Self-isolation isn’t as easy as it might look at the start.
Finally, a break! You might have thought.
Finally a break from the commute, the noise, the endless ringing phone… finally I get some time back for me.
Once your work-from-home-day wraps up, many people will tell you to throw yourself into all those Netflix shows you missed, take the time to do a big Spring Clean, or finally catch up on sleep.
But there’s only so much TV you can take, your house doesn’t need a big clear out every single day, and getting some extra zzz’s is great until you wake up – but then what?
There are a lot of hours in the day. We take for granted all the times we used to pop out of the house down the road, to the petrol station, or out for milk. Now that we can’t come and go when we want, we’ve only got our own homes to be content with.
After the first few days, with many more ahead, it’s easy to feel that there’s no end in sight. So then what?
The best way to look at your time in self-isolation is as a period of reflection, refocusing, and planning for the future.
And, above all else, spend these extra days and weeks at home doing something that you can take with you out of this. When lockdown ends, we’ll want to do all of the things that we missed, and there’s many ways to get started right now.
The business landscape is going through a major change at the moment and it’s important that you sit back and take it in. Spare a thought to what it's going to look like after this passes and what changes you may find yourself making afterwards? Will you be making wholesale changes in your business, such as changing how you operate, perhaps moving to a permanent remote set up? Are you well-placed for future changes or are you currently winging it? Think about what you can get hold of now while things are quiet, to prepare you for when businesses picks up again and all doors open back up.
There’s never been a better time to pay attention to your competitors. While business is slow, their own strategy will become remarkably clear and give you great insight into how they target your customers. Research your competitors and what they are offering, what makes you different to then, how you promote yourself over them, and how you can stand out in a saturated market. Do it now while you finally have the time!
Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal buyer. How did they find you, and how will they find you? Are they drawn to you because of your self-assured messages and streamlined design, or are they reluctantly coming to you because your competitor let them down? How can you make them want your services, and not just need them? Are you really taking advantage of all the ways you can reach your customers? Does your company’s social media say ‘confident and competent’, or does it say ‘mistook LinkedIn for Facebook and posts all the stuff that we don’t want to see’? Just don’t let yourself go stir crazy with all this new free time and start spamming your client base with updates out of sheer boredom – that’s a good way to say goodbye!
Work out, once and for all, whether you really do want to rebrand with your company logo in those very fetching shades of purple and pink. Decisions, decisions.
Just kidding! But apart from anything else, do try and find reasons to laugh. None of us expected a lockdown, and we’re finding roadblocks at every turn. But we’re handling them as they come.
You can do this. Just think of it as finally having all the time that you could never find before. If you’re thinking of using some of this time to invest in your marketing strategy for the future, we can help. Just give us a call.
Image source: Pixabay