So last night I was laying in bed and a commercial came on for the Elk Grove Auto Mall. We see the Mayor of Elk Grove, Gary Davis, and the Vice Mayor, Jim Cooper. We see a few more folks from the City and a member of the Cosumnes CSD board. They all say how great the Elk Grove Auto Mall is and why we should shop there. Basically, it comes down to money.
Now, let's spend about 30 seconds analyzing this:
1. Why is the mayor or the vice mayor in an ad for any business? That is an endorsement of that business. Do they shop at the auto mall? Are they willing to be in ads for other local businesses? I don't see Jerry Brown endorsing Intel or Apple or Google.
2.Or are they now in the endorsement business? What about other businesses? Is the endorsement up for sale? If you bring in $1,000,000 in sales tax revenue, will the mayor be in your ad? What about $2,000,000? Do you have some magic number that applies? I didn't realize politicians endorsed local businesses.
3. Why don't they ask the Elk Grove Auto Mall why their ads aren't shot in Elk Grove? Look at the freaking tv ads. How many of them are done in Old Sac or downtown? Apparently, we should give our money to the Auto Mall but the Auto Mall should not give their money locally? Really? Is that how it works now? We support them and they spend their money elsewhere?
4. Why are city employees in the ads at all? Did the Auto Mall pay for their time to be in the ads? Are taxpayers paying for their time? Is this something that is covered by their employment?
5. Does anyone buy a car based on the endorsement of politicians anyway? Seriously, would you buy a product because of a politician recommendation? I wouldn't.
Okay, short rant over. I can go on and on, but you get the point.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Shop local
This is going to be a bit different. No, this is going to be a lot different. I am not going to get mad. I am not going to drop any profanity. I am not going to call anyone names. Ready?
I was talking the other day with a friend of mine. We both work for ourselves and we both notice the same trend: people want to talk about shopping locally, but when push comes to shove, they don't do it. This applies to friends as well as to the general public. Let me explain.
Pretend you are a friend of mine. Now, I am a lawyer. It is what I do to support my family. And you would know this, because, at least in this example. you are a friend of mine. So, my new friend, you have a legal issue come up. You know I am a lawyer. But you decide to call some big city law firm to represent you. You pay them good money to resolve your issue. Later, you mention to me that you hired Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.
Let me explain the problem. (I will ignore, for a minute, that we are friends.) Your hard earned money goes to a big city law firm. The big city law firm's lawyers live in a different city than you live in, and a different city than I live in. The big city law firm uses products and services from the big city. They hire couriers in the big city. They pay rent to some landlord in the big city. All of that money you paid them is paid out in the big city.
If you hired me, I use local people for my services and products. My business cards are printed locally by a woman who designs them locally. She buys her products and services locally. My postage is bought locally. When I need to hire someone to do something for me, I hire someone local, whenever possible. I take my income and spend it locally at my local stores. When I go out to eat for Italian food, for example, I choose to eat at a small, local place. They hire people who live locally. They buy their food at the farmers market and from local supplies. Those suppliers buy their products locally.
You see, shopping locally gives local people money to spend locally. This is what makes a community's economic development grow. As more people spend locally, the local businesses grow, hire more local people to work there and spend more money locally. It has a mushroom effect. When you take money and spend it outside of the community, you are helping to grow those other cities.
Now, I get you can't always buy things locally. I use software that is only available from big companies. I buy paper in bulk and can't find a company that sells it in bulk. If I have to get papers sent by overnight mail, I am limited in my choices. So, it is not always possible. Further, maybe you need a patent attorney. There are none in my town. But, if you call a local attorney for a referral, that local attorney gets "goodwill" from the attorney he/she recommends. That comes back to the local attorney in referrals from the other attorney, which then helps the local economy.
And, let's be honest, there are some businesses that you will not shop at, for a variety of reasons. For example, a local business owner in my town had a dispute with me over something. Instead of disagreeing, he chose to attack my character. That is his right. However, it is then my right to decide not to give him my money. After all, I work hard for it and why would I give it to someone who thinks I am a jerk? I wouldn't and you wouldn't either.
About that friendship part: if you are a friend and you enjoy our friendship, then it is worse when you decide to give your business to someone else. If we are friends, and I don't mean Facebook friends, but real, actual friends, then you should be willing to call me when you have a problem that requires my services. I may not be able to help you, or it may not be a good fit, but a friend should do business with other friends. It is not required, but friends help friends, and that means helping them with everything. Don't tell me we are friends then buy widgets at Walmart because you think they are cheaper than I sell them for.
I may be wrong, but I think there is something to shopping locally. Who is in with me?
I was talking the other day with a friend of mine. We both work for ourselves and we both notice the same trend: people want to talk about shopping locally, but when push comes to shove, they don't do it. This applies to friends as well as to the general public. Let me explain.
Pretend you are a friend of mine. Now, I am a lawyer. It is what I do to support my family. And you would know this, because, at least in this example. you are a friend of mine. So, my new friend, you have a legal issue come up. You know I am a lawyer. But you decide to call some big city law firm to represent you. You pay them good money to resolve your issue. Later, you mention to me that you hired Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.
Let me explain the problem. (I will ignore, for a minute, that we are friends.) Your hard earned money goes to a big city law firm. The big city law firm's lawyers live in a different city than you live in, and a different city than I live in. The big city law firm uses products and services from the big city. They hire couriers in the big city. They pay rent to some landlord in the big city. All of that money you paid them is paid out in the big city.
If you hired me, I use local people for my services and products. My business cards are printed locally by a woman who designs them locally. She buys her products and services locally. My postage is bought locally. When I need to hire someone to do something for me, I hire someone local, whenever possible. I take my income and spend it locally at my local stores. When I go out to eat for Italian food, for example, I choose to eat at a small, local place. They hire people who live locally. They buy their food at the farmers market and from local supplies. Those suppliers buy their products locally.
You see, shopping locally gives local people money to spend locally. This is what makes a community's economic development grow. As more people spend locally, the local businesses grow, hire more local people to work there and spend more money locally. It has a mushroom effect. When you take money and spend it outside of the community, you are helping to grow those other cities.
Now, I get you can't always buy things locally. I use software that is only available from big companies. I buy paper in bulk and can't find a company that sells it in bulk. If I have to get papers sent by overnight mail, I am limited in my choices. So, it is not always possible. Further, maybe you need a patent attorney. There are none in my town. But, if you call a local attorney for a referral, that local attorney gets "goodwill" from the attorney he/she recommends. That comes back to the local attorney in referrals from the other attorney, which then helps the local economy.
And, let's be honest, there are some businesses that you will not shop at, for a variety of reasons. For example, a local business owner in my town had a dispute with me over something. Instead of disagreeing, he chose to attack my character. That is his right. However, it is then my right to decide not to give him my money. After all, I work hard for it and why would I give it to someone who thinks I am a jerk? I wouldn't and you wouldn't either.
About that friendship part: if you are a friend and you enjoy our friendship, then it is worse when you decide to give your business to someone else. If we are friends, and I don't mean Facebook friends, but real, actual friends, then you should be willing to call me when you have a problem that requires my services. I may not be able to help you, or it may not be a good fit, but a friend should do business with other friends. It is not required, but friends help friends, and that means helping them with everything. Don't tell me we are friends then buy widgets at Walmart because you think they are cheaper than I sell them for.
I may be wrong, but I think there is something to shopping locally. Who is in with me?
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