As a former brick-and-mortar boutique owner, I spent a lot of time working with my local community, including other small businesses, local publications, advertising opportunities, and community organizations. While I was initially a little shy about making those connections (I was pretty young in hindsight) everyone was thrilled to partner with me because their goal was to bring together and support the people in our neighborhood.
And it’s not just limited to single-location store owners.
When I first started at my previous day job, we had about 13 store locations across the country. Because we were so spread out, and our online presence was pretty minimal at the time, we focused much more on local marketing than national marketing. That looked exactly like the things we’re going to talk about today: partnering with local businesses, working with local media, participating in community events, and more.
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that people crave community. They want to support real people. They want to know who’s behind the business. That’s exactly why these strategies work.
So let’s walk through some of my favorite ways to make that happen.
Prefer to listen to the episode? Click here.
Host a Local Pop-Up Shop or Trunk Show
If you happen to have a warehouse, studio, or office where you can welcome customers—and you’re not working out of your house and don’t want strangers showing up there—you can absolutely open your doors for a day or a weekend and give people an in-person experience without having to schlep all of your shit to a market.
Even if you’re only inviting your existing customers, giving them the opportunity to meet you in person, see, touch, smell, or taste what you sell can go a really long way toward deepening their relationship with your brand.
People buy from people. Giving someone the chance to shake your hand, ask questions, or simply put a face to the emails they’ve been getting for the last year creates the kind of connection that’s really hard to build through Instagram alone.
Run some sort of “bring a friend” promotion while you’re at it. It gives your existing customers a reason to spread the word and introduces new people to your business.
If you don’t have your own space, look for a local boutique, coffee shop, bar, or another small business that might be willing to host you.
If your audiences overlap, even better. You can both help drive traffic. But it doesn’t have to be a perfect match. Sometimes you just need a space, and they want more people walking through their doors.
Every entrepreneur is looking for more eyeballs on their business and more bodies through the door. Find the right partner, and you’d probably be surprised how open people are to collaborating.
Host a Workshop or Class Featuring Your Products
Another great option—if it makes sense for your business—is to host a workshop or class.
A lot of the same principles apply here. If you have your own space, great. If not, partner with a local business. Search your neighborhood for creative studios, makerspaces, libraries, or community centers that already host local events.
Think about how people can experience your products, not just shop for them. Maybe that’s a custom scent-mixing event for a candle brand, a charm or chain styling bar for a jewelry business, or a puppy social with a local trainer if you’re in the pet space.
Include any necessary materials in the price of admission, partner with other local businesses to provide drinks or snacks, and give attendees a bounce-back offer to use on your website after the event.
The workshop isn’t really about making money on the ticket sales. It’s about creating an experience that introduces people to your brand in a way they’ll actually remember.
Sponsor Local Events and Community Fundraisers
When I had my brick-and-mortar boutique, local charities, schools, and all sorts of organizations were constantly stopping by asking for donations for fundraisers.
Now, because you don’t have that in-person presence, they’re probably not going to find you. So you have to be the one to go looking.
Pay attention to the events and fundraisers happening in your area. Most of them happen every year, so even if you missed this year’s deadline, there may be an opportunity to get involved next year.
You could sponsor the event, donate products or gift cards, contribute something to a silent auction—there are lots of ways to participate, and they can all be really great visibility plays.
School fundraisers are especially interesting because parents already want to support the school that’s educating their kids.
One of my Lounge members was getting really intentional about evaluating the pop-up markets and events she participated in. When she looked back at the ones that performed the best, it was almost always the school events.
Get Featured in Local Media, Gift Guides, and Creator Content
Another opportunity is partnering with local media and creators.
That could be a community newspaper, a local magazine, TV station, podcast, blogger, or neighborhood creator. They’re always looking for stories that matter to the people in their community.
If you’re located in a tourist destination, that opens up even more opportunities.
And yes, these local publications often put together holiday gift guides too. If you advertise with them, you’ll usually be at the top of the list when they’re looking for businesses to include. Their advertising rates also tend to be much more approachable than national publications.
Plus, working with local media can make you a much bigger fish in a smaller pond. I have an old friend from my styling days in LA who eventually moved back home to Virginia. Almost overnight, she started landing TV segments all the time because there was less competition and local media was always looking for experts to feature. It’s a good reminder that you don’t need national exposure to get meaningful visibility for your business.
When I opened my boutique, I advertised in several local magazines, and got featured in our local newspapers.
If you’ve ever been on a live call with me, you’ve probably noticed the framed newspaper article sitting on the shelf behind me. The publisher actually printed and framed it for me when I opened my store, which was incredibly sweet.
There was also a local blogger who wrote about my boutique, brought all of her friends in, and I would run into her at all kinds of community events after that.
Without a storefront, you’ll probably have to be a little more proactive and be the one reaching out, but the opportunities are still there.
Try Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)
When it comes to direct mail, there are a few different ways you can use it.
We’ve talked on the podcast before about sending handwritten thank-you notes after a purchase. There are even platforms now that use robots to write them, so they still look handwritten.
One of my Lounge members recently used direct mail to re-engage previous customers and subscribers who hadn’t purchased in a while. She timed it with a promotion she was running and saw really great results.
At my previous day job, we used direct mail all the time, especially for our rewards members because they were our most profitable and engaged customers.
But whenever we opened a new store, we’d use something called Every Door Direct Mail.
You can use it as a small business too. You don’t need your own mailing list. You choose a ZIP code, define the area you want to target, and USPS delivers your mail piece to homes in that neighborhood.
I’m not going to get into all the nitty-gritty today, but I’ll link to it in the show notes if it’s something you want to explore.
It could be as simple as a postcard promoting your online store.
And if you’ve ever moved and suddenly started getting mail from landscapers, flooring companies, California Closets, window companies, and all the other local businesses, now you know how they found you.
Partner With Neighboring Businesses
Finally, if you’re feeling a little intimidated about reaching out to other businesses, start small.
Offer an exclusive discount to employees at nearby companies.
Swap package inserts with another local business.
Look for simple ways to support each other.
The kinds of partnerships you’d create with another online business? You can do the exact same thing with businesses in your own community.
And remember, one of the biggest supporters of small businesses is other small business owners.
Even if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar store, you’re still a local business. You’re still supporting your local economy. And when other businesses support you, it becomes a win-win for everyone.
Your Next Steps
At the end of the day, I think we spend so much time trying to reach people on the internet that we forget there are actual humans living around us.
If you’re looking for something different to try before the holiday rush really kicks in, this could be it.
Make a list of five local businesses you’d love to partner with. Look up your local magazine or newspaper. See what events are happening in your area over the next few months.
You might be surprised how many opportunities are sitting a few miles away from you that you’ve never even considered.
