A Digital Springboard to Growth!
The Digital Springboard has been delivered by MENTA for East Suffolk Council. Through 1:1 coaching, workshops and access to grants, local businesses have been able to grow their online presence, enabling them to reach new customers and increase their sales.
Meet Elizabeth Marshlain and her Business
Liz shares details of her business and how the team at MENTA have helped Starred photos………
Starred Photos is a photo organising business helping people rediscover, restore and enjoy their unforgettable photo
memories for future generations.
With a professional IT Analyst background, I have a strong technical understanding and organisational skill set which
has proven useful when retrieving and organising and backing up digital photos.
My personal motivation to create my business, was when I preserved my old photos from 30 years ago, to tell my story
of learning to fly with the Royal Air Force. I was so happy with the results, and realised that I could also help other
people remember their unforgettable times through photos and memorabilia.
My photo organising experience started with my own printed photo archives, scanning and digitising old photos, slides and scrapbooks, rediscovering lost images from old hard drives, CD’s, SD cards and bringing them all together into a central searchable online photo archive, and producing printed photo books to share the memorable photos. Recent feedback from a client: “I would highly recommend this service for anyone who has memories they wish to preserve and treasure forever or gain back something they have lost.” - Emma, Suffolk
Liz’s experience with MENTA… A friend recommended the MENTA Business Start Up Workshops, and I attended these in 2019. I found them an invaluable introduction to starting a small business. The WoMENTA face-to-face networking sessions are also very helpful to meet other likeminded small business owners and grow a supportive network.
Why Liz decided to seek support with Digital Springboard….. I heard about the Digital Springboard through MENTA. With my background as an IT Analyst, I am interested to learn how different technical areas can help maximise the website marketing and productivity of my business, to help it grow.
Why Liz would encourage other businesses to explore business support available through MENTA…… Being part of the business support provided through MENTA and the Digital Springboard, has given me the confidence and understanding of how different technology can grow my business. More than anything, it has helped me streamline my processes and develop my marketing skills, as well as understand the significant marketing power you can capture through your website and social media. My Digital Springboard grant has been a catalyst for examining how I can grow my business and is already making a real difference.
Mike Bowden picture credit:
What Starred Photos has gained from training sessions business support…. My training sessions made me realise the intergenerational aspect to my work. Gathering traditional printed photos and documents from the older generations and combining them with today’s digital photos, to produce bespoke digital photo books, which can be printed multiple times. This technology is transient, and my aim is to make a permanent record for today and future generations. My Starred Photos customers have benefited from the Digital Springboard grant which enables me to undertake a much greater number of Digital Declutter projects, leading to permanent social history family records. Finding customers for a specialist business like mine can be helped by the targeted web marketing which Digital Springboard sessions encourage.
How Starred Photos customers have benefitted….. The benefits people get from my services are varied but all share the same joy by reliving fond memories. For some, it helps bring back memories of past family members to share with more recent generations. Others benefit with digital sorting and organising services that help them manage thousands of images we take each year. The East Suffolk Digital Springboard has helped me grow my confidence and skills in online marketing, reach out to more “Starred Photos’ potential clients and increase my capacity to complete digital photo organising projects.
Discover how The Digital Springboard can help your East Suffolk based business and visit micro businesses across the region by visiting The MENTA Marketplace here.
Talk about starting a business with support from MENTA in Norfolk and Suffolk here:
