How You Can Support the Small Businesses You Love
As a small business owner, asking for help can feel like you're being 'needy', and while we don't want to be seen in that way, the reality is, we can't survive without your support, and as I'm sure you've seen, many small businesses have closed all over New Zealand.
Unlike big businesses, we don't have large advertising budgets, because we can't afford it. In fact, 'my time' is my ad budget, and I'm sure that's the case for many small business owners. We rely heavily on organic engagement like your comments, shares and reviews, to reach more people, so every comment and share does the job an ad would. When you buy from a small business, you're not just buying a nice product, you're supporting an actual person's livelihood, not a corporate shareholder.
Here are some simple ways you can help the businesses you love, on social media…
- Engage, don't just scroll, because algorithm is everything these days, and likes and emojis barely register anymore; comments, shares, and saves are what actually get a post in front of more people.
- Share to your own story/feed, as well as like the post because this puts the business in front of an entirely new audience for free. This is GOLD!
- Tag the business when you post about a product you've bought or received, rather than just tagging your friends.
- Leave a genuine comment, even something small like "this is beautiful" because that does a lot more for visibility.
- Follow the business, as well as liking a post, because following keeps future posts from them showing up in your feed.
And if you're still with me, these are the kind of things that really impact your favourite small businesses…
- Leave a written review on Google, Facebook, or even their website, because for a small business, a handful of honest reviews can matter more than any advertising spend.
- Word of mouth in face-to-face conversations still carries a lot of weight, especially in NZ's smaller communities.
I'd just like to make you aware of a few things that you possibly never think about, because why should you, if you're not in business…
- The freight/shipping reality in NZ is that many small businesses, particularly those who no longer have a physical store, like me, are working with courier costs that are higher than those you see from overseas mega-retailers. And while we do what we can to keep our shipping fees down, including absorbing the extra cost, we simply can't compete with corporates. Being happy to pay that extra bit of shipping is its own form of support.
- Shopping local where you can, instead of instantly defaulting to Amazon/Temu style overseas sites, is another huge way of supporting your favourite businesses.
The love and support I've felt from my social media and email community has had an incredible impact on me, and my mental health to be honest. Taking you with me on this move from face-to-face conversations and regular hugs, to an online presence only, would have been a lot lonelier without it, and I'm not sure it would have felt worth the effort, particularly as it'll take time to build the business again.
This might feel like a lot, particularly if you want to support all your favourite businesses, which I hope you will, so perhaps just start with one of the things I've mentioned this week. 😊
Namaste
Michelle
