in these uncertain times

“In these uncertain times…”

We’ve all heard that phrase a million times in the last few weeks. It seems all the big businesses are using it in their commercials. These ARE uncertain times and we as business owners need to be cognizant and respectful of the precarious situation we’re all in. We all fear giving off the perception that we’re “trying to make a buck” off of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But times are uncertain for small businesses too, and “trying to make a buck” is actually just “trying to stay alive”. Suddenly having to shutter your active business, tell your employees their job is done, pivot and figure out if and how you can serve your customer differently… in these uncertain times. Then of course there’s the fear. Will you ever be able to open your doors again?

When Minnesota’s stay-at-home order went into place, I posted only things that would help small businesses for a full week on my Facebook page; things like resources, tips, articles, etc. I’m pulling the best from there (and diving a little deeper in some) and compiling it here for you.

1 – keep the lights on

Your local chamber of commerce, Small Business Development Center, SCORE chapter, and other agencies can help you navigate this new turf you find yourself in. They can connect you with other businesses, help you with applying for the SBA loans if you need it, and so much more.

Our local Small Business Development Center has provided a comprehensive webpage that addresses small business’ response to COVID-19. They host webinars and other online events (most are free) so be sure to check it out. Much of the information there is accessible and applicable no matter where you are located; so if you don’t have a SBDC where you are, I encourage you to check out the resources at that link.

2 – pivot & reach out

Think differently

Is there a way you can support your customers and provide your service in an alternate way? Obviously, adhere to government restrictions, keep yourself and your employees safe, and balance the cost of getting the new service up and going with the benefit of a new source of revenue… but think hard. Google your business type or explore on Facebook/Instagram and learn what other businesses like yours are doing across the country. If you’re not the creative type (or even if you are!), employ the help of others. Get their ideas. Their outside perspective gives them the opportunity to things you may not see.

For example: I saw a post in a Facebook group I’m in from a landscaping company looking for creative ways to market their business. Some suggestions I offered:

Provide virtual consultations: customers could use their phone to walk the landscape designer around their property. A simple consultation could be on-the-spot plant suggestions, ideas, etc. from the designer (low-cost option) and a more full consultation could include a full landscape plan from the designer after the conversation (higher-cost option).
Social media engagement:
- Regular video posts about different plants that thrive in their area, maybe with themes such as specific colors, easy-to-grow, or native plants.
- Provide tips for people trying to DIY some landscaping projects during their time at home.
- Ask customers what they want to learn about.

I’ve seen a cute antiques shop in our town doing live sales on their Facebook page, many businesses transitioned their stock to a website and do curbside pickup or shipping, others are providing phone or video consultations as support for DIY-ers, and fitness facilities and gyms are providing at-home online workouts.

Some of these could be continued after “life” resumes as a new way to engage their audience and/or secure different revenue streams. What could YOU do differently to serve your customers?

Connect with other businesses

How can you collaborate and cross-advertise to reach a wider audience? Our local chamber of commerce created a Facebook group for local businesses to post and advertise in, and within just a few days it had a couple thousand members (as of this post, it has 4,500). Could your community do something similar?

“Attend” online events that would have been in person. Our local chapters of 1Million Cups and Social Media Breakfast are still holding presentations via Zoom (like this one about the importance of customer reviews). Those are great ways to learn about other businesses, make connections, and learn about business-related topics. Make the time for these; you’ll be surprised you how benefit. Also, it’s a good way to show these organizations support as they’re working so hard to support small businesses. (And you can keep your camera covered so you can still attend in your pajamas.)

3 – communicate, communicate, communicate

If your customers don’t know how you have changed your businesses practices to continue to serve them, you’ll fall off their radar. If they don’t know you’re open, they won’t know they can buy. If they don’t know you care, they won’t care.

Utilize your email list

Don’t have one? Start one. If you have one, now’s the time to grow it. Use your social media accounts to ask people to sign up. Offer a discount in exchange for their email address. Promise (then provide) tips and resources for them related to your business.

Continue to post on social media

Even if you’re only operating minimal hours and providing minimal services. Even if you’re hard closed – not operating at all. Even if you’re not sure you’ll reopen when all is said and done. Don’t fall off your customers’ radar.

Even if it feels like you’re posting the same general message – use different pictures, post at different times of day, reword the text. Chances are the audience that saw your post at 10am on Tuesday on Facebook won’t see it at 9pm on Thursday on Instagram. Plus, even if they did see it, it may not have stuck with them, or they may not have had time to act on it right then… so seeing it again is a reminder. In fact, people NEED to see the same message multiple times before they act.

