Sheila Scarborough and Leslie McLellan of Tourism Currents laid out a simple starting point for all your social media efforts. Good news: it’s as easy as filling in the blank. Fill in the Blank (Our company) is where (our customers) find (the thing we offer) with (this benefit) So all you have to do is…
This one is a simple idea that came up when I was visiting Cathlamet, Washington, population 553: Post your local hashtag where visitors will see it. The Cathlamet Chamber of Commerce does an awesome local photo contest. Most of the photo submissions come from locals. They use these on their annual events calendar and other…
A few weeks ago, we talked about knowing your customers in order to help them answer questions they get asked. This week, get to know your customers better by thinking through what they want to be good at. What do your customers want to be good at? You help customers all the time. The…
I am not a regular television watcher but happened to catch a “60 Minutes” episode recently (http://tinyurl.com/60Minutes-socialmedia). The episode focused on how influencers are marketing using social media. Although I follow and use several social media platforms to help reach small-business owners, most of this information was new to me. But it was not surprising….
People complain about your business. It’s true. It happens but most of the time you never hear about them. On average for every one complaint you do hear, there are 26 other complaints that people have. That’s a substantial number. And while many of the complaints are perhaps minor in nature, they are something that…
I recently had the opportunity to hear the keynote speaker, Megan Myrdal, at the ND Grocers Convention talk about connecting with the millennials. While her thoughts focused on food marketing to this group, her message is pertinent to anyone looking to tap this market. Millennials, according to Megan, are the largest cohort and encompasses people…
What a great day. Your business is open. The wait is over. Instead of costs, costs, costs, you can now make some sales. Some time passes and someone walks into your business. It’s the business owner from next door and she just wants to wish you good luck. Some more time passes and some friends…
Recently, my wife and I decided to be a local tourist. We took a couple of days to go visit local historical sites that we had never seen before. Our trip took us into some very small North Dakota towns where we decided to spend the evening. We found our lodging using a smartphone. The next…
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