Most of these tools and strategies are free. But it's important to note that when it comes to social media or online advertising, you will have to spend some money. In these situations, it's best to create a very targeted audience for the strongest return on investment.

Stop wasting time and start seeing a return on your investment in social media by using these tips.

The first thing you need to do to prepare for recovery is to understand that the way you communicate with your customers must change.

If ever there was a reason to increase and alter your social media and blog posting, it’s COVID.

• How do customers find you?

• What is the next step for them once they know about you?

• How do they buy from you?

With today’s online research and buying, it’s important that you understand the basics of a sales funnel and how you can build one. Without that knowledge, it’s impossible to know what’s working and what’s not.

Good is a starting point. Good is your baseline. If your customer service isn't yet at “good” get it there first. But you can't stop there once you attain it.

The chamber is the voice of business for the community. By making this investment in your business, you are now being seen by a new group of potential customers.

Chamber membership is one of the strongest Investments you can make in your future and it's also one of the least expensive with the best reputation and return on investment.

A UVP flows directly into know, like, and trust that is essential to wooing customers. Master a UVP and you’ll get more sales because the customers you attract will be your ideal kind.

Free is no longer an option. It's a need that your customers have, whether they tell you or not. Even businesses with a very short sales cycle, ones where customers come in, buys, and leaves, they're still using free resources.

As a small business owner, your reputation is everything. It will make or break your business. Warren Buffet understood the value of a good business reputation when he said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.”

Small business owners have lots of stressors as they follow their dreams. It might surprise you just how much the chamber can help with these concerns.

As critical thinkers, we need to find the balance between safety and commerce. The balance between lives and livelihoods. Our community depends on it. Our local economy depends on it.

After all, likes aren't going to pay your rent.

Have you traded your privacy for convenience? It's likely many of your customers have and if that's the case, their consumer expectations are changing rapidly. If you're not keeping up with them in your business, you're going to miss out.

Whether your business is open or you were forced to close, you can use video to continue to interact with your audience and potentially create new revenue streams. Here are a few video ideas to get you started.

Are you still marketing your business in the same way you were prior to the virus? I'm not asking about the content you post or what's in your ads. What marketing channels are you using?

Most people think of FaceTime and other virtual calling activities as casual communication platforms. But if you treat the Chamber’s virtual networking events with the same mentality, you could be doing yourself a disservice