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Ai Is Changing How Customers Find Businesses. Are You Still Visible?
Right now, out there on the Internet, someone is thinking about your product or service and wanting to learn more about your company. The crazy part is that they aren’t going to your website. Instead, potential customers are doing their research and having sales conversations with the help of an Ai tool.
Not that long ago, prospects followed a familiar path. They would go to a search engine, most likely Google, and do a search. They would read the links presented, review the results, and then visit one or several related websites. Once they had a shortlist, they would research and compare the companies. That information enabled them to make a choice, and they would reach out to contact the company or make the purchase on their website.
Not anymore. Now more and more prospects are going to an LLM Ai-Assisted Search. They might use Google’s Ai Overview or type their question directly into an Ai Chat (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, etc.).
The questions customers are asking are more detailed than traditional search queries, and the answers they get back are substantially more specific to their needs. They may ask a few follow-up questions, ask about the companies, compare product features, etc., all without ever visiting a single website.
In the end, by the time they reach your website, customers are already informed and most likely ready to make a purchase. Do you trust what Ai is saying about your company, products, or services? Are you even showing up alongside your competitors?
You’re smart. You already knew this was happening. You’ve been sitting there wondering why you’re bothering to spend time and money on SEO when it feels like fewer people are using traditional search engines.
Ai does not make SEO irrelevant. AEO (AiO, GEO, AiSEO, etc.) is not replacing SEO. Any agency telling you that is just trying to use fear (especially FOMO) to get you to spend money with them.
In reality, modern SEO fundamentals and best practices are needed even more. A business that appears strong in traditional search also appears strong to Ai bots. Having a well-structured website, clear service pages, useful expert content, and local relevance are all just as important to AEO as they are to SEO, if not more so.
Ai uses various criteria to assess your website’s credibility, engagement potential and value to potential customers. Hundreds of these brand signals, like reviews, semantic relevancy and engagement metrics, all roll up together to paint a picture of the value of your brand. Because of that, good marketing agencies are making a shift. And good clients are listening; we’re no longer just focused on “what keywords do we rank for”. Instead, we’re moving to asking, “how well does the Internet understand our business?”
What do your brand signals say to Ai about your business?
Brand signals. Great, another marketing term. Even the initials are BS. Unfortunately, the term is critical to your success. Brand signals are the collection of information (all info) from across the web that helps people, search engines, and Ai systems establish who your company is, what you do and whether or not you can be trusted.
Some examples of what makes up a brand signal are:
As you can see, the list is long. But it’s not comprehensive. There could be hundreds of other data points that your company has online that are being added to the equation. No single signal determines visibility. You can’t focus on just one aspect of the brand signal. Ai is too smart and too thorough to be fooled by one factor. Instead, multiple consistent signals help paint a stronger picture of the business.
Search visibility is increasingly becoming a brand problem, not simply a keyword problem.
Traditional SEO had a heavy focus on keywords. Yes, we looked at backlinks, page authority, etc., but all of it was to predict how well we would rank for specific keywords. Why wouldn’t we, when keywords determined how you ranked in search results, and search results determined who clicked to your website.
Don’t get me wrong, keywords are still useful because they help determine language, intent, and demand. But modern search and keyword optimization have evolved to also focus on understanding all signals about your business like:
Let's take this example, imagine your website says something like,
“We Deliver Innovative Solutions Designed Around Your Needs.”
If you look at what it really says, you realize that it doesn’t actually tell you anything. Now, imagine we take away the marketing speak, and we just clearly state what you do:
“We Provide Commercial HVAC Installation and Maintenance for Industrial Facilities in Waterloo Region.”
Clear always beats clever when you are establishing your brand signals in the world of Ai.
Every company on the internet says they are the best company, with the best products, and the best service. Obviously, they can’t all be right.
