Brands Helping Creative Businesses During Covid19
At first we thought we would be home for a couple of weeks and then Disney closed. Has Disney ever closed? I knew things were serious then but never did I imagine what we have lived so far. We just hit day 46 of lock down and the big worry on everyone’s mind is, financial instability.
When we will be out of this? I don’t think before Mother’s day honestly, but I do have some good news. There are some incredible companies giving back and helping creative businesses stay afloat during this time.
Paypal
I have always used PayPal for Business. I love creating invoices and also how easy it is to create buy now buttons. Yes there are a few but I have never complained as this is the cost of doing business. They also have a great loan program called PayPal Working Capital.
Oddly enough I had just applied for a loan through PayPal Working Capital in order to purchase a lens and pay for some business expenses right before lock down. I got worried because how the loan works is that they take a % of your sales until your loan is paid off. There was also a 90 day minimum payment you had to make.
To my surprise, PayPal really stepped it up by offering 2 great things we are facing as what Grandpa in The Princess Bride called: The Pit of Despair.
#1. No fees for instant transfers. Let me repeat no fees for instant transfer. They usually charge a fee if you want your money transfer right away instead of taking 1-3 business days. So I can get my money right now right now? Alright Alright Alright
#2. Suspending Repayments on any loans for the next 30 days.
Also according to Sales Force, .
- Doubling the instant cash back reward for our Business Debit Mastercard on all purchases beginning April 1 through June 30, 2020.
Big Bonus:
And looks like they were just approved to offer Paycheck Protection Program loans to more than 10 million small businesses. I would jump on that if I were you.
Tailwind
I love Tailwind as a software and as a brand. I was thrilled to discover that they created a 1 million dollar grant fund to help businesses with a 3-month grant to their software. I just applied and a very cool thing is that they ask you to nominate 3 small businesses that you need. You must be a member to qualify and if you are not signed up to Tailwind, you can test them out for 1 month with my affiliate link.
Pixiset
I have been using Pixieset for my photography business for over 5 years now. I love how easy the gallery options and collection deliveries are for my photo clients. They also launched a cool new feature where you can create a website. This is a great option for freelancers and part time photographers or second shooters.
I emailed them asking if they were doing anything to help current clients and they are helping clients affected by Coronavirus with 2 month free. This is so helpful right now. This means I can still promote my photography business while it’s fully stopped.
Animoto
Animoto is my favorite software for creating photo slideshows and fusion slideshows which is where I mix video and photos. I had just signed back up to them and Covid19 hit. So I emailed them asking if they were offering any assistance and they are! They gave me a whole 3 FREE months, I could cry! Thank you Animoto So much. Here is an example vide I created with their tool.
Adobe
Adobe is giving higher education and K-12 institutional customers of their Creative Cloud apps the ability to request temporary “at-home” access for their students and educators. This is being granted through May 31, 2020 at no additional cost and is available globally.
Geico
After State Farm gave back premium money to it’s customers, it was time for Geico to step it up. After all, we are practically not driving. We were able to switch to Geico, save 15% and save over 1,000 compared to our previous insurance company. I know more insurance companies are giving back so check in with your car insurance company.
According to Forbes: LinkedIn is opening up 16 of its learning courses for free. Courses that provide tips on how to stay productive, build relationships when you’re not face-to-face, use virtual meeting tools and balance family and work dynamics in a healthy way.
Hotels
Many hotels like Hilton are waiving cancelation fees as people are not allowed to travel during this time and it looks like we are expecting further travel halts. If you have travel plans for the summer or fall, I would check in with your hotel and see if they are waiving the cancellation fees.
I will keep updating this list as I see other brands helping out small businesses during this hard time. Please let me know in the comments if you know of any others.
#staysafe