Ride the Waves of Change - Part Three of Three

 

We'll guide you safely to shore

Seek synergistic collaboration

One of the upsides to all the chaos we're all going through is the change we are seeing in humanity. The giving economy is on the rise and rightfully so. You are of greater value to your clients when you offer them more of what they need.

Seek collaboration with business partners who can add value to your client base. What can others bring to the table that is beneficial to your clientele that is not in direct competition with you, yet creates synergy for both of your businesses?

Reaching out to other corporates and business owners will stimulate the economy and creates a three-way win.

Learn and Go Digital

The way business is conducted today has already changed. Operating efficiently in the new c-economy, will require the use of more technology and apps for conducting business remotely with clients and team members.

Businesses that once offered their services in person, must adapt to digital platforms in the new normal. This form of communication once thought to be a 'nice to try' has moved into the realm of a legitimate way of doing business.

Not only will the need arise to learn new technologies for virtual engagement, the need to know how to protect our privacy will require us to spend some time understanding cyber security as well.

There will be a learning curve, yet failure to dive in and embrace the new wave of technology that has now become part of our everyday lives, will mean that those who are unwilling to learn will be left behind.

Repurpose to Create Additional Revenue Streams

As a veteran small business owner, I'm a big advocate of having multiple streams of revenue. Each time I develop a new brand, I map out the various ways I can sell my services at different price points and through different distribution channels.

Having more than one revenue stream is something that I push small business owners to do initiate when crafting their business model from the get-go.

View your business with fresh eyes. At the onset of your business, the product or service you offer may have been created for a specific target audience. Can what you offer now be re-purposed for another audience or niche market?

Case in point. I have a deck of cards on entrepreneurship that was derived from the chapter action steps from the book, The 50-60 Something ™ Start-up Entrepreneur. The deck of cards was a spin off from the book and became another form of re-purposing information and additional revenue stream.

Given that the information on how to create a business is the same, I can now re-purpose the deck of cards with a new brand name, new design and sell this to a completely different market.

Is there a portion of your business that can be splintered off to create a new product in another industry? What could potentially be re-purposed or even upgraded within your own business to create a new stream of revenue? With a little brainstorming, you just might surprise yourself with what you come up with.

Riding the Wave

A big wave of change is on the horizon for all of us. It's going to come in the form of a recession or possibly a depression. I'm preparing myself now. I want to be ready when the wave of opportunity surges toward me. I hope others will join me out there in this blue ocean and we can ride this wave together.

Pamela Wigglesworth, CSP in an international entrepreneurship coach, speaker and CEO of Experiential Hands-on Learning. Residing in Asia for over 20 years, she is The 50-60 Something ™ Start-up Entrepreneur and supports encore entrepreneurs in their business development and growth. To learn more about Pamela, visit the Experiential website at http://www.experiential.sg or email her at courses@experiential.sg  Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/P_Lorraine_Wigglesworth/969794

Ride the Waves of Change - Part Two of Three

 

You're learning how to ride the big waves

Preparing for the C-economy

No one will be able to say for certain when countries, states and communities will be open their doors for business, yet it's important to be ready with a plan of action.

Here are just a few of thoughts for a business owners and business leaders to consider right now in preparation for the resurrection of their business.

Establish product-service relevancy

There are a few vital questions to address before you begin to create the recovery road map.

Is my product or service still relevant to my target market today and will it be relevant post pandemic? Will the target audience remain the same or will it change all together?

If my target audience remains the same albeit with minor changes, then I will move forward with my recovery roadmap.

Anticipate, ask and answer

Read the latest research findings in your industry, along with reports from economists. As business operators we need to research the market and anticipate the wants and needs of the consumer in order to provide appropriate solutions.

Creating ideal solutions for consumers cannot happen while brainstorming in isolation. Ask your clients what they will need in a post pandemic business environment.

Armed with research and the needs of the target market, answer their requests and deliver your best solution that addresses those immediate needs. This may require the development of a whole new product or service.

