Shipping and delivery fundamentals: Managing shipping times and supply chain

Not so long ago, online shoppers were happy to wait 10 days to have a package delivered. But the level of service expected from businesses when it comes to delivery speed and c...

Quick guide: Payment options to increase your revenue

Offering a variety of payment options can help to boost your revenue. But how do you know what transaction systems work best for your business and your customers?

Digital tools that will help you create loyal customers

Creating loyal customers is essential to the success of any business. Digital tools can improve the way customers experience your brand - whether it’s helping you interact with...

Selling online: how to improve delivery in 3 different ways

Even as COVID-19 restrictions ease, many consumers still prefer ordering online instead of in store. But are you delivering when it comes to delivery?

Bridging the gap: How regional businesses are thriving online

As society becomes more digitally connected, many regional businesses are thriving online thanks to technology.

Online Christmas Shopping: 5 ways to prepare your business

Despite COVID-19 restrictions easing, many people might still prefer to shop online Christmas sales instead of in-store this year. Is your business ready to meet the demands of...

Explainer: The payment methods in Australia that consumers want

New technology has been changing the payment types that consumers use to pay for goods and services for a while, but the physical limitations caused by COVID-19 have only accel...

Grow with video marketing for small businesses

It’s no secret that online video marketing is an excellent medium to deliver a marketing message. Whether your objective is brand awareness, product education or sales, nothing...

4 ways to amplify your online shopping experience

With these simple changes, your business can revitalise its online checkout experience to meet and exceed your customers’ expectations so they keep coming back.

Deliver exceptional customer service in the digital world

Finding – and keeping – your competitive edge as a business is a tricky affair. If you’ve made a recent pivot to online trade, the way you interact with your consumers has like...

How to find out if your website shows up in search results

In this step-by-step guide, discover how to figure out if your website isn’t showing up in search engine results - and how to fix it so your business is seen where it matters m...

Shipping and delivery fundamentals: How to choose a shipping cost method

If you’re selling a product online, shipping and delivery (and the communications around these things) are a crucial part of a customer’s experience of your business. In this f...

Keep customers happy and maintain your work-life balance: Virginia Martin, founder of Búl

Customers might be making enquiries about your business around the clock, but you don’t need to trade your well-earned downtime to be helpful and responsive. Virginia Martin, f...

5 things customers expect from your business online

Do you know which online features customers think are important when dealing with businesses online? Research shows that you may be underestimating these five things.

Top 9 Website Checklist

Is your website up to date with the latest digital marketing trends? Learn the top website essentials your business must have with Smarter Business.

Online advertising for Small Business (Quick Guide)

Looking to get extra attention for your business quickly? Here’s a guide to online advertising services that can help you DIY your online marketing in-house.

Is a Poor Website Impacting Your Business?

Many small businesses in Australia have websites that could be doing them more harm than good. Here are the top things to consider to avoid negative impact. Running a small b...

Creating a Small Business Website

Explore the top techniques for website building for your business making and optimising your business website, from choosing the right template to how to embrace website optimi...

Four ways to prepare your business for e-commerce sales

Customers love finding bargains online – no surprises there. But in recent years, digital sales events such as Click Frenzy, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have had a real impac...

Top 10 SEO Tips - How to improve your Business

SEO for business can seem like a foreign concept, but there are real benefits to having a smarter site. Here’s our top 10 tips to improve your SEO for your website. Search En...

Get online now: building your digital presence

If your business isn’t online today, does it exist? The short answer is no – because 62% of customers won’t consider a small business if they can’t find it online. This disconn...

A Q&A on SEO for Websites

How easily can your business be found through Google? Get three essential SEO tips from ELK’s Nelly Phelan with Telstra Smarter Business. ELK is an Australian fashion company b...

Preparing for the Internet of Things

Technology has changed the way that businesses interact with their customers. Find out how and new ways for the IoT revolution by Telstra Smarter Business. The impact of the ...

The Success of Online Business

Little Big Company started in a garage in 2011 and now has a large warehouse, showroom and six staff. Read this success story on Telstra Smarter Business. Louisa Line can remem...

