Wednesday, June 21, 2017

It Takes A Village....Another Wordy Wednesday Ramble....

Last night, as I was looking for an email someone said they sent me, I wandered into my SPAM folder. There, among the sales pitches, I saw an email from the KCRA A-List Contest. It's been a very busy Spring. I had not even realized that the contest was underway. I followed the links and soon realized that without any fanfare or participation on my part, The Secret Garden was sitting in 11th place out of 32 contestants. Not bad, but not where I wanted to stay. I tend to be a little competitive. I like to be liked. Heck, I'll admit it, I like to win!

So I copied the link to the voting platform and posted a note on our Secret Garden Facebook wall asking for help getting me in the top 3. I watched a few people respond with a "Like" and a few made comments that they had voted. Awesome! When I woke up this morning I was impressed and thankful for my social media followers that they had indeed voted and pushed me up to 2nd PLACE! Wow! Double Awesome!!

All a silly game? Definitely not! Back in 2007 when this A-List Contest started we placed 3rd out of 10 entries. In 2008 and 2009 we placed FIRST with 18 contestants. The most important part of winning wasn't the certificate (although that's fun to have). No, the MOST IMPORTANT thing was how it drove our web site up higher in search engine results. A little mom and pop store like ours doesn't have the big budget to run ads that place you on top of the search engine page and our web site did not have the traffic history to get to page one in a search organically. BUT, by being part of KCRA's page, and being recognized as #1, well that made a HUGE difference.  

Ten years later there are 32 contestants. My original goal yesterday was to end up in the top 3. Today, after looking at the numbers that I'm privy to as a contestant, I see I only need 51 more votes to move into 1st Place....... 
51 votes!.......... I have 3900+ customers that receive emails. I have 2900+ Facebook fans, I have 1200+ Instagram followers........Imagine the possibilities.....Do you remember what I said about being a little competitive? We're not talking about needing 1000's of votes. We're talking about needing maybe 100. Please don't rely on the other customer to vote. I NEED YOUR VOTE!

And so I ask you....Would you be willing to do your part to support a local, small business by spending a few minutes voting for The Secret Garden in this year's KCRA A List Competition? 

And if you do decide to help us out, would you please also leave a comment about what you like about our store as well. It's one thing when I say something in print. It's 100 times more effective when YOU say something about us in print. Maybe you enjoyed taking a class, or attending a special event. Or maybe your daughter was here for a Girl Scout outing or your family found their Christmas tree here. Whatever good memory you have, we'd love for you to share.

I can't thank you enough for your help. Click here to cast your vote:

Remember, it takes a village to support a small business. You're my village!

Jennifer








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