Small Businesses Spread the Word @ your library

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Small businesses, particularly fledgling ones, often face a challenge in getting the word out to the public.

One way to spread the word with hardly any cost - and even without any cost - is to use the resources available at the local library.

A great example of a library promoting local businesses involved the Des Plaines Public Library.

The library has worked with several businesses to produce videos that have appeared on its YouTube channel.

Through the initiative Des Plaines Means Business, the library, in its words, shines "the spotlight on local businesses to give them a competitive edge."

Businesses take part in creating a short video that showcases what makes them special.

The Des Plaines Means Business website features not only the video, but also a short description of the business.

Heather Imhoff, the library's director of public information services, said the idea was hatched about a year and a half ago.

"We have a librarian at the library who is a very active member of the local chamber of commerce," she said. She said the Web services librarian is an accomplished director. Imhoff said the two put their heads together.(They) decided that we could provide a service to these businesses," she said.

The strategy was to create a five-to-eight-minute video that would, in turn, be optimized so that it would appear high on the list of results during a Google search.  The service would be provided free of charge, while the videos would be marketed through the chamber's website, as well as the library's site.

"One of the reasons why we spend as much time doing this is that we think it's a new and different way to provide a serivce to the community that they don't expect to receive from the library," Imhoff said. "So it has really helped to solidify our relationship with the business community in our town."

The Web services librarian, Karen McBride, said one of the inspirations came from a library card promotion the library was running with local businesses. "If people came in with a valid library card, they got some kind of a discount on a pizza or on automotive services. It was a way of us encouraging people to sign up for library card."

McBride said she was interested in working with video, so she spoke with the business librarian, Joanne Griffin, and suggested approaching businesses to do the videos.

"With the economic situation for the last couple of years, everybody can use a little extra help, and we just thought this was a nice service to be able to offer people in our community, particularly small businesses," McBride said.

The response, she said, has been excellent.

"I think in the 21st century you have got to look for ways for the library to become more valuable to the community," McBride said.

One local restaurant, Via Roma, has had more than 1,300 views in a year, including clicks from Italy.

Via Roma opened 17 months ago, said Co-Owner Lisa Leslie.  Her husband, Alessandro Forti, who hails from Trastevere, Italy, said, "Our style is Roma style."

Leslie said that she and her husband became interested in the space, which was for sale at the time, after they became engaged. Combined, the two have 35 years of restaurant experience.

"This is only job we have ever had, restaurants," she said.

But, "because we are a small restaurant, we never spent the money in advertisements," Forti, a three-star chef in Chicago, said, although the restaurant was highly rated by a local newspaper. "We choose to invest a dollar in our customers."

"We put the quality in the food, instead of advertising," Leslie said. "The food is delicious and it's fresh."

The restaurant is tucked away among several businesses in the downtown area. Leslie describes the decor as "homey," saying, "To be honest a lot of stuff is from our house." The cozy dining space is filled with family photographs and memorabilia, including a collection of American pewter from the 1950s. "Everything is a reflection of us, what we collect in our house," she said.

Leslie said the library "designed us a beautiful video just to introduce us to Des Plaines.

"I can't tell you how many hits it has, but a lot. When we were in Italy, people all over Europe saw it. His family, friends, everybody."

Leslie said the video has drawn people into the restaurant. "People see it through the library. When they pull up Via Roma, they see it," Leslie said, who added the mayor had his birthday party at the restaurant. "They get to see what the place looks like, who we are, before they come here. Word of mouth traveled through Des Plaines very fast.

"I want to do a part two (of the video)."