Do you accept credit cards as payment for the goods and services that you provide to your customers? These days, most small businesses answer “yes” to that question. For those who currently swipe the magnetic stripe on credit cards, including most restaurant and retail establishments, there are major changes coming soon that may have serious… Read more »

Starting on July 13th and running through August 24th, the Alexandria SBDC will be presenting a series of events for retailers and restaurants. Every Monday, the SBDC will have a guest speaker presenting on a different topic. We’re excited about this series and the impact it will have on our small business community. In the… Read more »

This week’s post was written by Ray Sidney-Smith of W3Consulting, social media consultant and facilitator of the monthly Roundtable for the Alexandria SBDC.  On April 21st the Alexandria SBDC Business Development Roundtable tackled the evergreen topic of determining your target market. We started the conversation off with defining the target market. Some of the responses… Read more »

The weather is warming and the National Cherry Blossom Festival has begun. Spring is finally upon us, and Alexandria soon will notice an upswing of visitors to our community. Our colleagues at Visit Alexandria tell us that tourism generates millions of dollars in revenue for local businesses and city government and supports thousands of local… Read more »

This Tuesday, we hosted our monthly business roundtable, which focused on multimedia marketing. Ray Sidney-Smith, our resident roundtable facilitator, filmed this short recap of the conversation for those that were unable to make it. In the video, Ray gives an overview of several of the topics discussed, including localized marketing, developing a multi-channel strategy, and… Read more »

Whether you are opening a new business in the City of Alexandria or expanding the physical location of an existing business, it is important to be aware of the City’s build-out requirements.  The permitting process may be easier and smoother if you choose architects and contractors who are have done work in the City of… Read more »

This post was written by Paul Williams, marketing expert and founder of Idea Sandbox and the do-it-yourself local store marketing website LSMGuide. When you think of a destination, what comes to mind? Probably a vacation spot. A place worth going out of the way to get to. A place worth planning to go. A place… Read more »

Alexandria’s Winter Restaurant Week is getting ready to kick off. From January 23 – February 1, 2015, restaurants will be offering dinner for two for $35 or a three-course dinner for $35. This year, for the first time, several restaurants are also offering lunch specials, too. As consumers, it’s clear why we all love restaurant week… Read more »

Our resident social media expert and blogger extraordinaire Ray Sidney-Smith discusses the importance of having a cohesive marketing campaign for the holiday season. For nearly the last decade, here in the United States, the biggest shopping day of the year has been the day after Thanksgiving. We all know it as Black Friday. However, for the savvy business owner especially… Read more »

Our friends at the Hampton Roads Retail Academy have six smart ways to choose from to spend $1,000 on your store: Get a Google Business View 360 Tour of your store. What it is: A stitched together collection of high-resolution photos becomes a 360-degree interactive virtual tour of your store. The photo shoot takes just a… Read more »