An Important message from your old pal, and the CEO of Stoddard Agency, Jesse Stoddard, here about keeping cool, aware and able to maintain your financial and business goals during questionable times.
- Note that I said profit DURING this Corona thing …and not FROM it. Learn to adapt obstacles into innovations.
- We won’t be talking about how to exploit others or how to use human suffering to our advantage.
Instead, I’m going to give you a simple three-step approach to be sure YOUR BUSINESS STAYS HEALTHY during the insanity… and we’re going to do it by taking EXCELLENT care of the market you serve and being incredibly cool to others.
Listen. If you have a business and you want it to stay strong over the next few months, you need to join me on this.
Pay attention to this brief presentation about how to profit during the Coronavirus freak-out. By the way, you do not have to participate in the panic, slow down, or ridiculous behavior and note that I said profit during this Corona thing and not from it.
We won’t be talking about how to exploit others or how to use human suffering to our advantage. That’s not what I mean. Instead, I’m going to give you a simple three-step approach to make sure your business stays healthy during all this lunacy.
We’re going to do it by taking excellent care of the market you serve and be incredibly cool to others. First of all, I have to give credit where credit’s due.
My influences in this entire presentation are inspired mostly by one of my mentors, Frank Kern. Check his stuff out since he is awesome.
A lot of my ideas come from Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach, and the quotes that I have in there are from e-marketer and Google News.
None of this is scientific. So you’re just going to have to take it with a grain of salt. A lot of this will be an opinion.
The Reality of the Coronavirus Freak-out and Entrepreneurship
- This is not a Zombie Apocalypse.
Now let’s talk about the reality of the Coronavirus Freak-out. The reality is we won’t turn things into a zombie apocalypse. This is probably not going to be the end of the world. A lot of it is blown out of proportion. People don’t want to be having to hoard toilet paper, be forced out of work, shut-in, et cetera. People won’t tolerate it forever. People need products and services, and we’ll trade money for them.
- Swine Flu was arguably reported as a worst-case scenario.
Some people argue the swine flu in 2009 was much worse, hospitalized over 300,000, but we didn’t hear all about how the sky was falling, or there was a shortage of hospital beds.
- It is an election year.
What we have here is an election year in the media, which is going nuts. And I don’t want to go any further than that, but let’s say that there might be other perspectives on this whole thing. And a lot of it might be blown a little bit out of proportion.
Businesses In High-risk Markets Must Adapt
Now politics aside, some industries are going to be hit harder than others, but not all. So let’s talk about the elephant in the room. If you’re a business owner and you’re in a high-risk market, you might have some problems. These high-risk markets are airlines, hotels, travel, restaurants. I would hate to be in the travel industry.
Still, the restaurant industry at least has some opportunities to adapt and overcome. Entertainment venues, amusement parks, sporting concerts, theaters, entertainers, speakers, wedding professionals, event planners, anything that has to do with the entertainment or hospitality, or small businesses that live off the employees, going to large corporate office spaces are high-risk.
You may have to adapt. A really fancy restaurant might call all the regular customers and offer chef services at a premium. It might even be the opportunity to create a whole new product or service category for themselves. There are people with money, and they are healthy and do not worry about getting the Coronavirus. They are people that want the service done, and they are willing to spend the money on quality products and services that are convenient. Perhaps your service is more convenient than it ever was. So how can you make it even easier to go to the people? You can wear all the protective gear you need, and have proper sanitizers that you would usually have anyway.
This morning my wife went out to deliver some products to somebody for $100 in a retail transaction. So you know, these are things that can still be done. Let’s not pretend the sky is falling.
Google search in the news and IE marketers
I found a few very interesting studies. Here is one of their reports. “The spread of Corona is likely to boost digital media consumption across the board as people spend more time at home and communicate in person less.” -EMarketer.
A translation. More people consume more content, which is very, very good. They’re sitting home. There’s only so many Netflix shows they can binge before they’re bored out of their mind.
Now, the average consumer has time to get online and spend time looking at your service.
Another report explains that e-commerce is likely to grow as consumers issue physical stores and crowded gathering places. But this could create logistical challenges. So the issue is just to avoid, right? So they have to, you know, now they’re looking at e-commerce. Well, how could you be if you’re not in eCommerce, how e-commerce, how could you add an eCommerce, a part of your business that you might not even think of doing before?
