​As I write this, we are a week away from Christmas. And while it may feel like the holiday season has already been decided with everyone from the post office to mail-order businesses saying there's no way they can meet Christmas deadlines, now is the time that local small businesses can shine.
 
You have an advantage at this point over online stores because customers can come in and get a last-minute gift, service, or gift certificate. But you can’t just fling open your doors and let the world in. There are a couple of things you need to be doing to ensure that they feel safe. Still, It's not too late to implement these COVID precautions in your business. 

Do you feel like your business is just shouting into the wind? Does it seem like the time you spend on social media is extensive but yields few results? Are you sick and tired of Zoom calls that take too long and accomplish too little? If so, it might be time to think about experiential marketing.
 
Experiential marketing is the act of creating a memorable experience that will be associated with your brand. Many smaller businesses think of experiential marketing as the type of thing that businesses with Super Bowl-esque budgets do.
 
And they're right. 

​Our lives and our businesses have changed a lot during the time of COVID. We have changed how we reach customers and likely how they buy from us. Some of us have had to shut down.
 
During this time, your website should be one of your strongest sales tools. Just as your business has changed, your content should have evolved as well. 

​Are you tired of the words “new normal” yet? 
 
If you're like most business owners, you probably are. But whether we recognize it as a new shift in how we do business or a temporary tack we take to survive the current economic storm, the point is how you do business has to change if you want to continue to connect to your audience.

​You likely have heard the phrase, “you need to spend money to make money.” I'm not here to argue that from either side but digital marketing has allowed businesses with very small budgets to make a big impression. While it hasn't exactly leveled the playing field, it certainly has helped businesses gain a larger audience with very little investment.

​If your business is shut down or you're just looking for new streams of revenue, a popular idea is course creation. This could be a course that showcases your knowledge on a subject, a course that is designed to complement whatever it is you sell, or a way to make money that does not involve an exchange of time for money. If you are someone who sells an hourly service, there are only so many hours of the day that you can bill for virus or not. But if you create a course you can bring in money even when you're not actively performing the service in which you get paid for.
 
Technology being what it is, courses are easier than ever to create but expectations are higher as well. So, it's important you do a few things as part of your course creation prep. This article is laid out to help you ask the right questions before you begin preparing your course.

Wondering how transform social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter into powerful marketing tools for your business?

If you're like most small-to-medium business owners, you know that your clients, customers, and prospects are already spending a significant amount of their day browsing through their social media feeds, but did you know exactly how much time?
​
Recent studies reveal that the average American consumer spends about 5 hours per day on their mobile device, and half that screen time involves social media sites. This makes social media an obvious place to focus your marketing efforts, however, chances are good you either don't have the time or the know-how it takes to manage multiple social media feeds - that's where automation can help.

Have you been hesitant to pay Facebook for your content to appear in your audience’s streams? Maybe you still remember the days when you could get good reach through just normal, consistent posting.
 
Those days are long gone.
 
If you want your audience to see you--and you really need that especially now--then you're going to have to “pay to play.”
 
But just handing over the money to Facebook won't bring you the traffic and sales you want. You need to learn how to write effective social media ads. And during the pandemic, the most effective content has changed a little. Here's what you need to know in order to create ads that drive sales while most businesses are shut down.