New York City and Word-Of-Mouth Marketing

A colleague and I just returned from a trip to New York City, and, once again, the visit reinforced the importance of building your business by networking. If you are a local restaurant or a one-of-a-kind establishment in Manhattan, the cost of traditional advertising is off the charts and difficult to justify from an ROI viewpoint. Almost every place we visited in the six days we were in NYC was the result of a recommendation by someone—and most recommendations were excellent.

In New York City the key to success for many businesses is networking like crazy. People would not only recommended places to us, they personally called the owners to let them know we were coming to their establishment. Not only did this make us feel special, it also let the owners of the establishment know who was sending business their way. Many say word of mouth advertising is the best form of marketing, and New Yorkers prove the point emphatically.

I don’t know how New York City ever got a reputation—by some—for being an unfriendly place. Every time I have been there, people have gone out of their way to be helpful, courteous and kind. If you asked for directions, people would almost draw you a map. I lost my Treo phone at the conference and retrieved it 15 minutes later at the lost & found. Owners of businesses would sit down and talk to us. Sales people at retail outlets went out of their way to help with questions or purchases and to make sure we bought what we wanted or needed. The Big Apple is a highly-polished, attractive brand in my eyes.

We flew to New York on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. The plane was half empty (jitters I suppose). We arrived early in the day and visited Ground Zero. I posted some photos here on Flickr. I wasn’t prepared for how hard it hit me. Amidst all the sadness associated with that tragic day, I also felt incredibly powerful feelings of anger and resolve.