17March 2020
T
hings have gotten kind of coo-coo crazy lately, haven’t they?
And I’m going to be totally 100% honest with you about a few (4) things in this message…
First: Personally, I am NOT consumed with worry and dread over coronavirus.
The virus itself honestly does not scare me.
Granted, the media coverage scares me a bit. But I understand that the media’s business model depends on and profits off of getting people to tune in and/or log on and share their news stories—I like to refer to them as “merchants of chaos”.
And I DO think it’s better to be safe than sorry—that’s one thing that the 24/7 coronavirus coverage has accomplished. It’s made people aware of how to protect themselves.
Washing hands, social distancing, self-quarantining when ill. These are all great practices in times of pandemic, and I FULLY support that. We should all do what we can to ensure that our healthcare system is not overwhelmed by our more susceptible populations, should they contract COVID-19 and become sick.
The potential effects to our healthcare system are the most troubling parts of the virus itself. I think it’s still too early to throw out numbers regarding mortality rate because testing and reporting is all over the place from city to city, state to state and country to country. And remember, by and far, most COVID-19 cases are going to be mild and most people will recover without needing medical intervention — and they won’t even ever be tested or counted… so those mortality rates cannot possibly be true.
If we all do our part, we can reduce the strain on our healthcare system and, as they say, these days, “flatten the curve.” Then, the virus will be handled, it will pass with little ado.
2. What most scares me is this: the effect this is going to have on our shared economy and our businesses.
Now, this is something that keeps me up at night.
People are scared, so they’re staying in and not spending money, which hurts us all.
Yolanda and I are feeling it in our business, and since we directly service small businesses like yours, we KNOW you’re feeling it.
BUT…
3. This WILL pass, and we will look back on it and ask, “Remember that time for a month when the whole world went insane?”
Aside from economic impacts, the biggest threat posed by coronavirus is to our hospitals and care facilities, and manufacturers have already made commitments to produce ventilators so that these facilities will be able to cope accordingly. And our healthcare workers are arguably the best in the world—they have my utmost confidence.
So, as our healthcare system prepares for, adapts to and essentially begins to totally handle the influx of COVID-19 cases, I believe the hysteria will calm down.
Once people feel more assured and confident, they’ll get back to life as we know it. I’m predicting a few more weeks.
And here’s the thing—I think people will be SO relieved and excited to get back to normal that they will do it exponentially. Your business may be flooded not only with community goodwill, but consumer excitement to live life fully again.
Translation: as soon as this is over, business is going to be booming.
4. I fully, 1000%, emphatically believe in every one of us as business owners and entrepreneurs and I KNOW that not only will we pull through this, we will be stronger and smarter for it on the other side.
Long, long before this pandemic—even long before Maximize Printing was established in the 1990s as a Marketing Agency that just happened to use physical postcards and printing collateral—Yolanda and I have been an advocate for small businesses and entrepreneurs like you.
Why?
You’re cut from a different cloth. You’re accustomed to putting things on the line for a better future for yourself and your family. You’re essential not only to your families, your staff and your communities—you’re essential to the economy, to America, to the fiber that makes this nation so special and so amazing.
And as a business owner and entrepreneur, you need to keep your head up and keep looking ahead.
I know it can be tough when everyone else is worried, scared and preoccupied. It can be a struggle. People might look at you and be like, “Really?? Why aren’t you freaking out too?”
And I’m right there with you when I say:
As business owners and entrepreneurs, for the sake of our businesses and our futures, we need to be looking ahead. We can’t get bogged down in the 24/7 media coverage, the social media hysteria or the hour-by-hour updates.
I encourage you to stay the course as long as you can. Keep your staff sane and safe. Plan your marketing now and get it all in place so you can drop it the minute you see the shift. Get it in place now, don’t wait. We personally are not cutting our marketing one bit. We are still mailing 100,000 pieces every week.
I know our message will be seen eventually. We know that outflow is incredibly important regardless of what’s happening. We also know that any other time we have ever cut Maximize Printing’s marketing, we have suffered the consequences. You do what is best for you, of course. But my thought is — people are going to see our mail. And since they are not as busy as they usually are, more of them will actually read it.
Now is the time to support each other and remember that we’re all in this together—and we’ll get through it together.
Tony & Yolanda
Here at Maximize Printing, we are committed to staying open, serving small businesses and delivering all current, future and in-process orders and direct mail campaigns without halt despite COVID-19.