Times are changing and with that, you’ll want to pivot to make your business more virtual as brands are making themselves more present on the interwebs. It’s important that as times are changing, we are able to adjust our businesses as well. The same system that worked previously will not continue to work in the future. Whether you have both brick and mortar or you’re fully remote, these are some ideas for how you can become more virtual as a business.

1. Create Online Tutorials

Online courses are very popular these days because users have the ability to educate within a specific niche they’re interested in and on their own time. From cooking, to acro yoga, to digital marketing classes, you can create a course for anything that you’re an expert in. This is a great way to establish credibility within your field and become more connected to a community within your niche. Teachable is a great resource for creating a course.

2. Take Your Sales Online

Many people think you have to have a physical product in order to have an online shop- this isn’t the case. If you’re a lawyer, consultant, tax preparer, fitness coach, or just about any other service provider, you can create an online shop with a checkout system for your services. There’s no need to have a physical product- however, if you have a brick and mortar but no online store, this is a major opportunity for your business to be more virtual as well!

3. Create an Online Booking or Ordering System

If you’re a service provider who is constantly being booked for consultations or paid meetings, you should have a booking system in place. This is another way to make your business more virtual and automated. You can even connect this to a checkout system.

If you have a location that offers food and beverage, you can make your business more virtual but connecting it to takeout systems like ChowNow or partnering with delivery services like DoorDash.

4. Use Video to Connect with Your Team

If you are making the transition to a fully remote team, programs like Zoom and Skype are the best solutions to keep everyone connected. Although having a chat platform open for your team is helpful, face-to-face contact creates a closer team culture. Providing access to a video conferencing program is also necessary when you need to provide training on new tools in the business. You can either screen share during a conference call or use an excellent tool like Loom to record a video and send it out.

5. Link a Chat Box That You Can Easily Respond To

There should always be an email and contact number available on your site, but a chatbox provides an extra layer of availability. More users are starting to use live chat as opposed to phone lines to connect with companies, so it’s best to be prepared for this. Take this a step further and make sure you or someone on your team can respond right away. There are ways to connect chats to your email so that you’re notified right away.

6. Start a Podcast or Video Channel

Although this isn’t directly correlated to bringing in more sales, it’s a way to create a more virtual presence for your brand and therefore your company. Start a podcast or video channel that would appeal best to the audience in your niche. This is a promising way to spread brand awareness, peak interest, and even increase customer loyalty. As long as it’s entertaining, educational, or inspiring, you can get a real audience to follow your brand.

7. Create a Subscription Model

You’ll have to get creative with this one, but it’s possible. If you have services or products to offer, think about how this can be bundled together into a monthly or quarterly package. Most likely you are part of some specific niche, so think about how you can curate content, provide resources, and combine that with service/product offerings that your user can subscribe to on a regular basis.

These are just a few ideas to make your business more virtual. Having your customers or clients meet in a physical setting is still desired, but most people also see the convenience in being able to shop online or complete the services they need virtually. There’s no better time than now to make your business more virtual-friendly within your team and for the audience you serve.

Want to know more? Please reach out and we can discuss further details about any of the options above or see what other ideas we can come up with. During this time of uncertainty I want nothing more than to use my resources to help businesses be able to pivot and become more virtual. Email me here: ari@digitalnomaddesigns.com