Hair salons & barbershopsLocal market insightsNashville
How to fill salon chairs on a Tuesday
Weekends sell themselves. Midweek is where the margin hides, and where a small offer does more than a big ad budget.
5 min read
Resources
Two Cents.
Everything we've learned running marketing for small businesses, given away for about what it's worth. Filter by your industry, the thing you're stuck on, or your market.
15 articles · 11 industries · every piece cites its sources
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All local market insights →How each market actually behaves, what we'd do about it, and every article we've written there.
Showing 15 articles
Hair salons & barbershopsLocal SEO
Your Google Business Profile is your barbershop's front window
Photos, hours and services do more for walk-ins than any post you'll publish this month.
4 min read
Local gymsLocal market insightsChicago
January is a trap for local gyms
Signups spike, retention craters, and the whole year gets judged on a month that lies to you.
6 min read
RealtorsLocal market insightsDallas
Realtors: farm one zip code before you buy one lead
Purchased leads are rented attention. A farmed neighborhood is an asset you own.
5 min read
DentalPaid media
The new-patient math most dental practices get wrong
A $300 acquisition cost is fine or fatal depending on one number nobody tracks.
6 min read
VisionPricing & offers
Optical is retail. Market it like retail.
Exams get you the appointment. Frames get you the margin. Most vision marketing only sells the first one.
5 min read
Home repairLocal SEO
In home repair, speed is the whole strategy
The contractor who answers wins. Everything else is a tiebreaker.
4 min read
RestaurantsLocal market insightsMurfreesboro
The slow-night playbook for independent restaurants
You don't need more people. You need the right people on the right night.
6 min read
BarsLocal market insightsNashville
Bars: regulars beat reach
Fifty people who come every week are worth more than fifty thousand who saw your reel.
5 min read
Tourism organizationsLocal market insightsMiami
Tourism orgs: the money is in shoulder season
Peak season sells out without you. Your job is the eight weeks on either side.
7 min read
Flower shopsEmail & CRM
Flower shops: build the 340 days between holidays
Valentine's and Mother's Day are order-taking. The rest of the year is where a brand is made.
5 min read
Boutique & gift shopsLocal market insightsGallatin
Boutiques: turn foot traffic into a list
Someone walked in, loved it, left and forgot you exist. That is the whole problem.
4 min read
RestaurantsLocal market insightsBrooklyn
New York is five markets, not one
Borough-level behavior differs more than most national brands assume, and small businesses feel it first.
6 min read
Local gymsLocal market insightsBoston
Boston runs on the academic calendar
Move-in, finals and graduation reshape demand for nearly every neighborhood business.
5 min read
Home repairLocal market insightsSan Antonio
What San Antonio and Knoxville teach about value markets
Lower price sensitivity thresholds don't mean cheap. They mean your reasoning has to show.
5 min read
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Where this comes from.
Every article lists its sources. We lean on primary data instead of recycled blog posts: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau, the Small Business Administration, the Federal Trade Commission's advertising guidance, Better Business Bureau standards, local chambers of commerce, official tourism boards and destination marketing organizations, industry trade associations, and Pew Research Center. Then we add what we've actually seen work with clients.
Common questions.
- What is Two Cents?
- Mettle's free resource library of small business marketing guidance, organized by industry, subject and local market, with sources cited on every piece.
- How do I find advice for my city?
- Choose the subject "Local market insights" and the state and city dropdowns appear, covering New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Nashville, Knoxville, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Dallas and San Antonio.
- Does it cost anything?
- No. Read it, use it, steal it. If you'd rather someone run it for you, that's the part we charge for.