(This article was originally published in the March 2020 Small Business Milwaukee newsletter. The intent of the newsletter was to share insights provided by small business owners on how they are dealing with corona virus effects.)
Like you have heard 1,000 times already, we are in a strange new challenging time right now. People really need to NOT PANIC, come together, help one another and adapt to new ways of doing business, or the outlook will not be good for those of you who don’t. Luckily I can do a vast majority of my business online or virtually. I have changed meetings from in person to web video conferences utilizing Zoom. Moved my local meetup groups from my office to online, as well. Trying to do everything I used to do in person – now virtually.~ Phil Reinhardt, Milwaukee Digital Marketing
I quickly made an effort to contact all my clients, and informed them that I was doing all my business like nothing has changed. Assured them I could do everything from home just like I could do at my office. For those who still wanted to meet regularly, I introduced them to Zoom, and set up our weekly or monthly meetings through there.
I conduct 6 meetup groups per month at my office, groups about WordPress, digital marketing, SEO, ETC. Depending on the group/subject, I get between 10 and 30 people attending each meeting every month. Instead of putting all those meetings on hold—I moved them to a virtual or online meeting.
My suggestion of what to do during these troubled times, is to instead of complaining and worrying—take this time being cooped up indoors and devote it to working on some aspect of your business. Maybe work on your website, or try to improve your SEO. Something that will benefit your business after we are through this mess. Something that you most likely didn’t have the time to do before—but now instead of wasting your day away—sitting on the couch watching Netflix, you suddenly have the time to complete. It will help pass the time and benefit you and your business in the long run.
If there is ANYTHING I can do to help, please do not hesitate to reach out.