Table of Contents 

1. Introduction
2. What are the different ways to advertise using my car? 
3. What are the benefits of car decals?
4. What are the common uses of car decals?
5. Key Takeaways
6. Conclusion

Car advertising is one of the most innovative and effective ways to promote your business 24/7. It turns your vehicle into a mobile billboard, so you can easily reach a wide audience, whether you’re running errands, driving to work, or simply parked outside. While car advertising can come in many forms, car decals always stand out more due to their benefits. Let’s explore what sets car decals apart in this article by Signs.com.

What are the different ways to advertise using my car? 

Before diving into the benefits of car decals, let’s explore the different methods of car advertising. These are: 

• Car decals – Car decals are semi-permanent vinyl graphics that are placed on any part of the vehicle. These are very versatile and affordable and are best used for long-term promotions.  

• Car magnets – Car magnets are temporary and removable signs that stick to the car’s surface. These are often used for short-term campaigns or if the car is used for both personal and business purposes. 

• Vehicle wraps – Vehicle wraps are vinyl graphics that cover the entire surface of the car. These offer maximum visibility and are more suitable for large vehicle fleets. 

Not sure which type matches your business needs? Check out our comparison article on Vehicle Wraps vs. Vehicle Decals and Car Magnets vs. Car Decals. 

What are the benefits of using car decals? 

Now that you know the different types of car advertising, let’s find out why car decals are the best choice for car advertising.

1. They offer lots of impressions. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, car decals can generate high impressions while you’re on the go. Car decals are eye-catching and easy to spot, so your ad is immediately exposed to a diverse audience, whether you’re stuck in traffic, on busy highways, in a parking lot, or in front of a store. 
2. They are inexpensive. Car decals are a one-time expense. They don’t have any recurring fees and are perfect for small businesses or startups with a limited budget. 
3. They have tax benefits. Advertising your business using car decals can make you eligible for tax benefits. Any amount you spend that goes into placing an advertisement can be written off as a business expense. To make the most of these perks, make sure to keep track of your receipts and expenses and consult an accountant. For more information, read our Tax Benefits of Using Car Decals for Your Business article. 
4. They are easy to install and remove. Car decals do not require a lot of effort to install and remove. If you ever need to apply them to a car’s surface, update, or replace them, you can do it yourself without worrying about damaging the paint or you can seek help from a professional. Check out our article on How to Install Car Decals Like a Champ and How to Remove Car Decals Without Damaging the Paint for comprehensive guides. 
5. They are durable and long-lasting. Car decals are designed for long-term use, compared to car magnets that only last for a short time. They’re semi-permanent and made of durable, UV-, water- and weather-resistant material, making them the ideal choice if you want to promote your business for several years.
6. They give your car a professional appearance. Car decals add a polished and professional look to your vehicle. This grabs the attention of your audience, helps build credibility, and implements consistent branding if you’re using multiple vehicles. 
7. They are customizable. Car decals have various shapes, sizes, and designs, which make them customizable to match any business. You can apply them to your car, truck, or van, use minimalist text, go for bold designs, or add QR codes to link your social media page.

What are the Common Uses of Car Decals? 

Car advertising is not just limited to businesses — they can also be used across various industries and creative purposes. This makes car decals a great option for ads, as they are incredibly versatile and can be used in various ways. Here are some of the common uses of car decals: 

Brand Advertising 

Car decals are often used for brand promotions. Whether you’re a small business, a startup, or a large company, car decals are an excellent way for you to gain more visibility and advertise your services and business hours. 

Event Promotion 

Looking for more attendees or supporters for your event? Car decals are perfect for promoting various events, campaigns, or fundraisers. Make sure to include locations, ticket information, and event dates in your ads to encourage more people to come to your event. 

Seasonal and Holiday Marketing 

Take advantage of the holiday rush and use car decals to advertise special deals, promos, and discounts. Add festive themes in your design to capture the attention of your audience. 

Personalization and Custom Projects 

Car decals are not just great for promotions — they’re also suitable for personal expression. You can use it for showcasing your interests or spreading awareness about advocacies you stand for. 

Fleet Branding 

If you’re handling multiple vehicles like firetrucks, ambulances, police vehicles, or buses, car decals can help make your fleet recognizable through consistent branding. You can do this by ensuring the same logo, contact information, and design is applied to all vehicles so that they’re easy to identify from a distance.  

Car decals offer endless possibilities for businesses, individuals, and organizations alike. Find out more when you read our piece What Industries Use Car Decals as an Advertising Tool?

Key Takeaways 

• Car advertising is a cost-effective way of promoting your brand. 

• Car decals offer long-term benefits compared to other forms of car advertising. 

• Car decals are incredibly versatile and used across various industries. 

• Decals are easy to install and remove and can be customized to match your needs.
  

Conclusion 

Car decals are one of the most efficient tools that you can use for car advertising. They enhance brand visibility, are easy to use and customize, and won’t break the bank. Whether you’re looking to bring in more customers to your business, promote an event, or announce seasonal promos, car decals are a reliable choice for conveying your message and making your ad stand out.  

Ready to create your custom car decals and get started? Check out these Tips From Design Experts at Signs.com to make the most out of your car decals today. 

Related Articles

• The Benefits of Car Advertising
• What’s the Difference Between Car Magnets and Car Decals?
• How to Use Car Decals As Ads?
• Custom Car Decals: Tips from Design Experts at Signs.com
• Shift Your Marketing Into Gear: Full Vehicle Wraps vs. Vehicle Decals
• Revamp Your Ride: How to Install a Car Decal Like a Champ

The Benefits of Car Advertising

Preparing and filing taxes through DIY services is becoming more popular. With cheap software and step-by-step guides to simplify the complicated process people are becoming content with doing taxes on their own. This method allows the individual to be in control, but this is not always necessarily a good thing. The process of doing taxes can be complicated and, without adequate attention to detail, a person could make a mistake in the process. It’s more than likely that a tax program will not know your exact circumstance or ask you the right questions to help you with your tax needs.

The allure of larger tax service franchises can appeal to those who don’t want to do taxes on their own. Unlike DIY services, franchises can offer personalized tax advice. Professional services usually offer a general service for both state and federal taxes but an understanding of localized tax requirements may be absent from their service. These services offer an easy solution to taxes, which may come at a cost that isn’t too steep for the average customer.

Some people want to completely avoid the idea of taxes and push that load on a professional accountant. Tax accountants know what they are doing and are knowledgeable about local tax laws. Unfortunately, they often come at a steep price. Having someone do the work for you is nice but not understanding the tax-filing process and not having control of the amount of return you’ll get is a downside to using an accountant.

With the competition in mind, it’s crucial that you market your tax service in a way that shows you give one-on-one, personalized service at a cost that is affordable. To assist you in this, we’ve compiled a list of 5 effective ways to market your tax services to help diversify your business from the different types of competition as detailed above. Not only are they simple and easy to implement but these ideas are sure to bring satisfaction to new and returning customers.