Design Resources & Capability Online

You don’t need a million dollar budget to make big branding for your business. Learn how to access to world-class designers by outsourcing your projects online. It doesn’t ma...

5 Essential Online Marketing Techniques

These days, marketing your business effectively doesn’t require advanced skills or hefty budgets. These 5 tips are fundamentals for your business online marketing.

Get the best out of social media for your business

Social media can be a valuable tool to grow your business. Here are some simple ways to make the most of it. Social media is all about building relationships. When you put your...

Manage Client Expectations | Telstra Smarter Business

Why settle for a good relationship when you can have a great relationship? Be the best in your trade, build rapport and let the power of word-of-mouth see your business soar. G...

Leveraging Facebook for your Business

Avoid mistakes, focus on mobile and learn the tricks of the trade to increase your business' Facebook engagement and boost sales by Telstra Smarter Business.

How Active Truth keeps its customers happy

Active Truth is a home-grown business success story, with a mission to help women of every size and shape feel good, look good and get moving. But while the activewear brand ha...

4 simple ways to improve your customer experience

Want your client base to grow and stay loyal to your business? Follow these basic steps on how to improve your customer experience and enjoy the long-term benefits. Building q...

5 ways to improve your customer service

Excellent customer service is the cornerstone of a booming business, but delivering on your promises can sometimes be a challenge. Jeff Haden looks at the best ways to achieve ...

How to Support Customers 24/7 without working 24/7

Social media and digital marketing can help you reach customers in many places, 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, small business owners can't work in many places, every hour of th...

Improve your net promoter score (NPS) and improve your customer service

The old word of mouth saying goes: If you please a customer they’ll tell one person, but give them a bad experience and they’ll tell seven. Here’s how to improve customer servi...

Nurturing Customer Relationships

Every interaction with a customer needs to add value to the relationship. Find out more today! What motivates your customers to choose your business instead of your competitors...

Top Online Marketing Mistakes

We’re in the middle of a digital marketing revolution, with many digital tools & technologies available to businesses. Are you using these tools the right way? Today’s marketin...

Social media marketing: Can your business be more socially active?

79 per cent of Australians use social media, with 59 per cent logging in five times a day or more (Sensis*). Yet many small businesses are unsure how to use social media effect...

Customer Loyalty Program

When small businesses want to boost customer loyalty, they often focus on dis-counts and special offers. However, there are many more ways you can make customers feel all that ...

Enhance Customer Service Experiences

Adding a little tech to your business could help to satisfy customers and keep them coming back for more. Find out more today! Getting customers through the door is by no mea...

Are the words on your website costing you customers?

Chances are, you’ve visited a website that immediately made you perform an action. That could be signing up to a newsletter, buying a product, or clicking on a button. It’s be...

What do shoppers want from online stores?

We asked two experts, VinoMofo CEO and co-founder Andre Eikmeier and Booktopia founder Tony Nash, what makes their customers click that magical ‘purchase’ button. Again and aga...

Omnichannel: Marketing to Cross-Platform Customers

As businesses communicating with customers both on & offline - how will you overcome the challenge of giving your audience a consistent & unified experience? Today, there are...

All I want for Christmas is... To do my Christmas shopping

Where has this year gone? In less than a month we’ll be cranking the Christmas tunes, stuffing ourselves silly on turkey, seafood and pudding, and sitting around the Christmas ...

How technology is enabling the artisan

Artisans the world over have discovered e-commerce, overcoming the disadvantage of small scale and remoteness from the market to help take their products to the world. The onli...

Beyond the 'like': Extracting value from social media data

Even smaller operations can mine social media data and use those insights to build a better business. To most of us, the unique selling point of social media is the attention i...

Is your business ready for marketing 2.0?

The Smarter Guide To Marketing 2.0 brings together some of the brightest marketing minds to help get your business on top. In a world where a global marketplace is an internet ...

The pros and cons of same day delivery

Some retailers are using same-day delivery to entice online shoppers and trump the competition. But is delivery within a few hours something that most retailers can realistical...

