Hey, guys. Before we dig into talking about marketing for your business, I want to just stop and say, “Happy New Year,” to you all. I know it’s a little early, but after this year, I am so ready for something new. I’m so ready for the new year. And in business, I’ve always enjoyed that time of the year because it’s a time where you reflect on all that you’ve accomplished the year before. You reflect on the peaks and the valleys and decide what you want to tweak going into a new year. And then, you look at a fresh slate, and set some goals, and really renew yourself to drive your business. And so, like I said, after this year, I can’t wait til the new year. Man, it’s just Thanksgiving, but I’m ready to go. I’m ready for fresh perspective. I’m ready to dig in and start restoring our businesses, and our families, and communities back to some sense of normal.
We’re at a time where you have to decide that you’re going to be in business, right? Some businesses, unfortunately, are going to close as a result of 2020. And for others, it’s really tough. It’s a deep valley, and you have to decide that you’re going to make a go of it, and not run scared. You have to muster the courage and make sure you’re doing the fundamental things that you have to do to stay in business. And marketing is one of those things. I like to look at marketing like it’s a utility, just like electricity, and gas, and water. If you’re going to be in business, those things are basic fundamentals that you have to have. And I put marketing in that same bucket.
Sometimes, budgets gets tough, and then, you have to squeeze, but you don’t go cut off your electricity and nor should you cut off the lifeblood to grow in your business, that being marketing. As we go into the new year, I think it’s time to re-up, recommit, re-decide. You’re wounded, you might be worn out from 2020, but you have to decide and commit to being in business. And don’t be afraid to take those steps that you took before that made you successful. I liken this time to something I call the trapeze principle. You remember the old trapeze in the circus where you’re hanging on, you’re swinging? Well, you’re not, but the trapeze artist, they’re swinging, and they’re trying to time it just right to let go of one of the things… What do you call those things? Trapezes? They got to time it just right to let go, float in thin air with no safety net before they reach the next rung.
And I think that describes the period that we’re in. We’re holding on tight to the handle right now, and we don’t want to let go. But the only way forward is to take some risk, and let go of the trapeze, and reach for the future. You did it when you started your business, and right now, it’s like that for all of us. It’s a restart time. And you’ve got to have that courage to hang in thin air with no safety net, just for that second, and commit to going forward. So, I want to encourage you to think a lot about marketing and posturing your business so that you can succeed in the upcoming year.
At Gwinnett Magazine, we’ve built platforms to help small business. We are one. We’ve been doing this, been in business now for almost 40 years. Oh, dear Lord. But I understand small business, I understand the peaks and valleys, I understand the challenges. And we’ve built our business to help small businesses like you. And we empathize. We understand. And we have platforms to help you grow. Gwinnett Magazine, Best of Gwinnett, Guide to Gwinnett, daily e-newsletters, podcasts, videos, social media, all that is integrated in a marketing package to help you grow your business. And so, right now, we’re on the tail end of production on our Guide to Gwinnett.
And the Guide to Gwinnett has a lot of options, something scalable for every business. You can list your business for free. You can get an enhanced listing for $199, or you can go all the way up to a full suite of marketing assets that you can use to market your business all year long, next year, and then, beyond. Some of the things that we do are profile stories on you and your business. And the thing about it is those end up in our print edition, also in our e-news edition, also on our websites, social media. And they’re assets that you use on your outbound marketing materials. So, what we’ve tried to do is structure these packages so that you can make one smart buy and end up with a lot of assets. If you need help designing an ad, we’ll help you with that. If you really want a full-service agency, we have a lot of great ad partners right here at Gwinnett that we can refer you to.
But I want you to think about marketing your business, in general, for 2021, but then, look to some of these marketing packages that we’re offering that just cover the table for you. Print, web, social, e-news, podcast, video, all in one fell swoop. It’s just a smart marketing buy. And like I said, we’re a small business. We empathize. We structure price points and payment plans. Anything that we can do to help you grow is why we do what we do. I’ve been a lifetime Gwinnettian. I’m invested in the business community. I want to see my business colleagues like you succeed. And I think our passion is watching that happen and helping businesses year after year. So, take a look at some of the guide packages, or just get in touch and talk with us about it. We can explore your options.
One thing about the Guide, it is the platform of which Best of Gwinnett voting occurs. So, you want to be sure that you at least have your free listing there because that’s where your clients will come and vote for you for the Best of Gwinnett thing. Guide to Gwinnett is distributed all year long. We still have over 5, 600 distribution points throughout Gwinnett, all corners of Gwinnett. We’re talking restaurants, retail, professional, offices. Print distribution is still a good viable way and a good part of your marketing mix. Inside the print, there are all kinds of QR code links back to digital products. So, you can run an ad in the print edition, link to your website, link to a landing page, a podcast, all kinds of assets on the backside. Then, likewise, that same content that you see in print goes out on our digital platforms. It’ll go out on our websites, our social media, in our newsletters, so that your message blankets the market that you serve. So, I just want to encourage you to reach out to us and let us help you market your business.
You have to decide, you have to be committed. I think it’s sad to see some of the businesses not make it through 2020, and others are just really struggling and questioning, how long can they go on? But I know entrepreneurs are determined and focused, driven. And I think that I want to encourage you to tap into that. We may be in a valley, but there are brighter days ahead, but only if you do the things fundamental to your business. You can’t be too afraid to take that leap of faith, to let go of the one trapeze, reach for the other. You’ve got to make some bold moves sometimes. So, we’re here to help. We just want to make it easy. We want to help you. We’ll customize packages for you. We’ll work on payment plans for you. If there’s anything that we can do to help you succeed, then that’s what we want to do.
Why? We want to see you succeed over the long haul. What’s good for us is good for everybody in our community. And I just want to see our community rise. And I want to raise a toast to… It’s Happy New Year, in my mind, after all. A toast to the sweetest comeback of all time in business for us all. I believe that we can do that. I believe that we’re on the way. I think we’re tired of 2020, and we’re ready for it. So, just let me encourage you, and call on us, and let us help you posture your business and set the table for the most successful, sweetest comeback of all time in Gwinnett business history. Call us, send me a note. I’ll put a link in here. Got a question for me, you can meet with me, one of my colleagues. We will help you out with any of your communication needs, and Happy New Year, guys.
