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Grow Your Local Business
MVP: How To Collaborate With Other Local Businesses This Holiday Season
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You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business podcast, where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnol shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in.
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Well, hello, or I guess I should say Happy Holidays. Because we're going to get into the holiday spirit today. I want to talk about ways that you can collaborate with other local businesses in your city during the holidays so that you can be seen by even more people and so you can reach more people who may not even know you yet. And really, so you can continue even making sales and getting more clients throughout November and December, even if you're in an industry that you think people aren't speaking, spending a lot on during the holidays. So right now it is the end of October and we're officially moving into the holiday season. And I don't know about you and how it works at your house, but I put my Christmas tree up the first week of November, so I'm ready. Like, I move right from Halloween into Christmas. Like, I love Thanksgiving too, honestly. So I do keep a turkey in the mix, like, especially in my dining room throughout November. But I know people have very strong feelings about decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, and we never did that growing up. Like, my mom still waits until after Thanksgiving to put up Christmas. And this is really actually surprising because my mom goes harder than anyone I know for Christmas. And like, literally anybody I know. Like, I will have to be sure to post on Instagram this year when I go home. Like, she's a huge Mickey Mouse fan and literally everything in her house, like floor to ceiling, inside and outside is Mickey Mouse. Like, not Disney Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse too. But, like, I'm surprised by the amount of stuff that she has that she is able to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate. But she does. But either way, like, I do not wait. Like, I decorate for fall on September 1st, so I get two full months of fall decor from like September 1st to November 1st. Then it's time for Christmas. So you get two full months of Christmas decorations from November 1st to January 1st. And then I also don't take down, like, I'm not a take down Christmas on Christmas Day. We actually keep up our tree through Mardi Gras. So we're in Louisiana. That's a whole other conversation. But our tree ends up being up for like four months. I love it. And we have like a ten foot tree. Like, I love Christmas. So anyway, let's talk about the holidays. Clearly I am ready and I want to talk about how you can have a successful holiday season even if you are a service based local business. Like, even if you are a photographer, a hairstylist, an interior designer. Like, I want you to think outside of the box for how you can think about the holidays and gifting and promos, even if that's not the norm for your industry. This is something that I've been coaching my clients on a lot inside of the localpreneur bootcamp on since really like September. We started talking about holiday planning in our quarter four planning session at the end of September. So one thing I've been talking to them a lot about in our weekly coaching calls is just to continue selling and showing up during the holidays, even as a service based business. And how, like, how can you get more creative in your offers this time of year? Because a lot of retailers and people selling products tell themselves that the holidays are the most profitable time of year because people are buying gifts. But I find a lot of service based business owners tend to tell themselves a different story about this time of year. Service based people, like we tend to have beliefs that people don't spend money on themselves this time of year because they're buying gifts. So they're not going to be investing in their business or photos or skincare or houses or health or really themselves in any way. Or we tell ourselves these stories that like our clients are too busy to work with us this time of year or that they just aren't paying attention to us or that they're too busy to get results. So something I want you to think about this time of year is how can you make it easier for people to say yes to you? How can you make it easier for them to buy gifts or even still invest in themselves this time of year? Like, what are your potential clients actually thinking right now about buying gifts and spending money and investing in themselves? And then how can you help them? Here's what I want to offer. Even if you're not selling gifts, then you can still make sales during the holidays. People do still want the result and the transformation that you can help them get. And you can still capitalize on the energy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday and just the holiday season in general. And what I really don't want you doing is getting quiet this time of year thinking that your people are spending money on gifts and not on themselves. So that's what I want to help you do today. I want to help you be more visible and continue to make Offers either directly to your people or even to frame your services in a way that could potentially be sold as gifts. So today I have three ways that you can partner and collaborate with other local business owners for you to expand your reach and get in front of more people who may not know about you yet. So with that in mind, when you're thinking of potential businesses to partner with, and as I walk you through this today, I want you to make sure that your target customers are the same and that their followers on social media would be interested in what you're offering as well. So for example, like if you're a personal trainer, partnering with like a local children's boutique may not be like that perfect match. But if you're a personal trainer, partnering with like a meal prep service or a local athletic wear shop would be. So think of other businesses that are like really aligned with you in that you share similar audiences. And to make it even easier, you may want to think of business owners that you already have established relationships with. That way it's just easier to reach out to and plan with and get the ball rolling on all of these, just a lot quicker. Okay, so my first way to collaborate during the holiday season is to create a gift bundle together. So this is where you and another local business both bundle your two products or services together for one really good irresistible deal. So one sale, like one transaction would bring in revenue and a customer for both of you, and the customer gets a really good deal in the process. So let me give you an example. Like if you're a hairstylist, you could create a bundle with like a local spa or massage therapist. So maybe like you offer a hair service, like a haircut, and they offer a massage. So each of you would offer a discount to your service to make the bundle like really irresistible. So even with you discounting your service, the idea is that you're still reaching an entire new customer base. So if you're the hairstylist, you're reaching the the spas clientele and vice versa. And I don't mind discounting here because that client can come to you and have an amazing experience and now be a repeat client over and over. Another example would be if you are a photographer. Like maybe you could bundle with a makeup artist so they get their makeup and photos done like all in the same day. And I like