Independents Week is here! The goal of this national campaign is to encourage people to shop at locally owned stores for one entire week. This year's campaign runs from June 27 - July 4.
Declare your independence and go local during Independents Week! From June 27 - July 4, we are asking you to pledge to shop at locally owned businesses.
Use the coupon!
Go out and save! Print the coupon off the Local First Arizona website and use it at any of the participating businesses to save 20%. Take your lunch break at a participating restaurant, start your holiday shopping early (there's only 6 months until December), pamper yourself with a haircut/massage, get your car tuned up, or spruce up the house with new furniture.
As a small business owner, one thing that is often on my mind is how important it is to show love to clients. When all is said and done, you are all very important!
I wondered what other people thought on this subject. So naturally, I looked it up online and found some good tips:
A personal touch to your client thank you's makes more of an impression than any assembly line thank you - for example, a hand-written card delivered straight to the recipient is so unique anymore that it is going to be remembered. Thank you's are all emailed or printed out from a computer - we all know those copied and pasted letters and cards that we get from various businesses.
Another way to impress clients is by gifting them. It doesn't have to be something big or really expensive, just something that lets them know how much you appreciate their business (they say it costs more to get a new client than to keep an existing one). Do you have business items (i.e.: business pens, paper, etc.)? How about creating something unique with items that you already have on hand?
Walking through a bookstore today, one of the front displays caught my eye. There was an entire table devoted to barbecue books that was set up at the front of the store. I guess as not only is summer the season for backyard barbecues, but Father's Day is also coming up and it makes sense to have the those books front and center. I never particularly thought about it, but there are hundreds and thousands of different barbecue recipes. To me, barbecuing is just something you do and I never really thought about it, but as it turns out barbecuing has a long history. People have been cooking over an open flame for a long time, but the modern barbecue grill didn't come around until the 1950's, when Stephen Weber invented it (or even more modern than that, the George Foreman Grill in the 1990's), effectively ushering in the era of the traditional American backyard barbecue party.
Happy Father's Day from Wicked Wicker!
Summer is about to begin, which means this is a popular time of the year for weddings! Every girl knows the basic customs - veil, white dress, and throwing the bouquet of flowers. One of the old world customs that began thousands of years ago and continues to thrive today is the honeymoon. And the tradition of jumping over a crossed sword and broomstick to symbolize cutting ties with the bride and grooms parents is not a very popular tradition today. But the role of the mother-of-the-bride (M.O.B.) generally remains the same, running around tending to any issues that may arise on her daughters dream day.
Does anyone have any funny M.O.B. stories?
