Dec
29
Social Media Primer for Bike Retailers
Filed Under Blogging, Interbike | 11 Comments
Here’s a cop-out post from me today so I don’t finish up the year with such a long posting drought. Been going through the annual holiday season blogging doldrums here. I’ve had some fleeting topics for posts over the last few weeks, but between the work of getting things going in earnest for 2009, the drain that the holidays themselves can impose and continuing allure of the 140-character-limit Twitter as an easy networking and communications tool have all conspired against this now seemingly long-form medium.
Now it’s a cop-out only in the sense that I didn’t craft the content. Having been somewhat ‘offline’ since leaving for Christmas, I was catching up on what’s been going on in the Twitter bike world and saw a post from Chris Matthews about a “gift” he made for Bike Shops during his spare time. Chris works in the marketing department at Specialized Bicycles and writes an insightful blog on issues related to “bicycles, business and the bicycle business.” He put together a nice brief, yet thorough, introduction to social media specifically geared toward bicycle retailers. As a fellow believer in the opportunities that SM can provide a business and brand, I created the Web 2.0 and SM seminars at this last Interbike for the same reason that I assume Chris wrote this.
In preparing for the seminars, I struggled to find a retailer taking advantage of SM to participate in the panel. The online communities are obviously populated with many active cycling enthusiasts. Members of the media also seem to be early adopters of these relatively new tools, and manufacturers are not too far behind for the most part (with many notable absentees). Retailers, though, are few and far between and they have so much to offer the cycling community online. As Chris writes, with the challenged economy that’s upon us, retailers really owe it to themselves and their businesses to use these free marketing tools to help weather the storm and thrive:
I noted recently that there are very few bike shops that are taking advantage of free Social Media marketing that’s available to them. This is stuff that ANY bike shop can and should do, and in times of scaled back marketing budgets, the practicality of it makes it extra sensible. However, if you’ve never used it before, it can be rather intimidating.
Here’s how he wraps up his primer and sums up the benefits of SM:
Through the strength of active and passive referrals, by becoming involved in the daily lives and conversations of your customers, and by extending the reach of the activities you’re already investing time and money into, Social Media can offer your bike shop an absolutely free way to grow your tribe, and remain strong so that you’re there for your tribe when they need you in the future.
Well said, Chris. Read his post and download the pdf of his “Social Media for Bike Shops – A How To Guide” at his blog, “Chris Writes”.
Retailers?
Nov
9
SoCal Bike Shop Tour This Week
Filed Under Interbike | Comments Off
I’ve mentioned this on Twitter a few times over the last couple of weeks, but haven’t had the opportunity to get on the blog with it yet. We’re going through budget and marketing plan time here at the office for all of our 2009 shows, so time has been tight. But I’m happy to have been invited by the team at Bicycle Retailer & Industry News to take part in their Southern California Bike Shop Tour this week and get out of the office. We’ll be riding by bike from shop to shop here in Orange County to visit dealers and spend some time getting to know them better and see what’s been going on in the market place recently.
I think that it’s safe to say that the economy has suffered a bit since we last all got together in Vegas in September at the show. I guess even then things weren’t exactly rosy for the global economy, but the feeling at the show was that the bike industry could buck the trends and resist and and (even thrive in) the downturn given some of the factors in the economy and the solutions to those that we offer society.
Well, some 50 days have past since we came back from the show and things have taken a turn for the worse in economy with no short term end in sight and the gas prices that were fueling a move to bikes as a form of transportation are continuing to fall along with prices for most commodities. How is the bike industry looking now given the new challenges that all businesses in the industry and their consumers must be facing? This will be a big focus of the tour: getting a read on what our industry’s retailers are seeing in the marketplace.
The tour will not only be all gloom and doom. Another focus that I have, in particular, as a representative of Interbike, is to celebrate the independent bike dealer. There are few things I enjoy as much as visiting and browsing a good bike shop. From the smell of tire rubber and citrus degreaser to the sight of the unique mechanics’s workshop setups to the rows of shiny new bikes to the chatter about the most recent race war stories, all the senses are served. I’ve been to many of the shops we’ll be stopping at, but there are some that I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting and I’m looking forward to them. I want to learn about their histories and what makes them unique. What role do they take in their community? Do they sponsor clubs or teams or weekly rides? Do they speak Campagnolo? I’ll be posting updates along the way and hoping to record some video, too.
