13 Dec Signs of Life
I recently took my family to New York City for a long weekend. We were celebrating my oldest daughter’s graduation from high school and the start to her college career. We asked her if she could go anywhere in the world to celebrate, where would she like to go. She chose NYC.
Working in media, I have been to the city countless times. I have had meetings at SIRUS XM, 30 Rockefeller Plaza and on Wall Street. But this was my first trip to the city in more than two years. I have read stories and seen pictures of empty streets and boarded up stores. I work with several New Yorkers who now live in Florida or Texas who told me to expect lighter crowds and easier access to restaurants.
Whether you have been to New York or not, there is no denying its significance to the American economy. Billions of dollars are traded in the financial district and there are more small business owners in NYC than anywhere else in the United States. I love to see the different people from around the world who now call New York home. Small business owners who are living the American dream.
As the song goes, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” That is why those pictures of empty streets and closed stores were a sad reflection of the state of our economy during the difficult year of 2020 and the start of 2021.
We were in town for the first Christmas weekend in two years. We stood in line and purchased tickets to see a sold-out Broadway show. We waited an hour to get a seat for lunch in Chinatown, and almost two hours to get a table at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan. We stood in line to check out FAO Schwarz as we watched thousands pack into Rockefeller Plaza to see the Christmas tree. Fifth Avenue was slow moving as people shopped for the holidays. In fact, in all my years of visiting New York, and I have been in the city as late as mid-December, this was the most crowded I have ever seen the streets.
But what I saw was a city coming to life after not being able to celebrate the holidays last year. A sign of life that the economy is coming back and that is good news for small business owners all across our nation.
Were we thinking about the new variant of the virus? Of course, we wore our face covers, and you needed proof that you were vaccinated to enter any restaurant. But what I saw was a city coming to life after not being able to celebrate the holidays last year. A sign of life that the economy is coming back and that is good news for small business owners all across our nation.
I am not saying the difficult days are behind us. We still need to shore up our supply chain issues and settle down the employment shift. There will be more challenges that lie ahead, but that comes with owning your own business. But from what I witnessed this one weekend in New York, there are people with money to spend and they all miss the traditions of years past.
The key is letting the buyers know you are open for business and ready to help them. Don’t be afraid to spend some marketing dollars this holiday season, it’s not too late to push out some social media posts or even advertise on traditional media. Centerpost Media is here to help if you need any advice. Feel free to reach out and let us know how we can help you close out the year strong.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. Show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.