Although each of us at Lionsorbet is remote from our colleagues while working at home, it is otherwise business as normal for us. That is 'as normal as normal can be' right now. We are fortunate that our workflow is unaffected.

For those of you who have to close your physical shop doors, we hope it will not be for too long and when you reopen you will be supported by clients old and new who feel a renewed value for goods, services and loved ones. Maybe this current situation is a lesson for us all to never take anything for granted and to be better prepared for what the world may challenge us with. It is now very clear that we are still very vulnerable.

If, after dealing with the immediate needs of your business, your team and your family, you find you have some availability, then marketing will be a great investment of your time. A blank page is never an easy starting point so here are a couple of thoughts to help you get started.

“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time”

— Henry Ford

Make your website your new shop window

If traditionally your main business has been generated by shop footfall or other face-to-face sales, it's time to think about website traffic too. Do you have a website and how much business is it attracting? Does it hold the appeal and personality you inject into your physical store? Do you regularly change your virtual window display as often as your physical window display? Do you invite visitors back with news bulletins, blogs and VIP offers?

These are some things which help attract clients and encourage them to return, and they are things which are available for us to deploy in our virtual worlds. If your business is already predominantly on-line they are still good questions. Could you be attracting more business if you were doing more of these things? We recently designed and implemented a new e-commerce website for 50 Henley Street Jewellers in Stratford upon Avon. Steve and his wife run this family business and offer a really personal service. Their expertise is vintage luxury jewellery, unique pieces available only on an individual basis. They boast a wonderful physical presence in the centre of a beautiful historic town usually brimming with tourists. So why do they (or maybe you) need a new website?

Sell your existence.

Reality is that even without today's restrictions shop browsing is not what it used to be. Buyers will often research online before venturing out to make a purchase. And they might not venture out if they find something they like enough to buy from the convenience of their home. A website, with the right Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), will lead visitors to you either way. They will find you, that is the first hurdle. You are essentially opening larger doors and widening your net of potential customers.

Sell yourselves.

The look and feel of your website will help set you apart from others. It is your brand and not just your products that make people choose you above others. Does your website offer that insight into your real-world to make people warm to you and your business? In a face to face environment your voice, your welcome, your setting and your conversation evoke those feelings. With a website, you are much more dependent upon visual impact to make people choose your store over others. For them to make it the first place to visit when they do venture out. Make it different, make it personal and make it stand out from the crowd.

Sell your products.

Do you remember walking past a shop and seeing something in a window? Something which really caught your eye? That sense of 'I want' that something. What creates this emotional influence? That something that makes you return to look again, and again and again. And then you go into the shop. You pick it up and have a good look at it. You still want ‘that’ something. And then you buy that something. Especially with luxury items, our mentality is just the same when we are browsing on-line. Make your product(s) attractive, make them as life-like as possible, make people want them.

Take a look at some of our recent website projects such as 50 Henley Street, Durrants of London and Veritas Diamonds, Bringing your business to life on the world wide web is a passion for us!

Headline your own act

We all know that we need to be marketers and salespeople to be more successful. Just being good at our actual craft or delivering our service is rarely enough. But how comfortable are we at promoting ourselves and our businesses? Human nature makes many of us very modest and so marketing and selling take a back seat. Well just now your business may have changed down a gear and so you really do have to rev up your own promotion. Not doing it is not an option. If modesty stands in your way then let someone or something else do the talking. That something else could be a video, stories and visual media.

Steps you can take now

We have identified a few key areas that we feel are important to approach and consider to keep your business on track. We will be highlighting each one of these in turn over the next few weeks to delve deeper into each subject and offer the best advice possible.

1.Add video to promote your products

Video is animated, it can tell a story, it is engaging. So engaging in fact that people are 4 times more likely to watch a video than read an article or notice and absorb a static feature or advertisement. That's why it is far more likely to attract and hold a buyer's attention. Once they have seen, heard and remembered your business and your products you are more likely to make a sale. According to current research by Zenith, people are consuming video more than ever.

A video can be shared across multiple platforms. Your website, your social media and in-store TV to mention a few. It has massive reach within existing and new customer audiences if used in all these ways. It enables you to promote and sell your business online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and around the globe if you choose to.

With current social distancing in place, 3D animation, for example, is a great way to professionally present your business and/or your products and doesn't need to involve filming or you personally making an appearance. There are so many things you can create in this way. We especially like showroom and shop walkthroughs with life-like product demonstrations. They take you and your products to your clients without waiting for them to come to you. Take a look at some examples we’ve created to see for yourself.............

2. Enhance your photography - coming soon

3. Add Design work and Illustration - coming soon

4. Reconnect with your customers - coming soon

5. Advertise your products online - coming soon

6. Send offers and promotions - coming soon

7. Create useful and relevant content for your customers - coming soon

8. Use technology to communicate - coming soon

Time for a change

“It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. ”

— Isaac Asimov

The very best you can do right now is consider what is changing in the environment. How people are likely to shop, change their spending habits and value particular things. Take some time to really think about this, get ahead, lead the charge and even your whole business. Look to identify and change your products, services, prices, payment terms, delivery and communication across all areas of your business.