The past year has been a challenging one for small businesses across the country. It has improved in lots of ways. But big challenges persist.
Locally, the small businesses we LUV need our support and #MyWinterParkNeighbor, #ILUVWinterPark & #ILUVParkAvenue are introducing new ways to do just that.
Before I get into those, please remember that you can support your favorite Locally Owned Locally Operated (#ILUVLOLO) small businesses simply by following their Instagram accounts, Liking their Facebook pages, liking posts and tagging friends when you see posts you think they will enjoy. As well, when you eat out, shop with them or utilize a Local service, you can always post to your own social media, sharing your experience with others. That is simple to do and it is HUGE for the business! They will LUV you for sharing positive experiences with your friends!
Additionally, I am bringing about an effort from years ago which was met with much initial positivity, but was a bit ahead of itself: Totally Local Tuesdays!
Tuesdays are the PERFECT day to support your favorite Local small businesses. Because the first of the week can be a bit slower, many businesses elect to close on Mondays. And visitors to our community tend to be greater on Thursdays through the weekend. When business is slower, it is the ideal opportunity for Locals to get out and support favorite Local small businesses, for those businesses to offer specials focused to them and no one else. That is what Totally Local Tuesdays is all about.
This will be an effort designed to connect Local small businesses directly to the Locals who are interested in what they have to share, wish to support them. Thus, each Tuesday will have an entirely unique hashtag devoted to it. Each hashtag will be very much like a date on a calendar, preceded by #TLT. For instance, the unique hashtag for tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13, will be: #TLT041321. Very much as if you were supplying a birthday on a website registration, the unique digits will be three sets of two numbers, one for the month (January - 01, December - 12), the day of the month (from 01 to 31) and the last two the digits representing the year. The first three letters for Totally Local Tuesday. So the hashtag for next Tuesday would be #TLT042021 and so on. Pretty easy, really.
No, I don't expect this to catch on overnight. But, with a bit of tenacity, and with more and more people understanding it's out there, the EASE of immediately connecting with this simple, unique weekly hashtag, this can allow us to enjoy Local offers each and every week, an opportunity for Local small businesses to connect with fans and newbies alike at zero cost! Yep, pretty cool!
Recently I began offering Local small businesses a sticker to be placed in their windows identifying them as a Locally owned small business. I will be posting about these stickers in stories and other posts regularly, encouraging Locals to look for them when out and about around Winter Park. I will be using those stickers as the connector to Local small businesses I will include in my own posts to draw attention to Totally Local Tuesdays and more. So, if you don't have that sticker and want one, let me know! Beginning this week, I will have a Local pick up spot to make dispersing them easier.
Another issue presently facing our Local small businesses and those across the nation is a tremendous shortage in those wishing to work. This is especially true in the restaurant industry. I have recently communicated with numerous Local restaurants and who are in need or workers. At present, these include George's Cafe on Park Avenue, Orchid Thai on Park Avenue, The Imperial Wine Bar Winter Park, Ravenous Pig and Swine & Sons.
With that in mind, I have recently exchanged texts with Mayor Phil Anderson, inquiring if the city may wish to partner on a Local job fair. We are supposed to talk soon. Whatever the case, one way or another, this will happen in some compacity. I have ideas to run by businesses and the city, if taking part, seeking to make things easy for business participants and job seekers. So, stay tuned!
This is an ideal time to make a difference! And making a difference these days is often so easy to do. As well, it will be more appreciated than ever before!
Show your fave small businesses some LUV!