Making the most of your Buy Local membership

There are loads of benefits of being a member of Buy Local Norfolk, but some of them require a bit of action on your part. Below are some tips to help you make the most of your membership:

Not a member yet? Apply to join us here

Complete your online profile- your own page on our website!

Use this form to complete your online profile in our e-directory and benefit from our website highly authoritative google ranking, giving a boost to your own website.

We will also use your profile to create your business page within our printed directory – over 10,000 copies are printed and distributed twice a year.

Make sure you fill in as many details as possible. Why not upload some photos to really give your profile a boost?

Come along to our free networking meetings

Our informal networking meetings are a relaxed way to meet other members and like-minded local business owners who can relate to you and your business. A problem shared…!

Meetings are monthly and move around the county, so there’s bound to be one near you in the near future.

Take up a speaker slot (Spotlight Member)

Members have the opportunity of a ‘Spotlight’ slot, one 15 minute slot is available per network event.  You can use this opportunity to talk about your journey, something that inspired you, a new product or service, a recent accomplishment, talk about something that you feel will benefit others businesses, a mini workshop, activity the options are endless! Just let us know if you’d like to be added to the list.

Check out the Member to Member offers

We have a page on the website advertising Member to Member offers.  You are more than welcome to take any member up on their offer.  There is no pressure for any member to add their own, but it’s an option if you wish to!

Benefit from our Supporter Members

Our Supporter Members are organisations who are fully behind the ethos of Buy Local Norfolk and able to offer our members their help and support. You can view the list of our fantastic Supporter Members with a bit of information about their organisation here.

Connect with us on social media

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and join the conversation with us, and with all the other members. We’re happy to share your news to all our followers too, helping to raise your profile. Just remember to tag us @BuyLocalNorfolk in your posts!

Also don’t forget: include #buylocalnorfolk in your Tweets and we will automatically Retweet it to our followers!

Carry on the conversation in the members private Facebook group

Have you joined our private Facebook group yet, Members of Buy Local Norfolk ?  It’s a welcoming space for you to continue to engage with other members, ask questions, share problems, share achievements, propose ideas for BLN, etc.  Basically a place to connect directly with the BLN community at any time.

Actively engage with potential customers/clients in our public Buy Local to Help Local Facebook group

Join our public Facebook group Buy Local To Help Local (as your business page) and show potential consumers what you are all about!  Use this group to showcase the people/person and ethos behind your business, by posting top tips, asking questions, replying to recommendation posts etc.  You are welcome to share pictures, videos, whatever you are comfortable with.  Make sure you invite your social networks too!

Cost effective opportunities for print advertising

As mentioned above every member gets a free listing within our printed directory with two editions produced each year.  We also offer lager advertising space within the directory form just £50 AND a discount if paying for two editions at once!  View more details here

Write a blog post

Why not write a blog post or article for us to publish on this website? It’s a great opportunity to tell our visitors about what you do, and we’ll share it via our social media channels. You can also benefit from a quality inbound link to your website.

Take a stand at one of our events

Where else can you get a space in The Forum in Norwich for just £45?

As a member, there’ll be several great value opportunities throughout the year for you to showcase your business.

Support us at an event

Buy Local Norfolk is represented as lots of events throughout the year. Why not volunteer to man the stand at one of these events? It’s a great opportunity to meet people, and as a thank you for representing Buy Local Norfolk, you’ll also be able to share information about your business with visitors at the event, completely free of charge. And the events we attend are usually great fun too!

Help us promote your events

Let us know details of your events and we will add them to our online events calendar and to promote for you!

Display your Buy Local Norfolk certificate, product stickers, window sticker, and hand out some directories

By displaying your affiliation with Buy Local Norfolk, you are marking yourself as a proud, Norfolk business. The Buy Local brand is well-known across the county and you can benefit from that brand association. If you can display some of our directories so your customers can take one away with them, you’re helping to support and promote all our members, as well as the Buy Local ethos.

Display the Buy Local Norfolk logo on your website and social channels

Further help your business to stand out as truly local by displaying our logo on your social media headers and website.  We also supply our logo in print format, so you can add it to your business cards and other business stationary and marketing materials.  We also provide an digital footer for you to download and add to your emails!

Need a gazebo, projector, branded BLN banners? borrow ours!

We have a variety of equipment we are very happy to lend out to members.  It’s always worth checking if we have something you may need. It is first come first serve though, so let us know dates you’d like to borrow in good time, if it’s available it’s yours!

Have your say and get involved …

As a not-for-profit social enterprise, every member owns an equal share of Buy Local Norfolk and is entitled to have a say and get involved as much as you choose. We have so many ways for you to share your input via our members Facebook group, email, during networking, by joining an event committee, or even applying to become a Director!

Need any further help?

We’re here to help if you need us.