Eight Easy and Free Ways to Support Local Businesses During the Pandemic (and Afterwards)

Here are eight easy and free ways to support local businesses in your area during, and after, this pandemic.

1) Like, share and comment on their Facebook pages and posts.

2) Write and post positive reviews for them on sites such as Facebook, Google Maps / Google My Business, TripAdvisor, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, Alignable, LinkedIn and more.

3) Subscribe to their email lists. Many businesses offer discounts and other special offers specifically for their subscribers.

4) Subscribe to their YouTube channels, watch, like and share their videos.

5) Mention and tag them in your posts, tweets, and relevant comments.

6) Link to their website pages on social media.

7) Tag them or share their pages in relevant groups and social media.

8) Record and post video testimonials and reviews for them. A simple video from your phone is fine, and actually comes across as more authentic than a slickly-produced corporate-style testimonial video.

A good basic format for either a written or video review is something like this:

“Hi, my name is (your name, maybe your location if you want to share that, too, and maybe when you visited) and I wanted to share how happy I am with my experience at (business name). I bought (product or service) from them and (how it made you happy, solved a problem, how friendly or courteous they were, etc. Thank you, (business name)!

*It can also be great to name specific employees who did a great job. Many businesses reward their employees who are mentioned in reviews.

Photos are great, too! If you have photos of yourself, friends and family at the business, photos of what you bought, etc., post those too. Remember the expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”