National Clothesline

Get on the networking bandwagon

So much has been said about the current frigid climate of the U.S. economy that most people probably miss the “good old days” back toward the end of last century. Perhaps your customers spent money more often and freely back when the Consumer Confidence Index was sky-high, but reaching customers was a lot more difficult back then, too. Right now, we live in a golden age of communication. Marketing opportunities have never been so abundant, cheap or easy to incorporate.

The reason? Absolutely everything is online now. According to www.worldometers.info, there are over 1.6 billion Internet users (as of July 23, 2009). If you visit www.domaintools.com, you will discover that there are over 110 million registered and active domain names on the World Wide Web. Those numbers grow every day. If you don’t have an online presence, you are lagging behind, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to catch up. Having a website and being listed in Internet business directories is just the first step. Social media marketing is the next. For the uninitiated, such marketing includes using various social media platforms and online communities for the purpose of expanding public relations and customer service. The most popular formats include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and blogging.

Social media has become an integral component to a business’s marketing strategy. Drycleaners need not concern themselves with mastering all of the options out there, but they really need to start with one or two as soon as possible. Cleaners might resist taking that first step because they do not know enough about social media marketing. However, we already mentioned the 110 million registered sites out on the Internet (not to mention millions of blogs). The information is out there. Just type “social media marketing strategy” or a similar string of words in your search engine of choice.

Every day, more and more businesses are taking advantage of the marketing potential of the Internet. It costs nothing to sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account and it takes relatively little time to market your business with them. The whole process is so simple and fun that you will find yourself hoping your competition continues to resist taking that first step.

The good news is at your doorstep

In a time when the news headlines are a constant drumbeat of sorry-sounding stories about the sagging economy and its fall-out, it’s natural that people — even news-gathering types — would be looking for rays of hope amidst the negativity. Thus there is a golden opportunity for drycleaners to step up and offer some good-news stories that can enhance their reputations in their local communities and help blow away the cloud of bad publicity that sometimes seems to hang over the industry itself.

We have noticed many cleaners stepping up to the plate with various programs designed to help out and ease the pain of our collective economic dysfunction. One popular program that many have implemented is an offer of free cleaning for “job interview clothes” for the growing numbers who have found themselves among the unemployed. This offer usually garners notice in the local media for the cleaner and the beneficiaries of the offer become long-time loyal customers when their fortunes are reversed. Others have offered their stores as drop-off points for collection for a local food pantry and, of course, there are the long-standing favorites of collecting coats, prom gowns and other such items for charitable causes.

An interesting variation of these collections popped up recently in York, PA, when Hong Kong Cleaners initiated a clothing swap, inviting the community to bring in garments and receive a voucher which they could exchange for another garment at the swap. This program goes a step beyond helping a good cause, although it did that, too, since leftover garments were donated to the Salvation Army. It also has the effect of reminding consumers that drycleaners can help renew their wardrobes by taking old clothes and making them like-new. And it makes for a fun event that can bring new people to the store — twice.

Turning adversity into opportunity is the essence of survival in these hard times. You can become part of the solution by using the resources you have at hand to help both yourself and your community.








						Get on the networking bandwagon So much has been said about the current frigid climate of the U.S. economy that most people probably miss the “good old days” back toward the end of last century. Perhaps your customers spent money more often and freely back when the Consumer Confidence Index was sky-high, but reaching customers was a lot more difficult back then, too. Right now, we live in a golden age of communication. Marketing opportunities have never been so abundant, cheap or easy to incorporate. The reason? Absolutely everything is online now. According to www.worldometers.info, there are over 1.6 billion Internet users (as of July 23, 2009). If you visit www.domaintools.com, you will discover that there are over 110 million registered and active domain names on the World Wide Web. Those numbers grow every day. If you don’t have an online presence, you are lagging behind, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to catch up. Having a website and being listed in Internet business directories is just the first step. Social media marketing is the next. For the uninitiated, such marketing includes using various social media platforms and online communities for the purpose of expanding public relations and customer service. The most popular formats include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and blogging. Social media has become an integral component to a business’s marketing strategy. Drycleaners need not concern themselves with mastering all of the options out there, but they really need to start with one or two as soon as possible. Cleaners might resist taking that first step because they do not know enough about social media marketing. However, we already mentioned the 110 million registered sites out on the Internet (not to mention millions of blogs). The information is out there. Just type “social media marketing strategy” or a similar string of words in your search engine of choice. Every day, more and more businesses are taking advantage of the marketing potential of the Internet. It costs nothing to sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account and it takes relatively little time to market your business with them. The whole process is so simple and fun that you will find yourself hoping your competition continues to resist taking that first step. The good news is at your doorstep In a time when the news headlines are a constant drumbeat of sorry-sounding stories about the sagging economy and its fall-out, it’s natural that people — even news-gathering types — would be looking for rays of hope amidst the negativity. Thus there is a golden opportunity for drycleaners to step up and offer some good-news stories that can enhance their reputations in their local communities and help blow away the cloud of bad publicity that sometimes seems to hang over the industry itself. We have noticed many cleaners stepping up to the plate with various programs designed to help out and ease the pain of our collective economic dysfunction. One popular program that many have implemented is an offer of free cleaning for “job interview clothes” for the growing numbers who have found themselves among the unemployed. This offer usually garners notice in the local media for the cleaner and the beneficiaries of the offer become long-time loyal customers when their fortunes are reversed. Others have offered their stores as drop-off points for collection for a local food pantry and, of course, there are the long-standing favorites of collecting coats, prom gowns and other such items for charitable causes. An interesting variation of these collections popped up recently in York, PA, when Hong Kong Cleaners initiated a clothing swap, inviting the community to bring in garments and receive a voucher which they could exchange for another garment at the swap. This program goes a step beyond helping a good cause, although it did that, too, since leftover garments were donated to the Salvation Army. It also has the effect of reminding consumers that drycleaners can help renew their wardrobes by taking old clothes and making them like-new. And it makes for a fun event that can bring new people to the store — twice. Turning adversity into opportunity is the essence of survival in these hard times. You can become part of the solution by using the resources you have at hand to help both yourself and your community.