Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on | 0 Comments
If you're an entrepreneur or small biz owner, you're not only gearing up for the usual Thanksgiving holiday happenings this weekend, you're also gearing up for some of your biggest sales of the year (fingers crossed!) including the three-year-old American Express-created holiday, Small Business Saturday. If you're a small business community like we are, we're gearing up to cheer on small businesses from the sidelines (and with our wallets!), and did so this week by contributing to this New York Daily News article featuring the shopping event.
The New York Daily News reached out to us to share our thoughts and insight into this week's Small Business Saturday, in terms of whether or not we expect brick and mortar stores to participate (Yes) and whether or not we think the lowered Amex credit to shoppers will effect the campaigns buzz (No).
The daily paper also asked us to introduce them to some brick and mortar businesses around the city who were participating in Small Biz Saturday and could share their stories and plans. Within minutes we were on the phone and onto email reaching out to local businesses we knew who would be perfect fits for the story! We also relied on the Amex map of participating stores (which you can find on their website) to find other options.
One of our first calls is actually featured front and center in the piece - Grace Kang of Pink Olive Boutique (one my personal small biz boutique crushes). We were pumped to be part of an article featuring a truly newsworthy campaign created to draw attention to the shop local and "small" movement! I hope people discover shops and businesses in their own communities they keep coming back to for more!
Of course, this story inspired a teachable moment for us, to help brick and mortars land free press like this. It was so easy, yet we discovered a few challenges that we blogged about that you as a small business owner could change in a snap and increase your chances of landing hot press overnight without lifting a finger.
ADVICE TO BRICK AND MORTAR STORES:
Want to increase your businesses chances of scoring great press like this? Here are a few pointers:
- Be available and/or easy to reach when the press come calling! Make sure you're not doing these three things that prevent the media from sharing your story.
- Be able to give quotes about areas your an expert in or hot topics in your field quickly. When this reporter asked for quotes from us on Small Biz Saturday, we didn't have two days or even two hours to write back to her, more like two minutes! Be able to work fast!
- Be known! I was asked to connect the New York Daily News with small business owners quickly - it was very much a first-come-first-served situation. My mind immediately went to the businesses who I knew fit the checklist they were hoping to fill, and these tend to be businesses that I read about on social media, this our showcase at Tin Shingle, or via a business' newsletter, or even in the small biz community as a whole. Being as known as possible helps people find you to make your brand!
