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"Economic Development Marketing Letter"
A Blane, Canada Ltd. Publication
Nationally Recognized Experts On Economic Development Marketing and Retention
May 2000, Volume: 3, Issue: e/5 ~~~Note Address Change ... Please
change your records. Blane, Canada Ltd. 1506 Cadet, Suite 100 Wheaton, IL 60187-7380 630.462.9222 630.462.9210 Fax ~~~Powerful combination ... "Benefit + Reason to Believe" yield results. Is your marketing message stopping short? Quote: Doug Hall, creative consultant, author. ~~~Go for the clip ... The Internet makes it easy to capture a published article for use in marketing. Unfortunately, articles pulled from the Internet lose much of their impact due to font limitations. A copy of a published clip has a higher marketing value because of the headline. If you cannot get a copy of the article as published, reset the headline (large, bold type) using a word processor. It is not as good as the actual, but better than a weak, diminutive headline. ~~~Competitive advantage ... in economic development used to be where the asphalt or rails crossed. Today, competitive advantage is where the fiber optic lines cross. Communities with crossing fiber optic cables can provide the redundant communications capacity critical for many companies. ~~~"Only ... dead fish swim with the stream all the time." How is your stroke? Have you challenged a sacred cow lately? Quote: Fast Company Magazine ~~~Bold stroke ... the dramatic concept that draws people and resources to a project is half in the packaging. The packaging is the "sizzle" that sells the steak. We have seen projects languish for long periods only to later become the centerpiece of a successful bold stroke strategy. The "America's River Project" - a Mississippi river front development/learning center in Dubuque, IA is a good example of this. With nearly $23 million raised of a $27 million dollar budget, a large percentage from outside the community, the nationally significant project will draw new tourist activity to a community of 65,000. The packaging made it possible. ~~~"I LOVE YOU KNOT ... noted an influx of e-mails with the subject line 'I Love You.' Unfortunately for me and thousands of inboxes across the globe, the messages were simply another fast spreading virus... sweeping across Europe, Asia and the U.S. clogging corporate e-mail systems and creating an unprecedented number of brief moments of false hope" (Ha, Ha). Quote: DAVENETICS...connecting the dot coms {the official newsletter of the next five minutes}, May 4, 2000 ~~~5 W's ... for any press release are who, what, when, where, and why. Then, provide at least two contact names. And most importantly: paste your press release into the body of the e-mail message. Don't send it as an attachment. Editors won't open it because of the threat of a computer virus. Source: Mary Gillen, A-Marketing-Idea-A-Day-by-e-Mail(TM) <http://www.ideasiteforbusiness.com> ~~~Logo test ... Does your logo work? Shrink it to the size
of a little fingernail (1/4 inch X 3/8 inch). If it is still recognizable, it
works. If not, back to the drawing board. Ciaran Quinn, Lockwood Greene, GA
(Blane, Canada Ltd. strategic partner) ~~~Employee retention ... for business is creating new
interest in soft skills training. According to a study by American Management
Association and Ernst and Young, senior HR professionals report that conference
and seminars are the most popular retention strategy, with managerial training,
interpersonal and technical training not far behind. ~~~Driving home the point ... that CEOs are interested in benefits, not features or functions. One of many valuable insights into what drives a CEO and how they differentiate from their managers is described in a sales book we have read. It is among the best for an economic development professional, titled "Selling to VITO: The Very Important Top Officer" ^^^^ 2nd Edition, Anthony Parinello, 1999, Adams Media Corp., Holbrook, MA ~~~Free Post-It(R) Notes ... As we mentioned previously, Post-It(R) Notes are a great marketing tool. Now get 10 FREE personalized pads of Post-Its from iPrint.com! New customers can choose paper color, ink color, graphics, message -- on the iPrint on-line order form. This is a $20 value. <http://www.iPrint.com> ~~~"Technology" ... as Michael Hammer and James Champy wrote in "Reengineering the Corporation," was the "essential enabler" of change. This attitude toward technology is wrong today and will be wrong in the conceivable future. Business change now originates with digital technology ..." Quote: "Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance,"^^^^ Larry Downes and Chunka Mui, (c) 2000. ~~~Are you ... on top of the change drivers in your community's economic base? This is why Synchronist Business Information System® communities wanted the ability to pinpoint companies facing technology driven changes. In one Synchronist community, 33% of the businesses are wrestling with technology change - triple the number concerned about other change drivers (management changes, ownership changes, and legislative changes.) For more information on our software, call 630.462.9222 ~~~Seven design blunders ... that scream
"amateur!" If you're going to spend time writing dazzling copy to
market your community/organization, make your publications
"professional" looking by avoiding these seven common design errors: * Too much white space. * Too little white space. * Inconsistent use of column width within a document.
(stick to one or two maximum). * Long lines of small type and short lines of large
type. * Awkward word spacing resulting from justified
columns. Set text ragged right for even word spacing.
* Using automatic line spacing for headlines. Set the
line spacing a few points more than the size of your type. The bigger the type,
the more the spacing. For example, set 14 -point headlines with 16-point spacing;
set 24-point type with 28-point spacing. * Starting columns of text at different distances from the top of the page. If your page has three columns of text, make sure they begin at the same spot. Quote: Jeff Rubin <jeff@put-it-in-writing.com>, Source: SpeakerNet News April 7, 2000, <SpeakerNet@aol.com> ~~~Congrats ... "Thank you for a great edition. I learned something today." Comment on our ED Marketing Letter by Kim Liberty, VP of Marketing, FL ~~~Share ... this ED Marketing Letter with your colleagues. Send us a list of names and e-mail addresses. We will add your colleagues and friends to the direct distribution for the newsletter including a note of your request with their first issue. <ecanada@ix.netcom.com> ~~~"Who Moved My Cheese?" ... a simple lesson for ED pros, for life or for business. Nothing is static; if you don't work out of the box, someone may move or eat your cheese. "Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life" ^^^ Author Dr. Spencer Johnson. Reviewer, Nadine Boon, MO. ~~~Banner ads ... are a subject of increasing curiosity in economic development. Some colleagues are researching and/or experimenting (we are noticing some economic development banner ads). Let us know what you are doing with banner ads. <ecanada@ix.netcom.com> ~~~Fit reading ... into your busy schedule. "The way that I do this is by killing two very necessary birds with one stone by reading while I ride my exercise bike each day. It is a habit I picked up in graduate school and have continued ever since. It is amazing how much more I get read in a week doing this." Drew Conrad, IA
Blane, Canada Ltd.
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