Wow, what a peculiar start to the month.
I’ve been back from my ‘holiday of a lifetime’ for just a couple of weeks.
In that time, I’ve been put in lockdown, seen a decline in client work as they’ve had to pause or stop their marketing plans, got involved with a huge NHS project and have a new handful of clients lining up…
This newsletter isn’t going to be a long one… but it’ll be worth your time when you see how I’ve done it – I promise. Enjoy!
Lockdown = Business Turmoil!
So it’ll be no surprise that my business has been effected by COVID-19.
For starters, nearly half my clients operate in the industries that have practically come to a standstill, but even more concerning than that, marketing budget seems to be the first to go along with other ‘nice to haves’.
Why is this concerning?
Because marketing should be ‘essential’ in every business, and right now… companies absolutely SHOULD still be marketing, not parking everything and waiting for the storm to pass.
You know that expression “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain” – This is SO true to any business. Whether your doors are closed, whether you have had to furlough your entire team, whether you lost a load of clients instantly – you need to take this quote on board.
How can you use this time wisely?
Work-wise, these words spring to mind – plan, prepare, strategise, create, build!
Personal Life, how about – family time, loved ones, indoor activities, self-development, learning a language, reading more books!
Turn this CRAZY situation we find ourselves in, into an opportunity.
Don’t wait for the storm to pass, find ways to dance in the rain!
Why you should carry on Marketing through COVID-19
I decided to write a blog about marketing initiatives you can do (yourself!) whilst you are facing quieter times or having more thinking space to actually get stuff done!
This blog has been online for just over 2 weeks and had over 700 hits…
This blog was written first and foremost to help people, with an underlying hope that it would bring in some more business… it worked a dream – 3 new clients and 2 proposals out there within 2 weeks.
If you’re wondering how I did this, and how YOU can do something similar. The reality is – write about something that will HELP people… once you have that content (and people realise you’re not constantly selling yourself and your first motive is to help them for free), naturally the conversation will turn to how you can help them do even more. I’ve received some wonderful feedback on this blog, so make it your goal to write something for your contacts that will actually help them.
If you want to have a conversation and bounce some blog ideas around, you know where I am…
One of my clients are being VERY SMART and have created an online free webinar (30 mins) perfect for anyone who speaks with/deals with customers on a regular basis, especially on the phone.
You should take a leaf out of their book and think about how you can help your prospects and/or customers, for FREE during this difficult time.
The webinar is here if you want to take a look (It’s AMAZING).
And yes… I have every intention to follow in their footsteps and create something incredible like this about marketing tips/techniques, it’s just right now… I’ve been a little busy, and the article below will explain why!
Supporting the NHS by MAKING STUFF
When I returned from Asia, and everything above had happened. I felt low.
Low for many reasons, but the biggest one is that I found myself with some spare time but nothing I could offer the keyworkers from my business.
I watched restaurants prepare food bundles, shops provide early slots and the community come together to clap the NHS (which I could get involved with fortunately). However, being a service-based business offering marketing, I felt a bit helpless.
Then my blog (the one above) landed in front of a local manufacturing company, who were on a mission to set up a supply chain to make the protective visors for the NHS, during this PPE shortage! They needed some marketing support to make it go viral…And from there, it all just fell into place.
I’m now the marketing operation behind 3P innovation project called NHS Visor Production.
I’ve been running their social media accounts, I’ve created 2 closed groups where people can join to offer their expertise in making the parts which you can join here (LinkedIn, Facebook), I’ve helped them raise over £10,000 to fund their project and I’ve created videos, landing pages and press releases that explain how people can get involved.
We’ve had over 120 people sign up to make parts, and we have already started delivering into local NHS clinics. We even got a tweet from Lord Sugar!
If you want to find out more about this project and see how you can get involved as another business wanting to give something back, you can read their story here.
To donate, click here
To volunteer, click here
The team at 3P innovation, along with all the volunteers in the community, are working incredibly hard. I’m SO proud to be involved with this project!
As always, I’m here to help.
Here at Flamingo Marketing Strategies we work with predominantly B2B companies who want an ongoing strategy, and for us to become their virtual marketing team.
We offer a free consultation call to talk through your business objectives and see how we can help you.
Click here to schedule a call, or drop me an email to [email protected]
Look forward to speaking with you soon,
Emma