We started going in 2011; six years later, it’s great to see that Cash Mobs are still going on.

Originally, I wanted to make sure that Cash Mobs were completely decentralized, that people could do them whenever they wanted for their own communities.  Then…I let them slide.

I think we’re going to have to do more work to bring them back.  Keep your eyes on this space.

Good post from Norway, Maine!

Happy Monday – check out this video of Webster Cash Mobs!  

By Matt Bateman

Franklin, NC is a small town in western North Carolina, with a population of approximately 3,500 citizens.  Within Franklin lies a solid core of concerned individuals that want to help support locally owned & operated businesses, as well as the overall well-being of our community.  We call our movement “Venture Local Franklin (VLF).”  VLF is an effort that was started to move Franklin forward and to help us lead within our region.  We are both action-based and outcome-focused when it comes to getting things done.   We have several goals and initiatives in motion at any given time.  However, one in particular has been both dynamic & gratifying for the entire community to witness.  We call it, “Ca$h Mob Franklin!”

Ca$h Mob Franklin! has hosted 8 very successful cash mobs throughout our small, locally owned business community.  From gift shops, lunch counters, and outdoor outfitters, to hardware, electronic, and health food stores, Ca$h Mob Franklin! is making the rounds.

How we do it:

Nomination of Ca$h Mobs

After our very first cash mob, we had all participants nominate a local business by writing business names down onto a piece of paper.  We then tossed all of the nominations into a bucket.  We have the owner of the current business that is being mobbed pull (blindly) from the nomination bucket.  Poof!  We have our next cash mob victim.  This has worked really well, but tweaks are being made to get an equal ratio of nominations to mobsters. Some of our mobsters get caught up in meeting new folks and exploring the business, while forgetting to nominate.

Promotion of Ca$h Mobs

We utilize Facebook, Twitter, email and our website to push the our message out into our local community and beyond.  Staying in front of our audience has been the leading force in our success.  We create active FB event pages for each cash mob and post on them frequently.  A few of our nominated businesses have truly embraced this movement and created promotion of their own in the form of flyers, word of mouth, and their own social media outlets.  This works really well and elevates the Cash Mob within the community.

Pay it forward 

As part of our Cash Mob initiative, we require that each business pay it forward by selecting a local non-profit or charity to donate to.  It can be a percentage of the cash mob sales or donation of time/resources.  We really leave this up to the business owner to decide.  Several non-profits have benefited from this portion of our Cash Mobs, and it’s something that we’re very proud of.

The calm before the storm

We meet up 15 minutes before each scheduled mob.  We meet at a central location that’s closest to the business we’re about to mob.  For example, with  our downtown businesses, we’ve been meeting at our cool and historic, Franklin Clock Tower.  This works well for us for so many reasons.  First, we’re a large group standing together and that immediately draws attention.  Grabbing passerby’s attention is always a good thing.  Second, I always pass around a clipboard asking folks to “sign in” to let us know they were there.  I also ask for email addresses to add to our growing lists for our e-news.  This ensures that we’re always promoting to a growing audience for each new Cash Mob.  Next, I make announcements and go over the “rules.”  Like I mentioned before, VLF is involved in other initiatives, so I take a few minutes to talk about what’s new.  Then I go over our rules:

1.  Commit to spend at least $20 cash.

2.  Meet at least 3 new people.

3.  Have a blast!

I always add a 4th rule, which is, “Talk about Ca$h Mob Franklin!”  Finally, we take a group picture, and head towards the business with our $20 cash in hand (hooting and hollering, of course).

A few highlights I would like to share with you…

– We are averaging just under 30 mobsters per cash mob. Incredible.

– We have attracted over 225 people to our cash mobs.

– Upwards of 85% of our mobsters are spending well over the $20 commitment

– We have had a nice mixture of locals AND visitors join in on the cash mob (tourism development)

– 30% of our mobsters have been to every cash mob

– 20% of our mobsters are first time participants

With the success of Ca$h Mob Franklin!, many in the community are starting to pay attention, and rightfully so.  We are making this movement happen 100% organically, and it is grassroots driven.  We don’t have a budget or funding to help with promotion, etc.  We don’t have a board or committee to answer to (whew, thank goodness!).  Ca$h Mob Franklin! is a testament to what can happen when a core of motivated and passionate citizens come together for the common good of their community.

