We’ve talked about impediments to shop local and Main Street programs before. You can create a fabulous shop local campaign and local currency program, but if your community isn’t positioned for growth, you’ll be swimming upstream against hurricane tides. Does Your Community Have…. Ample parking. Visitors won’t come if Read more…
This is not a dis on Quickbooks. It’s a great program, but if you are coordinating the printing of your local currency checks through it, you’re wasting your time. And who has any of that right now? If you use Quickbooks, the fastest way to create multiple checks is by Read more…
Part of the success in a shop local program is in the marketing. Shop local campaigns that spotlight the unique offerings of their local shops through social media and other avenues are more likely to inspire action than those that merely tell people to “buy local.” The “Why” Is a 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…
The trend in marketing towards personalization and giving your audience what they want, transcends just content. It needs to permeate your interactions with them. If you don’t take their preferences into account, there is always someone who will and when they do, it reflects poorly on your efforts no matter Read more…
If you have a local currency program, chances are there’s quite a bit of administrative processing you have to do. You have to: record each gift check sold verify its expiration date log when it’s spent reimburse your local merchants You also have to write-off the ones that have expired Read more…
When a giant tree topples in the forest, it leaves a huge hole in the tree canopy but provides much needed nutrients to the fledgling trees around it. Your community may be one of the ones affected by the recent announcement of Walmart store closings and you may be bracing 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…
If you read our social media streams or this blog, you’ll find in addition to best practices regarding shop local and local currency programs, we also like to highlight creative ideas we see on the Interwebs. It’s amazing what some chambers and visitors bureaus are doing to drive participation in Read more…
