Local market research that costs nothing but your time

This is a followup article to ‘Free database access’ through your local library.  Greenville County Library systems allows access from home to 85 different databases, so chance are, whatever you’re trying to research the library can help.  One database that is particularly useful to the small business owner is Reference USA.  Reference USA is a database to be used for general market research only, but it has some powerful tools in it’s search capability.

First, there are multiple databases in the Reference USA system, 3 of which relate to the US;  business, residential, and health care.   If your trying to research the US residential market and want to see how many households in the 29681 zip code have a median home value over 250k, you’ll find 757 records.  If you need to find out how many female dentists there are in the 29607 zip code you’ll find 22 records.  If you need to find out how many businesses in the 29662 zip code have 2 – 9 computers you’ll find 313 records.  All of these searches can be performed by clicking on the custom search tab after your database has been chosen.  The quick search tab is highlighted by default, one great search feature on this tab is the capability to search by phone number.

These example searches only scratch the surface of the capabilities to research your market.  Reference USA is only one of many tools available for the small business owner to use.  It’s a particularly useful one, but there may be a better one for your business among the 85 available through the Greenville public library.

Cosportunity by sponsorships

Another form of advertising your business is by sponsoring local events or seminars.   I usually find that people either get it or they don’t get it when it comes to sponsorships.  Sponsoring an event is a great way to get your name out into the public.  Even better if you pick an event that is associated with your business, or an event where your business can help the event’s attendees in some way.

Upstate Town Planner was a sponsor for a local event held today, Launch Greenville, put on by Jake and Bridgette Hayes with Enterprise Launch.  This event was a one day seminar with all kinds of great information for small and start up local businesses.    Town Planner is a great product to get the word out about small and local businesses, so sponsoring the event was a natural fit.  As far as calculating the cosportunity for this sponsorship, well, that’s a little more difficult.  There were attendees who were exposed to my logo today, plus all the online promotion that has been done and will continue to be done.  The number of opportunities will continue to increase over time.

How do I know there will be results from this sponsorship?  Because there have already been results.  Most people I talked to today commented “oh, you’re a sponsor” when I introduced myself, and that’s what it’s about.   Name recognition, brand recognition, any kind of recognition, I’ll take it.

More Easy Calendar Promos for April

There are corny and wacky holidays almost every day of the year.  A lot of them lend themselves easily to promotional opportunities for small and big business, especially those using social media to get the word our fast and economically.  Below are some ideas for the month of April, 2010:

April 7th is No Housework Day – Need anymore be said.  Create all kinds of promos geared toward the people that normally perform all the housework.  Create a contest in which one of your customer’s will win a month of free maid service from a local company like Greenville Maids.   Or just invite everyone to your local restaurant or bar to avoid the housework waiting at home.

April 10th is Golfer’s Day – Use this day to drive traffic to your golf course, golf store, or driving range.

April 11th is Eight Track Tape Day – Does anyone even remember eight track tapes?  Does anyone have any old eight track tapes sitting around?  Invite people to your store and provide a giveaway to anyone who brings in an eight track tape.

April 13th is Scrabble Day – Sponsor a local scrabble contest, or pick out 10 letters and let your customers spell out the biggest word they can come up with, of course, provide a prize to the winner.

April 15th is Titanic Remembrance Day – Take the focus off of the fact that it’s tax day.  Hopefully your taxes have already been completed by your local accountant like Mike McCourry.

Free database access

Did you know that you can access hundreds of databases for free in the Greenville area?  Big companies with big budgets can afford to buy their own access to the big name databases, but what’s the small business owner supposed to do when the need to research arises?  Beg?  Borrow?

Go to the local library.  First, the local librarians are super nice and always willing to help you find what you need.  But you only have to go the library once, and that’s only to get your library card.  After you have your card you can access all kinds of information from the comfort of your home computer!  That’s right, you don’t have to go the library and stay there and flip through pages.  Just log onto the library’s site, www.greenvillelibrary.org, navigate to the research tab, pick your database, type in your library card number and your pin, and you’re all set to research.

Just an FYI, the Greenville County Library provides access to 85 databases!  Yes, 85, take a look for yourself and find whatever you need.  Included in the 85 is access to D&B, ReferenceUSA, and The Small Business Resource Center.  Access through the library may not let you run big reports on some of the databases, but small business owners are well adept to figuring out how the use the tools available effectively.   Not including your time invested into the research, this equates to a cosportunity of zero.

Easy Promos for the Month of April

There are corny and wacky holidays almost every day of the year.  A lot of them lend themselves easily to promotional opportunities for small and big business, especially those using social media to get the word our fast and economically.  Below are some ideas for the month of April, 2010:

April is National Humor Month – promote humor by offering a discount when your customers tell you a joke good enough to make you laugh.  Or put on a comedy night at your restaurant, bar, or event space.

Own a music store?  April is International Guitar month.  Free lessons with purchase?  Free strings for life?  Tickets to a musical performance with purchase?

April is Keep America Beautiful Month.  Sponsor a neighborhood cleanup with some other local organizations.  Buy some garbage bags printed with your company’s name and logo to use on cleanup day.

April is Stress Awareness Month – seems like there’s something every month that lends itself well to the health and wellness industry.  Reduce your stress with a massage,  gym membership, free yoga lesson, etc.

National Welding Month is also celebrated in April.  Partner with the local vocational schools to sponsor a welding contest.  Provide a prize to the winner of the most creative welding art project.

April is also Car Care Month – Promote your businesses services around car care.  Offer coupons in April for discounted services or for free services that often get overlooked, like tire rotation.  It’s also a great time to provide free educational tips about car care.

Repost – Small Business Tax Workshop

I went to one of these last year when I started my own business and found it very beneficial.  I learned a lot, and I would encourage attendance for those thinking about or who already have a small business.

The Clemson Small Business Development Center is presenting a FREE tax workshop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 in Room #2 of the Greenville Technical College Admissions Office (McAlister Square), at 225 South Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville. To reserve a seat, please call the SBDC at 864. 370.1545.

http://greenvillesbdc.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/free-small-business-tax-workshop-to-be-held-may-26-2010/

What’s Better Than One Geico Testimonial?

Two Geico testimonials!  I am very fortunate today to be able to post a second testimonial from my local Geico Office, this one from the marketing manager.  Click below to take a quick read.

Testimonial_2010_SCROD_Geico2