If you worked from home before this novel coronavirus hit the world hard, a lot of people assume you got off lucky. After all, you are just doing what you did before, right?
With blogs and online businesses being lucrative money-makers for thousands of people, no one seems to notice that we are being affected too.
Businesses taking a hit, industries crashing and suppliers calling it quits means whether you are a blogger or freelance writer- you get affected too.
Here are 5 things you can focus while things get back to normal:
1. Your field will dictate what you should be doing
For online bloggers and business owners, your niche means everything. If you are in the travel industry it is best to keep marketing efforts on the sidelines for a while since they are normally going to be fruitless with almost no one traveling.
This does not mean you can’t work on anything. Re-doing your website, reaching out to existing customers, taking care of admin work, working on the blog, or trying new tools to optimize productivity could all be great uses of your time.
Simply putting your blinkers on and focusing on exactly what you were doing before is not going to work for certain niches like travel, home decor, or review sites.
Sites that will weather this storm and keep getting traffic include anything personal finance, work from home tips, homeschooling ideas, and more. This is what people need right now.
For example, with my own personal finance blog, I have actually seen an increase in traffic which is why I continue to focus on marketing efforts and social media promotion.
But if you own a travel service of some kind, you need to accept that no one is going to be entering their dream destination into a search bar for a few months.
2. Invest in your business’ future
If you have the money to spare, consider investing some money into saving time for your future self. This could mean hiring out work to freelancers so you can keep content scheduled and ready for a few months or getting your web design updated.
This is your time to take a step back and make sure you like where you are at. If any improvements can be made and you have the money to invest, here is the time.
3. Collaborate with other online business owners
Connections are priceless whether your livelihood is online or off and those of us that work from home tend to forget that and pretend we are self-sufficient islands.
We aren’t!
This situation that we are in now is a reminder of just that. Maintaining connections with other business contacts, collaborating on a podcast episode, being proactive on Facebook groups you are a part of, and reaching out to people that are in the same boat are all good ideas.
You are probably facing exactly the same thing as they are and two heads are always better than one.
4. Communicate with businesses
Establish robust communication systems with suppliers, businesses, or affiliate partners (if you have not already). A lot of online businesses are seeing commission cuts or suppliers pressing down hard on the pause button.
While this is incredibly frustrating, you need to remember businesses are suffering too- especially brick and mortar ones.
Speaking to the businesses you have partnered with in the past can help you understand what they are prepared to offer you and what could best work for your customers.
If you are an affiliate for brands that are pausing their programs, reach out to them and make sure they know you still love their brand and are keen on promoting it through rain or storm.
We are in this together so if you reach out to people, odds are they will do what they can to help.
For bloggers who are seeing a lack of sponsorships and lower affiliate commissions- this is your time to make known to brands you partner with that you are there for them. If you have an affiliate manager or a business contact to reach out to- do it.
The pandemic will end soon enough but businesses won’t forget you had their back when it counted most.
5. Use this time to connect with your audience
While your business may have seen a slight fall in numbers, your audience is still around and spending a lot of time at home.
Developing connections and fostering relationships with your readers, viewers, buyers or fans has never been easier.
People have more time on their hands than they normally would and you have a better chance of creating a long-lasting relationship now than ever before.
Collaborating with other online businesses, creating a product that you know your audience wants, engaging with your email list or social media audience and creating new email opt-ins are all great ways to grow your reach while you have time on your hands.
About the Author: Freya Kuka teaches readers how to grow their passive income, save money, and manage debt on her personal finance blog https://collectingcents.com/.
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