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Chase Michaels to speak at TedX

GREENVILLE, S.C. –  Chase Michaels, the CEO and founder of Locally Epic, will be sharing his story of how one company can help change an entire economy as part of TEDx Greenville 2018.

Patterned after the hugely popular global TED conference, TEDxGreenville continues to gain momentum year after year. Ever since its launch in 2010 as the first TEDx event in South Carolina, the conference has provided a platform to showcase Greenville’s leading thinkers and doers from all backgrounds.

Michaels’ company Locally Epic uses a mobile platform to connect users with local offers and promotions from nearby businesses in real time. This encourages shoppers to spend their money at locally owned businesses and allows those businesses to better reach potential customers.

At the conference in April, Michaels will be talking about the impact of shopping with Locally Owned businesses as opposed to online or big box stores. He feels that doing business with Main Street not Wall Street will help sustain and grow our local economy.

“‘Shop local’ has been a part of Greenville’s mantra for almost two decades – ever since rapid growth really started hitting here,” Michaels said. “Money that is made in the locally economy should be spent with locally owned businesses. We all need to be stewards of where we live.”

When Michaels takes the stage at TEDxGreenville, expect a dynamic explanation of the value of small businesses on job growth, events and programs, tourism, local personality, and more. Michaels is passionate about making sure the Greenville economy benefits from the businesses starting and staying here.

“All it takes is a little research,” he explained. “If everyone living in the upstate would pivot $20 a week for 52 weeks (a year) to a locally owned business instead of at a big box store or online, we would boost the upstate economy by $300 million dollars a year.”

TEDxGreenville 2018 will be held on April 6, 2018 at the Peace Center’s Gunter Theatre in downtown Greenville. Get tickets here.

About Locally Epic:

Locally Epic is the next generation of real-time location-based marketing technology for businesses and consumers. Locally Epic leverages time, space and message deployment with real-time aspects of engagement, implementation, customer loyalty and consumer acquisition metrics. Learn more at www.locallyepic.com.

 

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What is the Upstate?

The Upstate has seen tremendous population growth in the past decade. About 70,000 new people have moved to Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg counties in the past seven years alone. These are people who have come for work and to enjoy the lifestyle here. They have added to our culture, but what have we shown them? They are getting heaping helpings of great Clemson football teams, a foodie boom, highway construction and amazingly unique downtowns. But are they really learning what the Upstate is? Are they enjoying the things that many of us know, but take for granted? And we are not talking about things that are no longer here. We are talking about the things that make our little slice of the world so very genuine. With that in mind, we at Locally Epic (with the always-wonderful aid of social media) have come up with a Top 10 list of things that anyone in our region has to do at least once to say they really live here. These are the things only an insider would know about and attempt over time. This is not a weekend fun list. This is the Upstate.

  1. Snap a photo of the Peachoid (but not while you’re driving on the interstate): Located just off I-85 in Gaffney County, nothing says welcome to the Upstate like a giant peach on the horizon. Yes, it does look like a giant butt. Thousands drive past it every day, and it even made it into an episode of “House of Cards,” so you really can’t say you live here until you have a picture of it.
  2. Go to Victoria Valley Vineyard: This vineyard in northern Greenville County has become a destination for many romantic dates. Located just off Highway 11, Victoria Valley Vineyards is beautiful and scenic, and the wine is locally made and fantastic.
  3. Take in a race at Greenville Pickens Speedway: This SHOULD be higher on the list, but apparently a lot of people have not been to this racetrack off Highway 123 just past the Saluda River. But they SHOULD go there. There is nothing like watching actual stock cars race, and this place has it, and so much more. It oozes authentic history. While so many places try to be authentic, this place is it. You get 10 points cooler on the authenticity scale just by walking through the gate. Oh yeah, and while you can buy a fried-bologna sandwich at the concession stand, you can also BYO beer and food, which somehow makes it cooler.
  4. Climb Table Rock: Are their better places to hike in the Upstate? Yes. But for some reason, this is the place everyone hikes at least once. Why? We think it is the view of “the rock,” which can be seen from miles away. A person is drawn to it, and wants to conquer it.
  5. Walk around Furman’s Lake: This was another one that surprised us, but shouldn’t have. A picnic and walk around the lake is high on the list of romantic (and inexpensive) first dates. Everyone does it at least once. While there, check out the Thoreau Cabin.
  6. Shop at the Anderson Jockey Lot: We want to make a joke about underwear or people who ride horses, but the reality is that a person can likely find both in droves at the Jockey Lot, a giant flea market located in Anderson County on Highway 29. For generations, many Upstaters considered Sunday to be a day for going to church and prayer. The others went to the Jockey Lot early to get a jump on the best sales and things to purchase. Today, well, now everyone needs to go to the Jockey Lot at least once.
  7. Trek around Croft State Park: This is an Upstate jewel located just south of downtown Spartanburg. Whether you want to run, bike, hike, swim or fish, Croft State Park has it. A former World War II camp with more than 7,000, acres to explore, Croft is simply beautiful. And the best part is the location: If you get bored or it starts raining, you are about a 10-minute drive to downtown Spartanburg where you can find plenty to do.
  8. Boat on Lake Keowee: We chose Keowee, but we easily could have chosen Hartwell or Robinson or Bowen. You might live here, but you haven’t really lived until you have found yourself sipping a cold one on the back of a boat on an Upstate lake. What, you don’t drink alcohol? We said cold one, and that could mean a Coke. Or a Pepsi. Or a Cheerwine. (You haven’t had a Cheerwine? Then go drink one and start over on this list. You can’t say you live here until you have had a Cheerwine.)
  9. Eat at The Beacon Drive-In: There is nothing like the Beacon anywhere else in America. Located on the cusp of Spartanburg’s downtown (go here after Croft!), it would be easy to say that stepping into the Beacon is like stepping back in time. But it is more like stepping into a different reality that is void of healthy food, gravity and good manners. Only one of those is true and it isn’t gravity or manners. But it’s not the food that keeps people and presidential candidates coming back time after time. It is the place. We lack the words to describe why it is great. It just is great. And don’t forget the password: Chili Cheese A-Plenty.
  10. Experience a heartbreaking day at Clemson: This is sort of a trick one. The Tigers have been damn near dominant at home the past few years. So, a lot of bandwagon Clemson fans  have gotten used to tailgating, watching a big win and then heading to TigerTown tavern after the game. But you can’t really say you have lived in the Upstate until you have experienced the unearthly, tomblike silence of Death Valley after the Tigers have found some bizarre way to lose a game. Whether that is a botched handoff that led to a touchdown for the other team with no time left; a failed field goal returned for a touchdown in overtime; a 99-yard touchdown run by the opposition in double overtime; a 105-yard interception return for a touchdown in triple overtime; a lightning bolt hitting the game-winning touchdown pass and exploding the football before it reached Rod Gardner; a freak tsunami coming up from Lake Hartwell and causing the Tigers to fumble on the one-yard line; Strom Thurmond running onto the field and causing a delay of game that moved Clemson out of field goal range; a rip in the time-space continuum that caused the…OK…you get the idea…

