Garden Center Blogger

Archive for the ‘New Media Marketing Ideas’ Category

If you don’t know the Kojo Nnambi’s daily radio show on DC’s public radio station, I can tell you that locals love it and people everywhere listen in via podcast.   And the recent episode about “Crowdsourcing, Carrotmobs and Local Business” has some intriguing ideas for independent garden centers.  Here’s their description of the topic covered:

We explore how business owners and ethical consumers are harnessing the power of online communities and crowd-sourcing to support the local economy.

“Mom and Pop” businesses can’t necessarily beat prices at big box stores or national chains. So some local independent businesses are experimenting with new ways to engage customers and build loyalty. We explore how business owners, ethical consumers and labor activists are harnessing the power of online communities and crowd-sourcing to support the local economy.

You can listen through this link, but or read these notes I took with IGCs in mind.

• Carrotmobs are campaigns that reward local businesses who “do good” in some way.  The reward is directing “mobs” of customers to them through social media.  Think Local  First DC does carrotmobs regularly, and they describe them as “inverse Groupon”.
  Speaking of Groupon, one panelist warns that it may or may not not make sense for businesses to participate in it.  (If I can weigh in, they recently asked me to offer my garden-coaching service at a half-off discount via their emails, and then give them 30 percent of my greatly diminished hourly rate – all of which I considered a really bad deal for me.)
• In response to Walmart’s anticipated store opening here in DC, panelists reminded listeners that it’s small businesses who are the primary job creators in our economy, not the boxes.
• Others cited the importance of the experience of shopping.  Big-box shopping experience “lacks some soul”.  (You could say that again.)
• One caller, the owner of a small independent guitar store, offers in-store classes and has developed a community around the store.  Note the parallels with in-store teaching of gardening!   Another caller likes small businesses for their “advice you can trust and employees who care”.
• CoolTownBeta Communities is using social media to drive business to small companies in downtown neighborhoods coming back.
• Compost Cab, an upstart company in D.C., picks up waste and composts them for nonprofits that grow food, which fills a niche that big waste companies cannot.  Compost Cab also started in this Voice of America  report on composting in cities.

My take-away thought?  That I’d love to see an IGCs tap into the localism movement somehow.  (In addition to the “green” movement and good-growing movement, of course.)