No-sweat social media

You don’t need to exhaust yourself being all over every variety of social media, just choose the channels where your customers are. One of the questions I’m often asked about m...

Wheels of fortune

Bicycles Online started life in a backstreet garage and, on the strength of its great customer service and streamlined e-commerce processes, now turns over $5 million annually.

Direct mail 2.0: Making tech physical

Direct mail has been the faithful companion for marketers for aeons. And merging the digital with the physical is giving it a new lease on life. Direct mail was once a faithful...

Online Marketing Health Check

With technology shifting the way people do business, discover how to stay ahead of the pack with these online marketing strategies for your business. Every year – as part of...

Why your smartphone is a customer service weapon

Shaun McInerney of Fresh Fellas says his best tool for customer service is right there in his pocket – his Telstra smartphone. It doesn’t get more competitive than the bustle o...

Customer reasons for adopting Neto

Taking the first steps into the world of eCommerce can sometimes seem like a daunting process. For a couple of businesses that attended the Neto eCommerce bootcamp last year, t...

Marketing to Culturally Diverse Customers

Marketing to culturally diverse audiences can be challenging - Even if your customers are based in Australia. Discover tools to communicate to your audience considerately. Unde...

Paul Greenberg: The future of online retailing

Selling online is now a firm component within most businesses’ digital strategy. We speak to the founder of Australia’s National Online Retailers Association for his thoughts o...

eCommerce tips from Aussie business

Looking to launch an online retail offering? We spoke to four Aussie online stars for their stories, secrets and eCommerce lessons learned in setting up.

Snare last-minute Christmas sales

What is Webrooming and how you can take advantage of this shopping trend? Webrooming is the sibling of showrooming, which is the practice of using stores to compare produc...

How one strategy can add thousands to your database

Regardless of the type of business you have, or product or service you sell, there is massive untapped potential in email marketing and the automation of your campaigns. In an ...

4 Email Subject Line Tricks to Increase Open Rates

With email marketing & communication, there’s a fine line between ‘read’ & ‘delete’. See our top 4 tips to make sure you get cut-through with your customers. Out of all the for...

Building the everyman's brand: Marketing the spring racing carnival

Over more than 150 years, the Victoria Racing Club has built a brand that’s gone global and appeals to Aussies from vastly different social strata. We speak to CEO Simon Love a...

Customisation, conversation and manufacturing

Mass production as a competitive advantage is no longer enough. To meet customer expectations, manufacturers need to turn to mass customisation. In days gone by, manufacturers ...

Media relations 101: Getting your business out there

Marketing can be an expensive exercise, but knowing what the media is after can go a long way towards getting your name out in the local community. Public Relations is the age-...

Two indispensable tools to help you seal the deal

Looking for something to help you land the next big deal? Jeff Haden explores the tech that can help you get the (digital) ink on the page. Selling: every business owner does i...

Turning online relationships into customers

Everyone likes dealing with their friends. But can a social relationship between business and consumer benefit the bottom line? You know that rush of adrenaline you get when yo...

Local Area Marketing for small businesses

Sometimes the best way to market your business isn’t to go big. Discover some helpful local area marketing ideas that focus on your local community and how to build success fr...

Next generation payment systems

How can you transform your retail business overnight? Start by encouraging your staff to step out from behind the counter - and support a greater focus on the customer with new...

Omni-channel shopping comes of age

A new report from Telstra, The Personal Supply Chain shows that retail is changing, with omni-channel shopping at the heart of the new paradigm. Twenty years ago, there was onl...

The importance of authenticity

Marketing and advertising are crucial when building a brand. However, there’s another piece of the jigsaw that’s often overlooked: authenticity. Here’s why, as a business owner...

How to advertise on Facebook - 101

Social media holds many opportunities for businesses but it’s also difficult to know how to get noticed. Learn how to make an impression with a Facebook Advertising strategy.

Why being online isn't enough

Retail and customer service is dramatically changing, but a world where the online experience is also offline is becoming increasingly important. The overwhelming movement for ...

