Small Biz Survival

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Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story

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We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach.

Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.

There's still time to Shop Indie Local, the Santa Cat says

Let’s do a throwback. Tell your founding story. 

How did your business come into being? How were you founded? Who was involved in your early history?

Go dig out an old photo, the older the better. Tell an early story from your business in just a few sentences.

Standing behind a cash register in a liquor store

I know this works because I recently heard a presentation from an Oklahoma business legend Stan Clark where he shared his story of getting started. The whole room was fascinated, and your people will be, too.

My liquor store founding story was that I bought it in 2006 — from my mom! I can tell that along with how my husband and I worked together to get our license, how we modernized our technology away from the old register you see here, and who our early helpers were.

Afraid your business is to new? Pshaw! I bet people still don’t know why and how you started.

Make sure you throw in the hashtag: #ShopIndieLocal

You can do this on Facebook or Instagram, or in print ads you’re planning to run. Makes a great video story or reel!

Check your fellow local businesses online. Look for their founding stories and cheer them on with likes, shares and comments.

See the whole series:

Read all our articles in our Shop Indie Local series.

Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.

Reprint or share this article:

Shop Indie Local is our group theme for holiday marketing this year. You have my permission to forward these articles to your local retailers, merchants association, chamber of commerce, downtown development group or any one else you think would benefit from them. All you need to do is list the author as Becky McCray of SmallBizSurvival.com and then let me know who you are sharing with.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

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