Gary Vaynerchuk says we should jab, jab, jab THEN throw the right hook. Meaning: give, give, give THEN ask them to buy. (Never heard of him? You can Google “Gary Vaynerchuk jab jab jab right hook” and you’ll get a wealth of information. Here’s an article to get you started.)

The point is, CONNECT. Give your audience, your customers something to care about. Teach them something, help solve their problem for free (from home), show them that you’re there because you care about them. Help them feel good about supporting your business. Help them get to know YOU. Then ask them to buy or subscribe or do something.

{If you still want it to look good but the budget is a little tight, here are some low or no cost tools you can use to create your own designs for social media or print.}

Tell your customers how they can help

Everyone is overwhelmed by the state of our country, our world. Everyone wants to help in some way, but often don’t know how. TELL your customers how they can help your business. Your customers are your customers for a reason. They like your service, your product, your business, you. They will want to support you. Tell them exactly how they can do that.

I created a series of images that I posted on my social media during that first week, then wrote text to accompany each post. I wrote them as a broad “how to help small businesses”, so they can be used that way as a general support to your community. Some of them can also be tailored to be specific to your business.

I’m providing these images, the original post content, AND suggestions for how you can customize the post at no cost to you. Just click the DOWNLOAD NOW button below and you’ll get the five images and a PDF with the content. You are welcome to use them in any order, edit the text to fit your business, use completely different text, etc. (If you use any of them, I would appreciate a tag @bluesunmn on Facebook or Instagram.)

download now

As always, please let me know how I can be helpful as you navigate… these uncertain times.

All images in this post (aside from the social media assets included in the download) are from pixabay.com.

Uncategorized

designed to be unique

I saw a friend out and about a while back, and he mentioned he needed new business cards. He owns a painting business in town, and he said he got his current cards from his accounting software for super cheap and he’s almost out of them. But he also said, with a tone of annoyance in his voice, “Another painter in town has the exact same cards as me, so I need new ones.”

You guys, I live in a town of around 50,000 people. I don’t know how many painting companies we have, but I can’t imagine we have a ton. And the fact that two of them ended up with the exact same business cards just screams the old adage:

You get what you pay for.

I’ve seen it before too. My hairstylist used to have the same logo and business cards as a bridal shop in town. When you get your designs created by a one-size-fits-all shop online, you run the risk of sharing your branding with someone else in town, or even your competition. The internet is big, but not THAT big.

A small design company will take the time to listen to you and learn about your business, your customer, and the message you’re trying to convey. They will create something that is unique to you and YOUR company… something that stands out from your competition’s marketing instead of matching it.

Plus, if you give that designer your repeat business, they will become an extension of your team. They will grow to understand the nuances of your business, and you won’t have to explain who you are or how your business works to them each time you have a new project. It’s like having a designer on-staff, but without having to budget for it.

Sure, you will likely have to pay more for the service of custom design. But, you didn’t design your business to fit into a template; why design your marketing around a template?

photo credit: user RawPixel on Pixabay.com

business, motivated, Uncategorized

going beyond fear to faith

I’ve told you about the push I got to attend Christy Wright’s Business Boutique 3 day event in Nashville, TN in early November. Months before the trip, I wrote about that generous gift as well as many of the reasons I had NOT to go, and how I turned those into my reasons TO go:

If you know me well, you know I’m irrationally terrified of flying. I also have two very active kids to drive all over the place, two dogs to worry about, and a full-time job outside of this side-venture. It is also VERY MUCH outside my nature to accept help or gifts like this from anyone. I have a million reasons (excuses?) to turn down this most generous offer. But I have one big reason why I accepted it:

It is 100% outside of my comfort zone.

And it was. My anxiety about the trip increased exponentially as the days approached, specifically about getting on the plane and logistics of the trip, but also about details at home like which kid had practice/games when, how they were getting there, I’d be missing my son’s first hockey game of the season, etc.

Okay. Deep breath. You can do this.

All of the flights went well from a getting-from-point-A-to-point-B standpoint. I thought I was brave… although my husband perceived it a little differently as he saw tears streaming down my face with every takeoff and landing. (I gently reminded him that being brave is not being without fear, it is pushing through your fear.) In any case, we arrived safely with all our luggage and all was well.

At the conference itself, I was inspired, energized, and motivated with practical strategies I have already started putting to use in order to serve you well. I was encouraged to step out from behind my logo and allow you to get to know me personally. I heard speakers who gave me goosebumps and brought me to tears, encouraging me to believe in this business and myself. (Seriously, if you are a woman business-owner, look into Business Boutique.) There were so many takeaways, but the quote from Christy Wright that stood out to me the most was this:

Both faith and fear require believing in something that hasn’t happened yet.

