Everything is going remote: A post-Covid world needs digital teams like us. How can we help?

The world is forever changed. With all of this social isolation, we all need remote solutions more than ever. People are using video conferencing tools like Zoom in record numbers. Whether for work or personal communication, we all want better ways of connecting. The world will go online like never before. There will be an increased need for all kinds of online solutions. But people especially need new ways to do communicate, stay-in-touch and do business. I wrote this article so that we can shape that world together. Please share your comments below.

We're a digital team and we have capacity

Last week I wrote an article talking about how the company I founded, Crowdlinker, lost business and temporarily laid off some staff amidst the Covid crisis. Since then, we have been reaching out to our network and have been in touch with companies who are looking for our help with software development and digital marketing. It's encouraging. There still are opportunities in this economy.

Crowdlinker is an 8-year-old digital agency building high-quality websites and applications (on web and mobile.) We also have a digital marketing division (SEO and paid ads.) We’ve done great work for startups and scaleups like FreshBooks, Top Hat and League, as well as enterprises like MLSE (Raptors), Unilever and Nestle. We have 20 team members in Toronto. See our website (below) for examples of our projects (almost 100 so far.) We have incredibly talented developers and designers, some of whom are free right now. We still have some extra capacity. If your company needs help with software development or digital marketing, please reach out to me. My contact information is below.

What does the world need more of right now?

As we have extra capacity, I think about how we can best serve the world right now as a team of developers and digital marketers. Yes, obviously the world needs ways to fight the coronavirus. Local companies like Bluedot are leveraging software to do just that. But the impact to society goes far beyond those physically afflicted by this disease. People are losing their jobs, their education and their connection with others, because of self-isolation due to Covid-19. Even when this blows over, many people will be reluctant to meet in person, a trend that might take years to reverse. The world needs online and remote solutions more than ever, to allow people to connect with others, earn a living and live fulfilling lives.

Here are some ideas I came up with about what the world needs more of now. If you have more ideas, please include them in the comments below.

Health Care / Health-Tech

A friend of mine who works at a hospital says they are desperately seeking solutions to allow patients to teleconference with family (now that hospitals no longer allow visitors). Companies like OnCall Health and Maple are creating telemedicine solutions. How else can we help health-tech?

Remote Work / Communications

Demand is way up for chat apps like Slack and conferencing solutions like Zoom. We are already in talks with some of these companies. With everyone working from home now, I think it’s time to take these solutions to the next level. Any ideas? 

Online Events

What are we going to do without in-person events, conferences, meetups, group-lessons and the like? It’s only been a few days and I’m already missing that human connection. There will be a huge loss in networking opportunities and knowledge exchange. Yet, the current online event solutions are really lacking. Now’s the time to change that. Any ideas on how we can revolutionize online events? (BTW, Crowdlinker’s first app was in the event space.) 

Online Concerts

It could be a while until gatherings of over 100 people are permitted again. Many perform rely on in-person performances to connect with fans and make a living. There doesn't exist a unified directory and platform for delivering online concerts. Many artists are offering free online concerts in the wake of Covid-19, but the implementation is rather disjointed at the moment.

Media (Video and Other content)

With everyone at home, yes we’re watching a lot of Netflix and surfing content sites for the latest coronavirus news. Now’s a great time to practice Yoga online with our client Omstars. Which other media solutions are people flocking too? Any ideas on how we can disrupt this space? 

e-Learning

With adults and kids at home, e-Learning is blowing up. Now’s the perfect time to learn a new skill. And for many students, their education is shifting online. Solutions like Top Hat (our former client) help with this. With the huge increase in demand for e-Learning, now is the time for disruption. Any ideas? Know any revolutionary e-Learning companies?

Remote training and coaching

I went on Craigslist today and noticed hundreds of people were offering online lessons (e.g. piano) and online coaching (e.g. fitness training). Most were offering their service via Skype and collecting payments using various means. There should be an app for that. Crowdlinker developed an app for our client Sessionz, which allows users to book in-person lessons. I can imagine an online equivalent.

Charities & Not-for-profits

Many charities rely on events to raise funds and fulfill on their mission. Many are reaching out to those that need help, but are being stopped by this crisis. How can technology help charities raise awareness and funds? How can technology allow charities to be effective, even when they might be prevented from meeting in person? 

Sales - Lead generation & Networking

Salespeople are seriously affected by this crisis. One out of twenty people work in sales. Many rely on events to network with leads. And they have lost clients during this crisis. We have been generating leads for clients using SEO, paid ads and social media. Yet most salespeople still aren’t leveraging online channels. And I believe existing solutions are really inadequate now. This is the time to rethink how we network online and create better tools for salespeople. 

Recruiting and Staffing - Going Remote

When a crisis hits, hiring is often the first thing to go. Yet, there is still a lot of important work to be done. With most offices closed, how can companies even conduct interviews now? And most teams going remote - maybe for a long time - and many will choose to stay remote. Why not just hire remote then? I see a huge increase in remote work. How about a job board just for remote work? How about better solutions for recruiting and working with remote teams? Have you used Hired, Upwork, TopTal, Superside, ZipRecruiter or Indeed? How could they be better for hiring remote workers? 

A remote startup incubator

We're at a time of unprecedented societal change. Unemployment is set to reach record levels. The world needs these solutions now. That's where a startup incubator dedicated to remote solutions would be helpful, to get these concepts off the ground as soon as possible. And best of all, the incubator could be delivered remotely, including participants, mentors and investors from around the world. Do you want to help?

What else?

These are just a few of the areas ready for disruption due to this crisis. Can you think of anything else? 

It's a crisis. We do digital. We want to do our part.

Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this crisis. We are blessed at Crowdlinker that no one we know has been hit by this virus. Yet, the world is forever changed. We are shut at home like much of the world. Our kids are too. For many of us, these may seem like inconveniences. Yet, we refuse to sit idly by. Our talent is to create and launch incredible digital products. We know we can use our gifts to help the world when it needs us. I know we can do our part to make things better. 

If you have any ideas on how we can help, please DM me or comment - this includes companies or industries that might need our assistance - and if you have contacts at those companies, please put me in touch. Also, if you have any app / digital project ideas that are needed most now, please comment below. Thank you.

For examples of the projects we’ve created and clients we’ve worked with, see our website at Crowdlinker.com

To hire our staff for your digital project or share your advice, please reach out to me:

Muneer Nawab

Founder & President, Crowdlinker Inc.

+1-416-333-9671 | [email protected]

crowdlinker.com | crowddigital.net | Tw/IG:@muneernawab

119 Spadina Ave. #600, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5V 2L1

Our Skill Sets:

Development

Front End Frameworks/Libraries: ReactJS, TypeScript, VueJS,

Programming Languages: NodeJS / PHP / Python / C#

Frameworks: Django / Laravel / NestJS / Express / .NET

Databases: PostgreSQL / MySQL / MongoDB

Mobile: React Native, Firebase

Marketing Websites using CMS: WordPress, Contentful, Prismic

Cloud / Hosting: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform

Design

UI/UX, Usability Testing, User Research, Prototyping, Graphics Design 

Marketing

Search Engine Optimization, Paid Ads management (Google & Facebook), Landing page creation, Product Marketing, Growth Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization, Content Marketing

* Banner Image: This image was taken from an online event hosted by TechTo on the Hopin platform. Check out their events. They are great.