Going Digital in a World of Social Distancing
​What will the ‘new normal’ look like for small business entrepreneurs? The days of shaking hands and exchanging business cards may be over, but how can we compensate? 
 
We need to leverage the opportunities available to us in order to increase exposure, clientele and business. 
 
While Coronavirus has had a negative impact on traditional purchasing, online shopping is doing better than ever. Users are not only buying products, they’re searching out services, entertainment, and scratching that social itch. An omni-channel retail marketing strategy (implementing several online avenues for customers to browse your services and/or products with a cohesive customer experience) will yield a greater benefit to your bottom line.

As always, in order to stand out among competitors, your brand needs to have unique representation with a sound foundation. Online users strongly value brand image and identity, ease of functionality and social media activity.
 
A few things that should be considered when embracing your omni-channel approach are:

• Exposure Online
• The Right Software
• Social Media Networking
• Getting & Keeping Followers

THE RIGHT SOFTWARE
In order to fully flesh out a digital marketing campaign, the right software is necessary so that you get the most out of your investment. Depending on the size and existing budget of your business, you may choose to implement your omni-channel strategy in phases. ​

GETTING & KEEPING FOLLOWERS
Consistent and relevant content that is reliably posted creates a relationship with the consumer that builds loyalty. ​

References: Medium, PixelPlex, Shopify

Our working lives are dominated by ‘productivity’. Work is a non-stop struggle to do more, produce more, achieve more, create more. All the time, on time, and of course, on budget. The age old maxim is that if you’re not actively, visibly, working on something, you’re not being productive. 

But all that work is exhausting. In fact, counter intuitively, ‘working hard’ may actually reduce how productive you are. Turns out the single best way for you or your team to maximize your productive output, is to stop working. Yep. Burn out is real, and if left undiagnosed/untreated, can cause irreparable and permanent damage. ​

Fortunately, there’s a fix. It’s called ‘walking away’. Literally. Don’t just stop doing what you’re doing at your desk and sit there. A quick visit to the coffee room for a cup and a chat isn’t going to do it either. No. Close your laptop, turn off your phone, exit your workspace, and go for a walk. Get away. Go outside. Nothing quite clears the head like a good 20-30 minute walk. Longer if you have the time. Besides, those blood clots aren’t going to go away on their own. Go outside and get some exercise.

For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of walking, it usually goes something like this. The first bit is simply breaking away from the desktop doldrums. Fresh air, temperature change, outdoor noises, and the joy of increased physical activity. But then after a few minutes as the walking routine settles in nicely, the magic starts to kick in. While meandering along a park path or a city street (they both work equally well), while passively taking in the sights around you, you will find yourself surreptitiously ‘solving’ work problems. Without even trying! Strategies crystallize, solutions become obvious, and previous work obstacles just fall away.

Quite often the more we force a solution by ‘working harder’, the more stuck we tend to become.  Sure, go ahead and lay the groundwork with detailed plans, whiteboards, work teams, etc — but when it comes to being truly creative and brilliant, just go for a walk. 

I can’t explain how it all works. I’m a lowly coder, not a neurosurgeon. However, what I do know for certain is that walks help. There is no surer way to solve problems and boost productivity than by walking away from it all. 

In fact, I find I do all my best work when I’m not working, and I think you will too.

This is a blog post, not a thesis, so I’ll keep this short. Facebook is for better or for worse, us. This means it’s ugly, but also beautiful. The key is to filter out the bad (literally), and focus on the good. And thankfully, Facebook gives you the tools to do just that.

So after you’ve locked down your privacy settings, booted out all the haters, and taught yourself to assiduously avoid trolls—turn your attention to the single greatest online resource we know of today: Facebook Groups.

No matter how niche your interest may be, there’s a group out there of nerds and geeks who are into it more than you, and also know more than you. Better yet, they simply can’t wait to tell you all they know. It’s like having an army of top-notch consultants at your beck and call, for free. No, scratch that. It’s not ‘like’ that at all — it is exactly that.

The hive mind of a Facebook group puts Watson and Wiki to shame. Find and pin all the groups that pertain to your job’s needs, hit them up with your most detailed questions, and impress your colleagues with you instant and expert solutions.

No matter the coding language you use, the apps you need, or the strategies you weigh—there are literally hundreds if not thousands of people out there right this second, ready and willing to give you the answers. Often in detail, complete with screenshots, links, and more. And even when they don’t have the exact answer, they’ll point you to the resources you need roughly 783 times faster than you would have found it yourself. 