Double down on the low cost, no cost marketing activities

The global health and economic crisis has left millions of businesses without incoming revenue for months, so the last thing most would want to do is fork out a large sums of cash for marketing campaigns.

However, that doesn't mean that a business should go underground and not market at all. On the contrary. There are things that any business can do to continue marketing their products and services using low cost or no cost marketing activities.

Create content. No one knows your business better than you (and your employees if you work for a large organization). Start by creating content that educates and helps your target audience. Your content can be distributed in so many ways.

Write blog posts and upload it to your website, social media pages and syndicated sites.

Conduct a survey related to your industry and then distribute your findings that to your target audience if it will help their business.

Use free creative sites like Canva to create visual content such as banners, posters, social posts, animated posts, etc.

Use the free tools to create infographics that educate.

Create short videos that educate, motivate or demonstrate a product. Everyone has a camera on their smartphone so pick it up and hit the record button. There is no excuse not to.

Pamela Wigglesworth, CSP in an international entrepreneurship coach, speaker and CEO of Experiential Hands-on Learning. Residing in Asia for over 20 years, she is The 50-60 Something ™ Start-up Entrepreneur and supports encore entrepreneurs in their business development and growth. To learn more about Pamela, visit the Experiential website at http://www.experiential.sg or email her at courses@experiential.sg  Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/P_Lorraine_Wigglesworth/969794

Ride the Waves of Change, Part One of Three

 

Emerging Prepared with a Plan in a Post Pandemic Economy

Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball that will predict the future, but one thing I do know for sure is that things will never be the way they were pre-Covid 19.

If you're one of those people waiting for the old economy to return or bounce back, then you're in for a rude awakening, because it's not going to happen.

I'm guessing that most people don't want to entertain the idea that they could be out of business in a matter of months. To be put out of business because of an invisible predator that has spanned the globe and disrupted peoples' lives and the global economy, just seems unfathomable.

I did a financial assessment of how long I could sustain my current standard of living. For some reason I felt okay knowing that I could get to a certain period. But it occurred to me that I wasn't allowing myself to think about what would happen when I did run out of savings. I needed to have the internal conversation, what would happen if I could no longer maintain my business?

The AHA Moment –  I've Been Here Before

When I did finally go there, I had a major AHA moment. Remembering that I've been here before and I had the resilience to bounce back and come out the other side, reassures me that I can do this again if necessary.

Every company or business owner will need to figure out what is best for them post-pandemic. Maybe you haven't even begun to think this far ahead. Maybe you have, yet still have no idea of what you'll do when we all resurface in this new c-economy (covid-economy).

Instead of waiting for circumstances to dictate what will happen, I view myself as a surfer who needs to be out there in the blue ocean, judging, calculating, waiting for just the right wave to jump onto and ride through the barrel all the way to the beach.

This time I'll be ready to ride on top of the wave instead of finding myself being tossed around in the surf and not knowing which way is up.

Pamela Wigglesworth, CSP in an international entrepreneurship coach, speaker and CEO of Experiential Hands-on Learning. Residing in Asia for over 20 years, she is The 50-60 Something ™ Start-up Entrepreneur and supports encore entrepreneurs in their business development and growth. To learn more about Pamela, visit the Experiential website at http://www.experiential.sg or email her at courses@experiential.sg  Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/P_Lorraine_Wigglesworth/969794

 

The Impact of Coronavirus on Small Business

 Coronavirus Threatens Your Business 

Three ways to market your business during the coronavirus crisis:

1. Reassure everyone that you're protecting their health. 

This is especially true if you have a brick-and-mortar location. This may mean sharing your extra sanitation practices, putting a hand sanitizer station at the front of your location or implementing a policy where all staff wear masks and gloves. For example, WestJet shares their additional precautionary cleaning measures due to coronavirus on their website.

2. Be prepared to pivot. 

You need to be flexible to best serve your customers. That might mean instead of cancelling a customer conference, you change it to a virtual event. If you are planning an upcoming workshop or event, pivot with your audience in mind. Consider options such as making it a virtual version of the event or postponing your conference to a later date. Or some people may want ticket refunds.

