Our community has been hit hard this year with CO-VID 19 causing everyone to stop in their tracks. There is a lot of worry, stress, and fear regarding how things will play out. As spiritual business owners, many of you just starting to build your business, this worry is valid.
How will your business survive this period of social distancing and isolation?
The harsh truth is that not every business will come out on the other side. There is a touch of Darwin-ism here – because strong and creative spiritual business owners will see this down period as a source of inspiration and a blessing of additional time. They will use this time to pivot, scale, or expand their reach in creative ways.
People are sitting at home with nothing to do – this is THE ideal time to build your online presence and amp up your digital marketing efforts. Even though people will be hesitant to spend money the next couple of months, this invest in relationship building and staying top of mind during a crisis, could build the trust your business needs to survive and be successful in 2020.
Nielsen predicts that the amount of content consumed by viewers stuck in their homes will rise 60%.
* Nielsen Total Audience
What can you do to make a bigger impact with your work right now? It turns out, there’s a lot you can do.
Here are some projects your spiritual business could be doing to increase marketing efforts right now:
- Create your Google My Business page to boost your online presence.
- Jot down some themes you can talk about in your online marketing. Then create original content around those themes.
- Find a digital way to stay in front of your audience from home – video, Facebook group, email newsletters, etc. Top of mind is important right now. Don’t hide.
- Shift away from hard selling to showing up and being of service – focus on connection and relationship building.
- Touch base with your clients. Ask them how they are doing.
- Create a free video series, online course, or blog series to help people get through the next few weeks. I’m seeing brands doing at-home challenges and virtual summits. Zoom is a great free tool for online video.
- If you haven’t created any original content for your business, now is a great time to start.
- Create that editorial calendar you’ve been putting off and start posting consistently on the social media platform of your choice.
- Create a free Canva.com account and start creating marketing materials and social media graphics.
- Whether it’s an Excel document, email software, or CRM database – start building your list and putting all your client and lead information in one place.
- Get a free com account and start designing an email newsletter.
- Create an opt-in for your email newsletter. It can be a checklist, a worksheet, a short e-book, or a video series. Learn more about opt-in marketing here.
- If you already have content, spend time promoting it online in groups, on social media, and on other websites.
- Use a keyword tool, like Google AdWords, to make a list of keyword phrases for your business and then update your website to include those keywords to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rank.
- Find out what people are asking about your type of business at com and then create content answering those questions and post on your website and social media.
- Create a Powerpoint presentation that you are willing to share online, for free, at SlideShare.
- Open a free account at Quora and start answering questions related to your business.
- Join Facebook and LinkedIn groups related to your business and start engaging and interacting with other members by asking good questions and starting conversations.
- Create a Medium account and start writing and posting articles to this platform.
- If you want to market on Instagram, spend some time looking up hashtags and make a list of at least 30 hashtags you can use that are relevant to your brand.
These are only a few ideas of what you could be doing right now to market your small business in this time of uncertainty.
With the Internet at your fingertips, this is not the time to hide. People are consuming content and they need reassurance – they need experts and leaders to come to the forefront and guide them through the next couple of months.
Will you be the online business they connect with or will it be someone else who has taken advantage of marketing in this time of isolation?
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Written by Nikki Milton, Marketing Manager of Discover Your Spiritual Gifts
Nikki is the owner of Marvel Marketing Squad and the Marketing Manager at the center. She manages the center’s social media, marketing, and newsletter. She works at the center on Monday and Fridays. Come by and allow us to provide you with a tour of the center.
She is also the creator of the Guardians of the Divine Facebook Group. This group exists for folks who own a spiritual business – whether you are a healer, coach, practitioner, teacher or reader – Guardians of the Divine is the place to gather to seek help and support in growing your spiritual business. Members receive regular advice, tips, and support in branding, marketing, building, and expanding your divine work.