Improve your small business visibility!

Here are the Top 8 Reasons to have YOUR High Desert small business in the the RelyLocal Business Expo at the Mall of Victor Valley on June 30th:

8. THE FOOD COURT! Food vendors will be located IN the food court, right where all those hungry people are! Whether you are passing out samples, selling packaged food or preparing goodies on the spot, this is where you want to be!

7. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHOW OFF! You are the expert at what you do. Use this space to do product or service demonstrations. Set up an “Ask the Expert” time. Give out samples of your product. The more interesting your booth, the more likely people are to want to stop and get more info. You’re the star!

6. EVENT ADVERTISING! Benefit from Facebook ads, radio advertising, in-mall advertising and more! We are busy promoting to spread the word and will also provide you withFacebook, Twitter and email promos to share with your fans. Advertising sponsorships are also available!

5. MARKET SURVEYS! I hear business owners wonder aloud all the time, “Why aren’t people buying this product?” Well let’s ask them! Offer a drawing for a prize or some candy to reward mall patrons to answer a short survey to find out just what your customers want. Mine this opportunity for all its worth!

4.AIR CONDITIONING!!! The Mall is the most comfortable place to be in that summer heat, and your potential customers know that too!

3. DEAL ON MALL SPACE! If you wanted to have a table in the mall on your own, you would have to spend twice as much. Working together we get an amazing deal! Get in front of thousands of mall patrons for an AMAZING price.

2. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE! The Mall of Victor Valley has about 8,000 people come through daily on average. EIGHT THOUSAND PEOPLE! And they are coming to the mall prepared to spend money. Why not with you?

1. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS! Can your customers can get what you provide online, down the hill or from a national chain? Then you can benefit from working with other independent businesses to market your company. Together we can make an impact on our community and encourage our neighbors to shift their spending to local businesses. The RelyLocal Business Expo is one way we are using our voice!

Do you own or run a small business (or a locally-owned gigantic business) in the High Desert of California? (Including Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Adelanto, Oak Hills, Helendale, Phelan, Summit Valley, and Lucerne Valley.)

Let’s get you connected to a coalition of locally-owned businesses that are changing the way the Victor Valley shops! Email us right now at alyssapenman@relylocal.com.

Jump In!

The harness is on. The links have been checked. The deck is clear.

The only thing left to do is jump.

If you’re like me, this is the tough part. Although there is a lot of hard work in preparing a business plan, lining up the contact list, acquiring all the tools you need to grow your small business, at some point, you have to jump over the edge.

I recently talked about confidence – believing that what you do is of incredible value to your customers. If you do believe that, then you know you have to get over the edge. Having the guts to do it doesn’t always come naturally.

As Dan Rather said:

Courage is being afraid, but going on anyhow.

I like this follow up from Lauren Raffo

Sometimes the biggest act of courage is a small one.

Quick story – when I had my first job in marketing I was terrified of talking to new people. At the first networking event I went to, scores of people at a big architectural firm, I only talked to the waiters and then hid in the bathroom until I figured enough time had passed and I could go home. That is terrified.

Now I love networking and feel it is one of the biggest keys to building a business worth having. Did I get there by suddenly losing my fear of meeting new people? No. I took one small step. I took another small step. And fifteen years later, here I am. I still get nervous meeting new people, but I go on anyhow.

Currently I find I’m afraid of asking for the sale. If I didn’t have people coming up to me excited to be part of the local business revolution we are starting, I wouldn’t have many clients. (This is real talk now!) But I know that to succeed I must have courage. And all courage is is being afraid and doing it anyway. They don’t need to see my knees knocking. I can put a brave smile on my face. I just need to jump off the bridge.

This is why I think that small business owners are the most courageous people I know!

What area of your business have you shown courage in? What area do you need to find a little courage in? 

So confident, I don’t even need a title

My name is Alyssa and I am a webinar addict.

I won’t be giving up my habit anytime soon, though. Sorry.  These little classes educate me, inspire me and push me to try new things with my business. I’m currently going through a series by Marie Forleo, which is marketed to women entrepreneurs but really holds great content for anyone.

A major key to her success is confidence.

Small business owners: do you have confidence in what you do?  

My business is all about promoting locally-owned businesses here in the Victorville area. I am confident that what we do (online listing, social media promotion, networking events, grassroots promotion, marketing services) is vital to local businesses, many of whom do not have expertise in this area, or access to those with expertise. I know that my heart is in the right place because I believe that small business owners are the bravest people – doing what they do to serve their community and feed their families. There is no one else to pass the buck to; the weight of their success is on their shoulders. So, yes, I am confident that I can help support these businesses.

It can be tough to keep that confidence 100% of the time, though. Skepticism from outsiders is a little daunting. Some folks seem to assume that everyone has an angle or is manipulating the system. My heart breaks a little when I hear that. How does one prove oneself in the face of such cynicism?

You don’t. That is my theory, anyway. As a small business owner, we have confidence that what we are doing is worth it, and the good will always win out. I recently watched an interview with Pierre Andre, the pro-skateboarder turned shoe company founder, talking about this brand Etnies. When asked about his success, one of the things he mentioned was that he outlasted his competitors. Many of them gave up and went away. Etnies hung on though, sometimes by their fingernails. He was confident in the worth of his product to his customers. Now he has the longevity and success to show for it.

I’d love to hear why you are confident in your business and what you do to keep that confidence up. Please leave a comment!

 

EDIT: Apparently I forgot to title this blog. So now it has a title.

