The one consistent reason people cite as why they don’t shop local is price. They say they can’t afford to pay more for items they need on a daily basis. But shopping local isn’t more expensive if you take into account the following aspects: Loss Leaders Big box stores run Read more…
Do you have a shop local program or campaign? What about local currency? If you have one, you should have the other. They go together like the Kardashians and bad jokes, or peas and carrots (if you’d prefer). Here’s why you need to make a local currency program part of your Read more…
Polls indicate most people feel good about shopping local, yet there’s still a lot of big chain buying that goes on. Why is that? Knowing the reasons people shop at national stores can help you adjust your small business marketing accordingly. Here are the main reasons people shop the big stores Read more…
Whether you run a chamber, a local merchant association, or you are a local merchant, if you have dreams of creating a community where people think to shop local before running to a box store or ordering something online, you’ll need to implement social media best practices and use the following Read more…
One of the benefits of our product is that it makes it easier for local organizations, like chambers, to provide gift cards for their members. Many smaller merchants simply don’t have the resources to run an e-commerce platform to sell gift certificates. Many chambers and local business associations also lack Read more…
End of year is the time we come together and give thanks for those who are important to us. Everyone seems a little nicer and we take the time to show more appreciation than we do the rest of the year. That’s why this is the perfect time to thank Read more…
Everyone knows local currency is the perfect gift for the people on your list but there’s one organization that is using local currency as a reward to “catch” locals following safety protocol (like good driving) and doing good deeds. The Shenandoah, Iowa Police Department, in cooperation with the Shenandoah Chamber and Read more…
Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday, is coming up this Saturday. It’s an important day (and weekend) for local merchants as some bring in as much as 30% of their year-round revenue just in that weekend following Thanksgiving! While that can be a real boon to the Read more…
As a chamber you probably have a larger web audience than most of your local merchants. You probably also have a more established, higher ranking website than most of them. Because of this larger audience you can help your member businesses quite a bit through web referrals. Leveraging Content by Read more…
If you’re like most chambers and always looking for sources of non-dues revenue, we have an easy one for you. This idea works well with or without a local currency program but having one means even larger opportunities for non-dues revenue. Many chambers are running a shop local program this Read more…
