In this time of uncertainty, how can we help small business owners and creatives make it through? How can we support each other while also taking care of our own very real and pressing needs?
NPR says nearly 1 in 5 U.S. households are experiencing a layoff or a cut in work hours. If you run your own solo business, chances are you’re also getting nervous. I think we should make even more effort to support small businesses during this difficult time.
Continue to market…in a pandemic?!
I’ve been reminded by multiple sources that, as a small business owner myself, I should continue to market myself and my services, albeit with sensitivity and intentionality. So, if you’re tempted to crawl into a hole and not emerge, this is actually not the time. Not to minimize the need for rest and replenishing your spirit in the face of a lot of bad news. But you shouldn’t feel that you HAVE TO stop all business efforts.
Abbey Lynn Ashley of Virtual Assistant Savvies Facebook group suggests doing a 3-month audit of your business and personal finances first. Next, she says to eliminate any unnecessary costs. She says if you can afford to stay open, you should. The economy needs you and your small business!
I first shared the following resources in a Facebook Live, which I’ve embedded below.
I also invited Anna Knapik to join me on the Facebook Live. Anna is a transformational guide, life coach, and intuitive healer. She is also a traveler and entrepreneur. Anna was born in rural Poland in the 1980s, a turbulent period for the country coming out of over half a century of communist rule.
Because of these experiences, I thought she would have unique insight into how the coronavirus affects us as small business owners, travelers, empaths, and creatives. She wrote in some helpful answers in the comments to the two questions below:
How can we get in the right mind space to maintain our energy and be ready to think about helping other people?
What are some psyche-strengthening exercises we can do at home?
Watch the Facebook Live to see Anna’s answers to those questions.
Below are ways to help other creatives divided by whether they cost money or not, and ways to help yourself. If you have any other suggestions, please share them in the comments.
Ways to help creatives and small business owners that aren’t monetary
#1 Reach out personally to former or current clients, or other small business owners and artists that you know. Ask them how they’re doing.
Italian poet Franco Arminio, 60, published his cellphone number on social media and invited anybody who wants to to call him. Consider doing something similar if it resonates for you; offer to call friends or even strangers.
#2 Help businesses go virtual.
This is another suggestion from Abbey Lynn Ashley of the Savvies Facebook group: Offer to teach local business owners how to move their appointments to virtual ones. This can be done over the phone or on a video chat. Test your skills teaching!
Digital Marketer Sarah Noel Block mentions something similar—training in-person service providers on going digital. “The first thing that comes to mind for me is helping in-person service providers like personal trainers or yoga instructors go digital. Train them on setting up a live stream class. Free training could be useful right now.”
#3 Help businesses get work referrals.
Eric Ludwig, an Arizona based commercial video producer says that referring other business owners for work becomes even more important now. Start composing a list of talented freelancers and business owners to refer.
#4 Contribute to YoYo Ma’s Hashtag.
YoYo Ma started this hashtag #SoundsOfComfort to share soothing music. You can contribute by performing a song and adding the hashtag #SongsOfComfort to a post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
#5 Get involved in Facebook groups for your community—see if you can offer support to people who are struggling.
You can model your efforts after this community initiative.
#6 Read blogs.
Travel blogger Sky Fisher says, “Spend some time reading your favorite blogs and websites. So many depend on ad income which is dependent on traffic…Reading travel blogs is appreciated because they are taking an especially hard hit.”
#7 Big up your artist friends.
This very good suggestion is from writer Gigi Griffis: “And for those struggling financially themselves, you can support creators and artists by boosting their work on your social channels, reviewing their books on sites like Goodreads and Amazon, putting holds on eBooks at the library, sharing their art in groups you belong to where others might be in a position to buy, signing up for their newsletters and following them on social media (higher numbers can help artists get sponsorships, book deals, etc.) etc.”
Monetary ways to support small businesses and creatives
#1 Support your favorite local restaurants and retailers by buying gift certificates that you can use later.
#2 Content Writer Ferdinand Zebua suggests buying video games from creators
You can buy video games from Steam and support independent music artists at Bandcamp.
#3 Order in.
If you live in a country with good food safety, you can consider ordering in. Many small restaurants are available on ordering Apps, more than before this pandemic. You can support them and fill your belly.
Be mindful about how you pay. If you’re sick or in a self-quarantine or if you’re elderly and at risk, you might want to use your credit card to pay over the phone, if you have one. You can ask the delivery person to leave the food outside your door.
If you are concerned about food safety and hygiene in your location, your best bet is probably to prepare your own food.
#4 Tip a little more than usual.
#5 Buy from artists.
Gigi Griffis says, “Support artists! If you’ve been thinking about commissioning art, re-doing your website, etc., now’s a good time to get illustrators, designers, and other artists’ time. I just commissioned some art this morning because in tech our work is still steady now, but I see a lot of artists struggling. It’s something I was planning to do anyway, so figured it made sense to move up the timeline.”
#6 Do “double whammies.”
Mary Rager Summers, a friend of mine who works for a non-profit says, “A lot of non profits need help to support their programs as well. I personally work for a nonprofit that has a residential facility and our staff is working triple time. Some of the things we are doing is a meal train to support staff by also supporting local restaurants to order from and chipping in to buy Girl Scout cookies to give to our staff, essentially supporting two nonprofits at once. I think creative ways to get double whammies of support are an awesome way [to support others.]”
