Believe or not, another Small Business Week has come and gone, just like Christmas. Only many of you may not have realized this past week was Small Business Week and neither did your customers, and that may be telling.

Like many other designated days, weeks or awareness months, Small Business Week is equally a way for you to promote yourself to customers in your area and for people like me to sell methods to you to promote to customers in your area. Small Business Week has grown over the last 50 years out of a Presidential Proclamation and we all know how vital those can be. And of course, since small businesses are a vital part of our national economy, everyone loves them. I mean no one talks about hating their mother on Mother’s Day, unless it’s to their therapist.

So during Small Business Week people are encouraged to patronize their local businesses (you knew I’d be tying in local marketing sooner or later)  the way people are encouraged to send flowers to their mothers in Mother’s Day (only without most, but not all, of the guilt). But are feel-good bromides, or even eat-your-broccoli admonishments, enough to get people in your area to buy from you? Probably not, so here are some things to keep in mind, depending on what you trade in:

• Convenience: It can be hard to compete with Amazon when you can order from Amazon in your pajamas and the truck with that smiley, arrow thing on it arrives the very next day, or even the same day, which can be embarrassing if you’re still in your pajamas. But as a local small business, you can still offer an online ordering option on your website, pre-ordering or reservations, and you can make the in-store experience as smooth, pleasant and enriching as possible. There’s nothing more convenient than that.
• Selection: It’s true you can find just about anything there is to be found online but it takes time. If you have something unique to sell, let people know you have it and how convenient it is to get it. I can help you with that (it is Small Business Week after all).
• Personable knowledge and expertise: Sure you can review online reviews and such or chat, but there’s not like stopping by a local store and getting advice from a real human that will actually smile on occasion. In my particular case with the musician side of my life, it gives me a rare chance to get out of the house, chew the fat and keep talking about the glory days (sorry Boss).

So customers will not be guilt-tripped into buying from you even though you are the salt of the earth. Give them a reason to.