~~~Escalator Rule: Your message has to be tight enough to be meaningful and have impact when delivered during a ride up an escalator. In other words, a succinct, clear, jargon-free, 18-second presentation.

~~~e-commerce ... conducting business through an electronic medium. A recent study in Canada has shown that Canadian companies have been slow to adopt e-commerce strategies. As a result, most on-line shopping by Canadians is with companies outside of Canada. The Phoenix (AZ) Chamber is working to pull small businesses together on a common electronic platform thereby expanding their potential market far beyond the confines of the valley. Will your community be like Canada or Phoenix? Business attraction should not be the EDC's only web strategy!

~~~Proposal research ... Participate in our prospect proposal research by sending us (address on last page) a copy of your best, not necessarily winning, proposal. The goal of the research is to improve the sell, communication quality, and presentation of economic development proposals. We are looking for state, regional, and local proposals. All submissions will be confidential. Participants will receive a detailed report on the results and specific tips on their proposal. Invite colleagues to submit.

~~~Where is it written that, "... roughly 60% of the U.S. market is within 750 miles" is a meaningful statement for economic development materials? We see many EDC's touting proximity to market (read: population). The only industry interested in proximity to population is retail, and they want 5 or 10 miles, not 750. If you feel compelled to talk proximity, list proximity to the manufacturing base, that can be meaningful. But, the reality is these numbers are probably meaningless in economic development.

Note: When market is important to a suspect, seeing where you are on the map is far more important than knowing the percentage of people within a specified distance.

~~~"Recently, I purchased 'Economic Development: Marketing for Results' and found it to be an incredibly useful tool when writing my organization's strategic marketing plan. Thanks!" SD

~~~Pictures worth thousands of visitors … Murals on nearly every exposed building side draws thousands of tourists over a mile from the main highway into Chemainus, British Columbia (Vancouver Island). Murals are the competitive advantage distinguishing this thriving tourist community from dozens of coastal communities on the island.

~~~More suggestions ... to improve your web site. Set up the navigation bar so the "table of contents" remains visible throughout the visit. Some disappear only to challenge the visitor to find it! A menu option of how to "navigate  this site" is very helpful to orient the visitor, especially for more complex sites. Encourage "bookmarking" your site so when a visitor wanders off to other pertinent links, they can easily get back to your site.

~~~PowerPoint ... it's not just for presentations. Use PowerPoint or other presentation software to write marketing plans, reports, and proposals. The option gives you great control over text placement, visual highlighting, and injecting objects (pictures, graphs, etc.). This allows a visual layout instead of dry text descriptions. No matter what presentation software you use, try using it for your next report to increase the impact of your communications. Be selective. Limit text to about 25% of what would appear in a text report.

~~~Shocked ... At two different conferences recently, three knowledgeable professionals gave PowerPoint presentations in the edit mode instead of the show mode. Lesson: If the tools are new to you, practice or get training. Awkwardness with the tools can erode the value of the message and discredits the messenger.

~~~Red Herring Magazine ... reported Intel and Microsoft ranked among the technology sector's top 25 venture capitalists in 1998. Why, you ask? It is an extremely cost effective form of R&D which both companies have raised to an art form.

~~~"Operating ... in a lightning speed industry that now measures generations in months, today's cutting edge technology companies are often trying to invent products for markets that do not yet exist." The (Toronto) Globe and Mail

~~~Mapping multiple locations ... Need to generate a map designating multiple locations? Try MapQuest's new <http://www.mapquest.com>. It doesn't actually search for and plot each address, just the first one. After that, assuming you know the other locations, you plot the locations by clicking your mouse. After you've created the map, you can save it, print it or send the image to a prospect. Source: PikeNet Dispatch, 7/22/99, <http://www.pikenet.com>

~~~Reuse of a military base ... on your agenda? Who would have ever thought of the short term financial benefits accruing from resurrecting Woodstock at Griffiss AFB in Rome, NY? Bill Gugliamo of the Rome Chamber shared an interesting convention and tourism formula to demonstrate the economic impact. Assume each attendee spent $50 daily for 3 days. Multiply that by a conservative count of 200,000 participants, and you arrive at a revenue flow of $30,000,000 to local food, lodging, gas and other retail establishments. The chamber of commerce's free shuttle bus transported between 40 and 50,000 from the Woodstock site to town and back. Sales tax revenue will show the true picture of the impact on local business and the municipality.

P.S. The 4-mile, 12-foot high fence around the event was decorated by a group of 20 artists. In the last minute frenzy, the entire fence disappeared plank by plank as mementoes. If you come across a section of the art, look for (niece) Mary Fragapane Howard's signed work!

~~~"After today's discussion of mid-game marketing, it is clear we have prospects falling through the crack between our marketing and our recruitment team." SC attendee at 'Maximizing Results! Advanced Marketing and Complex Sales'. Next class is Sept. 29-30 in San Antonio.

~~~Note to self ... When sending a document with GBC binding, don't use a paper envelope! When sending a document weighting over 8 oz, don't use a paper envelope! Nothing makes a stronger *negative* impression than a paper envelope with the side nearly completely severed. If the document is going through the US Post Office, use a Tyvek envelope. They are perfect for making sure documents arrive enclosed. You'd be surprised how often we get large documents from EDC's with ripped/torn envelopes. Not good.

~~~When you have information ... you have power. Traditional business retention surveys tend to pose questions which verify readily available information, about 53%, in fact. The Synchronist Business Information System^®, software developed by Blane, Canada Ltd., sets a new standard of excellence for economic developers. Synchronist questions focus on company and industry intelligence, as well as problem identification. "The answer is only important...if you ask the right questions." anon. Call or e-mail us for more information. And learn about the numerous reports it generates!