A message from James Pahl – Community Manager of  ShopStonyPlain.com  &  ShopSpruceGrove.com ... Many business owners using our marketing platforms of ShopStonyPlain.com or ShopSpruceGrove.com do not post regular updates on their business profiles on our sites. Here are some simple strategies that will assist you.
 
The following are questions for business owners and the individuals responsible for posting social media content:
(1) Would you agree that Instagram users are primarily interested in “pictures” and not necessarily in the message so much? Most likely you will agree yes, that is true.
(2) Now regards Twitter users; would you agree these people are “words and messages” people? Most likely you will agree yes, that is true.
(3) Finally, Facebook users; would you agree they like “messages” but also want them “illustrated”?  Again, most likely you will agree yes, that is true.
 
Try these strategies when posting with either of our platforms or otherwise:
When the purpose of your post is the picture itself and the words are merely explaining the picture start on Instagram and syndicate to Facebook, and leave out Twitter.
When the point of the post is the message, start on your business profile with either of our platforms and syndicate to Facebook and Twitter, and leave out Instagram. *
 
Following these strategies with every post you make takes the same amount of effort – one source and syndication; but you will now have a variety of content regards your business services and products. The social media users get what they prefer, and your messages are going somewhere so that search engines will index them and your key words will add to your overall digital presence.

*NOTE:
- In order for your Busines Profile on ShopStonyPlain.com to syndicate you need at least our Intro Pkg. ($50 per month)
- Currently our platforms can sydicate to Facebook and Twitter, but not to Instagram.
- When posting from Facebook on its own your messages are not indexed by search engines, primarily Google. Google is god of the Internet, so when using the platforms ShopSpruceGrove.com or ShopStonyPlain.com your posts will now be indexed and recognized by Google, so when anyone searches for similar content your message will be in their search results. Our platforms enhance your SEO.
 

The Shop Local Movement is more than a feel-good story. Shopping locally helps keep our families, our friends and our neighbors employed and able to support themselves. Together we can make a difference to our small business owners and our local economy by making this our mission – support, choose and promote Shop Local in the communities of Stony Plain and Spruce Grove. 

Between economic downturn, increasing internet shopping and now Covid-19, the safety nets have been dismantled that most small business owners relied on to get through the usual business lulls - slow months, bad weather, and a fluctuating dollar. The rainy-day savings and other financial cushions small business owners may have had tucked away are getting extremely low or totally depleted in today’s world. One small businesses owner told me before Covid-19 that if he had just five more customers each day dinning at his restaurant, he would be able to rest a little bit easier. Think about that for a moment, that’s how small the profit margins have become for some of our small businesses in these difficult economic times. Therefore, it has never been more important to shop, buy and choose local businesses in Stony Plain and Spruce Grove.

I agree that it is increasingly difficult for all of us whether we are local business owners or not, just trying to provide the essentials for our families is tuff enough. As a local business owner, I’m not asking local residents to spend money they don’t have, but what I am asking is that they think about whether some of their usual purchases could be from local stores rather than the internet? We need to show the small local businesses of Spruce Grove and Stony Plain some love and especially now during the Covid-19 crisis. Let’s show them that we care about their success and that we agree Stony Plain and Spruce Grove wouldn’t be the communities they are without them. Our communities would be lesser without all the small, unique and home-grown businesses we have grown to love and appreciate. Remember the 1980’s shampoo commercial, if you tell a friend and they tell two friends… the same thing can happen when we support, choose and promote the local businesses of our communities.

Locally owned and operated small businesses reinvest hard-earned dollars back into our local economy through employing local residents, by purchasing locally and by paying their city taxes. For every dollar spent in our community, $3-4 dollars or even more is generated for our local economy. So as residents and consumers let’s do our part too. Shopping locally helps keep your family, your friends and your neighbors employed and able to support themselves. Also, every dollar you spend at a local business 68%  of that dollar stays in our local economy, versus 43% or less when we spend a dollar at a chain store, and far less when we shop through Amazon.

We must support small business by shopping and choosing local. We need to be local heroes and support even just one local business this year. We are in this together and together we can achieve so much more. I want to encourage all residents, groups, and associations to be passionate advocates for the Shop Local Movement in communities of Stony Plain and Spruce Grove. Our local economy can and will once again become vibrant, but only with everyone’s support.