Sign Spinners

We’re sure you’ve seen these guys around dancing, jumping, twirling signs around their heads at jaw-dropping speed. Yes, these sign spinners are perfect for catching the attention of drivers, pedestrians, and social media loving teenagers. Their acrobatic sign twirling skills will sure to be a hit in your community. Not only do they cause traffic in the streets, they can drive traffic to your business by providing an interactive form of marketing. Even though most sign spinners aren’t as professional as those shown in the videos, they will still leave a memorable impression. Whether you want to admit it or not, we’re sure someone reading this has given their business to a company after seeing a sign spinner!  Who knows, the sign spinner you hire can be the next viral video star (launching their career and promoting your tax services at the same time).

Non-spinning Signs

Implementing signs in to your marketing campaign might seem like an obvious solution but they really are the perfect, inexpensive way to advertise locally. Using signage will help you advertise in places where people will be most likely to view your sign. Strategically placing signs gives you maximum exposure to your community. Outdoor advertising may seem old fashioned but, it is actually one of the most viewed forms of advertising. It creates instant awareness of brands and drives foot traffic to businesses. It’s hard to market to someone that’s always on the go, so using stationary signs and banners will help you stand out to those in transit and invite them to visit your services right away. An advantage of using signs is that a person is already on the go, making them more likely to make one more stop (at your business) before heading home.

We offer a variety of signage options at Signs.com including banners and decals that will transform your marketing plan in a pinch. Use vinyl banners to decorate your storefront, place A-Frame signs to help direct those that pass by your business, or place yard signs throughout the community to advertise. Whatever sign you use, It’s important that your signs are unique and attention-grabbing; a boring sign will not cut it. Design your sign with the customer in mind. Focus on promotions, use QR codes for interaction, and be unique in your sign usage. Click here for some more ideas that you can use to increase foot traffic for your tax business.

Email Lists

Reaching out to potential and current customers with email lists is an absolute must to help former customers return again the following year to use your tax services. There’s a good chance that everyone has an email address, so promoting to the internet masses will be a breeze. Establishing your presence online with an email list is simple. All you have to do is encourage visitors to your website to sign up. WordPress based sites have a myriad of options to do this via plugins and integrate into your third party email service. Likewise, Hello Bar and SumoMe are third party services that work for pretty much any website, regardless of the platform it’s built on, and can easily add a static or pop up email sign up call to action for your site’s visitors.

Likewise, you can even place offline email list invitations on signage around your store and then manually input email addresses into your preferred email vendor. MailChimp and Constant Contact are two popular ones but there are many options to choose from. It’s important to give incentives for joining your email list. Exclusive discounts, giveaways, and useful tax tips are all great perks to entice people to opt-in to your email list.

Once you have your email list established, you must optimize it to benefit those who are signed up. What we mean is that emails sent out should be tailored to the customer and their needs. Set up email lists (called “segments” in email marketing and marketing parlance) for those who want to get a headstart on taxes, an early bird special of sorts. Create a list for those who are waiting until the last minute to file their taxes, offering them discounts or coupons. Send emails out that target specific age groups. Usually the younger generation needs some extra help figuring out taxes, so offering them added assistance and benefits will tempt them to use your services. Further, your customers can be divided to cater to business or home owners, allowing you to send tax information that is specific to their needs.

Segmenting your email lists will also increase the likelihood the emails are opened and not marked “trash” or “spam”. A study was conducted to show that segmented emails were more likely to be opened than generic emails. If a college student received an email titled Taxes For Retirees, it will most likely be ignored. On the other hand, that college student would be more likely to open an email titled How College Can Save You Money. Creating unique content that is tailored / segmented for specific audiences will drive traffic to your business and allow your email list to benefit your services.

Remarketing

Taking advantage of the internet for advertising is crucial in building your business. Remarketing allows you to do just that. This modern ad technique allows you to market to people who have visited your website before. In essence, once they leave your page they will see your ads appear as they visit other sites across the internet. This marketing tactic is perfect for reminding a past visitor of your services, allowing you to reconnect with them and encourage them to use your services again. Or to simply persuade them to come back! Incorporating offers and discounts into these ads will attract former visitors and hesitant first time customers to use your service.

Use remarketing to target people that visit specific pages on your website. You can do this using remarketing lists. Similar to how you would set up email lists to reach specific people, you can remarket specifically to visitors who went to your specific pages or did certain actions on your website. Or even some combination of these things. For example, you can remarket to those who went to your sign-up page but left before completing the process. Your ad could then remind them that you value their time and offer them a discount for coming back. If you have a referral page on your site, you can reach out and market to those who sent in referrals. You can even remarket depending on how many pages the visitor viewed while interacting with your website. Setting up these types of parameters for your website will then allow you to create some great lists for who receives your ads.

You can also set up landing pages for those who click on your remarketing ads. These landing pages can contain exclusive information or a special offer that is tailored specifically and exclusively to customers whose behavior on your site you already know. Customers love incentives and offers, so the more you utilize remarketing to speak directly to them the more effective your marketing will be!

AdWords

Google AdWords allows you to advertise your business to people who search specific keywords or phrases on the internet. With AdWords you can market your business in a specific geographic location, giving you the advantage in your region, city or even zip code! If a potential customer is searching ‘tax service in Houston’ and you’ve utilized AdWords for your tax business in the Houston area, the potential customer will begin seeing ads for your service. Tax services are widely used, so putting yours above the rest using AdWords gives you the upper hand in promoting your business.

It’s important to understand that using AdWords for your local tax service is different than larger or national companies using paid marketing. In order to compete and set yourself apart from those companies, use keywords that are unique to your geographical area or as noted above restrict your targeting to your local area. This will help you to avoid wasteful spending for customers who are not in your local area. This is critical if you are going to get a positive return from this marketing channel.

Select specific words that you know your potential customers are searching for. While this will help avoid competing for customers outside your area, you’ll still need to make sure to bid enough for the keyword that your ad is highly visible. This means that, when a potential customer searches for a tax service in your area, your business will be be somewhere within the top three ads displayed, rather than your competitors.

Researching, understanding, and taking advantage of keywords and paid marketing through Adwords is a great way to market your tax services in your area. Knowing the competition and how they are using Adwords will give you the upper hand within the paid marketing channel.

Standing Above The Rest

Implementing these simple, inexpensive ideas will revolutionize the way you market your tax services. Effectively reaching out to your community with personalized and unique content will show the people you’re willing to go above and beyond to serve them in their tax needs. Why spend loads of money on television ads when you can use cheap services like email lists and outdoor marketing? Draw attention with sign spinners and incorporate high-tech marketing with AdWords and remarketing techniques. Doing these things effectively will have a tremendous impact on your business’ bottom line!

