The novel Coronavirus has changed just about everyone's life in a short amount of time. A global pandemic was not on the minds of those who have lost loved ones to this ugly virus, and businesses preparing for 2020 could not have anticipated the current state we're in. All that said, while we are practicing social distancing, we have listed some resources as well as some thoughts on some things to do in order to make the most of this uncertain time.
Resources for Those in Need
Everest Effect is an online marketplace that puts critical resources directly into the hands of impacted individuals to accelerate their recovery in order to help individuals and communities recover and rebuild after a disaster strikes. If you're someone greatly impacted by the pandemic, you can request items, and if you’re someone who wants to help others in need, you can actually purchase these requested items for individuals.
Mental Health Check
For those who need someone to talk to during this trying time, Talkspace and Betterhelp are two services that allow individuals to find and talk to a licensed therapist online.
CDC & COVID-19 Testing
If you want to know more about testing for COVID-19 and would like to see if you should be tested, see this resource from the CDC: Testing for COVID-19.
Job Resources for Displaced Analysts
For those who have lost their jobs in the Analytics space, a new free service exists to connect independent contractors with companies looking to hire analytics talent. This was started by Michael Helbling of AJL Analytics (and co-host of the Digital Analytics Power Hour) and Evan LaPointe of Core Sciences. The service, which is called JOIN, can be found at this link: COVID-19: How We Can Help.
More Job Resources
Candor.co has published a list of companies who are currently hiring, in a hiring freeze, and those who have laid off employees due to the novel Coronavirus. They also have created a nice chart that shows an aggregate view of industries with companies actively hiring vs. those with hiring freezes and layoffs.
Stats and Vizzes for Data Nerds
For data nerds, there are a number of good dashboards that visualize the trends and global impact of COVID-19. Two of the better ones we've come across are the Johns Hopkins Map and the Domo Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tracker.
Small Business Resources
Financial Assistance and Loans
The Small Business Association (SBA) has launched an application for businesses to apply for a COVID-19-related disaster loan of up to $10,000. In addition, businesses can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which gives aid to SMBs in order to enable businesses to keep paying employees for the next 2-3 months. The application can be downloaded here and then submitted to your SBA-participating financial institution.
Advertising Grants and Credits
Facebook Boost
Facebook has put together a great resource to help businesses manage through the current crisis. Facebook is also offering grants and ad credits during this time.
Google Ads Grants
Take Inventory
For those who are still employed, but have some extra time due to working remotely, I strongly encourage you to take inventory of everything you do on your job and see if anything can be done better or more efficiently. If you're copying & pasting or manually entering data into an excel report, it may be time to automate that process. If you're auditing hundreds of landing pages on your e-commerce site because online shopping is booming, it may be time to automate that process. During a recent talk, I heard the speaker say "copy and paste is a case for automate." If you can reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, that gives you much more time to provide valuable insight that drives action with fresh data. There are a number of ways that we can help with this, so don't hesitate to reach out.
