Don't Rain on My Parade: One FREE Way to Get Publicity

Running a small business can be hard, with a zillion things to do, no one to do it but you, and limited cash to do it. Word of mouth is great, especially in a small town like ours, but that will only get you so far. If I had a dollar for each time someone came in and said "I didn't even know you were here? How long have you been open?", I would have PLENTY of money to spend on advertising! So sometimes, you have to get creative to find ways to advertise and not go broke doing it. 



This month's big idea: a float in the Lewis County Fair Parade.

A small parade float makes a big statement

For those of you reading this blog that are not local area residents, the Lewis County Fair is a VERY big deal here! The parade is 2 1/2 hours long and features local bands, businesses, and community groups. Of course it also has a vast array of farming equipment, fire trucks, and more candy than trick-o-treating at Halloween! The fair has been a community staple for almost 200 years, and the best part, entering a float is FREE!

Lewis County Fair, since 1820

In the small business world, free is a very good thing! Over 2,000 people come to the parade and sit along the parade route or in the grand stands at the fairgrounds and see the floats as they pass by. That is a far better reach than our Facebook site has ever had. But, we have certainly learned a few things with this first time float, and it will make for an even better showing next year. I would like to share a few things with you about the parade float process this year, and how we intend to make it even better next year. If you are lucky enough to have a fair or other community event in your area, perhaps you can learn from our trial and error as well.



1. Think your business is too small? Find a partner! The absolute best thing I did this year was call on a friend to sponsor a parade float with our store. As soon as I found out the float was free (unless you wanted it judged to win money), I called my good friend Christy who owns The Old Meat Market Gallery right down the road from us. She features handmade items by local artists, and her style and  store type was a perfect mesh with ours. (Not to mention she has 6 kids, and I knew that brood would come in handy!) Finding a partner store for the float cut expenses, legwork, and construction time, as we had someone to rely on. Christy picked up the candy, got the giant roll of heavy paper for the signs, and enlisted her children and their friends to help on the evening of the parade. Not to mention, it was more fun sitting with a friend and laughing as we doled out candy.

2. Have enough candy! Kids love candy. Adults love the candy. Who doesn't like free candy?  The problem is that the parade route is about a mile long or so... that is a lot of people. if you think you have enough candy, buy more! We started buying a month or two before the parade from Sam's Club so we could buy in bulk and stockpiled it at the shop. But, we still ran out a little more than halfway through the parade. One reason was that the kids went a little crazy with the candy throwing (we will chat with them about that for next year). The other reason was we clearly underestimated the amount of people in attendance. Our saving grace was a bubble machine when the candy ran out!

3. Know the theme and stick to it! Every year they make a big deal out of choosing the theme for the fair. This year the theme was "Family Fun for Everyone". It was difficult to make it fit our float, but at least we tried. We picked things at the fair that also were things we have at the shops (like knitting, old farm tools, etc.) and placed them on the table in our float.  As we watched other floats go by (we saw a lot of the parade go by us) one of the main questions that popped in our heads was "What does THAT have to do with the theme?" Of course this matters more if you are going to be judges I suppose, but it also should look like you wanted to be a part of the parade and not just an advertisement for your business. We started very simple this year, and hope to make it bigger and better next year.

2 great places to shop local

 4. Have fun! It was a blast being a part of the parade and the Lewis County Fair. Waving at people, seeing faces we knew, and then seeing new folks read our signs and see our float. Who knows, maybe they will remember our float and make a point to stop in to see us. I cannot say enough about supporting your local community with events such as this one. It was very low cost to us, gained us a ton of exposure, and was fun to boot. Check out your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of events and how you can get involved.


The group of us cannot wait until next year, when we will have a bigger and better trailer, more kid "volunteers" to toss out candy and blow bubbles, and of course, more candy!