5 Effective Ways to Market Your Tax Services

Starting and maintaining a business is hard work. As the business owner you have to invest your time and money into the business, and then face the daily challenges that come along with owning one.

One of those challenges is marketing your business. There’s no question that salons are needed, but that means there are a lot of them out there. In order for your salon to beat out the local competition, you have to set up and execute a strategic marketing plan. Your marketing plan needs to include online and offline efforts.

To help get you started, follow these basic steps to start effectively marketing your salon.

Make It Easy For People to Find You

The first thing on your list has to be making sure potential customers can find your salon. Here are a few ways to make that happen.

1. Design a website. Whether on their laptops or some type of mobile device, people are pretty much glued to the web these days. It’s highly likely potential customers will search for a salon online, so you need one that’s visually appealing, easy to navigate and has relevant information. List your services, prices, location, contact information and maybe images of work you’ve done on your site. It could also be good to have a fun, helpful blog on your site that talks about current salon topics and answers any questions your customers might have. A website is only effective when it’s user-friendly and has good content, so make sure you follow those guidelines.

It’s also of note that the old axiom “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well” applies to your potential website. In other words, if your website is going to look awful and not function properly it’s better not to have one at all. It will just end up hurting more than helping in your effort to attract new customers.

2. Set up social media business pages. Social media is fun and informative, but it’s also a fantastic business tool. Social media allows you to reach and interact with a wide variety of potential clients, as well as keep in contact with current clients. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are your basic ones to have, but as a salon, Instagram and Pinterest could also be beneficial to you. Through these social accounts, you can link customers to your website or any blog content, post pictures of your recent hair styles or nail designs, share current salon news, ask questions, etc. Social media is a cost effective way to showcase your work and connect with current and new customers.

3. List your website on directories. Online directories can greatly benefit your business. You want anyone searching for your salon to find you as quickly as they can. You can also direct customers back to your website from these directories. Some example of relevant directories include Google+ Local, Yelp and Yahoo Local, but there are plenty more to use. These directories, assuming they are reputable, can also provide a secondary SEO benefit by helping your website appear higher in online search results.

4. Put up signage. Whether you’re a new salon or have been in business for awhile, signage is a great marketing tool. Have a sign that advertises your salon name and contact information or one that announces special deals and promotions. A salon banner is the perfect type of sign to use because it’s bigger, more attention grabbing and looks great placed out in front of your business.

Converting Eyeballs to Clients

Once you have your salon out there for people to find, you have to turn those potential customers into paying clients. Here are some ways to do that.

1. Use calls to action. Calls to action can be placed on your website, social media sites and directories. A call to action can simply say “Contact us now!” Keep your message short and to the point, and make sure your call-to-action buttons and banners stand out wherever they’re placed and are easy to click on from any device.

2. Advertise special promotions and deals. People love getting things for free or at a discounted price, so if your business can afford it, offer daily deals or special promotions. Give first-time customers 25 percent off their first haircut or offer free samples of hair products on their first visit. Having these deals or promotions is one thing, but advertising them is another. If you don’t promote deals and promotions on your website, social media accounts and anywhere else potential customers might see them, then there’s no point in having them. As a new salon offering such deals and promotions are critical to building a client base that evangelizes your services to others in the area.

3. Have a catchy slogan. Think about certain franchises or companies. What’s one thing you find yourself remembering and repeating about each of them? Their slogans. A catchy slogan that defines the qualities and mission statement of your business can help set it apart from your competitors and get you more customers. Place your slogan on your business cards, website, social media sites and advertisements to help your business be “top of mind” for potential clients when they’ve reached the point where they are ready to make a purchase.

4. Advertise. Advertising costs money, but more often than not it’s not worth the money due to it being spent ineffectively. Notwithstanding there are many options including: online channels, radio, TV or newspaper advertisements. Where you’re located, the type of customers you’re trying to attract and how much money you want to spend will generally determine what mediums you’ll advertise through.

Always Strive to Create Return Customers

Marketing your salon is necessary to get new customers, but it’s also necessary to have repeat customers. New customers are great, but repeat business is what’s going to bring in the profit you need to keep your salon running successfully. After all many studies have shown that it is much cheaper to retain customers than it is to acquire them. So keep these tactics in mind in your effort to retain customers.

1. Take care of each customer. Doing what a customer asks of you on their first visit is going to motivate them to come back. Whatever service they come in for, do all you can to meet their expectations, or to exceed them. If you’re friendly, do a good job and make customers feel comfortable in your salon, then they’ll want to come back and most likely refer you to their family and friends.

2. Implement a rewards program. A great way to get first-time customers to come back and to bring someone with them on their next visit is with a rewards program. Give the returning customer and the new one a service discount or a gift bag. Another way to get return customers and get them to refer your salon to others through word of mouth is offering them a service for free after so many referrals.

3. Utilize email and SMS marketing. Everyone has email and nearly everyone checks his or her email at least once a day, so email is a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Let them know when a special promotion is coming up or if you’re having a sale on salon products. Email subject lines are important, so keep yours short and only use eye-catching words.

Another way is SMS marketing (short message service), which is a way to market through text messaging. This marketing technique is sometimes forgotten about, but it can be quite effective when done correctly. Text coupons to your customers so the next time they come in they’re right there in their pocket or purse. Be sure to get customers’ emails and phone numbers before they leave and to let them know why you want theirs.

Salon marketing is needed to get your business name out there and obtain clients. With all the competition out there, it’s important to give customers a reason to try your salon and then to keep coming back. By using these online and offline marketing techniques, you will do just that.

How to Effectively Market Your Salon

Foot traffic: not just the pedestrian equivalent of rush hour, but the presence of customers in and around your business.  Having customers physically in your store is, obviously, key to the success of your business.  Higher foot traffic usually means higher sales.  But what if your business seems to keep getting passed by?  Here are some helpful suggestions to increase foot traffic in your store.

Traditional Signage Still Stands Out

We’re not saying you should go out and hire a sign spinning expert and get your name and image out that way. Although, now that we think about it some of those guys have serious moves. But in all seriousness you need to put up signage that really stands out. While standing out on the corner does get noticed, half the time it’s hard for the consumer to read what the sign says and what the company is selling , especially with awesome dancing as a distraction.

When creating signage, you want to make sure your customer can do three things: See it,

Read it, Do it.

See it: In order for your signage to do any good it needs to stand out. Look for obvious placement and bright colors.

Read it: Your sign needs to be large and legible enough to read in a matter of seconds while driving by. Use easy-to-read fonts and avoid using too many words.

Do it: Your message needs to be convincing enough to get those people to turn their cars into your parking lot and walk into your store. Or at the very least, remember you for next time.

Follow these steps and your signage should help bring people in and give you a chance to bring in additional revenue.