This is where we need to turn things around and look at your business from the perspective of Ai. If someone asks an Ai tool about your company, your products, or your services, it needs to figure out the answers to some fairly basic questions:
That last one is particularly important. You can say whatever you want about your company on your own website because you control it. If you say you’re the leading widget manufacturer in Canada, great. But is there anything else online that supports that claim?
Do your reviews mention your widgets? Does your Google Business Profile say you manufacture them? Are you listed in relevant industry directories? Are other websites talking about your company and its widgets? Do you publish articles that show you actually know the industry? Does your LinkedIn profile tell the same story as your website? All of those signals start to add up.
If there isn’t enough information, or if the information it finds contradicts itself, credibility and confidence drop. If Ai has to choose between your company and a competitor it understands much better, which one is it more likely to talk about?
And the best part is that even if Ai search disappeared tomorrow, none of this work would be wasted. Clearer information, better reviews, stronger content, accurate listings, and visible proof of expertise also make it easier for real people to understand and trust your company.
Okay, so Ai search is becoming more important. The obvious solution must be to use Ai to create hundreds of new pages, blogs, social posts, FAQs, and articles about your company.
Please don’t.
In fact, one of the worst ways businesses can respond to the growth of Ai is by deciding the answer is simply more Ai content. Ai is incredibly good at creating average content. Give ten companies in the same industry the same prompt and, without much human input, you’ll probably get ten versions of essentially the same thing: the same ideas, the same benefits, the same phrases, and somehow the same “in today’s rapidly evolving landscape” introduction.
None of that gives a customer a reason to choose you. Generic Ai content can make your company sound exactly like everyone else. It can miss important details, get things wrong, lack firsthand expertise, and overlook the things that actually make your business different.
That doesn’t mean businesses shouldn’t use Ai. We use it a lot. At REM, we’ve adopted a Real Humans, Ai-Enhanced approach, and that distinction matters. Ai is incredibly useful for research, brainstorming, organizing information, analyzing data, finding topics, summarizing large amounts of information, and helping turn a blank page into a strong starting point.
But the human still needs to bring the strategy, experience, expertise, opinions, examples, fact-checking, and judgment that make the final result worth reading. Think of Ai as a tool that makes your experts better and more efficient, not a cheap replacement for having experts in the first place.
I know this is a lot. The good news is that you don’t need to completely rethink your marketing strategy tomorrow morning. Here are five practical things you can start doing right now.
Go to your own website and pretend you know absolutely nothing about your company. Within a few seconds, can you tell exactly what the company does? Who it does it for? Where it operates? What products or services it offers?
Don’t assume people know what you mean. And definitely don’t assume Ai does. Look at your service pages, about page, contact page, home page, and location information. Take out some of the marketing speak and make sure there are clear statements that actually describe your business.
Remember: clear beats clever.
Your company telling everyone that you’re fantastic isn’t nearly as convincing as other people saying it. Reviews, testimonials, case studies, certifications, industry associations, awards, and real customer experiences all help provide evidence that you actually do what you say you do.
If your review strategy consists of hoping someone eventually leaves you one, it might be time to make that a more deliberate part of your marketing. And don’t just chase a star rating. Good reviews often describe the service provided, the problem that was solved, the location, the people involved, and the customer’s experience.
That’s incredibly useful information for both prospects and Ai.
This one sounds boring. It is boring. Do it anyway.
Your business name, address, phone number, website, service descriptions, locations, hours, and other basic information should be accurate and consistent everywhere your company appears.
Start with your own website and Google Business Profile, then look at LinkedIn, social media accounts, important industry directories, and other major listings. If you moved six years ago and there are still websites showing the old address, clean them up. If one profile says you serve Waterloo Region and another says you serve all of Canada, figure out which one is right.
Every inconsistency introduces uncertainty into the picture of your business.
Stop thinking of content as something you need to create because someone told you Google likes blogs.
Create content because your customers have questions and you know the answers. What do customers ask before buying? What mistakes do you see people making? What does something cost? What should someone compare before choosing a supplier? Why is one option better in one situation and worse in another? Those are useful topics.
