2020 was supposed to be an exciting year. I was 7 weeks into my first international tour of several planned when I lost 93% of my income due to COVID-19. My industry came to a screeching halt and I had to completely change tracks or be unemployed.
I’m a business coach and event coordinator. I have spent the last five years traveling the world on putting on live workshops on four continents in countless cities. While many have struggled to adapt, as we are naturally creatures of habit, I have been training myself to constantly be prepared to create the future necessary to succeed.
Adapt and Analyze
I soon realized as country after country shut down that I would need to adapt. The majority of my previous income was earned through live in-person 1 or more day workshops. Barely anything I offered online was a major contributor.
But with a quick strategic business analysis, and the willingness to completely change tracks, I was able to turn this around in a matter of months. On March 3rd I returned home from Mumbai, India and started taking action. I reviewed all my current offers, and explored new revenue possibilities I could adapt to my business. With each item on this new revenue Stream list, I asked myself questions:
- Does this [offer] apply to today’s world?
- Can this be delivered online?
- What systems could I put in place that would handle this easily?
- What’s in it for my clients?
When asking these questions and going through this exploratory process, I soon realized that almost all of my current offerings could be adjusted to online delivery with minor tweaks.
Recommit
The most important mindset I had developed was not trying to recycle any previous idea or hold onto the schedule I had planned and instead looked at a fresh blank page. I also knew working online meant a fresh introduction to my work and what I have to offer. Coincidentally this was what I wanted to avoid during a stay-at-home order in my home in New Zealand but my commitment to my business meant not giving up, and doing whatever it took.
This commitment to my business no matter what gave me the freedom to make choices quickly and have clarity. I find when I’m not committed to what I’m doing, I will constantly doubt myself. Your best choices can be made when you just go for it, and see what happens. Worst-case scenario, you make another choice and move on. It was inevitable that some of those choices I made would fail, but the success rate was higher because of my tenacity to keep going.
Be Vulnerable
The next priority was my clients. I knew this time period was as tough on them as it was on me. Being a leader in my industry gave me a platform to speak out on what is occurring, and offer a perspective that contributed ways to make it easier. Use this time to give your audience a voice and see beyond where they are currently at to a brighter future. I used my vulnerability and personal experience to show solidarity and how I was handling the strain. This contributes to your “know, like and trust” factor too.
Speaking of Know, Like and Trust you also have to be visible. The last thing you may feel like doing while stuck at home, especially if you’re without a hair salon or your normal wellness routines. I had to adapt to a new lifestyle as most of my previous social media involved travel-based content. This is not the time to bleed on your clients and share TMI (Too Much Information) content, but being real and sharing behind the scenes of your business can be a great invitation for a new following. After all, everyone is online!
Engage Strategically
Once you start gaining traction on your new audience, it’s important to create engagement. Many business owners make the mistake of thinking posting on social media or blasting your audience with more offers is engagement. This is just turning on the fire hose to full power. True engagement is taking the time to be present with your audience, personally interact and create a thoughtful conversation online. Asking for advice is a great way to start off an engaging conversation on social media for example.
Adapting to new mediums has also been a high priority for me. Years of experience delivering mixed medium events has helped me during this time, however I still fell victim to zoom fatigue. Turning off my devices regularly and making sure I spent time enjoying non-digital activities helped me alleviate the strain. You also need to build your energy levels so you’re not using the screen and technology to ‘connect’ to your customers but instead connect directly. It helped me to imagine an energetic connection going directly from my body to theirs no matter where they were in the world. It’s a weird technique, but hey — weird times.
Use Your Strength
I also tapped into my own resilience. We are much stronger than we think. Before COVID-19, I had based a lot of the value on my offers based on others’ validation or feedback. While this is important, we need to tune into our inner awareness more now than ever before. No one else is going to rescue your business or care about your wellbeing as much as you are. It’s also important to realize that no one else knows your business or what will be good for it as much as you do. Now is the time to get quiet, pay attention to your inner world, and follow those instructions accordingly.
On March 3rd my entire year’s tour had been cancelled and I faced losing tens of thousands of dollars. By the end of May I had regained my 5-figure income level and continued growing it and my new business offers. Remember to use the tools you have, it’s much easier than using what you don’t have. Most importantly, don’t be afraid of trying something new. We’re recreating the industry standard and you can be a part of leading the way, or learning the new rules.
