EPISODE 28 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: TOOLS TO HELP YOU PIVOT TO AN ONLINE MODEL

Sonya McIntyre-Reid:

Hello hello. My goodness, what a world we have been living in. Am I right? It has been really interesting to watch the businesses that have been thriving and the ones that have had to shut down, and as a result have kind of put their head in the sand. That may seem like a harsh statement, but let me tell you a couple of stories. So I've got a client in the beauty industry, and within three days of being shut down they had completely pivoted their business online and are going gangbusters with product sales and online skin consultations, as well as an online skin course. Their model has switched from one that's a one-on-one service to e-commerce and training. My first ever job, we all worked remotely and the company was run online. For me, this isn't anything new, and I think this is really going to benefit our agency. And the clients will now be more open to working with us even if we aren't the same location.

We have clients all across Australia, many I have never ever met, and I've worked with clients in the UK, New Zealand, and even Iran, which is really random. Anyway. I'm hoping moving forward, a lot more people will be open to this, but I digress. It's now more important than ever to be pivoting and focusing on your business online, because that's pretty much the only way you can now reach people. So what are some of the tools that I found that can really help you to do this? If you've got a few products to sell, whipping up a Shopify site doesn't take much time or a massive investment. But I will say this, if you're going to do it, do it right. Corona will pass and your online store will still be there as an asset that can continue to generate you income. Invest in a highly rated premium theme, it will make your life a heck of a lot easier.

Another option if you've only got a few products, is setting up a site through Squarespace. They have an e-commerce function that's super easy to use. And to be honest, when it comes to service based businesses that have something to sell online, this is the path I usually take. If your online store becomes your primary income stream post-corona, then you can always integrate your Squarespace shop with a Shopify store. Sorry, your Squarespace website with a Shopify store. So your Squarespace site would be the front facing informational side of things, and then you'd have a Shopify store that is integrated. If you're wanting to sell gift vouchers online, go and check out Gift Up! Again, this can be integrated with all websites or used as a standalone tool. I've seen a lot of posts going around talking about supporting small businesses by purchasing gift vouchers, so it is something that's on people's radars at the moment.

If you do want to pivot and sell online training, I recommend looking at Thinkific. It's beautifully designed and easy to set up. It's also a lot more cost effective than tools such as ClickFunnels and Kajabi. Are you capable of delivering a service to people one-on-one in an online capacity? People like myself who do marketing strategy and consultations are a prime example. For this, I use Acuity as a calendar system that people can use to book in and answer a questionnaire. It also allows them to pay for their session and sends out automatic reminders about their booking. To check out an example of this on our website, head to kissmarketing.com.au/oneonone-consultation. Once people have booked, paid, and filled out their questionnaire all in one go using Acuity, I will confirm the booking and send them a link to a Zoom meeting.

Other tools to make life easy include Typeform, which allows you to collect questionnaires, and also the G Suite range of tools that I'm obsessed with for document sharing and collaboration. I live inside Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Forms.

When it comes to general communication, I really make use of WhatsApp and Skype. I've tried Slack in the past, but I don't know, I just really dislike it. I found it completely overwhelming. For project management go check out Asana, there's a free version and it is a total game changer. I hope some of these tools help you when it comes to pivoting online. There's always a way to take some aspect of your business and take it online. And for you, it might just be putting out content to build up an audience to purchase from you post-corona. So keep an open mind and look for the opportunities. Until next week, thanks for listening.