Long Branch Business News Using Patch to Find New Customers
League Attends Training Conference in Orlando, Fl.
The online Patch newspaper has marketing tools that can bring your message to the Kensington, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Wheaton communities. According to Patch marketing manager Sonia Bunch, the online paper gets thousands of hits per month in each of the small communities adjacent to Long Branch. Embracing this local community, Bunch says, is a way of “investing in your firm’s future.” Patch tools include banner ads, blogging, custom videos and featured listings among others. Listing on the Patch directory is free. With a few clicks of the mouse you can also upload your own photos and other information to improve your free listing. Because the Patch papers are themselves extremely local in focus, marketing expert and Business League member Chris Lancette has suggested Patch as potentially a very good tool for increasing local awareness of our Long Branch Businesses. At the upcoming (Dec. 4) Long Branch Business League meeting, we will discuss the pros and cons of using a Patch-based campaign. Business League staff can also show you how to add your business and pictures (for free) to the Patch directory (contact Paul at 301 6222400, x41), and we can also show you examples of existing inexpensive banner ads. The local Patch marketing representative, Sonia Bunch, can be reached at 240-457-2096.
December 2012 Volume 6, Issue 2 Business League delegation (from left to right): Carlos Perozo, Paul Grenier, Art Cobb, James Wilt and Ada Villatoro. This fall, Carlos Perozo, Ada Villatoro, James Wilt and Art Cobb – all from the Long Branch business league – traveled to Orlando, Florida, to participate in a three-day training conference on community organizing. Their mission: finding ways to further improve the Business League and the community it serves. The training was put together by the national NeighborWorks organization, which holds similar training events each year. NeighborWorks paid for all flight and hotel expenses. League president Carlos Perozo attended a class on how to get members engaged. “What struck me is the importance of keeping focused on tasks. Not everyone likes to come to a meeting, but many people will find the time to contribute to a common task, particularly if it is something they are good at,” Perozo said. Ada Villatoro got inspired by her class on something called ‘asset
mapping,’ a method of cataloguing all the skills and resources available in an area. “It is so important,” she said, “to count your assets and put them to work for your community.” League members James Wilt and Art Cobb were equally enthusiastic about their classes, and about the social bonding that getting away from the office allowed. After returning to Maryland, the Long Branch team met again, this time at Samantha’s Restaurant, to fill out an application for a $2,000 grant which will be used for beautification and to hold a spring Long Branch Day festival. Matching funds are currently being sought to leverage the small grant, which is almost certain to be awarded. To learn more about how you can help, contact Business League president Carlos Perozo at 301 587-4829.
A ‘Passport’ to Guide Customers to Long Branch’s Stores? At the Business League’s November meeting one of the main topics of discussion was finding ways to make coupons more effective for our Long Branch stores. Past experience with coupons has been mixed. Distributing coupons at metro stops has worked pretty well for Community Thrift store. But similar paper coupons got a poor reception at last year’s outdoor Holiday Market on Flower Avenue. “I couldn’t get people to even let us put them in their hands,” said Chris Lancette, the market’s manager. Edith Yanez, a marketing expert who has kindly volunteered some of her time for the League recently, said we need to make our coupons “hip and flashy.”
One way to do that might be to make a sort of passport booklet, on each page of which there is an offer from one of Long Branch’s stores. Customers then get each page “stamped” (like a real passport) every time it is used, and after three or four stamps they receive a prize. Elizabeth McMeegin and Ronnie Galvin, of IMPACT Silver Spring, noted that a coupon passport is similar to the sort of local currency approach that has been used successfully to stimulate local purchasing in many small towns. Moving forward with this idea will be high on the agenda at the next business league meeting. (See full meeting agenda, below.)
‘Discover Long Branch!’ Dec. 3rd El Golfo 6-9 pm Dec 14th and 15th Community Thrift Store The first in the new ‘Discover Long Branch!’ series takes place Monday, December 3, from 6 p.m.—9 p.m. at El Golfo Restaurant. The event is already generating a lot of ‘buzz’ — and not only because of the unheard-of twentyfive percent discount on the restaurant’s popular food. Word is out that there will be both interesting art and interesting people — including Dan Reed with the widely-read Just Up the Pike blog. Up next on the Discover Long Branch! Schedule? Community Thrift Store is offering a two-day event, Friday Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15 from 6—9 p.m. on both days. All the clothing in the (enormous) store will be half price, just in time for the holidays. Pictures with Santa will be free for anyone who brings toy or food donations for the victims of Hurricane Sandy (normal price is five dollars). Contact the Business League (202 441-8475) to arrange a Discover Long Branch Day for YOUR store!
Long Branch Business League Meeting / Reunión Tuesday, Dec. 4 / El dia martes, 4 de Dec. 2:30 p.m.— 4:00 p.m. El Golfo Restaurant 8739 Flower Avenue
Agenda de la Reunión
Descubriendo Long Branch! Resumen y las inscripciónes Mercadeo por medio de cupones, o (la revista del internet ) Patch? Nuevas ideas: ¿Cuáles son nuestras fortalezas?
Meeting Agenda
Discover Long Branch! debrief, and sign-up
Marketing: coupons, passport, or Patch?
Brainstorming: What are our assets?
Liquor Control Hires New Inspector The County Department of Liquor Control has appointed Mr. Tim Zywiolek as the new inspector for our area. When he stopped by a recent Long Branch Business League meeting to introduce himself, Zywiolek emphasized that he is eager to improve relations with the many restaurants and stores that fall under his department’s jurisdiction in Long Branch. Among his top priorities: making sure that the atmosphere on the streets surrounding restaurants is orderly and inviting. Zywiolek can be contacted at: 240-777-1999.
Long Branch Business News, a monthly publication Paul Grenier, Editor 301-622-2400, x 41 pgrenier@MHPartners.org