How to Use “Shop Local” to Your Advantage

You may have heard about “Shop Local” campaigns, but you may have felt that this is a retail deal. Not so – in this article, Linda explains how “Shop Local” campaigns can work to a service business's advantage, too.

Conclusion

The American Shop Local Web site shown above is exactly the type of mentality that small local independent business owners must overcome in order to succeed. The idea behind the SL campaign is to avoid every single store mentioned in that "We Power" box shown above and to shop the small business owners who are grouped together on Main Streets or in downtown areas in cities and towns across the globe.

While big box stores do give back to community, the cost is tremendous to the small towns that those box stores occupy. Usually, they pay minimum wages, they don't offer local merchandise and they don't use local services. They may contribute to local fundraising efforts and to local nonprofit organizations, but they may not volunteer to help unless they are leading the specific campaign.

In other words, big box stores, much like large ad agencies or outsourced services, are not connected to community like local independent business owners. If you like the idea  of community and the idea of networking locally, then learn more about shop local campaigns in your area. You might learn that you benefit more (and not just financially) from this local business than you do from any online clientele.