Don't Be A Grinch This Christmas! Shop Local!

Biz Buzz By Dianne Lively Yost Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my all-time-favorite holiday stories! That sour old grumpy, green Grinch pops on the scene as anti-friend and anti-community as it gets. He’s bad-mood personified. An angry victim out for revenge! No doubt if the Grinch were a real live person (and I know some that come right close), he’d definitely be an impersonal shopper. He’d do most of his shopping online, in a big-box discount store or better yet – in a hectic, scary-packed shopping mall. That’s because the Grinch just doesn’t like community. Period. He looks through reality from the blurry, mud-caked glasses of an isolated outcast. That is . . . until the end of the story. In Morgan County, so many of us have jumped on the buy local, eat local movement. We know that by supporting our local businesses and farmers, we support our entire community. Our home. Our friends. Our cities. Our towns. Our tourism industry. Our very livelihood. I work with a family owned business just like many of our local retailers, restaurants and service businesses. One of my job’s great perks is that I personally know many of the people who own and operate our local businesses. I know their families. Heck, I know some of their secrets and they know some of mine. I know about their challenges and their triumphs and they know mine. That’s because we’re friends in this community. We’re all in this together! In a place at 33.3900° N, 83.4900° W on the great and beautiful planet earth. Morgan County. Drive around. It just doesn’t get much better than this y’all. We are so blessed with a beautiful countryside, wonderful and interesting towns and one-of-a-kind shopping and dining destinations. There are more than 18,000 people in our county. That’s a lot of buying power right there – power to keep our businesses vital and growing. So we’ve got to bank local. Insure local. Dentist and doctor local. Auto maintenance local. Hair salon local (talk about secrets). Chamber local. Newspaper local. Yoga local. Acupuncture local (yes that’s available in Rutledge). Movie local. Real estate local. Chiropractor local. And most of all SHOP LOCAL. It’s so important. I know you might not find every single thing on the Christmas list at home, but you can certainly find most it! Trust me! All you have to do is check out what your Local Morgan County shops have to offer. This is Thanksgiving week. Let’s give thanks to our community. But, better yet show thanks to your community by shopping and supporting local businesses. Black Friday? Make it green and Go Local. Small Business Saturday. GO LOCAL! It’s a no-brainer for the entire Holiday season and beyond! Make your dollars support your local economy. The cool thing is that you’ll be shopping among friends. In your community. Your home. It’s fun! And, that ole Grinch? Well in the end he found out about the spirit of Christmas. That it doesn’t come from a store. He found out it means a little bit more. Christmas comes from community. With family. With friends. So this year, shop local. Make Christmas mean a little bit more. Shop Local Guide: Our local shops and restaurants are offering fun promotions to add to the Christmas cheer. Madison’s Main Street program even has a promotion to commemorate Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29 with a Spend $29 on the 29th campaign. All day long, any time you spend $29 or more at a shop, salon or restaurant in downtown Madison you can enter to win one of two $100 Downtown Dollar prizes! But, don’t forget our shops throughout Morgan County! Check out specials our Morgan County retailers are offering in this week’s newspaper!

Shopping local in Downtown Madison has never been so good!

I just had to try out my new camera and create a cool slideshow to show off great shopping destinations in downtown Madison! I could only fit in a few and will add more next week! Check it out and stay tuned!