Your salespeople, customer service staff, technicians, owners, and other experts probably answer great questions every single day. Those conversations are often far more valuable than a keyword list generated by a piece of software.
Turn your actual expertise into content.
This one doesn’t cost anything and can be a little frightening.
Go ask.
Try ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, or whichever Ai platform you prefer and ask questions about your own business.
Ask:
Don’t obsess over a single answer. Ai results will change based on the tool, the wording of the question, the information available, and plenty of other factors. Instead, look for patterns.
Is the information accurate? Is anything important missing? Are your competitors being mentioned and you aren’t? Does Ai understand your key services? Does it understand where you operate? Does the description actually sound like your company? You may be surprised by what it knows.
You may be even more surprised by what it doesn’t.
With all of this talk about Ai, it is easy to think you need to throw out the old digital marketing playbook and start over. You don’t.
You still need a good website. You still need SEO, useful content, good reviews, strong branding, local visibility, advertising, analytics, and, most importantly, a great product or service. If anything, AI makes those fundamentals more important, not less, because Ai needs good information to work with.
If your website is terrible, your reviews are poor, your business information is inconsistent, and nobody is talking about your company, there isn’t a magical piece of Ai optimization that’s going to fix all of that. That’s also why I’d be very cautious of anyone selling a magic “GEO package” that supposedly replaces your SEO and the rest of your existing marketing.
The terminology may be changing, and the technology certainly is. But the fundamentals of building a company that people can find, understand, and trust haven’t changed nearly as much.
You don’t need to become an expert in Ai. You don’t need to understand how every LLM works, spend your evenings reading research papers, or immediately move your entire marketing budget into the latest Ai strategy. But you do need to recognize that the way your prospects find and research companies is changing.
Your job is to make sure your online presence clearly and accurately reflects who you are, what you do, why you’re different, and why someone should trust you. Make your company easy to understand. Give people, search engines, and Ai systems enough consistent information to verify what you say. Demonstrate your expertise instead of simply claiming it. And make sure that when your customers start asking questions about the problems you solve, your company has a chance to be part of the conversation.
Showing up at the top of Google still matters. But today, visibility is about a lot more than a blue link and a number one ranking.
Ai may change how people search, but trust is still what helps them choose.
If you want to build that trust, REM can help with a stronger website, better search visibility, and smarter advertising built for both traditional and AI-powered search.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant technology trend. It now shows up inside the tools many businesses use every day, including email, meetings, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and collaboration platforms. At Core Tec Systems, we help business organizations in Southwestern Ontario understand how to use Microsoft Copilot safely, practically, and productively in real work settings.
Core Tec Systems is a Canadian-owned Microsoft Partner, now in its 12th year, providing local support, industry expertise, and Microsoft-based productivity services to customers across Canada, with many located in Southwestern Ontario. Our work includes Microsoft 365 cloud productivity training, Microsoft licensing, Business Central projects, and cybersecurity best-practice consulting for Microsoft 365.
One of the biggest lessons we are seeing is that most organizations are not behind on AI yet. Many business leaders and employees are curious, but they are still unsure how to use AI in a safe, structured, and productive way. In our Copilot training, we focus on making AI practical rather than technical or intimidating. The objective is not to turn every employee into a technology expert. The objective is to help people use Copilot to reduce friction in their daily work.
Microsoft Copilot is most useful when it is applied where people already work. In our training, we show how Copilot can assist inside Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot experience. The training emphasizes everyday business scenarios such as summarizing email threads, preparing for meetings, drafting clear responses, analyzing spreadsheets, creating presentations, and turning rough notes into professional documents.
For many businesses, the first productivity opportunity is email. Outlook remains a major source of daily time pressure. Long message threads, repeated responses, project updates, approvals, and missed follow-ups all create hidden productivity costs. In our Copilot training, we demonstrate how Copilot can help summarize conversations, draft responses, extract action items, and help users read faster and respond more clearly.
