California Governor, Gavin Newsom shared some of his plans to open California back up after the COVID-19 pandemic slows (still no official date until we see trends in hospitalization numbers flattening). The plan will be lifting SIP in stages. California Small businesses that rely on customers may need to rethink this business plan for life after the SIP orders are lifted - and get creative.

For some, when we are put in situations where we have to adapt quickly -- we find a way to pivot our small business strategy. For other business owners or marketers, it isn't so easy to change how you do business, but there are things you can do to make small steps to pivot your marketing.

If you feel like you need to social distance yourself from social media, you are not alone. I am trying not to check the news as much, or mindlessly scroll through Facebook or Instagram stories. Here are my top 4 tips for spring cleaning your social media during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Connecting with family while being sheltered at home is semi-easy to do with video chat! Here are some ideas on how to create a Virtual Easter Egg Hunt with family or friends in their own homes!

With the shelter-in-place order, wineries and restaurants all over California are having to rethink their traditional model of people coming to them. Creativity tends to flourish during times of crisis, so I wanted to give a few shoutouts to brands that I think are doing a great job of embracing the horrible reality that we're dealing with right now.

For many of us in the hospitality industry, all of our marketing efforts were directed at getting people into the tasting room, restaurant or hotel, and letting our tasting room staff sell wine club memberships/wine/food, etc. And even though this crisis is temporary, the brands that adapt will be able to move forward stronger, and the brands that simply want to revert to the status quo will be left behind.

Having a landing page on your own website helps with digital retargeting ads, SEO, and general branding (since the free version of Linktree doesn’t have many choices for changing up the style, fonts, or layout).  But what happens when marketers don’t have easy access to create new landing pages on your website? 

I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur—maybe because I never had employees under me. I guess when I think of entrepreneurs, I think of traditional “small business owners” like my dad, who has employees. I realized that my mindset—thinking of my work in such a small way—was holding me back from spending money on myself and on my social media marketing business.

Wine Country Mom Interview: Entrepreneur and Mom of 3, Alisse Cottle co-owns Brew Coffee and Beer House and raises her kids in Sonoma County.