Hi, there, while we take a short break from our usual Website Design related tutorials, I am pleased to provide some tips and learning we have collated to help small businesses cope with the Coronavirus crisis and keep up with their marketing and productivity.

This started with a video call that I had with my good friend Mr. Jasvinder Virdi (Jas) from Canada – who is a well known Wealth and financial management consultant there. He can be reached at Virdi Financial Services regarding Wealth Management and Financial Advice. Both of us were talking about the impact this crisis and decided to do a small session focusing on Online Marketing, Productivity Tips.

Here is the video in case you’re interested in going through it:

Here is a Summary of our Discussion on helping small Businesses with their Marketing during the Corona crisis.

1. The corona-virus crisis has rocked the world globally and it is painfully clear that small businesses , freelancers, self-employed professionals will be some of the most vulnerable groups to its economic impact. Small businesses and entrepreneurs will face financial hardship but it’s across the globe (India, US, Canada, Europe, Asia ), so we are all in this together.  Secondly, its going to be felt for some time , so we need to be patient.
2.  Having Said that, in terms of marketing – the basic principles still hold true – be it Corona or no Corona.   For instance, the Customer is Still the King  |  Product Market Fit for something you have launched or are launching is even more important so the need to understand the market, consumer and product is paramount. And Online marketing is still going to be the most efficient marketing channel ever !
3. Businesses need to avoid the vicious cycle of Fear of existence, Losing – which starts with Lower spending from clients, follows through with Revenue Uncertainty; this fear which ultimately leads to Cost Cutting, possible layoffs, losses ->  Adding to the fear again for someone else and lower Spending from him or her.  So everyone is interconnected.  In such a time knee jerk reactions should be avoided.

Section 2:  What should a Small business do for Marketing and Online Marketing in Particular.

1.  Keep in regular touch with your customers: but not asking for orders. These are testing times and we need to empathize with our fellow clients, suppliers and everyone. Be in touch – through email, social media or an occasional telephonic call to ask how they are coping. A connect during this tough time will strengthen the business relationship you have and customers won’t forget.
2. Communication focus on: Quality, Safety, Affordability: All  of these will need to be focused on during these times. Safety is important because of obvious reasons and you have to show affordability to your customers. Customer’s in most sectors will cut their discretionary spend and focus more on affordability then bells and whistles. Quality will nonetheless remain important.
3. Drive innovation: This is very important now as we have to adjust quickly during the times of Corona crisis. Couple of examples coming out of India – we have food delivery apps here like Swiggy and Zomato which may have gone into deep crisis with the lock-down and restrictions on restaurants; even customers being concerned about outside food. So they innovated, changed their apps, web interfaces to allow grocery delivery and hence better utilize their logistics and also offer ‘No Contact’ Delivery emphasizing the ‘Safety’ aspect. Similarly startups which had doctor/clinical appointments as a key service offering have been impacted as normal doc visits are restricted and have gone down. So they innovated and modified their apps etc. to provide tele-consultation and video conferencing based advice.   This is the kind of innovation small entrepreneurs will need to rapidly tweak their business models, add-on / modify offerings.
4. Look  out for Deals and Grants: There will be deals aimed at small business and support across the globe from organizations/ gov. etc. We must look out for them and not hesitate from asking for deals where feasible.  We should also reciprocate and offer easier payment options or deals to our clients as everyone is in this together. Examples of deals are provided in the next section but always update yourself by searching on google. Here are some grants available to businesses in the US:
   • The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering Economic Injury Disaster Loans up to $2 million per small business, and business owners in all U.S. states and territories are currently eligible to apply for a low-interest loan. (SBA’s traditional loan programs also remain available.)
   • Amazon announced a $5 million Neighborhood Small Business Relief Fund to provide cash grants to local Seattle small businesses.
   • JP Morgan pledged $50 million to help struggling customers, and $8 million in aid to small businesses, specifically.

   You can find a detail of most such grants typically targeting the US Small businesses here.

5. Last couple of points would be to a) Try and differentiate yourself and emphasize your values by showing empathy, concern and helping where possible. It is not only the right thing to do , but will also add your brand recall and reputation.  b) Don’t cut budgets without assessing properly if that activity adds to the business value and / or is crucial.

 Section 3: Online Marketing and Lead Generation during the time of Coronavirus

1.  Time of online deals: As discussed above, the global tech majors will also be offering deals be it Google Adword credits, FB Credits, Hosting / E-commerce Covid 19 response measures. Here are a few examples:
   
   Discounts / Deals, Offerings in Tech for Small Business in response to Covid 19

   1) Shopify Covid 19 Response: In the US and globally Shopify is increasing features for its plans such as) Gift cards now available on all plans and customers
   b) Free Email marketing on all plans
   c) Extended 90 Day free trial
   d) $200 million small business funding for US and UK. You can find out about these Shopify Covid 19 measures here for the US/ UK and here for India.
   
