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Posts Tagged ‘Illinois’
Do you have “mommy bloggers” in your marketing plan?
April 28th, 2010
I’ve been to Galena, IL. I saw the Ulysses S. Grant home and attended my first wine tasting there.
It’s been about twelve years, but I remember Galena as a fun place with a lot of tourism potential. I had heard about the community from some friends who lived in nearby Dubuque, IA. This raises an important question: “How do rural communities get the word out to tourists?”
The transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
The old way of marketing a community was to print a brochure, join a tourism association, create a website, and maybe try to attract the attention of some tour operators. That’s so Web 1.0.
Galena may still be doing those things, but they have also moved on to include Web 2.0 strategies in their tourism efforts They recently invited 8 “mommy bloggers” from the Chicago area to tour their community. The obvious hope was that these influential bloggers would write about their experience and encourage their readers to discover Galena’s hidden treasures.
Why mommy bloggers? According to the blog post where I learned about the event:
Mom bloggers were specifically targeted because when they reviewed who was following their Twitter account they found moms to be the common thread. Plus, families are taking shorter trips closer to home and Galena is a 3 hour drive from Chicago – where many of the women are from.” (source: Esther Brady Crawford, “Rural Jo Daviess County Turns To Mom Bloggers For Tourism Boost,” She Posts, April 22, 2010.)
It’s about Trust
Great idea. Reach the decision maker in the family through a source of information they trust, their favorite mommy blogger.
Some people may criticize this approach saying that the old way of marketing offers the potential to reach more people. They are right. You can print a million brochures and pay to get your community recognized by Google.
But I’d respond to those critics by asking them to consider how I got to Galena twelve years ago, in the days before social media. I didn’t Google a website, I didn’t pick up a brochure at visitors center. A friend told me about it. Someone who’s opinion I trusted.
Social media has helped us discover new friends, and rural communities need to figure out ways take advantage. Congratulations Galena. We look forward to hearing more about the project and what you learned in the process.
( Thanks to Becky McCray for sharing the post via Twitter. )
Photo Credits: Ulysses S. Grant House (top right) by Yark64 – Flickr and Galena, IL (bottom left) by Josh Be Me – Flickr
Tags: Blogging, Galena IL, Illinois, social media, tourism, trust
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (5)
Jack Schultz: It’s about entrepreneurship
April 12th, 2010
People love lists, and Jack Schultz has the ultimate list for rural economic development professionals: 7 1/2 Keys to Success in Small Towns. If you haven’t heard, it’s worth reading.
But which one is “The One”? In other words, if a community had to choose, which one should it focus on?
Jack the evangelist
Last Thursday (April 8), Jack spoke to a group of community residents and students on the University of South Dakota campus. I was already on campus working on another project, so I couldn’t resist crashing the party.
J
ack delivered what I expected; he evangelized on behalf of small towns, telling the audience to incorporate his 7 1/2 principles into their development effort. I bought his book on its first printing, so I was familiar with his principles and stories. It’s good stuff.
What impressed me most, however, was Jack’s statement that Principle #5: Encouraging an Entrepreneurial Approach is probably the most important development strategy for small towns to follow. I didn’t get his exact quote, but Jack emphasized growth through entrepreneurship because the odds of landing a business through recruitment is slim. For instance, last year there were only around 200 significant “smokestack chasing” projects in the entire country, and tens of thousands of communities were pursuing them. In that light, growing your own entrepreneurs looks like a pretty good idea!
What’s Jack doing about it?
Part of the reason Jack is a hit on the speaker trail is that he’s done it. Dating back to the 1980s, Jack has been helping his hometown of Effingham, Illinois (pop. 12,384) with its economic development initiatives. When asked about the community’s entrepreneurship efforts, he responded by describing a recent initiative he’s been involved with.
Here are the basics:
- Jack helped solicit contributions of $1000 for three years from 50 residents in his community.
- The project crossed six school districts with classes being held in businesses throughout the community.
- Students take what they learn in the classroom and create their own businesses.
- An award winning teacher helped develop the project and was hired part-time to teach and organize the class.
- Twenty-two students completed the first year. Jack’s convinced over half will pursue their own business ventures.
Listening to Jack, I could hear his passion for this project. He claimed the training would be transformational, and I’m inclined to believe him. Jack volunteered to share more information with anyone who was interested; he’s already responded to my request with an e-mail. Reading it has inspired additional questions, and I hope Jack (and others) will have some time to answer them. As I learn more, I promise to share.
Entrepreneurship education. It’s something all rural communities need to learn more about.
Tags: entrepreneurship, Gen Y, Illinois, Jack Schultz, youth engagement
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Gen Y, Rural | Comments (3)