Another free slideshow by Smilebox

Biz Buzz vs. Rutledge Rooster

Biz Buzz By Dianne Lively Yost Biz Buzz sleeps and snores into the early night before dawn. Zzzzzz-Zzzzz-hugggGGggh-Ppbhgha-zZZzzzz . . . BuzzzzzZZZZaah. . . zZZ . . . What? Where? Who am I? “Cock-a-Ding-Dang-Dooo! Cock-a-Ding-Dang-Dooo!” Oh my ever livin’ gosh! It’s that cacklin’ red Rutledge Rooster and he’s mad as a wet hen in a snowstorm ‘cause the Citizen printed the wrong ding dang Rutledge Rooster column in last week’s paper! Lord have Mercy! He’s got that Looney Tunes Foghorn Leghorn with ‘em to translate: “Now what - I say what’s the big idea. Biz Buzz, you gotta mouth – I say a mouth like a canon. Always shootin’ it off.” Momma! Come slap Foghorn flat off my front porch before I throw a hizzy fit! That’s right y’all! The Citizen got all mixed up like a feather in a whirlwind last week! I still can’t think straight! So y’all be sure to check out the correct monthly Rutledge Rooster Page in this week’s Citizen! And, be nice to Roosters . . . Rutledge Roosters that is. What about those Hoop Dogs State Champs! What a game! Wow! Hoop it up y’all! And, be sure to look at every single one of the great advertisers who are supportin’ our Hoop Dogs in this week’s Citizen! It really says a lot about our community to get that many advertisers to participate in a section congratulating our great 2014 MCHS Basketball Team State Champs! Plus you can get some deals at Amici Italian Café and Madison Produce Company when you wear your Morgan County High School t-shirt! Check out those ads y’all! Ding dang is right! Plus y’all don’t forget to be at the 2014 Morgan County High School Basketball State Championship Parade this Friday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. It’s gonna start at the Morgan County High School and end up in Town Park! Honey let’s cheer them on like nobody’s business! Hey bring your Citizen front-page section and have our champions sign it as a keepsake! Love it! Just so y’all know we’re also gonna turn that front section into a digital publication so it can live forever on our website (that gets 55,000 to 60,000 unique, individual visits monthly)! I just know y’all flat love our fabulous front page but I gotta confess: My handsome husband didn’t come up with that clever “Won Morgan” headline! It was none other than Madisonian Margaret Ligon who came up with the slogan and popped it on the Facebook machine! We called her up and she we could use it! You are a true fan Margaret! And, honey for that we’re gonna give you a free one-year subscription to the most-read, award-winnin’ newspaper in our region: The Morgan County Citizen! You are one lucky duck! Thanks! What’s the what? Tonight! March 13 form 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. That’s what! I’m talkin’ all ‘bout the Madison-Morgan Chamber of Commerce and its world famous Taste of Madison! It is gonna be super fantastic! It all takes place at The Hall at the Madison Morgan Cultural Center beginnin’ at 5:30 p.m. and honey there is something for EVERYONE! Tickets are only $20 and kids four to 12 are only $10! Oh and if you’re under three honey it’s flat free! Support your community! Support your Chamber! They are doing great things to drive jobs and tourism to Morgan County! All you’ve got to do is come to this important event and taste some delicious food from our famous restaurants! Hey and y’all check out the big fat full-page ad from Steak ‘N Shake in this week’s Citizen! They are now servin’ breakfast and are now open 24-hours a ding dang day! What? That’s right! When Momma wakes up at 3 a.m., she can flat head over to the fab and delish Steak ‘N Shake! Can’t beat it y’all! Oh and I flat near forgot! Theresa Bishop of BB&G located at 115 South Main Street in downtown Madison is holdin’ a Pandora Bracelet event March 20 – 25. You get a free bracelet with a purchase of $100 or more! Now that’s a deal! Shhhhhhh. Don’t look now y’all but hear comes Foghorn Leghorn again! “You gotta – I say you gotta keep on your mat. Yoga mat, that is.” Right! Y’all check out the ad in this week’s paper about our fabulous yoga instructor Bobby Robinson! He’s startin’ a free weekly community yoga and meditation class at the gym at Calvary Baptist Church on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m.! Be there! It’s flat free, I say! Plus it’s fun! Ding dang! I’m flat outta space! I’ll see all y’all next week!

Morgan County Citizen Leads in Print And Digital Market Reach

About that argument that the internet is taking over newspapers? PURE BALONEY! Our local newspaper is beating the internet at its own game. Not only is the Morgan County Citizen the most read print newspaper in Morgan County with 40,000+ readers each week, it also has the region’s largest website (www.morgancountycitizen.com) garnering 55,000+ individual visits EACH MONTH! And that does not even begin to reflect The Citizen’s exposure on social media platforms. The fact is this: The Morgan County Citizen has managed to be the Number One choice for print readers AND the Number One Choice for digital/web readers for local news. Facts are where the real truth resides. When you think it through, it’s really not that surprising. Where are people going to get their news about the Madison, Bostwick or Rutledge City Councils, local legal announcements, school board news or Morgan County High School's wrestling tournament? There's only one source: The Morgan County Citizen. Sure, regional papers and radio stations have stories about our county. But for the uber local coverage local readers crave? It’s the Citizen. As to the internet: You had best know what the Sam Hill you are doing before launching a digital- platform-only marketing campaign. Especially if you are a local business depending on local customers. Consider this: “The amount of content being published online is growing exponentially and content marketers are partially to blame. In June of 2000, there were fewer than eight million websites. Today that number is greater than 750 million, according to Netcraft.com, and shows no signs of slowing down. This means that it will be harder and harder for marketers to cut through the noise in order to get their content read. Great content goes unread everyday on the Internet.” – Social Media Today Beyond websites, social media is becoming more and more cluttered and fragmented, making it just as difficult to reach a sustainable target audience. The net-net is this: Businesses -- especially those who rely on local consumers for 30 percent or more of their sales -- must create a marketing plan that incorporates a myriad mix of message delivery vehicles from newspapers to digital platforms. But, you have to be smart or you’ll waste your money. Only select the delivery systems with the highest consumer reach for your target audience. And, don’t forget: You still can’t beat a personal meeting, a hand-written note or friendly lunch meeting. Relationships require a variety of communications! Dianne Lively Yost is Co-owner of The Morgan County Citizen and Lake Oconee Living Magazine. She is also a seasoned public relations and marketing professional with a career that spans 30 years.