Does that hit you like it hit me? I caught my breath when I heard that one. It’s powerful! But because I wanted to justify my fears, I spent a few moments trying to think of loopholes and reasons this statement isn’t true… but I came up empty. There was no rationalizing the power out of it for me.

Pushing beyond fear in this case meant getting on a plane and leaving my day-to-day life behind in order to invest in myself, and therefore in you. I was vastly rewarded with amazing speakers and information I could immediately take back and apply to my business.

In addition to all of the practical tools I took with me from that event, I also took away a change in perspective: when fear arises and I start to doubt what I’m capable of achieving, I am going to take a deep breath and choose faith. You can too!

Just do it scared. Don’t wait. Don’t wait until you’re “ready”, or until the thing is perfect, or until you get approval from him or her… just #doitscared.

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Tell me about a time you were rewarded for pushing past fear – a time you DID IT SCARED. Or I’d love to hear what you think about the quote about fear & faith – did it hit you like it did me?

You might like this FREE downloadable wallpaper for your smartphone! I put it on my phone to remind me that I have a choice between faith and fear, no matter the situation. (If you have any trouble downloading it, just comment below with your email address and I’ll send it your way.)
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photo used in the free download is from pixabay.com user “oadtz”

cover photo credit: pixabay.com user “sasint”

business

why use a graphic designer?

Do you need a graphic designer?

Sure, you can put together that ad or coupon using your basic word processing software. Yes, it’s cheaper, and yes, it gets the job done.

You may not have the need for a graphic designer on payroll, but finding one that you can contract and work with consistently will build a relationship. Your designer will come to understand your business, learn your audience, and work more intuitively over time, thus needing less of your time and input. That groundwork and communication on the front end will help you immensely as you develop a relationship, grow your business together, and excellently serve your customers together.

Then this:

…turns into this:

…with minimal effort from you.

My passion is to take your message, polish it, and create a beautiful design so you can proudly put it out in the world. If it’s a print project, I’ll take care of getting it printed up for you too. Let me take care of those things so you can focus on the parts that made you want to go into business in the first place.

How can I serve your customers? Let’s find out!

cover photo credit: markusspiske on Pixabay.com

business

marketing kindness

A while back, I wrote about a generous gift I received from a client. I mentioned then that I had been working on a project for them that truly exemplifies who they are, and now that some time has passed and word is out, I thought I’d tell you more about it.

Frozen Yogurt Creations is a locally-owned frozen treat shop, but it’s so much more than that. Anyone who knows store owners Kelli and Bruce also knows that they see their shop as a place for community and family, for celebration and smiles, and a place to pause and reconnect with those we care about. They are intentional in their decisions – from their marketing to their cheery atmosphere to the gifts they give organizations in the community (which they do quietly and frequently).

I struggle to even call their most recent marketing campaign a “marketing” campaign, because for them, it isn’t about the marketing. They want to change the community to be kinder, and they thought of a fun way to do it that is just… well, I don’t know how to say it other than it’s just so them.

It starts with a business card sized coupon:

The idea is that they hand these cards out to family, friends, and employees to give to people they “catch” in an act of kindness, which the recipient could turn in for a free treat.

So then the recipient comes in, card in-hand, and writes down what they did on the back of the card. The card gets added to one of 6 posters that are hanging on the wall, such as this one:

poster/wall art — *24″ by 36″ custom poster*

Each one of those little rectangles will eventually get covered up with a card, but for now, they each contain a little quote about kindness. The posters hang near the seating areas so customers can read them while they enjoy their treat.

Finally, the do-gooder gets their picture taken holding a sign so Kelli and Bruce can brag about them a little bit on social media, like this:

Finally, they give that person a new, blank card so they can give it to someone else for their act of kindness and keep the campaign going.

So, yes. Technically, this is a marketing campaign. The first Facebook post they did about the campaign got around 150 “likes” and a bunch of shares and comments. Subsequent posts had strong responses as well. People got excited about it, and word is spreading, which I imagine is probably good for their business.

More importantly to Kelli and Bruce, it’s a Kindness Campaign: smiles are being spread during a time in history when maybe the world could use a little extra kindness. That’s their goal; the other stuff is secondary.

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What do you think about their campaign? How can your business create a Kindness Campaign, with the heart being in the kindness and the marketing being secondary? What kind of organizational culture needs to be there so customers know it’s genuine and not just for publicity?
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cover photo credit: user klimkin on Pixabay.com