What Are Your Contingency plans with Covid 19 Some Thoughts for WA Members?
I am reading quite a bit about Codvid 19. The effects, fall out, and comparisons drawn on the influenza viruses that have their hemisphere seasons on an annual basis.
It has happened. I officially have Codvid 19 fatigue.
There are so many opinions about this subject.
No one knows for sure because we have never been here before.
This is a new virus; it is not part of the experience in a world whereby the majority of us have the expectations; that the system and authorities will provide the answers, in a way we have been cocooned, especially in western economies.
If you haven't had a little taste of the fallout, it will come. It is the domino effect that will catch up to you.
The Business Aspects
I want to focus on the business aspect concerning online marketing. My views have developed over the last couple of weeks. There will be a spike in online sales, as people are at home in isolation or that they do not wish to go out or can not because of lock downs, they will make purchases online. Also, people who are home will reflect and possibly think about the online world as a way to make money.
They will start searching, and for people promoting the virtues of online marketing, it will possibly be a golden opportunity, and they will see a boost in sales.
People will sign up, go online, in the hope of creating new outcomes, from a marketers point of view that is a good scenario.
The caveat will be job loss shock.
Initially, we may see a surge in inquiries, but as more people are affected and lose their jobs, that will fall right off. When you are in that situation, you go into survival mode. You are not going to be investing in an opportunity online that is not guaranteed to return any money for the foreseeable future.
The majority of people are risk-averse, and if it were so easy to make money online, everyone would be online anyway.
As marketers, we need to wake up.
Could WA as a community be affected.
If I look at the community here, in WA, there are quite a few older members and also members that have health and disability issues.
That is the demographic that is most affected at this stage.
If this goes to more extensive community transmission, it could have a significant impact on WA and the members here. Every business in the world will be affected to some degree.
No one could foresee this coming; it seems like yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, and in March, we are all getting into our stride.
The main points of this post.
My point for this post is to raise awareness; What are your contingency plans around Covid 19?
Have you thought about it are you actively implementing some strategies that will enable you to ride out the storm. Or have you joined the crowd?
These are just some suggestions, in terms of your Wealthy Affiliate experience. I call it the what-if scenario case study. It is something we should all do. Ask ourselves the hard questions and work out possible solutions or, at the very least, feel comfortable with our decisions.
What If ?
What if you lose your job, can you afford to pay your membership fees? What if your sales drop off? What if you get sick and can not manage your website, does it become defunct by virtue that you can not work on it, and the conversation we don't like having, what if you become incapacitated or worst-case scenario pass. What will happen to your web properties?
Secure your membership!
One of the first things to do is to secure your WA membership to ensure that you can make your subscription payments, independent of what situation you find yourself. If possible, go yearly; you save money, and it removes the hassle of coming up with those monthly payments—an excellent way to buy some time if needed.
" I hear you," but Alex I can't afford it, to that I will say look around your house and sell something to raise funds if you commit you will end up in a position whereby you can repurchase it tenfold. Get my drift; you are covering yourself.
If you lose your job, one of the first things to go will be the over, and above spending, if you have a family, you have to feed them first. Your goals and aspirations will go on the back burner.
Continuing Content Creation
Moving on, content, what happens if you get crook, will you keep creating content.
No, the last thing on your mind; start now put in some extra yards create extra content; leave it in the draft. Site content is an excellent resource to do just that. An additional two posts a week, and soon you will have a month's supply up your sleeve publishing two posts a week.
This could stretch to social media, create extra posts, have them sitting there ready to go.
Sit there and think about it; if you can not be actively engaged in your business, there may be some little jobs that family members or friends could help you with to keep things ticking over.
Do you actively have a plan in place to sell some of your assets if you become incapacitated or come under finacial pressure?
Placing a value on your assets can be very productive.
One focused or multiple websites?
I am noticing more and more people referring to multiple websites. Have a think about which one will return the most in the shortest amount of time. The reason I say that is that the buying landscape is going to change dramatically.
An analogy, An airline pilot buys sunglasses to go on that weekend fishing trip, they are top of that range in price and quality; Airline pilot loses his or her job, they are shopping on the twenty-dollar rack.
Are you taking the time to work out which of your web properties will perform the best given this evolving situation?
Could it be an idea to focus on one rather than dividing your energies into many campaigns?
The Tricky One
No one wants to die well just yet, but what are your succession plans for your web properties. Do the surrounding people know what it is that you do and what assets you have under your control? Have you got it detailed down somewhere?
I will leave that one blank.
I am picking up this vibe; no one knows what to do in this situation. Many are clinging to the hope that it will all be sorted by the middle of next week. Unfortunately, this is with us for a some time, the collateral damage is too severe and too intense, for it to be any other way.
I hear all the time how great it is going to be, and that sales are going to go through the roof; the reality is a slightly different picture. Everything is shutting down Jobs are going to be lost; no one will be spending other than on what is necessary, in times of uncertainty.
What Impact
I have taken a couple of big hits already, its only Tuesday. The script is unwritten for this one. Even for the battle-hardened amongst us, I can see that we will have to step way outside of the square to pull things back around.
It is the wrong time to be an ostrich; things have changed dramatically. For us, as online marketers, we have to be in touch with what is happening on the ground. The idea is we are not buyers in the real sense we are sellers and promoters; we need to be in touch with what is happening in our market places.
I do not wish to appear as being negative; I am saying that we all need to be thinking, having conversations, and putting time into adapting to the world in which we find ourselves.
I reflect that when we are faced with real challenges is the time when we do our best work, and this is one such time. Looking at things, I see so many new opportunities. Business-wise just pulling it all in and becoming focused on the few that will continue to return on the investment of both time and money may be the best course of action. If we do not have an eye on the prize and keep things tight, it is the after burn that will get you every time.