Meetings are another area where Copilot can create immediate value. Teams meetings often produce important decisions, commitments, risks, and follow-up items, but these details can be lost if no one captures them properly. Our training shows how Copilot can support meetings before, during, and after by helping users prepare, summarize what was discussed, identify decisions, list action items, and create follow-up communication.
Excel is another powerful use case. Many organizations have valuable information buried in spreadsheets, but employees may not have the time or advanced Excel skills to analyze it fully. In our training, we show users how to prepare data properly by converting ranges into Excel Tables, then use Copilot to identify trends, explain workbooks, create dashboards, examine job cost variances, forecast cash receipts, analyze safety incidents, and support resource planning.
A key message in our training is that Copilot works best when users provide clear instructions. A vague prompt such as "write a report" will usually produce a vague result. A stronger prompt explains the goal, audience, context, format, tone, and desired length. We teach users to treat prompting like writing a simple specification. The better the instruction, the better the first draft.
Security and governance are also central to the discussion. Free public AI tools can be useful for general brainstorming, but they are not the same as using Microsoft 365 Copilot in a work environment. In the training material, we draw a clear distinction between consumer-grade AI tools and paid Microsoft 365 Copilot. The enterprise version is designed to work with business data inside the Microsoft 365 environment while respecting existing permissions and security rules.
This is important because AI adoption without guidance can create risk. Employees may already be using AI tools to summarize emails, draft documents, or analyze information. The real question for business leaders is whether they know which tools are being used and what information is being shared. Our training encourages organizations to adopt AI with guardrails, not fear.
Another practical lesson is to treat Copilot as a first-draft assistant, not a final authority. It can help write, summarize, analyze, and organize information quickly, but people still need to review the output. This is especially important for legal, financial, safety, contract, and client-facing content. Human judgment remains essential.
For business owners and decision makers, the opportunity is significant. Copilot can help reduce time spent searching, rewriting, summarizing, formatting, and organizing information. It can help leaders get clearer summaries, faster meeting follow-up, better document drafts, and more useful spreadsheet insights. The value is not simply that AI can answer questions. The value is that it can help people work with less friction and make better use of the information already available to them.
At Core Tec Systems, our approach is practical and hands-on. We do not believe Copilot training should be theoretical. Users need to see real examples, try prompts themselves, learn how to revise results, and understand where Copilot fits into their normal workday. Our training is designed to build confidence through repetition and practical business examples.
The businesses that benefit most from AI will not necessarily be the ones chasing every new tool. They will be the organizations that choose a secure platform, train their teams properly, and build repeatable habits around real business workflows. Microsoft Copilot is one of the most practical ways for organizations already using Microsoft 365 to begin that journey.
Dave Cameron
President, Core Tec Systems Inc.
Microsoft Partner
Now’s not the time to hold back. Marketing in a recession can be the road to survival and long-term success.
We’ve all lived through recessions before, and I think we can all agree that this one is... different – historical, even.
What we’re looking at today is not a ‘typical’ recession. The combined forces of inflation, costs of living, and geopolitical change that few of us could have predicted is creating a level of uncertainty that feels unprecedented.
In times like these, it’s important to focus on what you, as a business, can control. This includes managing how you communicate with your customers, clients, and partners. And one of the most important and effective ways to do this, regardless of the economic climate, is to market yourself.
But investing in marketing is not the first instinct most people have in uncertain times. The knee-jerk reaction is the opposite: to cut back, often significantly. It feels like the safest course of action, and marketing often feels like an ‘easy’ thing to cut.
If you’re thinking about it, odds are that your competitors are thinking the same. Right now, they’re having similar conversations around their boardroom table as you are at yours.
Believe it or not, that’s a good thing – because when your competitors start to pull back, when they take to the sidelines, the net is wide open.
