Posts Tagged ‘marketing rural communities’

Jason Dorsey on Gen Y and small towns

September 23rd, 2011

Yesterday I sat in on a live chat video interview between Jodi Schwan of the Sioux Falls Business Journal and Gen Y expert Jason Dorsey. It’s been my experience that most Gen Y experts either trash rural communities or show a lack of understanding about what rural communities have to offer.  With that in mind, I didn’t expect much from Dorsey. 

But after listening for about fifteen minutes to what seemed like good advice, I decided to use the chat feature to ask:

What advice do you have for small, rural communities who are trying to communicate the value of living of living in their community?”

Rather than bumbling through the question, Dorsey nailed his response. 

Market around lifestyles and relationships

In a nutshell, he said:  Since Gen Y is all about lifestyles and relationships, rural communities need to showcase those aspects of life in their community. 

Help people recognize how they can experience outdoor activities and enjoy a more relaxed pace of life.  Make sure they know that your school offers children a great education.   And emphasize the friendships that people build within your community.  And use social media (especially a Facebook Page) to show what makes a small town special.  (Hopefully, regular readers of Reimagine Rural have heard that before.)

Watch and listen yourself

Dorsey offers greater details during the interview.  I’ve embedded the Sioux Falls Business Journal’s recording of the interview below.  (He addresses my question around the 18:00 minute mark.)

Watch live streaming video from sfbusinessjournal at livestream.com

 

I think the video has more to offer, however, than just his response to my question.  For instance, Dorsey addresses what small business owners can do help maintain employees when other businesses can offer more money.  That’s definitely a message small town businesses owners should pay special attention to. 

I’ve not heard of Jason Dorsey before today, but I’ll pay closer attention in the future.  It’s nice to hear from a Gen Y expert who understands small, rural communities and offers good advice.

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Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Gen Y, Rural, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Reflections: Strategies to attract & retain newcomers in West Central MN

June 15th, 2011

If your rural community is serious about growing its population, then you need to develop a people attraction and retention plan. And that plan has to be something more than hiring a person to manage your community’s business recruitment strategy.   

A few weeks ago, I recommended that communities begin the process of developing an attraction and retention plan by asking newcomers, “Why did you move here?”  Both projects I highlight in that post – the West Central Minnesota project and the Gogebic Next Generation Initiative – began with this approach. 

But then what?  What does a community do after it discovers the motivations of people moving to the region?  How can they use this information to create a plan? 

Ben Winchester, Research Fellow with University of Minnesota Extension, has some thoughts. 

What does Ben recommend?

Ben is the guy who coordinated the research for the West Central Minnesota project.  He published the research in a paper titled “Regional Recruitment:  Strategies to Attract and Retain Newcomers.”  At the end of the report, he offers eight strategies for communities to consider as they develop a people attraction and retention effort.

The strategies Ben recommends fit into three broad categories:

1) Putting the region on the map strategies;
2) Employment strategies; and
3) Newcomer support strategies.

Rather than summarize each strategy, I want to highlight a few of my reflections on Ben’s recommendations.

Five thoughts I want to share

1)      Putting the region on the map is more than advertising. Rather than “selling” their communities to outsiders, Ben recommends that rural community leaders would be better served by focusing on how they can help individuals who are trying to decide if they can and should move to a small town.  In other words, give them the information that helps them make their decision.  Ben offers some advice on what information potential newcomers to West Central Minnesota are seeking.  And while you should use this as a starting point, I highly recommend that you start with your own research.  In the end, your effort will be more successful because of it.  

2)      Share stories about people who have recently moved to the region.  We talk a lot about the power of stories here at Reimagine Rural.  Potential newcomers will see themselves in the stories you share and will say, “I want what that person (who just moved to your town) has.” As Ben notes, this can be accomplished most effectively through social media tools.  But if your community is not ready to take that step, stories can be shared on traditional websites as well.

3)      Think regionally.  People live in or near towns, but towns are a part of a larger eco-system.  A person may live in one town, work in another, go to the movies in third, enjoy friends in a fourth, and go shopping in still other communities.  If your effort focuses solely on your town, potential newcomers will develop a limited impression of what life will be like for them in your town.  