Want loyal customers? Quality makes all the difference

Quality isn’t an optional extra any more. It’s the status quo. Jeff Haden looks at why quality breeds loyalty. And loyalty delivers on the bottom line. You already know this, b...

Making change: Why crowdfunding is good for business

When you set yourself a fundraising target, there are many ways to raise the capital. And today, more and more people are turning to crowdfunding to help them reach their goals...

Making the most of social: Q&A

Telstra brought experts together to discuss how businesses could make the most of their social media. Smarter has the highlights from the session. In a recent free Telstra Virt...

The psychology of sales

In a world where first impressions take just milliseconds to form, we look at the psychology of selling and spill the secrets to sale success. Owning a business is no small fea...

Growth hacking: 3 Australian companies doing it right

The internet and the online business world are ablaze with growth hacking. It’s a startup movement that uses data as a backbone to creatively fuel customer conversion, retentio...

Next gen retail: How mobile devices are changing bricks and mortar stores

Next time you walk into a department store, electronics chain or even your local pizzeria and ask one of the Retail assistants a question, there’s a chance they will consult th...

Becoming social: Which platforms should you invest in?

Social media can be one of the most effective places to market your business, but with so many different sites out there, how can you know where to start?

3 things your business can get out of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is more than a glorified Rolodex. It’s not just another site for job seekers and recruiters. And while it falls under a social media platform, like Facebook, or Twitte...

Multi Channel Customer Experience

Multi-channel customer experience sounds like something big companies worry about. But with social media, websites and marketing collateral, small businesses need to present a ...

Business Benefits of Growth Hacking

Growth hacking is serious business & it’s changing the way smart companies think about acquiring & retaining customers. Is it just another internet buzz word? Airbnb, Dropbox...

Showing Value vs Showing Off with your personal brand

Self branding can help you build your business, create engagement with customers & give insights into your values. So why do so many businesses shy away from building a persona...

Is the sun setting on shop sales staff?

Investments in technology are essential – but don’t believe it will make the humble sales assistant an artifact of history. Customer satisfaction with in-store service is at a ...

Customer wait times: How to Keep customers happy?

From the first moment you place your customers on hold, make them queue for service or keep them waiting for a reply, you redefine your importance to them. Want to keep their l...

Breakfast with Tiffany: GRiP

Find out how generosity, responsiveness and proximity can boost customer engagement. Tiffany Loh sits down with Nima Yassini and Robert Hutchison, authors of GRiP: A New Approa...

Convert competition entrants into new customers

Your competition has just ended and you’ve been able to add hundreds of names to your database. Your next challenge is to tempt them to look at your offerings and make a purcha...

The customer is key. Why research beats gut feel

A recent Gartner Report on the rise of customer experience found that 65 per cent of companies surveyed had a dedicated Customer Experience Officer in their senior team. The ap...

When is DRTV right for your small business?

Direct response TV has come a long way since those yell and sell spots we remember from years gone by. Direct response television (DRTV) has formed the backbone of marketing st...

How Realestate.com.au dominates with content

Of all the online marketing strategies out there, few compare to the longevity and effectiveness of content marketing. And REA Group is a prime example of content done well. Th...

Driving foot traffic into your business

Bricks and mortar stores are waging a battle against the rising number of online sales. So how do you drive foot traffic? Innovative tools that can help drive foot traffic into...

Google's guide to marketing your small business - Part 2

In the second part of our series, Google Australia and New Zealand’s Head of Business and Brand Marketing talks about search engine marketing, analytics and the future of brows...

Google's guide to marketing your small business Part 1

In a two-part series, we talk to Google Australia and New Zealand’s Head of Small and Medium Business Marketing on how businesses can market themselves online. According to Goo...

3 Apps To Manage Customers Relationship Telstra Smarter Business

Discover how to take advantage of technology to nail your client meetings and make the most of sales opportunities. Find out more today! The word CRM (acronym for customer rela...

Customer loyalty tips: What not to do

We all want the best products and a high level of service. If these expectations aren’t met, don’t expect to see a customer again. Here are four behaviours that will make you l...