And history has shown us, time and time again, across many different downturns, that those businesses that persist and stay in the game are the ones who come out stronger on the other side.
A lot of what’s been said about marketing in a recession before might feel like a relic of a more stable past. But the foundations of effective marketing – human psychology and behaviour – aren’t something that changes overnight.
This is why the case for marketing in a recession is a practical one.
Taking a passive stance means losing valuable ground.
While your competitors are focused on hunkering down, you can be building relationships, reinforcing trust, and positioning yourself for future growth.
People still need goods and services. They still make purchasing decisions. And they still respond to businesses and brands that connect with them on an emotional level.
The key is to adapt your approach by:
Adjusting to a longer sales cycle. Understand that customers are taking more time to make decisions. Reach out to them early in their journey and nurture them through the process.
Strengthening brand recognition. Reinforce your presence and build trust with customers who are seeking stability. A familiar brand offers a sense of security in uncertain times.
Sending the right message. Acknowledge your audience’s concerns and offer solutions. Show them you understand their challenges and are there to support them.
We’ll explore each of these points in detail, providing practical strategies to help you navigate the current climate and emerge stronger on the other side.
Economic downturns naturally lead to more cautious consumer behaviour.
People take longer to make purchasing decisions. They spend more time researching and comparing their options – and not just when it comes to pricing. Value and quality matter more than ever when consumers are stretching their budgets.
Right now, we’re also seeing consumers pay close attention to country of origin and company ownership – a trend which applies to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets.
The result of this shift in consumer behaviour is that sales cycles become longer and more drawn-out. This presents a challenge, of course, to businesses that are used to a much faster turnaround.
Marketing, and particularly awareness advertising, is absolutely vital for reaching these cautious consumers early in their buying journey and nurturing them through the sales funnel. Investing in the awareness stage builds up a larger pool of prospects.
Then, when those prospects are ready to buy, your brand is already at the top of their minds.
These are starting points. The best strategies will always be those made for your specific business, customers, and circumstances. Adapt your approach accordingly.
Develop valuable, informative content. Create blog posts, articles, eBooks, videos, and other marketing collateral that address your audience’s concerns, answer their questions, and guide them through the decision-making process. You only have to invest in creating these once, and they will continue to provide dividends each time a new prospect uses them.
Focus on value. When customers are hesitant to spend, it’s not only pricing or product features that matter, but value. Talk about the benefits of your product or service and how it solves their specific pain points, not just what it is, what it does, and what it costs.
Optimize your website for SEO. You want to ensure that potential clients and customers can easily find you when they go searching for products and services like yours. The evergreen content mentioned in the point above can also be a great SEO asset if properly optimized.
Use email marketing to nurture customer relationships. Once you have a prospect’s email address, it costs nothing to email them. As with evergreen content, an email nurture campaign is something you can create once, automate, and then use time and time again.
Emphasize customer service. Provide exceptional customer service at every touchpoint, recognizing that potential customers and clients may need more time and more information. Avoid pressuring them and focus on building trust. Every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen your relationship and move the customer closer to a decision.
Brand recognition matters more than ever during times of uncertainty. Your customers and partners are looking for stability. A familiar brand offers a sense of security and confidence.
Consistent marketing and advertising reminds people you’re still here and here to stay.
Now is the time to protect and preserve the brand ‘equity’ you’ve built and nurtured for years. You won’t lose it overnight, of course, because the good work you’ve done isn’t something people will simply forget.
But the longer they go without hearing your name (and the more they hear from your competitors instead), the harder it will be to get going again when the economic pendulum swings back.
Consider these strategies. Take the time to analyze your current brand perception and identify areas for improvement.
Stay in touch. Don’t let your brand fade into the background. Maintain a consistent presence through regular communication across various channels: your website, social media, email, etc. You need to remind your audience that you’re still here, you’re still active, and you’re still committed to serving them.
