I checked in with my Facebook newsfeed a few minutes ago and noticed a friend had liked a local business page. I was curious, so checked out the page. It’s a general store that hasn’t opened its doors yet.
They just joined Facebook as a business page 12 hours ago. When I visited the page, there were already 97 fans. I decided to give them some FB love, and liked their page. It’s been 13 minutes and their fan count is up to 109. I’m not a mathematician, but that’s averaging 1 new fan every minute.
What does this tell us? A couple of things.
#1: It tells me that people (consumers, business men and women, community organizations) support the local economy. We are ready to shop local, buy local. The fans of this page are responding to requests by the store owners: offering suggestions for products, providing connections to other local suppliers, and giving moral support! Imagine if we all did this!
#2: It tells me that there is power in social media. My friend liked the page, so I liked the page. I will keep checking back on the progress and look for the grand opening. I will share the message and I’m sure many of their other fans will, too.
I encourage you to read this great blog post by my friend Robert Kastelic of Outside Raleigh Marketing & Media for a great perspective on Shopping Local.
I’m going back to Facebook now to invite my friends to like this page and to visit their store when it opens! Check them out at: facebook.com/WendellGeneralStore. And remember: Shop Local, Buy Local!
