When growing your business from a one-person shop to having employees, you may find yourself with the need to define and create a workplace “culture”. Some business owners take to this responsibility very seriously; others would rather just make a really good product or service and hope the rest will take care of itself.

Unless you've been shutting yourself in, both virtually and physically, you've probably sensed a change in the air. The murder of George Floyd sparked a widespread reaction in the States of which we are still seeing the effects. Whether people had just had enough, coupled with months of isolation, many long overdue conversations are now happening and bringing to light some very real, but sometimes hidden, inequalities.

Like most established companies, your business likely has a logo and brand personality with which your loyal clientele is very familiar and can easily recognize. Perhaps you already have a strong visual representation of your company that ties strongly with your industry and sends a message as to what service or product you provide and how.

The uncertainty of this period of time has changed all the rules of the marketing game. In ordinary circumstances you know how the game is played, and so you act accordingly. But now that there is no clear path forward, do the rules even apply anymore?

A recent Facebook post began with the words “I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.”

For some of us, our jobs means we have to go to work every day, constantly under threat of something insidious and invisible. We then have to bring the same threat back home to our family. For others, this is a time where our jobs have moved to a home office and taken on an urgent note, at the same time while we try to homeschool our children. And for still others, it's a pleasant opportunity to spend more time with family and bake bread. We need to understand that for some of us, this situation means merely surviving everyday, and for others this could be an opportunity to create something new.

I'd like to start by saying: for those of you who put yourselves on the front lines daily, we are very thankful and the sacrifices and risks you are taking are not lost on the rest of us. And for those whose livelihood depends on physical interaction and people coming through your doors, I won't state what's already obvious, but this will be a trying time indeed.

Whether you have a brick and mortar business or are a service provider, this just might be the time in your career to consider bringing some (or more) of your business online.

If you have been hemming and hawing over whether to bring your physical products online and start selling, here are some points to consider.

If you have a product or service that can easily be sold on-line to an audience that extends beyond geographic boundaries, you should be absolutely taking full advantage of automated marketing tools.

If words like “MailChimp”, “Kajabi” or “ConvertKit” gives you hives, fear not. Spending some effort in learning these tools will give you the ability to tailor and broadcast your message to the people who are most likely to need your product or service.

This month's column goes back to a more traditional way to grow your business network. Joining your industry's association, while perhaps not having a direct relationship with how your business grows, can be incredibly beneficial to you in many indirect ways.

A tradesperson's association may offer courses in skill development or safety that you may not otherwise seek out on your own. They may be able to bring in experts in your field from whom you can glean knowledge and ideas that you wouldn't otherwise have access to. Belonging to a certification body in your industry will help distinguish you from your competitors, especially in sectors where there are many professionals offering similar services, such as interior design or photography. Often times with this level of exposure amongst your peers, there is even opportunity to work as a subcontractor to larger players in your field, which is a huge bonus when you are just starting out.

Many people admit that the real key to success is small gains over long periods of time. Of course, that's not what it looks like when we consider the YouTube-famous, or Instagram influencers, but as we all know that kind of success is extremely rare and quite fleeting.

Instead, making small, but consistent, steps toward achieving something great is likely 1) much more attainable for most of us who aren't crazy talented and 2) has a longer payoff.

Perhaps you are already using Facebook for your business and happily find you get a good deal of exposure and are able to increase brand awareness for your company fairly easily through posts, videos, and maybe even Facebook stories or live video. People walk into your store or visit your shop online because of the relevant, engagement content you present them. Why bother with Instagram then?

Instagram has seen rapid growth since its launch way back in October 2010, currently boasting over one billions users! Given that its platform is built primarily on imagery versus any one language, a single Instagram account can easily spread its content to a worldwide multilingual audience.

The Numbers Are In: Economies Grow When We Bet on Women 

Canadians are most active women entrepreneurs in the world 

Female Entrepreneurship Is on the Rise

As Entrepreneurship Thrives, Women Are Starting More Innovative Businesses Than Men

These are the headlines from the last year that came up when I Googled “female entrepreneur”. It was very encouraging to read such optimistic-sounding titles. But it led me to wonder: what are some numbers behind all of this good news?

There’s a saying in the marketing world where the client admits “I know 50% of my marketing dollars is being wasted; the problem is I don’t know which half.”

Lately I’ve had a few meetings with well-established businesses in the area who are unfamiliar with social media and can’t quite clearly see the ROI from such an effort. And so even though I know I’ve touched on this already many times in my column, I figured this topic bears repeating.

When sitting down with a potential website designer you may find your head spinning a little as they throw out terms like “SEO”, “CMS” and “CTA”. Today I’ll touch on “CTA” (although you can always contact me for further info on those other troublesome terms).