Are You and Your Company a Good Neighbor?
Douglas KarrThanks for stopping by my personal blog on Marketing Technology! Over 50,000 visitors a month find my content worth returning for, so don't forget to subscribe to the Marketing Technology Blog RSS feed or to the Marketing Technology Email to have new content sent directly to your inbox. You may also find my other business blog helpful, Social Media Domination.
As gas prices continue to rise, we’re all evaluating our personal lives and what sacrifices we need to make to continue to keep gas in the tank - or how we can save gas. Gasoline is one of those obvious resources that we can see the impact of - politically, environmentally, and economically. Rarely do we actually look beyond the direct impact of our actions though. There’s actually a huge impact if we just tried to stay local.
In Indianapolis, I’ve met a ton of regional businesses that are absolutely fantastic. This last month, I’ve been in touch with Bitwise Solutions, ExactTarget, Vontoo, Imavex, Coffey Design, Roundpeg, Denali, Bluelock, Kristian Anderson, Compendium Blogware, Right On Interactive, Vision Direct, Noobie, Rarebird, Recursive Function, ChaCha, Autobase, The Bean Cup, and Resume Spider to name a few. (If I’ve forgotten you - I apologize!)
These are human resource, technology, business, marketing and advertising firms and - even a coffee shop - with incredible impact - both regionally and nationally. Folks continue to rib me on my blog about how much I pay attention to Indianapolis businesses. Part of the reason is that I’m consistently amazed by the talent that I have found in my own backyard.
Do I think Indianapolis is at the forefront of the Web 2.0 revolution?
Of course not!
Do I think Indianapolis has all the resources I need to get a successful company off the ground?
Absolutely!
I really believe that our ‘global’ view of business and the desire to continually grow outside our own region will never have as much impact as the work we do in our own back yard. Every dollar that I spend in Indianapolis contributes to taxes, families and communities where I live! Not only that, but by staying local, I know that I’m utilizing less resources.
Staying local means there’s no need for air travel to visit my clients. As well, there’s no need for fuel for trucks and postal services to send packages back and forth. These are folks I see often (today at the BlogMob event!), so I want to make sure that I treat them right and take care of them.
It’s taken 4 or 5 years for me to really discover the regional talent in Indianapolis. If you asked me about half the businesses above, I would have never guessed that those kind of resources were right in my own backyard. Technology has helped! Smaller Indiana and the regional conferences I spend time at have opened my eyes.
Ironically, I believe many of these folks were difficult to find because they weren’t looking for customers here, either. This isn’t a blog post to tout Indianapolis - I’m sure where many of you live you’ve got the same resources… perhaps even some of the same services that these folks provide above. The question is, are you looking for them?
In Indianapolis, we’re starting to figure out that Silicon Valley is quite a ways away. Not that I don’t love our friends in the Bay Area - but there’s a huge difference in the attitude here in the midwest, the cost of living, and not to mention the time zone as well. I like staying local because it’s convenient - but it also has huge implications beyond that can’t be argued.
Are you looking regionally for your solutions? If not - you may want to really give it some thought. With this shaky economy and our continued dependence on oil, you really can have an impact where it counts the most - in your own backyard!
The other benefit of working local that your post didn’t touch on, is that when you work with a local firm, you are more likely to be working with people who share your values and people whom are you are likely to run into again in the community. So, there is greater likelihood that the product and services one procures locally will be provided by people who will work hard and with integrity to make sure you are pleased with the product or service they provide.