Utilize an e-commerce platform to sell and market your products. Platforms such as Shopify offer all of the ecommerce and point of sale features that you need to get your business up and running virtually. Shopify offers a 14-day free trial period as well as access to an online academy to get you up and running.

Create a simple website to showcase your products/services. Platforms such as Wix give you the freedom to spin up a web presence for your business within minutes. Wix offers easy to use drag and drop technology as well as industry-leading SEO, making it easier for customers to find you via Google. They also offer a 14-day free Premium free trial. If wish to avoid integrating e-commerce, simply have customers call, text or email to place an order.

Learn how to sell and market your products/services across social media channels, such as Instagram or Facebook. Billions of people use channels such as Facebook and Instagram every month to connect with friends and family and to discover things that matter. Utilize this time to establish or refine your social selling strategy. Find new customers and build lasting relationships with them.

Want to offer your services virtually? Download a free Zoom, Microsoft Teams or WebEx account. Or for very large audiences utilize a YouTube Live Stream. Platforms such as Zoom allow you to video conference with up to 100 participants at no cost. You can get started within minutes and easily interact with your customers online. If you’d like to charge a fee for attendance, have registrants pay via your Business PayPal account or via e-transfer ahead of time.

Try Slack with your team for free. Think of Slack as a chat room for your whole company. Its workspaces allow you to organize communications by channels for group discussions and allows for private messages to share information, files, and more all in one place. Slack is offering free licenses for small teams for an unlimited period of time, as well as complimentary premium plans for non-profits. If you’re part of an organization fighting Covid-19 you can request three months of a paid Slack plan free of charge.

Pivot to offering an online course. Teaching an online course is a great way to leverage your skills and earn income at the same time. Platforms such as Teachable allow you to create an online course for free and market it to over 23 million students.

Get creative and utilize online applications that transform traditionally manual tasks, such as Docusign. Docusign offers a 14-day free trail that allows your team to sign documents anywhere from any device, avoiding any in person contact. All documents are encrypted, and a complete audit trail is maintained.

Need a hand going digital? Connect with specialized, affordable talent online. Services such as Upwork allow you to post your job (or task) for free and within hours be connected with specialized talent that can solve your challenge (at an affordable rate). Services range from web and mobile app development to SEO, social media marketing, content writing, graphic design, admin help and thousands of other projects.

Take advantage of free resources that better enable remote operations. Several technology companies have banded together to assist small businesses to operationalize remotely by offering free services.

Connect and share ideas with fellow small business owners globally (they may be experiencing the same challenges as you. Social media platforms such as Reddit and Facebook allow you to access informal groups of fellow professionals to network and share valuable ideas with each other.

• Canada Arts Council– provides information on government support measures, including artists abroad, grant applications and assessments, and employment insurance
• Ontario Arts Council– provides updates on the status of various provincial grants and reports back on information collected through surveys to track the impact of COVID-19
• Candian Artists Representation – CARFAC– provides tips to artists to help them through this challenging time, including how to track income losses, where to go for credible information, and how to stay connected
• Facebook Journalism Grant– offers a total of $1 million in grants to support US and Canadian local news organizations covering the coronavirus
• Photographer Fund Grant– a $25 thousand fund to help photographers impacted by COVID-19
• Professional Association of Canadian Theatres– resource page, impact surveys, online performance opportunities, and community funding
• Unison Benevolent Fund– COVID-19 financial assistance resource list and counselling services
• Writers Trust of Canada– emergency funding to Canadian writers facing lost income because of the global COVID-19 pandemic
• I Lost my Gig– a space for creative industries and other vulnerable freelance and gig economy workers to connect and share stories in response to growing income precarity in Canada
• SOCAN’s Emergency Program– provides financial assistance to struggling members as a result of the COVID-19 crisis by allocating up to a total of $2 million for emergency royalty advances
• FACTOR– provides financial support to Canadian recording artists, labels, songwriters, publishers, event producers and distributors.