Essentials Magazine Essentials Spring 2019 | Page 26

Community Engagement
Get Started
Here’s how to get started. Head
for your chamber of commerce, and if
you’re not a member yet, join! Ask for
their list of clubs and organizations. Do
any interest you? I know you don’t have
time for that kind of stuff. Trust me, you
do! It’s all in how you choose to partici-
pate. There are more ways to participate
than just showing-up to their meetings
and events, be creative.
Volunteer to chair a fundraiser, one
that you can have at your location —
yearly! The event can be in your store,
in your mall or center, on the sidewalk in
front of your store or in your parking lot.
1. Flea market or rummage sales
are about the easiest to put on and
quite profitable. Find an interesting
twist though. You can arrange to have
leftovers picked up by a local charity.
2. Community holiday theme party
such as a Halloween costume party. Do
this after hours, charge for attendance
and give the profit to your organization.
During the day offer a discount for those
who shop in a costume.
3. If you are on a busy street try a Sat-
urday barbecue, possibilities are endless.
You might be wondering why
you need to have these activities in
conjunction with a community orga-
nization — for PUBLICITY! In the
example I mentioned at the beginning
of this article, Carr paid for all the ad-
vertising. When you work in conjunc-
tion with a local group you get public
service announcements (PSA) free of
charge and you ALWAYS mention the
location (yours) in the news releases.
If you want more help in doing news
releases or publicity, head for the public
library and go to the non-fiction # 659
section. While you are at the library, stop
by the reference desk and ask to look at
the Gale Directory of Print & Broad-
cast Media. You’ll find the address and
phone number of all the media in your
area. They are whom you notify for your
upcoming event.
Another idea might be to head a local
organization that you care about from
your place of business. Be sure it’s a
high-profile organization; this can bring
26 essentials | spring 2019
Six Additional Ideas to
Partnering with Your Community:
1. Show the community that you
care by words as well as deeds.
2. Write articles that will be of
interest and assistance to your
community in your business area of
expertise. Then offer the articles to
the print media.
3. Get on a local radio or TV
show and talk about hot products
or trends in education.
4. Use the Public Access equip-
ment that the federal government
requires cable TV businesses to
provide and produce a video for
broadcast. The cable companies will
teach you how to use their equip-
ment. Remember the production
needs to be “informational.”
5. Contact your state highway
department and join their “adopt
the road” program. Your store
cleans a mile-section quarterly and
you get your name on a sign on the
highway for all who drive by to see.
6. Hold pasta feeds for sports
teams. Consider local high school
or college teams and remember to
tell the media.
you closer to your community. It will give
many potential customers another reason
to visit you.
Local Exposure Without Joining
Community Organizations
For you die-hards who want expo-
sure to the community but refuse to
join a local organization, here are some
ideas. Hold a parking lot aerobics class
(in warm weather) three days a week at
no charge; allow everybody to partici-
pate. The ones who enjoy the benefits
will love you and who knows how many
hundreds of people will take notice as
they drive by.
Try working with the local city gov-
ernment and have a bus stop in front of
your store or better yet, as one ski shop
in Camarillo, California did, organize a
city sponsored bus service to the beach
in the summer (the pick-up was at the
shop). Be creative and have a winter
service too.
Work with your school district; offer
incentives to students who achieve
high grades, as does a surf shop in San
Diego, California. Many schools and
cities have work programs for youth; get
signed up with these kinds of programs.
Go to the source and ask local school
principals how you might assist; let
them know that you want some expo-
sure in trade. Many of the franchise
chains have jumped all over that idea.
Also, don’t forget about sponsoring
youth sport teams.
Take notice as to what your commu-
nity does already. Ask yourself, “How
can I add to the activities currently in
place?” Take time every morning to
view and list your options in solving
your challenges, and things will appear
simpler and solutions will become
known. Be sure to understand the
value your customers are looking for
in that which you offer and find your
uniqueness. Achieve these things and
you will get a greater piece of your
area’s retail pie.
n
ED RIGSBEE is the author of The ROI of
Membership-Today’s Missing Link for Ex-
plosive Growth,
PartnerShift,
Developing
Strategic
Alliances, and
The Art of
Partnering. Ed
is the Founder
and CEO of
the 501(c)(3)
non-profit pub-
lic charity, Cigar
PEG Philanthropy through Fun, and presi-
dent at Rigsbee Research which conducts
qualitative ROI research and consulting.
Find out more at www.rigsbee.com.
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