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What do you do when business is slow, and profits are down?

If you think that the answer is “stop marketing,” then it’s time to think again. While it’s true that marketing might seem to be less essential than other areas of business, the truth is that a solid marketing plan could spell the difference between success and failure.

Not convinced? It turns out there’s research to support the idea that marketing is critical during a recession. A Harvard Business Review study looked at the performance of 4,500 businesses during a recession. It found that the companies with the most forward-thinking attitudes – in other words, those that didn’t engage in drastic cutting of their marketing budgets – performed the best both during the recession and in the long term.

This evidence doesn’t mean you should go on a spending spree, buying ads left and right. What it does mean is that smart marketing should be your focus. Here are some...

Video marketing is still the king of the hill when it comes to driving clicks and sales.
The numbers don’t lie. According to Social Media Today:

• 72% of consumers prefer to watch a video to learn about a product or service.
• 78% of consumers watch a video online at least once a week, and 55% do so once a day.
• Viewers retain 95% of a video’s message after watching it.
• 93% of businesses retain a new customer when they post a video on social media.
• Companies that use video in their marketing experience 49% faster growth than companies that don’t use video.

Audits. Nobody likes them, am I right?

I get it. I really do. But audits serve a purpose – and if your business is closed right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then this is the perfect time to change ‘audit’ from a dirty word to a tool that can help your business thrive.

Not sure how?
The good news is, it’s easy to do.

Your business could probably use some fine-tuning, and an internal audit of your resources and processes can help you get everything in order so, when you do reopen, you’ll be more successful than ever. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Website Review
Since your website is your online HQ, it’s a good place to start your audit. You may want to review your competitors’ websites to get a handle on what they’re doing. Then make note of anything that’s outdated or not working the way it should, including:

• Your site’s design
• Mobile accessibility
• Navigation
• Site speed
• Broken/outdated links
• SEO

Marketing in a time of economic crisis is no joke. But you already know that.

Let’s face it: it’s difficult, at best, to know how to handle your marketing when unemployment numbers are high, spending is low, and uncertainty is everywhere you look.

And yet, for all that, marketing is a must if you want your business to stay afloat.
For your business to survive, it’s a must to come up with a marketing plan that’s:

• Practical
• Affordable
• Achievable
• Effective

If you can’t do that, then you may find yourself struggling.

The good news is that we’ve done some of the work for you. Here’s your 30-day marketing plan to reopen your business.

Week 1 – Preparing to Reopen
Reopening your business should be guided by recommendations from the CDC and local officials. You may have specific guidelines to follow and safety measures to implement. You should put those in place first before you do anything else.

Once you’ve selected a reopening date,...

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the United States both medically and economically. Many states have begun to relax their lockdowns.

It remains to be seen what impact reopening will have on the number of cases, but it’s an economic boon to the owners of small and medium-sized businesses.

That said, how do you reopen?
What can you do to keep your employees and customers safe?
Is it reasonable to reopen or should you wait?

So, let’s get into it. Here’s what you need to know to navigate the reopening of your business.

What Are the Key Considerations for Reopening? 
If your business is in a state where reopening is an option, you’ll still need to think about the logistics of reopening before you decide to move ahead. Here are the primary considerations:

• Your state’s guidelines for reopening
• The nature of your business
• The safety of your employees
• The safety of your customers

State guidelines for reopening can vary widely based on a variety of...

In the world of digital marketing, traffic gets a lot of attention. In fact, it seems like you can’t go anywhere online without reading a traffic metaphor invoking red and green lights, rush hour, and things of that nature.

Don’t get me wrong. Traffic is important. But ultimately, it’s not the amount of traffic you get that will determine the success of your business.

Conversions are the name of the game.

And guess what? I have good news for you. You can stop beating your head against a wall trying to figure out how to get more people to your site. Instead, I’m going to show you how to take the traffic you already have and increase your conversions to grow your business.

Buckle up and let’s hit the road! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Simplify Your Forms 
There’s lots of evidence showing that simple forms get more conversions than complex forms. In fact, removing a single field from your form could boost your conversions by as much...

Last month, I shared some financial resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs to help you through the COVID-19 pandemic and business shutdowns. Hopefully, you’ve been able to take advantage of some of those resources to keep your business afloat during this difficult time.

With stay-at-home orders extended, and uncertainty still being rampant, I want to share some additional resources that have become available.

Paycheck Protection Program 
The Paycheck Protection Program is administered by the Small Business Administration as part of the CARES Act, which was enacted into law last month. 

The purpose of the program was to enable business owners to continue to pay employees even if they have closed as a result of the pandemic or if they have experienced a significant decrease in revenue.

The PPP allows small business owners (defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees) to borrow up to 250% of their average monthly payroll costs for 2019. The...

Facebook Messenger is a tool many of us use for instant messaging with our friends – but did you know that it’s a useful marketing tool, as well?

It has become one of my favorite ways to connect with existing and potential clients on social media.

There are some useful options included with Facebook Messenger that you can use to improve customer service, promote your products, and more.

Not convinced? Here are some numbers that might do the trick.

• Open rates for Messenger marketing are 70%  higher than for email marketing.
• There are more than 300 million active bots on Facebook.
• Facebook Messenger has over 2 million monthly downloads in the United States.
• Facebook users exchange more than 20 billion messages with business every month.
• Those numbers are impressive by any standard. So, now that I’ve convinced you – you are convinced, right? – here are 5 creative and easy ways to use Facebook Messenger for marketing.
  
  #1: Remind Customers...

If you own a small business, you might struggle to be profitable even at the best of times. The current COVID-19 pandemic has dialed up the stakes for most businesses in the United States and around the world. Non-essential businesses have closed their doors in an effort to halt the spread of the virus, and there is no clear end in sight.

There is a glimmer of good news. There are many resources available to help small business owners in this difficult time. Some are resources that were already available in some form but have been retooled to fill the changing needs of small business owners. Here are some resources and tools that may help you.

US Chamber of Commerce
The US Chamber of Commerce has created a comprehensive guide for small business owners that includes links to many useful resources, including:

• Loan and grant programs for small businesses
• The Paycheck Protection Program, which is a key provision of the CARES Act that was recently passed by Congress
• A to-do...