The situation that we’re dealing with globally at the moment is probably one of, if not the worst, some of us have experienced in our lifetime.
If there’s one thing that we want to emphasize in this post it’s that it’s ok to admit that this is a difficult time knowing that we will also get through it.
We will survive and, if we take the right steps, can come out stronger on the other side.
Before we get into this post, I want to acknowledge that we’re all being affected by COVID-19 in different ways, the last thing we want is for this post to be taken out of context. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected, especially those who are in quarantine and have lost loved ones. Needless to say, stay safe & healthy everyone – wash your hands and self-isolate at home, don’t leave unless you really need to, and above all, be smart and don’t lose hope.
1. Remote-Only Work
Everyone at Atarim is working from home.
This is part of the recommend social distancing that should be taking place across the world right now. It’s a shame to see that people still needlessly leave the house and a number of companies still require their employees to come into their offices even when not necessary.
Try to encourage the same remote-only work policy in your companies and trust your employees to carry on doing great work from home.
It is still more than possible to do great work as long as you properly communicate with your clients…
2. Communicate More & Better Than Ever
Social distancing is difficult. A lot of us who already work remotely had little to no contact with the outside world on most days, which is why we encourage you to connect with your team even more during this difficult time.
Make sure you’re sharing everything that’s going on so that your employer or employees can understand the situation you’re in. Don’t be hard on them if they are slightly slower to complete tasks and deliver work on time, but – if you run a WordPress design or development agency now is the time to work on your communication. Now, more than ever is the time to improve your communication workflow and fix your client communication problem.
3. Support Your Customers
During this time, it’s also important that you understand your customers’ situation. COVID-19 was not only officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization but it is also understandably having a huge impact on the global economy.
The hospitality industry had its worst year yet and in some places is completely falling apart with businesses on the verge of shutting down as a result of it. Even as digital agencies, we need to acknowledge that this is the case for our customers and try to do our best to help them come out on the other side.
Whether that’s updating their website with information frequently regarding opening times, modified services – now is not the time to leave them on their own. So now that you have some more time on your hands while you’re at home, consider upgrading to Atarim and implement a proper client communication system that scales.
We’re here to help everyone during this time as well and want to help people use our software to continue to do great work even during times exactly like these when it feels like everything is falling apart, your communication & workflow really shouldn’t.
To do so, we’ll be increasing the number of sites you can use Atarim on, to anyone who wants and/or needs it – in addition to extending free trials to an entire month rather than a week.
That being said, we can only do so much and if your business is suffering and mental health has been affected as a result we highly recommend turning to WP&UP which will be happy to help you as well…
4. Communicate With Your Agency’s Clients During This Time (Template)
A lot of your clients will have nobody to turn to, so supporting them properly during this time is something that is not going to be easily forgotten or overlooked.
Here’s a template you can use as inspiration to re-connect with clients during this time:
Hi NAME,
First and foremost, we hope that you and your family are staying safe and healthy during this troubling time.
The Coronavirus pandemic has obviously caused a lot of disruption to our everyday lives, which will start to spill over into our businesses as well.
That said, I’m reaching out to let you know that there has not been, nor do we anticipate there being, any disruption to our service.
Fortunately, all of our employees have the ability to work remotely and we will continue to operate business as usual, barring unforeseen change to circumstances.
We know that taking the right precautionary measures to stay safe is the best thing we can do right now and we’re also cognizant of how crucial it is in a time like this to mitigate as much negative impact on business as possible within our control.
We’re committed to making sure that our clients are in the best possible position, from a marketing perspective, on the other side of this and see exponential growth when life inevitably returns to normal.
We’re closing watching the market and monitoring any potential roadblocks. If anything comes up, we will be in communication immediately. It sounds cliche, but we’re all in this situation together – you can lean on us during these troubling times if needed.
Our door is open and we welcome any discussion regarding what’s going on, how it’s affecting your business (it’s affecting all of us in some fashion), and more importantly how we can respond with solutions.
Obviously, please don’t just copy & paste the template, we recommend modifying it to suit the services that you provide as well as how you typically tend to communicate with your clients…
Wrapping Up – We All Need Community
Last but not least, now more than ever we need community. Many of us are in self-isolation and effectively practicing social distancing – as we should – but for those of you that have never worked remotely, this can be difficult.
