As Government all over the world is thinking of extending the COVID-19 lockdown, things may be getting complicated for small business.
The COVID-19 lockdown has affected many small business drastically, but come to think of it, if a house owner leaves his house and travel for a long time, what will happen?
Well, it depends on the area and the climate, the house might be inhabited by mice, cobwebs, rats and all sorts.
Since your business has been under lockdown, has it being inhabited by ‘cobwebs”? If yes, what can you do now, to ‘CLEAN UP AND REFRESH” your brand?
1) Use HARO
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) will enable you to tell others about your business. In this platform, the journalist is looking for good stories to showcase. Register as a business owner and promote your business and brand to the outside world.
It is a free way to connect with bloggers and journalists that are searching for experts.
Recommended reading: How to Use HARO | Help a Reporter out | Up My Influence
2) Inform
Write about your business and your experience. Let the world learn from you and your achievement. When you produce unique content, your clients not only detect - they never forget what you have written. Post your content on your social media handles.
The content can also be optimized by applying this guide and 11 resonating Content Optimization Strategies.
- E-mail list
Build an e-mail marketing list and drive value to your subscribers.
Because of smartphones, an e-mail list is merely a summary of messages which companies have gathered from visitors/customers which would love to get discounts, updates, and information about your business in a digital format.
The updated information is sent to their mailboxes.
E-mail lists are crucial because e-mail marketing is the easiest way to connect with your clients compared to social media.
Additionally, e-mail is forty times more successful at acquiring new clients than Twitter or Facebook.
Recommended reading: author e-mail list
- Give to charity
You heard the story of the 99 years old man from Britain who was able to raise $15.5M for NHS.
The man did not donate, but he created a platform that brought people together for a common cause.
During this period, people are trying to give back in one way or the other. Supporting a charity or maybe a cause that relates in a way to your values or business will cost a little cash, though it does not need to be something extreme to be able to make an impression on your customers.
Such noble cause always enhance business reputation, and this may increase your bottom-line at the end of the day.
Recommended reading: How Should I Donate Business Sales to Charity?
- Help solve problems
Are you an expert in what you do? Leveraging yourself to be a problem solver can go a long way in attracting clients to you. It doesn’t involve any cash investment, but it will take your time, and effort. There are many international platforms where you can display your expertise and help someone solves an issue.
The most popular site you can start showing your expertise is www.quora.com
Other alternatives are available here, internet question-answer sites
- Send handwritten thank you cards
The earth moves these days quickly. A private, handwritten note can go quite a distance. Your customers are going to notice, appreciate, and also remember the time you spent to thank them.
Recommended reading: How 13,000 Handwritten Thank-You Notes Built A Thriving...
- Implementing a pay-cut
According to a study done by human resources consultants, Hewitt Associates, 16 per cent of large organizations have trimmed their salary during this recession. FedEx, The New York Times, and Hewlett Packard are just a few American companies that have chosen pay cut reductions over layoffs.
Pay slices are not ideal, but many view them as the lesser evil during recession times that are tough when businesses are faced with the option of cutting down wages or perhaps laying off workers.
The policy may affect work morale, but keeping your staff happy will go a long way not to disrupt the organization flow.
- Provide a complimentary webinar
A webinar is an engaging online event in which a speaker, or maybe small cluster of speakers, provide a presentation to a big audience that participate by distributing questions, answering polls and using a different available interactive tool.
Invite your customers, friends and associates online to engage them through web-conferencing. There’s are 10 Best Webinar Software Platforms (That Work in 2020) and how to create aWebinar from Scratch.
The economists are projecting a global recession as a result of the COVID-19, so we should be prepared for one. We should “dust all the cobwebs” and apply the strategy as mentioned above, and it will continue to brighten YOUR brand in this darkened times