Do Something That Will Attract The News

If you really want to see results in your traffic you need the press to be on your side. This means you have to do something that will pique their interest and get them curious or excited about your business. Here’s a small list of ideas to get your brainstorming what your store can do to get some needed attention:

– Grand Re-Opening

– Interactive Contests

– The Store Is a Game

– Conferences/Workshops in-store

Grand Re-Openings Make a Big Impression

While it may sound wild and crazy there’s no better way to set up a new image and give a good impression on the community than re-opening your store. You’re sure to get an article or two written up about your store if you do, especially if you give the article writers plenty of notice. Go big and get yourself back on the map and in people’s minds.

Contest to Entice Customers to Create Eye-Catching Displays

What’s the first thing people see when they park in their parking lot? Your window displays! Sprucing them up can go a long way in bringing more consumers into your store. With the opportunity to create your window signage they will focus more on your store and what brings them in and what will bring future customers in as well. Customers feel more included and special if they can interact with your business somehow. Why not have them help you do your marketing?

Make Being in the Store a Game

Have you ever played monopoly at McDonald’s? It’s a little bit addicting when you get a piece for a winning fry, drink, burger, etc. Why not make your store more exciting by adding elements of a game similar to monopoly? When customers purchase an item in a certain price range they get a game piece. Game pieces either have free merchandise, gift cards or the possibility of combining pieces for even greater prizes. These are only a few ideas but as you can see, the press coverage and excitement this would bring could be huge.

Hold a Workshop or Conference

Let’s be honest. Your store isn’t just a place to put all your merchandise and hope people buy it. It’s a center where people come to decide what they want to wear and how they want to present themselves to the world. Why not use your real estate to its full potential and bring in speakers for conferences? People will come in to listen to the message and stay to purchase a few things they realized they needed while they were in the store.

Optimize Your Online Presence

You’re probably wondering how being online is going to help foot traffic. The answer is simple: people search online for retailers before they get in their car and make purchases.

Boosting your online presence will increase sales. Hiring an online marketing agency will give you the greatest chance for success.  However, here are a few quick tips to help you get started.

– Make your site user-friendly with clear, concise information.

– Focus on specific keywords and phrases you hope potential customers will use when searching online to find you.

– Use those focused keywords throughout your site to boost your relevance and ranking in applicable searches.

– Earn good customer reviews.  People take reviews to heart so invite customers to leave reviews and let others know about their positive experience with your business.

– Utilize local citations (such as Yellow Pages, Citysearch, etc.).  Having your business indexed in these various sites will help you rank higher in search engines.

If You Offer Deals and Discounts They Will Come

Another important tip to note, especially in terms of digital marketing, is offering deals and discounts.  It is no secret that customers want to get the most for their money and utilizing digital tools is a great way to advertise your specials.  It is common practice for individuals to “follow” companies on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, mainly for deals and discounts. Using social media is a great way to continually remind them what you offer, what’s on sale, and any special events you may be holding. With immediate access to your customer base, you have the ability to generate foot traffic with a few clicks.  For example, say it’s a slow day and foot traffic is low.  By offering a deal through your social channels, you can get a quick influx and increase the foot traffic.

Contact Your Contacts

With all the data you store on your computers and you gain from customers signing up for membership cards and online discounts you’ve got a great start on a mailing list of people to hit up during the slow times. They’ve bought from you once and are obviously interested in the types of products you sell. Take advantage of this list and make those people feel special and your traffic should increase because of it.

Incentives for Referrals

Lastly, show those in your store you value their opinion and treasure the business they are bringing you. Offer them incentives to give you referrals of friends and family who would also love to check out your store and your products. This way you’ll continually be getting new names and contacts and will have more opportunities to make money in different areas. Like the saying goes: “Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” if you follow this advice with your retail store you’re more likely to succeed.

We know this is only a short list of simple ideas but we hope they will help to bring in more people to your store and money in your pocket!

If there are other things that have worked for you in the past, feel free to share them below.

Sources:

http://www.microsoftbusinesshub.com/News_and_Updates/7_ways_to_get_foot_traffic_to_your_retail_store

http://www.pbsmartessentials.com/get-customers/increase-foot-traffic-to-your-retail-store/

Ten Tips To Increase Foot Traffic To Your Local Store

No matter where you live there is never a shortage of landscaping businesses. With generally low barriers to entry, it seems everyone has a landscaping business on the side or is the full time owner of a landscaping company. Combine a highly-competitive industry with one that can be extremely seasonal and effectively marketing your landscaping business becomes critical to survival. After much research and an interview with a current owner of a landscaping business, we’ve laid out some keys to success in marketing your business.

We’ve included answers from Nick Miller, owner of M&M Landscaping. Look for the “Nick Says” sections for his thoughts on how to market and grow your landscaping business.

Start Early

The peak season for landscaping businesses is going to differ based on location and climate, but it is generally going to last from early spring to early fall of each year. Maximizing business during this time is critical.  Most landscaping businesses have zero revenue during the off season, unless there is a complementary business such as snow removal or even Christmas décor during the holidays, etc.

This seasonality dictates that landscaping businesses start to market their company and promotions well in advance of the beginning of the season.  Lining up media buys, printing marketing collateral, and planning out major promotions during the off season will allow landscapers to focus solely on servicing clients during the peak season. Failing to do so will reduce revenue and potentially lead to business failure without profit to cover the lean off-peak months.

Nick Says: We do a little bit of advertising throughout the year. We do advertise a little more heavily in the early spring in anticipation of the peak season.

Build Relationships

It’s well known that the cost to acquire a new customer is significantly higher than retaining a customer.  Acquiring customers can be as high as five times more expensive than simply retaining current customers. When combined with the 80/20 rule where 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your clients, it becomes critical for landscapers to retain a base of loyal clients. There are multiple keys to doing so; we’ve detailed a couple of important ones below.

First, try and diversify your business between residential and commercial clients. While there will be some residential clients who employ a landscaping business, most residential customers will be one-time clients needing sprinklers installation, yard prep, or sod laid. Alternatively, commercial clients will almost always work with a landscaping business to ensure their grounds are well-kept to meet city guidelines and display their business professionally. Due to their inherent need, commercial clients become much easier to retain, though more difficult to land, assuming your landscaping business does a good job.

Nick Says: It’s good to have a mix of residential and commercial clients. Even though there are fewer commercial jobs, they are generally larger and more in depth than residential. This helps with revenue as well as building a stronger portfolio, which of course leads to more work regardless of whether it’s residential or commercial.

Second, use the human touch. Landscaping businesses, unfairly or not, are often stereotyped by work crews that may have language barriers or workers who simply aren’t social butterflies. If this is the case for your landscaping business, ensure that you are the one that communicates and forges the relationship with the client. Work on building relationships through the entire process — from the initial contact to project completion.  Not only will this attach a face to the company and create a relationship, but it is also a way to create a network that could lead to future business. Building a relationship can help you to gather word-of-mouth referrals on the spot (either naturally or through some kind of employee referral program) or build goodwill for future referrals. Regardless of the immediate impact, there is no doubt that building relationships is critical to the long-term success of a landscaping business.

