A sketch-post from an ongoing series – I posted Part 1 previously on January 27th..
Emphasize the city’s natural beauty. If one’s interested in drawing tourism or affluent newcomers (and we should be), show them them what we have that bigger cities lack – a fine landscape, with much to do in it. We’re doing this now, and more is better.
Fitness attracts. Established families often enjoy outdoor adventures – let people see how many outdoor adventures they can enjoy here. Road and trail cycling, running, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, kayaking – these are expected adventures for a smart set. I may have left much out, but one sees my point well enough.
The attractive fit. If fitness attracts, it’s also true that the fit are attractive. Whitewater has many families who enjoy the pursuits that I’ve mentioned – highlight (so realistically as possible) vigorous and athletic people. They needn’t be conventionally pretty, but they should be fit.
This sort of presentation is intriguing to upwardly mobile couples who can sustain Whitewater’s future. They will be interested in making friends with people like themselves.
Along those lines, never publish pictures of officials who look rumpled, with ill-fitting uniforms, etc. Professionals blanch at pictures of authorities who look unkempt. This has nothing to do with natural attractiveness, and everything to do with neatness.
Value and charm can beat price. Everyone knows where Walmart and Target are, and what they’re like – all the world knows about those stores. Promote service and value, not price – what local merchants offer in expertise and unique merchandise that large chains do not.
It does no good to tell people that we have restaurants, etc. – the rest of America has that. Emphasize unique dishes, delicious pastries, etc. Specificity will not alienate a prospective clientele, but rather draw patrons who would otherwise ignore a generic advertisement.
Never, ever tell people they should spend money here, that they owe it to the community. Show them what they’ll get in value (service, expertise, charm) and in unique merchandise for shopping here.
Inspiring guilt leads to resentment. Resentment leads to backstabbing. Backstabbing leads to business failure. Business failure leads to the Dark Side.
Yoda said that first, I think, in a galaxy far, far away — it’s still true.
Never use the dollar symbol as a way to encourage spending. It doesn’t work. The dollar symbol represents costs incurred, not benefits conferred. Shoppers know how much most things cost – they want to see what they’ll get in return for that expense. (The exception: a sale, and even then, a saying it’s a sale, and specifying savings, is better than a mere string of dollar symbols.)
This holds true for any store that’s not a discount store. Local merchants aren’t discount stores.
Whitewater’s rough times can be overcome, if one acts from strength and confidence (whatever the difficulties of the moment).
