AD – This post contains gifted items but all thoughts are my own
The pandemic has seriously shafted a lot of businesses. If big and powerful businesses have found themselves struggling, then it’s hard to think about the impact the pandemic has had on smaller businesses too. Since blogging, I’ve come to know and love so many small businesses who put so much work and effort into their products. It was really hard to see some of them struggle.
Although not entirely the same, as a blogger, I’ve known the struggle of a slow work week or month. When the money, clients or sales just aren’t coming in and the income just isn’t there. It can be a worry, for sure. But it’s a risk a lot of us have been willing to take with starting our own businesses online, either before or during the pandemic.
All our circumstances are vastly different and some of us just might not be able to afford to shop from small businesses all the time and that’s okay. There’s definitely no shaming going on here. But supporting small businesses is SO important. And there are small things that we can ALL do to help support them and just support each other in what’s a crazy time in the world.
Before we get into how to support small businesses, I have a small business I want to share with you today which I’m just blown away by. Created by Magic sell personalised prints, portraits and illustrations of anything from wedding photos, pets, special venues and more. Their team use their expert art skills to create dog portraits from photos, which are designed to enhance the details of your images to create a unique piece of art.
I was kindly sent a piece from Created by Magic of my dog – obviously. I don’t think you can ever have enough photos of your dog. I chose the Custom Dog Portrait Print and selected my personalized preferences and sent all the details to Laura, who got back to me within days with a mock-up of my print, before it was posted out.
I’m just stunned at how beautiful the print turned out. It’s such a beautiful photo of my dog (even though he had just woken up and looks a bit messy!) and the added artistic flair makes it a gorgeous piece for any room. The paper is super high quality too and I just love everything about this piece.
These pieces would make beautiful gifts. Whether it’s a wedding gift for a best friend of her wedding venue, a gift for the pet lover in your life of their precious four-legged friend or a touching memorial piece of a lost loved one. With the excellent service, super high quality print and stunning final pieces of art, you really couldn’t go wrong with Created by Magic!
USE CODE JM20 FOR A DISCOUNT ON YOUR CREATED BY MAGIC ORDER!
So now I’m finished raving about Created by Magic, either pause this post here and check out their website or continue on for some super small ways we can support small businesses in this important time of a pandemic.
Work with them (if you’re a blogger)
If small businesses are looking for bloggers to work with to help promote their product and you feel like you could be a good fit for them, then working with them is a great way to help support both of you!
Buy from them (if you have the means to do so)
Of course the most obvious thing you can do is buy from small businesses but only if you have the means to do so. Perhaps next time to need sometime which you’re going to buy anyway, opt for a small business instead of a high-street store.
Recommend them to a friend / family member
If you can’t purchase from them yourself, then maybe a friend or a family can! I’ll definitely be recommending Created by Magic to my friend, who’s picking up a kitten in a few weeks. I know she’d love one of these portraits of them!
RT their promotional content on Twitter
Twitter is an amazing platform for small businesses and I’ve seen some businesses seriously thrive on there. A simple RT takes you 4 seconds. But it could put that business in front of members of your audience who’ll buy from them.
Share their images on your Instagram stories
I love using Instagram stories to share posts from small businesses that I love. Because they usually create some seriously pretty content on Instagram too! Similarly to above, by sharing a post, it might put that business in front of a soulmate client.
Leave a review on Etsy or Google
A review on Etsy, Google or whatever platform they use can be SO useful for small business owners. We’re not talking about extensive 4 page reviews but just a few lines is better than nothing!
Write about them on your blog
I’m not talking about in exchange for anything but just because you love the brand. I’d done this plenty throughout my blogging career – as I’m sure a lot of you have. Perhaps feature them in some relevant upcoming content or a round up post.