motivated by communicating our vision to the whole team. Keeping staff informed of the goals and the progress of the event along with lots of appreciation. Seeing all our hard work pay off when the event came to life was the best part for me and motivated us further.

B: Do you use technology to attract customers?

JC: On the whole, our campaign for this event has been digital and social media-heavy but we’re also using advertising on buses. We wanted to attract a younger audience to the Halloween event so we’ve added Snapchat and Tik Tok advertising campaigns to the mix too.”

B: What is the best part about working on campaigns like these?

JC: Creating something new and exciting, bringing an entirely different demographic to Hever is really special. It’s been exciting to work on this project.

Check out the Hever Castle website to find out more about the Halloween Scream. And click on an eerie-looking Hever Castle below to read more from this #BionicBusinessStory

📩 J O I N

We want to hear about you and your business 🗣

💡 How did you end up running your own business?

😟 As a business owner, what keeps you awake at night?

🤩 What’s your proudest achievement as a business owner?

🤔 What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

Leave a comment to get involved 👇

🤝🏻 T I P S

How to get your business ready for Christmas 🎄

Christmas is just around the corner. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fun-loving festive type or a total bah humbug, as soon as the nights start drawing in you just can't escape Christmas songs, tinsel, outdoor markets and the threat of snow.

So, in the true spirit of Christmas, here are Bionic's top 12 tips to help you jingle up your small business this festive season.

Get involved with a charity 👐
Winterise your website ❄
Transform your premises into a winter wonderland ⛄
Spread the gingerbread love 🍪
Get festive with your marketing 🎄
Set up some Christmas competitions 🎁
Do a roundup of the year 📆
Throw some tinsel on Twitter 🎆
Bring Santa to town 🎅
Show your staff they’re special 🤝
Celebrate your customers 🥳
Spread some cheer 🙌

To see those tips in more detail, click on the cup of hot chocolate below.

If you'd prefer to listen rather than read, here's an audio version of this blog.

🤳 S O C I A L

What is Meta? 🌐

You may have heard that Facebook is rebranding itself as Meta. But that might not mean what you think it does - Facebook will still be Facebook, WhatsApp will still be WhatsApp, and Instagram will still be Instagram, but they’ll all now be part of the Meta parent company.

It’s a bit like when Google announced that it would become one of several companies under the umbrella of a larger holding company called Alphabet.

Oculus - the VR company Facebook bought for $2 billion back in 2014 - will be getting a full rebrand though. From 2022 it will be known as Meta. The Oculus Quest will become the Meta Quest line and the Oculus App will be called the Meta Quest App.

The rebrand is part of a strategy to broaden the company’s focus, which is shifting away from simply being a social media platform and towards the creation of a ‘metaverse’.

What’s a ‘metaverse’?

The metaverse is a virtual world where you can virtually meet, work and play using a VR headset, glasses or your device. Basically all the stuff you can do in real life, but without having to leave your living room. A bit like The Matrix, but without the pods. Or a more immersive version of The Sims.

If you’ve got an hour spare, Mark Zuckerberg and guests will walk you through the whole thing in this video. Alternatively, you can watch this 10-minute version to find out the key details.

But if there’s one video from Meta that you must watch, it’s this toe-curling exchange between Mark Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg (remember him?) - staggeringly stilted stuff…

Get your business costs sorted 💷

Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾

Get business utilities sorted

Check out more ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trustpilot reviews

👐 S H A R E

If you love The Backbone (or even if you just quite like it) share it with someone who has equally great taste in email newsletters.

Share The Backbone

🗞 R E A D

We reckon we did a pretty good job of rounding up last week’s Budget announcement for business owners. If you’re wondering what it all means for you, check out this Bionic blog.

How will the Autumn Budget 2021 affect your business?

The governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey does not just have rising prices on his mind this week. He was a delegate at the COP26 climate change talks, and central bankers like him have a big role in the "rewiring" of the financial system to achieve net-zero.

The Bank of England says cutting carbon could push up prices

🎧 L I S T E N

Playlist

Chosen by Sehej, graphic designer at Bionic, Mellow Bars is one for those cozy, autumn nights on the sofa - preferably with a glass of wine or a hot cuppa. Sit back and relax to 100 of the most chilled out hip-hop vibes, including tunes from Nas, Mosez Jones, Free Party, Drake and Rick Ross.

Podcast

The Small Business Made Simple Podcast does exactly what it says on the tin. Get advice on everything from social media marketing to finding your niche from someone who's been in the trenches, lived the ups and downs of small business and can shine a light on the peaks and toughs.

🔥 H A S H T A G

If you want to hear more from us, check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn feeds.

Get involved by using the hashtags #BeABionicBusiness and #BionicBusinessStory.

🏡 H O U S E K E E P I N G

Check your folders 📁

If The Backbone isn’t landing in your inbox every other Friday, please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If it isn’t in your spam folder, it may have been moved to another folder, like ‘Promotions’ or ‘Social’.

🚫 S T O P

Kiitos*

Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic bulletin 🤝🏻

Please leave a comment and let us know if there’s anything else we should be featuring.

The Backbone