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Social distancing - I absolutely hate the term, I much prefer ‘physical distancing’ - is something everyone should observe. It’s gonna be awks as heck but air hugs and waving is the smarter action to go with just for the meantime. 

You’re probably worried enough about catching this virus, or passing the virus around to others in your community… Now with physical distancing and the possibility of periods of self isolation, there’s your business baby to worry about too. 

Bottom line is: this pandemic is going to affect your business. 

But if you have a plan, you can worry less. I’ve got a little list of things that you can do to see you through this storm with a touch of business development.

#1 Solidify your brand.

Branding is such an extensive member of your business and I believe having a document that immortalises what your brand is and could be is really important. Designers, photographers, copywriters, marketers, social media managers all depend on clear branding guidelines to help your business grow. Butter it everywhere.

SOME QUESTIONS YOU COULD ASK YOURSELF:

• Do you have a brand guide already made?

• Does the brand guide clearly outline your business values and direction?

• Does everything you’ve done for business echo what you set out to do when you first started your business?

• Is your brand consistent across everything you do?

• Is my point of difference as a business unique enough?

• Is your current brand colours and elements working for your audience?

If you’ve answered no to any of the questions above, it might be worth sitting down and rediscovering your brand and its values. You could always find a brand worksheet to fill, or hire a brand specialist to guide you on that journey.

#2 Update your website.

Ah, the power of a website. I love social media, but websites are the source of truth to your business so make it work harder for you!

1. Update your website copy. Small text changes are easy enough, but if you think you need a re-haul, it’s worth considering hiring a local copywriter.

2. That said, might be worth looking into getting the legal copy written up or reviewed for your website done too i.e your policies, privacy, terms & conditions

3. Consider setting up a page on your site to outline your business’s policies and prevention processes for the COVID19 outbreak (a.k.a coronavirus). This is especially great for restaurants and cafes - my socials are swimming in posts about having the highest level of hygiene and certain rules about not taking re-useable cups. I won’t remember for the life of me who does what. Having a page on your site - that you promise to update weekly will give your customers confidence you’re on top of things. Transparency begats loyalty.
   P.S. Support your local cafes and restaurants if you can! You can always call in to pick up your order and pay using contactless.
   P.S.S - you can see an example of a COVID19 update page on my website here

4. Have a gander at your analytics. It’s a beast, but reviewing how your audience is using your website will help plan for the future. Some simple things you could check for: 

   • What’s the percentage of mobile to desktop users for your site?

   • Is your site mobile friendly? (oooofph, it’s a big one)

   • What’s the most popular pages on your site?

   • Do you think your audience is finding the right information on your site?

   • Are people finding you successfully for the right search terms?

#3 Work on plans, processes & automation.

It’s like putting together IKEA furniture: you need all the parts and instructions to transform that flat pack to a thing in the shortest amount of time.

1. Create a short term and a long term plan with a very specific KPI’s for your business. If you’re not sure where to start, you might need the help of a business mentor!

2. Plan your social media and start scheduling posts while you can. Some social media specialists can help you with creating a strategy - a plan on what to post and when. While you’re at it you can also get design branded templates made up to create your social media content.

3. If you’ve got a blog or portfolio, start writing drafts so you can drip feed the content into your busy months.

4. I read somewhere if you’re doing something twice - it’s time to create a process. Three times? Get automation set up.
   Creating processes and automation is not a set and forget sorta thing - you got to really put the hours in and imagine all the scenarios that can / could happen. Draft up a process workflow and actually test it out. Question yourself if it’s something that happens in reality, or is this more of an ideal method… then tweak, and keep tweaking at it. Eventually you’re going to get a well oiled system that will just make your job so much easier.

#4 Upskill

I’ve got a folder of little things I’ve saved for over a year and I haven’t had the time to allow myself to do any of it with the absolute focus it demands. I think the self quarantine time is gonna be great for this!

Another thing you could do is give little nuggets of advice in the area of your speciality. This can come through in your social media - you as the specialist upskilling your audience in certain aspects. E.g. How to check if your site is mobile friendly? Sharing information that isn’t about the virus is also going to be a fresh breath of air.

Last words, promise.

You’ve probably noticed I’ve mentioned hiring someone local to you if you can an obscene number of times - supporting your neighbour will also help you grow.

Some specialists I’ve mentioned are below, with links to Google search terms specific to Darwin!

Darwin service providers, A to Z

Branding designer
Branding strategist
Business mentor / coach
Cafes and restaurants
Copywriter
Graphic designer
Marketing consultant
Photographers
Social media managers
Social media strategist / marketing
Squarespace advisor (me!)
Squarespace web designer / developer (me!)
Website designer / developer

Stay safe y’all.

TL;DR

If you gots the time, spend it on your business baby. Plan, strategise, review different aspects of your business and if you afford to hire someone locally to help you - do it.