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April 2020

Make money by saving money through the fine art of advocacy

Times are tough right now for small businesses—including ours. But you can be a financial advocate for your business and find ways to save money. Financial advocacy takes time—but a little bit of research, a few phone calls, a smile, and a “thank you” can be all it takes to reduce costs. During the Great Recession, we made a few changes that helped us stop leakage and save money—today we’re implementing some of those same changes to help weather this storm. Hopefully, these practical tips can help your business, too.   CARES Act PPP Congress recently passed the CARES Act, which includes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This...

What are businesses able to do now?

There is no one-size-fits-all for businesses during the pandemic. Here are two areas of communication opportunity for essential businesses and those who are now operating through different procedures due to our shelter-in-place.   What could businesses that are temporarily closed do? If people don’t see your new blog, story on Facebook or Instagram, or email blast, you’re not visible. If you’re not visible, you don’t exist within the mind of the consumer, and if you don’t exist, that potential customer cannot buy from you. Keep telling your stories. Continue to take active steps toward selling your partial or complete product inventory online. Continue to be digitally present by...

Planning for an uncertain future

Proactive is one of our company values. It gives us a path forward. It provides us the stability to look beyond the here and now and plan for an unseen future. As this is a challenge that many businesses are facing right now, we thought we’d share some practical steps that have helped us move forward and create a new normal.   Staying informed through national and state news conferences. Watching news conferences won’t tell us how to do business, but it does give us information about how the world is changing around us, and how that might impact our business. Keeping an eye on what’s happening on...

8 tips to get your eStore up and running

Stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders have been crippling for many small, brick-and-mortar businesses—but all is not lost! With these safety guidelines comes an increasing demand for online shopping. An online eStore gives your loyal customers a convenient, new shopping experience. And, without the limits of a physical location, you can reach new customers, too.   Setting up an eStore can be overwhelming, but once up and running, you can track buying habits, manage inventory, offer a 24/7 shopping experience, cut operating costs, and more. But how do you get started? Consider these tips:   Pick an eCommerce platform that does it all. Our Strateligent web designers use WooCommerce. It...

How using social media today can help you adapt for tomorrow.

Today is much different from a month ago. Normal isn’t normal anymore. Businesses must adapt to their new normal to survive. It’s not easy. But it’s possible. One free thing all businesses can start doing today is upping their social media game. It’s free, it’s easy, and it can pay off when it’s done right.   Raise awareness—What do you do? What makes your businesses unique? Increase your web traffic—Invite people to learn more about your products or services. Promote your online store (or start one). Engage with your customers—You can learn a lot by asking your customers what they want. What can you do better?...