Hey Athens.
I'm Andrew, the owner of Athens Scoop. Over 6,000+ people read our weekly newsletter about life in this town. About ~800 of you have told us you own a business here, so I’m launching something for you specifically.
I've been covering Athens long enough to notice something: we need more real places where Athens business owners can connect, share what's working, and hear what's happening in the local economy that actually affects them.
Red & Black covers campus. Flagpole covers arts and music. Athens Scoop covers news and events. But the business side of Athens deserves its own lane. The stuff that helps you get more customers through the door, show up higher on Google, and actually grow.
That's what this email is. Every week you'll get local business news that matters to you, one marketing or operations tip you can immediately use to improve your business, and exclusive invites to the in-person meetups we're building for Athens business owners.
Everything here is free. I want to help Athens businesses grow, and I think the best way to do that is to get us all in the same room and talking to each other. The businesses that thrive here are the ones that are connected.
Here’s the first edition:
Athens Scoop Business Meetup
We're launching a monthly, in-person meetup for Athens business owners. Here's what it looks like:
Format: 45 minutes. 15 minutes on one specific topic, 15 minutes of open Q&A where you can ask anything, 15 minutes to grab a drink and actually meet the other business owners in the room.
First topic: Google Business Profile. The free tool that controls whether people find your business on Google Maps, and that most Athens businesses haven't touched since they set it up. We'll cover how to pick the right category, what to do about reviews, and the small changes that move you into the top 3 results.
When: Weekday evening, 5:30-6:30 PM. Either late this month or early next month. Expect details in next week’s edition.
Where: An Athens venue (will announce next week).
Cost: Free.
Seats are limited to 30. Reply to this email with "I'm in" and I'll put you on the list first.
UGA Just Posted a $9.2 Billion Economic Impact on Georgia
Last week UGA released its annual economic impact report. The number: $9.2 billion. That's up $800 million from last year, and the study's author calls it a conservative estimate.
The pieces that matter if you run a business in Athens: UGA's Small Business Development Center helped launch 2,182 new businesses and create 15,514 jobs over the past five years, and they offer free one-on-one consulting most Athens business owners don't know exists. R&D spending hit a record $654 million, with every federal dollar generating $2.13 in local economic impact as it gets spent on personnel and equipment here.
UGA conferred 12,441 degrees last year and nearly two-thirds of those graduates stay in Georgia. That's your future workforce and your future customers. Athletics alone drew 219,000+ out-of-state visitors who spend money on food, lodging, and whatever else they find downtown. UGA isn't just the biggest employer in town, it's the engine that makes everything else here work.
Want you featured in this Spotlight next week? Just reply.
Google only shows 3 businesses in the local pack (the map results people actually click). If 500 Athens businesses picked "restaurant" and 40 picked "Southern restaurant," your odds of showing up just improved dramatically.
Here's a quick way to check: Google your service + "Athens GA." Look at the 3 businesses that show up in the map pack. Check what category they're using (click their profile, it's listed near the top). Then search related, more specific categories. Pick one that accurately describes what you do but has fewer businesses using it.
"Marketing agency" vs. "internet marketing service." "Hair salon" vs. "hair replacement service." "Lawyer" vs. "estate planning attorney." The more specific category almost always has less competition.
While you're in there: upload 5+ recent photos (businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests per Google's data), update your hours if they changed for the semester, and respond to your last 3 reviews with something that sounds like a human wrote it.
10 minutes. Free. We're going deeper on this at the first Athens Scoop Business Meetup (details above).
That's Edition 1. This goes out every week. If you know something I should cover, whether it's a business opening, closing, hiring, expanding, or doing something worth paying attention to, reply to this email. I read all of them. If you’re interested in sponsoring this newsletter or the main Athens Scoop one, same thing, just reply.
We also built a free business directory at directory.athensscoop.com for Athens business owners. Your listing gets seen by our 6,000+ readers and gives your business an SEO boost with 5-10 backlinks to our site. No cost to join. Let us know at the bottom of that website and we'll get you set up.
Talk next week.
