Fountain Valley Community Guide online

The 2011/12 edition of the Fountain Valley Colorado Community Guide is now available for online viewing at http://www.southsidebusiness.com/CommunityGuide/FountainCommunityGuide01.html

Hard copies are available from Community Guide sponsors, at Easy Street Designs, Fountain City Hall, Evans Army Hospital and other local businesses, organizations and utilities.

Universal Marketing Principals

I was on an online science forum the other day "Nimblebrain Forums" and replied to a frequent poster who had expressed frustration over his inability to influence the science community that much of the science of the universe is incorrect and needs to be rewritten. In doing so, I later realized I hit on a few great underlying principals of marketing in general:

You just have to come up with a concrete, undeniable demonstration of how the current science doesn't work. Preferably an example that the average sixth grader could relate to.

I have my own suspicions about the underlying nature of the universe, but until I can show how not looking at it my way causes you real problems in your daily life, who cares?

Contradictions between science and observation of objects 10 million light years away can be easily ignored, since most of the population will continue to be blissfully unaware and unconcerned one way or the other. Build a flashlight that shouldn't work, but does and people will pay attention. Much easier said than done, but that's how you change science. Throw the contradiction in everyone's face and lots of folks will get busy on the rewrite.

But before you can make people believe, you have to make them care.

I'm not talking about the professional cosmology crowd. The incentive there, for the career guys, is to demonstrate understanding of the current consensus. That's how you get speaking engagements, cocktail invitations, promotions, tenure, grants, etc. You don't dispense with the status quo until you're in danger of looking like a total buffoon if you don't. You don't want to be the last guy defending an obviously flawed theory, but there's no real danger in not being among the first.

If you're really trying to promote new science and academia isn't buying it, you need to explain it to the masses in language the average Joe understands. Joe is no less intelligent than the academics, but he's not going to get very far, very fast if he has to pull out a Cosmological Terms and Equations encyclopedia after each sentence. And if you want Joe to give you some time and attention for a topic that you're way more interested in than he is, you have to connect it to something that Joe is very interested in.

1. You have a product, service, idea or agenda that you want to sell. Now you have to make me care. It may do exactly what you say it does, but why should I even look at it? Demonstrate to me how having this thing, or at least learning more about it, is better than not doing so.

2. Speak to and seek to impress your customers, not your professors. I get trade magazines all the time. Many feature the very latest in printing technology. A lot of the new toys may or may not be a good investment, but after reading the ad or the article, I still have no clue because I'm not an engineer or someone who has already owned a similar product, and no, I'm not going to go to night school just so I can understand your sales pitch. Speaking to your audience and not over them, does not mean you have to "dumb it down" or omit information. You just have to use a different vocabulary. If you can't do that, you probably don't really understand the material.

3. Know your customer. Before you can influence a potential customer, you have to open a line of communication. You want to locate people who would be interested in buying what you're selling. What else do people in this group have in common? What do they read? What do they watch? Where do they go? What activities or events are they more likely to attend? Answering these questions can provide opportunities to make first contact with your potential customer.

A lot of things change over time in marketing. Public opinion, current events, legislation and generally a dynamic society keeps marketers on their toes and makes it a challenging and satisfying pursuit. But the three principals listed above are constant. It's not rocket science, but a good foundation to keep in mind when developing a presentation or campaign.

New From Easy Street Designs - Web Flyers

It's not quite a website. It's more than a banner ad, and it's cheaper and easier than both.

Maybe you've been meaning to get around to building your website but just haven't had the time, or extra money in your budget for a webmaster. Maybe you've been meaning to update your site with your latest specials but just haven't had the time. Well, it you can create a page in your favorite word processing software, you can have it on the web tomorrow. Need help with the layout? We can do that too.

Easy Street Designs now offers web flyers for as little as $5/month. Easy Street will Post and Host your full page (7.75" x 10") full color flyer for $30 for six months. You can swap out your flyer for a new one anytime for just $5. We'll also add up to 5 text links in the right hand menu at no extra charge. Link to your website, your social pages and/or more Post and Host pages.

Your webflyer page will have your business name in the URL, i.e. www.SouthSideBusiness.com/YourBusiness.html. Paste the url in emails, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, on your main website. It's a hassle-free, affordable way to get your current information online fast.

Visit http://www.southsidebusiness.com/webflyers.html for more information and to view the sample page.

To get started today, call Easy Street Designs at 719-390-5080 or email EasyStreetOrders@yahoo.com.

Free raffle ticket offer

Listen up locals! Step one - Make sure you've "liked" Easy Street Designs on Facebook. Step two - come down to the shop and get a free raffle ticket for a brand new gas grill compliments of Black Hills Energy and the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce (drawing May 9th). No purchase necessary. One per person. Offer expires at 6pm today or when I run out of tickets (I've got 108 on hand).

Additional tickets are available for purchase. $1 each or a book of 6 for $5.

Using Twitter for virtual meetings

Twitter is rapidly emerging as a real-time new source. In nations where dictators have attempted total news blackouts, people are producing their own news feeds by posting to Twitter. The concept can also be used for business and other forums, discussions and meetings. You just need to be familiar with Search and Hash Tags.

The search feature works like any other. You simply type in a subject, i.e. Egypt, and recent and popular tweets containing the word "Egypt" will appear. To see the latest, refresh the page or click on the "recent tweets" link (it will say something like "20 new tweets")

The hash tag identifies a common search term for a thread or topic. For instance if you post a comment about grapefruits, but your sentence or phrase doesn't actually contain the word "grapefruit" you add a Hash Tag, which is just the # sign in front of the term. i.e. #grapefruit. now your tweet will appear in a search for the word "grapefruit".

