Marketers donate time to impacted SMEs.

During the difficult COVID-19 period, it’s been uplifting to see stories of ingenuity and generosity.

One such story was a wonderful initiative created by Megan Milne, a lovely candidate of ours, who has collaborated with a small group of specialists to build a virtual Digital agency, named Howdy!Helper who provide expertise to small businesses free of charge who have been impacted by the pandemic. Their services cover all aspects of Digital work including UX, eCommerce, Brand Strategy, Web Development, Digital Media and Design.

We asked Megan what inspired her to launch this service, “So many businesses in Australia were impacted very quickly when Covid-19 hit. Many of them weren't set up to pivot to an online model quickly. I figured that I had the time and skills so I wanted to help. The more businesses we could help survive then they could continue to keep their employees, who would in turn continue to spend money and keep the economy going.”  A focus of the agency is also helping clients develop Digital skills so they can maintain their online presence an ongoing basis. 

Megan was able to reach out to her network of digital specialists, many of whom had lost their jobs or had significant pay cuts and were very open to continuing to hone their skills and excited to spend their time working in their area of expertise. Howdy Helpers! provided the structure of a workplace, as they run projects in teams, do weekly happy hours, have a really active job board. As Megan says “I got a lot of volunteers that said they were grateful for Howdy! Helper because it gave them a reason to get out of bed”.

The response was incredible - within 3 weeks they had over 30 volunteers in 5 countries. It allowed small businesses to have access to agency quality work that they would otherwise never have access to. “To many small businesses it was the difference between them surviving or losing everything they had worked so hard to build” says Megan. 

This is such a great example of helping others, and we encourage anyone that needs assistance – or can help out- to contact Megan via https://www.howdyhelper.com/