Grand Openings

Grand Openings

Small Business - Grand Openings

You’re excited about opening your new business. Everyone else will be, too . . .correct? Hopefully. You have to create the excitement, and a knockout grand opening celebration is the way to do it. Your event has to scream We are better and we know it! And more eager to serve you than our competitors. We want to get to know you and have you do business with us.

Small Business - Grand Openings - Originality

Be original. If you own an electronics store, open your doors with a remote control. If you’re opening a yarn store, unravel a huge knitted ribbon. If you sell sporting goods, reel in both ends of an enormous bow until it is untied. Whatever your specialty, do something unusual, entertaining and memorable.

Also, think about other activities that go along with your grand opening. Design a terrific invitation, do plenty of publicizing, provide refreshments and entertainment, select a giveaway that promotes your business (and draws people into the store to get it), and incorporate ways of tracking who attended your event.

Small Business - Grand Openings - Competition

Competition for publicity is intense, and a press release full of typos or errors is more likely to get tossed aside. Some business owners use gimmicks to get their press releases noticed. In most cases, this is a waste of money. If your release is well-written and relevant, you don’t need singing telegrams or a bouquet of flowers to get your message across.

Who, what, when, where, why and how. The answers to these six questions should be mentioned in order of importance to the story to save the editor time and space.

Small Business - Grand Openings - Press Kit

If you have the money to invest, you may want to try sending out a press kit. This consists of a folder containing a cover letter, press release, your business card, and photos of your product or location. You can also include other information that will convince reporters your business is newsworthy: reprints of articles other publications have written about your business, product reviews, or background information on the company and its principals.

If you do choose to send out a press kit,make sure it is sharp and professional looking, and that all its graphic elements tie in with your company’s logo and image.

Whenever possible, tie your business to a current event or trend. Does your product or service somehow relate to the Olympics, the presidential election, the environment, the hot movie of the moment? Whether you’re planning a special event or just sending a press release, you can gain publicity by association.