Stay tuned: Next meeting of the Lake Worth Business Alliance (LWBA) and what’s all that about ‘Icy Treats’?

Below, learn more about the latest LWBA
meeting held yesterday at Toojay’s in
Downtown Lake Worth.

But first — if you have a business in the City or are considering opening a new business here — did you know there are five (5) business reporters from The Palm Beach Post covering Central Palm Beach County (CPBC) and our coastal City of Lake Worth is one of the most important areas covered? It’s true.

The City of Lake Worth is the feature story each and every Monday in The Palm Beach Post.
Click on image to enlarge:

Not even the business community in Delray Beach
or Boca Raton is ranked more important
than the City of Lake Worth.

However, with all those business reporters covering this area in CPBC, the trick is learning how to reach out to the right one!

Business reporter Jeff Ostrowski isn’t the only one covering this very important part of Palm Beach County, for example, if you’ve been paying close attention to the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries here in the City of Lake Worth.

Below is contact information for the other five (5) business reporters and how to reach out to the business editor at the Post as well.

And. . . Do you have a business here in the City? Learn more below about the “5 Tips” from Post business editor Antonio Fins and how those incredibly useful five tips — using just one example, ‘Icy treats!’ — can help a business increase sales and develop a loyal customer base here in the City.

Back to the LWBA:

Yesterday, Tuesday, Nov. 28th, was the most recent meeting of the LWBA and it was great to see new faces!

This latest meeting was held at Toojay’s in the Downtown, the fifth meeting since the inaugural meeting in mid-October. Click on this link to learn more about why business owners and the public decided to form the LWBA and the subsequent meeting at Tacos Al Carbon on Oct. 18th about:

“Is Lake Worth really ‘open for business’? Is everybody reading from the same script?”

Check back tomorrow for more about the meeting at Toojay’s yesterday and what was accomplished, e.g., soon will be the installing of LWBA officers, the creation of a Facebook page, future steps for the LWBA, and the next scheduled meeting.

Now to the “Five Tips”, gaining more customers, the list of business reporters, ‘Icy Treats!’ and an example, sales of women’s clothing:

Let’s start off with an example from the 2016 holiday season: Do you have a Downtown shop selling women’s clothes? Are you losing business to a thrift store on Dixie Hwy.? What can you do to change that? There is a way. It’s called the “Five Tips”.

Below is a quote by a Post beat reporter about last year’s holiday season titled, “Online shopping hurts Lake Worth retailers over holidays” and a retailer that’s also in competition with other local Downtown businesses selling women’s clothing and maybe even in competition with the hugely popular World Thrift on N. Dixie Hwy. as well:

     CarriElle’s Closet, a new upscale designer store that opened on North K street in June [2016], also struggled to find holiday shoppers.
     “We had days where we were super busy and those when it was really quiet,” said Carrie Childs, a store co-owner. “We should have advertised or done more promotion.” [emphasis added]
     Elle Horigan, Childs’ business partner, said most customers came in mostly to style and buy clothes for themselves.
     “We wanted more people buying gifts,” Horigan said. “It was slow.”

How could CarriElle’s Closet have attracted more customers last year? By using the Five Tips!

Without further ado, from Mr. Fins, the five tips:

1. Know whom you want to reach out to, the editor writes, “. . . the trick is reaching to the right journalist.” For example, sending information to a beat reporter may not be the best option. Have you considered a business reporter? An entertainment reporter?
2. Who’s your audience? “So, tell us how many followers do you have on Twitter? How many friends/fans do you have on Facebook?”
3. Local, local, local, “. . . there must be a direct and definite Palm Beach County connection.”
4. Newsmakers, “Some of the best-read content we produce isn’t on the front page.” For example, per the Business Editor, the “weekly Newsmakers section”.
5. Video, “So if your business has ‘good visuals,’ drop in a link to some B-roll video that we can attach to the story.”

Now for another example: How promotion and the Five Tips work: On December 16th last year Post Staff Writer Alexa Silverman wrote an excellent article about “The Cottages of Lake Worth” book signing at the Cultural Council in Downtown Lake Worth. They sold almost 40 books that afternoon! So try contacting Silverman about your business or upcoming event and see what happens: email the reporter at asilverman@pbpost.com

There are other reporters at the Post who have penned very popular and widely-shared articles about Lake Worth businesses, a recent one was by Post reporter Eddie Ritz promoting the Casino and Beach complex and many of you are already familiar with business reporter Jeff Ostrowski and Jennifer Sorentrue.

Below is the full list of reporters with phone number and email address you can contact using the “Five Tips” to get your business noticed and attract more customers:

• Jeff Ostrowski, 561-820-4581; jostrowski@pbpost.com
• Susan Salisbury, 561-820-4577; ssalisbury@pbpost.com
• Jennifer Sorentrue, 561-820-4526; jsorentrue@pbpost.com
• Charles Elmore, 561-820-4811; celmore@pbpost.com
• Alexandra Clough (real estate/business reporter), 561-362-5557; aclough@pbpost.com
• To reach out to Business Editor Antonio Fins: 561-820-4439; afins@pbpost.com

So. After going over the “Five Tips” do you think you’re ready to try and reach out to a business reporter to get your business noticed, and later, an article published in the Post? Get cracking! It’s a very competitive business environment and it doesn’t help matters much when Lake Worth’s beat reporter is promoting businesses in the Village of Palm Springs:

For example, if you’re in the business of selling
“Icy treats” you don’t want your customers
going to Palm Springs!

Remember this “IN FOCUS: LAKE WORTH”
by beat reporter Kevin Thompson about ‘Icy treats’
at a gas station located where? Here in the
City of Lake Worth?

Sadly no. That RaceTrac gas station
is in Palm Springs!

Why go all the way to Palm Springs for “Icy treats” when you can get icy treats right here in the City of Lake Worth such as wonderful establishments like Toojay’s at 419 Lake Ave. in Downtown Lake Worth!

In conclusion, if you have a business here in the City of Lake Worth you shouldn’t be losing local customers to businesses outside our City. Hope to see many of you at the next Lake Worth Business Alliance meeting. Stay tuned for the date and time!