Local currency programs and gift certificates make wonderful employee recognition gifts but the opportunities extend past large companies with big budgets. Schools prosper too from giving the gift of local. Reward our Educators Whether it’s a personal gift from a thankful family to a favorite teacher or a local best Read more…
Small businesses have a lot of benefits over larger companies. They’re more agile and able to change quickly, more in touch with what their customers want, and offer a more direct line from customer service to management but what they don’t have often is resources. They’re strapped for time because Read more…
Spring has sprung and over the next several weeks your social calendar is probably bursting with Mother’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, graduations, weddings, etc. As the weather warms, the invitations heat up. You want to find the perfect, thoughtful, unique gift for each of these occasions but how do you Read more…
If you’re running a shop local campaign you want to do more than just offer a list of participating shops. You want to capture the uniqueness of each merchant and communicate it to potential buyers. To do this most effectively, you’ll need social media. Get the Social Word Out You don’t Read more…
With Earth Day fast approaching, you’ll hear a lot of talk about recycling being good for our environment and sustainability. Shopping local is a form of recycling our hard earned dollars to benefit the local economic environment. Studies of the “local multiplier effect” or “local premium” shows that for every dollar Read more…
There are some amazing movements going on with shop local. From chambers of commerce to local business associations, people are realizing the value of small entrepreneurs in the community’s economic landscape. You can come up with the most inventive shop local campaign ever but if you’re not maximizing it for Read more…
Most small businesses will tell you it’s not the big box stores they are afraid of. Those big chains are held to the same regulations and costs that they are with local sales tax and while many of them offer online options, shopping in one of them is not the same Read more…
It’s one thing to expound upon the virtues of shopping local. It’s another to have an ongoing campaign enticing shoppers to do so. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s worth it to launch a shop local campaign, the answer is a resounding yes. What Shop Local Campaigns Mean for Small Read more…
Towns that have a local shopping area, such as a Main Street or a niche market like Antique Row, are generally more successful in their shop local campaigns because it gives them a marketing edge. From maps to directions, encouraging strolling to street fairs, a town with an area of Read more…
Beyond the trendy hype and the hoopla of shopping local, many employers see the value in giving back to their community. That’s why getting employers to adopt chamber bucks as a replacement for gift card incentives isn’t hard. Here are the things you need to mention when pitching a company: Read more…