Aussie businesses need to be more social savvy

Global companies are moving beyond seeing ‘social’ as media and are engaging social tools into everyday marketing messages. Where does Australia rate with this trend? Business ...

Sending orders from stores is not so ship shape

It is widely believed to be obvious that e-commerce fulfilment from the bricks-and-mortar store is a good thing. But is the model as efficient as we think? One of the keys to p...

How to Use Social Media to Engage Customers

When you engage your customers via social media, you’re speaking to them while they’re immersed in their lives. Learn to get your messages heard. Making contact via social me...

How far should you push your marketing?

‘Push’ marketing has some converts among shoppers – but there are still plenty of doubters. When it comes to 'push' marketing by brands and Retailers, less is usually more...

Facebook at work launches

Whispers that the social media giant was working on a new product aimed at businesses were first heard six months ago. With the pilot program now available, find out why compan...

5 Steps to Customer Loyalty

Make sure customers come back. Find out how to build a bridge from individual transactions to long lasting customer relationships. Traditional, longstanding ideas in consumer-f...

The business benefits of arts sponsorship

If you could make one investment that had these three outcomes – motivate and inspire staff, spread the word to new networks about your brand and stimulate creativity within th...

The five steps to social selling that really matter

Social selling is fast becoming a mandatory program for any business. But without the right framework, will your social sales strategy sink or swim?

Books are the new business card

It’s time for the business card to step aside. The book you’ve penned about your business is now the best way to generate business leads and let people know you’re the expert.

Why now is the right time for Aussie online retailers to expand overseas

Don’t be fooled by the recent moderation in spending growth by Australians on merchandise from overseas-based e-Retail sites. Global cross-border e commerce is vibrant and pros...

Turning social media friends into successful marketing campaigns

Can small businesses rely on social media to drive a promotional campaign?

How to wow clients during spring racing carnival

Is there anything more exciting than being trackside at a big horseracing carnival? The betting thrills, the people watching and of course the magnificent horses make the races...

e-Commerce is alive and well... And living in a shop

It’s a mixed up muddled up world as online retailers open stores. Find out what this trend means for you.

What makes an engaging App?

All of the best recreational, educational, and training apps are designed to keep users interested. Here’s how you can build an app that conquers boredom.

Make customer surveys work for you

How to extract the feedback you need to grow your business.

There's a problem with this Super Collider

Can technology save the shopping centre and provide a well-oiled experience for customers?

The Iconic part 2: The importance of mobile commerce

Why online Retailers need a m-commerce strategy. Part 2 of our interview with Adam Jacobs from The Iconic.

The Iconic part 1: How to build an iconic brand

Retail analyst Michael Baker talks to Adam Jacobs, co-founder and managing director of The Iconic, about starting the leading fashion Retailer.

The Iconic part 3: How to make returns easier

Adam Jacobs, co-founder and managing director of The Iconic, discusses ways to make e commerce returns simpler for customers.

This online training course promises to bring trailing online Australian businesses up to speed

More than half of Australian small businesses are trailing their competitors in the online sphere. Smarter takes a look at a new course that promises to make it easier.

5 ways to use Instagram's new app

Facebook’s visuals-based social media network Instagram has launched its own standalone video app. Here's how to get the most out of it for your business. Last June, Instagram ...

Tips to save your business from getting a bad reputation

Murky waters exist in every industry, but some get a worse rap than others. Here’s how you can throw your business a lifeline and prove to your customers you're worth their tru...

Australia's first buyer driven marketplace

Online shoppers are set for a new experience with the launch of the online marketplace Alphatise, where buyers get behind the wheel of the consumer wagon. We chat to Ben Nowlan...

Australia's first buyer driven marketplace

Online shoppers are set for a new experience with the launch of the online marketplace Alphatise, where buyers get behind the wheel of the consumer wagon. We chat to Ben Nowlan...

The new marketing: Are we spamming yet?

The mobile phone is our constant companion, so is it the perfect device to deliver advertising?

