Semin ar to help local busin esses boost on lin e sales
THE Local Enterprise Office
Wicklow has organised an upcoming seminar on trading online which will take place at Wicklow County Campus, Rathnew.
Consumer behaviour is changing and online spending is increasing rapidly so there is a big opportunity for Irish businesses to grow and access a wider market, expand their business and create more jobs. Statistics suggest that only 32 per cent of small companies are engaged in e-commerce sales in Ireland and that 70 per cent of the €850,000 spent online by Irish consumers per hour is going overseas.
In response to this, a ‘Trading Online Voucher’ scheme, financed by the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment, was set up to encourage small businesses to develop their online presence through a website or digital marketing strategy by availing of a Trading Online Voucher of up to €2,500 or 50 per cent of their eligible expenditure.
Applicants for the Trading Online Voucher must attend a trading online information seminar and LEO Wicklow will be hosting one of these free seminars with trainer Noel Davidson of The Entrepreneurs Academy Ltd takes place Tuesday, January 23, from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
The programme will cover how to spend your voucher wisely, how to target customers, barriers to being online, how to be visible in online searches, setting up your website, a live demo on building a website and social media marketing and how to develop a digital marketing strategy for your business.
Participants will also be advised on how to fill the application and how to draw down the voucher if suc- cessful.
LEO Wicklow runs a number of these seminars throughout the year.
Businesses looking to apply for the Trading Online Voucher must be trading for a minimum of 12 months to qualify, employ less than 10 employees and be located in County Wicklow.
For more information on the upcoming seminar or the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, call the LEO Wicklow on (0404) 30800. BANK of Ireland staff raised €39,472 for charitable causes in Wicklow in 2017 through the bank’s charity and community initiative, Give Together.
The charity programme gives the bank’s staff throughout Ireland the chance to lend support to their chosen charities or causes through fundraising and volunteering. In total, just over €1.55 million was raised by bank staff across the country and over 900 days were volunteered this year.
Bank of Ireland also supported three flagship charities last year, namely Age Action, the Irish Heart Foundation and the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation.
As part of this, 46 events, such as coffee mornings and digital skills workshops were held across the country (including one in Wicklow) as part of Age Action’s ‘Positive Ageing Week’. The bank’s support is also helping the Irish Heart Foundation, as part of its ‘CRP 4 Schools’ programme, to bring lifesaving training to 400 schools over the next two years, including nine schools to date in Wicklow. The support is also helping the Jack & Jill Foundation to support 338 families across Ireland, including 10 in Co Wicklow.
‘It is significant that through the combined efforts of our colleagues and Give Together support over €39,000 has been raised for charitable organisations and that many community groups and initiatives in Wicklow have been supported,’ said Maria Coleman, Head of Bank of Ireland in County Wicklow.