We are excited to share with you the following blog post that was written by Dean Richard, Owner & Founder of Compass SEO. You can view more of Dean’s work on his site here and on twitter – @deanfortythree

It seems somewhat contradictory on the surface to say your local business should be marketing on the world wide web. But why should you use social media to promote your small business, and how can you get the most out of those avenues?

If you’ve been to the multimedia page, you may have watched this video (if you haven’t, you should- it’s excellent). Make no mistake, social media is here to stay. I’d venture to say that if you’re reading this, you already use social media personally. So while it connects people all around the globe, why do you need it for you local business?

Actually, you need it because you are a local business. One of the great things about social media is that it works every bit as well- or even better- on a small scale as it does on a large one. Take, for example, the brand that everyone associates with our lovely city of Seattle- Starbucks. Their Twitter is approaching 900,000 followers- and their feed is littered with replies to customers. Your business probably does not have 900,000 people following it- so take advantage of that. Reply to everyone you possibly can. Interact with them, get to know them- that’s part of being a local business, right? Giving your customers that personal attention online will let them know they’ll get personal attention off-line.

The best part of using Twitter to promote your local business is you can be instantly referred. With a couple clicks, a satisfied customer can tell everyone they know about you. And when they do that, thank them for it on Twitter! A common response I hear a lot is “Isn’t the opposite true? Can’t someone say how much they hated it just as easily?” The answer is yes- and that’s a good thing! How so? Let’s pretend you see this tweet:

“Had a horrible time @yourlocalbusiness.”

Ouch. Pretty damaging, right? Wrong. Reply with this:

“@unsatisfiedcustomer: sorry you had a lousy time. We’d like to make it up to you. Please come in for a free #whatever.”

And with that you have probably turned an unsatisfied customer into a satisfied- and possibly repeat- customer, who hopefully will give you feedback so you can improve. Oh, and the whole world saw you make it right. Not bad for a complaint, huh?

Another excellent avenue to explore is having a blog for your business. Twitter only allows you 140 characters- with a blog, you can talk as much as you like! What should you blog about, though? Trust me when I say this: you can blog about anything. You want to frequently connect it to your business, but your customers want to know you- so give it to them. Talk about your dog, your family, your hobbies- what makes you, you. And, as I said before, social media works better on a small scale, and that’s certainly true of your local business. Why do you live in Seattle? Why is your business in Seattle? Your fellow Seattleites will eat it up- it’s what we want and what we love.

In the video I referenced earlier (did you catch that youTube is social media too?), my favorite statistic is that 78% of people trust peer reccomendations, while only 14% trust advertising- and word of mouth is basically free. A well written, regularly updated blog goes a long way for that word of mouth. So pick a schedule, pick some topics and get writing (I write blogs about writing blogs- it’s a vicious cycle).

So if you haven’t already, fire up a twitter account and a blog for your business. Email links to them to everyone you know, local or not. Put up signs in your business and get it printed on cards. It’s the best marketing you can possibly do. If you ever get stuck, email me at deanfortythree@gmail.com or tweet me @deanfortythree and I’ll be happy to help out.

Dean Richard is a SEO Specialist and blogger for Bellingham-based Compass SEO, which specializes in marketing. He has lived in Western Washington his whole life, and loves all things Seattle – Well, most, anyway.

With social media today businesses are able to reach their target market and have conversations, discussions, promotions, and whatever communications they desire instantly – and free! This is invaluable to many businesses, and when used properly can be extremely advantageous particularly to those who don’t have the time or money to spend on traditional advertising. As a matter of fact, there are many schools of thought that would say traditional advertising will vanish for small businesses due to the progression of social media. With over 400 million people on facebook and over 18 million people on twitter, it is obvious that these are places that businesses need to be. There are many techniques that small businesses can use once on these sites and having a strong online presence has never been more important than it is today.

At The Seattle Umbrella we use social media in various manners, but primarily as a means to promote the companies that are “certified local” on our site. We have spent the last 6 months developing our social media followers, and are continuously working. We are slowly but surely compiling an audience of people in Seattle who want to do what they can to support local businesses here in Seattle. Thus is the beauty of The Seattle Umbrella project. With the continued success of our social media efforts, we are growing at an extremely steady pace, which in turn increases the value of using our social media to advertise here in Seattle. Local businesses can now use our social media to instantly reach an extremely targeted audience for a fraction of the price of any traditional advertising, and vastly more targeted.

Social media is changing the way business is done, and it is truly an exciting time for business. We wish all of you continued success, and encourage you to use social media to your advantage!

Cheers!

The following is taken from an article written for a  Milwaukee Newspaper in 2007. It contains some very pertinent facts about the economics involved with supporting local businesses and some encouraging news about local business around the nation. Enjoy!

The Economics of Local

A 2002 Economic Impact Analysis in Austin, Texas, was one of the first major studies to examine the impact of shopping at local businesses versus national chains. It found that for every $100 spent at a local bookstore or CD store, $45 stayed in the local economy. For every $100 spent at Borders, however, the local economic impact was only $13. Astudy in Maine the following year yielded similar results: Shopping local kept three times more money in the local economy than shopping at chains. The studies cite several reasons for this. Proportionally, local merchants tend to employ more local labor and buy more local goods than national competitors, which operate from remote headquarters. Local business owners keep their profits in state, and contribute more to local and state taxes. Local businesses are also more likely to promote local artists and authors.

