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Small Business COVID-19 Outlook

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Guest post by Meredith Young.

The past several weeks have been anything but business as usual. COVID-19 has spread around the world and impacted every type of business. From resource allocations being shifted by manufacturers to products such as protective face masks, to a boom in telecommunications services and closing of non-essential businesses, plus everything in between.

Small business survival during COVID-19

Image credit: Nick Bolton on Unsplash

This is a shift never seen before, and the implications for small businesses are staggering. Here are four key points every business owner should consider while weathering this COVID-19 storm and preparing to come out the other side stronger.

Be Financially Savvy

According to Fundera, one of the biggest concerns small business owners have is economic uncertainty as it pertains to the balance sheets of the business and changing consumer trends. The decline in customer spending with so many businesses closed makes it imperative for owners to secure their financial stability.

[Read more…]

The Impact of COVID-19 on B2B Marketing Plans: Tech vs. Non-Tech

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The abrupt shutdown of vast swaths of economy and the entire live events industry, to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, has dramatically impacted plans for B2B marketers. But, as in all economic slowdowns, not every business sector is affected in the same degree or way.

How COVID-19 is impacting B2B marketing plansThose differences are one area explored in How COVID-19 is Impacting B2B Marketing, a research report just published by B2B Marketing Zone and Webbiquity LLC.  More than 450 B2B marketing professionals gave their input to this study. Among the findings:

  • 61% of marketers expect at least a modest reduction in their overall marketing budgets for this year, with smaller vendors expecting the biggest declines.
  • 40% of respondents anticipate that unused live events dollars simply won’t be spent (i.e., overall budgets will be cut). But roughly the same share plan to reallocate those funds to other marketing tactics.
  • The top three areas live event budgets will be reallocated to are content creation (43%): hosted webinars (40%); and search marketing (33%).

Check out the full report for all of the insights.

[Read more…]

The Entrepreneur Interview Series #24: Amber Christian, Bella Scena

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From startups to the Fortune 100, meetings are a way of life for business professionals. Though vital for collaboration and project management, they are (too) often viewed as impediments to productivity.

Amber ChristianRunning productive meetings is a challenge even when everyone is face to face in the same room. That’s even more the case now when so many professionals are working from home, many for the first time. From videoconferencing technology challenges to kids running in the background to people talking over each other, virtual meetings seem even less useful than live ones.

But meetings are essential. So how can we make them better?

That’s the question Amber Christian set Bella Scena logoout to answer. After sitting in too many unproductive meetings, she realized there was a better way to think about meetings, and began developing a technology tool to support that. Even when most meetings were still happening in conference rooms, her approach sparked the interest of many professionals she talked to.

But now, due to the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, her ideas have even more urgency. [Read more…]

Twitter for Business: Is It Time?

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Twitter is in trouble. The company recently missed earnings estimates for the second time in four quarters, and had to strike a deal with activist investor firm Elliott Management which had “been trying to push (Jack) Dorsey out as part of an overhaul to Twitter’s business.” Could creating a “Twitter for business” service level be part of the answer?

Twitter for businessTwitter is generally viewed as the second-best social network for B2B marketing, behind only LinkedIn. In the current environment where the coronavirus outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic have shut down live events and even coffee meetings, forcing increased online interaction, B2B marketing activity on Twitter should be exploding.

But it’s not. Though 90% of B2B software companies are on Twitter, barely half are active. Of the top 500 people in event marketing per BizBash magazine (a group that should definitely be social media active), just 119—less than a quarter—even have a Twitter account, and many of those are inactive. Most providers of brand monitoring tools don’t even bother monitoring their own brand mentions on Twitter.

[Read more…]

Get Real-Time COVID-19 Case Number Updates by Text (Public Service Announcement)

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Automated email and channel marketing software provider AdBase, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, has just launched a free service that allows people to subscribe via text message to get near-real-time updates if and when their local area has more confirmed cases of COVID-19—including number infected, deaths, and recoveries.

Get free text updates for COVID-19 cases in your areaTexts show the percentile difference per day or since the last report.  Founder Nicolas Wegener created it to let his remote team and extended family know if they were in a heavily infected area or not.

The updates are helpful for those who want to track virus cases without media noise or who want to stay informed about what is going on around them in real time.  As an example, a subscriber in Cook County would see zero cases reported in each category, but also the overall state totals; whereas a subscriber in Washington County would see three cases reported (at the time of this writing).

As time goes on—for example, if in the next two hours, if there are two more cases discovered in Washington County—subscribers will get a text letting them know of the change.

There is no charge for this service, nor any ads sent, only the COVID-19 case updates. AdBase is giving this away to the public.

The tool is only populated with Minnesota data thus far, but the company plans to add data for the entire U.S., starting with Florida, Arizona, and New York. AdBase also plans to make the information available in additional languages beyond English.

To try it out, text your zip code to 1-218-4-COVID-0 a/k/a 1-218-426-8430

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