To use this as a meeting venue, participants need only agree on a date/time for having the discusstion, then select a unique hash tag. If you want to discuss Project X, you might use #projectx. First do a quick search to ensure nobody else is using it at the moment. Participants then log in to Twitter at the appropriate time and begin each post on the topic with #projectx. Then do a search for projectx to see all the recent and continuing tweets.

A Twitter meeting or "Tweet-up" offers convenience in that participants need only a free Twitter account and access to the Internet via computer, smart phone, tablet, netbook, or most any device with Internet access. Posts are limited to 140 words each, so input has to be concise, which could mean a more efficient and productive conversation.

On the downside, meetings are not private or secure. You're posting your conversation on a global forum. It's not a place to discuss anything you wouldn't mind the whole world seeing. Of course, anyone who knows the time and the hash tag could "crash" your meeting, but if you know who you're supposed to be talking to and have a firm grasp of the subject matter, it's not too hard to spot and ignore unproductive intruders.

The bottom line is that Tweet-ups are yet another tool to foster greater communication and cooperation. The fact that it is so transparent may actually cause people to think for another second or two before they express what's on their minds. That certainly couldn't hurt.

Welcome Home bags for 3'd Brigade on Fort Carson

Easy Street Designs received the following notification from MWR on Fort Carson.

Note: Easy Street can help you with coupon layout and printing for this program with 3,500 full color glossy 1/3 page coupons (80lb gloss text) at 7 cents each for one side or 12 cents each for two sided. Call 390-5080 or email easystreetorders@yahoo.com. As stated in the letter below, although there is no fee from MWR, coupons must comply with conditions spelled out, be approved by MWR (we can forward any artwork we develop for approval) and there is a simple advertising agreement that needs to be signed between the advertiser and MWR.

Good Morning All-

Fort Carson is getting ready to receive our 2nd largest Brigade
3BCT/4ID, all due to be home by 17 March.

I am hoping to give them the best Welcome Home Bags ever- loaded with
wonderful offers for them for coming home in one piece!

Please pass this on to all your network, clients, friends, etc. The
Welcome Home Bag offer is free to the business but must adhere to these
simple procedures:

1: Offer must be completely free and not contingent on a purchase.

2: My office must approve all artwork before the coupon is printed, the
official DOD disclaimer must be printed on each coupon.

3: Each business must be under a simple advertising agreement with Fort
Carson DFMWR.

4: There is no charge from DFMWR, the client pays for the printing and
delivery to my offices here at Fort Carson.

5: Recommended number of coupons to print is 3,500.

6: All coupons must be delivered to Fort Carson by 10 Feb. for bag
stuffing.

Offers that have been received well in the past: Free tattoos, foods,
auto services, tax services, clothing, etc.

We also offer a Welcome To Fort Carson bag to all newcomers (approx. 30
per day), this offer does not have to be free and costs $300.00 for the
year, all of the above guidelines must be followed.

DFMWR thanks YOU for your support of Soldiers and Families!

I look forward to hearing from you and your network soon!

Sincerely,
Nica Anderson
DFMWR Commercial Sponsorship and Advertising Sales Manager
Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fort Carson
Office 719-524-1901
Cell 719-492-6121
Fax 719-524-1345
nica.anderson@us.army.mil
dfmwrfortcarson@gmail.com - large artwork
www.mwrfortcarson.com
www.ftcarsonmobile.com
www.ftcarsonnow.com

Marketing lessons from the November 2010 election

Now that the dust has settled and emotions have died down a bit, it's time to take an objective look at some of the more high profile campaigns and see what we can learn from a marketing perspective. This is not about the issues, but rather about the tactics and strategies. What worked? What backfired?

Meg Whitman in California and Christine O'Donnell in Delaware both made similar strategic blunders. You may be able to list off a few, but I think the main mistake was taking a victim stance. Whitman had the housekeeper thing and the "whore" comment to deal with and O'Donnell was facing a vote of no-confidence from leaders of her own party. I don't think voters were moved so much by the substance of any of it as by their demeanor in responding to it. Both took a kind of "tell them to stop picking on me" stance. The lesson? You wont be perceived as a leader if you're busy playing the victim. Voters want leaders, especially in tough times. It may be cliche, but it's still true: The best defense is a good offense.

Sharon Angle started dropping in the polls when she started running some anti-illegal immigration ads that depicted illegals as violent and dangerous. While most of the country wants much stronger border enforcement and even stricter enforcement against illegals already here, I don't think they blame Raul for not wanting to spend another day in Mexico. She could easily have run ads that were anti-illegal immigration without seeming to attack the character of the illegal immigrant. The marketing take-away? It's okay to attack your competitor's product, or even your competitor, but don't insult your competitor's customers in the process.

Jack Conway tried to raise "reasonable doubt" about Rand Paul by bringing up some alleged going's on from 20+ years earlier and it cost him dearly. He might have done okay if he had stopped at "mocked the Bible", but when he went into "why did he tie a woman up and..." it became clear to any listener over the age of 25 that he was referring to a fraternity house hazing type of situation. Instead of raising doubts about his opponent, he made himself look silly and desperate. The race was never close after that. The lesson? Planting a seed of doubt can be effective. Burying it 10 feet underground will just wear you out.

These are just a few of the free educational case studies that play out every election season. Even if you aren't an activist or a party hack, political campaigns can be worth paying attention to. After all they are aimed at influencing a single decision at a single point in time that only comes around every two years or less. What a challenge!