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When life throws you lemons

.....make lemonade

I have been thinking about this lately, about all the changes that have come about due to Covid but also how this pandemic has presented many opportunities – albeit you may have to look a little harder to find them but the opportunities are out there. Heading into this new normal, for me and for my business, Maybury Marketing it has been a positive experience. Its not been without its challenges but the end result is good. Covid has changed my mindset in many ways and it has changed how I look at finding and working with new clients.

Prior to March 2020, my work was mainly with either hotel clients or events. When covid-19 hit, I knew the hotel closures would be temporary but I also knew it would be some time before hotels were in a strong position to invest in marketing. As for events, I soon realised it will be a very long time before the large events that I was involved in would resume. On March 12th, when An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar announced the start of lockdown, I was 2 days away from the Strictly Bantry final, one of the biggest events in my calendar year and that was called off. All my hotel clients were closing their doors and every event in my diary was cancelled – my business that had taken me years to build, literally fell apart before my eyes.

Typically I’m a glass ½ full type person, so I started to look for the opportunities, almost like looking for the crock of gold at the end of a rainbow. I changed my focus, I looked at the businesses that were still trading and also those who would need the most help to restart their businesses post covid. . I realised I could use my experience in any sector and I turned my focus to retail and local SMEs. Offering packages to help them with their general marketing to include digital and print media campaigns and thankfully it didn’t take long to find new clients and reconnect with previous clients.

What is the message here ? What am I getting at ? To succeed in business, you must be able to adapt ! Trends change and customers change and oh maybe a world pandemic might hit !! A key element of running any business is the ability to adapt quickly to the current situation and businesses who have done just that, are now thriving not just surviving.

As a business owner, your time and resources are in short supply and high demand. To ensure you are not wasting your time or money, a marketing plan is a must. Being proactive not reactive and using clever marketing and advertising will result in sales growth. Understanding who your customers are, their needs, their wants, their expectations and knowing where to find them is key. Don’t assume all customers are the same and don’t target them all the same, as that simply won’t work.

Introducing a marketing plan is an essential part of businesses growth. In order to attract more customers, there is no better time than now to be seen and be heard by the right people, at the right time, in the right places and Maybury Marketing can make that happen.

Why not sign up to my newsletter on www.mayburymarketing.ie and allow me to share my top tips on how you can grow your sales in this new normal way of doing business.

PS : here is nice lemonade recipe !!