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Startups 101: How Digital Marketing can Grow Your Business During the Corona Virus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has paralyzed many industries across the globe, rendering millions of people unemployed. As many economies continue to decline (almost hitting recession), businesses are losing billions of dollars in revenues. The pandemic also presents a steep learning curve for many businesses. In particular, the COVID-19 crisis underlines the importance of learning and implementing digital marketing strategies in overcoming marketing uncertainties and dynamics and anticipating customer needs.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Speaking of the advantages and the benefits of digital marketing, here are some ways digital marketing can support the growth of your business during this pandemic.

Relationship building

The success of any business is founded on the relationships with the stakeholders, including customers, employees, and shareholders. Digital marketing platforms, including social media platforms, offer a unique platform for building stronger relationships, particularly with customers. During this pandemic, customer loyalty is especially an invaluable asset that makes the difference between closing down your business and staying afloat. Therefore, it’s important to harness the power of digital marketing channels, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, to develop connections tailored for specific market segments and individual customers.

Data analysis

Today’s business landscape is dependent on data. Metadata is increasingly becoming an invaluable asset. Analyzing and interpreting metadata is critical in understanding market trends, customer behaviors, and making projections. A website company is strategically placed to deal with market uncertainties like this coronavirus pandemic. During this crisis, understanding customer buying habits and their geographical locations can help strategic positioning within the market and identifying potential niche markets to explore. Businesses can collect such valuable information from different platforms, including their websites.

Performance measurement

Digital marketing will provide your business with data for performance analysis. Digital tools such as Google Analytics will help your business gauge its performance in different markets. From lead generation on social media platforms to customer reviews and feedback, digital marketing channels offer a unique opportunity to fast-track strategy implementation and organizational performance. During this pandemic, informed re-strategizing is critical to establish a presence in new markets while also cementing your position in current niches. 

Improving market visibility

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted normal business operations across the globe. Traditional media channels are increasingly curating their content to help in the fight against the highly infectious disease. Digital platforms offer a disruptive and customizable marketing option for greater visibility. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and business websites are great ways to improve your visibility. These innovative digital marketing channels allow your business to create highly customized content to generate traffic.

Cost-effective market reach expansion

One of the advantages of using digital marketing is the freedom to curate messages; high-quality and interesting content that is tailored to specific markets. With digital technologies such as Facebook and YouTube, you get a cost-effective marketing strategy with a global reach. Marketing content and communication can be customized to appeal to specific jurisdictions you plan on establishing your business operations.

Surviving during this coronavirus pandemic requires well thought of business strategies. Settling on a cost-effective marketing strategy and decisiveness are essential entrepreneurship skills needed to navigate these hard times. Digital marketing offers a unique opportunity to expand business operations while creating curated content for communication and marketing purposes.

Hope these help! Share your thoughts using the comment section below.

#BOUNCEBACKFORBUSINESS: 1PesoHosting.Com

Businesses, especially those with no online presence, have been reading a lot about establishing presence online and how to build a website. When your building a website, you’ll need a hosting provider. Today, the featured local business for my #BounceBackforBusiness Series is 1PesoHosting.com.

Ginger: Hi Herbert! Can you tell us more about your business?

Herbert: 1PesoHosting.Com is a small web and server hosting provider that started around year 2002. We have hosted more than 1,000 websites and have clients in the SMEs, large enterprises, government and non-profit organizations. We cater mostly to Philippines based companies but also have foreign clients.

We are one of the cheapest providers with web hosting plans that starts as low as Php 100/month for a 4GB space and Php 350/month for unlimited hosting and our support teams are purely local. Our servers are located in the US, Hongkong and Malaysia and we provide domain registration services, shared web hosting, virtual private servers (cloud servers), dedicated servers, SSL and server management services.

Ginger: Why did you start your business and what was the mission behind it? 

Herbert: We started 1pesohosting.com because back in the days, web hosting in the Philippines was very expensive. We realized that by offering a US based server, would be able to help SMEs build and host their website at a fraction of the cost of doing it locally. Our mission is to enable companies bring their businesses online with the least cost and effort as possible. This starts with having an affordable domain and email/web hosting service.

Ginger: Can you describe your business model? How do you earn?

Herbert: All our services are availed via subscription and we accept credit cards, paypal and bank transfers/deposits.

Ginger: How were you impacted by this pandemic? How were you impacted by the Enhanced Community Quarantine? 

Herbert: Majority of our customers prefer bank deposits since their companies would issue checks to pay. Payments have been delayed and some potential leads/projects were put on hold therefore cashflow is very much affected. We pay our data centers and support staff monthly regardless of the situation so even if customers are unable to settle their bills on time, we still have to pay our bills.

Ginger: After this lockdown and pandemic is resolved, how can people help you moving forward?