Those findings may seem intuitive enough—of course local businesses keep more money in the local economy— but less obvious is just how much difference shopping local can make. This year’s San Francisco Retail Diversity Study found that even the smallest shift in customer spending can have a tremendous impact on the local economy. If 10% of residential spending were redirected toward local businesses, the study found, it would give San Francisco a $192 million economic boost and generate nearly 1,300 new jobs. The reverse, the study warns, is also true: If 10% of business were shifted to chains, the cost to San Francisco’s economy would be almost $200 million.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Our Milwaukee is beginning with the goal of convincing city consumers to redirect just 10% of their spending toward local businesses.

Encouraging Signs

Business owners involved in local business alliances in other cities report that these organizations have been tremendously effective. Steve Bercu, president of the Austin Independent Business Alliance, says that in just five years his organization has grown to 350 businesses and earned considerable clout with Austin’s city council. The alliance has moved beyond simple buy-local campaigns, and begun to work on programs that encourage local developers to ensure their new projects reserve space for independent businesses instead of just national merchants.

Stacy Mitchell, the author of Big-Box Swindle and the co-founder of the Buy Local organization in Portland, Maine, which began in 2006, says the group has already changed consumer-spending habits. Almost threefourths of businesses involved with the organization reported that customers are making more of an effort to shop local because of the campaign.

Mitchell says she heard of one Portland bookstore owner who noticed a new customer that soon became a regular presence in the store and one of his best patrons. Eventually, the owner asked her if she was new to the city. No, she responded. She’d lived there for 20 years, but had just learned of the Buy Local campaign from another independent business and subsequently ceased shopping at national bookstore chains.

“The message really clicked for her,” Mitchell says. “I think that’s one of the most important things these campaigns can do. They become an opportunity for local business owners to reach all their customers collectively, and share business.”

In addition to encouraging anecdotes, the city of Bellingham, Wash., has hard numbers to show that its Think Local First campaign is working. Astudy released last year showed that nearly 70% of residents were familiar with the program, and that 58% were choosing to shop at local businesses more deliberately than they were three years ago. In general, independent business owners say these buy-local campaigns are an easy sell. Their customers are receptive to the message, and even if many may not initially consider whether they’re shopping at local businesses or national chains, all it takes is a gentle reminder for them to change their spending habits.

As The Seattle Umbrella moves forward, we are receiving an overwhelming response from restaurants in Seattle that are interested in being a “Certified Local Business.” It is a great selling point for restaurants to be easily recognized as a local business, because there is such a strong urge from consumers who want to eat locally. Most people don’t have the time or resources to grow and prepare their own food for every meal, or simply just want to go out to eat once in a while, so eating at a local restaurant that gets their food from local farms, is the next best option. Here are some great quotes and profiles of some of the various reasons that people like to eat local.

With such a strong urge and push from the community to support local businesses, and to eat local food from local restaurants, the challenge becomes finding these local restaurants.  That is why our goal at The Seattle Umbrella is to take the research out of this process for consumers. When people see our logo in a restaurant window, they know that the business is “Certified Local” and is a great place to eat. Also when they come to our website online by searching for example, “local restaurants in Seattle”, they will have an entire directory of certified local businesses in Seattle.

With that being said, we encourage you to check out a few of the first “Certified Local” restaurants in Seattle.  The first is actually a meal planning and delivery service called My Chef By Request. They provide healthy and gourmet meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks that are all natural and produced local in your area. They have nutritious meals for any goal weather it is simply to eat healthy, eat local, or lose weight, and the best part is THEY DELIVER! We encourage you to check them out at www.mychefbyrequest.com for great food right from the Seattle area.

Next, we feature the Paragon, where you will dine on Seattle’s finest cuisine created by Chef Christopher Hartfield in the comfort and lively atmosphere that only Paragon provides. We next recommend a few businesses that need no explanation, and are very sweet – Mighty-O Donuts and Cupcake Royale. For a great locally brewed beer check out Hale’s Ales, and if you are looking for a great wine bar we recommend Purple.

These are just a few of the wonderful places to eat if you are looking to eat locally. We encourage you to think locally when making your choices for eating out, and hope that you will use us as a source to find local businesses in your neighborhood.
Your friends at The Seattle Umbrella

First of all, we want to thank all of you again for the overwhelming support we have been receiving. We are pleased to announce that we have had our first three businesses sign up and join up for our services. We have also received over 100 fans on facebook, and 100 followers on twitter in just a few short days.

The three businesses that we are proud to be involved with are Tattva’s Herbs, Attractology, and Seattle Sound Carpentry.

Please check out the above websites and support all of these businesses as they are great local companies. We are very honored to be involved with such wonderful local businesses and be able to help promote their services. We are going to keep this short and sweet, but just wanted to thank you for your support and remind you to support local businesses in Seattle!

We have many new and exciting ideas in store, and are genuinely looking forward to meeting all of you and helping your business succeed. Buying local is important for many reasons, and as we are learning we are also gaining encouragement to focus our efforts on promoting local businesses in Seattle.

We are very lucky to live in such a beautiful and diversified city, and we at The Seattle Umbrella are deeply committed to keeping it that way. Local businesses are what gives our city character and we are proud to be in Seattle.

To conclude our first blog post, we again just want to thank all of you for your support and for visiting the site. Be sure to stay tuned for the many exciting things to come and sign up for our Free Local Buying Guide.

Wishing you all the very best Seattle has to offer,

The Seattle Umbrella team