So go and find the Facebook Group for Python, Wordpress, Excel, .Trello, Filemaker, SEO, logo design, beekeeping, 17th century Russian satire, whatever… and join it. The more specific the group’s focus is, the more useful it is. You can thank me later. But probably not on Facebook, I've got my privacy settings all locked down.

Let’s say that in order to remain competitive, you need to alter how you order, manufacture, process, and sell. Not next year; now. With Low-code platforms such as Claris Filemaker, Appian, PowerApps, Mendix, or Spring Boot you can pivot within hours or days instead of weeks and months (and at a fraction of the cost). You can deploy a fully featured cloud tool across all devices promptly and cheaply. 

The Good
Low-code platforms occupy the sweet spot between No-code solutions (drag and drop, instant tools, cheap, limited scope), and High-code solutions (hand coding, long development window, expensive, unlimited scope). They are the perfect solution when budgets are tight, and time is limited. And to be honest, for most businesses they’re the perfect solution regardless of constraints. Basically if your team is smaller than 100 people, you don’t need Salesforce or Oracle. Filemaker or Zoho will work perfectly and save you a ton of money.

The Bad
There’s always a trade off. Low-code alternatives are powerful, cheap(er), and quick, but…. if your project ever truly scales up, you might find yourself running into walls. That’s not a good thing. Fortunately low-code platforms continue to grow in capability while retaining ease of use. Still, if you expect your user and data needs to grow exponentially to tens of thousands of users, then low-code solutions are not for you.

Insider Tip
No matter how much they promote that even non-coders can set this up (they’re referred to as ‘citizen coders’ or ‘business coders’), it certainly helps if you have some real coders handy, cause then they can make these platforms truly fly. Having a hammer does not mean you’re a carpenter. Ditto for software tools. Get the best of both worlds: pick a low-code platform and also find an expert. You will still reap the rewards of a low-code platform, and also get the enhanced wizardry that will that coders can bring to your team. 

​OK be honest. Do you love Excel? Or hate it?  Well, no matter your answer it’s a 100% certainty that you have seen or used Excel during your career.  For better or worse, Excel is a foundational part of the business world. Teams large and small use Excel for everything from poorly formatted phone lists to massively complex and interlinked tables with pivots, macros, and charts that can only be deciphered by Sue, who’s not in today. ​

Don’t get me wrong. I love Excel, and truth be told, Excel is undeniably great. More than great, it is jaw-droppingly impressive. However…. it is also more often than not the absolute wrong tool for the job. It’s just happens to be the one people know, and therefore no matter the need, they use Excel. Need a phone list? Use Excel. Managing projects? Use Excel. Tracking customer feedback? Use Excel. Analyzing sales data? Use Excel. Actually, that last one makes good sense. The other examples though, not so much.

So. If you’re wondering what else is out there, maybe you’d like to consider some Excel alternatives instead. Here’s the short list. You might wind up using just one of these, or who knows, all of them. You can thank me later.

In the world of internet titans, Ecosia is smaller than a microscopic dot. But they still wind up investing well over €1,000,000 into tree planting every month. To date, their efforts have resulted in over 91 million newly planted trees... and counting.

So for this Earth Day, head on over to Ecosia now to find out more.

The good news? Working remotely has never been easier or cheaper! As you all well know, connectivity is everywhere and the interwebs is rife with apps to help you collaborate. You can organize and share everything online, from your home shopping list to massive multi-timezone big team projects. No endeavor is too small or too big. It can all be done online, in real time. Some apps are pretty expensive, some are great deals, and some are even free! Woohoo!

The bad news? None of the above matters in the slightest unless you get everyone on your team to fully buy in. Simply put, make your selected remote working platform the only way to communicate, and in time you’ll reap all the benefits. If however your team refuses to get with the program, and continues to collaborate via emails, texts, post-it notes, and other assorted off-platform channels; then all your efforts will be for naught. What’s the point of collaborating if half the info you need is not easily available? It won’t matter how great your platform is, it won’t work unless it’s used. We like the simple team rule; if it’s off-app, it’s not real. If you ask me to read or do something team/project related off-app, I won’t even respond. It’s like training a puppy. Be strong.

So, good news (again). Pick any platform you like. Don’t even overthink it. There are a lot of truly excellent online tools out there, for all teams across many price ranges. Just remember to focus on what’s truly important though, which is getting everyone to actually use it.

​What are our favorites you ask? Here are just a few. Basecamp, Slack, Paper (by DropBox), and the ever wonderful suite of Google Docs. Need more in-depth info? Ping me anytime.