How to Keep Your Local Business Alive During COVID-19 Lockdown

What Does the Lockdown Mean for Local Business Owners?

Over the past few months, we’ve seen thousands of businesses come to a complete halt as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses. This is a MAJOR problem in our country. The economy is slowing down, and business owners are PANICKING!!

By taking advantage of online marketing and more specifically, YOUR online marketing, you can set yourself up for success and ensure your business and BRAND make it through the pandemic!

How Can You Stay Alive While Everyone Else is Dying (figuratively)

What to do with your brand

First things first, your brand is the identity of your company. Some people are willing to sell their identity if it means they get more upfront profit. Not bashing anyone, since there are some instances where this type of business decision might make sense, but for the most part, we want to keep our brands unique and consistent.

If you’re a local business owner, reflect on what your company actually represents. What values do you hold to be true? What values do your employees have? What values do your clients or customers have? What values and beliefs do you want them to have?

I’ll give you an example. At JCSURGE, our core mission is to empower local business owners to take control of their online marketing.

Plain and simple. We are working with local business owners such as accountants, HVACS, plumbers, and lawyers. And we are empowering them and educating them to take full control of their online marketing. Why? Because too often I hear people complaining about technology and how it’s too difficult to understand. Our job is to make sure we can not only provide them with effective digital marketing but present it so that it makes sense.

Let’s be honest, if you don’t have a mission and don’t hold any company beliefs then you are simply taking an average product and just charging more.

If you don’t have a brand mission or purpose you can start meditating on what the problem of your customer or the ideal buyer is. What pains are they having? What questions do they have? PLEASE!!! I BEG OF YOU!! EMPATHIZE WITH YOUR CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS!!!!

What opportunities are there?

A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits – Napoleon Hill

It’s important to realize that even during a shutdown, riches, wealth, and success are still out there! There’s a goldmine that has been abandoned by all the temporary/part-time miners!

The internet for the past two decades has been the biggest gold mine in modern history. You’ll notice that businesses with a strong online presence are pushing through this shutdown, coming out alive, and in some cases even thriving!

Make some online content… It’s not rocket science either! You can start by posting more frequently on social media, YouTube, your blog, podcast, whatever it is… you’ve just got to go for it. I’m not saying if you’re a hair salon and you start blogging your business will be saved, because to be completely honest, you should have been doing that!! What I am saying is that if you make content and provide excellent value to your target audience NOW, you’ll be able to gain sympathy and keep your brand for when the shutdown begins to lift.

Remember, there’s a reason why your competitors who have a website, invest in SEO, have affiliate links, generate extra income from YouTube, etc. are most likely in a better position than a small mom and pop shop that never invested heavily into their online presence. START DOING THAT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!

How can “non-essential businesses” make ends meet?

If you’re really struggling, this article might do little to help you in the short time, but there are a few things you can do.
  • Create a course – Being able to teach what you know is going to not only provide value but possibly generate an extra couple of bucks. This is going to take a lot of time because a really low-quality course will not receive recommendations but also damage your reputation. So if you are going to create a course and promote it, MAKE IT GOOD!
  • Setup affiliate links – If your site, Instagram, Facebook, or any platform has a few hundred – a few thousand loyal followers, you can consider promoting products and generating a few extra bucks through affiliate marketing. The keyword here is loyal followers.
  • Sell your domain – If you have a really valuable domain such as lawyerstexas.com or dentistnyc.com you can place it on the market and auction it off for up to a few thousand dollars.
  • Sell your website – So if you have more of a product-based business, you can sell your website on flippa.com for some quick cash.
Of course, there are many other ways to make ends meet, but here are just a few examples that you can utilize to get some cash if you need it. Although the first two might take a lot longer.

How Can You Use Google and SEO to Keep Your Business Safe

If you are still in business during the shutdown you can utilize search engine optimization to grow your traffic. Many companies stopped investing in SEO or Google Ads since the shutdown, and the cost has gone down a bit for local target keywords.

If you have the time invest in doing SEO yourself or hire an SEO agency to do it for you!

Contact JCSURGE for Online Marketing Help

If you’re having trouble with doing this yourself, feel free to request a video audit of your current site, or schedule a complimentary consultation to see what solutions can help you in your unique situation.
Services:
JCSURGE LLC
401 E 74th St, New York, NY 10021
(917) 747-4234
info@jcsurge.com




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