Page 2 - May 2017 Newsletter

S U M M E R TIPS

There has literally never been a better time to operate a business in a rural community. Why do you say that MaCall?
Because millennials, Yelp, social media, secrets, stories and experiences. That’s why.
Period. Story over. You’re welcome.
But in all seriousness, there are SO many tools at your finger tips to help you and your business make this summer season
the best yet! So if you can hang with me for the next 5ish minutes, I have some great ideas and tips for you to help you
conquer the season that is summer in the Sauk Prairie Riverway.
NUMERO 1. MILLENNIALS (a.k.a. that one over-achieving yet lazy generation that’s so completely plugged in they find themselves

documenting everything about doing nothing)
Again I joke, because this generation is SO plugged in that you SO want them to step foot in your business because they will tell
EVERYONE about it! They will check-in, tweet, snap, and Insta just about everything they do which is great for you if you embrace it.
Encourage it and create an inviting “wifi friendly” environment. Sauk Prairie is gorgeous if you haven’t notice, especially in the
summer, so make sure those millennials are capturing those gorgeous views!
This also means you NEED to jump on the social media express train, if you haven’t already, if you want any chance of capturing this
generation. Need help? Call me and we can break the internet together!

2. YELP (and all the little travel apps that go with it)
For lack of a better definition, Yelp is this amazing app that allows anyone traveling in your vicinity
FIND YOU! For instance, I am from this far away land called Reedsburg and in my first week on the job I
wanted to look up all the restaurants in this area for “research purposes”. I pulled out my handy-dandy
Yelp app and low and behold it listed every restaurant within a set distance from me, accompanied by
reviews, hours, menus, etc.
Also This. Yelp had a monthly average of 24 million unique visitors who visited Yelp via the Yelp app and 65 million unique visitors
who visited Yelp via mobile web in Q4 2016, as measured by Google Analytics.
Want to be ranked higher on Yelp? Check out this article…
http://jenruhman.com/how-to-rank-higher-on-yelp/
3. TREAT YO SELF (or your customers/clients)
IT’S SUMMER! Treat your clients or customers to something fun! Picnic in the park? Baseball tickets? Tubing down a river? I know of
one close by. Find a way to incorporate the local summer events into the excitement. Give a way mini cow pies, prime seating to the
Fireworks, or small coupons at June Tunes. P.S. In most cases, it’s tax deductible.
4. GET INVOLVED
There are so many things going on in Sauk Prairie this summer so put an oar in! Sponsoring or participating in the local festivals and
events is not only great for brand awareness but also captures those new and potential customers. Likewise, it gives customers all
the “feels” knowing you are passionate about your community and want to be a part of what’s going on.
5. TELL THEM A STORY (don’t sell them a destination)
What is your story? What is special about your business? Do you have a secret drink or
recipe that is unique to your restaurant? Do you have a unique history or special ties to the
area? When you engage your customer in a story they are actively thinking and listening,
trying to make sense of it as compared to stating a statistic or fact. Make them remember

you and give them a reason to do so! Millennials LOVE to think
they have found something cool and unique that no one knows
about. And then they will post, tweet, pin, and share it.
So my homework for you is to trick me, a know-it-all Millennial, into thinking I am finding the most cool
and unique thing that I will want to tell all my friends about this summer! Cow chip throwing does hit the
unique-list pretty high so this might be a bit of a challenge…

MaCall Tourdot, Tourism Promotions Director
Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce