Jake’s where everybody who walks in is a ”Legend.” Jake’s is still a central point in the small town where I grew up in NEPA, that is North East Pennsylvania for those who are un-initiated and pronounced Nee-Pa. If you walk into Jake’s on a Saturday all the men in town will be there talking about sports, friends, politics and business. Everyone who walks in knows the conversation and Jake knows everyone. If you aren’t able there on a Saturday morning then you can go in the middle of the week and Jake will catch you up. The environment in that type of business creates friendships, contacts and generates additional business. If someone comes into the shop and says I’ve been having a problem with my water heater Jake or someone else will say oh, call Larry he’ll fix it right up. You need some advertising cha-cha’s Call Big Scotty Schoenberg down at Brucelli.

Now obviously not everybody goes into the barber every week and in most towns there just aren’t those kind of shops where everybody knows whats going on. It’s difficult to find that neighborhood spot because like I said in my post on Neighborhoods they just do not exist in most towns the way they use to. So whats the point and why are we talking about a barber shop?

In today’s world the neighborhood is created online, yes even for you small businesses. You not only need but should want be involved in the conversations. The question is how? How should the conversation be structured? How do I participate? How will it benefit me and my business?

The answer is formulate your conversation just as you would in the barber shop. Talk about sports, friends, politics, business. Make recommendations for your friends businesses. Help people find what they need and find someone in the community who enjoys helping to make those connections happen like my barber Jake.

If you want to learn more about this conversational tone and become a “Trust Agent” Then you should check out Chris Brogan at ChrisBrogan.com and Julien Smith at In Over Your Head and get their book Trust Agents
They do a better job defining how to take part in this conversation than anyone I know. Although the book does assume you know some things like how to start a blog.

If you want to participate in and connect with people in your own communities give me a call, send me an email, ping me on Facebook or Twitter, or LinkedIn and I’ll help you get on your way. Alternatively you can just leave a comment below.

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