Polls and questionnaires can be a great way to get honest feedback from your ticket holders before changing an event. And of course, take a look at all of your contracts to ensure you're covered before making any changes.

If you're a service provider, create other ways to help your clients like this fitness trainer did. He offered them a way to stay fit that doesn't involve being around a group of people in a gym.

3. Make your employees a priority too. 

Don't focus all your efforts on marketing during this time. Your employees are what keep your business going, so how can you care for them? Maybe you can give your staff the option of working 100% remotely while COVID-19 is a concern. Remind them you fully encourage them to stay home if they're feeling sick. The more you can put your employees at ease, the better they'll be able to support your business and your customers.

What Small Business Owners Can Learn from Coronavirus

I know this is hard, and I hope you can hang in there and focus on the present, and on being of service to your clients and staff. They're afraid, and what you do or share can help alleviate those fears. Remember to be careful and intentional about what you're saying.

It's also a good time to reassess your business fundamentals, including how CONVID-19 is affecting your digital marketing. How will you deal with a crisis the next time it happens? Are there things you'd do differently to be more prepared or prevent losses?

Like everything else in life, this is a learning experience. Stay healthy, safe and positive.

Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having the lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their online business presence. As a result of working with Susan and her team, clients feel confident and relieved knowing their online marketing is in trustworthy and caring hands so they can focus on building their business with peace of mind at having a perfect support system in place to guide them every step of the way. Visit http://www.ultimatewebsiteguide.ca and download your FREE "Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Website's Profitability - 10 Critical Questions You Must Ask to Get Maximum Results". Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

Should You Stop Marketing During COVID-19?

The world is changing, but you can adapt

I'm sure you've been affected by COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) in some way. Whether that means worrying about elderly parents, changing travel plans or stocking up on essentials to work from home for the foreseeable future, it's hard to not feel the stress.

As a small business owner, you may be seeing fewer customers as people limit social interaction, change travel and leisure plans, and focus on staying healthy rather than on shopping. Unless you sell toilet paper or hand sanitizer, you may be concerned about the impact of the coronavirus on your small business: your revenue, employees, and empty marketing funnel. 

Does that mean you should hunker down and stop your marketing efforts for the time being? 

No!

I'm a firm believer in focusing on what we can do and change while finding the opportunities amidst adversity. Every challenge can be met with common sense, rational thought and kindness. 

This is not the time for irrationality. I was watching a webinar the other day and someone said, "Worrying is like a rocking chair-it gives you something to do but it won't get you anywhere!"

I know we are living in troubling times. The virus and how the global economy is responding to the preventative measures will go down in the history books. 

But as business owners, there is one thing we do still have control over, and that's the ability to be resilient and make choices that will get us through these times as best possible.

In this article, I'm sharing some ways you can address the challenge of marketing during a crisis and keep your business going. Let's start by looking at two of the wrong ways to approach marketing during a crisis:

1. Making a joke about coronavirus. A few weeks ago, it was common to see online memes and humorous marketing campaigns. As more and more people around the world were affected by coronavirus, these slowed down a lot. Making light of the situation is not only in poor taste, but you'll likely drive away a good chunk of your target audience.

2. Playing on people's fears. It's one thing to use a sense of urgency to sell your product or service, but it's another thing entirely to use scare tactics. For example, don't scare people into buying a first aid kit with a message like "Only two left! Don't risk your family's health!" Rather, focus on the benefit of being proactive and prepared by stocking up on medical supplies.

Make sure the angle and tone of your marketing reflects your customer's current concerns and pain points without capitalizing on their anxiety.

No matter what type of small business you have, your priority should be clearly communicating with your customers to put them at ease. Think about what your clients need to hear from you, and how you want to position your business during this crisis.

Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having the lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their online business presence. As a result of working with Susan and her team, clients feel confident and relieved knowing their online marketing is in trustworthy and caring hands so they can focus on building their business with peace of mind at having a perfect support system in place to guide them every step of the way. Visit http://www.ultimatewebsiteguide.ca and download your FREE "Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Website's Profitability - 10 Critical Questions You Must Ask to Get Maximum Results". Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293