AVL Biz Weekly — Mar 19–25: Local Legends, Spring Rush & Show Up Before You're Too Slammed to Answer

Welcome to AVL BIZ Weekly—your local cheat sheet for what’s happening in Asheville’s small business + creative scenes.

Each week: hand-picked events, marketing ideas that actually work, and a little local flavor to keep things fun.

My name's Jason and I'm writing this (connect with me here).

Hey friends,

Spring is officially here (well, this week’s freeze doesn’t show that, but you know…), and if you run a service business, you already feel it. Phones picking up. More quote requests. That slow burn turning into a full boil over the next 8 weeks.

We're also doing something new around here. AVL Biz Mag is kicking off the AVL Local Legends interview series — sitting down with Asheville-area business owners to hear how they built what they built. It'll live in a local business spotlight directory we're putting together for WNC. If you're a business owner and want to be featured, hit reply and let me know.

This week: a stacked Fringe Arts Festival, some solid business events, outdoor adventures, live music, and a reminder that your phone shouldn't go straight to voicemail this time of year. Let's get into it.

📋 On Deck

• Business Events: A mix of networking, learning, and growth-focused sessions for entrepreneurs and professionals looking to sharpen their business skills and make meaningful connections.

• Marketing Quickies: Spring rush prep — what to set up now before you can't answer your phone

• Fun Stuff: Asheville Fringe Arts Festival, Tiny Beautiful Things at NC Stage, Sunday trivia brunch, and hiking WNC before it gets hot

• On Stage: Old Crow Medicine Show, moe., Robert Earl Keen, Drain, and a Monday night album release at Pulp

🙋 Want your biz featured in front of a few really smart AVL business owners? Email me for details

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ Youth Resilience Summit — Wed, Mar 18 · 8:30 AM–3:00 PM (A-B Tech/Mission Health Conference Center, Asheville)

  A full-day event for education and community leaders featuring impactful speakers, practical takeaways, and meaningful conversations.

• 🗓️ Toastmasters Pizza Party Open House — Thu, Mar 19 · 12:00–1:00 PM (Center for Spiritual Living, Asheville)

  A casual, no-pressure midday event with pizza where you can improve your speaking skills and connect with growth-minded locals.

• 🗓️ WNC Build & Remodel Expo — Sat, Mar 21 (10:00 AM–6:00 PM) & Sun, Mar 22 (11:00 AM–4:00 PM) (WNC Agricultural Center – Davis Event Center, Fletcher)

  A two-day gathering of builders, designers, and vendors offering inspiration, networking, and real collaboration opportunities.

• 🗓️ The Agent’s Guide to Getting More Business on Google — Tue, Mar 24 · 10:00–11:30 AM (Hendersonville Board of Realtors, Hendersonville)

  A practical workshop for service-based professionals to improve local search visibility and turn it into real leads.

• 1 Million Cups AVL — Wed, Mar 25 · 9:00 AM (Hatch Innovation Hub, 45 S French Broad Ave, AVL)

  A local founder gets 6 minutes to present their business, then the room spends 20 minutes helping them solve problems. Free, weekly, consistently good.

• Foundations Business Planning Course — Cohort Kickoff — Wed, Mar 25 · 9:30 AM (Mountain BizWorks, 153 S Lexington Ave, AVL)

  A 6-week cohort taking you from concept to completed business plan, taught by Shannon McSorley (founder of Vivian restaurant in Asheville). Scholarships cover up to 80% of the $445 tuition.

• AIA WNC Section Meeting — Creating the Regenerative School — Wed, Mar 25 · 11:50 AM (Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church St, AVL)

  Case studies from co-author Betsy del Monte on sustainable school design. Good for architecture professionals and anyone in the built environment space.

• Clarity Creates Confidence — Wed, Mar 25 · 5:30 PM (Muse Art Bar, 120 Coxe Ave, AVL)

  A 2.5-hour class on knowing your numbers — for business owners who want to feel less anxious and more in control of their financials. $13 to attend.

Hosting something cool?

📬 Hit reply and tell me what you think. Or share an event!

💡 Marketing Quickies

Spring rush is here. Your calendar fills up fast — and so does your voicemail. Here's what to put in place now, before you're too busy to think.

1. Your phone is about to ring more. Are you ready for it?
Spring is the season every home service business has been waiting for. The problem: when you're on a job, you're not answering. And 67% of customers who don't hear back go to a competitor — often within the hour. Auto Call Text Back is one of the simplest things to add to your business: a missed call triggers an automatic text that says "Hey, we saw you called — what can we help you with?" That one message keeps the lead alive while you're on a ladder.
This is a core piece of the Show Up and Follow Up System.

