You’re welcome in the Brag Basket | SmallBizSurvival.com |
- You’re welcome in the Brag Basket
- Building a parks and rec plan from scratch
- Get Your Marketing Message Out or You’ll Fail
| You’re welcome in the Brag Basket Posted: 03 Oct 2013 11:48 PM PDT  You’re always welcome in the Brag Basket. Photo (CC) by RMLAFrance. Welcome to the Brag Basket, our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one October 4-6, 2013. What good news will you add to the brag basket? Don't hold back because of that word, "brag." When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. What can you do in the Brag Basket?
Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community. How does it work? You write a comment on this post. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. This is not an ad. (I delete the ads.) If you talk more about the people involved than the things, you'll be fine. It's a conversation with friends. So jump in. And remember to cheer for each other.       |
| Building a parks and rec plan from scratch Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:08 PM PDT  If you had to build a parks and recreation plan and budget from scratch, where would you start? Photo by Becky McCray. An immediate request from a fellow rural reader: Becky, Thank you so much for organizing this wonderful newsletter – its contents are of great benefit to me, and I appreciate the effort that goes into its creation. My small town of Waldport, OR has a population of about 2,200 folks. We’ve taken a hard hit during this economic down turn, and not only are many storefronts empty, but there’s an overall feeling of hopelessness. In my opinion, the final straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was the news that FEMA ordered our high school demolished when it was ruled that the building and its surrounding property (11 acres) were in a tsunami zone. This was devastating news on not only a financial level, but an emotional one as well. The school’s presence in our small downtown area was the single largest source of community spirit as neighbors rallied to attend sporting events, school plays, and parent-teacher meetings. The new high school opened its doors this Fall, but it is out of sight, high on a hilltop far out of view and tsunami danger. The former site is empty, its football stands demolished this summer and the building itself scheduled to be burned in November. The one positive light in this situation is that the county’s school district was recently awarded a FEMA grant of $3,000,000 to remove the existing building and leave an open space. The school district would like nothing more than to grant this property to the city’s custody with the intent that it be used as a community gathering place. Residents, of course, see this as an opportunity to rejuvenate the downtown area, provide a space for health and wellness, and encourage tourism dollars. Myself and a handful of other courageous people have formed an ad-hoc committee to create a plan and budget for a parks and recreation department to propose to our city council. The desire is to earmark a sum of money from the FEMA grant to seed the project, and rely on user fees, volunteers, and grants to maintain it. The overwhelming belief is that this should be a community space, and include a wide range of offerings such as, organic and edible gardens, picnic area, dog park, sports fields, concert/theater stage, and walking path. I’ve been tasked with creating a preliminary parks and recreation plan and budget, which I’ll submit to the committee for review in two weeks (10/9). I’m wondering if any of your subscribers have any advice on establishing a grass-roots parks and recreation department. I’ve not found anything myself through an internet search, and given my time constraint, I’d rather not re-create the wheel when I know there’s sound advice to be given. So I’m soliciting help from all the resources known to me, including you. If it’s possible to pose this situation to your readers, I’d greatly appreciate it. If it isn’t, I certainly understand. But I won’t know if I don’t ask the question. Thank you for your time. Keep the good info coming – it sure does help! Sincerely, Annie McHale Waldport, OR   |
| Get Your Marketing Message Out or You’ll Fail Posted: 03 Oct 2013 07:04 AM PDT  The Market Mix: By Chris Heiler (CC), Flickr You can have the greatest product or service, but if no one knows you're there, your business will fail. That's a harsh statement to make, but it is true. The business world is littered with great ideas that did not succeed because the businesses had no buyers. A common reason for the lack of buying was that people did not know the product or service even existed. Marketing is key to business success. I don't mean selling, but the broader aspect of marketing. Marketing must be integrated into every facet of building and growing your business. Today much is said about the rise of online marketing. However, online marketing should be just one element of a marketing plan. Other marketing tools include: newspapers, radio, fliers, word of mouth, networking and testimonials. The tools must include local media at some level, as well as the media that specifically reaches the business owner's target market. It is important for small-business owners to make and develop a marketing plan. There are so many avenues of marketing and within each one, so many ways to approach marketing. A business owner must consider what is best for his or her business, and that can vary by each product or service sold. Three elements are crucial in whatever marketing plan and strategy the small-business owner develops. The message must be focused, remain consistent, and, most importantly, it must be repeated constantly. Today's consumer is touched by 5,000 advertising messages each day, or about 200 an hour. Of those, the average person can recall just one advertising message from the last hour. Why do we see major companies advertising over and over? Because the consumer may not have heard the message among the competition's ads. Plus, as humans, we forget very quickly. Thus, with that number of messages bombarding consumers day in and day out, being repetitive in getting your business in front of people as a reminder is crucial. Be cautious, though, in how you approach this. You can't have the same message on the same media over and over. Think about how you can reframe it. Change the media you use. Do things to keep it fresh. Marketing is a challenge. But like most business problems, it is a challenge that the savvy business owner can overcome. Know your strengths, form your message, and keep it and your business in front of your target audience. Glenn Muske is the Rural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist at the North Dakota State University Extension Service – Center for Community Vitality. Follow Glenn on Twitter: @gmuske   |
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