The uncertainty of the next hour in the world these days can be a little unnerving. While social distancing and self-quarantine are definitely recommended and encouraged, it is leaving most small to medium sized business owners scrambling to determine what is next.
Now is not the time to repeat the past. We will not live in fear of the unknown and hold on to our stress and anxiety. We will not be like we were a decade ago during the financial crisis twiddling our thumbs and praying for sunshine. We will not allow ourselves to idly stand by in what seems like a situation that is completely out of our control. What did I do during that time? Started this business.
Instead, this is the time. Time for what, you may ask? That depends on you. If you are like most small business owners, you have at least one “I’ll get to that eventually” dream list. (If you’re like most people…including me…there’s more like six or seven of those scattered through emails, desk drawers, and sticky notes).
And if you’re wondering where to begin on your list, I took the liberty of creating a short ‘jump start’ list of my own to help you get motivated and move forward to a better and brighter tomorrow.
Take a Stand
If you have not yet taken a stance or commented publicly on what is going on in the world around us, you must do this before you do anything else. Keep in mind, this will look vastly different depending on your business, location, and audience.
One safe move for almost every company is to create a page on your website solely dedicated to keeping your audience informed on what you and your team are doing to stay up to date with the changing situation.
A word of caution: While there might be some special cases, I highly recommend that you do NOT just create a social media post and call it a day. There are a few reasons behind this:
- People can comment whatever they want directly on a social media post, creating a bigger PR mess than just a page on your own website that you control.
- If you publish a social post, review it again, and realize that you wish you would have worded something differently, it is much harder to organically update it than a page on your website.
- During a very slow or completely standstill business period for some, you want to do all you can to attract people to your company. If you just post something on social media, your audience has no reason to continue to engage with your brand. By directing them to your website, you can then continue the customer experience through an email sign-up, engaging content, or other opportunities.
Here are two great examples of pages we have helped our clients create and maintain during this time:
If you or your team are hesitant to write the content for this page, reach out to your digital marketing team. If you don’t have one, this leads me to my second point.
Find Your Digital Marketing Partner
In 2020, small to medium sized business owners do not have the time to create all of the ongoing engaging content that their brand needs to succeed in the online marketplace.
If you have yet to find a digital marketing partner, this is the time to do your research and have those conversations. Some questions you might want to ask include:
- How does your team operate to solve my current marketing challenges?
- What do you specialize in, and why?
- What does your process look like if I want something updated?
- What experience does your team bring to the table?
- How flexible are you if I want to change things around?
- Do you offer digital advertising along with organic content creation?
And if you’re hesitant to go into business with someone right now when it seems like the future is so uncertain, I’d like to direct you to some very wise words from content king, Gary Vaynerchuk:
Basically, what he is saying in this Instagram comment is that the content you create during this time is going to do more than just make you feel good about staying busy. It is going to keep you at the top of your customer’s minds. It is going to energize you to tackle problems you have yet to solve. And it is going to encourage you to continually fight to reach the finish line of this crazy time.
Which leads me to my last point…
Start Creating
Just. Start. Somewhere. If you only have the cash flow to have a professional agency create some blogs and some digital ads, take what they create for you and push it to the next level.
Examples of this include…
- Re-purposing it into bite size videos for IGTV.
- Compiling the blogs into an engaging and bright newsletter.
- Sharing it appropriately on your social media channels.
- Creating an informational video for YouTube.
I could keep going, but I think you probably get the picture.
As a fellow small business owner, believe me when I say I understand the stress and anxiety that comes with these days. But I am confident in saying there is light at the end of this tunnel. And I want as many of you as possible to be standing with me when we reach that light.
If you or someone you know is ready to have an intro conversation about your digital marketing needs, you can follow this link to set up a zero commitment thirty minute video chat with me and my team.
