20 things you can be doing for small business during the downtime.
Setup a social media calendar – Find, create, or procure 2-4 posts per week for the next quarter. Set them up in a calendar so you can just go and grab the content and post it. Don’t forget to create great visuals – here is a calendar template we’ve found from a basic search. https://templates.office.com/en-us/social-media-content-calendar-tm34312278
Create blog content that can be used over the next quarter. Much like the social media calendar, but more in depth. Write more in story form blog content specific for your industry with your websites keywords in place to boost your SEO.
Create Ads for social media for the rest of 2020. Keep in mind Holidays, National Days, and some general ads about your company.
Get your past clients’ emails in a database or email drip campaign program. Whether it’s Constant Contact, Wix, or Mailchimp – make sure all of your past customers are in place to begin receiving your drip campaign. ProTip: use your blog, social media, and ads you’ve created as drip material. Make sure you have a point and a call to action for the campaign.
Reach out to past clients with “deal” and discount for pre-booking/purchasing. If your business is affected by stay at home orders, don’t use dates.
Think of other creative ways to market your services or lateral services you can offer your clients. For our Photographer/Editing professionals – offer to digitize and enhance your clients’ old photos. Remember, they’re stuck at home too looking for something to do – what better way than to dig out those old photos? You’re used to editing photos, and these are often a fun way to pass the time and will generate you some income.
Go through and optimize your website. Double check H tags, page titles, and link, and make sure your website is optimized.
Review all of your collateral for any design or content shortcomings and come up with a plan to fix that at the earliest convenience. All of your print material should be cohesive and be on brand.
Develop a “next time plan.” Think in terms what you wished you’d known 3 months ago and write down those things and their potential solutions. Think what would my today self have told my 3 month ago self. Think in terms of business – not “buy TP now!”
Make a wishlist of items or technology your company can benefit from in the future. Set a plan and timeline of how and when to acquire those items.
Put some work into developing quality, authentic backlinks.
Setup Google analytics, Facebook pixel, and Google Search Console if you haven’t already.
Make sure your company is listed on the directories that are important for your industry.
Develop your post COVID-19 business plan for 2020. Make a plan, do the math based on how many clients you need to talk to, quote, and complete transactions for to grow your business.
Continued education or learn a skill. There are a ton of quality online learning institutions out there, and many of them right now are offering discounts. Hone an old skill relevant to your industry or learn something new.
Reconcile your accounts and make sure all of your books are up to date. If this is something that tends to be slightly behind the curve do it. It’s also not a bad time to analyze and see what you’re spending where and see if you can save money anywhere.
Go through your “do later pile” and do it – it’s later.
Keep a journal.
Figure out what small business is essential to you, your family, or your business, and support it.
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