Nick Says: Maintaining an ongoing relationship with repeat customers is very important. There is no overhead in retaining these customers, and they are more likely to refer their friends and family to us for their landscaping needs.

Personally, due to our situation our most effective way of marketing would have to be through word of mouth from our current and past customers. Once you have a satisfied customer, they won’t go anywhere else.  Brochures and door hangers have also been very effective in our marketing efforts.

Brand Yourself

Perhaps the most important key to success when growing your business is both branding and advertising that brand in a professional and cost-effective way. There are as many ways to market your business as there are businesses.  However, before discussing a few of these, it should be noted that no method of branding is going to be effective unless your business appears professional and legitimate. Poor quality marketing materials or even a barely-functioning website can erode trust and turn off prospective customers before you even have the chance to sell them on your track record of service.  So whether you’re a two-man team or a 100-employee-strong franchise, ensure that you convey professionalism at all times.

Yard Advertising

Perhaps the easiest way to market your landscaping business is to place yard signs in the yards you service and commercial properties in which you regularly work. From a residential stand point this can often lead to many new customers if the home is in a new subdivision where neighbors and friends throughout the neighborhood aren’t far behind in looking for a landscaping business to help put the yard in. For commercial properties, signage can help open doors for adjacent buildings and businesses who may otherwise do it themselves or be working with another company. Not only is this an effective way of advertising but a cost-effective one. With permission from the property owner and a few signs, increasing visibility and potential leads requires little effort.

Car Advertising

Landscaping businesses are perfect for car advertising. With a fleet of trucks, trailers and equipment, different forms of car advertising can go a long way to increasing brand awareness and generating leads. A well-designed car wrap for the trailers, car magnets for the trucks and even decals for machinery can advertise to neighbors, passersby, and business owners who may not have the time to inquire or are hesitant to approach someone while they’re working.  There are several benefits of using car advertising that can help grow a business, even more so for a landscaping business that travels to the customer and not the other way around.

Whether you use yard signs, car advertising or both, remember to keep your signs simple enough that potential customers can contact you. The name of your company, a phone number, and your website should be sufficient information for someone who already has interest in contacting you to inquire about services.

Nick Says:

I would agree. Signage is extremely important in this field. We have our logos on our trucks and equipment as well as putting signs on completed landscaping jobs. We have a marketing team that puts out a lot of flyers and door hangers in the early spring as I alluded to earlier. Additionally, to set ourselves apart we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction, so we will do what it takes to make sure the customer is happy.  Keeping up with the continued education that is offered as well as having all the required licensing are some of the other ways we set ourselves apart from other landscapers.

I’ve also seen guerrilla type marketing tactics work well also. To point, one of the most creative ways of advertising that we have seen is to use telephone poles and the local grocery stores to promote your business. The flyer pulls you in to read it because initially you think it’s an ad about a lost pet, but as you get closer to read it, the flyer is actually promoting your business.

Don’t Forget Digital

While careful planning, relationship building, and offline signage can go a long way in growing your business, landscapers shouldn’t forget digital marketing.

The challenge of digital marketing is twofold.  With the tremendous growth in digital marketing, the first challenge is to avoid scammy and too-good-to-be-true services or companies. In particular, avoid companies that guarantee online results or promise pricing that is way out of sync with what others are offering. Rather, look for a digital marketing company that can offer a wide variety of services yet display expertise in each area.  Some portions of digital marketing can take a long time to show results and its important that your marketing company is transparent in what they are doing for you.

If you decide to do some internet marketing yourself, then make sure that you educate yourself on what does and doesn’t work. There are some basics which small business owners can follow, including tips for building a professional and crawlable website, local citations and business listings and even creating blog content. Should you decide to try some search engine optimization, it is important to know what exactly is within search engine terms of service. For landscaping businesses which are local, a particular emphasis should be placed on local citations and following best practices for local online marketing.  All of these things can help increase online visibility and all it will cost you is time and a willingness to learn.

No matter what digital tactic you decide to pursue or allocate budget to, remember that the same principle of professionalism discussed above applies. Your digital assets, online banner ads, website, social media accounts, etc. will be from what people judge your company and ultimately decide whether they contact you.

While it may seem easy to start and run a successful landscaping business, it is actually an extremely difficult company to run successfully. Keeping in mind these tips on how to market your business by planning in advance, developing human relationships, taking advantage of the inherent mobile car advertising and leveraging digital marketing can lead to long-term growth despite the competition.

Nick Says: I think both traditional and digital marketing have the potential to be very effective. Digital marketing is great because you can reach a large amount of people and a larger geographical area in a short amount of time. Traditional marketing is best for us because, we work in a more small tight knit community and most of our customers are by word of mouth or by being known in a small town. But it will vary based on the circumstances of each respective company.

Nick Miller is Founder and Owner of M&M Landscaping Inc. M&M can be reached at 801-471-7980. They serve areas stretching from Lehi to Santaquin in Utah.

Tips to Effectively Market Your Landscaping Business

Selling your produce or goods at a farmer’s market is different than selling in other locations or online. Your potential customers have very specific expectations and ideals. Capitalize on those unique characteristics and spend a little bit of extra time to create an image for yourself and your business, and you’ll stand out from the competition.

The Story

By selling your goods at a farmer’s market, you’re participating in a greater story about community—one that automatically makes your product appealing.

For the most part, the people who shop at a farmer’s market have certain ideas about what they’ll find there.

• They expect produce or artisan products that are grown or produced locally.
• They expect to see the owner at the booth.
• They expect products to be packaged by the owner, in an environmentally friendly way.

Farmer’s market shoppers are there for several reasons:

• They want to support local farmers and artisans.
• They feel that eating fresh, healthy food is important
• They want to reduce the carbon footprint of their consumerism by buying items
• They enjoy the community atmosphere of the market.

Quality

Your business will have a certain amount of potential customers walking “through the door” just based on the community-centric principles mentioned above. Attract and keep customers (and get those customers to refer others) by offering only top-quality products at your booth.

Here’s what that might mean:

Choosing only the best produce to display and sell. The thing about fresh produce is that there can be a big difference between really excellent produce and only so-so stuff. For instance, a perfect cucumber has just the right balance of acidity and sweetness, and is crunchy—not soft or mushy. The customer who buys 6 ears of corn should shuck that corn to find 6 beautiful ears—not four beautiful ears and two that are half worm-eaten.

Finding characteristics about your product that is superior to that of other vendors. Is your corn sweeter? Your berries plumper? Your handmade soap made of finer ingredients?

