If you'd told me a month ago that a world-wide pandemic was going to crash into my beautifully laid plans for Square Root in 2020, I would absolutely not have believed you! Fast forward to today and the unthinkable has happened. 90% of our customers have had to close their doors because of COVID-19 and many of those amazing small businesses do not currently know if they'll be able to open them again but many of them are trying to do whatever they can to survive.
With so much uncertainty out there in our current crisis, you might not feel that you're in a position to financially help every single struggling business out there by buying something from them. Whether that's a gift card from your local restaurant, some art from an independent artist, beers from your local brewery or fancy fizzy drinks from your friendly neighbourhood Soda Jerks 😏 - there are so many businesses out there that it can seem impossible to support them all.
So I put together this handy guide on how you can use some of that free time you've got stuck indoors and support independent businesses at the same time - read on!
1. Like and comment on their social media
Starting with the obvious here BUT did you know, the more you like and comment on a businesses social media, the more those crazy algorithms we keep hearing about shows those posts to other people that follow that business - it's crazy!
And if we're ranking stuff; likes are great, comments are better but sharing is the ultimate!
2. Sign up to their mailing list
Signing up to your favourite indie businesses mailing list is a great way to keep in touch with them and be the first to find out about new products launching, new services being trialled and what that business is trying to do to survive the lockdown.
Businesses that are sending out regular emails will also be able to remind you about what you can buy from them when you have some more cash available.
3. Leave them a positive review
Reviews are a great way to let other people know that a business makes a good (or bad 😬) product and can help give other people the confidence to buy something. There are loads of ways you can leave a review - Facebook, Google or their actual online store if it has that function (our online store lets you review each product individually so you can champion your favourite flavour!)
However, it's important to be genuine - people can spot a fake review a mile away so try to write about a real experience you had with your small business of choice.
4. Share their existence on your own social media
Because we're all spending our time inside, the amount of time we spend online is skyrocketing which means more eyeballs than ever on the tweetfacegramok (see what I did there?! 😆) Now, if you post something about your favourite small business, you're sharing what they're about with everyone who looking at your social media and that could be a lot of people!
Helping businesses to get their story out there is vital in the current situation especially as most of them will have seen their income drop or will have had to set up a new arm of their business to be able to bring in some money and survive. You helping them to spread the word on their new service is incredibly valuable to them and will be massively appreciated.
5. Slide into their DMs and share some positivity
Nothing is going to brighten a small business owners day up more than getting a message from you letting them know you're thinking of them. If running Square Root at the moment is anything to go by, those business owners are going to be doing the jobs of 10 people, be hugely stressed out and totally exhausted!
Taking 5 mins to write them a personal message is going to make everything they're going through feel worth it (so, yer know, just do it!)
So there we are - my 5 tips. Which one was your favourite? Which are you running off to do right now? Let me know in the comments.
And, if you've done all 5 of these things for us, then send me a message and I'll share a gift card with you for our online store to say thanks.
Stay safe out there Fizz Fam!