Places to find support for yourself
If you’re a small business owner or creative who’s looking for support during this difficult time, here are some possible sources.
#1 The Creator Fund was set up to offer small grants up to $500 to creatives who are struggling.
Here is some info from ConvertKit, who created the fund. “Today, we’re launching a $50,000 fund called The Creator Fund (with love, from ConvertKit) to support creators in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has already had a wide impact beyond those directly impacted by illness. As the secondary consequences affect the economy for creators and small businesses, there isn’t a safety net for creators with nowhere else to turn when their business revenue is slowed or eliminated.
As a mission-driven company made up of creators ourselves, our heart is with the creator community. Thanks to being bootstrapped, remote, and profitable, we’re in a position to provide financial support. This is deeply connected to our mission to help creators earn a living. In that vein, we’ll be providing financial assistance to creators who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 until the fund runs out.
Although the funds are no longer available, you can visit their website to read more about how they helped.
#2 Reach out to a photographer
Mark Neville, a fascinating documentary photographer who embeds in communities is offering free 30-minute conversations from 17-18 hours GMT. with anyone feeling isolated. He says you can talk about your photos, your favorite photos or anything else photography related. See the post he made about this offer below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9_shVRnSPp/
I’m also making myself available to speak with you about life, your art, or your photography for 30 minutes. Sign up for one of the appointments listed here, and let’s talk. I’ll do up to three of these a week by Zoom video.
#3 Adobe is offering 3 free months of Photoshop
If you use the subscription version of Adobe, they’ve announced that they’ll give you 3 months service free. Cancel your current subscription to have the 3 months take effect.
#4 Use Zoom for free video conferencing.
It’s free for many types of uses and reliable.
#5 RPost is offering free tools for people forced to work remotely, and you can take advantage of them.
They say, “We are offering free e-signature service and email encryption services simple enough for senders and especially receivers, so it could be used for lots of back-and-forth communications to and from home offices.
“Available immediately to all new users until May 15, through our E-Sign & Encryption Work-from-Home Readiness Program. No credit card necessary. Sign up here.
#6 Get together with other creatives in Akimbo, Seth Godin’s online coworking community.
If you feel disconnected or are finding it hard to work, consider joining an online coworking space. Seth Godin’s coworking space, Akimbo, is free through April 20th, 2020. Apply here.
#7 Use this strange time to gain skills for selling on Instagram.
If you can find a few hours to focus, learn some new skills. Shante Gorman, an Instagram expert, is offering a free Workshop Bundle called Instagram Business Building Blocks. I am impressed with everything she’s shared about marketing on Instagram, so if you’re feeling the need to be visible and want some FREE info from an expert, order it from her before March 30th, when it won’t be free anymore. Opt-in here.
Or take some free online courses from Ivy League Colleges on a variety of topics.
How about a free Master Class with Sundance? You just have to register.
#8 Peruse these other websites set up to help creatives and small business owners like you.
And.Co created a website to provide guidance, tips, 24/7 support, and useful tools for freelancers and small businesses like yours. Please feel free to share this website with whomever you feel needs some help during this time.
The App Nextdoor, is helpful to see who is offering help in the individual neighborhoods in the US.
Audible is allowing you to access stories for free, no signup required.
Yoga with Adriene has a huge library of free at-home yoga videos on YouTube. She also developed a new playlist list called Yoga for Uncertain Times.
You’ve probably found yourself trying to adjust to a “new normal.” Maybe you’re lucky enough to be working at home, or maybe you’re rangling children who would normally be in school. Perhaps you’ve always worked from home but suddenly your 6 roommates are home with you, too. These situations are not easy and take getting used to. They also take lots of space and time to process.
Get help and create a “new normal” that works for you
As a content creator, one of my big missions is giving my clients their time back. I want them to have downtime for creative practice and strategic planning for their businesses.
I offer 10, 20, 30 and 40-hour packages of time which are good for a month. You can read more about them here. My services include blogging, email marketing, social media graphic design, Pinterest services, content writing and image sourcing for social media, proofreading, etc. Since I have a teaching background and have developed curriculums for young children and teens, I could help you create a schedule for your children at home.
Other ways I can help? I’ll set up video conferences or webinars, create and schedule emails to your clients, plan your social media content for the next 6 months, create compelling graphics to get people clicking on your website from Pinterest, and more. Chances are, you need to free up time for planning for the next few months.
As an added bonus and a thank you for supporting me, when you buy any of my hourly packages, I will also include a free 60-minute strategy session. This will help you come to terms with whatever is going on business-wise, because there is probably something extra on your plate right now!
The strategy session includes a list of questions to get you thinking about next steps. Then, we connect over video call. We talk about what you should outsource and what you should keep doing yourself. The call will also help you create an action plan for moving your business forward in this trying time.
Schedule a video call to to discuss whether we could be a good fit to work together here.
I hope these resources help small business owners and creatives, and you
I hope this list of resources will help you get through this tough time. Although the uncertainty can be debilitating it does bring me solace to think about how everyone is banding together to help each other. I hope we can extend that help to small business owners and creatives.
And, if you need an interesting diversion, I enjoyed this short film about being disconnected. It’s set in the future sometime but feels oddly familiar. Keeping in touch and making connections will be very important over the next few weeks or months. I hope you know that I am around. Leave me a comment below if you’d like to start the conversation.