Translation, people will need to find other ways to share and communicate, right? That’s the other thing. You need to be able to share and communicate in different ways.
People are going to avoid going to stores and use social distancing. But they are going to take advantage of eCommerce. So, you need to be part of eCommerce. People will need to find other ways to share and communicate, right? That’s the other thing. You need to be able to share and communicate in different ways.
Marketing Prices are Slashed
Here’s another one from IE marketers. This is my favorite one. Personally, global media ad spending is likely to take a hit due to the Coronavirus according to newly revised E-marketer estimates. But for now, nearly all the related slow down is attributed to China alone. And I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think that’s quickly spreading to the United States. I think what you may have missed, if you’re not in the marketing world, you might not have noticed what that meant. What that means is that prices have slashed. So it’s just like the stock market. If everybody leaves, then all of a sudden you can get a bargain on it. The stocks, the media, the marketing dollars are less, are cheaper. Or your marketing dollar goes further because the ads are cheaper. It’s, it’s a contrarian point of view.
Take my example here of the cost of running an Internet video ad for a business. It cost a penny per ad. If you’re running a TV commercial, a 30-second spot ranges from $90 – $2500 (wide range). If you are running it in a small town, it may cost $90. If you are running it in NYC during prime time, it could cost $2500.
However, if you are getting someone to watch a two or 3-minute video for a penny on the Internet, your cost goes way down vs. the television commercial that no one is watching. An Internet video is going to get more views at less cost.
So here’s exactly what to do. Double down on your outreach, your exposure, and your communication. If you’re providing good stuff that’s valuable to your market, building Goodwill, you will be a welcome to the people right now who are looking for solutions. They’re looking for positivity, and they’re looking for something to do. Do not send the same generic 19 emails everyone else is doing your business. They all say the same thing. It’s not useful information. We are not the CDC, World Health Organization. We are creative.
Tell Your Customers That You Care.
If you’re going to send something out, send something out that is more useful, that shows specifically how people will benefit from what you do. Be in front of your audience as much as humanly possible. Build a bond with them, and pretty soon, they feel like they know you and they want to use you for whatever product or service you provide. And then lead, lead, lead.
Be a leader.
We don’t need anybody else who’s spreading sensational, weird rumors. We don’t need more panic. People don’t want it. So they want leaders, they want someone to follow. And you can be a leader in your circle of influence. Now here’s a three-part leadership framework.
Put this type of communication out in your marketplace as much as you can and the intent-based branding stuff. By the way, that’s Frank Kearn’s name for it. He’s the one that I give credit for originating. Use his material, you know, check him out. He’s amazing.
My agency happens to be a fulfillment center for that kind of work. We do it every day. We’re very good at it. And if you’re interested, just let me know. There’s my blatant pitch. That’s the only pitch I have here. If you want help with any of this stuff, call my office or go to start@agency.com and contact us there and we’ll help you out.
- Step one, address the worries and concerns as they relate to who you serve your market, not you pretending to be to CDC or the WHO and trying to give medical advice, which none of us are qualified to do.
- Step two, give helpful information as it relates to their worries and concerns. Say something like we know that these are trying times. Give helpful information as it relates. How can they overcome their challenges as it relates to your business? You know, what could you do to make it easier for them?
We’ve noted that if you have Facebook ads and you put the words “Coronavirus” in there, be careful with that because Facebook is actually screening, limiting, and shutting some of those ads down.
Make things super easy and convenient for your clients, customers, or patients.
- Step three, TELL THEM WHAT TO DO NEXT. (Make an offer)
Don’t stop looking for solutions. Don’t put your head in the sand. We need for America to be successful, which we always are. We need small businesses to rise up. I believe they’re the backbone of America and hopefully, they always will be. And I’m a big believer in supporting small businesses. That’s why I made this content.
So now you know my intent, and I want you to get out there and make a difference. Don’t be afraid of anything. If you do want some help, just go to stoddardagency.com.
Contact me there, ask some questions. If you need help with this kind of stuff, we can do a free consultation for you and find out if it’s a good fit. That’s my entire pitch. There’s nothing else I have today. Go out there and be a leader.
