With so much marketing noise out there, it’s hard to keep track of the products, services, or events that are most relevant to you, especially during the holiday season, when promotion reaches a frenzied peak. Whether you are delivered ads on your favorite streaming platform, social media feed, apps, or TV and print media, we are bombarded from all directions. No matter the type of sales, a key element of promotion is repetition, repetition, repetition. If the message is drilled into your head often enough, you couldn’t forget it if you tried. There may be a fancy marketing term for it, but the upshot is, for any business, that’s called a win.
Even a small fry business like mine — micro fry? Nano fry? — Benefits from repeatedly reaching out in an effort to keep our name top of mind so customers keep coming back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s why so many companies have a web site, a blog, multiple social media accounts, and any number of assets on which to post ads, ads, and more ads. Sometimes, businesses collaborate so as to pool resources to expand their reach. This is the purpose of this post.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I became frustrated with the lack of support received by small business entrepreneurs and home-based business owners, who seemed to be shut out of all the subsidies, loan offerings, payroll assistance, and government support that enabled so many entities to remain solvent during periods of lockdowns and storefront closings. Money seemed to be raining down for many types of businesses, except for those with a handful of employees, or sole proprietorships. I was especially concerned about the community of disabled entrepreneurs, or those business owners who catered to a clientele with disabilities, which was being ignored altogether. With limited public transportation, as well as individual isolation, I wanted to find a way to support both groups. So, I took it upon myself to create a collaborative platform by which I could connect small businesses with the customers who needed them. The Let’s Go Shopping virtual event was born.
Let’s Go Shopping is an online, accessible, virtual shopping showcase that is hosted on the Zoom platform. Each year, I’ve invited small business entrepreneurs who offer retail goods, crafts, food, apparel, accessories, tech gadgets, home decor and more to exhibit their products on the LGS online virtual shopping mall.
This year will be the 11th edition of Let’s Go Shopping, and if you, or if someone you know, would like to join us as either a vendor, or as an attendee, the place to start is at the Let’s Go Shopping main information page. You can opt-in to our announcement list, which is required of all vendors. Then, scroll down to the contact link to express interest in joining the program as a vendor. I’ll reach out with more details.
Feel free to pass this post along to a friend or loved one who is an entrepreneur, crafter, or artist. There is a registration fee and a vendor guidelines page to which you’ll be directed. There are also recordings of previous events, if you want to get an idea of how the event runs. Think of it like an audio only version of a home shopping channel. It’s a great way to get business name recognition, as Let’s Go Shopping is widely promoted, starting with this post. I’ll publish news and updates about LGS11 repeatedly on my network, and the participating entrepreneurs will leverage their own contacts as well. You can’t miss it, so if you’ve heard all this before, that’s thanks to repetition, repetition, repetition.
Sparkle on!
Laura