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Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

No industry made it out of the 2020 pandemic unscathed, but as the new year continues to blossom, opportunities to reopen are beginning to appear. While reopening your business may sound stressful, there are steps you can take to make your grand reappearance on the market a cost-effective success. The professionals at OmniMarketing 2020 have collected these proven digital strategies that can help you successfully reopen your business. 

Plan for Safety
If businesses want to reopen, safety for customers and staff is a must. How will this affect your business and your bottom line? Concepts like social distancing, masks, and hand sanitizer are the new norms, so think about how you could implement these safety measures. 

Determining how many people you need on shifts, your new building capacity, cleaning regimens, and even new hours will also fit under this umbrella. These are brand new concerns to many businesses, so spend some time thinking about your own shopping habits through this pandemic: what do you expect to see in stores? What makes a business feel safe to you, the customer? The only way to maintain your business is to keep your staff and customers safe, so remember that you’re marketing yourself as a safe business by instituting these protocols.

Connect with Your Customers
Many of us are feeling distant right now; connecting with your customers, through mailers, social media, or email, can help keep them in the loop about your reopening and other offerings you may have. There are plenty of email marketing services, even free ones, that make it easy to reach out to loyal customers and keep them informed in a stylish, simple way. 

Keep in mind that most emails are read on smartphones, so choose an email marketing service that will also help make sure the formatting is appropriate for all viewers. Strong emails will help build credibility and relationships with customers, so don’t hesitate to reach out and connect with customers even before you’re ready to open your doors.

Think About the Long Game
Closures are stressful, but they can give you time to reflect on your business and its structure. Many businesses have pivoted to providing online service, even if they never had before, helping them reach new customers and expand their offerings. Whether it is through a retail site or you build your own website, making your business online-friendly can help defend against any other business disruptions, be they from the pandemic or some other disaster. 

Another way to make your business more flexible is to consider forming an LLC; LLCs offer you limited personal liability for your business, as well as less paperwork, tax benefits, and greater overall flexibility. You can even file the paperwork to become an LLC by yourself, skipping the expensive legal fees and helping you control the process. Each state has different requirements for starting an LLC, so be sure to check the regulations for your state before you get started.

Bring in the Experts
Consider working with a marketing firm, like OmniMarketing 2020, who can help you determine who your customers are and how best to reach them. Our expertise is endlessly beneficial even when business is operating as normal; now, moving online and connecting more personally with customers, our skills are in even higher demand. From effective websites to tricks for successful mailing campaigns, marketing experts can help ensure your endeavors grow your business seemingly like magic. 

Each of these aspects will help you bring customers back to your business and keep them, no matter what happens in 2021. While we have to rethink the details, like social distancing for in-person shopping and user-friendly e-commerce online experiences, the strategies are still tried and true. Connect with your customers to make sure your business resonates with their needs and wants.

The team at OmniMarketing 2020 is ready to help you make your business a smashing success, so contact us today to see how we can help grow your industry and make the connections you need.

Great companies are built with great leadership. It means the powers that be bring out the best in their team members, inspire faithfulness from customers, and earn respect from their peers. It means demonstrating leadership qualities in a manner that others find understandable, relatable, and motivational. Here’s how to nurture those qualities from within and ensure you can be a successful leader.
 
What Do You See in the Mirror?
Leadership is more than a title; it’s how you act, what you say, and your attitude. How you conduct your affairs is exactly what your team members and company culture will reflect. They look to you as their role model and then respond accordingly.
 
For example, if you see employees are generally uninspired and doing as little as possible to get by, it’s time to evaluate whether they can see your passion. When you are energized and excited about the work you are doing, that carries over into their work.
 
On the flip side, if they don’t see your positive energy, or if they only hear about their own failures, they are bound to feel discouraged, lose productivity, and forfeit creativity. You must embody the vision you hope to see mirrored in your team.
 
Demonstrate Your Vision
What particular qualities make a great leader, and thereby make a great team? You must have the courage to turn your plans into reality, setting aside your comfort zone to do what must be done. You must be vigilant, staying abreast of your company’s comings, goings, moving and shaking, so you know what’s working and what isn’t. You must also have the integrity to do what you say you’re going to do, and be where you say you’re going to be.
 
Lastly, when all is said and done, you must demonstrate openness. Being able to admit when something doesn’t work, to accept constructive criticism, to show compassion when others fail — openness alone will foster trust, honesty, and healthy debates within your team.
 
Learning and Growing
Naturally great leaders know that there is always room for improvement. Whether you come by leadership skills naturally or not isn’t really relevant; the important thing is to always search for ways to improve in your role.
 
There are courses specifically designed to enhance your leadership abilities or to focus on weak areas in your own job performance. From learning about finances to becoming a more confident leader, earning an online business degree can not only advance your skills, but it also shows your team you are actively working to become a better leader and can inspire them toward more excellence as well.
 
Keep in mind that while it’s true you can’t truly motivate your employees — they ultimately motivate from within — look for ways to connect with them and encourage a mutual exchange of ideas. Keep communication flowing in both directions, and if you find some aren’t participating, find ways to include them. By knowing they are valued, you once again demonstrate the leadership you want to be reflected throughout your team.
 
For help formulating a focused digital strategy, building your e-commerce presence, and improving website visibility, call 910-557-6275 to connect with Contact OmniMarketing2020!