4)      Business recruitment is not the only way to help create employment opportunities. Of the four “employment strategies” Ben offers, none involve recruiting businesses.  I appreciate that because I believe there are many other ways for rural communities to help create economic opportunities.  Now, if your community already has a successful business recruitment strategy, then you should continue.  If not, consider one of the more personalized approaches Ben describes.  Even if you are unsuccessful at helping each newcomer to your community discover or develop an economic opportunity, they will appreciate and remember your efforts to help.  

5)      Don’t overlook the importance of helping newcomers connect with the community.  If I had to select only one retention strategy, it would be to develop a process for helping newcomers connect.  We often assume that it is easy for new residents to make new friends and get involved in our rural communities.  But research in West Central Minnesota reflects the opposite; newcomers actually had difficulty connecting in the region.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming your community is any different. 

To be honest, we haven’t formulated a people attraction and retention effort in Miner County.  We’ve dabbled in many of the strategies Ben recommends in his report, but attraction and retention hasn’t been a clear focus.  Hopefully, that changes in the future. 

And when it does, one of the first places I’ll recommend we start is with this report.  We can learn a lot from our friends in West Central Minnesota.

Photo Credit:  DonkeyHotey – Flickr

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Posted in Community Engagement, Economic Development, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (4)

It’s 30-44 year olds, stupid!

May 18th, 2011

Your community wants to attract new residents, right?  “Live, Work, Play,” proliferates on websites today.  But who are you trying to attract?  Too often the answer is “everyone and anyone.”  The idea being that we can’t afford to miss any opportunities.  But marketers everywhere know better.  Trying to create and promote a product for everyone is a surefire way to create and a product that nobody wants.

But who should you target?  That’s the tough question.  Jim Russell from Burgh Diaspora believes he has the answer:  It’s people ages 30-44.

Why 30-44 year olds?

For those who don’t know, Russell is a “geographer with a special interest in diaspora economics.”  He believes retention strategies are “a colossal waste,” that economic development happens when talent is abundant, and that cities can benefit from the talent they export.  He’s passionate about Pittsburgh, even though he doesn’t live there.

There’s usually no middle ground with Russell, but he shares innovative ideas – and usually supports them with research.  He’s definitely worth following if you want to better understand the attraction game.

In a recent post titled “Retention Efforts Target Wrong Age Group”, he cites Australian research suggesting that college graduates leave to see the world, but they often return, sometime between ages 30-44. This leads Russell to write:

“I’ve advocated for the attraction of the 30-44 cohort. They are likely to stick around once you get them there. Good luck retaining a recent college graduate who moved to your city. You might call them place sluts. Hipsters are particularly salacious, following the scene wherever it might pop up. The good news is that they pave the way for thirtysomethings, who price out all the twentysomethings your town spent so much money trying to retain.”

The message is: Younger adults are going to leave because it’s in their DNA to leave.  But they might seek to return in their thirties or early forties when it’s time to raise a family.

Minnesota research concurs

Several years ago, Ben Winchester, a research fellow with Minnesota Extension, discovered a trend that supports Russell’s analysis.  In a paper titled “Rural Migration:  The Brain Gain of Newcomers”, Ben shared research showing that rural counties in West Central Minnesota were losing high school graduates, but were gaining college educated adults who were migrating to small towns to raise their families. But here again, we see an opportunity to narrow the field as we seek to build and market our communities.

Does one size (or age) fit all?

While focusing on people age 30-44 makes sense in most cases, there may be situations where other age groups should be considered. Perhaps conditions in your community are unique, enabling you to focus on younger adults or Baby Boomers.  The point is, do your research and figure out what makes sense for your community.  And above all, don’t fall into the trap of trying to be something for everyone.  That’s a surefire recipe for disaster.

Photo Credit:  Doug Wallick – Flickr

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Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (3)

Are you talking up your small town school?

April 18th, 2011

Too often, small town schools are under attack.  Our politicians target their closure under the guise of efficiency, and the public-at-large often considers them inferior because of their small course offerings. 

But thanks to research conducted by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, we now have evidence of the quality offered by small schools.

In an article titled “Small schools rise up in grades,” reporter Josh Verdes offers data indicating that graduates of South Dakota’s small schools receive higher GPA’s as freshman at South Dakota’s public colleges than do students from larger schools. 

