The following was written by Eric Sachs of Sachs Multimedia, with some advice on how to market your business while everyone is home.

We all know what is happening in the world today. There is no need to recap the pandemic state we are currently facing. Now is the time to adapt and make sure your business is prepared for this new normal. Whether you were prepared or not, business owners had to jump full force into this digital. 

As you adjust to your new working situations, it is critical to remember you must also adjust your marketing strategy as well. With social distancing, networking meetings and events and other in- person opportunities have been suspended.  Making sure that your digital presence is accurate, up to date and properly reflecting your business is more important than ever. 

Here are a few things your business should be asking. Does your website properly reflect your business? Are all of your services listed in a way the public can understand? Is my website personable? Remember the first impression someone ever gets of you will most likely be from your website. Is my website easy to find? Try searching for the services you offer in google. Is your website showing up? If not, you may want to consider SEO services to boost your website’s search engine optimization. Are you on social media? Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. These are the platforms that people are using to pass the time during quarantine. Can your business be found? Are you listed on all of the professional directories available to you? Many of these directories can be a cheap and easy way to capitalize on the marketing of others.

Sometimes judging yourself can be tough. Ask a friend to help you evaluate your presence, or partner with a colleague to search each other and provide feedback on where the other person can improve their online visibility. 

If reports from China are true, divorce rates have jumped since the start of the COVID-19 quarantine. Should this trend continue in the United States, it means that your services as a collaborative professional will be needed more than ever. Having someone able to find your business from the comfort of their own home is the new normal. Are you ready for it?

For more information and help making sure your online presence is giving off the million-dollar look so you can garner the million-dollar clients, contact Eric Sachs at sachsmultimedia@gmail.com.

Peacemaking Lessons from the War Room is the theme for this year’s 8th Annual Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals Conference. It will be held May 21 – 23 at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes.

If you have never been to an FACP Conference, you have missed the experience of your professional career. As I heard a speaker at the IACP Forum say, “at these conferences no one shakes hands, they hug!”

And this year’s conference looks to be extra special. The opening plenary will feature U.S. Army strategist LTC Katie Crombe and a “Conversation with a United States War Planner: Winning Strategies for Collaboration.” LTC Crombe will provide insight into how planning to avoid conflict, win wars, and conduct diplomacy and peacemaking holds lessons for the Collaborative Process.  

There will be a change in this year’s conference. On Saturday there will be a closing plenary luncheon titled “Better Brainstorming: Tools to Generate Ideas and Challenge Assumptions” led by Dr. Kim Macuare. In this interactive keynote address, Dr. Macuare and the audience will explore how are thinking, with a special focus on Dali’s works, processes and ideas, can help us ignite our own creative powers, especially our idea generating powers.

Sandwiched in between these two powerful keynote addresses will be one and a half days of workshops presented by extraordinary Collaborative professionals. Maybe attend Brian Galbraith’s session on making your peacemaking practice profitable or watch him “drop his pants” in another workshop. 

Most importantly, there will be workshops that will help fulfill your Credentialing requirements including a workshop on domestic violence and two workshops on ethics.

Don’t miss this great event! Register now at www.collaborativepracticeflorida.com.

I must begin by informing you that you have just become a victim of the old “bait and switch!”  Yes, the FACP Conference is coming in May. But my preview of conference will come next Monday. Today I want to talk about your commitment to the Collaborative Process.  It is time for everyone to step up to the plate and go all in. The Collaborative Process is life-changing and transformative to so many lives, including your own.

The Florida Academy of Collaborative Professional’s mission is to educate and inform the public and the professions about the Collaborative Process.  The annual conference provides unmatched educational opportunities to learn about the Process, how to sell the Process and how to be a successful Collaborative professional from some of the top Collaborative professionals from around the world.

The FACP and the Practice Groups in Florida provide low bono and pro bono services giving pro se litigants an opportunity to utilize the Collaborative Process.

And the FACP, through social media and public presentations and involvement, works to spread the word of the Collaborative Process to the public.

It is time for you to please step forward and help promote this great process. 

If you have been fortunate enough to have had success in the Collaborative Process (I define success as having had at least two or more cases!!) then it is time to consider a level of sponsorship of the 2020 FACP Annual Conference.   Consider being an FACP Patron for $1,000. And if you are totally in love with Collaborative (you have had more than 5 cases!!) it is time to consider being a Bronze ($1,500) or Silver ($2,500) sponsor.

If you are just falling in love with Collaborative (either on your first case or haven’t quite landed your first one) please consider being a “Friend of FACP” by donating the equivalent of one billable hour.

And to all our Allied friends and those of you just inclined to support the Collaborative movement or have an opportunity to share your goods or services please consider one of our many sponsorship levels or be an exhibitor.

To find out more go to www.collaborativepracticeflorida.com and click on the Conference button.