Creating interesting packaging that tells a story. Packaging can make the difference between perceived high-quality and average-quality. For instance, bars of homemade soap with a nice wrapper, tied with raffia, look like they’ve had more care than bars of soap just piled in a bin.

Marketing Matters

Take some time to create a booth that is visually pleasing and well-organized and you’ll be ahead of half the crowd automatically. Sure, you can pull your pickup into a space and sell corn out of the truck bed, but you’re not going to create much of a following that way—you’re just another guy with a truck, selling corn.

Instead, create a shopping space for your customers. Arrange your product as if you’re Whole Foods. We’ve already mentioned that part of the draw for farmer’s market customers is the experience. They want to feel as if they’re participating in their community and supporting local farmers and artisans. Use some marketing techniques to help them get that feeling while they’re at your booth.

Create a cohesive feel for your booth. Choose a name that evokes that local feel: Thompson Family Produce, or Jill’s Handmade Soaps, for instance. Pick colors and a design that play on the local aspect of your product. For instance, if you’re Jill, you don’t want to create glossy, metropolitan packaging and marketing materials. You’re not competing with Nordstrom—you’re the antithesis of large departments stores, which is why your customers will buy from you.

Create signage and other marketing pieces that have a specific color scheme and overall theme, so that everything about your booth seems as if it goes together. Think about your local Whole Foods store. Notice how every sign, every display table, every apron on every employee, has the same theme and color scheme? Customers walking through a Whole Foods store never forget for a moment where they are; everything about the store reminds them that they’re encountering a different shopping experience than they would get at the discount grocer down the street.

In addition to a large vinyl banner hung at the top of your booth, consider creating some signs that can be reused throughout the summer. We have a wide variety of banners to select from. In addition, small corrugated signs for each item can be designed to match the rest of your marketing components and will last all year (several years, in fact). And, they look much more professional than handwritten signs on blank paper or torn bits of cardboard.

The Personal Touch

Many of your customers at the farmer’s market want to feel a connection to you and your business—that’s the very reason they’re there! Help them make that connection. One of the best ways to do that is to wear a name tag. When talking to customers, refer to your employees by name.

Depending on how busy you are, engage in conversations with your customers. Ask them about their expectations of the product, what they need and how they’ll use it. Share information with them about you and your business.

When customers feel as if they’ve made a personal connection with you, they’ll be much more likely to return again and again.

Create a website or a blog about your business. Direct customers to your site, where they’ll find tons of photos of your garden, your artisan studio, your dog, etc. A website is a great way to tell that farmer’s market story that people want to connect with. Have business cards handy so people will remember your site when they get home.

Scarcity over Volume

Once you’ve established that your quality is superior in some way, create some buzz by selling less product. Why would this be a good idea? Well, many farmer’s market vendors steeply discount their goods in the last few hours of the market. Savvy buyers are aware of this practice, so they’ll show up at the end of the day. Of course, by then, your produce has been sitting in the sun for 6 hours and it’s no longer in prime condition. So your buyers might be paying 25 cents for an ear of corn, instead of 50 cents, but they’re getting the picked-over, worn out corn. And you’ve just sacrificed your reputation… while making less money.

Instead, calculate how much product you’ll actually sell during the day. Bring that much inventory with you—not an ear of corn or tomato extra. Don’t discount your merchandise—sell it at full price and advertise that once it’s gone, it’s gone. If you’ve done a good job of creating a perception of quality, people will line up to buy your product. They’ll get it while it’s fresh, which guarantees that they’ll be happy with their purchase, and they’ll be back next week.

Standing Out is Easy

At the farmer’s market, you’re usually competing against other very small businesses, many of whom are relying on that Buy Local mentality to bring in cash. By simply thinking through a basic marketing plan, offering high quality products and going the extra mile to make a personal connection, your booth will easily stand out from the majority.

How to Stand Out at the Farmer’s Market

Coca-Cola is one of the most recognized brands on the planet—surveys consistently find that around 94% of the world’s population recognizes the red-and-white logo. More than one billion bottles of Coke are sold every day, and people claim to prefer the drink over its main competitor, Pepsi. Why the everlasting popularity? While sound business practices and global reach certainly have huge impact, Coca-Cola has one huge advantage its competition does not: logo longevity.

The First Coca-Cola Logo

Coca-Cola has been around a long time. The first glass of Coke was sold in 1886, after pharmacist Atlanta Pemberton mixed up a concoction and added soda water to it. The first logo was created when Pemberton’s accountant, Frank Robinson named the product and wrote it out in Spencerian script. This is the first logo:

The Competition’s Logo

Pepsi was created just a few short years after the first glass of Coke was served. Its original logo was very similar to the Coca-Cola logo. In 1898, this is what Pepsi’s logo looked like:

But Pepsi didn’t stop there. Beginning in the 1950’s Pepsi started changing and developing its logo, sometimes changing it drastically. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola’s logo remained the same.

1950

The Pepsi logo incorporated a third color: blue. It still maintained the same script, but added the bottle cap image:

1960s

Pepsi ditches the script and the word “cola” and changes to a block text:

1970s

The bottlecap logo is changed, but the colors stay the same. This logo remains unchanged for around 16 years.

1991

A dramatic change in Pepsi’s logo.

2008

The current Pepsi logo is a far cry from the original logo of the 19th century.

And the current Coca-Cola logo? Pretty much still the same:

Coke vs. Pepsi: It’s In Your Brain

In blind taste tests, people consistently prefer Pepsi over Coke. Yet when both beverages that are labeled, Coke wins every time. Researchers have coined this phenomenon the “Pepsi Paradox,” and for a long time could only guess that Coca-Cola’s marketing was responsible for the preference.

In 2004, Read Montague, a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, did a study that showed just how ingrained the Coca-Cola brand has become to the millions of people who prefer it.

Montague performed MRI scans on volunteers while they drank both Pepsi and Coke. Sure enough, when people drank samples of both Pepsi and Coke, without being told which was which, they preferred Pepsi. The MRI scans showed that the Pepsi caused greater activity in the ventral putamen, the part of the brain that registers pleasure.

But once the volunteers were told which beverage they were tasting, they immediately switched their answers and stated that they preferred Coke. During that taste test, the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain lit up on the MRI. That part of the brain is associated with memories and self-identification. The higher-functioning prefrontal cortex actually over-rode the more visceral part of the brain that acknowledges pleasure—branding beat out actual taste.

Logo Longevity Leads to Brand Domination

So if people actually prefer the taste of Pepsi over that of Coke, why do our brains change our minds once we know we’re drinking Coke? Because we associate Coca-Cola with strong memories and identify the brand in positive ways.

Coca-Cola’s marketing has always been about creating feel-good memories. The old-fashioned Christmas advertisements with the vintage Santa Clauses, the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” commercials, the more recent adorable baby polar bears… all are designed to evoke warm, fuzzy feelings about the brand.

