Posted by Yup, things have changed. You don’t have the same resources you had a few weeks ago, and your kids are now your most unproductive co-workers ever — with no HR department to complain to. So, what can you do when you don’t have the resources you’re used to? You get resourceful.
The “stuck at home” status is not a roadblock telling you to retreat from your goals and dreams. This is simply a detour and a reason to find another path to success, one that you can navigate without getting out of your pajamas. Seize the opportunity. Despite the challenges we’re all experiencing right now, there are many.
If you’ve been waiting for that “perfect time,” now is it, so start something new for your business, like….
Related: COVID-19 Will Fuel the Next Wave of Innovation
1. Emailing more often, or emailing in the first place
If you haven’t been regularly communicating with your list, there’s no better time to start than right now. In your first email, share that you know it’s important to stay connected in this time of change, and tell them how you will serve them in your emails moving forward.
Do not — I repeat do not, for all things holy — send another message telling your list how you are dealing with the virus through a bunch of internal processes they don’t care about. I mean, all of the companies where I am not a customer — whom I’ve never heard from before — are now telling me how they are cleaning their breakroom more often. No, thank you.
Instead, use your email to give tips, strategies and things they can use right now. For example, I email my list daily and have been sharing strategies to generate sales on-demand from home. I write these before the kids wake up and start asking me for snacks.
Elsewhere, Snarky Tea sent out a funny quiz to help you select the perfect tea variety based on how you are dealing with the crisis at hand. The Kennedy Center is sending out daily art tutorials for kids to do at home. (Hello, opportunity to use the bathroom without the kiddos asking where I am.)
Give value in the emails you send while people are hungry for knowledge, entertainment and inspiration. Then keep emailing them when things clear as leverage moving forward.
2. Starting a video series
Now is a great time to start offering content via Facebook Live, YouTube or LinkedIn videos for your audience. Answer frequently asked questions via step-by-step videos, no fancy equipment or editing software required.
Use a window for light and put your computer slightly above your head, angling down for a flattering image. (Ask me how I know.) For content ideas, you can….
- Make a list of the questions you get asked most often.
- Ask your personal and/or business contacts via social media: “If you and I went out for coffee, what’s one question you’d like me to answer about _______ (your thing)?”
- Look up the most frequently asked questions on answerthepublic.com and answer those.
3. Advertising
Spend money in times of uncertainty. Oh, heck yes. People are online right now, and competition is down, so there is more inventory with fewer people bidding on it. We are seeing the lowest cost-per-lead than ever before with our marketing.
In my call to my Facebook Partner rep this week, he confirmed that ad costs are currently down and encouraged advertising, even if it was just a branding-awareness campaign to keep your audience engaged and ready for buying when things clear up.
We are running straight lead-generation ads into an evergreen funnel that is paying for itself daily.
Either way, now is not the time to stop spending money on marketing.
4. Launching a digital course and/or coaching program
With everyone afraid of big gatherings and leaving their house (rightfully so), now couldn’t be a better time to share and sell your knowledge virtually. While it used to be the exception, e-learning is now the norm, and the industry continues to grow year over year, last year bringing in more than $600 billion.
I know you might be thinking, “This sounds good, but what the heck am I going to teach?” Here are a few ideas to get you started brainstorming:
- Is there a tool or technique you use in your business? I recently held a virtual workshop on copywriting and taught our daily email system. I’ve also sold a mini-course on how to do a Facebook Live and another on a daily productivity routine. What’s one tool or technique you could teach?
- Is there a parenting technique that works for you? Being a working mom who travels occasionally to speak, I’ve developed techniques to make my trips less disruptive for my kids with games and surprise hacks while I am gone. I could teach a mini-course on Travel Hacks for Road Warrior Parents.
- Hobby you love? Do Spartan Races bring you joy? Collecting model race cars your thing? Knitting make your heart sing? There’s an online course idea there. There is someone who hasn’t started yet, but who wants to know how — and you are the perfect one to tell them.
- Have you grown your business and others are asking how? Did you take a non-conventional route to drive in sales that others could benefit from? There’s an online course there.
Related: For Savvy Entrepreneurs, an Economic Downturn Creates Opportunity
And if you are worried that it’s all “been done before,” don’t. If you haven’t done it before, it hasn’t been done, because there are people whom you will resonate with who haven’t been moved by anyone else. Your knowledge is just the thing that is needed right now. Spend a minute brainstorming and let me know: What’s one idea you have for a course right now?
The most successful companies in our nation’s history have come out of times of change. Adapt and prosper using this period as a chance to start something new for your business. All without putting on your pants.