So, I started digging into this whole PLN thing. At first blush, I was a little bit intimidated because most of the information seemed geared for educators. Concluding that it will require a little thinking outside of the box, it occurred to me that I have just had the experience of learning through a PLN and didn't even realize it!
My business partners and I had the privilege of coordinating a fashion show in our business neighborhood to benefit a local charity earlier this month. While our goal was to do a little good for our community, it would be disingenuous to say that, as newcomers to the community, we also weren't also hoping to promote our own business as well. We floated the original idea at our local merchant's association meeting back in November to a rather lukewarm response. Knowing that this was a project we could not pull off on solely on our own, we started reaching out to other businesses in the neighborhood who were not actively involved in the association.
Across the street from our store happens to be a historical old theater. They offered up a venue for the event. We started visiting our neighbors to brainstorm how they might be involved in the project. Long story short... we had buy-in from nearly all of them! Our show, which was really more of a theatrical production than a traditional runway show, included merchandise from numerous antique stores, thrift shops, art galleries, the local Harley Davidson dealer, a tack shop, and even the two area tattoo parlors! Our models, consisted of or friends, families, and customers. By mixing and blending our collective wares, we pulled off, in six weeks time, a professionally choreographed production that blended fashion, skin art, cowboy, biker, vintage, and gypsy. We even threw in a little PG-rated pole dancing for good measure. Our restaurant neighbors got involved by providing the food and beverages. A local limousine company taxied VIP's from the parking lot to the theater red carpet where the paparazzi snapped pictures as they entered the theater. The local newspaper helped us promote the event in advance and we tapped into every resource we had at our disposal. The evening was a huge success, with over 400 in attendance, and culminated in a tear-jerking tribute to our veterans, Jimi Hendrix-style. The entire street is abuzz with plans for next year and how we can make it even bigger and better!
Wow that really does sound like a huge success. You should be proud of yourself! You sound like a real team player who can handle a good challenge.
ReplyDeleteAbout your PLN, just by attendance alone of 400 attendee's you certainly do have enough numbers to start building one. Did you ever see if your neighborhood has a Facebook page? Does your business have a Facebook, Twitter account? etc? Did you share them? Have a mailing list? You seem well versed too. I see endless opportunities for your business in this social arena.
Thank you! We are pleasantly surprised and pretty pleased with the way way the event turned out. My wheels are turning as far as the PLN goes. It's a pretty provincial little business area, technology-wise, but I do see more than a few opportunities. I'm thinking I should start by tapping into the local small business administration and the Chamber of Commerce, both of which are quite active. I think they could lead me in a number of different good directions. My business does have a Facebook page, but not on Twitter quite yet. The challenge for me is that I am the most proficient, technologically, which is not saying a whole lot. I have a very steep learning curve to overcome! Scary!
DeleteHey have no fear, there's a big focus these days on designing apps with user experience in mind. If a product isn't intuitive it usually doesn't do well. Besides, you can always fall back on YouTube for help with social things, that's what I do. That's how I learned what a #hashtag was.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely set up a twitter for your business, it's pretty much a standard now, especially if you already have a Facebook. Twitter's reach is expanding too since it correlates with all the millions of mobile devices being sold pre-installed with social apps. It's also neat to get followers, and have the ability to broadcast your ideas to others.
Twitter for the store is on my must-do list as soon as I figure out how to proficiently use the account I just set up for class. Thank God for YouTube...I have been checking out some of the tutorials. Amazing how many of them are available. Thanks so much for the encouragement.
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