The reality is that Blockbuster and Movie Gallery in Canada were healthy and viable businesses brought down by the debts of their U.S. parents. The U.S. brick and mortar video stores are under siege primarily by Redbox kiosks and Netflix’s DVD by mail delivery, neither of which exist in Canada. Yes Netflix streaming and other alternative sources provide movies in Canada, but they simply don’t have the market share they enjoy in the U.S.

The typical Canadian seeks out intelligent entertainment that their local independent video store is happy to provide and we are still here because we’re fiercely independent owners that cater to the individualized needs of our customers and contribute to the fabric of our communities.

Not only do I run a local video store, I enjoy the privilege of working with hundreds of indie video stores on the Movie Experts TEAM that are located in towns and cities from coast to coast.  We are still here to serve the entertainment needs of the millions of consumers in our markets.  I encourage you to balance what you read, concerning the demise of Blockbuster, with the story of the perseverance of the independent business owner.

Yours truly,

Shawn Davis
MovieWorld
Stony Plain

The ultimate goal of marketing is to get customers.

One way to build competitive advantage is by offering current and potential customers value on your web site.

You need to prove to your clients one thing: that they can trust you to work your butt off to offer them the best service possible. You need to know your stuff, you need to be creative, and you need to build trust.

Trust is key. This is the most important thing you will read today. When people trust you, they will be more willing to give you their hard earned dollars. So how do you build it?

Teach them something
This is an idea that comes from the owners of 37signals: people trust those that teach them. The best way to do this is to start a blog, and post at least every week.

Here are the rules:

• Be genuine: You know what I would love to hear, just once? A real estate agent telling me that now is not the right time to sell! Being consistently genuine, even when it means not making the “quick sale” will earn you long-term customers.
• Take a stand: This goes with #1, but the other thing you need to do is take a stand about the things you believe in, and be willing to lose a part of your “potential market” for it.
• Say something that matters: this is where your social skills come in. You need to listen to people around you. What’s the current “nerve” that you need to hit?  Let’s continue with the real estate example: right now, in Stony Plain and Spruce Grove there are a lot of people that bought 2nd and 3rd homes in the “boom” hoping to flip them and make a quick buck. Now they are freaking out because the market has crashed, and they are left holding the keys (and three mortgage payments). I just asked my agent if he, or anyone in his office, bought 2nd properties during the boom. He said: “Nope, none of us. We’ve always felt like it’s almost always too risky.” That’s good advice; I hope that he said that during the boom, when the trend was for every homeowner to use their home equity and pick up additional properties. That’s advice that matters.
• You have to write it yourself: Given everything I’ve just said, you can’t delegate this off on somebody else. You can’t go and buy some pre-written content. You can’t have your assistant do it. It has to come from you, or it will just look like all the other generic content out there

Once you have a blog, and you’re updating it regularly, you’re going to have a pool of great content. This is content you can use in other places: your email newsletter, articles you write for the paper, or that next talk you give at the Chamber meeting.

Equally beneficial, people are going to start visiting your web site regularly. Your organic search results (on Google) are going to improve. And your visitors are going to come back. Eventually, it’s very likely that they’ll ask you to serve them.

What if I’m not a good writer?

You don’t necessarily have to post writing on your blog. You could post video, images, or a weekly cartoon strip (illustrated by you). Gary Vaynerchuk, owner of winelibrarytv.com, realized early on that he couldn’t write; but he was great on-screen. For the past 3 years he has produced a new episode of his show every single day and amassed a following of thousands.

People have needs.  Scratch their itch and you could end up with a following of people who trust you, and want to be your customers.