   2) Google Ads Covid 19 Free Credit : Google is apparently offering up-to $340 million in ad credits to active advertisers. You can find eligibility details here.
   
   3) G Suite: Free access to advanced Google Meet video-conferencing capabilities for all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally has been extended to September 30, 2020.
   
   4) Facebook Small Business Grant: Facebook has apparently come up with a $100 M Small business grant program which will include ad credits, cash grant etc. Details are still awaited at this time of posting and can be found here . In my opinion Facebook has responded in a slow and stingy manner to the Covid crisis that’ll impact small businesses but lets see what happens.
2. Use the Spare time to increase Social Media Visibility: We are finding some spare time available to us during Lockdown. Start looking at Instagram, Linkedin apart from Facebook depending on your product / service offering to build up your social reach and visibility. This will be very helpful in the long run.
3. Build up on Reviews: This is a good time to ask and gather reviews from your regular customers as they may be having more spare time to respond, and happy to help in this time of need. Reviews can help for the future and be a crucial factor for customers choosing you.
4. Start Blogging: This is also a time to share knowledge, insight experience and you can use free platforms like Medium and Tumblr to blog and reach out to customers or take help from a professional website designer like us to build you a professional blog. You can also visit our blog for web design DIY, internet-marketing tips.
5. Offer Free or Trade Off Consulting: By offering trade-off deals, you will increase your visibility and can target Trade-off assignment if a customer is unable to pay. Or even offer some short assignment for free if you known long term their is business potential from the customer.

In conclusion, stay connected and helpful to your business contacts and customers.

Section 4:  Free Productivity Tools for Small Business

1. Meeting / Collaboration Tools: Zoom, Skype, Teamviewer are some of the free / freemium meeting and collaboration tools we’ve used or seen using. Skype is quite old and useful and has share, video recording (new) and chat, calling etc. functionality. Zoom also has meeting, sharing,chat etc. functionality with recording of the meeting possible. Their is waiting room facility as well as easy meeting share. But there are some privacy and security concerns with Zoom. On the positive side we’ve found Zoom audio and video capabilities to be quite good. Teamviewer is also a good tool but more suitable for helpdesk or remote support.
2. CRM: Good CRMS aren’t really free but a couple of inexpensive ones include: Freshsales CRM and Zoho CRM. A CRM basically allows you to track, analyze, complete the process of a Lead converting to a customer. It isn’t just reminders and meetings but a lot of analysis, collaboration etc. as well.
3. Productivity and Time Management Apps: One of our favorites here is Trello. Trello is a very intuitive ‘To-Do List’ tool . And it’s free for the basic plan. Similarly GSuite is a relatively well known platform which provides everything from Domain to Space to Documents Management, Sharing and productivity.
4. Email Marketing: There are many tools ranging from Constant Contact to MailChimp etc. One relatively new one which has very good free plans is SendinBlue. Email marketing should be combined with your blog / social media channels to be in constant touch with your audience.
5. Personal Growth: The free time we’re getting now is an opportunity to invest in our personal growth. Time to read that business book you’ve always been wanting to read – get started with this Kindle Trial. Or even better, listen to an Audible if you’re lazy like me: (Audible free trial enclosed)

Note: Do remember to unsubscribe from Free Trials to avoid Auto Renewals.

Section 5:  New Business Ideas for Apps / Webs

1. Finding a founder: This may also be a time for new ideas, starting over, changing track. Businesses are in flux and if you’re looking for a founder , chances are someone else is too. Look in websites like CofoundersLab and you may be able to find good co-founders as well as a source for knowledge.
2. App or Web Application Development for Business Ideas: Got a business idea? Work on your Business Plan before investing money in your idea, do create a basic or detailed business plan, put your thoughts on paper and chart out a course of actions for the future. There are plenty of resources online for creating a business plan available on Google, or by taking on the help of a mentor / your local Small Business Assistance Agency.
   If you have come up with a new business idea, or focused on an old one – during this crisis, it may be a good idea to explore Offshore to save costs for App and Web Application development. Apart from the much needed cost saving, remote working is now going to seem more natural than ever and quality is not going to be an issue, if an offshore development partner is sought patiently.

SO once again, our wishes are with our customers, business contacts in this time of crisis and we shall definitely overcome. Human innovation has overcome the greatest of crisis, and this too shall pass. Let’s do our bit by helping each other.