Be consistent in your branding. This includes your website, social media, marketing materials, and customer service interactions. Make sure that your logo, colours, fonts, and messaging are consistent and reflect who you are. This matters in any climate, but especially one where prospects are searching for stability.
Get involved in your community. Sponsor the local events, support the charitable causes, and be present at the trade shows and industry events you would when times were good. Scale back if necessary, but don’t disappear. Goodwill is a difficult thing to regain once lost.
Don’t underestimate the power of public relations. Right now, many media outlets are looking for business owners who are willing to discuss the changing business landscape or highlight their local bona fides. Media appearances, guest articles, blog posts, and press releases are great opportunities to stay visible and build credibility.
It goes without saying that times like these test everybody, not just those running and operating a business. Your clients and customers are feeling it, too.
The impact of inflation has been impossible to ignore for years, and now, the stress has been compounded by external factors. People are worried about their homes, their jobs, and their families.
In uncertain times, customers gravitate towards brands that meet them where they are and speak to them.
The key is to craft messages that reflect the times and describe how your products or services benefit them. Acknowledge their pain, but don’t dwell on it; instead, empower people and help them think of ways to be in control in a world where they feel out of control.
In Canada, we are already seeing some businesses speak up and shift their messaging in a huge way. Those with strong ties to the country are actively promoting those ties in a way they hadn’t been six months ago. And in both Canada and the United States, we’re seeing businesses talk about their values – and changes to corporate policy that better reflect those values.
While others hesitate, you can seize opportunities to innovate and adapt. Position your brand as a thought leader and a reliable partner. This is the time to showcase your resilience and commitment to your customers.
But what about B2B? At times like these, it’s easy to assume that B2B buyers are purely driven by logic and data. But they’re not immune to the anxieties of economic uncertainty. They’re facing the same challenges as everyone else – rising costs, supply chain disruptions, and pressure to make the right decisions for their businesses.
Businesses want to believe that their chosen solution will not only solve their immediate problems, but also contribute to their long-term success. They want to feel good about the companies they partner with, knowing they share the same values and can be trusted to deliver on their promises. Your messaging needs to acknowledge these feelings and offer reassurance.
In uncertain economic times, your messaging needs to meet your audience where they are. It’s a balance between acknowledging the difficulties and offering solutions.
Don’t shy away from what’s going on. It’s no secret, and customers are feeling it whether you acknowledge it or not. When you do acknowledge your audience’s concerns and show that you are there to support them, that makes a connection.
Then, focus on solutions. While acknowledging the challenge is important, don’t dwell on negativity. Shift the focus to solutions and how your products or services can help customers navigate the current climate. Highlight the value you offer and how you can make their lives easier or their businesses more successful.
Reinforce your brand’s stability, reliability, and long-term commitment. This could involve highlighting your history, your growth over the years, your values, or even your customer service.
Don’t be shy about your values. People want to do business with companies that share their values. Communicate these values clearly and authentically, and show how these values play out day-to-day – how you source your products ethically, the extra mile you go to do quality work, your commitments to sustainability, your amazing company culture, your patriotism, and so on.
At this point, it’s safe to say there is no historical period that perfectly mirrors our current situation. We can draw comparisons to certain events, certain figures, certain policies and actions and reactions – but the combination of factors at play here is unprecedented.
But, really, that’s the case with every recession. We’ve been through more than a few of them since the advent of ‘marketing’ as we know it, and no two have been close to being exactly alike. Different factors, different people, different outcomes.
Yet there is still a clear pattern when it comes to the benefits and the risks of cutting back on marketing during a recession – whether it’s the Great Depression, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, or anything in between:
Businesses that stand firm will reap the benefits when the recession is over.
Let’s travel back to 1981, shall we?
Before the Great Recession, the 1981-1982 recession was the worst economic downturn the U.S. had seen since the Great Depression.