Connect with us

I invite you to keep up with our progress as we move Franklin NC forward in a positive direction!  Here is how you can do that.

Web:  www.VentureLocalFranklin.com 

Note:  You can register via social media or create an account via our website that will allow you to interact with us.  Please do!

Facebook

Note:  VLF has multiple initiatives going on at any given moment.  Like our page to see what we’re up to.

Twitter

Note:  Tweet tweet!  Follow us for up-to-date info about VLF

Google Plus Community

It turns out that the West Side Market clean-up took less time than expected, and after talking with Ohio City Inc., we’ve decided to move up the mob to THIS SATURDAY, Feb. 23, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The normal busy hours are between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., so get there early if you can!  Also, Lutheran Hospital has graciously offered to let us use their parking lot for Cash Mobbers; enter the employee lot on the north side of Franklin between W. 25th and W. 28th. It is just a short walk away from the Market down West 25th Street!  If you’re not car-bound, the RTA is just across the street.

Feel free to discuss it on the Facebook Event or here in the comments.  Regardless, we hope to see you on Saturday for the biggest Cash Mob in history!

By now you’ve probably heard about the fire that has shut down part of the West Side Market for at least a few weeks. The market is going to have to be cleaned, brick by brick, and the vendors in the main hall have to throw out all of the food that they had for sale. While insurance might reimburse them for the lost merchandise, it usually doesn’t cover the money that they are losing by not being open.

Cash Mobs usually help support businesses that are doing well; we don’t prop up businesses that are struggling. However, this is a unique situation – the businesses aren’t struggling because of a bad business model, they are struggling because of catastrophe. So when we heard about the fire, we immediately decided we had to Cash Mob the West Side Market to help the vendors get back on their feet. Ohio City Incorporated jumped on immediately, and we started planning.

We’re tentatively planning for March 2, 2013; we still don’t know when the Market is going to open again. However, whenever it does, we’re going to Cash Mob it on the first Saturday we can. The rules are simple: show up with $20 to spend, talk to three people you didn’t know before, and have fun. We’re working on getting something together to thank mobbers – maybe coffee and cookies or something – and we will post details as we get them.

Last time we mobbed a market, 300 people put $9,000 into Nature’s Bin.  Let’s see if we can beat that.  Save the date and tell your friends and lets make this the best Cash Mob of all time to support the best market in America!

(Facebook invitation here.)

I just received an email from one of our favorite organizers in Oregon. She spoke with a friend who owns a business in a neighboring town. The store owner said that an individual promoter had come to them about organizing a Cash Mob. He offered this for a price as part of a promotional/marketing package. You can guess the rest – the mob was “postponed” indefinitely and has yet to take place.

Cash mobs are not designed for the organizers to earn money. Organizers do it for the love of their communities and the positive changes that they want to see. If you own a store and someone approaches you about organizing a cash mob in exchange for pay, do NOT agree!!! Get their contact information and let us know about it.

We are getting information about this instance in Oregon and will let you know if anything can be done. Meanwhile, hopefully this person is stopped, and perhaps the business should receive a mob to help them recover the money they were cheated of?

“Business is always a struggle.  There are always obstacles and competitors.  There is never an open road, except the wide road that leads to failure.  Every great success has always been achieved by fight.  Every winner has scars…The men who succeed are the efficient few.  They are the few who have the ambition and willpower to develop themselves.”  Herbert N. Casson

If you’re interested in finding out about a Cash Mob near you, visit this page for the full list.  It is organized alphabetically by state, then country.  If you don’t see your community on the list, organize one yourself.  Seriously.  You are responsible for your community, and a Cash Mob is a great way to help build that community.  Don’t put it off or wait for some time or set of circumstances in the future; start it today. Finally, check us out on Twitter– it has proven to be an incredibly useful tool for organizing and coordinating efforts across the country and around the world.

We’re incredibly thankful for your interest and visit, and we hope to see you at a Cash Mob soon!

Love,

Cash Mobs