Since the basic Coca-Cola logo hasn’t really changed since its inception, consumers can take all of the feel-good advertising and associate it with one image. When considering Pepsi, that isn’t the case, since the basic logo has changed so drastically over the years. So every time Pepsi releases a new feel-good campaign, consumers must connect it to a different image.

Longevity Doesn’t Hinder Creativity

Coca-Cola’s basic logo hasn’t changed, but that doesn’t mean that the company is stuck with design from the 19th century. Coke has incorporated the Coca-Cola script into countless other logos in order to refresh its brand. Here’s an example of some of its latest branding. Though the can design is more sleek and modern, the script logo is still present:

The Longevity Lesson

Sticking to one logo doesn’t mean that your brand will feel stale and old. Instead, it helps maintain that brand throughout the years and multiple advertising campaigns. People like the comforting feelings that tradition holds. They’re able to create stories around a brand when it looks consistently familiar.

So when you’re creating your first logo, aim for a timeless design that can be incorporated into your branding for decades.

What Coca-Cola’s Logo Teaches Us About Branding

A recent Nielsen survey found that many consumers prefer to buy from companies that give back to society. Of those surveyed:

• 66% say they prefer to buy products and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society.
• 62% prefer to work for those companies.
• 59% prefer to invest in those companies.
• 46% say they are willing to pay more money for products or services offered by those companies.

Clearly, giving back to the community means benefits for both charities and the businesses that support them. Cause marketing (promoting charitable works as a selling point) can work well for companies. But it’s important that this kind of marketing doesn’t come across as self-serving. Here are 6 ways to promote your company’s charitable works without looking like a self-serving jerk.

1) Promote through social media.

Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest to promote your company’s charitable works and engage the community at the same time.

Your social media profiles already create a sense of shared experience with your customers; help them get involved with your charity the same way. People love to feel like they can make a difference; look at all the donations collected through social media platforms after natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy.

Create contests for your Facebook friends and Twitter followers; for instance, offer specific donations for every 10 “likes” or “follows.” Instead of looking as though you’re just promoting your business, you’ll be able to show customers that you truly care about the charities you support; and that you want them to be involved, too.

2) Put articles on your blog or website.

Write an article for your company’s blog, or create a “community” section on your site that provides details about your favorite causes. Instead of splashing your latest good deed all over you homepage, simply draw site visitors to those pages through a small banner that says, “We support This Charity… click here to find out how you can help, too!” Provide a specific call to action that allows customers to join you in your efforts.

3) Post in-store signage

Use signage to remind customers about the causes you support. But instead of loudly proclaiming, “Look What We’re Doing!,” create signs that give customers a way to help. You might develop a campaign that provides a specific donation for every sale, or asks customers to donate directly.

I recently purchased books at my local Barnes & Noble store. Behind the counter was a shelf full of children’s books and a sign that told me I could purchase a book to give a child at one of the local elementary schools. Instead of saying, “Barnes & Noble is giving books to needy kids!” the sign told me how I could join the store to help kids receive books.

4) Volunteer time and effort.

They say actions speak louder than words. So get out there and act already! Volunteer time in addition to money. Include employees and customers for a day of charitable giving by issuing invitations and putting up signage to advertise the event. Don’t forget to include signage at the volunteer location, too.

5) Choose just a few charities and participate in a meaningful way.

Some companies mistakenly think that if one charity makes them look good, a dozen will make them look even better. This method can backfire—it appears that you’re just collecting as many charities as you can in order to promote yourself. Instead, choose just two or three charities that you truly care about, and participate in meaningful way. Instead of giving twelve charities $100, give one charity $1200.

6) Fulfill community needs.

Looking for a good charity? Look close to home. There are plenty of charitable organizations that could use your help. Try the local soup kitchen, food bank or homeless shelter. Contact the local elementary school to see if they could use some volunteers. Help elderly or physically-challenged residents of your town with yard work, home repairs or shopping. Ask around (try asking your customers for ideas) and you’ll soon have a list of needs right next door. Your charitable efforts have a greater impact when they’re seen throughout the neighborhood, and you’re directly affecting your community at the same time.

Your real motive shines through every time.

Marketing shouldn’t be the impetus for giving; your customers see right through your ulterior motives and are turned away by your insincerity. A true, sincere desire to help people in need comes first; capitalizing on the market value of charity is a secondary perk. Promote your company’s good works in a way that is designed to help the charity more than the company, and you’ll do both.

6 Ways to Promote Your Company’s Charitable Works

The Holidays are Here

Walk into any Walmart at 11:59 pm on October 31st and what do you see? Pallets of Christmas products, decorations and other assorted holiday items. Employees hover around like a pack of ravenous wolves waiting for the OK to pounce. The clock strikes midnight and the walkie-talkies light up like a trucker convention. The holiday season has arrived. Let the madness begin.

Ok, so that might have been a little dramatic, but seriously, you can’t help but notice that the holidays are being forced upon us earlier and earlier each year. It’s not surprising given the economic juggernaut that is Christmas. It can all seem a little hectic, especially if you are a small business owner or local retail shop. How can you compete with the big boxes and their crazy discounts? As a marketer, who has worked in both retail and Fortune 500 companies, I have seen both sides, and I have a few suggestion.

Here are my three tips to a successful “selling” season:

1. Customer Service Trumps Everything

I know we harp on customer service a lot on the Signs.com blog and rightly so. In fact, we feel that is so important, it is part of our core values. Early on in my career I worked at two different retail stores primarily doing in-store merchandising and visual displays. One was a basic clothing store and one focused on outdoor/ski/snowboarding gear. Different products but very similar clientele.

What set the two stores apart was the level of service customers received. In the clothing store, associates were forced to attend training and to learn in-depth details about the materials used, the latest styles and how to track down merchandise that was out-of-stock. During the holidays, this level of knowledge and ability to help the customer find exactly what they were looking for was invaluable.

In the outdoor gear store, things were done differently . . . not different as in associates were rude or not helpful, there was just a different vibe. Associates had minimal training, couldn’t really tell the difference between similar products and had no way to order out-of-stock products. In the end, the outdoor gear store closed down. Of course there were other factors involved, but I couldn’t help but think more could be done to satisfy customers.

Your retail business or small business isn’t any different. You can’t usually win on price or volume, but you can win on service. Go to any big box store and you know what I am talking about. Good luck getting the help you need. So going into the Christmas season, focus on service and make sure your associates focus on it as well.  If you can, give your associates the leeway to go all out for customers. Besides, they are usually the ones interacting with customers anyway. Your customers will love you and you can bet they will come back to shop the other 10 months of the year!

