I want to start by putting prayers out to all the people in the world being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that is taking place right now. We are writing this article to help give small and medium size Austin business owners some guidance on how to increase revenue in the COVID-19 crisis. Our company, BizeeBay, is based in Austin and our only goal is to help companies succeed, as our motto is “You Grow. We Grow.”.
We are reaching out to all our clients and preaching the following:
1. Move your Business Online!
I know this seems obvious and that’s because it is! If your business does not at minimum have a website, then you are going to lose valuable customers! We are more intending to preach the fact that you should be focusing on the online presence of your business. Gearing up with the necessary provisions necessary such as packaging if you are selling tangible items or coordinating with service providers and the end customer.
At BizeeBay we created some template-based website for restaurant clients so they can capture efficient and user friendly take out and delivery options. We have put together and published 4 of these websites as of 4:35PM, just today. We are encouraging all of our business associates to be on offense, not defense!!!
2. Get Active on Social Media
Everyone is in quarantine and their phones don’t work. Now that would be true chaos. Picturing my little brother without his phone makes me wonder if I would recognize him. Luckily, we have perfectly functioning phones to help endure the repetitiveness that quarantine is inducing. 72% of all web traffic is used on social media. Social media traffic is about to hit the craziest high that we have ever seen.
So, what do I mean by “Get Active”? I’m not expecting you to all the sudden become a social media ninja lead generator. I am only implying that you should take all your free time marketing your business to potential customers. Let me spit ball some activities for you to partake in for your business’s social media presence:
- Open Account (I’m praying that this is already done)
- Post (Funny videos of working from home, & interesting content)
- Follow (Follow all your potential customers; do they fit your demographic etc.?)
- Private Message (Reach out to potential and past clients in any way possible)
- Commenting (Find your businesses niche content and comment)
…Please do NOT stop doing any of this moving forward. These are very simple, but only effective if the practices preached above are consistent.
3. Do NOT say the word Recessio*
We hate the word so much we are have blocked it from use at the office. As you can see above, we are not even typing the entire word. We are not naive. Many of us at BizeeBay have been in the same industry since before the housing crisis. From those experiences we have always known it was on the incoming but could have never guessed it would have been from a pandemic. We just don’t want to impose a negative vibe toward our employees. Make the topic create a fun way for your employees to develop creative business solutions.
Please realize that if you do not believe in your business during the heart of a Recessio* then you are essentially assuming the American economy will not be able to rebound, and that is a bet 99% of the Americans lose every recession*.
4. Focus on what is profitable!
We need to focus on what product makes you the most money and can be easily transitioned to ship or be safely coordinated. As an Austin business owner you know what your customer looks like. Now you need to dig a little deeper.
Do you have access to additional supply of “this” product?
Do the margins allow you to absorb additional handling cost associated with shipping or delivery?
Do my customers need this product in quarantine times?
These questions need to be asked about every product or service that you sell. From there you hold the knowledge on which product to market to your customers.
5. Invest in “for sure’s”
Nothing is 100%. We get it. That’s where the “” come from. We are encouraging that all of our clients start making preparations for a come back that is going to be incredibly epic in the very near future. China is already seeing declines in the amount of new cases. This Virus will dissipate one way or another and Americans will be stronger because of it. We will have found innovative ways to combat issues like the COVID-19 for the future. We will have also found new and creative ways to serve your customers better.
Can you guarantee an ROI? If you can’t make sure that you can justify it in the hardest of times. We are allowing our customers the ability to move to metric based pricing during this time. You need to make sure. All digital marketing companies in Austin will need to convert to metric based pricing in order to obtain and maintain growth.
Grow your business but calculate your moves thoroughly. Many of your competitors will be sleeping, and that makes a very bad circumstance and opportunity to grow your business to be stronger than ever. Let’s muscle through these times and give back as much as we can simultaneously.
