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"Economic Development Marketing Letter"
A Blane, Canada Ltd. Publication
Nationally Recognized Experts On Economic Development Marketing and Retention
February 2000, Volume: 3, Issue: e/2 ~~~1st Rule ... "The first rule of holes is: If you are IN one, stop digging." Time Magazine, December 1998 ~~~2nd Rule ... "Dig where the gold is ... unless you just need the exercise." John Capozzi, author ~~~3rd Rule ... "If you are IN the bottom of a hole, find a new place to dig." New Think, Edward DeBono, Avon Books, 1971 ~~~Four corners ... We started 1999 with a burst of travel to states at the four corners of the U.S. Unabated on-site assignments meant coloring in many others: AZ, CA, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MN, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI. Some covered 2-3 separate clients! Add in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, and the offshore locations of Puerto Rico and Trinidad, the result: ever expanding sphere of influence and another record year! Thanks for your support. ~~~Post-it(R) marketing ... This ingenious invention of 3M is a true winner at attracting eyeballs. Post-it(R) Notes draw attention and they are generally read first, bringing to mind several points. First, how are you using this stealth tool in your marketing effort? Try placing one so it sticks out of your next proposal, drawing the suspect into a salient point of your offer. Second, write your marketing message on a 3x3 Post-it(R) Note. If it doesn't fit, you probably don't have a marketing message. ~~~No cost ... You get The Economic Development Marketing Letter monthly without charge from Blane, Canada Ltd. We aggressively support a number of national children's charities that never have enough money. In their support, we would like you to consider a donation of $5, $10, $50 or a value you assign. Send your checks to: Make A-Wish Foundation: 100 West Clarendon, Ste. 2200, Phoenix, AZ 85013; Christian Children's Fund: 2821 Emerywood Parkway, PO Box 26484, Richmond, VA 23261-5022; Ronald McDonald House: One Krock Dr., Oakbrook, IL 60523; Feed the Children: 333 North Meridian Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73107-6568, or a charity of your choice. The future is in the hands of the children. Let's make it a bright future. ~~~Strategic Insight ... Read, "Rocketing Out of the Twilight Zone: Gaining Strategic Insight from Business Retention" by Eric Canada in the recent "Economic Development Review: Strategic Planning Issue" Volume 16, Issue 2, or "The Economic and Technology Development Journal of Canada," 1999. ~~~HotData ... http://www.hotdata.com plugs your desktop contact manager (ARES for ACT!, ACT!, Goldmine) into dozens of online data sources, including Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and the U.S. Post Office. According to John Childers with Colliers Oxford, "Take your existing contacts database, run the HotData program and it will bring up information such as revenues, # of employees, CEO, CFO, updated zip codes and area codes." Source: PikeNet Dispatch, Peter Pike http://www.pikenet.com ~~~"Washington State Experience" ... The "Business Retention Expansion International Newsletter" published an article describing the experience of the first state to adopt the Synchronist(TM) as the statewide platform for business retention. Author Ginger Rich is the Business Retention and Expansion Manager for the Washington Department of Community, Trade & Economic Development. Published: December 1999 issue of the BREI newsletter. It is available on request. Call us at 630.462.9222 ~~~Growing local businesses ... is often overlooked as a primary component of economic development. Littleton's (CO) New Economy Program has built an extensive business reference library for local companies. They encourage entrepreneurship and help create target company sales lists. Louisville, KY suggests local companies for joint venturing or as possible suppliers. Fond du Lac, WI has created a for-fee service to help companies reduce employee turnover.Let us know what you are doing to help grow area companies. Examples will be used in a new AEDC course Eric is presenting March 31 in Chicago - "Business Expansion, Retention, Development: Adding Value to Existing Industry Programs." We will share the best in a future issue. Thanks. ecanada@ix.netcom.com ~~~People ... are not persuaded by what you say, but what they understand. Communicate clearly the first time. ~~~Speaking of communication ... when making laptop presentations: Open without electronic media. You want to be center stage before showing visuals. When you start, have a blank screen behind you. Stop the presentation part way through, turn up the lights and take questions. This changes the pace and wakes people up. Close the presentation without visuals. You need to be center stage at the end of the presentation. Source: "Point, Click & Wow!! A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations" by Claudyne Wilder and David Fine, Pfeiffer and Company, 1996. ^^^ (606.647.3030) ~~~More Wal-Mart ... According to a Marketing Letter reader in TX, they have received two Wal-Mart grants for economic development promotion. The application did not prevent the money being used for business attraction. In fact, the application emphasized attracting new jobs. Also, Wal-Mart wasn't interested in ancillary activities like beautification studies, or planning. High priority was placed on marketing for new job creation. Thanks for the addition, Pat. Pat Malloy, TX ~~~Hot product! ... We now have 45 local Synchronist users and 5 statewide/regional users. Nurture your existing companies with the Synchronist System R&E (retention & expansion) platform. Gather the market intelligence which will make you a more effective professional. Synchronist Business Information System® ecanada@ix.netcom.com or call 630.462.9222 for more information. ~~~Stuffed gaiter ... toy truck, spring ball, Elvis collector cards, word wheels, and dice were used at a mountain retreat as part of pushing a group of volunteers past the typical discussion of marketing options for the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council in 1999. Stimulating new ideas for marketing is as much about breaking the pattern of past discussions as triggering new thoughts. ~~~Guide to the Net ... The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs has published a booklet, "Finding Rural Development Resources on the World Wide Web: Tips and Techniques for Efficient Searches." It provides a break down of search engines, Web directories, and metacrawlers, highlighting differences and benefits. It also references Web sites for rural development. Author Jeanne Koekkoek Stierman, IIRA, 309.298.2237 or http://www.iira.org under publications. ~~~If you want ... something, set a 90 day goal. Ninety-days is far enough into the future that you can do something significant, but near enough to be urgent. Source: Denis Waitley, professional speaker. ~~~The next generation ... in the workplace will be a balancing act among Generation Xers (23-35), Generation Yers (under 22), and da boomers. Thanks to technology, authority, rank, and privilege will no longer follow age. Welcome to the new world ... Incentive Magazine, September 1999, via Ed Crow, IL ~~~Interesting analogy ... "The Internet is a trade show with 37 million booths and all attendees are wearing masks. How should your net marketing strategy be adjusted?" Quote: Seth Godin, Business 2.0, July 1999. ~~~Special Deal ... We've got 4 copies of the 1999 best selling book "The Race to Recruit: Strategies for Successful Business Attraction," edited by Maury Forman and James Mooney in 1996. First four $20 bills plus shipping gets them. (Retail at $29.95) Call us at 630.462.9222 ~~~Using maps ... on an economic development Web site can be very helpful, especially as they relate to intersecting highways. Too much map detail isn't beneficial. Many maps lack a zoom in/out capability that would improve clarity. Test your maps to see if they are easy to read, print out clearly, and communicate the information intended. ~~~Why? ... were we called by a major PR firm to explain economic development and stereotypes prior to their proposal and presentation before a statewide review committee? Members of the PR company were new to economic development and possessed consumer marketing ideas we heard from others 15 years ago. Also, two major competitors recently ordered our book "Economic Development: Marketing for Results." We're pleased to have confirmation of our impact. ~~~Duplicate ... We fight against continuing duplicate mailings to the same individual; however, mistakes happen. If you get more than one copy of The Economic Development Marketing Letter, let us know and we will delete the duplicate. Thanks. ecanada@ix.netcom.com
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