COVID-19 Business Support

As I sit in lockdown, contemplating the horrendous impact of COVID-19 on people worldwide, I am also very much aware of the impact this dreadful disease is having on many businesses, including on the business of most of my longstanding clients. For many, income has ceased overnight and many others will be quickly trying to adapt to a new market.

As a marketer and web designer, I have been asking myself what I can do to help?  Well, this is my genuine offer of help – with no catches.

If you are a business that has adapted in the way you are operating during the COVID-19 outbreak, or have had to temporarily close, I am happy to offer free business assistance, including the setting up of a free website.

You may be a restaurant which that has quickly adapted to offering a delivery service; a retail business that is trying to sell online but has no website; a local service that is wanting to provide services online, or any one of a number of other scenarios. You may also be a business that has taken a financial hit and needs to put into place a plan for the future with a new online presence for when the world returns to normality.

Whatever your situation, I am here to help your business survive this crisis and emerge in a much stronger position.

To be completely candid, as a marketer serving small and medium businesses (SMEs), I have to also think of my own position and consider how my own business will be effected if there are limited SMEs after this crisis is over. A thriving, more robust business community, is a far better place for all businesses and the community as a whole.

So this is a genuine offer of help – if you have a business that could benefit from a new website, branding or advice on online marketing including search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) or anything else, please let me know. This will be a completely free service subject to certain conditions.

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What you need to know:

I can offer a completely free website for any business type during the time we are in lockdown. I am limited as to precisely what I can provide for free in terms of complexity and integrations, but I am open to discussions with all businesses - I want to help.

I am working alone,and so you will need to act quickly as I will obviously have limitations on the number of websites designs can offer due to personal time restraints.

I can assist whether your business is continuing to operate or is temporarily closed and would like to be in a better position when the time comes to reopen.

My services are completely free. However, all websites require to be hosted on a server (web-hosting) and, as such, the hosting may be chargeable. However, some sites may qualify for free hosting as my own hosting provider has offered to provide free hosting if a business has had to pivot and change its normal operations to help the community in some way during this crisis. Ask, and I will check with my hosting provider to see if your business qualifies for this free service (please note that the web-hosting company makes the final decision and I have no input in their decision). Nonetheless, I will provide the website design and creation completely free of charge.

It should also be noted that, once the current situation returns to normality, my hosting provider will remove the free hosting for all businesses and, at that point, you can either choose to take the site offline or pay the hosting fee which is currently £19.00 per month. At this point in time, it is unsure when this charging period will be reinstated. In addition, please note that I am still quite happy to provide your website files free of charge if you decide to host elsewhere.

If you would prefer me to integrate a website with another service that makes a charge (such as a booking engine or appointment system), I would obviously need to pass these charges on to you. However, there are many great free integrations available, so discuss your needs, and I can advise if the same great website can be achieved for free by utilising an alternative integrated service.

I cannot take an existing site and modify it, I will need to rebuild any existing site from scratch.

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What do you need to do next?

Contact me and let me know your requirements and how you have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. I will be more than happy to offer advice and, if I can, would be delighted to offer my help for free if possible.

Tel: 07824 661129 or email matt@paddlecreative.co.uk

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Wishing you all the best in this time of crisis but also looking to the future.

Matt Connelly, Paddle Founder

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