2. Focus on What You Do Best

The stress of the holidays causes us all to go a bit crazy. Why else would we wait in long lines for toys that our kids look at once and then just play with the box it came in instead (yes, this has happened to me multiple times). As business owners and managers, the stress to drive revenue can cause us to get a bit crazy as well. We try to think of “creative” ways to increase sales but in doing so, many times we create campaigns or activities that actually draw our attention away from what we do best.

Case in point. Another company I worked for offered 2 products and 2 products only. And they did a heck of a job doing it. They were the leader (for sure in the top 2 or 3) in the industry at the time. Unfortunately, upper management was like a revolving door for the better part of a year. During that time, each new manager wanted to put his stamp on the company. Some had great ideas, some didn’t. The problem was not the ideas per se, it was that they were constantly forcing employees to switch focus mid-project. What happened? Contention and a lot of wasted time and money.

This season, identify what your business does really well and focus on that. If you need to add products, find ones that are complementary to what you already offer. For example, here at Signs.com we developed a lot of new holiday templates. We didn’t reinvent the wheel, we just offered a new version of what we already had. You will find that your customers will be happier, your employees will be more confident because they know what they need to work on, and come December 26th, you can call the Christmas season a success.

3. Give

I know you are probably saying, “wait I thought this post was about how to make money during the holiday season.” You’re right; it is. But let’s not forget what this season is really about. On the flip side, I will let you in on a little secret . . . use the holidays as a time to get your business and employees in on the giving back action and you just might earn some new customers in the process.

For one, volunteering or getting involved with local charities during the holidays gives you and your employees the chance to meet other businesses owners in the community. I mean, you are a local business right? Doesn’t it make sense that the same people you meet might be a  customer or maybe a future customer? Back in May, we posted about inexpensive marketing ideas to do in and around your communities. These same ideas can be used during the holidays too.

Not only do you get a chance to give back, getting involved can open doors to lots of new opportunities. At Signs.com, we just joined a local chamber of commerce and I have attended a few meetings and events recently. I am amazed that every time I go, I meet new business owners and managers who are excited that a sign company like ours is involved in the local community and they even expressed interest in going online and ordering a new sign or two from us. Giving back definitely pays.

The wrap (pun intended)

No matter your industry, the holidays are a great time to grow your business. Just don’t get too caught up in it all and forget that special gift for your special someone! Always take an angry customer over an angry wife.

Here Come The Holidays: 3 Tips to a Successful Season

Buying Groceries at the Gas Station

On the corner of 1300 South and 1100 East in Salt Lake City, you’ll find a quaint building that was once a gas station in the 1920s, but now houses Liberty Heights Fresh. When you buy your groceries at the once-gas station, you won’t be getting the typical gas station fare of fat, sugar and salt. Instead, you’ll find fresh local produce, locally-made honey, jam, pasta, breads and cheeses and tons of great imported food. I spoke to the owner and CEO (Chief Eating Officer), Steven Rosenberg, who shared with me his passion for good food and told me about the importance of buying local.

Just the Good Stuff

You’ll find a huge variety of tasty, decadent food at Liberty Heights Fresh. Every product found in the shop has gone through an extensive vetting process—Steven travels the world looking for fabulous food to import to the shop, and local food is held to the same standards. Steven told me that there are just a few very basic rules for the food he buys for Liberty Heights Fresh:

• The food has to make you smile when you eat it.
• It has to be made with basic ingredients that would be easily recognized by your great-grandparents.
• No junk—no synthesized corn or soy. Just real food ingredients.
• Good food should be made with 3-5 ingredients.

Steven said, “It’s very important that people buy food that’s going to make them happy and healthy; not sick and tired. We strive to sell that kind of food and we honor all kinds of eaters. So whether you’re a vegan, a vegetarian, an omnivore, a raw food eater, we will support and provide food that will fit your diet and we’re very  respectful of an individual’s choice of what they eat. The most important thing is that food makes you well and that it makes you smile.”

The Foodies at Liberty Heights Fresh

The staff at Liberty Heights Fresh knows their stuff. They can tell you where every product came from, what’s in it, what to pair with it and how to prepare it. They can recommend something special. Planning a dinner party and have no idea what to serve? Find out what’s new or in season. You can also get recipes for seasonal treats. Try asking the bag boy at your big grocery store where those apples originated and if they were sprayed with pesticide, let alone ask for a baking tip…. you’ll most likely get a blank stare.

Local Products Introduce Variety

Steven buys produce and other products locally whenever possible. He considers “local” to be products that can be purchased and transported from their original location to his store between breakfast and lunch. Local products vary depending on the season and availability. Currently, Liberty Heights Fresh offers a locally-made apple cider. Steven told me why it’s special, “Our apple cider is not made from Red Delicious apples. It’s made with Cortland, McIntosh, Jonathan,Yellow Delicious and an old heirloom variety called Winter Banana. The cider is made by the Zollinger family up in Logan and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s much different than what you’d buy in a supermarket. I go up there every week or two to get it.”

Why Buy Local?

I asked Steven why it’s important to buy local. He said, “Buying local means you’re supporting producers. And you’re also supporting your community. Locally owned businesses are far more generous in the local non-profit community; supporting the arts, supporting museums and supporting culture, than companies that come here and may sell their goods in a retail establishment, but in comparison give very little back to the local community.”

Steven also maintains that people should expect more from their small, local shops than they do from the big box store retailers. In addition to getting better food and better customer service, Steven said, “you should expect more from them and they should deliver more. You might be paying a little bit more for something—I don’t have the buying power of a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s. I’m one store. But what I do is give back to this community.”

The list of charities that Liberty Heights Foods contributes to every year is lengthy and includes everything from local youth sports to shelters for the homeless. Steven told me that the shop donates tens of thousands of dollars and food every year because he believes in supporting the community that supports his store.

Why Shop at Liberty Heights Fresh?

Well, once you walk in the store, you’ll fall in love. If the baskets of gorgeous, fresh produce doesn’t seduce you, the fresh breads behind the counter will. Ask one of the friendly staff to make you a sandwich made from all the wonderful breads, cheeses and meats on hand—if the weather is accommodating, you can eat your lunch at the picnic table. Bite into a variety of an apple that you can’t find in the large chain grocery store. Discover a new olive oil. Taste a sample of locally-crafted jam that has only two ingredients: fruit and sugar. Re-discover what real food tastes like. Those are just a few of my reasons for shopping at Liberty Heights Fresh.

Steven gave a few more reasons, “We like to get to know our customers and establish a relation that’s built on trust. When we’re dead and gone the only thing we leave behind is our reputation, so it’s important to leave a good one.”

I also asked him why he goes to such great lengths to choose the food he offers at the shop. He replied, “It’s really, really encouraging and invigorating to know that somebody got something from our shop they couldn’t get anywhere else. And it made them, and their family extremely happy. And that’s why I do what I do at Liberty Heights Fresh.”

Success Stories: Liberty Heights Fresh