LoriOsterberg

Ahhh, the 4th of July. Our favorite time of the year. Right in the middle of summer, it’s a perfect time to take a few days off and hike in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. And that’s just what we did this past weekend.

Instead of heading up to the normal ski resort towns, we decided to head south to a new-to-us spot, La Veta Colorado. [Want to see photos - check out my Flickr.]

La Veta is a very small town with just a few stores, one main inn - the La Veta Inn - and a gorgeous view. It has so much potential … and yet there were so few families enjoying the area. Why?

One big minus is lack of a ski community. They did have one a number of years ago, but there’s nothing in the surrounding area. But in the summer, the hiking potential is amazing. We hiked one trail and only ran into one other family.

One big plus is it’s only a 2 1/2 hour drive from our home - about the same as the major ski resorts we usually head to. And there was very little traffic because everyone else was heading up the hill!

So how could they market their beautiful area more? These 3 things would be a step in the right direction.

1. Very few of the places that were there had a website. Not only could they attract sales from current visitors that decided to buy more when they return home, but they could also use it to attract more business from people looking for something to do on the weekends. With this area being only 1 1/2 hours from Colorado Springs, I’m sure they could gain a huge population - if only people knew it existed.

2. The stores were open odd hours for the community. In this type of community, people get up, have breakfast, and spend the day hiking, fishing, and enjoying the outdoors. The rain clouds moved in late afternoon - a perfect time for heading back to the hotel and doing some shopping. Guess what? The shops closed at 5. Being open til 7 or 8 - especially on the weekends - could raise their profits.

3. With such a great environment, why aren’t they touting themselves as the easier way to enjoy the Rockies in the summer? One of the worst things about the Rocky Mountains from Denver is there’s one way up the mountain. Which means hours of sitting on the highway both going up and coming home. Hardly the thing you want to do on a Sunday evening. Make that a plus - and advertise it to all who live across the front range community.

3.5 All right, I just had to throw in a bonus so I could use my picture of Andrew next to the Bigfoot Crossing sign. We loved this sign and had to take several photos of him being Bigfoot! Sometimes it’s all about having fun. Do something a little crazy or a little unexpected. Don’t you look twice when you see something unexpected? We all do. And that’s the fun of it. Throw in something just for fun, and see what it does for your business.

Sometimes it just takes thinking a little differently to grow substantially. What can you do to change your business?