Coronavirus Discounts, Deals, and Offers
Struggling to stay indoors? No problem.
Here are some time-sensitive offers, discounts, and deals that companies have put in place in light of the global pandemic. We’ve personally been finding it very easy to stay indoors as a result and hope that it will encourage you to do the same…
1. Ahrefs Blogging for Business (Free, Instead of $799)
Ahrefs which is one of the SEO tools that I avidly use personally have not only discounted their “Blogging for Business” course from the original price of $799, they have temporarily made it completely free.
Learn more about the Ahrefs Blogging for Business Course…
2. Adobe Creative Cloud (2 Months Free)
Adobe has extended their trial to a two month period to help creative professionals use this time wisely to learn, and potentially master their software so that they can continue to thrive during the difficult economic period that we are facing.
Sign Up for Adobe Creative Cloud (2 Months Free)…
3. Affinity – Professional Creative Software
Affinity is also stepping in to support the creative community during COVID-19, with:
- A new 90-day free trial of the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite
- A 50% discount for those who would rather buy and keep the apps on Mac, Windows PC, and iPad
- A pledge to engage more than 100 freelance creatives for work, spending the equivalent of our annual commissioning budget in the next three months (more details of this will be announced soon).
Learn more about how Affinity is supporting the creative community…
4. Loom
Loom is another piece of software that I use avidly when explaining concepts to both clients as well as people that I work with. It makes it extremely easy to record and share quick, impromptu screen recordings to walk people through something on your computer.
Due to the surge in people that are now somewhat involuntarily having to join the working from home/remote work movement, Loom has responded to the global crisis since their software is something that makes remote work a lot easier:
- They have removed the recording limit on their free plan entirely.
- They have cut the price of the Pro plan in half (now only $5/month).
- They have extended all trials from 14 to 30 days.
5. Microsoft Teams
Similar to Loom, Microsoft has decided to help support companies given the surge in the number of people working from home. Microsoft Teams, similar to Slack and TeamWork Chat is stepping in to offer 6 months free.
They are also offering their service to NHS and first-responders at no cost at all.
Sign Up For Microsoft Teams With 6-Months Free…
6. SiteGround Hosting
SiteGround, an extremely well-respected hosting company in the industry is helping out website owners all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering 12 months of free shared hosting to those who need it. This offer is only available until the 31st of March…
Next up, for those of you who want to use this time to learn and acquire new skills – here are some courses that typically cost money but are now completely free:
7. WP Elevation Digital Agency Blueprint (50% off)
There has never been a better time to double-down on growing your digital agency than now, especially with 50% off of WP Elevation’s Digital Agency Blueprint which ends on March 30th.
8. Zapier Mastery by James Rose (50% off)
Who doesn’t want more time? With Jimmy Rose’s Zapier Mastery course, you’ll learn exactly how you can automate time-consuming, tedious parts of running your business so you can spend time on things that really matter.
Deal: 50% off with code SCREWCOVID
Grab the Zapier Mastery course today while it’s 50% off…
9. Mor Cohen’s DesignClass Course (30% off)
DesignClass course is a design-focused course specifically made for digital marketers, web developers and business owners to mater design and charge more for your products or services.
Deal: 30% off with code skills30 at checkout.
Grab the DesignClass course today…
10. Craig Campbell’s Advanced SEO Course Free)
Craig Campbell is a well-respected SEO in the community and the host of his very own SEO podcast which I personally recommend listening into. While I haven’t personally taken his course, it’s not just on sale right now, it’s completely free so you literally have nothing to lose and if it’s anything like the rest of his work, I’m sure you’ll love it…
11. Digital Marketer Lab Access (Free)
Prior to them offering all of their courses, I had not personally heard of Digital Marketer nor have I taken any of their courses, but I did sign up and take a look around. Since access to what they call the “lab” is now free, you’ll see a number of courses available inside that are free to take.
Learn more about Digital Marketer’s Lab…
12. My Traffic Research (Free)
My Traffic Research is also offering their course for free. Full disclosure, I also have not taken this course and hadn’t heard of it prior to their 100% discount, but I did take a brief look on the inside and there are a number of videos about avoiding and dealing with Google penalties and ranking your sites safely. As with the others, it’s free so there’s really nothing to lose – be sure to let us know what you think!