Anyway, welcome to the Upstate. You have your homework. Get to it.

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Thinking locally, buying locally

A lot of people make New Year’s Resolutions.  There’s a good chance you made one. Or many. There is a good chance you’ve already broken them.

But we at Locally Epic want you to consider one more resolution that if you keep, can change the face of the local economy.

We want you to buy local. Go to the homegrown store for hardware. Buy a painting from a local artist. Buy a shirt at the local store and not online. We are not asking you to spend more money. Just take what you are spending now online and go to a locally owned shop. If Upstate consumers pivot $20 a week away for a year from online or a big box store to a locally owned store that would in increase the local Upstate economy by $300 million.

How is that possible?

For every dollar you spend in a Greenville-based business, 75 cents stays right here in Greenville. Even if you’re shopping at a Woodruff Road big box (and we all do, right?), 35 cents of every buck you spend stays local. In either case, that’s cash that flows through local employees, managers and owners and into other local businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations.

Compare that scenario to this: For every dollar you spend with non-local online businesses, only one cent remains in the local economy. One penny, vs. the 99 that won’t stay here. So in the bigger picture, what’s your buck worth online vs. locally – what’s it worth to you?

But let’s take that resolution to spend local a little further. What if you chose one day a month to do nothing, but purchase locally. Imagine that. Imagine the change you could make. And that is our Locally Epic challenge to you.

Every fourth Saturday of the month, just go and buy local.  Now, you may be saying “that’s nice, but I getter deals online or at the big box store.”  That is where the Locally Epic app comes into play.  Every day, more than 35,000 users in Greenville are finding deals and promotions from local businesses. These are real savings done in real-time via Locally Epic.

We are calling it Locally Epic Saturday,  and you will be hearing a lot about it. The ideas it to take the concept of Small Business Saturday, which everyone does in December, and spread it throughout the year. We are creating value.

And value takes us back to those concepts of quality of life, being fortunate enough to live in the Greenville area, and that buck that I hope is still burning a hole in your pocket. It’s your buck, and it’s your choice, but before you spend it, I do hope you’ll consider that every dollar you spend represents your opportunity to have a positive economic impact on our region and the Greenville lifestyle we’ve come to enjoy and, yes — value.

 

 

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Happy New Year’s

Locally Epic Greenville

We want to thank everyone in Greenville who downloaded the app in the past year (more than 30,000 of you!), all of who have offered a promo on the app (more than 100 of you) and all of other supporters in 2017.

It’s been one Locally Epic year.

As we look forward to an amazing 2018, we have some really cool things brewing coming from Locally Epic including a pet contest, a fun event to go along with the Duck Derby in May, the return of the Epic Quest this fall, a shop local initiative, numerous more chances to win $1 million at a Furman basketball game or Greenville Swamp Rabbits game and many more surprises.

