How inviting is your town or city to attracting new businesses to move in? And how about keeping the businesses that are already located here? As I talk with government officials, it is becoming very clear that financially-stressed municipalities have two choices for dealing with the future.
One is to cut back on services with the intent of bringing the cost of running the community down to a point where revenue will cover the cost of services. That sounds like a fiscally valid approach. But when they reduce the number of police on the force, cut back on firefighters and paramedics, discontinue after-school programs, and terminate senior activities, what does that do to the qualify of life?
The other approach is to actively attract business with the intent of attracting new businesses, as well as retaining the ones already there. Doing so brings new jobs to the community. It generates revenue from a variety of sources. And it creates an aura of success rather than failure.
But how can you attract new business when the economy is in such terrible shape? The first step is always to define the product. What do you have to sell? Transportation access? A trained workforce? Close ties to the local community college? Affordable housing. Great weather? Recreation and sports facilities?
The key is positive momentum. Don’t wait until the economy improves.
There are always positive stories to be told. Tell them. Build positive images for your community now. Generate positive stories, even if they seem insignificant. In difficult times people respond to good news.
Take advantage of that opportunity. Thanks to Irv Hamilton, Placemaking Group’s Senior Vice President for this blog post.
Tags: city branding, city marketing
This article reminds me of the shopping centers in Moraga and in Rheem. Both are homes of chains like Safeway, CVS, and TJ Maxx, and Blockbuster. But for the surrounding mom and pop places like Loard’s Ice Cream, Asia Palace, Amaroma’s, China Palace, and Bianca’s there is a lingering thought in the back of there minds on whether or not they will be able to keep there businesses open. There are places that are already closed down and the revenue is not coming in that fast as it used to. For a place like Moraga I think that it is hard to sell your product and let people know that you exist and that you can provide them with something they need. I think that many of these small places will be okay as long as they continue to build brand and customer loyalty.
“In difficult times, people respond to good news.” I certainly believe it!
When I was home last week, a new restaurant and bar recently opened in my city and was packed everytime I drove by during the day and at night. They appeared to be having specials (according to the board on the sidewalk) that were certainly appealing to the people in the neighboorhood. The atmosphere seemed fun even though it was a small, casual setting. It was something new and exciting for the city and everyone was trying it. I definitly want to experience this new hot spot. Although the economy is bad, people still want to dine out and have a good time. Places just need to advertise deals or exclusive offers to be more reasonable and understanding, yet still attractive during this economy.
Well i believe that this article is very true, specially in the economy that we are in right now. Because of less money there have been many cuts all around the different job industries but what i wanted to focus in on was the after school programs at schools and the extra classes that are not available to students because of the financial situation. Cutting these after school programs that help many students whether it is for homework or just to keep kids out of trouble have been cut therefore our youth is being cut from resources that they benefited from.Although this is unfortunate for the students that actually attended these programs i believe that the school should be responsible for making a little more effort on providing the classes that are necessary and helping the students get the resources that they need. Having a school that doesn’t provide some kind of resources or help for the students may decrease the chances of families with kids to move in, so these cities need to bring attention by promoting and advertising the programs that they do have in a way that it will be appealing to the families with kids. It’s always about advertising how your product or service is different from all the rest. What your product/service has that would make it more convenient, affordable, basic, etc from the rest. its all about looking at what makes your product/service better than the rest.
I agree that it wouldn’t do very much good for the occupants of the city if in order to cut down on costs they reduced the number of firefighters and other resources, etc. It’s got to be tough for cities, especially small towns, to promote themselves to prospective businesses during these times. But cities like Moraga, for example, have the advantage of having a college right in their own backyards. Students here are always looking for something to do on the weekends or a new restaurant to try out that’s actually open late. If the town of Moraga was able to market themselves the right way to new businesses, they would get more revenue that they need, and mostly everyone would benefit from it!
I definitely agree with you on the situation. I think that people should definitely take chances and opportunities into opening their own business plans if they think it’s going to be successful. Just last week when i was back home in San Diego, even though there already is a ice cream yogurt store there, a new yogurt shop was just opened a few days ago and i check it out and they believe their company is going to be successful because they have many more different flavors, have deals, and lastly they have better tasting yogurts. I am starting to gain confidence on wanting to one open my out business after seeing other people succeed. The goal is as you said is positive momentum.
