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"Economic Development Marketing Letter"
A Blane, Canada Ltd. Publication
Nationally Recognized Experts On Economic Development Marketing and Retention
June 2000, Volume: 3, Issue: e/6 ~~~The first step ... to a digital strategy will be easy for economic development professionals who prefer to operate fast and loose. Step two will be harder. The steps described in their best seller, "Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance," authors Downes and Mui recommend: (1)experiment with a variety of digital technologies, and (2)take a portfolio approach to research, i.e. invest in a number of different possibilities, but don't bet the farm on any one approach. Unfortunately, development professionals - who don't like explaining failure to their boards - prefer to prescribe outcomes. Don't! Use the concept of market research to introduce your board to experimentation. Source: "Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance" authors Larry Downes and Chunka Mui, (c)2000, Harvard Business School Press ^^^^ ~~~What has ... 23 doors, 42 light fixtures, spiral stairs, 22 gallons of paint plus the blood, sweat, and tears of 13 tradesmen? Blane, Canada Ltd.'s new offices. Our new address is 1506 Cadet, Suite 100, Wheaton, IL, 60187-7380. Phone, fax and e-mail are unchanged: 630.462.9222, 630.462.9210 fax, nblane@ix.netcom.com or ecanada@ix.netcom.com. Please update your records. ~~~"I'm probably the 5,000th person ... to mention this, but the signature file at the end of the May Marketing Letter still has your old address." (Oops!) (Actually, Bill, you were second - proving in fact some people do read the entire letter.) "Now that I'm through nit picking, let me give you a complement. As I was reading through the latest issue, I happened to realize how many of these so-called e-mail "newsletters" I now receive from sources both within and outside the economic development field, and how many I immediately DELETE before opening. Unlike 95% of the others, your "Marketing Letter" has a consistent customer focus, which makes me want to see what you have to say. It also has practical tips that can be put to immediate use." "All of this is an excellent reminder to all economic developers to keep our printed and electronic newsletters focused on what's relevant to our readers, rather than a litany of what we want to tell them. Thanks for providing a great example of how to do it right." Bill Graper, NY. Thank you, Bill. We are speechless. The editors. ~~~Marketing results ... are dependent on balancing four elements: leadership commitment, staffing, funding, and timing. A decrease in one will force increases in one or more of the others. For example, without leadership commitment the marketing effort will require more money and time to produce results. Leadership involvement is the BIG intangible. ~~~Having
an e-dentity crisis? ... "Wish your company (organization) had a more
dynamic name?" "Want a more expressive logo?" "Need a catchy
tagline?" Help is on-line at eNormicom's patented Image Bucket ~~~"We should learn from the mistakes of others. We
don't have time to make them all ourselves." Quote: Groucho Marx ~~~Journalists
on the Internet ... In the article "How Journalists Use the Net"
eMarketer reports that according to the latest "Middleberg/Ross Media in
Cyberspace Study," more journalists are using the Internet:
* Most now use the Net extensively
* Almost 75% go online every day
* Most spend on average 4.7 hours online at home and 8.7 hours online at
work weekly
* Chat rooms and message boards are considered the least credible
Internet sources
* Trade association Web sites were the only online sources deemed more
credible than not
* Web postings: 17% said they would consider using them in the future Advice: Make sure your Web site URLs are up to date in the major search engines. Source: A-Marketing-Idea-a-Day-by-e-mail(TM), Mary Gillen <jacgill@idsonline.com> Read it all at: <http://www.emarketer.com/estats/032400_journalist.html>
~~~When we say ... we are
client-focused, then behave like a self-centered 13 year-old, it is pretty clear
we have not learned a basic tenant of marketing. Marketing is not only about
what we have to say. It is about how the client answers the question,
"What's in it for me?" ~~~Domain Name ... You can now register domain names longer
than 26 characters. New domain name registrars are accepting names up to 63 (or
sometimes even 67) characters long. We're not suggesting you go for the max,
though. ~~~"There is nothing ... so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." Have you reviewed your marketing and/or sales program lately? Perhaps we can help. Call Eric or Nancy at Blane, Canada Ltd. 630.462.9222 Quote: Peter Drucker ~~~"A Scientist in the City"... This book looks at technology, from an historical perspective, and how it has shaped (small and large) communities. Cities are the result of three general discoveries: how to manipulate atoms, unlocking and moving energy in an efficient manner, and storing and moving information electronically. The author also looks at how emerging technologies may impact our communities. "A Scientist in the City", James S. Trefil, Doubleday, 1994. Highly recommended. ^^^ 1/2 Reference: Hans Rosebrock, OH ~~~Everyday we go to work ...
we are dealt a new set of pieces. Not all the pieces fit the "mosaic"
we are building (a better model for economic development marketing). Our
challenge is to clear the misfits quickly and focus on the valuable pieces.
Every new piece helps clarify the meaning of the mosaic, i.e. do we know more
about effective economic development marketing? How does this differ in an
economic development environment? Invariably, we have learned answers are easy
to come by. It is far more difficult to identify the right questions, the
questions which unlock insight and true meaning. Here at Blane, Canada Ltd.,
our marketing work is driven by a quest for the right questions. It is a
process of constant discovery. Constant exploration. It doesn't get any better
than this. ~~~"Economic development professionals are out of sync with changes in business and cultural trends. We still respond with smokestack chasing in keeping with the old economy." What is the appropriate response to prepare a community for tomorrow's economy? Share your comments: ecanada@ix.netcom.com Quote: Shaun Donnelly, Burlington, Ontario ~~~OPM ... Innovative ED professionals have used creative financing (Other People's Money) to dramatically upgrade their approach to business retention. Synchronist System users have executed NO MONEY DOWN and LOW DOWN plans by accessing NEW funding from casinos, Wal-Marts, local partners, as well as regional partners. A core principle behind the Synchronist approach to business retention is to bring people together on the critical issue of existing business. Info, call 630-462-9222. ~~~Coordinating calendars ... is tough with a group of
busy people. Michael Yaros, CLW Realty Group, FL, found a clever solution in
basic e-mail. When trying to coordinate a meeting with six or more people, Mike
builds a simple "table" built using basic ASCII characters, dashes,
stick, and plus signs. He e-mails the table to each prospective participant
asking them to fill in Y or N according to their availability. With responses
in hand, he picks a time to maximize participation and sends everybody one more
e-mail confirming the time and date. This cuts down on confusion and saves
time. Source: Peter Pike, PIKENET DISPATCH, 10/29/99, http://www.pikenet.com
Note, e-mail programs using proportional spacing, like Outlook, will distort the table, but it still works. ~~~Share it ... Have a marketing insight or trick you would like to share with your colleagues? Hear a great idea at a conference or workshop? Read a good book? Disagree with a standing practice in economic development marketing? Send your comment to Marketing Letter, ecanada@ix.netcom.com. If we can use it, you will get full credit. ~~~"Dominate" for less ... One strategy in print advertising is to "dominate" the page, i.e. be the first to be seen. Does this require a full page ad? Not necessarily. Since a 2/3-page ad is typically run with copy at the top of the page, not other ads, it offers the same advantage. However, agencies are paid a percentage of every placement. Consequently, they think in terms of full pages. ~~~Vision..."Every vision is a joke until someone accomplishes it." Goddard, inventor of the rocket.
Blane, Canada Ltd.
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