What a difference a day makes.

It’s a line from an old song that I never took as seriously as I do right now.

What a difference a day makes 
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain 

(“What a Diff’rence a Day Makes,” a hit for Dinah Washington in 1959 and for Esther Phillips in 1975.)

The song talks about how things can change dramatically in a short period of time, be that a day, a week, month or a season. Up until this past month, it has usually been a positive for me, said with a smile when things had become better for our business in a quick period. One day in March, we had three new private business coaching clients hire us.  What a difference a day makes. This may be the same for you.  A maybe client turns into a yes. Or a no.  At least there is a decision.  What a difference a day makes.

At the moment, all around the globe, every day is making a big difference.

Numurous people are falling ill every day, and going through being ill, and hopefully becoming asymptomatic every day.  Yes, this pandemic will eventually pass and we will return to some semblance of normal. Normal? Yes, it will be a new normal, but as with any massive change in society, there will be a state of normalcy.

Do you remember what Normal Business was like before the internet?

Or before social media platforms?

Or before e-mail?

Or fax machines?

In the promotional product world, normal was to hand write or type an order, put it into an envelope, mail it to the proper factory and then call two or three days later to make certain it arrived, rather than await their post card confirmation of receipt of the order.

Now I can have a business call me to order 500 pens with their logo at noon, and I can create the artwork, email it to them for approval, get the order written and have it in to the factory by 1 pm.  What a difference an HOUR makes.

Let’s talk about what has changed with your business recently.

And how is it likely to change in the near and distant future?

If you are a business owner who did a lot of your business acquisition face-to-face, then we are just like you. If you understand the concept of Relationship Marketing, where you develop friendships and tell your story over a bit of time at networking events, we are just like you. We very much prefer to get to know our new clients on some sort of personal level because it is easier for you to make the decision to work with us and us to want to work with you. It is how you got most of your business referrals: from people who know you, love you, and trust you enough to tell their friends about you.

What a difference today could make to your online efforts.

We know that if you are a Gen X-er, Boomer or Greatest Generation, this is not as common or easy for you as getting online, but since you are not in the mood to retire, it’s time to get used to building your business online.

We just hosted a virtual workshop that began to show our clients how to do just this. Let’s go through a few of those ideas with examples:

First: HOW TO GIVE AWAY SAMPLES

If you were to drive down Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles on most any day you would see a flower shop that uses their marquee to give away a free rose if you saw your name posted. Completely offline, right?  How do you do this same thing online?

Use what we are doing as your example. We began posting a Name of the Day meme that offers the recipient a free copy of one of our six best-selling business books if they send us an email within 72 hours of the post. We are going to add this daily to our social media efforts. Here is what that looks like:

Second: How to replace your public speaking engagements in this new day.

Are you doing workshops?  It’s hard to do them when you are not allowed to gather more than 10 people in a room. We are now doing them virtually, at least temporarily. By sending a series of emails, we can get to our audience and let them know what we are doing.  Here is the information we send to people so they can dial in or get on using their internet connection (you can join us, too, if you are reading this on or before March 25th or 26th, 2020):

Join the online meeting at: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/info07162
If you must dial-in for audio, the number is (US): (605) 475-4066
Access code: 918868#
Online meeting ID: info07162

We normally do 90-minute workshops and that seems to be within the range of what speakers consider an optimum range. We are also going to try doing shorter webinars as well. The downside to doing these is, of course, you cannot have the same in-person interaction but we expect to get better at doing this. The other way to make these personal is that we are offering personal time phone calls to attendees. This adds the two-on-one attention we love to give to potential private business coaching clients.  The idea, of course, is to show them that ‘if Sharyn and Hank are this good in a no-cost situation, they must be incredible when we invest in their private business coaching program.’

At the time of writing this blog, we are also planning on holding our latest Small Business Breakthrough Bootcamp as a two-day virtual event instead of our regular 2 ½ day event done in person. We expect that we will have some unique challenges, including the focus level our audience will be able to achieve and hold by receiving their information through their computer.  We are looking to find ways to improve that connection.  And speaking of connections, there will probably be a challenge with the internet connection that we will have to be ready to work with., especially if we experience drop-off in our office.

The Third thing: how do you communicate with your clients and how they communicate back to you now?

We seem to be forgetting during this unusual situation that we still have all the communication systems we have always had available to us all.  Phones still work. Texting still works. The US Postal Service is still delivering. Emails and messaging through social media platforms still work. In fact, that is probably one of the few things that had NOT changed: we communicate virtually!  The only communication pattern that is not working at the moment is the ‘in person drop in sales call.’

The last communication tool:  how do best use your videos in this new day?

We have written several blogs on using video. Here are a couple of reminder tips:

• Video is easier to use than most people think… until they use it and find out it’s a breeze. Your cell phone has a video camera designed right into it. So does your laptop, so there isn’t even extra expense involved in hardware.
• Remember that how you show up on video is what your clients will expect in person, so allow your personality to show up and show through.
• There is no need to script your presentation word for word if you know the content you are presenting. Having your bullet points, however will allow you to remember to discuss all the information you want to present.
• It is possible to use videos in various places – also known as repurposing. A video that you shoot could end up being the video for your blog, and being shared on social media to boomerang clients back to your website and can also be used in presentations.
• Remember to upload your videos to each social media platform natively instead of sharing them from your Youtube channel.

If you have questions on how you can communicate better with your clients online in what is currently an overly virtual world, go to our website at  www.FreeMarketingConsultation.com .  Once there, you’ll be asked a few easy questions. Then you’ll get a link to our calendar so you can schedule your free 30-minute success call. Most entrepreneurs share with us this call is worth over $10,000 in immediate savings and profits for them and their business. We look forward to helping you in every way we can!