"If you don't shop here, you don't care about your community." I saw that on a sign in Orlando in late 2020, and I will never shop there. Recorded on headphones after a microphone failure, this episode is why I believe shaming is a messaging misstep for small businesses, and what I would say instead. I am for local business. I am against ordering people into it. I share the families that lost income that year, buying gifts on Amazon and gas at Walmart because that is where the budget went, and why guilting them for it is not fair and does not convert. Then the flip. A toy store on the west coast that stopped attacking Amazon and started offering free teddy bear repair through the seamstress next door. The burger place in Winter Park that asked if I liked the Chili's avocado burger and told me what they did differently, without a word against Chili's. The new bookstore with a children's area I only found by walking in, because online it was "support local" and nothing else. Invite by explaining who you are, what you carry, who on your staff knows the product, and what you can do after the sale that a warehouse cannot. Even say where a customer might save money elsewhere. That sounds counterintuitive to yell, tell and sell, and it is the store I would go back to. Shop local is not the problem. The tone under it is. Give people a reason and let the decision stay theirs. Written transcription, chapters and links: https://lorenweisman.com/2025/01/01/shop-local-shaming-transcription/

Wait What Really OK is hosted by brand communications and optics strategist Loren Weisman.
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