Quick Tips for Quarantine

As Coronavirus continues to impact our daily lives, how are you adapting the way your business operates?
One thing remains certain - good communication is essential in times like these. So, if you haven’t already, let your customers know how your biz is working to handle the complex daily challenges required for social distancing. 

Whether you are an online biz, or one with a physical storefront – email your clients and let them know you are thinking of them. Reassure them that you are here and ready to help, in whatever form or capacity that entails.  

Touch base daily through Instagram and FB - using Stories can be particularly effective. 
Let folks take a peek at what you’re doing behind the scenes - this is an unprecedented situation, and a rare opportunity to let customers get to know more about you, and your brand’s philosophy. 
Think about how you respond during a global crisis, and how your brand’s presence on social media can provide comfort to your audience even in the smallest way.

Do you have a product that can help your audience relax and take their mind off things for a bit? Post suggestions for a favorite activity or game, a great recipe or an epic recipe fail, a funny or uplifting story. Maybe even something positive that happened during quarantine that has really caught you by surprise.  
The key is to keep posts positive, honest, and helpful.
If you sell products like books, games, spa items, cards & stationery, specialty packaged food items and kits, pet products, to name just a few, and aren’t on lockdown yet (like we are here in Illinois), offer curbside pickup or delivery if possible - throw in a discount card to be used post-quarantine, to encourage them to shop at your biz when life gets back to normal.
Share accounts you admire and follow on your social media with your audience. Who has made you laugh, given you hope, inspired you, or just has a beautiful feed? Who, or what is helping you get through the day to day challenges of quarantine? Who’s got fun tips to keep kids, teens, and even the adults active and off the screens for an hour or two a day?
Ask questions of your audience. How are they doing? What’s their biggest business challenge right now? Personal challenge? What tips or advice do they have to get through the day?
The better you communicate, the more you remain relevant and endear your biz and brand to your audience. While sales may be slow to non-existent over the next few weeks, chin up! Continuing to build positive, loyal relationships through recognition, trust and consistency is a solid strategy that will see your brand through this difficult time.

Authors!

How do you stay focused on your writing in these unsettled times, while keeping readers aware and interested in your work?

Take to social media and post what do you do to occupy your time now, as opposed to the pre-Covid-19 days – not just writing, but whatever or however your daily activities have changed. 
Start a hashtag - think #bookstagram, but for the quarantined – get creative and maybe it will start trending!
Know some indie author’s through social media? Review their books, and then share, share, share those reviews! And, yes, we realize this is a non-pandemic thing also, but it’s even more important now when authors aren’t able to do face to face promotional events. Set a goal and stick to it - one a week? Two a week? 
Organize a virtual book club. Remember those indie books we were talking about reviewing? Message some friends, download a few books, and discuss them via FaceTime or Skype. Let the author know, and we bet you could convince them to take part in the discussion too!
Have a website? DM some indie authors and invite them to be a guest blogger. Then share those blog posts on social media. Not only is this great content for you, it’s excellent marketing for them. 
Ask questions on Stories - how is the Coronavirus affecting other writers and authors around the globe? 
Have your family take a few candid photos of you – no, seriously, if they must be home invading your space, give them tasks! Some examples - catching you on Twitter when you should be writing, walking the dog, organizing your workspace or a cabinet or junk drawer, anything really that shows a bit of the life behind the writer. 
It may feel silly or mundane, but these things are relatable and reassuringly normal.

And for two mamas that are anything but, isn’t normal exactly what we all want right now?

Stay well, friends. xo