In a nut shell, when products are purchased at locally owned businesses rather than nationally owned, more money is kept in the community. This is because locally-owned businesses often purchase from other local businesses or service providers, referred to as ”The Local Multipler Effect.”

“Buy local” campaigns are now underway in cities nationwide. For the fourth year in a row, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit research organization, found that independent businesses in cities with an active “buy local” campaign fared significantly better than those in cities without a push for localism. The survey, which was conducted over an 8-day period in January, gathered data from 2,768 independent businesses, including retailers, service providers, restaurants and others. It found that those in places with a “buy local” initiative reported revenue growth of 5.6% in 2010, compared to 2.1% for those elsewhere.

Small, local businesses create new jobs and generate investments within our communities. Here at Strategis, we value our relationships with all of our clients but especially those within our community. We are currently working with several local business including Blue Hills Brewery in Canton. They are a small brewery that prides itself on its ability to make great tasting beers inspired by the elements and nature around them, embracing the rich history of the Blue Hills and South Shore. We also work with My Grandma’s Coffee Cakes of New England located in Hyde Park. My Grandma’s started a sensation with their original cinnamon walnut coffee cake in 1990 and continue to bake the finest coffee cakes available.

By working with local business like Blue Hills Brewery and My Grandma’s (just to name a few), we are not only investing time and money into our community but we are also helping other small businesses like ourselves and building relationships within our community. How do you support local businesses in your community? Do you “buy local”?

In the midst of  a recession that has swooned the US economy, many corporations both large and small have felt the effects and thus, have anticipated down turns in almost all areas of financial performance. Even so, a small percentile of the top performers have managed to continuously witness substantial growth in both sales and revenue. Among these top performers is Apple, one of the leading high-end consumer level electronics manufacturers around the globe.

Just this month Apple recorded its best nonholiday quarter ever when other electronics makers were hurting because of a downturn in consumer spending. According to various estimates, PC shipments for the industry fell 3 to 5 percent over the last three months. But Apple said it sold 2.6 million Macs in the quarter, up about 18 percent from the 2.2 million it sold in the previous quarter, which ended March 28.

Apple also benefited from the June introduction of a new smartphone, the iPhone 3GS. Apple sold 5.2 million phones in the quarter, up from 3.79 million in the April quarter. The 3GS includes new features like the ability to record video, send picture messages and dial with voice commands. Apple previously said it sold more than one million 3GS handsets in the first three days of the product’s availability.

The company’s overall gross profit margin grew to 36.3 percent, from 34.8 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Apple reported that its net income grew to $1.23 billion, or $1.35 a share, up from $1.07 billion, or $1.19 a share, in the quarter a year ago.

Revenue rose to $8.34 billion, from $7.46 billion last year. That exceeded even some of the optimistic expectations of analysts, who projected Apple to announce revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.16 a share, according to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters.

So the question for today is: Why are companies like Apple thriving so painlessly when millions of others are struggling to simply stay afloat?

Id love to here what some others have to say!

So I (Adam) went to get my hair cut last night. I checked in and the receptionist, who was no Pam Beesly, told me to “Have a sit over there.” I went “over there” and there were four people (3 women and 1 guy) already having a “sit”. As I walked over I noticed that they all were doing the same thing – four heads buried down using their iPhone/Blackberry/PDAs – probably catching up on email, work, the latest from Perez or something about the new stimulus plan or Octomom.

What else struck me was that not one of them looked up as I sat down. I could have been George Clooney (although everyone knows I’m better looking than he is) and I don’t think it would have mattered.   

Why am I talking about this?

Because you never know who you might meet.

And what is wrong with old-fashioned networking?

And I don’t even want to think about what this says about us as a culture . . .

Even with everyone complaining about how business is slow and new business is tough, I saw this as a great setting for meeting new people.

This is what went through my head –

What if one of them worked for a printing company? Our agency is always looking for a good printer to partner with (unfortunately what many printers have in skills and technology they lack in customer service) If we got talking they may have gotten an appointment to meet with our agency.

What if one of them was looking for a George Clooney look-a-like for a new you tube video about super-attractive people. They would have missed out on a fantastic and inexpensive opportunity.

What I did since no one would give me the time of day – I talked with the receptionist. We talked about the weather of all things. I found out that she vacations in my hometown in the summer. We started playing the name game and the next thing I know – Not-Beesly knows a person I have been trying to get an appointment with. BOOM. Connection made – a possible client – just because I said hello.

Photo credit, Matalyn

I would hope that Congress would actually be interested in what the President has to say.  Especially during these turbulent times.   Unfortunatelty, too many elected official showed they have the attention spans of pre-schoolers.  Hey, maybe we should elect some real pre-schoolers.  After all, they’d be cuter!

Social networks are important in this economy. The jobless are turning to their networks in search of new jobs. Do you have a Facebook page yet? Are you on Linked-in? Do you Twitter? Just today I was asked by one Linked-In connection to introduce her to another Linked-In connection as a job prospect. If you are jobless in a social media world – all of a sudden, the time you’ve spent answering the question “What are you doing right now?” is paying off. In an article in Monday’s Boston Globe, David Scharfenberg writes about how the jobless can kill time making friends in a social media world. But can it pay off? Maybe this is where all the recruitment advertising went. . .