this example because it doesn't have to be like Christmas gift related, although you could g this to someone else. But it's just a fun, irresistible, irresistible promotion that you're running during the holiday season that people will see and will not be able to pass up. So you're bringing in the extra revenue during the holiday season and you're booking clients now, even if they aren't redeeming this until the new year. So there are a few things to think about if you're going to bundle your service or product with another local business. So first, you're going to have to work out how the payment or transaction is going to work for the customer. Like, will it be available for purchase on both of your websites or, you know, in store or just in one place? You're going to have to work out all the details and kinks with that, but it can be done. And I will just say don't make it complicated, like, keep it really simple and clear for the customer's benefit. And the second thing you want to do is really hype this up on social media. Make sure you and the business that you're partnering with are both promoting it on social media through your emails and really everywhere you're showing up online throughout the entire holiday season. This time of year, there's going to be a lot happening on social media. So don't be afraid to say something multiple times. Like, one of the biggest mistakes I see people making really year round is posting something one time and thinking that everyone saw it and I can assure you they did not. So keep talking about it. Like, think of all the different ways that you can continue talking about this promotion. All right. My second way to collaborate with another local business this holiday is to do a holiday themed giveaway on Instagram. So this is a way that you could either get several local businesses together and each giveaway either a gift card or a product or a service that you're trying to push for the holidays. Or you could partner with just one other local business and it just be the two of you doing the giveaway together. Or maybe you even schedule out a few giveaways throughout the holiday season with multiple businesses. So doing a giveaway like this on Instagram is really beneficial because it's going to get you in front of their audiences as well, like people who may not follow you yet or know about you yet. I don't ever really recommend doing giveaways by yourself on Instagram because typically it's just your own people seeing it, like the people who already follow you. So I always encourage you to partner with someone else like this. So if you decide that you want to do the giveaway, the first thing you're going to want to do is Pick out the business or businesses that you want to partner with and reach out to them with your idea. Then you're going to want to decide on the prizes and when the giveaway will run, like pick your date, then decide on the photo and the graphic, and then decide how people are going to enter the giveaway. This is really important. And here's my pro tip. I care mostly when I'm doing a giveaway. I care mostly about gaining new followers and getting exposed to as many new people as possible during the giveaway. So when you're deciding how people will enter, I usually require that people follow me and the other business so we get new followers and I require that they tag a friend in the comments. That way we're getting even more eyes and exposure on that post, and it's kind of like a chain reaction at that point. So once you decide all that, get your caption, everything together, you're going to be the ringleader here. So you're going to get all this information together for the giveaway, send it to the other businesses involved, and then you're going to be ready for your giveaway. So organizing the giveaway, it does take some time up front, but it can be such a fun way to promote your holiday gifts and offers, but also just a way to get in front of a larger audience and gain the new followers in the meantime. And even clients. And even if the winner wins something free and you end up giving away a service for free, that person still has the potential to become, you know, a repeat client or even refer you. So still give them kind of this ultimate experience. All right, my final way to collaborate with other local businesses during the holidays is to be part of local gift guides. So many influencers and bloggers and local magazines and even local TV news stations and other local businesses and organizations put together gift guides and you can be a part of those. And usually it's just free exposure. So how do you find them and how can you get involved in them? I recommend reaching out to the local bloggers in your city and the local media just to see if they're putting together any guides this time of year. And tell them that you want to be involved and go ahead and tell them what you offer and how it's a perfect gift idea and who it would be the perfect gift idea for, and then include the links and any information they would need to be able to buy. So get creative. Like, don't tell yourself that your service cannot be a gift. If someone wants your service for themselves, chances are they Wouldn't mind if someone else bought it for them. So frame it up in that way, like what you're offering and who it's perfect for and go ahead and include that when you're pitching yourself for a gift guide. And I'll tell you this, I have been a blogger here in Baton rouge for almost 13 years now and I have put together gift guides for many, many years. And I can tell you they take a long time. So it is super helpful when people reach out to me with their product or service versus me having to go out and find all the gift ideas. So I love it when people reach out to me with all this information up front and especially when they tell me what it is, who it's for and all the links to buy. So you're doing people a favor when you're reaching out to them with all this information. So check with your local news stations, the newspaper, neighborhood magazines too, and bloggers, Facebook groups like you are bound to find people putting together gift ideas and gift guides. So just do some research and start reaching out to people. The sooner the better. These guides can definitely take some time to put together. So the sooner you can reach out, definitely the better. Okay, so I hope you found that helpful again. My main goal for this is that you just keep showing up and selling and making offers during the holidays. Even as a service based business who may not be selling like quote unquote gifts, like, you can still have a successful holiday season. You can still be visible, you can, you can still get followers, you can still reach more people and get more clients this time of year. All right, before you go again, I would love it so much if you guys would leave me a rating or review. If you've been enjoying the new show, if you're listening on Apple, you can write a review. It has been a lot of fun reading the ones that y'all left. So far, I've had a blast. I talked about this on Instagram the other day. I've been having a blast creating content for the podcast and I've just loved seeing how much you guys are enjoying it as well. So thank you so much for everybody who's rated the show so far. Like, I really appreciate it. I have celebrated each and every rating and review. Okay. So have a great week and I will talk to you soon. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the LocalPreneur Boot Camp. This is my coaching program for business owners who are ready to to become the local go to in their industry with a steady stream of clients. You can find more information@lesleypressinal.com and I'll see you inside.