Giant Bicycles is sponsoring the tour and is setting us up with bikes to ride this week. I don’t think I’ve really ridden a Giant much over the years (at least one with the Giant name on it) so I’m really looking forward to spending some time on one. I’ve been told that Tony Lo, CEO of Giant, will be joining us for part of the ride and to say that I am excited to finally meet him is an understatement. Pedro’s Bike Care will be supporting the ride and their CEO, Chris Zigmont, will also be on the ride. They are a big proponent of environmentally friendly behavior on a corporate and individual level and are enthusiastic supporters of the bicycle as an agent of positive change. And it’s always a pleasure to be able to chat with Chris.
A few years back, I figured that in all my years in the industry making sales calls at shops around the country and just visiting them as a fan and customer, I’ve probably been in about 400 US bike shops. I’m glad that I will be able to add to that total this week.
Sep
15
Twitter Redux and Email Outage
Filed Under Attendee News, Events, Exhibitor News, Interbike | 2 Comments
So it looks like the news about our Twitter feed for Interbike event updates and news hit the BRAIN newswire this morning. I’m curious to see the industry’s reaction and willingness to give it a try. Twitter’s got a silly name and won’t be the answer to war and hinger in the world, but I have found it to be a really easy way to stay in touch with people.
If you get enough people Twittering at an event like Interbike, you can get a really interesting view on how people spend theie time at the show and learn about stuff that’s going on that’s not necessarily on the calendars. It’s been huge at tech industry events like South By Southwest.
But, as with everything new, there are the detractors. Now, I don’t think I’m forcing this Twitter thing on anyone, am I? Heck, it’s why I chose the platform in the first place to help people stay on top of what’s going on at the show – it’s free, totally opt-in and you can turn it off anytime. Some people see this as another intrusion of technology in their lives and would prefer to tune out. I see it as another way to easily connect with and communicate with my peers in the bike industry during our biggest gathering. And beyond. I’m hoping that people will enjoy the experience and the new online community that we created will be a positive thing for industry. Who knows. Just have with and let’s see what happens. I’ll post a list of some notable bike industry Twitters to add to your list shortly.
On a totally separate note, if you’ve been trying to email anyone at IB (or anyone at our offices in San Juan Capistrano) over the weekend or this morning, don’t hold your breath for a reply. I don’t have details since I’m in Denver for our FlyFishing Retailer Expo and it’s early on Monday morning, but it appears that our email servers are down and the web servers have been spotty – possibly as a result of hurricane activity. Can’t wait till the home office opens so I can call to find out what’s up. All I can say is be patient if you’re waiting for an email from us.
Aug
28
Trek v. LeMond Curiosity
Filed Under Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 5 Comments
The last paragraph of this morning’s Bicycle Retailer update on the ongoing Trek Bicycles v. Greg LeMond case caught my eye. After discussing the status of the legal proceedings and how the case will probably only go before a judge in 2010, the author describes this curious development:
In an odd twist, an inmate at a federal prison in Williamsburg, South Carolina filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit in July, alleging that he and other inmates produce bikes for LeMond under the Federal Prison Industry Unicor Program for 12 cents an hour, a violation of minimum wage laws. The inmate also claimed LeMond bicycle are shipped to Iranian troops for training purposes, violating the “Training with Enemy” Act.
The article ends by saying that the judge denied the motion. This incident seems so random, though, that I’d love to hear how this inmate came to insert himself into this process. While I’m not an expert in federal prison labor law, his second claim about the Iranian troops seems plausible. Totally.
Would love to hear Mr. BikeSnobNYC’s take on this.
Jun
27
Spotted: BR&IN Publisher on a Bike
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Photos, Rides | 1 Comment
Look who I spotted today on my lunch time walk to get a burrito:
That’s Marc Sani, the publisher of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News out for a ride at lunch on a Friday. He said he was feverishly trying to catch back up to Jason of BR&IN who had dropped him a little earlier. (Note: you’re not supposed to drop the boss, guys).
Always nice to see an industry insider on a bike. Also like the uber-insider “A-Team” jersey he’s wearing.