We look forward to sharing them all with you.

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GSA Business Spotlight

GSA Business’ Book of Experts did a full-page article on Locally Epic this week. Story isn’t online, but here is the story below:

Locally Epic Greenville

A key thing to pull from the story:

There’s no denying the convenience of the internet – it is, after all, in your phone, and your phone’s in your pocket or purse (or more likely, your hand) right now. But about that buck: For every dollar you spend in a Greenville business, a whopping 75 cents stays right here in Greenville. Even if you’re shopping at a Woodruff Road big box (and we all do, right?), 35 cents of every buck you spend stays local. In either case, that’s cash that flows through local employees, managers and owners and into other local businesses like grocery stores and gas stations. It buys cars from local dealerships. It buys homes constructed by local builders. It is our economic life blood. If Upstate consumers pivot $20 a week away for a year from  online or a big box store to a locally owned store that would in increase the local Upstate economy by $300 million.

 

 

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GSA Business talks to us

Locally Epic Greenville

Did you do any shopping this weekend? Was it local? Check out this story from GSA Business Report where our very own Chase Michaels was talked to about the importance of shopping locally. Remember this as you continue to shop.

Also, story is not online, which is why we are going way old school with this photo clip!

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Have an Epic Thanksgiving weekend

Locally Epic loves helping you find everything “epic” about the Greenville area. And with that in mind, here are five ways you can be “locally epic” this Thanksgiving weekend.

  1. Take part in a road race. There are a lot to choose from including the Trees Greenville  8K and 5K.
  2. Shop locally at one of the thousands of homegrown businesses in the Greenville area this Saturday as part of the Small Business Saturday Check out our Facebook page and check out the app for local businesses doing promotions.
  3. There are more than 16,000 non-profit groups in Greenville. Next Tuesday is a big day for them as they strive to get people to give a donation. Check out the Locally Epic app for some local agencies doing good work to make Greenville better.
  4. The Palmetto Bowl is this Saturday. If you don’t have tickets for the Tigers-Gamecocks matchup, you can check out the Locally Epic app to find the best places to watch the game with friends.
  5. Take a hike. One of the most epic things about Greenville is that you be surrounded by trees and nature just by driving 15 miles out of downtown. That is pretty cool. VisitGreenville has a great list of places to take a hike this weekend.
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Why local matters!

How do you actually Shop Local?

We often hear people need to Shop Local. It’s part of Greenvile’s mantra for almost two decades – ever since rapid growth really started hitting here.

We are asked to shop local, but never hear why we should. Here’s why.

Big Box Brands and Internet Retail are destroying local economies. How is this possible?

It’s based on the 75-35-1 rule. That is, for every dollar spent with local businesses, 75 cents stays local. Whereas, only 35 cents spent through big Box Brands stays in the local economy and only 1 cent spent on Internet retail is returned to the community.

Did you know that local businesses invest more in local labor, pay more in local taxes, raise more for local charities and spend more time on community and local government events and programs.

Local stores and businesses help sustain vibrant, engaged, walkable downtown areas that create a fun and enjoyable atmosphere for all local residents and attract tourists to the market. Think about downtown Greenville. There is a reason it is filled with locally owned businesses. City leaders saw that need and pursued them. They didn’t want a cookie cutter downtown.

Local businesses must have a way to compete against National and Big Box Brands large advertising and marketing budgets. Locally Epic offers a way for local businesses to connect to local consumers thru a mobile app that allows them to effectively and more efficiently reach their local customers with real time messaging and promotional offers. Locally Epic provides a measurable ROI on their marketing dollars, something that traditional media cannot.

So if local consumers download the Locally Epic App to learn about and discover new businesses the local economy will grow. Remember, two to three times more money stays in the local community stays here if you buy from a locally owned business.

Together we can energize and grow the local economy.

All it takes is for us to take $20 a week that you are already spending – Pivot that money away from a big box brand or the Internet to a locally owned business for the next 52 weeks…If all of us who live in the Upstate would do that we would increase the Local economy by $300 million dollars a year.

Just put your money where your home and heart is. Support your friends, family neighbors and yourself. Invest in our community. Help create a stronger and healthier Upstate by keeping your hard earned money local.

Locally Epic is also working to create ways for small business to get noticed. You’ve probably downloaded an app or two that promise local bargains, but these usually provide pre-selected “deals” that rarely coincide with your needs. In the long run, a lot of people wind up deleting these apps from their phones, which impacts the small, local businesses that don’t have the resources to keep investing in new apps to meet market needs. Now local companies can share one app, and by creating value for consumers and businesses alike, that app is more likely to get used – not purged.

And “value” takes us back to those concepts of quality of life, being fortunate enough to live in the Upstate, and that buck that I hope is still burning a hole in your pocket. It’s your buck, and it’s your choice, but before you spend it, I do hope you’ll consider that every dollar you spend represents your opportunity to have a positive economic impact on our region and the Greenville lifestyle we’ve come to enjoy and, yes — value.