On Monday, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce held a meeting via video and audio where Amanda Brinkman joined in and gave some tips to small businesses weathering through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Split up into five different sections, Brinkman’s advice topics were website updates, social media updates, checking directory listings, email marketing, and offline activity.

Brinkman advises small businesses to update their websites and social media with appropriate changes due to the pandemic, such as business hours, information on whether they’re closed or not, and changes in methods, such as delivery or take-out for food destinations.

“It’s really about communication,” said Brinkman. “Trying to leverage the fact that people really want to support small businesses right now. People really understand how serious this is hitting small businesses and entrepreneurs and people want to do their part to help. So we as small businesses and entrepreneurs need to make that as easy as possible to do. The best way to do that is to communicate clearly with our customers.”

Next, Brinkman advises small businesses to look through search engines and claim their businesses on them. For example, she explains, Google tries to put as much information together as they can for businesses in the area and they just assume what is going on. Business owners can go onto the listing to claim the business and change the information as appropriate.

“Especially now, we can’t afford for search engines to be making guesses,” said Brinkman. “You need to control that information that is online about your business.”

Email marketing is another important thing to keep up on now, according to Brinkman. She explained that it’s a good way to keep in touch with customers during this time.

“This is a great chance for you to talk to them about what you’re doing right now in this current crisis, how you’ve modified your business, what services you’re continuing to offer, how they can support you or how they can buy from you during this time,” said Brinkman.

Lastly, Brinkman offered advice on offline activity. She advises to have a sign in the window, a banner, or poster outside that explains what the business is doing during the pandemic and what services are offered during this time. Voicemails should also be updated and checked, so that customers are able to leave messages and contact the business.

“This is a really really tough time but you will get through this,” said Brinkman. “Remind yourself that you are a strong person and you can find your way through it.”