Success only runs one direction....
One of the golden nuggets I drill into consulting clients is the importance of owning their web presence when establishing a home online. ”Well duh,” I hear you saying. ”We registered the name, we own it…right?”
Maybe not. Who is “we?” [click here to continue…]
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Remember those days when old school marketing could give you a heart attack? The press broke down…the magazine ran your ad on the wrong page…an unseen typo lurked hidden until the Yellow Pages ad ran? The downside was either delay, or worse-—long term marriage to the mistake that saw ink.
Today’s marketing arsenal includes social media, most typically Facebook and Twitter among the lot. So what happens when both go hinky at the same time?
It makes you nuts (which pretty much explains my level of frustration the past two hours). [click here to continue…]
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Yes, the photo above is legit. It’s really a billboard on Highway 100 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Morrie’s, the company paying for the space, is a Saab dealership that’s been around for decades. Their customer base, as a Saab dealer, is wide ranging, from late 20’s to customers well into their senior years.
Which begs the question: Would your mom think this is funny? Clever? Or a representation of an auto dealer who was more in line with frat boys than $50,000 vehicles? [click here to continue…]
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At first blush, Google’s new service, Local Search, sounds like every brick and mortar retailer’s dream. A consumer wants something…they type that something into the search window…then Google provides pages of local businesses that fit the request. In theory, it’s supposed to support shopping local.
But does it? Really? [click here to continue…]
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I’ll be the first to raise my hand when it comes to endorsing the concept of “permission based marketing.” Bottom line is that you simply don’t add someone’s email address to a mailing list unless they provide it to you for that purpose.
Which is why I’m a bit steamed over the fact my personal inbox was hit with sales pitches yesterday. The first couple, I unsubscribed using the links provided, then sent a note to the vendors explaining why I’d done so, asking that they please not use that address. By the time the third fourth one appeared, however, the pattern surfaced. Marzipan, Evy Jacob, Fin + Roe, and Hen and Barley–the three four that sent uninvited e-blasts–shared a booth…and reps. [click here to continue…]
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As you know from last week’s post, I am bursting-at-the-seams-proud of an Indiana “shop local” project appropriately named ShoLo. They stand as a shining example of just what can be done when community business owners pull together.
According to Joya Helmuth, owner of Spark Fine Stationery, the seeds were sewn during a regular meeting of the Women in Retail Group (facilitated by the Small Business Development Center). She shared customers’ comments about their preference for locally owned businesses, then suggested members of the group “capitalize on it as a way to differentiate ourselves from national/chain stores. If it’s important to our customers, we should shout it from the rooftops!”
By the time the meeting ended, Joya had a partner in crime—Rebecca Maalouf, owner of Camelia, The Makeup Store. Within three months of launching, ShoLo had swollen to fifty members.
Recently, I asked Joya and Rebecca about their experience setting up ShoLo, and what advice they had for other retailers hoping to do the same. [click here to continue…]
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A friend turned me onto a great piece about strengthening the local economy by patronizing local brick and mortars. Written by Rieva Lesonsky (Consulting Editor at BizWomen.com), the post titled “Support Your Local Small Business” touched my retail-lovin’ heart in a big way.
Her article sprang from a customer service-related experiment last summer. In that case, a guy decided to purchase goods and services only from businesses whose owners he’d met. Before long, he was frequenting the same three restaurants repeatedly, which inspired Lesonsky to twist the concept slightly, then consider the implications of her own shopping habits: [click here to continue…]
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Now this is what I’m talkin’ about, folks.
Remember my earlier post listing ten ways to set yourselves apart from home based resellers? Take another look at number three on the list. The one about banding together with fellow retailers, combining your resources to gain better visibility. Yeah. That one.
Well, lemme tell ya, there’s someone out there doing it, and doing it well. [click here to continue…]
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