ribbon-cutting

6 ways to promote your retail business before you open

10/11/2011 By Joan 8 Comments

Create a buzz all over town long before your store opens.

These days, in a sour economy, businesses opening just about anywhere are major news. So don’t shy away from publicity. Here six ways to promote your retail business before you open.

Display a large banner or sign outside your building letting people know you’ll be opening. Thanks to Alyson Stanfield, a business coach for artists and an art marketing expert, for this idea which I read at her blog yesterday.
Pitch the story to the local media. Contact a reporter at your local newspaper, business journal or business magazine and pitch a story about the opening. Angles can include why you chose this time, when the economy is bad, to open a new business.
Write a press release. Post it on a site like Craigslist, which gets millions of eyeballs. Post it only in one category and only in the city closest to where your business is located.
Plan a fun grand opening celebration. Publicize it on a local event sites like Yelp, EventCrazy.com and MeetUp.com. This list of 27 questions to ask before promoting your event will stimulate ideas and help you plan a more interesting event. Please, no boring ribbon-cuttings. You can do better than that. Here are some alternatives to ribbon-cutting events.
Just before you open, create a business profile on Google Maps.
Contact related businesses and offer to cross-promote. Ask them to display flyers about your grand opening at the front counter. Tell them that once you open, you’ll be happy to promote something they’re doing. If you’re opening a pet store, contact owners of dog kennels, dog obedience schools and veterinarians.

What other ideas can you offer for ways that retail businesses can promote long before they open? Any examples in your own community?

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Google, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Special Events Tagged With: DIY public relations, DIY publicity, new stoie publicity, retail PR, retail publicity, ribbon cutting event, ribbon-cutting, store opening

If you MUST stage a groundbreaking event, try this

8/31/2010 By Joan Leave a Comment

You can lump groundbreaking ceremonies, check-passings and ribbon-cuttings into one category.

They’re tired, lifeless events staged for the media and to stroke the organizers’ egos. Smart Publicity Hounds avoid them at all costs.

But if you absolutely MUST have a groundbreaking event because your boss demands it, here’s a different twist on a tired theme. It’s courtesy of Lois Kirkpatrick of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services in Fairfax, Va. Lois submitted a “Help This Hound” question for my blog and ezine a few weeks ago, and got some great ideas from my readers about alternatives to cliche groundbreaking ceremonies.

man with daughter at community groundbreaking event

When Lois emailed her question to me, she mentioned a clever idea for a groundbreaking her department hosted several years ago that actually resulted in fabulous publicity in her local weekly newspaper.

“We asked the community to bring their own shovels, trowels, pick axes—any kind of digging implement they had—to help us break ground. So we ended up with a bunch of kids digging in the dirt, surrounded by VIPs. The attached aren’t the photos that took up the entire front page of a local paper, but they give you an idea of the event.

“It was very successful!”

How about other fun alternatives to traditional groundbreakings, ribbon-cuttings and check-passings? What have you done in your own community to generate publicity for these otherwise staid events?

Filed Under: Newspaper Publicity, Special Events Tagged With: check-passing, groundbreaking, ribbon-cutting

Wanted: Alternatives to dreaded ground-breaking events

8/17/2010 By Joan 9 Comments

Lois Kirkpatrick of Fairfax, Va., writes:

“I work for a large county government that has a variety of groundbreaking/grand opening events.

“The facilities range from libraries, parks and public safety buildings to homeless shelters and mental health centers.

“What are some things we can do instead of the dreaded VIPs-holding-shovels groundbreakings and VIPs-holding-scissors ribbon-cuttings? I’m looking for general ideas that can be applied to most types of facilities.”