In fact, four of the top five schools with at least 25 students at South Dakota’s public colleges are schools centered in towns of under 850 people.  (see list to the right).

Verdes’s article is significant because it offers small town leaders an opportunity to market themselves more effectively. 

If I were a community leader from Corsica, SD, I’d consider erecting a billboard stating, “Did you know our graduates average a 3.3 GPA in college? Your child could be one of them.”  (Actually, I hope the message would be more creative, but you get the point.) 

I’d then share individual stories on a blog or website about the students who are succeeding in college.  My guess is that these stories would highlight how much the students benefited from participating in multiple extracurricular activities, and smaller class sizes.

Parents care about the success of their children.  And small town leaders need to do a better job of connecting to that desire as they market their towns. 

I know that the Rutland School District makes a concerted effort to market itself.  But otherwise, I’m not aware of rural schools and communities actively engaged in this practice. 

I wonder why that is?  Small towns have a great product with our public schools.  Shouldn’t we do more to tell people about it?

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Advertising is the price “we” pay for being un-original

June 3rd, 2010

After cleaning out a desk drawer this morning, I discovered a small piece of paper lying on the floor.  I assumed it must have escaped the horde of papers that had accumulated in the drawer since I last cleaned it three-or-so years ago.  Over time, I’d placed most of the papers in the drawer thinking they were too valuable for the dumpster.  Apparently not.  They all ended up in the garbage — except this escaped piece of paper with just one phrase written on it:

“Advertising is the price companies pay for being un-original.” 

I couldn’t remember when or why I wrote these words down.  But they certainly spoke to me today.   They came after Becki fielded a phone call from a gentleman from Arizona.  He has an interest in rural community development, had discovered the ReImagine Rural blog, and wanted to stop in next week to see our community and chat.  Upon hearing this, I said to Randy; “Isn’t blogging more effective than any advertising the Rural Learning Center has done in the past?”

The phrase also made me think about my recent post on community branding.  Although I still maintain that a community brand is a worthwhile investment, this phrase highlights that communities who engage in innovative and interesting activities don’t need to invest as much in a brand awareness advertising campaign.  If innovative, original things are happening in your community, word of mouth advertising will take over.

And finally, the phrase connected with some advice I’ve recently shared with a colleague who is helping her community create a tourism development strategy.  It’s been my experience that people get too stuck on the idea that advertising is the key to tourism.  Advertising helps, but you have to offer a great experience first. For example, take a look at the Barn Quilts of Sac County.  The quilt designs community members showcase on historic barns creates a unique experience that attracts visitors to the region. And because it’s unique, they’ve received a lot of free publicity.  (Just Google the project if you want to see how much publicity.)      

Where did the phrase come from?

The more I thought of the phrase, the more I kicked myself for not writing down who the phrase should be attributed to.  Thank goodness for Google.  A quick search and I discovered that Yves Behar used it in a TED talk titled “Yves Behar on designing objects that tell stories.”  I’ve embedded the video of his talk below.

 

In his talk, Behar tells us that the phrase inspired him to start his own design company.  I doubt Behar has thought much about how the phrase applies to rural communities.  But based on my recent experiences, I’d have to say it applies to a lot of situations.

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Does Branding Matter?

May 28th, 2010

Mr. Madville Times himself, Cory Heidelberger, kicked up a storm a couple days ago in a blog post by claiming that communities are wasting their time — and more importantly their money – by redeveloping their brand.  It caused me to do a double-take because earlier that same day, I had plugged the importance of establishing a strong community brand in a presentation I made to some folks down in Kansas and Nebraska. 

So who’s right?  Does branding matter?

At the center of the controversy was the community of Brookings, SD’s and their recent rebranding efforts.  The community felt they needed to refresh their brand because various community organizations were marketing the community in different ways.  To help everyone get on the same page, they hired a Nashville, TN community branding entity. 

Cory’s objections seem to rest on the following arguments.

Bottom line, Cory doesn’t think branding works for communities.  Some of the commenters to his post agreed, some didn’t.  I appreciated that they made me rethink my thoughts on the subject.

The bottom line for me is if we want people to choose our rural communities as places to call home, we need to pay attention to our branding.   Our brand is our collective identity, expressed in many ways when people encounter our community. 

