THERE'S an opportunity for small businesses to sign up to free training in social media, e-commerce and website management - and all completely free.

Maldon District Council (MDC) is offering free one-to-one training and support to small businesses across the district, from Maldon to Burnham-on-Crouch and in-between.

The support offered is for:

• social media – This training will be tailored to the individual business, whether the business needs to set up a social media account from scratch or just needs help to promote their business effectively. Louise Ashby will be providing this training. You can find out more about her by using the link here. She is a local freelancer specialising in branding and marketing.

• e-commerce – If a business needs to set up e-commerce on their website, this support will help them to set that up and manage it themselves. Tim Bache will be providing this support - he is the general manager of Internet Assist in Maldon.

• website management – Tim will also provide website support for businesses, including anything from getting a website started to learning how to manage a site.

Businesses will need to apply for this training and if they are considered in need of help, they will be contacted by either Louise or Tim directly and the training or support will be taken forward from there. The link to the application form can be found here.