Local Businesses Might be Your Best Customers

[Steve Mohun Consulting]

Business owners join together for many great reasons.  Whether it’s sharing marketing promotions, planning events, assessing customer feedback, addressing issues facing their community, joint advertising, sharing expertise and know-how, coordinating community events, producing marketing collateral or building networks, better results are achieved by working together than going it alone.

Local business owners and their employees spend their working hours in your marketplace every day.  They get coffee, go to lunch, shop for gifts, have their hair done and drop off their dry cleaning near their work because it’s convenient and more importantly, because they like the people who they buy from.   Many of them live near their jobs because they like the area, which means they also like their local businesses.  These same people, their family members, friends and neighbors are more likely to shop for services in their local area too.  From plumbers to roofers, financial planners to insurance agents, lawyers to accountants, most consumers prefer to work with someone they either know personally or through a referral – which almost always means local.

Knowing about and patronizing other businesses near your own results in meaningful and honest referrals.  Even when local business owners and their employees aren’t working it’s in their best interest to shop locally.  It’s not just convenient but it increases traffic in the neighborhood.  Increased traffic is good for everyone. 

AllyLocal is a community of small business owners and its members create content, start discussions, share ideas, write blogs and promote their unique selling proposition.  AllyLocal membership is free. 

AllyLocal provides an on-line platform for gaining access to information about businesses in local communities everywhere.  The site is works improves upon existing alliances formed through Chambers of Commerce, Local Business Associations, Facebook, email, newsletters and other traditional channels.

Members of AllyLocal need only enter general information about their businesses to join.  The result is a personal web page that’s ready to go with no changes, or a page can become a custom presentation using templates and drop and drag functionality that doesn’t require any programming skills or with the use of some basic CSS knowledge, a highly customized and professional looking page.  Member pages include features that help promote their businesses including blogs, activity feeds, comments, forums, ideas, videos, pictures, links to their company website, Facebook and Twitter and more.

Members are encouraged to join and create groups and develop alliances within communities, industries, verticals, market niches and other demographics to help them network, plan promotions, share expertise and coordinate other activities that improve customer acquisition and retention.

So go on line and meet your neighbors today.  If you join before others who you know then tell them about AllyLocal.  Join a group or start your own.  Take advantage of a great opportunity to promote your business to people who may just be your best customers.