Are you a mother runner who is also homeschooling? Podcaster or ZYIA rep? Those are my sweet spots so I want to help! Here are my top (mostly) free resources for social distancing.
Side note: I’m loving the term physical distancing because it doesn’t insinuate isolation. Try it out!
As a running coach, I will be hosting weekly “office hours” sessions through June. You can join my private Facebook group to catch these sessions, submit questions beforehand, and get free personalized running advice!
The Un-Canceled Project
This is a 4 week free virtual race series dedicated to gratitude, hope, humor, and inspiration. Per their mission statement, it is about “refusing to allow fear to make us angry or unkind to others. It is about moving our bodies, focusing on positive, and celebrating things that make us human.”
You choose a race distance, from 5K through 26.2, and run it each week. You just connect your Garmin, Strava, or Apple account and run- there are no winners, losers, or formal times. Just run!
Pssst- if your race has been cancelled, don’t forget to listen to my free podcast episode about what to do with your training!
RunRx Skill Drills
Valerie Hunt of RunRx has been teaching skill drills and running pointers on her Instagram and Facebook pages every Tuesday and Thursday. If you want to run pain free and with sound technique, RunRx is the spot!
Valerie is a tenured Pose Method and mechanics expert. Check her out:
Pssst- if you want to learn from Valerie about pain free running prior to her next Live, listen to her podcast episode!
Wear Blue: Run to Remember
This nonprofit group was created by a Gold Star wife in an effort to build a moving memorial through runners who meet regularly to honor the service and sacrifice of the American military.
Typically, runners join together in a circle of remembrance and call out the name(s) for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. These free community events are held on Saturdays and chapters are located across the United States.
During crisis times, the circles are virtual and you can be assigned a name for your purposeful steps.
Free Audiobooks
Audible has released many of their titles for youth for free. Remember, you can sync any Alexa enabled device to Audible and hear titles as you make dinner together or do chores!
Free Activity Packs
These grade-level-based “relief packs” are free right now and chock full of printable math, language and puzzle sheets. My kindergartner has his work from the County, but these have been great for our 4 year old triplets.
Free Drawing Lessons
The beloved author Mo Willems has begun hosting daily Lunch Doodles over at YouTube.
There’s a real sense of community to this one, since many of your friends from across the country are likely doing them at the same time, too!
Health & Wellness Classes
CreativeLive has made its series of streaming health and wellness classes free. Grab their app, set up a free account to start learning- you always say you don’t have time for this. Here’s your sign.
Free Coloring & Activity Book
If your littles are still rattled from all that’s happening, print them this free activity book (PDF download) from the CDC.
I love it because it accommodates all age levels- preschoolers can color and do shapes, while early grades can read and sequence. Same book!
Woofy
Assuming you do influencer style selling, Woofy is the best fit for you. It’s, hands down, the best for personal brands with multiple social media channels. Your time is valuable.
They have a lifetime discount option for $49 right now- you can’t beat that.
I personally believe those following a party plan should use CinchShare, which creates beautiful themed party templates and automates engagement posts for your VIP group.
Know your business and where you want to take it- then you can decide which is right for you!
Project Broadcast
This one isn’t free, but if you want to set up your business for long term success, I think you want it.
You know me as the rep who doesn’t do parties, so how in the world do I sell activewear? This is part of the puzzle. Project Broadcast is where I do my text messaging from each week for new releases.
I also use the drip campaign feature to deliver open house information for prospects who want to join my team and send weekly reminders to runners I am training for 5K-26.2 miles.
Sign up here to get 100 free credits (disclaimer: I’ll also get 100, so thank you!).
Loom
Loom is providing an increased storage limit on their accounts, which allow for easy “explainer videos”. We use these on our team for everything from back office training to social media training to product training.
Why use this instead of ZOOM or Facebook live? Speed. For quick videos that don’t require interaction, it’s a better viewer experience because they can speed the video up to 2X.
For the teacher, it’s very intuitive and allows you to see yourself as you record and adjust the size of your speaker circle.
Brenda Ster
Real talk: I want to invite all of you to the business coaching group I’m in from Brenda, but I can’t. It’s closed until the summer.
The next best thing? Take one of her courses (I’m currently revisiting EPIC Parties for Facebook but also recommend Winning with Pinterest if you’re a blogger or Podcaster) or save ramp up time with one of her kits– Direct Sales Launch, Party, or Social Media.
You need to get your business online now. I’m coaching my team to create a permanent online component even if they were fine without one previously.
Brenda’s courses are the exception to “free” in this article but she provides plenty of value and does regular workshops on her Facebook page if you don’t have spare dough right now.
Pssst- yes, you have heard her name before on my podcast discussing the 3Ps of Social Content. That’s free, so get you some!
I’m going to say it until I’m blue in the face: our back office email system is the best in direct sales.
Sure, you may have a website or lead page that collects information, but I stand by my declaration that our back office email should be the main database.
The only exception here is if you are segmenting email audiences (for example, I have people who prefer a podcast roundup only as opposed to a mix of running, lifting, and ZYIA Active.
Most people have to pay an additional fee for the functionality we have.
We position our monthly fee (which, by the way is free if you sell $600- I’ve never paid for it and never plan to!) as “website” but I justify it as email because I know how much our capabilities cost elsewhere.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit has started a Creator fund to help support creators that are in desperate need. You can donate to it if you are able and, as a user, enjoy broadcast emails up to 500 subscribers. This is a value add from their usual free offering.
Note: this service does not support some direct sales companies. If you use a podcast as a funnel for your brand, read all the fine print to be sure you are following the FTC rules and sticking to mostly show content in your email messaging.
Zencastr
This all in one recording and editing platform removed limits on the hobby plan so you can get unlimited remote recording time and guests.
I can speak to the professionalism of these folks, having sold advertising for one of their founding Executives back in 2013 at the “dawn” of podcast days! They are good people who care about independent creators.
BuzzSprout
Though you can’t grab the same Pro account schools, governments, and non-profits can, several paid courses are available here at no cost for a limited time to help combat the coronavirus cpandemic.
This is great for show concept brainstorming and episode research.
CreativeLive
Another great one for research or planning, CreativeLive is offering free educational courses. As a podcaster, you probably didn’t have a journalism background when you began so now is the time to learn industry skills at zero cost!
Please let me know what resources you have in the comment section! I intend to make this post a working document. If you are a business providing alternative services, I’d love to feature you in this curated list or on my podcast!
