If you loved Part 1 of our Small business survival tips – read on here for Part 2! As we continue to share CREATIVE BUSINESS SURVIVAL TIPS by Finders Keepers Director Sarah Thornton..
6 – Engage and spark joy:
As much as it is important to be letting your story shine, it is just as important to be engaging with your audience and starting a conversation with them on the regular.
Start to rethink how you post, and communicate to reframe it to be more of a conversation. If you’re not doing that already, it’s a ripe opportunity when everyone is spending more time at home, and are online more than ever. It’s a great time to truly engage with them, ask them questions, listen to them and make them feel like their part of your journey too. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two and those adaptations might just help grow your business!
You can’t always sell, but you can bring a little joy in others’ lives. It might be a laugh, a feel-good share or something that makes them feel that extra bit special. A little bit of love goes a long way and you will have brand loyalty for the future.
We truly hope that they’re here with you to support you for the long haul!
7 – The world still needs creators:
The world needs your little bit of sunshine in their lives too. We can’t all be about essential services, hand sanitisers and groceries.
It’s a creative time, where people are getting motivated to finally rearrange that room, and get that piece of art for that blank wall.
Many of us around the country (and world) will be forced to stay within our own communities for some time yet. It means spending less on travel, eating out and entertainment and more time (and money) being spent doing things at home.
It’s no surprise that online sales are increasing right now. What are people buying? What is trending? Who is doing well? Do some research and move towards doing what feels aligned for your brand.
Not only are online sales on the rise, but people are spending more time online than ever before. They want things that brighten their days so naturally anything inspiring and creative is doing well, but they also want to connect and engage with others. They’re actively seeking ways to do that in the online space.
This is an opportunity for creatives to do what they do best. Be creative!
So get making, start that project, or finish that project. It might not just be all about revenue, it may also be a golden opportunity to increase and engage with your customers in new ways you’ve never tried before.
8 – Get Digital Savvy:
If you haven’t already, why haven’t you?! Or is it something you’ve repeatedly put on the back-burner because it’s in the too-hard basket?
Well now is the perfect time to learn! There’s a heap of people out there giving away free content, short courses. Podcasts are exploding with content right now on how to boost your brand awareness, how to thrive on e-commerce platforms and how to nail your email marketing.
And yes you can do this all with integrity and lead from the heart (see points above!)
When your customers are all online,, how are you going to reach them in the digital space? It’s not just all about your message, it is also all about your all-important reach. Think about things like your copywriting, SEO, growing your email list and e-commerce marketing. You might not have much money to invest, but you can invest time and build resources to get self savvy with your digital marketing.
What opportunities are there right now that you can leverage? And if you don’t know, ask! People in our community are passionate and kind and most likely willing to help other small businesses in need.
9 – Collaboration time:
The current things that are restricting all business owners right now are all the same things and they are hindering the way that businesses are operating. It’s a time when you should be truly embracing community over competition.
Reach out to like-minded brands and run a competition together, share each other’s stories, shout out to other brands and ask them to do the same. Combine your reach together to engage new audiences and do cool stuff together! Maybe you can combine forces and create new products or services that are relevant during this time.
You’ll not only create some new magic together, but you might also create some life-long friendships that have each other’s backs in moving forward.
10 – Get even clearer on your mission:
Through the time of a crisis, it starts to bring to light the things that truly matter. If the dust has settled a little for you, perhaps it’s time to reflect, refine and review your mission. It’s a good time to reconnect with your core focus, and zone in on it.
Suddenly the less meaningful stuff will naturally fall away when you get really clear on your mission. You can’t have a business without customers, so this will clarify who you’re serving and why you’re serving them.
It is also a good time to redefine what success looks like to you. Yes, making money to survive is very important (brutally important right now!), but try and reframe your measurements of success to also be around customer happiness, retention and how you create a ripple effect around what you do.
Your definition of success should be based around the impact you can have and the fulfilment it gives you. Forget comparisons, and “I could do it better” attitudes, start thinking about how you want to feel when you go to sleep at night. And why you want to bounce out of bed each morning too!
Here are a few more resources to help:
Owners Collective Podcast: newly launched Podcast for short and sharp how-to business tips for small businesses!
Stevie Says Social Podcast: A specialist in social media marketing, she also brings together a whole heap of digital savvy!
Chromatical Club: Marketing tips for small businesses and a club you can join too!
Odette & Co: For DIY’ing your own PR, she has an awesome Podcast and program too.
Thank you!
If you got this far – well done! I hope it has helped bring some new things into your awareness. We’re looking forward to bringing you even more tips and resources over the coming weeks and months ahead.
If you’ve found it useful make sure to share with your friends too! Sarah x
Thank you so much Sarah it has certainly been a roller coaster ride and all these amazing tips are perfect ..I am still behind in the digital world and this is a perfect time for me to upgrade my awareness and knowledge plus not be scared to let my customers know me …
This was Awesome advise
Many Thanks
All the best to the Team at Finderskeepers you are the best!
Ps looking forward to fashion video virtual in June 👏🥰😀
Much love Deb XX
Awesome list to get me inspired and back on track – thank you. I’ve scribbled pages of notes and will be very busy again next week (which is a really good feeling).