Greetings!

It’s a cold and rainy day in Maryland today but I’m very productive preparing for a hectic week. One of the items on my agenda is an event Thursday morning in which I’m moderating a legislative forum with state lawmakers for the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. You can bet I’ll ask them about the fact that they raised taxes on businesses at the start of a recession! Another big item is a surprise: you’ll hear about it later in the week, but it’s an initiative that has us very excited and will be a new, no-cost asset to you.

Four key items for you this week:

HR Resources

I have previously referenced my friend/client/referral source/consultant/sister-from-another-mister Kelly Mitchell of impactHR. She gave us the resources about the FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response Act). She has also created a webpage containing a comprehensive set of resources for employers navigating the intricacies of HR issues.

https://www.impacthrllc.com/coronavirus-resources-center/?inf_contact_key=f8e199e0291820510c7456ece9d88af5

Two Grant Programs for Small Businesses

We’re still keeping watch over Google’s promise to issue Google Ads credits. More to come as info becomes available. In the meantime, here are two more:

Facebook is giving advertising grants to small businesses. Eligibility:

• 2 to 50 employees
• In business >1 year
• Challenged by COVID-19
• In or near a location where Facebook operates

Click the link to apply, but note that the areas that are eligible are oddly defined and specific. Please let me know if you apply and share your experience.

https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Salesforce is also doing a grant program. Very similar requirements to Facebook’s approach except it’s >2 years in business and they specify revenues of $250k to $2M.

https://grants.ureeka.biz/salesforce

Update: Hubspot’s 70,000-Company Data

I mentioned last week that Hubspot (although we prefer SharpSpring) has a robust dataset with which to gauge some key marketing trends. They’re updating it weekly, so I will do the same. Sales outreach continues to be much higher than usual (companies are casting a wider, less-targeted net), but deal volume has fallen.

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/covid-19-benchmark-data-edition2?utm_campaign=Marketing%20Blog%20Weekly%20Email%20Sends&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86643226

The Stockdale Paradox

This is my winner for the most interesting article of the week. Very quick read, but very insightful. If you read Good to Great, you’ll remember it. Enjoy!

https://www.robertglazer.com/friday-forward/stockdale-paradox/

Have a wonderful week and don’t hesitate to give us a shout if you need anything.

Thanks!