For many marketers, they will not see any downturn, and that is so cool, the chances are that we will all be impacted to some degree.
When I focus on what we have here included in our WA membership, we are somewhat insulated so we should be well-placed to weather this storm. One of the lessons that has stood me in good stead is to plan for the worse and count your blessings if the outcome continues to be better than expected.
Take care and also care for the people surrounding you, take the time to reflect on your business, your client or audience base, and where you perceive your self to be in 6 months. This is a long post, so thank you for reading. You may or may not agree with my sentiments; presented to start a conversation.
Alex Evans
Recent Comments
67
Hello Alex thank you for bringing your insights because it is helpful. In my opinion some things I am seeing happening.
Local businesses will lose lots of money because people are not going to be spending in their local areas., grocery stores will lose because they can't keep items in stock for everyone. Financial markets is crashing because of statewide panic.
If all of this leads to a recession than we have history to look upon to see how best to handle this situation. It certainly seems that people will have less freedoms to do what they want, from this day forward society will change forever.
Kay
Hi Kay thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Local and small businesses are an integral part of all economies. At the moment everything is slowing down.
An excellent opportunity to do a stock take and make some decisions that will help us moving forward into in uncharted territory.
Having a plan will place us in a good position.
So true history trends to repeat itself.
Alex
They impact is going to be more in the "financial" sector than the "health" sector. The MONEY element is going to effect everyone that uses money. The HEALTH element will only effect those that have the virus and/or loved ones that have the virus.
You may want to shift your priorities around a bit. That new home, vacation or new car might need to wait.
That is a good summary, Brad, there will be conversations taking place all over the place.
At times like this, if we remain positive and deal with the situations that we are confronted with, take appropriate action, then we can all continue to move forward.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Alex
I'm prepared for whatever comes my way and I keep moving forward. It's good to consider what you list as long as we don't allow fear to take over, otherwise our judgment will be clouded.
I pay close attention to what is happening locally as things are changing on a daily basis and what was true yesterday is not true today.
To everyone's health & success!
Mel
Hi Mel, that is a great way to look at things, always moving forward.
It is not so much as thinking in terms of fear, it is business and there is no room for fear; an outdated concept.
It is about reflecting and making informed decisions based on what is happening in the market place in relation to our business aspirations and our relationship with WA.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Mel and all the best.
Alex.
I think the one thing that stands out from your post is the fact that none of us really know where this is going to take us.
The 'fall-out' is already happening around us. Many businesses survive on a week to week basis and more than likely won't be able to survive a long term drop in sales.
As an example, here in the UK, they've been talking about how all of this is effecting the sporting clubs (Football, rugby etc) who rely on weekly 'gate' money to exist. Some are already taking big hits as the staff still need to be paid.
Retail shops are going to feel it, if not already, as many start looking for their necessities through online outlets.
With no 'end' point in sight, how many are unprepared or unable to weather a storm that hasn't reached it's zenith yet ?
Hi, Twack, thank you for chiming in, businesses like people operate on a day to day week to week basis, this is an extremely fluid situation.
Observation shows us that we are in a state of rapid change.
That is a very good reflection, the road that we are on is a long one from observation, it is going to be challenging.
Part of the reason for this post is that stock take that I am undertaking, it is good to have that conversation, the costs associated with an online venture are different but they are still there and like all businesses we need to have a clear vision where we are going and how we are going to get there.
We may not know where this is heading in terms of our own exposure we need to be in touch with whom we are reaching out to and we need to be in Touch with our business aspirations.
It has been worth the effort.
Alex
... yes, very thoughtful .... it means change in the way of doing and living for all of humanity ... and hopefully for the better ...
.... for instance, the level of air pollution is already lessening as a result! ....
Even in the relative short time this virus has been present, it will have had far reaching implications. Some we not even be aware of yet.
It has indeed, from observation many have been overwhelmed if not by the virus, by circumstances.
A lot of things don't add up with this, as marketers we need to develop an eye for detail.
That would be a highly valuable sentiment, however only a glitch, production will ramp up and there will be a tidal wave of products coming to markets that are in disarray.
The influencers of climate change will be back to full noise before we know it.
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Hi Alex. Great post. Thanks for sharing your ideas about the situation.
Being in the "over 70, highest risk" category, we are hunkered down, avoiding people as much as possible, and more or less self quarantining ourselves in an attempt to avoid exposure. We wear gloves and masks and avoid being in close proximity to other people when we have to get groceries or run essential errands, but, as you mentioned, our spending is more conservative than previously.
The reality is that it is impossible for most of us to know if we've encountered someone who is infected as we went about our daily lives prior to the pandemic. In truth, no one really knows when or where the virus arrived in our vicinity, with the exception of WuHan, of course.
Since I have not really done much with my business yet due to a multitude of life's issues intervening, I do not have or need a contingency plan, with the exception of informing my son about WA and offering my remaining membership to him in case something happens to me.
Last week when I talked to him, he asked me if I was buying in to "all that craziness about the virus". I set him straight that this is a REAL serious situation, and that he had better start taking it seriously. At that time, the TP crisis was occurring, but a lot of the young people were still not taking things seriously. But it's a whole different landscape this week than it was last week. I think a lot more people who were blowing it off then are starting to wake up and smell the coffee. At least I hope so.
Hi Carol, thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
You may be in that in between phase, but have set a contingency plan in place, having started that conversation with your son.
Good move.
Because it is early days, most have been taken by surprise, we live in a 24 hour world where things come into view on a time line only to be replaced with a new view in the next 24 hours.
We are not used to dealing with a long haul issue.
It is good that you have a plan on place, take care and best wishes.
Alex
Thanks, Alex. Have a great weekend, and stay safe, my friend.