Protecting your business and your health as well as the health of your workforce can seem nearly impossible. Leaving many people worried about what the future of their business will look like, especially if a temporary closure is necessary. There are 4 steps you can take to help protect your small business during the pandemic.

4 Ways to Protect Your Small Business

1. Be Upfront With Your Customers

Being open and honest is the best way to approach communication with your customers during these times. Everyone is facing uncertainty regardless of whether they are business owners, self-employed, or full-time workers. Eliminate some of that uncertainty by being proactive and letting your customers and your community know about the steps your business is taking and the changes you’re making.

If you’re limiting your open hours, closing temporarily, or switching your in-store options for online and delivery, let your customers know. The easiest way to do this is to add a section to your website outlining all changes and use social media to let your followers know where they can find all relevant information.

2. Protect Your Employees

If it’s possible, working from home is the best way to protect your employees while still keeping your business operational. For those who have never worked from home before it may feel strange at first but you will quickly adjust.

If it’s not possible to make a full switch to WFH, look into different ways you can limit social contact. Switching to online platforms and offering delivery services is the best way to keep person-to-person contact to a minimum. While at the same time still providing your customers with service and products. If you’re not sure which changes are the right ones for your business use social media to ask your customers for their input. This is a quick way to find out what they want.

3. Start an Online Shop for your Small Business

Move your sales online. This is one of the best steps you can take to protect and keep your small business operational during these times. It is now easier than ever to sell online if you haven’t already set up an online shop. It creates a means of generating an extra stream of revenue to keep your business afloat.

In many countries, postal services are still running. However, many companies are also offering the option of doorstep deliveries that involve no contact.

You can also offer an alternative to your refund policy. Where customers have the option to choose a voucher or gift card instead of a cash return. Thus, offering even the smallest of support to your business. This should not replace your standard refund policy. Instead, it should be available as an option for the customers who want to support you.

4. Protect your Small Business by Staying Active on Social Media

Even if you have to shut down your business for a time, don’t stop posting on social media. Social media platforms are a great way to keep interacting with your customers. Safeguard the future of your small business by keeping them updated on what is happening and staying engaged with your community.

Staying in touch and showing solidarity with your audience is a great way to strengthen your relationship and get your business bouncing back when things return to normal.

The post 4 Steps You Can Take To Help Protect Your Small Business appeared first on AFLUENCER.

Amazon influencer program – let’s review the details.

Amazon, of course, is the biggest thing to ever happen to e-commerce in our generation. There’s a lot of buzz about the Amazon Influencer Program on the streets, so we just had to uncover a full review for you.

About The Amazon Influencer Program

With the Amazon Influencer Program, anything you can dream of is possible.

That’s right.

This has got to be the influencer gig that offers the most flexibility.

Consider yourself as happy as a child in a toy store that has been told to choose anything they want.

With a store as diverse as Amazon, influencers can pick any products to promote and build their very own storefront. Then marketing their store on their social profiles.

Influencer Responsibilities

As an influencer, you’re pretty much free to indulge in your creativity to promote products as you desire.

There aren’t any rules as far as what you should post and how often. So your posting plans are all up to you.

Creating Your Custom Storefront

Your main duty as an Amazon Influencer is to promote your custom storefront to drive sales.

As an associate of the Amazon influencer program, you’ll get your own vanity URL for your storefront.

So, above your social media marketing activities, setting up and managing your storefront will be on your to-do list.  You’ll be creating list ideas with products of your choice, then converting them to categories on your storefront.

Be as free as a bird to indulge in any category that interests you.

You can expect to put in the hours getting this together. Especially if you want to build a product list that your followers will find of interest.

I think it will be a pretty fun exercise.

Giving Amazon Access to Your Account

Here’s where things get quite interesting with the Amazon Influencer Program…

Your application process requires that you allow Amazon to connect to your social media profiles.  At first, this is just to verify if you qualify for the program. However, after giving it a shot ourselves, we learned that there’s strikingly more to this access.

You are in fact giving Amazon the right to take over your account.

No, you are not taking over their account – as opposed to the popular influencer collab trend.

They are taking over your account.

This is notably the case with your Twitter account.  However, it’s unclear to what extent Amazon will take over your Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts.

Once you allow access, they can follow and unfollow accounts on your behalf, as they please.  They can even post content on your profile. Mute, block, and report accounts.

You’re pretty much giving them the keys to your treasured ride.  To use as and when they please.

It’s hard to imagine any obvious trust issues with a reputable brand like Amazon. However, this kind of access certainly surfaces many questions and concerns.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Apply with your social media account that has the most followers.
2. Accepted social media accounts:  YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
3. Currently, the Amazon Influencer Program is only available in the U.S.A., the UK, Canada, and India.
4. Part of the process requires you to allow Amazon to connect to your account. So they can view your data in order to decide if you are eligible for the program.  They will analyze the number of followers you have as well as the type of content you post.
5. They don’t officially disclose a minimum following requirement. But judging by existing Amazon Influencers, it seems that accounts with a large following are more likely to get approved.
6. Should you be approved, you need to give permission to Amazon to access your social media account. To publish on your behalf as well as follow and unfollow accounts as detailed earlier.

Influencer Benefits

Influencers earn commissions of up to 10% on qualifying purchases made through their storefront.  However, the range of commission is based on the product type.

See their commission schedule for more details.

Pros of the Amazon Influencer Program

1. Flexibility.  Promote any product you wish or can find in the big world of Amazon.  What more could an influencer need, right?
2. Personal Storefront.  You get your own store with your name on it – right on Amazon’s own site.  Extra points for expanding your own brand into the presence of Amazon.
3. Trusted E-Commerce Brand.  Driving sales is a pleasure when you’re sending traffic to the most famous online store in the world.

Cons of the Amazon Influencer Program

1. Product Research Skills.  If you’re going to make decent sales, then it helps to sell stuff that people actually love.  So you’ll need to do plenty of research and testing to discover winning products. If you don’t like the sound of that, then this gig may not be for you.
2. Storefront Management.  Influencers are required to manage their Amazon storefront.  Making it look pretty and regularly stocking it up with new products.  This will require extra admin and TLC – something not all influencers may be willing to invest in.
3. Amazon Account Access.  As highlighted earlier, giving Amazon permission to perform certain account activities might make some influencers uncomfortable.

Influencer Showcase

After going on a hunt for Amazon influencers, I found a couple of influencer storefronts. And so here’s a glimpse.

Here, you really get a feel of what it’ll be like to have your very own Amazon store. To promote on your social media accounts. As well as all those product marketing possibilities.

Apply for the Amazon Influencer Program

For influencers craving the freedom to promote pretty much anything, then the Amazon Influencer Program is the perfect collab opportunity.

Your very own Amazon influencer storefront awaits.  With such a trusted global brand, sales couldn’t get any easier.