5 Ways to Help Your Community Go Local by Jeff Milchen

 

There were dozens of notes taped to the windows and doors of the shuttered bagel shop. “We’re so sad to see you go!” “Come back!” “You will be missed…” What really struck me though, was the note from the former owners taped on the door above these comments: “We appreciate the outpouring of love from the community. It would have been more helpful if you had come in to buy bagels though.”

Nothing speaks louder than dollars. Many of us lament the state of politics and our leadership at every level of government and wonder if our vote ever means anything, but we overlook the simple power we wield on a day to day basis.

As consumers we can shape our community by ‘voting’ with our dollars. For example, if we want only one option for coffee available in the High Desert, then we need to keep giving our money to Starbucks (and I say this as a long time drinker of Starbucks coffee. I don’t hate Starbucks by any means. And when you need drive through coffee, it is definitely convenient.)

But if we want variety available, places that have local musicians perform, places that are unique, showcase local art, serve something a little different, places that support our community, then at least some of the time we need to buy our lattes at The Grind, One of Life’s Perks, Fruit Avenue Coffee, Bodacious Bundts or one of the other coffee spots available to us. Locally-owned, independent businesses are a “use it or lose it” proposition. Like the patrons who “loved” the independent bagel shop, but went to Noah’s Bagels anyway, we can’t assume someone else will be voting with dollars.

5 Ways to Help Your Community Go Local talks about some ways that consumers AND businesses can leverage their power.

• As a consumer, look at the big stuff first. If there is a way to shift some of your largest purchases to local options, that will have a tremendous impact!
• As a citizen, exercise your right to participate in spending decisions. Are our city and county governments looking at the big picture by sourcing from local businesses?
• Utilize the power of anchor institutions. There are several hospitals, prisons and school districts in the High Desert, as well as a community college. Are we as their customers or neighbors encouraging them to source locally?
• Help provoke a pro-local business alliance. This is our goal as RelyLocal – bringing businesses together to better serve the community, and connecting local customers with local businesses.
• Differentiate our roles as citizens vs. consumers. We aren’t just making decisions that affect ourselves. We are also acting in ways that will build or detract from our community as a whole.

I do not recommend patronizing a place that doesn’t meet your needs. If there is a problem with the product, service, atmosphere, or other element of a local business, give the owner your feedback! Give them a chance to improve if you can, but don’t throw good money after bad. But when you find a place that does a great job, that provides a quality product or service, tell your friends and neighbors about it and keep coming back.

Don’t call it a comeback!

Oh my! It has been almost one whole year since my last post. That is the cardinal sin of blogging, right? 

Shortly after that last post, I found out that I was going to become a mom for the first time! And exhaustion set it and it was all downhill from there, as far as blogging was concerned. 

Now our new little RelyLocal mascot is here and even sleeping through the night most nights, so I am braving a return to the blogosphere! (I’ll post a pic of the baby who forced me to quit writing later…) 

So its not really a comeback because we never left. We have continued to support locally-owned, independent businesses in the High Desert. We have seen our colleagues over at RelyLocal Hesperia successfully launch their community campaign. And we have made BIG plans for 2012! 

Stay tuned for more information from us about:

• Business here in the Victorville area
• How consumers benefit from locally-owned, independent business
• Why communities need a diverse business landscape
• Events to make the Victor Valley a better place to live, work and play
• Cool stuff that make us glad this is our home

 

We want YOU!

We are calling YOU, Loyal Locals!

If you are willing to do a short phone, email or in-person interview with us sharing why YOU love to buy locally, please leave a comment below or send an email to alyssapenman@relylocal.com.

High Desert residents only, please!

Image: Some rights reserved by legends2k

The Future of Content Marketing: 4 Tips to Help You Prepare

The Future of Content Marketing: 4 Tips to Help You Prepare.

Great article! I encourage everyone who has a vested interest in a business succeeding to read it. (That would be everyone who is employed by a business, or those who rely on people employed by businesses!)

I spoke with a gentleman yesterday about content marketing for a book he has written. Although he is of a different generation (by about 40 years) he is pretty savvy about internet marketing. He was trying to identify the ‘silver bullet’ to get the word out about his exciting idea. Unfortunately, how we as a society use the internet is constantly evolving. What was effective even a year ago may not be so today.

Does that mean we don’t use any platform older than the mustard in our fridge? No! Each channel has potential to connect with certain customers at certain times for certain reasons.

Email – Yes, email is as sexy as snail mail now. However, it does give freedom to craft longer messages, reach people on their mobile devices, allow automatic messaging, allow easy forwarding and is still the current mode for business. An email newsletter is still viable, but is likely to be ignored by younger customers.

Text marketing – This is a staple overseas and is rapidly growing in the urban and youth demographics. The importance is that your customers will opt-in for these marketing messages, meaning they WANT you to contact them with short, up-to-the-minute deals. Don’t send them something they didn’t ask for! I predict this segment will grow significantly and in 2 years time, we will be amazed that it ever skeeved us out to get text marketing messages. While it is immediate and most messages are read quickly, it is perhaps limited as far as social networking goes at this time. Even youngsters may not forward a deal they find via text messaging.

Social Networks – As the article states, your customers increasingly look to their peers on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to find the products and services they need. Give them content to find easily and share!

Websites – I think of these as the cornerstone or foundation of your online presence. You need it, but don’t expect to put something on there and have people automatically flock to it. Just like opening your doors doesn’t mean people will walk in. Still work on providing quality content to share and be found in searches, but don’t stop there!