We’re living through extraordinary, or as the media calls it, “unprecedented times,” but you can use that extra time at home to improve your business website.
For a Northern Ireland business, Coronavirus has destroyed plans and forecasts.
From mid-March 2020, we’ve been working from home.
We’ve watched on as the pandemic dismantles the global economy.
We listen to news reports about a virus that takes lives and leaves many people jobless.
I remember the last big shock to the global economy.
I was finishing the final months of my Politics and Criminology degree.
My hopes of securing a job suffered a fatal blow as I read about Black Monday on 8 August 2011.
For those who don’t remember, Black Monday was the day when the US and global markets crashed.
Overnight, all my future career plans evaporated.
I decided I wouldn’t accept the current situation (living on Job Seekers Allowance with no career prospects).
I decided that if, as a new graduate with no experience, I couldn’t secure a job, then I would start my own business and create a career for myself.
Newry Times was subsequently founded in November 2011.
I used £20 from my Job Seekers Allowance to purchase the www.newrytimes.com domain.
I then set about building a new breaking news website in Newry and Mourne using emerging technologies.
That was four years before Belfast Live launched.
Today, Newry Times is read weekly by over half the population of Newry (14,000+ website readers each week).
It has tens of thousands of followers across our popular social media channels.
It also has a lot of fantastic advertising customers.
Of course though, since March 2020, all advertising has ceased as businesses tighten their purse strings.
The current crisis has given us all breathing space from our hectic professional lives.
As a Northern Ireland business, you now have time to sit back, reassess, re-evaluate and critique your company.
Ask yourself:
I have spent my evenings and weekends over the last three months critiquing Newry Times and Tall Paul Marketing and found that:
The Newry Times website needs a complete revamp to make it slicker, more engaging, faster to load, and a better layout.
I can’t wait to see the back of this very dated website and see the brand new one that takes its place.
Initially, in 2017 when I launched Tall Paul Marketing, I offered Social Media Management, PR and Content Marketing.
Although I do enjoy these, my main passion is writing great content, and as a Northern Ireland Copywriter, it’s what I am most well-known for.
I love writing more than anything else in the world.
As a result, the decision to focus on Copywriting, Content Marketing and Blog Writing for businesses around the UK and Ireland was pretty easy.
Now, I’m an NI Copywriter focussing solely on writing engaging content.
Thankfully, I have the very talented Martin McCabe of McCabe Graphics working hard behind the scenes with a complete revamp of both websites.
The new Newry Times website will be ready very soon.
The new Tall Paul Marketing website went live last month, and I am delighted at how great it looks.
Please have a look for yourself below or check it out here: Tall Paul Marketing.
Use all of this extra time at home (no traffic jams, no long commutes!) to think about where your business is now.
Think also about where it will be if restrictions continue for the next 12 months.
As a Northern Ireland business, where do you want your business to be in 2022?
PS: If you like my content and find it useful, you’ll LOVE my new weekly newsletter, Paul of Duty: Modern Marketing. It’ll be delivered right to your inbox every Friday afternoon.
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