The 12 ways of marketing, including ‘10 minutes musing’USE, published in North Bay Business Journal, are useful tips for a successful marketer, which are essentially required for a successful library professional, who want to be visible in the community they serve. These tips are reproduced here:
1 Card rich with possibilities: Think of your business card as the ultimate leave-behind. Spiff up the back with a tip, a chart or a pithy quote. Resist the partridge in a pear tree logo, however.
2 Contacts carded: Hand your cards out to at least two potential customers or clients a day. Turtle doves are acceptable if they are decision makers in their respective companies. We recommend printing on 14 pt. matte; otherwise the cards tend to slip through the birds’ wings.
3 Self promotions: Write three press items a month. Press releases, letters to the editor and a blog or journal. These are free to you and enjoy good readership. Topics should be interesting and relevant – perhaps something about the recent French Hen industry bailout.
4 Calling blasts: Aim for at least four e-mail blasts a year. Make them fun, engaging, brief and beneficial to your reader, otherwise they will languish in inboxes like four calling birds with no one to call.
5 Golden Web hits: Dust off your Web site, refresh the look and update the info. Then get your Web site address to at least five golden contacts a month.
6 Network nettings: Get your name in six media outlets, and we mean all media: Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, chambers of commerce lists, trade magazines, etc. That’ll get your swans a-swimming, if you know what we mean.
7 Times-a-schmoozing: Attend social events during the holiday season, bring your spiffy cards (see #1) and get at least seven people’s cards and contact info in return. Show some restraint and don’t hit them up until at least Jan. 2.
8 Words-a-working: Forget the elevator speech, who has the time? Craft an eight-word description for your business – something that conveys the essence of who you are, and milk all you can from those eight words. For example, say you have a company that recycles tin cans into high-end pencil holders. It might be: “We turn tin cans into beautifully practical art.”
9 Logos dancing: Take a step (or nine) back and review your brand ID in nine areas: your logo, your tagline, your business descriptor, your colors, your font, your physical space, your internal and external communications, heck, even your voice mail message, and make sure they reflect who you are.
10 Minutes musing: Take 10 minutes every day to plan your course of action for the day, ensuring that you are doing something positive to get your name out there every day or at least every week. Toss out the mundane and expected, and embrace the ideas that would get ten lords a-leaping.
11 Calls to action: Want your pipers to really pipe? Give your audience something to do. Whether it’s “20 percent off limited-edition Ponch and Jon figurines,” or “Visit our Web site for 11 great reindeer recipes,” it’s what we like to call a “Call to Action.”
12 Pro plusses: Turn to a marketing and design pro to help you drum up business. We could give you at least 12 good reasons why, starting with the fact that trusting a talented professional frees you up to focus on the business of your business. If you find the right company, you could also discover the beginning of a beautiful (and mutually beneficial) relationship
Please feel free to comment on the simple ways of marketing...
