I’ll admit, I’ve gotten lucky with my own small business and I’m booked solid with clients and projects. The downside is that I find myself turning down a lot of requests from other small business owners. So, this blog post is for them - for those small business owners, nonprofits and solo healthcare providers who might be able to do some of their own marketing work. Hopefully it’s helpful advice and my own recommendations for tools and tips that I’ve learned throughout the past 15+ years consulting with other small business owners  and nonprofits. 
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Put One Foot in Front of the Other.
In the words of Kris Kringle advising the Warlock, just get started walking forward. Commit to doing one thing to help your business each week or each month - whether it’s writing a blog post (see what I did there), organizing your email contacts, or crafting your own social media posts regularly, you can start the ball rolling on your own marketing.

Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

​SEO is simply the art of improving your rankings with websites like Google. We don’t know the secret recipe to Google’s algorithm but we can play their game and set websites up for success by doing the basics.

For the past month, I’ve worked with dozens of small business owners in response to the pandemic and shutdowns. One thing is clear: every small business owner is impacted in some way. For some, business is better than ever (mine included). For others, they’re on the brink of bankruptcy. While these recommendations might not be able to help everyone, hopefully it will provide a lift for a few in this humble attempt to be of service during this weird world we’re all living in right now.


Below are 8 resources and suggestions that small business owners might find useful as they navigate the ebb and flow of running a business during a lockdown:


1. Small Business Loans
The Small Business Administration (SBA) are now providing targeted, low-interest loans (and some grants) to small businesses and non-profits that have been severely impacted by COVID-19.


2. Communicate Updates About Your Business or Nonprofit
Surprisingly, many small business owners have not added any language to their websites addressing any changes or updates regarding the pandemic and how it relates to their practice or business. Are you open or closed? It may seem obvious but it’s worth noting on your website. Also, several online tools are helping address changes by trying to make it easier for you to share updates. Google Business added a few tools so that you can provide a link to your website’s pandemic updates, post an update or mark your business as temporarily closed. You can also adjust your hours temporarily on your Google Business listing.

Eight days into the new year and many are just returning to work and wondering what 2018 will bring for their small business. As a small business consultant, Lamb Consulting sees a wide range of people running their own company but a few things cross all industries as ways nearly everyone can work to begin their new year on a better note. 

1. Update Your Email Lists
For many small business owners, this one falls by the wayside because they feel they are the only ones who know all their clients and industry colleagues. If that sounds familiar, there's no better time than January in a new year to get your email contact lists updated and organized. Referrals will always be your top driver of new business so why put this one off any longer? If using a mail service like Mailchimp or Constant Contact, make it easy on yourself and simply begin by making sure all your contacts there have a first name so you can personalize your emails. Once that's done, work on segmenting your lists into Groups so you can further customize messages. One group could be labeled clients, customers or patients while another could be sectioned off as friends/family. Trust me on this one - it's worth the time.

2. Backup Everything
If you remember Y2K, this is a no-brainer. Every New Year's is an opportunity to remember to backup your files, photos, data, email lists and your website. Dropbox is a great tool (free for the first 2 gigs of space) backing up on the cloud so you can access data from other devices but I'd also suggest a physical, external backup device. For my clients, I download and backup their websites every year - easy to do if you're using Weebly or another web service that doesn't charge extra for such services.

​In the world of advertising and marketing, there's one thing I often tell my clients: It's not brain surgery. I'm not saving any lives but I do try to respect my client's budgets. It may look difficult to some, but at the end of the day, your business (especially if you're a health practitioner) is probably way more difficult than mine!
 
That said - online ads aren't easy for everyone. Below is a common mistake in advertising and advice for folks who've tried it or are considering trying online ads. 

For years I have told my own clients to start a blog.

That old saying for Physicians to take their own advice? I guess that's me now.

So, here we go - Blog post numero uno.

And what to write about? Blogs of course!

Here's why I tell small businesses and healthcare practitioners to start a blog: do it for google. Very few folks may ever read your blog but the purpose isn't actually for your clients or potential clients, although that's a nice benefit. The purpose is to get more words in front of google and other search engines. Google loves text! The more text on your website, the better. And most small organizations don't have a lot of text on their site. Google ranks sites on the number of applicable words from any given search. The more words, the more potential matches - or the better chance of your site appearing higher in a search.

That's it - it's not brain surgery - it's blogging 101. Or, Googling 101?

And why Google?
Because they receive about 65% to 75% of all online searches in the United States right now, depending on which source you're viewing. The next closest search engine gets about half that amount max (Bing or Yahoo). 

Start writing your own blog with anything applicable to your business or your client's business. Don't think of it as giving away free advice as much as it is helping folks to find your website and therefore find you!

Happy blogging to us all.

Need some help? Well, post a comment here in my blog of course! Or, old school, just buzz me! Thanks for reading.