Lex DeVille
Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
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Made this thread on request. Yes I have two threads going. The other one's a long-term strategy, so it's cool okay...
So, I made a video the other day where I went into 3 restaurants and talked with them about promoting local deals on Instagram. It all went pretty well, but I was just doing it for the video. Later I decided to go further and see what I could make of it using Instagram & expanding the opportunity to include businesses beyond restaurants.
In House
• Launched an Instagram page
• Launched corresponding Facebook page
• Launched 1-page website linking to Instagram
• Launched pic on Instagram stating in 2 weeks local stores will offer tons of free deals, & to follow if they want the deals.
• Launched Craigslist ad linking to Instagram
• Launched Facebook Ad Campaign with freebie offer linking to Instagram
In Town
• Posted a couple of flyers around town linking to Instagram
• Cased businesses for early adapters
• Pitched 4 businesses on freebie deal offers
• 2 agreed and gave dates for me to come back & pick up the offer (early next week)
• 1 was a maybe & wanted more details by email
• 1 Said no & claimed liquor laws in Texas won't allow him to do this kind of promotion
• The liquor guy was irritated that I didn't set an appointment first.
• He mentioned checking the Chamber of Commerce for business info so I can set appointments.
• Went to Chamber of Commerce. They wouldn't help me without paying $250/mo to be a member.
• Chamber sent me to a Small Business Development Center across town & gave me 1 referral number.
• Drove across town to SBDC and chatted for a bit. Not much use either. Seems small businesses are small for a reason.
End of Day
• 10 Local Instagram followers
• 3 or 4 of those followers are local businesses
• Totally exhausted
• 2 businesses on board,
• 3 international chains pending corporate approval
Learnings & Next Steps
• Many stores have "no soliciting" signs. The one I pitched wasn't very open to listening to me.
• Appointments seem preferred in my town. Will adjust fire and try again tomorrow.
• Received 2 referrals from an individual in a local grocery store. Will follow up with them tomorrow.
• Received info about the corporate office of the grocery store and that they like to participate in stuff like this.
• Will call several corporate offices tomorrow to bypass local bottleneck general managers.
• Will begin cold-calling other local businesses to save time and gas.
• Will begin limited cold-emailing tomorrow to see if it bears fruit at all.
• Need to work on the pitch and clearly stating what I'm doing in less time.
• Not everyone understood that there was no cost to them. Need to make that more clear.
• Not everyone saw the value in social media marketing. Need to make that more clear.
• Will target small service businesses first, then corporate offices to save time & refine my pitch.
That was day 1.
It's a pretty big claim to make... "7 Days of Freebies" by 12/7/15, especially starting from scratch.
If it works, I've got something. If not I stumble, trip, fall, roll, and keep going.
Anyway, thread requested. Thread made. Now I'm off to pass out into a comatic sleep.
P.S. What did you do today?
So, I made a video the other day where I went into 3 restaurants and talked with them about promoting local deals on Instagram. It all went pretty well, but I was just doing it for the video. Later I decided to go further and see what I could make of it using Instagram & expanding the opportunity to include businesses beyond restaurants.
In House
• Launched an Instagram page
• Launched corresponding Facebook page
• Launched 1-page website linking to Instagram
• Launched pic on Instagram stating in 2 weeks local stores will offer tons of free deals, & to follow if they want the deals.
• Launched Craigslist ad linking to Instagram
• Launched Facebook Ad Campaign with freebie offer linking to Instagram
In Town
• Posted a couple of flyers around town linking to Instagram
• Cased businesses for early adapters
• Pitched 4 businesses on freebie deal offers
• 2 agreed and gave dates for me to come back & pick up the offer (early next week)
• 1 was a maybe & wanted more details by email
• 1 Said no & claimed liquor laws in Texas won't allow him to do this kind of promotion
• The liquor guy was irritated that I didn't set an appointment first.
• He mentioned checking the Chamber of Commerce for business info so I can set appointments.
• Went to Chamber of Commerce. They wouldn't help me without paying $250/mo to be a member.
• Chamber sent me to a Small Business Development Center across town & gave me 1 referral number.
• Drove across town to SBDC and chatted for a bit. Not much use either. Seems small businesses are small for a reason.
End of Day
• 10 Local Instagram followers
• 3 or 4 of those followers are local businesses
• Totally exhausted
• 2 businesses on board,
• 3 international chains pending corporate approval
Learnings & Next Steps
• Many stores have "no soliciting" signs. The one I pitched wasn't very open to listening to me.
• Appointments seem preferred in my town. Will adjust fire and try again tomorrow.
• Received 2 referrals from an individual in a local grocery store. Will follow up with them tomorrow.
• Received info about the corporate office of the grocery store and that they like to participate in stuff like this.
• Will call several corporate offices tomorrow to bypass local bottleneck general managers.
• Will begin cold-calling other local businesses to save time and gas.
• Will begin limited cold-emailing tomorrow to see if it bears fruit at all.
• Need to work on the pitch and clearly stating what I'm doing in less time.
• Not everyone understood that there was no cost to them. Need to make that more clear.
• Not everyone saw the value in social media marketing. Need to make that more clear.
• Will target small service businesses first, then corporate offices to save time & refine my pitch.
That was day 1.
It's a pretty big claim to make... "7 Days of Freebies" by 12/7/15, especially starting from scratch.
If it works, I've got something. If not I stumble, trip, fall, roll, and keep going.
Anyway, thread requested. Thread made. Now I'm off to pass out into a comatic sleep.
P.S. What did you do today?
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