Are you guilty of any of these do you think?
Supporting a small business costs nothing, yet as a small business owner I've found it surprising how some of the people you'd expect to support you ...don't.
I see them on Instagram and Facebook, sending Stacey Solomon good wishes on her pregnancy, or telling Mrs Hinch how amazing she is - and that's lovely, but why can't they also support someone who they ACTUALLY know?
Here's 5 reasons why I think people don't support a small business and why I think they should (I have tried to keep the sarcasm to a minimum):
1. They don't realise how important a like or share is on social media.
Small businesses aren't asking for likes and shares to boost their ego or to look popular -
they need them to be seen and make sales.
A social media algorithm will look at a post's:
likes
shares
saves
comments
length of time people spend watching / reading it.
So if you like a small business post or share it, the algorithm becomes their friend and starts to show their post on the news feed of others, who then like it and share it where it's shown to more people and so on.
An example of this is I once had a tweet shared by Kathy Burke which resulted in 42 retweet’s, 37,600+ impressions (tweet views), 400+ website visitors and over £100 worth of orders. I only had about 500 Twitter followers at the time so a prime example of how valuable a share could be.
2. They don't like your product
Which is ok. We all have different tastes and likes so we're not going to please everyone.
If you're someone who has thought 'I don't like that', maybe you know someone who would though and if so why not tell them about it?
Perhaps you wouldn't buy the product but it made you laugh, so why not comment this on the social media post, or share it to make others laugh?
Maybe you can appreciate the small business is just trying to make a living and pop them a like anyway?
Some food for thought.
3. They don't want you to do well
Unfortunately small businesses will encounter people who don't want them to do well - maybe they're jealous, or perhaps they're a competitor - who knows.
What I do know is there's plenty of people willing small businesses on out there and who will be cheering our corner, which is why small businesses need these legends to continue to shout about us as much as they can.
This self employed malarkey can be a tough and lonely world sometimes.
4. They believe small businesses are more expensive
Firstly, they're not. My standard prints currently range from £7.99 to £32.99 including first class postage. If, however, you want me to sit for 9+ hours drawing your Aunt Linda's late dog who only had three legs but you want me to draw a fourth leg using only one blurred photo of it's face to reference, then you might expect to pay a bit more.
Ok, that may have been an exaggeration but you get the idea. A lot of time and care goes in to a unique handmade gift and time is money.
5. They think you're doing well enough already.
Small businesses should shout about their successes - I know I do. I'm bloody proud of how far I've come and I'm hoping people will want my products if they see that others are buying them too.
However, am I looking at a holiday home in the Maldives with my own private yacht yet? No.
Have I bought a Porsche with a private number plate yet? Also no.
Until you see a small business shouting about this then trust me, we need your support. Even if you don't want to buy a unique and lovingly handmade product, it costs nothing to tell someone else about it and if you do buy something, let people know.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments?
Have I missed any other reasons that you can think of?
Shop my art prints and cards at www.picsandsquiggles.com.