Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance

Important distinction: A customer transaction is NOT the customer.  How many companies have lost your business over  - say - $200.00? Or even $2.00? This, when, you are really worth thousands over years of a relationship.

So, here's your homework, an exercise from Tim Miles, explained in his blog post, The Love of a Lifetime Customer.

"Mark down an hour on your calendar before you take off for Thanksgiving and get sucked into the vortex of the holiday season.

You've got little time and less money - so here are some tools you can (easily) use to improve your emarketing.

A $10.00/year web domain with free email, at Google Apps 

You'll be more memorable, easier to find, and credible if your email is at your domain. (Plus, free services such as AOL pre-screen your emails for spam so you may never get them.  They also insert ads into your emails, which looks unprofessional. You want people focusing on you.)

Or, as I advise clients - live by price, die by price.  (And, if you've got truly big competitors, they can - and will - take a loss for a bit to get the customers...and you'll be out of business.)

(Thanks to AIBA member Jill Douthett for passing along this great info)

It can get overwhelming - there's so much we want to do to help - in our community and our world - but where to start? (and we've only got so much money.)  Well, the 3/50 project  (Mission: Save the local economy, three stores at a time) offers something easy to do, to help local biz survive and thrive.

Here at AIBA, we're all about Buy LOCAL - it's on the web site, our bumper stickers, and postcards you may have received lately.  And, it's the right thing to do, for many reasons - not the least being it keeps more dollars in the local economy, which helps all of us (and lessens our dependency on out-of-state companies.)  But, being the "right thing to do" can also sound rather boring...so, here's one of the main reasons I Buy Local - it's more fun, pure and simple. 

From Small Business Trends (recommended reading) 

"...you need to do only one thing.

You have to wait. That’s it. Just do nothing."

I confess. One of my biggest secret, guilty pleasures is Sara Lee cheesecake - when it's still somewhat frozen. However, as much as I enjoy cooking and baking I've somehow never really "done" cheesecakes.  But, then why should I - when we've got members like Mark Delaney of Oh Heavens Cheesecake?(He also started the biz just as the economy was tanking, undeterred by all the doom and gloom.)

(Thanks to Sophie Martin at Duke City Fix for posting on this.) 

U.S. News & World Report recently published Best Places To Live 2009.  In coming up with the ten, they "looked at areas with strong economies, low living costs, and plenty of fun things to do."  All of which I strongly  believe is true of Albuquerque. 

NM Biz Weekly Headline: Kiplinger's rankks Duke City second

I was talking to someone who's lived in Albuquerque for a year - and she's never been to the Albuquerque Art & History Museum (?!)   And, how many people do you know who have never taken the Sandia tram? Or, never visited the Petroglyphs?  Or, never gone to any of our wonderful growers markets that are opening around town just about now?  Or, never done the Nob Hill Shop n' Stroll?  etc. etc.