Following a decade of rising inflation, high unemployment, and a stagnant economy, the Feds rolled out new monetary policies designed to aggressively curb inflation. As a result, businesses drastically cut capital expenditures and cancelled investments in new equipment, factories, and tech.
Manufacturing industries, particularly those sensitive to interest rates (like auto manufacturers), were hit the hardest.
By late 1982, unemployment had grown from 7.4% to a peak of nearly 11%. For auto workers, it hit 24%.
Consumer spending hit the floor.
Many businesses saw no choice but to cut back or even abandon their marketing and advertising entirely. It felt like common sense. Why advertise when it seems like no one’s buying?
Like all downturns, this one didn’t last forever. By the summer of 1983, the recession was officially over. Output and spending were back to normal, pre-downturn levels.
Here’s where things get interesting.
A landmark study by McGraw-Hill Research, which analyzed 600 companies from 1980 to 1985, revealed an important insight: businesses that maintained or increased their advertising spend during that recessionary period saw significantly higher sales growth by 1985 (256% higher) than those that cut back.
Even with spending at an all-time low and unemployment at an all-time high, investing in marketing paid off.
While this research by McGraw-Hill is one of the most in-depth looks at marketing in a specific recession, we know this phenomenon isn’t unique to the 1981-82. We see it time and time again in examples across different downturns and in different industries, including:
When COVID-19 forced people to stop travelling, VRBO and Airbnb responded in opposite ways. Airbnb scaled back its advertising, while VRBO increased its spending to $90.8 million. In the end, VRBO saw a 61% recovery in bookings while Airbnb’s bookings dipped by 15%.
In the recession of the early 1990s, McDonald’s, then the biggest player in their industry, cut its advertising budget. Its sales declined by 28%. In the same period, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell both strengthened their advertising efforts and increased their sales by 61% and 40%, respectively.
When the Great Depression hit, Post was the biggest cereal contender, and Kellogg’s was the up-and-comer. Post cut back on advertising. Kellogg’s doubled theirs. You can guess where this is going: Kellogg’s sales grew by 30%, and they leapfrogged Post as the industry leader.
Maintaining visibility and brand presence during uncertain and challenging times put those businesses in a much stronger position when the pendulum swung again. And, as hard as it is to picture it during challenging times like these, the pendulum always swings back.
This is a tough time to be in business. The uncertainty of it all can feel overwhelming, especially with customers, partners, and a team all counting on you. But that is also precisely why now is not the time to retreat.
History has shown time and again that those who maintain a strategic focus on marketing during downturns are the ones who emerge stronger. Take control of your narrative, connect with your audience, and show your resilience. The challenges are real, but so are the opportunities.
REM Web Solutions is here to help you develop a marketing strategy that positions your business for long-term success. Reach out today to start the conversation.
Every business is different, with respect to what they do to generate value for their clients and shareholders. Some are incorporated, while others are not. Some manufacture products, and others provide services. Some employ highly educated professional people, while other companies hire unskilled workers.
There are endless ways that businesses are designed to create value, but one thing remains constant…each business must attract the appropriate people to perform the work that gets results for the beneficiaries of the products and/or services that they deliver.
We all know that good people in every walk of life are hard to find and sometimes, even harder to keep. Life changes and evolves constantly, and these changes affect how people perform.
Managing the distractions that life delivers is not always easy, even for highly educated professionals. In our fast-paced society, we are constantly faced with changes, and not all of the changes are good news.
What I’m getting at is that maintaining good health, be it physical, mental or spiritual, is key to being able to deal properly with change.
How is the current economy going to affect your business, your job, your family? The same question generally affects other changes that we are faced with: health issues, car maintenance, your roof that needs to be replaced, your kids who need help with education...the list is endless.
All these changes that you come up against will deliver some level of stress. It’s up to you to find the best way to cope. Good health can provide many advantages for coping with the dynamics that come your way. Unchecked health concerns can lead to bigger problems.
