Date: August 2020

Whether you are a start-up that didn't get off the ground due to COVID, a small business, or a large corporation, you are faced with uncertain times and a very volatile marketplace which means that your online performance and in particular your digital marketing strategy may not be working quite as effectively as it should.

COVID-19 had brought with it a storm of changes that individuals and businesses must rapidly adapt to. If you are a company, this will mean being proactive in terms of modifying and adapting your marketing strategy to the ever-changing ‘new normal’. So, what are some steps you can take to ensure that your business continues to thrive in this turbulent environment?

Today I had the most awful experience. I was on an introductory call in relation to a government grant for the development of Robotic Marketers technology, and the external consultant intimidated me from start to finish.

I fell apart. I wasn't on my game. I didn't react well and I felt as though being a woman was to my detriment. I doubt he would have talked over a man in the same way he talked over me. He never let me finish a sentence, nor did he care that he was in fact representing a taxpayer body.

There are an abundance of grants available to small businesses looking to pivot their businesses online, but many are finding that the cheapest deal comes with dodgy web developers who are really just doing the numbers. Their sales spiel may be good, but their website development skills don't match. Many are offshoring their web development giving small businesses websites that are merely templates that don't have any of the basic factors taken into account.

Glen Eira City Councils extension of its marketing and website development grants will help catapult small businesses trying to reinvent themselves and survive in the current market. The market has changed forever and how businesses adapt will define their future and marketing is at the core.

It's hard to imagine that this day would ever have happened, but one Government decision, rightly or wrongly, has closed down small businesses in Melbourne for 6 weeks, and most are uncertain as to whether they have a future, let alone whether they should market their businesses or not.

Normally I would say it's not Government's responsibility to help market small businesses, but all of that changed when the Government imposed bans on companies opening their doors.

With threats (and I mean threats) of more to come, small businesses throughout Melbourne and the rest of Victoria have been forced to close for a minimum of 6 weeks. That means no work, no clients, no ability to pay the bills and rent.