Written by: Lisa Peranzo
As entrepreneurs, one of our primary goals is ensuring we are providing our audience with products and services that serve them. After all, most entrepreneurs step into the entrepreneurial space because we want to share our passion with the people around us from a place of service. The time and financial freedom payoffs are just a bonus.
           If our predominant goal is to give of our time and knowledge to our community, we have to ensure that we evolve with our community. After all, that time and financial freedom that are such amazing payoffs will not be happening if we do not have a community to serve because we stop giving them products or services they perceive as valuable. Ultimately, part of being an entrepreneur means adapting to the art of being flexible and evolving with your audience at all times, not just a pandemic.
           However, COVID-19 sees us all in unprecedented times. It is a little overwhelming to think that we are currently living in a time that will be memorialized in history books and analyzed by future generations. As business owners, it is not only our duty to adapt our business to respond to this changing time but to also ensure that our clients are receiving the services they need to be able to meet their own needs during this time.
           It should be said that evolving your business is different creating your business and making sure that your infrastructure for your business is sound (for those nuts and bolts, refer back to my previous article, “Why I Started a Business in a Saturated Industry). Assuming that the infrastructure for your business is sound and you have a solid foundation, evolving your business will inevitably come down to you and your interaction with your clientele. During COVID-19, this is no different.
           Your audience is your audience because they know, like, and trust you. As a result, they know that the services you provide will be of value and will solve a problem they are currently facing. However, we are all entrepreneurs because we want to work smarter, not necessarily harder, so to ensure that you are evolving with your audience, you need to be interacting with your audience. Listen to your audience via personal engagement on social media through comments, messages, polls, as well as what your ideal client is posting on their social media outlets. Listen to what your clients are saying during calls and meetings, and take notes. The more you listen to their needs, the more you will be able to appropriately address those needs through the content you create. We create from a place of passion in serving our community, to help our community grow stronger, and now is no different. Let what you are hearing from the people you are serving guide you in what you are creating. Listening to their current and relevant pain points will give you the inspiration you need to create freebies, printables, content for posts, as well as emails and blogs.
           Pro tip: Be smart about how you are spending your time when you create all of this content. Take a social media post, expand it into a longer excerpt for your email list, and your blog as well. Then link into those items relevant freebies, printables, or services that enhance the quality of what you have written.
           Be consistent with your community. COVID-19 has impacted every single person differently, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Maybe your client is experiencing increased anxiety or depression levels, or fear, maybe they are angry, or maybe they are a little of all those things and others right now. Your client needs to know that you are still there to help and support them, even during this time. Which is easier said than done because we are all human, and those feelings might have hit home for you too. We are all entitled to walk our emotional path during this time, and I would encourage you to be transparent with your audience about how you are feeling. Be kind, be appropriate, approach this all from a place of love, but do not feel like it is necessary to hide how you are feeling.
           Continue to batch your content, everything from posts to blogs and emails to videos on your social media. That way you have content for the days you do not feel like showing up and your ideal client knows your presence is consistent. Give yourself the leniency to also feel your feelings but do not forget that the person ultimately responsible for your business is you. Which means your infrastructure must be solid. Utilize automation whenever possible for blog posts, emails, and social media posts. While this does take more work on the forefront, it gives you the grace of time on the back end to attend to life and address those obstacles coming up for you on a personal level.
           As always, remember to be patient with yourself. Adjusting and evolving your life as well as your business during a pandemic is new for everyone and there is no right way to approach making these changes. As long as you are continuing to serve your community to the best of your ability, and are still able to provide your clients with high-quality services and products, you are doing the right thing.