Employee Benefits are a wonderful tool to help people deal with the issues and the rising cost of Health Care.
Some companies provide a full suite of benefits, including retirement savings. Other companies provide very little in the form of benefits. No two companies are alike. No two company sponsored benefits plans are alike.
Most successful companies know that the more they care for their employees, the easier it is for their employees to care for the company they work with.
My role as an Employee Benefits Advisor is to provide guidance that helps business owners provide what they feel is adequate coverage for their employees. This can be dramatically different for each company.
One thing will never change… most people do not buy what they need or want; they buy what they can afford that best serves their needs.
Business owners who take on the role of being a conscientious Corporate Leader know that most people need benefits. Benefits that are properly designed will help companies attract and maintain stronger employees.
My best advice is to make sure you are aligned with a Benefits Advisor that is focused on advising, not focused on selling.
A good advisor is always working to help you grow your business, by aligning you with a cost-effective benefits solution that serves your employees’ needs, within your budget.
A good long-lasting benefits solution is based on a strong platform backed by Risk Management strategies that protect your employees over the long term.
To learn more about how Bauer Benefits helps our clients deliver “Better Benefits for Less Money”, you are welcome to plan a free consultation.
Ross W. Bauer
519-240-1290
In today’s rapidly changing energy landscape, purchasing energy isn’t just about finding the lowest commodity price anymore.
Forward-thinking energy managers and purchasers are expanding their focus to include strategies that lower costs, increase energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions.
Here are 5 essential areas to consider when optimizing your facility’s energy purchases:
An energy audit — often starting with a free walk-through — is a crucial first step toward improving your facility’s efficiency. A comprehensive audit will:
Analyze current energy usage
Highlight opportunities for energy savings and equipment upgrades.
Prioritise projects based on your key factors such as cost, ROI, safety, and carbon reduction.
Installing an Energy Metering and Monitoring System (EMIS) allows you to track real-time energy consumption, making it easier to spot inefficiencies. Many capital improvements can qualify for provincial and federal funding, helping to reduce out-of-pocket costs while delivering long-term savings.
Natural gas prices are forecasted to nearly double over the next two years. Since natural gas is a major input cost for electricity generation, electricity rates are also expected to rise.
Facilities can mitigate these risks by:
Purchasing energy supply through third-party suppliers or brokers.
Locking in rates through hedging strategies, protecting against extreme market volatility caused by events like hurricanes or global disruptions.
Choosing between fixed rates and spot market pricing options based on their risk tolerance and budget predictability needs.
Hedging provides budget stability and protection against unexpected price spikes — crucial for long-term planning.
Facilities can further optimize electricity costs through programs like:
Demand Response Programs: Curtail electricity use during peak periods in exchange for financial incentives.
Ontario’s Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI): Reduce your Global Adjustment costs by cutting usage during Ontario’s five highest system peaks.
To participate effectively, many facilities partner with peak advisory services that help predict when these peaks will occur.
Other options to manage peak demands include installing on-site energy storage or backup generation systems, further reducing reliance on expensive grid power during critical periods.
Assessing the business case for solar energy has never been more compelling. New incentive programs are encouraging companies to install solar panels for:
Net Metering: Sell excess energy back to the grid.
Load Displacement: Offset internal energy use directly.
Solar installations not only reduce utility bills but also significantly lower a company's carbon footprint — helping to meet sustainability goals and prepare for a net zero future.
Start with a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Plan to benchmark and assess your current emissions. Key steps include:
Implementing energy efficiency and conservation projects.
Integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
Purchasing Qualified Carbon Offsets or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for any remaining emissions.
A clear roadmap to net zero helps align your facility with evolving regulatory requirements and strengthens your brand’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
If any of these are of interest to you, please do not hesitate to reach out to Steve Sabean by phone or text at (519) 577-2362 or via email [email protected]
Please contact Ross Bauer for more information about the Strategic Partners.
(519) 240-1290
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