Dozens of Tips to Help You Succeed During the Coronavirus Waiting Game

Dozens of Tips to Help You Succeed During the Coronavirus Waiting Game

In the face of uncertainty due to cancellations and business closures, many small business owners and entrepreneurs are faced with difficult choices and challenges. This is a time when many people are feeling the weight of the world, and it seems a good time to give up, to stop trying, and to wait this one out. But we cannot make that choice. As small business owners, I am implore you to charge forward with the ferocity of a child asking please please please please please!??

Now is the time to market your butt off. Do not let your community, your network, or your colleagues forget that you exist. How fortunate we are to be in a time where we have access to everything, even when we are isolated at home. The best way I can encourage you to keep your face out there, is to keep up with your regular practices of email marketing, social media strategy, website updates, one on one check inns, and letting your network know what you’re up to and how you’re doing in the face of this “Season Of Waiting“.

Let us instead make this a “Season of Kicking BUTT“. Following is a brain-dump of all the things you can be working on and towards as we wait this one out.

STAY VISIBLE.

A strong presence online now will be the ignition fluid to kick your business back into gear once the dust settles. Photos are just as important as the verbiage you are posting. Share with your community… post about what you’re working on, share helpful advice, educate, show behind-the-scenes of your day-to-day… all of this will form deeper connection and trust with an audience that needs trusting comfort now more than ever. And in terms of Coronavirus-instigated discounts, free services, and business resources… share any helpful resources that you discover. And if you are offering discounted or donated services or up for trading to help those around you, share that too! Post Post POST! Need help creating pretty graphics? Check out www.Canva.com.

TACKLE THOSE UPDATES.

All those in-house things you’ve been putting off… now is the time to focus on and complete all of those pesky tasks. That means:

        1. Clean up your email list. Or start an email list!
        2. Update your website or build a new website.
        3. Organize your files (physical and/or digital).
        4. Address any changes needed in your workflow.
        5. Ramp up your onboarding processes to support a potential BIG BOOM of business following this waiting period.
        6. Set up or improve upon your automated systems.
        7. Research new tools/apps that will help you run your business more efficiently. I highly recommend HoneyBook!
        8. Update your contract lingo.
        9. Freshen up your branding.
        10. Freshen up and/or create new marketing materials.
        11. Check your pricing, make adjustments where necessary.
        12. Learn, grow, self-educate, rinse-and-repeat!

CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY.

Are there ways that you can connect with the community on a deeper level that will give you a launching pad once the dust settles? Think along the lines of partnerships and new vendor relationships. Give a shout out to other people you’ve worked with in the community through Customer Features. Post positive reviews for the awesome businesses you love. Find groups online (search Facebook Groups, for example) for local business communities in which you can network. There is a flood of new Facebook Groups just for supporting businesses during the Coronavirus.

FOCUS ON ORGANIC SEO.

SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization”, is how your audience finds you through Google Search. You can learn and tackle so much of this on your own. And SEO is so very relevant for this estimated “Season of Kicking BUTT”, because new SEO efforts can take 3 to 6 months to take effect. That means just as our nation is getting life back to normal, your website will be popping up in search results more consistently when potential customers search for what you offer. Absolutely learn about SEO now, implement its techniques over these next few months, and watch your rankings explode. *Recommended FREE Resource for ALL business genres, not just photography: www.fuelyourphotos.com/ and their newly growing YouTube Channel of SEO QuickTips and their newly growing Podcast, The SEO For Photographers Podcast.

DO SOME SOUL SEARCHING.

On a personal level, because this waiting period is not just about work, it is a good time to get back into healthy practices.

        1. Workout regularly.
        2. Eat as heathy as you can, including reasonable portions.
        3. Enjoy the outdoors as often as possible.
        4. Spend more quality time with your family.
        5. Love on your pets.
        6. Meditate.
        7. Journal.
        8. Read.
        9. Learn a new skill.
        10. Create art.
        11. Be crafty.
        12. Take lots of family pictures (I am not biased at all).
        13. Reconnect with extended family (via phone or video call).

And finally…

 

HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS

There are a multitude of ways you can help your community, both in a business sense and personally:

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES

            1. Reschedule, don’t cancel.
            2. Buy a Gift Card for later, or pre-book an appointment (think along the lines of a retainer for services rendered later).
            3. Post positive reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp.com and other business profile platforms.
            4. Similar to reviews… give shout-outs and features to businesses you love.
            5. Give back to businesses who have given to your causes.
            6. Share, repost, retweet… help us reach a broader audience.
            7. Like and Comment on posts from your favorite businesses. This expands their visibility to others due to algorithms set by social media platforms.
            8. Consider linking to other businesses and resources on your website (in a blog post, for example). These “backlinks” help the search engines rank their website higher. You might find value in linking to a photographer you can credit * wink * wink * or vendors you recommend or work with regularly.

SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY

            1. Fill out your 2020 Census online, it literally takes 5 minutes! Go to: https://my2020census.gov/
            2. Check in with the neighbors around you, by phone, Skype/Duo/Google-Hangouts/FaceTime.
            3. Donate – many non-profits and food banks are suffering.
            4. Share a roll of toilet paper.

 

Guys… this is a time to GROW WHERE YOU ARE (shout out to Tiffany at Fern Woods Farm for that beautiful phrase). We are all planted at home. We will get bored, itchy, frustrated… but we also have all this time to reconnect, become more ourselves than ever before. With your dedication to business and self development, we will all establish deeper roots for our community to grow together.