Mill Farm Eco Barns

Go Digital helps micro-businesses prioritise actions for success

When Emma Punchard, who runs Mill Farm Eco Barns in Winterton, saw the Go Digital offer, she saw the opportunity to take control of her website.

"Our priority was to re-open successfully in 2021 after lockdown and that meant making better use of our website and social media. However, despite being quite confident with digital technology, it's often hard for the owner of a small business to know what to do first."

Getting a Go Digital adviser

The Go Digital project team selected Jim Drew to be Emma's adviser.

"His advice was amazing and I got a lot out of the audit and action plan process. Most importantly, he gave me a pathway and the confidence to rebuild my website in-house, which we are doing with support from freelancers that Jim recommended."

Emma followed a number of Jim's other suggestions, including using the Go Digital grant to pay for a series of 'evergreen' blogs for the new website. This basically means blog posts that will continue to be relevant and generate interest into the future.

"I have also used my own money to commission new photography for the site from a local photographer. I then took Jim's advice to apply for Employer Training Incentive Programme (ETIP) funding so I could get some further mentoring around web development and digital marketing - and that has run like a dream."

Seeing success

As Emma sees it, this is all part of a process of continuous improvement.

"You have to stay current to stay competitive," she explains.

"Go Digital is really useful because it gives you impartial and expert advice on where to focus your efforts. In fact, that made the advice more valuable than the grant."

Although it is too early for Emma to say for certain that Go Digital is helping her business to grow, she is confident about one thing.

"Jim's detailed action plan will certainly help me stay on track with my plans. I now know in which direction to go, rather than just clutching at ideas and wondering which might be best."

Overall, Emma thinks Norfolk County Council did a good job of finding funding for the project and identifying professional advisers like Jim.

"I have recommended Go Digital to others for that brilliant advice - and the grant, which gives you a real incentive to act. It's a great opportunity," she concludes, "for owners who live and breathe their business to get an external view on their digital marketing strategy."