2. Responding in under an hour changes everything.
Lead response time research is clear: contact a lead within 1 hour and you're 7x more likely to qualify them. Most contractors call back the next day. Some never call back. If you can get a text out automatically within 60 minutes of a missed call, you're already ahead of most of your market.

3. Build your spring follow-up sequence before April hits.
Don't wait until you're slammed to set this up — that's the mistake. An automated sequence that checks in on open quotes, asks for reviews after completed jobs, and offers to schedule the next visit should already be running. If it's not, this week is your window.

4. Every completed spring job is a review waiting to happen.
Happy customers leave reviews when you ask them. An automated review request that fires after every completed job keeps your Google Business Profile climbing all season. One new review a week, consistently, outperforms any ad spend you'll put behind it.

5. If your site doesn't load fast on mobile, you're losing spring leads right now.
Over 60% of people searching for a local contractor are on their phone. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, they're gone. Run a free check at PageSpeed Insights this week and see where you stand.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• Asheville Fringe Arts Festival — Ticketed Shows — Thu–Sun, Mar 19–22 · Evenings (Multiple Venues, Downtown AVL)

  More than 70 boundary-pushing performances — theater, dance, comedy, puppetry — across six venues including The BeBe Theatre, LEAF Global Arts, and LaZoom Room. $16/ticket most shows.

• Tiny Beautiful Things — NC Stage Company — Thu–Sun, Mar 19–22 + Wed Mar 25 · 7:30 PM (NC Stage, 15 Stage Lane, AVL)

  Based on Cheryl Strayed's Dear Sugar advice columns, adapted for the stage. Opening weekend champagne toast Saturday night. Good play, good reason to get out of the house.

• Camino de Asheville Night Hike — Section 8 — Thu, Mar 19 · 5:30 PM (Groce United Methodist Church, 954 Tunnel Rd, AVL)

  6.5 miles through east Asheville at a brisk 2.5–3 mph pace. Headlamp required. Strenuous section — post-hike gathering at Bonito Kitchen.

• Settlers of Catan Tournament at Well Played — Thu, Mar 19 · 6:00 PM (Well Played Board Game Café, AVL)

  Competitive Catan night — trade, build, settle, and probably lose a friend over a wheat port. Register ahead.

• Comedy at Cultura featuring Sam Evans — Fri, Mar 20 · 7:00 PM (Cultura, AVL)

  NYC-based comedian Sam Evans — iTunes #1 debut album, sharp material. $18 advance, $22 at the door.

• Don't Tell Comedy — Hendersonville — Sat, Mar 21 · 8:00 PM (Secret Location, Hendersonville)

  Secret venue, surprise lineup of 4–7 comics. Doors at 7:30. The format is half the fun — grab tickets and don't ask where you're going.

• Sunday Morning Trivia Brunch at Well Played — Sun, Mar 22 · 10:30 AM (Well Played Board Game Café, AVL)

  Trivia runs 10:30 to 1:00, brunch included. Families and competitive adults both welcome.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• Robert Earl Keen w/ Olivia Wolf — Thu, Mar 19 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Scenic Radio w/ Mark Duncan — Thu, Mar 19 · 7 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• moe. (Born To Fly Tour) — Fri, Mar 20 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel (18+)

• Dirty Dead Spring Concert — Fri, Mar 20 · 7 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• moe. (Born To Fly Tour) — Sat, Mar 21 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel (18+)

• The Get Right Band — Sat, Mar 21 · 7 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• Battle Royale Tour: Dale & the ZDubs vs. Sons of Paradise — Sat, Mar 21 · 9 PM @ One World Brewing West

• Old Crow Medicine Show w/ Willie Watson — Sun, Mar 22 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel (18+)

• Sunday Jam: Spiro & Friends — Sun, Mar 22 · 6:30 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• McKinney's "Bones" Album Release w/ Destinie Lynn — Mon, Mar 23 · 7 PM @ Pulp

• Black Mountain Bluegrass Jam (unplugged) — Tue, Mar 24 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• Drain w/ No Pressure, Haywire, Secret World — Tue, Mar 24 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel (all ages)

• Wednesday Night Riffs featuring Zandra Johnson — Wed, Mar 25 · 7 PM @ Asheville Guitar Pedals

• Mammoth (The End Tour) w/ 10 Years, James and the Cold Gun — Wed, Mar 25 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel (18+)

Want your biz in front of smart AVL owners & creators? Reply with what you’re up to and we’ll see if it’s a fit.

Until next week,

Jason De Los Santos
Pixelated Stories Digital Marketing
(828) 585-4293