War stories: The toy wonder

Deborah Latouf decided her children came first and started Entropy. Deborah Latouf, former sports scientist, started Entropy in 2007 when she decided that her children cam...

4 ways you can have an online presence on the go

Stay connected and use the most of the tools and technology available to business owners. The adage of many successful small businesses used to be ‘location, location, location...

Retail store vs. warehouse: The best way to ship

To what degree should a store be used to fulfil e commerce orders? In the omnichannel retailing world, the physical store, once merely a humble sales channel, knows it has to b...

Low cost, big return: Make your marketing work for you

For many businesses, the last quarter of the financial year is make-or-break time. If your revenue projections peak towards the busy Christmas or summer season, now's the time ...

Online ordering: Ways around difficult deliveries

Difficult deliveries for online orders is holding back e commerce in Australia. One of the things that continues to confound e-commerce in Australia is the challenge of deliver...

What a personalised retail experience means for consumers

Can your bricks-and-mortar store compete with e commerce tactics and still retain customers? Charging different customers a different price for the same product at the same tim...

Building Relationships With Customers

Local businesses possess all the tools of building customer relationships that the big brands use. Find out more today. Among the most highly paid and sought-after advertisin...

3 new features of Facebook's pages redesign

Facebook's business pages received new features and new ways of finding and using the tools you need. Facebook begun rolling out their back-to-basics take on the News Feed, but...

The online industries set to boom

New research looks into e commerce industry trends to reveal the industry sectors on the rise. Aussie e-commerce platform, Bigcommerce, which powers more than 50,000 online sto...

Top tips for free media exposure for your business

Ever wondered how business owners get the opportunity to provide expert comment in print or digital articles? Read on for tips on becoming a journalist’s source. Here’s the str...

Everywhere a sign: What signals is your business giving out?

Businesses don't just thrive on the quality of their products or services. It is crucial that every aspect of your brand is sending out the right signs, as Rowan Dean explains.

Could a digital marketing agency help you?

One of the issues that most small businesses face when it comes to digital marketing is the money-time conundrum. When running all the aspects of a business is already more tha...

Sherbet Birdie's top social media tips

Tiffany Loh explores how glamour portrait company Sherbet Birdie gets the best out of social media. Sherbet Birdie’s glamour portraits have a vintage flair, but Sasha Dobies us...

White noise: How a report can attract new customers

Increasingly professional service firms are using the ‘free report’ or ‘white paper’ as a marketing strategy, and here's why. Whether you’re running a building inspection servi...

3 ways to brand yourself

You don't have to pretend to be someone or something you're not for your business to get publicity. There’s a lot of hype and quite a bit of nervousness around personal brandin...

6 Tips to Boost your Business Social Media

Social media is now an integral part of marketing & advertising plans, but some small businesses see it as too complicated. These easy steps can help your business online.

How to inspire customer loyalty

A customer loyalty program is much more than a card-based reward system - it's a way to create brand fanatics. The report For Love or Money? 2013 Consumer Study into Australian...

How to create a hit radio advertisement

A captive (car bound) audience and a reach of millions across many demographics – but is radio in reach of a small business budget? Radio commercials as an advertising medium w...

The importance of brand value

Sometimes it comes down to having the right vibe to persuade people to spend their money with you – and that’s regardless of price, says Rowan Dean. I remember one of my first ...

Does your brand tell a story?

Delizia’s gelato was a trade secret among Brisbane’s top restaurants until the family business started sharing its history with the general public in a major brand redesign. It...

How Wild Olives revitalised their online business presence

Steven Curtotti’s Wild Olives Italian restaurant is growing in popularity, thanks to its loyal customers and a Sensis digital marketing makeover. Wild Olives had only recently ...

4 ways to optimise your Facebook page for graph search

Facebook's graph search functionality has now launched, here's how to help customers discover your business when using it. Announced in January and released to a limited audien...

DOT: Catching every call

These healthcare equipment providers use the Telstra DOT (Digital Office Technology)™ package to serve their clients better. It’s been just over a year since Katheran Pettigrew...

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