Small Business is Struggling. How Can You Help?
Small businesses are struggling. You’ve heard it. We’ve all heard it. Some will not make it out on the other side when the doors finally open. Some will find creative ways to reorganize and restructure the way they do business. Innovations will be made and some good will come out of this, if you’re the glass is half full type of person.
But right now, before those doors can open, you might be wondering what you can do to help.
It is actually very simple.
Seek small businesses out on social media. Find them on Facebook or Instagram, Twitter or right here on LinkedIn. Like their posts. Comment on their posts. Tag some friends. Share it to your page if it inspires you to do so. Those are immediate things you can do that only take a moment of your time and better yet, it is free!
For those personal trainers that are posting live video workouts so you can still train at home, to the brick and mortar shops that have turned to doing live sales of items in their store for curbside pickup. For the coffee and pizza shops that are posting dinner ideas to the local crafter posting a picture of their newest piece. I am not asking that you workout with the trainer or buy something, order dinner or decorate your house; all you need to do is like their post. Even better, comment on it. AND, it doesn’t have to even be a long, thought out comment. You can just post a thumbs up or a smiley face. Even better than commenting is when you tag a friend and say “I thought you might be interested” or “check this out”. But topping the scales for engagement is sharing a post to your own page. When you do that, all of your connections will be able to see the post. Maybe one out of all of your connections will find interest in what you shared and then in turn they become a new client or customer for your friend or associate. And it was just as simple as clicking a few buttons.
Oh, and did I mention online reviews?
If you have used a product or service from a small business but never had the time to do an online review, I think now is a great time to go ahead and do so. Reviews are so very important to businesses. If you’re like most people, one of the first things you do when checking out a new business or company is check their reviews. And what happens when that business or company doesn’t have any reviews? You probably open a new search window and see what other businesses offer what you are looking for and if they have reviews. Chances are, if the other business does, then you will contact them first.
So, go ahead! Go and post some reviews and like some posts! Because this is what small businesses need right now. They need to stay relevant and they need to keep their presence so that when business finally resumes and the doors finally open, they can walk out.