Let’s be honest, everything feels surreal and somewhat upside down at the moment doesn’t it? Routines are out of the window, our days merge into one – what day even is it? We’re trying to run our businesses, stay healthy and fit, look after our mental health and, in many cases, home-school our kids. So is there any wonder in this constant state of flux we are struggling to keep on top of our businesses and even understand how to maintain or grow them?
In order to help you navigate this tricky time I want to give you my top 4 tips to make sure your business adapts and communicates in our current situation and ride the wave of a pandemic.
- DON’T BE AFRAID TO ADAPT OR CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
I know people are worried about confusing their audience or brand. But, when you are the business owner, you are the brand. So if you need to pivot and/or change the business to keep afloat, as long as you explain what you’re doing and keep the same values you apply to everything you do, then you can take your audience with you. And they’ll get to know you better. So it’s a win-win!
The most important thing is to keep talking and keep sharing, so that you keep the relationships you’ve built, and build some new ones too.
- STAY VISIBLE BUT BE MINDFUL OF OTHERS
People are spending a lot of time-consuming content and on social media right now and you need to stay visible so that they remember you. You still need to keep in touch with your audience and build your personal brand.
But a word of caution – your usual messaging isn’t going to be right. If you batch produce loads of content about what life was like a few weeks ago – then start again. You need to communicate in real time and respond to what’s going on now, because the world has changed since then.
Be mindful and cautious of what you are putting out there and communicate from the heart.
- KEEP SERVICING YOUR PAYING CLIENTS
As much as we have our ups and downs, you must remember to take your clients with you, and keep looking after them. They’re likely to feel as lost as you and they’re trying to make sense of everything and keep their businesses going. So keep talking to them and keep helping them because you will want to continue to work with them when this all blows over.
Don’t get lost and abandon them – they need you just as much as you need them.
- PICK YOUR TEAM OF EXPERTS
One thing that I think is really crucial right now is building a team of experts around you to help you navigate the current situation in terms of content and influence. There is a lot of noise out there – it’s all driven by a desire to help, but it can get overwhelming.
Pick a handful of experts to help you – be they business experts, mindfulness experts, health experts, entertainers – and stick with them. Turn down the volume on everyone else, if only for the time being, you’ll feel better for it. (N.B BBC Radio 2 DJ Ken Bruce is one of mine!)
Pick the ones that help you feel good, help you feel motivated!
I am going to cover each of these points in more detail in the coming days to help you navigate this time as much as possible.
Have you got any tips on what has helped you maintain your business flow these past few weeks? Please let me know in the comments below.
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