Herbert: We are looking for more companies who are in need of our services. Some changes that we will be implementing for our business is that we will be promoting online payments more compared to bank payments. However, since majority of our clients are businesses who does not usually pay via credit card, we need to find ways to have businesses settle bills online that would be acceptable as per their accounting policy.

Ginger: What are the business lessons that you have learned from this? 

Herbert: Maintain better cashflow for situations where revenue will be delayed

Thank you so much, Herbert for sharing with us the story of 1PesoHosting.com.

Please visit them at http:/www.1pesohosting.com / and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/1pesohosting

Stay Safe!

P.S. Please follow https://www.facebook.com/groups/BounceBackPH/ to see how you can support the Philippines.

P.P.S. Please follow #BounceBackforBusiness #GInspiration #GoLocalPH for more Local SME and Professional stories that we can support!

P.P.S. If you want to be featured next, please visit this link https://mommyginger.com/smes-and-professionals-unite-during-this-time-of-crisis.html and for Women Founders, please visit this website and sign up: http://startupwomenconnect.asia/

#BOUNCEBACKFORBUSINESS: Forest School Philippines

We’ve been inside our homes for a month now. Lately, I’ve been feeling the effects of staying indoors. It’s mostly affecting my mood. I can’t wait for the time when we can go outdoors and explore again.

Speaking of exploring, our children will need this, too. So today, for the local business that I want to feature, I interviewed Forest School Philippines. Honestly, this is the first time that I have heard of them and what they do is quite interesting.

Ginger: What is your Business? Can you tell readers more about it?

Forest School Philippines: Forest school is an approach that takes place outdoors where children are in charge of their learning through unstructured free play. As a result, children can think for themselves, speak their minds, and keep on getting up every time they make a mistake.

Ginger: Interesting! Why did you start your business? And what is your mission? 

Forest School Philippines: It started as a personal mission because I was stuck for the most part of my life. I was in a career that did not give me joy and meaning. Finding forest school was marrying the 3 things I loved–education, nature, and children. At the same time, we want children joining forest school to discover and unlock their own genius so that they can share their gift to the world.

Ginger: So how do you earn? Can you describe your business model?

Forest School Philippines: Profit-first. Zero capital (except for the UK training I invested in myself). I earn through weekly sessions, private coaching sessions, special events (birthday or summer camps) and speaking engagements.

Ginger: I know it has been tough for schools lately. How about your business? How were you impacted by this pandemic?

Forest School Philippines: Despite the fact that nature is good to boost children’s immune system, the children’s safety is utmost concern. All sessions were postponed to a later date.

Ginger: How can people help you moving forward? What kind of help are you looking for? 

Forest School Philippines: I need help in creating awareness about Forest School or forest kindergarten as an option alongside the other progressive or non-traditional schools. If Scandinavian countries have been practicing this for years, and they have the highest literacy rate, then they must be doing something right. I am also looking for forest school assistants and volunteers from different parts of the country whom I can train, so we can spread this movement fast.

Ginger: Because of the things happening now, what changes will you be implementing in your business? 

Forest School Philippines: Teaching people how they can do it themselves, as long as they have access to space and nature.

Ginger: Oh nice! Since a lot of business owners will be reading this, what are the business lessons that you have learned from this? 

Forest School Philippines: This is a season for planting. It’s a time to work on our marketing, revisit the processes, and strengthen the connection with potential clients.

Thank you so much for sharing your story.

If you all want to learn more about Forest School Philippines, please visit the links below.

http://forestschoolphilippines.com

https://facebook.com/forestschoolph

https://instagram.com/forestschoolph

P.S. Please follow https://www.facebook.com/groups/BounceBackPH/ to see how you can support the Philippines.

P.P.S. Please follow #BounceBackforBusiness #GInspiration #GoLocalPH for more Local SME and Professional stories that we can support!

P.P.S. If you want to be featured next, please visit this link https://mommyginger.com/smes-and-professionals-unite-during-this-time-of-crisis.html and for Women Founders, please visit this website and sign up: http://startupwomenconnect.asia/

Sustaining a Business in Times of Crisis

With the world slowly shutting down, it’s hard to see that there could be a light at the end of the lockdown tunnel. With COVID-19 making its way across the globe, people are suffering, and businesses are dropping like flies. The rate of small business closures in their first year is usually 50%, but with this virus, small companies cannot sustain themselves.

Before you panic that your business may fail, let’s take a breath and remember that you are not working from home: you are at your house trying to maintain your business during a massive crisis. You may be in the middle of a time of uncertainty, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to flop.

If you stay informed and you stay busy, there is a good chance you can come out of the other side of this crisis relatively unscathed. So, let’s take a look at a few of the ways that you can keep your business steady through quarantine.

Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash

Accept It

It’s not easy to accept that the future you have so carefully mapped out for your business is at risk. You can’t deny what’s going on, though. If you bury your head in the sand and try to continue with business as usual, you’re going to struggle. You need to accept what’s happening and get organized so that you can react appropriately to what’s going on around you. Choosing to accept it isn’t weak; it’s how you organize yourself better. Use Templafy and get a document out to clients and employees about how life will be in your business going forward. People need to be in the know, and that’s up to you!

Read The Information

The more you know, the better off you will be. Check with the government as to what initiatives are being put in place for your business. Several grants are being offered to small businesses right now (from different entities). I saw one from Facebook the other day. You could be in line for a cash injection to keep your business moving forward. Unless you stay up to date with the information out there, you’re not going to know.

Speak To Your Landlord

A big blow to sustaining a business in times of crisis is paying off the rent for an office space. Your commercial premises may be closed right now, and all your staff is working from home. So, if you are paying rent to a commercial landlord, speak to them about the situation. There are policies in place to have payments deferred until later, and businesses are protected from eviction in these circumstances. Again, though, check with your government!

Plan Ahead

You know that this situation isn’t going to go away immediately, so speak to your finance team and your Co-Founders about what to do going forward. You should have a plan in place for furloughing employees so that they can feed their families. You also need to work out your immediate contingency plan for lost business. Plans will keep you in control and prevent heavy business losses.

Sustaining a business in times of crisis can be tough. Quarantine has positives, though; you can still work on your automation and productivity strategies. Make the most of working and stay safe!

Sincerely,

Check out Taxumo’s #ATimeForHope campaign. Visit http://taxumo.com and talk to us about it!

#BOUNCEBACKFORBUSINESS: Carsoncrest International School

With the spread of COVID-19, schools had to either close early or move their curriculum online. For my daughter, it was the latter. We had to set aside time to teach her the lessons given by the teachers. I actually enjoyed doing this with her. I immediately thought of how schools were affected (if they were) and how can we help these schools ran by our fellow MSMEs. For today, I’ll be sharing the story of Carsoncrest International School.

About Carsoncrest International School

Zeeka at Carsoncrest International School

Carsoncrest International School educates children of any nationality, race, or culture with programs ranging from preschool to senior high school.  It believes that children learn best when multidisciplinary, play-based, investigative, experiential, and practical approaches are used and supported with appropriate technologies that enhance the fun of learning and gaining knowledge. 

It also partners with parents to nurture their children into highly motivated, globally competent, academically excellent, and values driven lifelong learners.  Thus, it positions itself as a progressive institution that supports a multi-faceted philosophy in educating the young.  For its stockholders, it seeks aggressive growth and maximum returns at any location it decides to be.  While for its employees, it promises meaningful human development and adequate compensation.

I was lucky enough to talk to Carol Del Rosario, the woman behind Carsoncrest International School and asked her about running a business in the time of COVID-19.

Ginger: Can you describe your business model, Carol, and how were you impacted by the spread of the virus and the Enhanced Community Quarantine?

Carol: Like any school, we earn by collecting tuition fees. Right now, we can’t accept inquiries and enrollees in the school.

Ginger: How can people help you moving forward? What kind of help are you looking for? 

Carol: Right now, we are looking for ways to accept online enrollment. We’d also want to ask for people to spread the word about Carsoncrest International School.

Ginger: Because of the things happening now, what changes will you be implementing in your business? 

Carol: With these things happening, we’re thinking of implementing work at home or trying out home school (integrated with our curriculum) 2-3 times a week.

Ginger: What are the business lessons that you have learned from this? 

Carol: One of the things that we learned form this is that we should have contingency measures of moving everything online when situations like this happen.

Ginger: Thank you so much, Carol! I continue to wish you luck and success. I hope that parents consider enrolling their kids in your school. I’ve seen you and your school take good care of the kids who are there, and I’m sure parents who are reading this will want to support you after this crisis ends.

Let’s help support Carsoncrest International School. Please visit their website: http://carsoncrestinternationalschool.org/index.html

Instagram: https://instagram.com/carsoncrestinternationalschool

FB Page: https://facebook.com/carsoncrestinternationalschool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carsoncrestinternationalschool

Stay safe!

P.S. Please follow https://www.facebook.com/groups/BounceBackPH/ to see how you can support the Philippines.

P.P.S. Please follow #BounceBackforBusiness #GInspiration #GoLocalPH for more Local SME and Professional stories that we can support!

P.P.S. If you want to be featured next, please visit this link https://mommyginger.com/smes-and-professionals-unite-during-this-time-of-crisis.html and for Women Founders, please visit this website and sign up: http://startupwomenconnect.asia/