 Too often our small rural communities are known for the last basketball championship.  Or worse yet, for being places that time forgot.  But changing that identity doesn’t mean we have to rush out and hire a branding company for $80,000.

Start by getting together as a community:  talk about what you want your community to be known for, make sure it connects to your vision for the future (if it does, it will help you achieve that vision.), and figure out how you are going to communicate it to others. 

Visual elements like a logo and tag line are important, but actions are more important.  You have to be able to live up to your community brand.  If you want to be known as a friendly community, you’d better make sure residents (especially those who deal with newcomers like cashiers, waitresses, and elected officials) embody friendliness.  If you want to be known for supporting entrepreneurs, make sure you celebrate their accomplishments (like posting interviews with them on YouTube). 

So, the big question is, does your community’s brand reflect who you really are?  If not, people will see right through it.

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The Importance of a Strong Sense of Place

January 7th, 2009

Developing a strong “Sense of Place“ is one of the most important things a rural community can do to attract visitors and residents. 

That key message  was presented by Eric Abrahamson in a report to a group of citizens in Lead, SD last night.  It caught my attention because Eric did a masterful job in explaining why developing a strong sense of community is essential to community branding.

Many towns have, or are currently going through the process of developing a brand for their town.  Often, these brands focus on the attributes of the town that make it special.  Those attributes are essentially the same attributes that help residents develop a strong sense of place.

Unfortunately, the messages developed to articulate that brand are often focused on an “external” market – visitors, new residents or new businesses. What Eric reminded us was that local residents need to hear these message as well.

I believe that is particularly important – especially as a brand is first being developed. If the local residents don’t know and believe the message, others who come to the community won’t either. 

The benefits of messaging are compounded when local residents begin to feel better about their community after repeatedly hearing a message about what makes their place special.

This is particularly vital in a community like Lead, which developed a sense of abandonment after the Homestake Gold Mine shut down. Not only did the mine’s closing result in the loss of jobs, but many community members felt like the community lost its’ identity.  When this happened, they stopped feeling good about the community and its future.

It’s a great observation for any community attempting to develop its brand.  I hope the residents of Lead take to heart.

Note:  Eric is not a professional marketer.  He’s a professional historian – and an exceptional one at that. Through his company Vantage Point Historical Services, he worked with the Rural Learning Center and Jones and Jones Architects to prepare a summary report of year-long community conversation about Lead’s future. He and Joe Bartmann presented that report last night to community residents.

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Do downtown events = dollars downtown

November 21st, 2008

Absolutely!  That’s my emphatic response to the question posed above by John Delconte of the Smallwander.com network.  John hopes to explore the question of downtown promotions in rural communities in a upcoming teleseminar and is inviting you to join the conversation.  I’ve never met John in person, but I’ve followed his blog for awhile, and we’ve recently started talking about some common interests.  Check out the information below about the teleconference. 

Smallwander.com is hosting it’s monthly teleconference this upcoming Monday, Nov 24, from 10 to 11 am. The topic is “Do downtown promotions = dollars downtown?

I particularly would like to explore why Hillsborough NC’s recent “Ladies Night Out” promotion was successful. On a rainy Thursday night, hordes of women descended on the town and bought like crazy in the shops.

Panelists will include Amy Wilmoth, a freelance marketing consultant for small businesses in the Triangle area of NorthCarolina, Elizabeth Read, Executive Director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, Eddie Ide, President of Newton Merchants, Inc. of Newton North Carolina, and Greta Lint, tourism consultant.

If you have similar stories about how special events translate to dollars in the shops, please think about them beforehand and share them with us. We will be inviting town representatives in our smallwander network.

People will be able to either call in via telephone or listen in over the web. They can also type questions to us. The call will be recorded and eventually posted on our site as a podcast.

Smallwander.com hosts a free teleseminar/webinaron the last Monday of every month, from 10 to 11 am.  Topics relate to small town tourism and economic development.

Click on the link below to check out the web page and get the phone dial-in info.

EVENT: Do downtown promotions = dollars downtown?
DATE & TIME: Monday, November 24th at 10:00am Eastern
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW… http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=5098998

You can learn more about the Smallwandernetwork at their website and blog. 

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