I just went to my hometown’s website, Sierra Madre, CA. It is cluttered and basically uninformative. I believe it is just as important for small towns such as Sierra Madre to create a brand name as it is for a major company. Creating a buzz about your town can greatly improve it’s economy while encouraging businesses. Along with that, it is very cost effective. In this economic downturn, cities are looking to cut back. But through branding and marketing your own town through social media and a useable website can greatly help its economy.
I feel that it is important to keep the momentum going. It saddens me to hear that cutting police, paramedics and school programs would help the situation. My roommate works for the City of San Ramon and are always finding new ways to reach out to the community and promote their city. It reminds me of the story that was told to us from one of our speakers about the couple who owned one of the transmission franchises and didn’t know anything about transmissions! People love hearing about local success and human interest stories, it is what keeps us going through these tough times.
My home town is generally small and is feeling the great financial strain of our struggling economy. There has been so many stores, restaurants, and companies closing down. This factor is extremely sad considering these businesses have been open for several years and or has been around for many generations. Just experiencing this financial strain in my home town, makes me as a communication major want to research ways in helping aid companies to pull through this financial issue. As a college student, I am so fortunate that I attend a private college because I have friends that are feeling the school program and classes being cut and in return causes their graduation and classes to be delayed. I am fortunate that this has not affected Saint Mary’s College but at the same time, i feel for those students who are in fact dealing with teacher furlough days, classes being canceled due to money, and the cutting of classes for all majors at state schools. As a country, i feel that we need to all work together to pull out of our financial strain so that programs and businesses are not canceled or closing down.
Just as importantly as it is to keep the good news coming, it also is to keep the bad news from reaching prospects. Unlike with celebrities where PR is considered positive whether or not it is good news or bad news because it is really just about getting your name out there and then putting a spin on the information the public has on you, with towns and cities only the good can really benefit it. So not only should they figure out what they have to offer but they should also focus on the types of advertisement they are willing to spend money on to get the word out there that their city/town is the one for a new business or the reason their current businesses should stay.
I think there are some very good points made in this entry. Yes, the economy is in a bad place right now, and everyone is feeling the effects of that. But at the same time, if someone wants to open a business and has a good product or service to sell, people will be willing to consume that product or service as long as they feel like it is worth the movey. Just because the economy is suffering does not mean that small business owners need to put their plans on hold. If anything, creating a new business or opening a new shop would help the economy to improve faster because that is activly creating jobs in the community. I think that if people stopped living in the fear of failure when it comes to the risk of opening a new business, then everyone would be better off, and the economy would reflect those risks taken.
Promoting your city through social media and local websites are easy ways to bring in more people and businesses. If people have not visited these locations, and are looking into moving somewhere in the area, visuals are crucial. If there is no preview of what a city has to offer, some people may choose not to even waste the drive. It is as simple as hiring a professional photographer to capture the beauty and available locations within the city. The more in depth a website is, the quicker conclusion can be made as to where someone will chose to relocate. When cities make it easier on prospective companies and residents, they will increase awareness of your city and maintain happiness with the already existing community.
The wrong way of cutting back on costs in a city is by cutting school programs and other government necessities. So I do agree that by promoting the upside of a city, it will in turn help create more business. I think in order to attract new business you have to play up and see what is attractive in that city. Depending on the geographic region and the demographics, as a city you want to talk about what you are good at, and give success stories so that potential businesses will want to relocate and invest somewhere.
I have always loved the city of Boston because my dad is from there, and I think Bean Town just has great personality in general. Not long ago, after seeing an advertisement for Hawaii on the side of a San Francisco building, and before I read this article, I was joking with my dad, telling him if I moved to Boston I could work for the city of San Francisco promoting tourism. I thought If Hawaii looked appealing to us Californians, California must look appealing to Bostonians. This article made me think it might actually be possibility!
I think that the whole concept of promoting a city/town is one that never really a thought that crossed my mind. I guess because I’ve always associated PR with products or people. I think that it’s doable but it’s odd in the sense that when you are promoting a city or town you are promoting a group of people’s lifestyle. My only concern would be that you’d be turning a way of life into a product or morphing it into something that it doesn’t need to be. When I put myself in the position of a person who’s city is being promoted it makes me uncomfortable to think that my way of life (in my case my hometown is San Francisco)in SF can be summed up and sold to those seeking the San Franciscan experience. And while the argument that it will stimulate the economy is a good one, I’m not too keen on having my way of life pushed and promoted like it was some sort of product.