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"Economic Development Marketing Letter"
A Blane, Canada Ltd. Publication
Nationally Recognized Experts On Economic Development Marketing and Retention
February 2001, Volume: 4, Issue: e/2
~~~We
have been writing this newsletter since the early 1990s.
In its print format, we distributed the newsletter two or three times annually,
as compared with the current monthly version. In reviewing some of the older
issues, we’re amazed how sources of inspiration come in many forms. In the
November 1994 newsletter, we commented on a stop in Colorado Springs at the U.S.
Olympic Training Center. We think the universal nature of the Olympians’
winning attitude applies to all of us:
“The winner stresses solutions, not problems. The winner always has a goal. Become excited, confident, and enthusiastic about your goals. Excellence is achieved only through constant pursuit. Goals should identify minimum performance. They should never limit your performance.” ~~~Constant pursuit... is a major factor for economic development professionals. We asked you in a previous newsletter about SALES/CLOSING TECHNIQUES. Here is the feedback. Most agreed that it’s impossible to control a final decision, but influencing the decision is within reach. “Ask For The Order.” “What will it take to locate here?” “What are the other drivers?” Think outside the box. Discover the prospect’s pains, their budget, and the key decision makers. Solve their problem. Do very little presenting until you determine if you can match the needs. The close is simply a call for action, asking for the decision to be made, states Jean Sullivan (Ontario). Jim Wrobleski (MN) states there’s not a canned method that works. “Someone who is very skilled will understand that there may be categories of closing, but each event is its own entity and all things involved will be made to be unique.” Robert Ingram points out that few location searches find a perfect spot with no problems (MS). Feedback also came from Judy Davis (AK), Lisa Rivera (IA), and Melinda Anderson (OR). ~~~Tout Your R&E Successes... Our research team is doing interviews on the results achieved through executive contact programs (R&E). If you would like to participate, send us an e-mail (name, organization, phone number). We will have an interviewer contact you. Interviews will require less than 30 minutes of your time. The findings will be highlighted in a chapter for a forthcoming ED book, the BREI conference in Ottawa, and articles for professional publications. ecanada@ix.netcom.com ~~~Synchronist software users... Mark your calendars for the annual Synchronist Users’ Forum in October. More details will follow. ~~~Information is power... When the Midwestern Governor’s Office called around the state asking for information on a workforce issue, they were referred to the utility/sponsor of a statewide executive contact/retention program using the Synchronist System. The program sponsor was the only source where the Governor could get his question answered, without talking to hundreds of executives himself. The point? Everyone has an opinion. Those with the information have power. ~~~InfoAction™... Greater Dubuque (IA) Development Corporation has built a trademarked program around the Synchronist software created by Blane, Canada Ltd. Named InfoAction, the program stresses the benefits, both company-specific and community-wide, derived from their year round executive contact program. Here are a couple of points from their recent InfoAction newsletter following calls on more than 100 executives. They found 23% of the companies are undergoing key management changes and 13% have had a recent ownership change. Significant! Well done, Rick, Dan, and Karen! ~~~”Real creativity... is life altering. It threatens the status quo; it makes us see things differently. It brings about change, and we are terrified of change.” Quote: Madeleine L’Engle, author ~~~Keywords count... Sheila Black from Yakima, WA inquired about locating keywords. In our experience, many economic development organizations fail to leverage keywords to increase their visibility on the Web. Keywords help search engines pull your site up. Check out your site using http://www.Keywordcount.com a free online, real-time keyword frequency analysis Web service. Keywordcount offers you a way to find out why. Analyze and compare the keyword frequencies of the top twenty words in the body of an html document with those of other html pages. Keyword frequency analysis reports can be e-mailed directly to your inbox. Source: A-Marketing-Idea-A-Day-by-e-mail™ http://www.ideasiteforbusiness.com ~~~Can’t find the source?... Try http://www.findsame.com. This is a search engine that looks for content, not keywords. Just enter the quote that you want to use (or have used), and it finds on the Net other places where those words show up. No more misquotes of Bill Gates, Al Gore and Dan Quayle or that one writer who we can’t seem to remember who everyone thinks wrote that sunscreen commencement speech. Source: David Zach ~~~How
do you spend your marketing budget? Budgets vary greatly... depending
upon whether your organization is large vs. small, public vs.
private, a mix of public and private,
or a utility. In a previous newsletter we asked you to submit your
organization’s marketing budget broken down as a percentage of allocation.
Granted, this is a small sampling of the total market place. However, there are
definite patterns. The TOP 3 expense categories are Image Print Advertising,
Direct Mail, and Electronic (web, e-mail, CD rom). The AVERAGE percent budgeted
for these is 16-17% each. Yet, the percentage (lowest to highest) of total
budget ranges from 10% to 50% (advertising), 4% to 55% (direct mail), and 5% to
60% (electronic), respectively. Product
Print Advertising comes in fourth. The
balance of budget is devoted to the following (in descending order as a
percentage of budget): Special Events (9%), Trade Shows (8%), Call Trips (8%),
Investor/Member Relations (6%), Media/PR (4%), and Annual/Quarterly Meetings
(2%). Good luck in your next budget round! ~~~”The only way I can get you to do anything is by giving you what you want.” Dale Carnegie ~~~”Thanks for the marketing letter. I got a couple of ideas from it on subjects that are recently of interest in my never ending quest for truth, justice, and an evolving substantive program of work.!!!!” Max Hipp ~~~Responses...
to January’s newsletter request for info. “Anyone have
other suggestions of a source for union demographic data?”
1)
The Bureau of National Affairs publishes an annual report entitled, “Union
Membership and Earnings Data Book”, authored by Barry Hirsch, Trinity
University, and David Macpherson, Florida State Univ. It’s a great resource
and gives historical data, as well as state and metropolitan area (MSA)
information. Union and non-union data provided.
Cost is $95. Sources: Monty Evans, OK & Fred Harris, TN Order from: BNA
PLUS
1231
25th Street NW Washington,
D.C. 20037 Telephone:
(800) 452-7773 (nationwide) (202)
452-4323 (D.C.) FAX:
(202) 452-4644 E-Mail:
bnaplus@bna.com
2)
Andrew Reamer suggests another source for union membership by states at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/09/rgtrends.htm ~~~Flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, and creativity... are three behaviors essential for a marketer. Why? Because there are few rules of the road. The marketing process often takes unpredictable twists and hits, plus more than an occasional roadblock. A person with a strong need for predictability will feel uncomfortable and directionless. A person who is frustrated by obstacles will find it difficult to muster the creativity to find the innovative path. ~~~Pressing too hard? Trying to make too many follow-up calls can be counter productive. Before dialing the next call, write two questions you would like the suspect/prospect to answer about the reasons they are relocating/expanding. Look for the strategic elements of the site selection process. “Selling in an Economic Development Environment,” course title presented by Eric Canada. 630-462-9222 ~~~Quote... from Seth Godin, author of “Permission Marketing”: “Every commercial Web site should be set up to accomplish one goal. Your Web site should be 100 percent focused on signing up strangers to give you permission to market to them.” Translation: Get as many e-mail addresses as you can. Of course, the corollary is that you MUST give your prospective customers something of value. The idea is that you should use the web and e-mail to establish and strengthen customer relationships. Peter Pike, PikeNet Dispatch http://www.dispatch@pikenet.com
Blane, Canada Ltd.
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