Iowa Museum Association Presentation

BRINGING THE WORLD TO YOUR DOOR

FIRST – WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THEM WHEN THEY COME?

What does your attraction or location excel at? Everyone has businesses, history, historical sites ….

What makes you different?

Learn how to tell your story …..

HARRIMAN-NIELSEN HISTORIC FARM

WHAT IT IS…. ¢  100 year old house and farm ¢  Lived in by one family for 100 years ¢  Old stuff inside including old letters

THE DIFFERENCE

¢  Built in late 1800s and one immigrant family lived there for over 100 years – it’s the history of a Danish immigrant family preserved

¢  They kept ALL of their letters back and forth from Denmark written over those 100 years

¢  Original furnishings still inside – step into this family’s life!

FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM

WHAT IT IS…. ¢  Old stuff from Franklin County

residents

THE DIFFERENCE

¢  One of a kind pieces that tell the story of life in the last century in an agricultural society

¢  Some of the farm machinery you can’t find anywhere else in the world

SECOND: GIVE THEM MANY REASONS TO COME

¢  Your museum is not the only thing in town…..

WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO IN HAMPTON?

¢  Shop! There are the Hampton Specialty shops -- 13 stores that work together

THE DIFFERENCE

¢  Unique one of a kind and some handmade items at several of the stores

¢  Swiss watch maker (only 3 in the country!) ¢  Two flower shops that work together – and serve

wine

WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO IN HAMPTON?

¢  Eat! There’s something for every taste.

THE DIFFERENCE

¢  El Paisita Mexican Family Restaurant – authentic Mexican food

¢  Honk ‘n Holler – come back to the 1950’s and eat good food like they used to cook

¢  Seven Stars – better than mom’s home cookin’ ¢  Long Branch – no one has ever eaten everything

on their plate (because you get so much food!)

WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO IN HAMPTON?

¢  Visit all of our historical sites!

THE DIFFERENCE ¢  REA Plant and Museum – the FIRST farmer

owned electric plant in the United States ¢  Old Stone House – built in 1854 by Leander

Reeves for his wife in Ohio because she wanted a proper house

¢  GAR Memorial Hall – the only entire building built in Iowa to honor the Civil War dead

¢  Windsor Theatre – built in 1917 and still in use today

OFF LINE

MARKETING

EDUCATE YOUR LOCALS

Do you know the hot spots for tourists around town? ¢  Gas stations ¢  Local eateries ¢  Retail stores Do the people that work there know what you have? Why not host an open house just for them twice a year? And while you’re at it – invite the local press.

This is word of mouth marketing and very effective.

THE PRESS ….

¢  Keep press contacts updated ¢  Call the news desk at every paper, radio station

and tv station in a 50 mile radius and ask them how they like to receive press releases

¢  Send them something once a month, at least ¢  Thank them when they run an article or story

WRITE A MONTHLY ARTICLE

¢  Newspapers are looking for content …..

�  Why not ask them if you can write a monthly historical column?

�  Don’t forget to reuse this content in other places!

ROTARY, KIWANIS, ELKS, ETC.

¢  These groups meet often and are always looking for programs.

¢  Contact them and schedule an appointment to tell the group about what events you are planning, or arrange for an old timer to tell a few stories.

¢  Why not offer them a private tour? ¢  Remember …. They make good volunteers too!

JOIN THE CHAMBER

¢  Most chambers have a special rate for non-profit organizations

¢  Be sure to send them press releases and ask them to send the information to their members

¢  Spend some of your advertising dollars on sponsoring Chamber events

¢  No dollars? Volunteer at Chamber events!

ONLINE MARKETING

You can’t do it all …. But you can choose two or three of these options and do them well!

FACEBOOK

57% of your friends and family are using it – it is

quickly replacing traditional news sources

STATISTICS: More than 1 billion active users More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day Over 50% of United States citizens are on Facebook.

TIP NUMBER 1: Facebook changes. They believe in upgrading and making your time on Facebook an enjoyable experience. They also want you to be more social – and connected. If you don’t want to be social online --- either don’t, or hire someone who does. Facebook is not the place for businesses who don’t want to be social.

FAN PAGES – WHY SHOULD YOU?

WHY NOT HAVE A FAN PAGE

¢  You have no idea why you should have one

¢  You have no reason why a customer should visit your fan page

¢  You don’t know who your audience is!

¢  Lastly – you don’t know how to talk to people.

Fan pages without purpose are like grave yards, there are a lot of pretty flowers to look at, but once you get there you realize this isn’t a place for enjoying your morning coffee. … Jason Falls

Who is your average user?

They have 130 friends and are

connected to 80 community pages, groups and events.

DO THE MATH.

BIGGEST EXCUSE: I DON'T HAVE TIME

What To Put On Your Fan Page

EVENTS Make an event out of any activity you do. Give it a date(s), spruce it up with a lively description, add a picture and let your fans know about it!

Orange Possum

GIVE SOMETHING AWAY http://www.facebook.com/midwestlivingmag

Be Authentic and Engaging

Hampton Specialty Shops Travel Iowa Tourism Currents

Offer Fresh Content

Lady Gaga Lenny Kravits Aaron Steinmann Darren Rowse Ashton Kutcher

TELL YOUR STORY

Friends of Historic Cedar Falls Travel Iowa

CONTROL YOUR PAGE – Get Your Own Vanity Address http://www.facebook.com/username/

www.facebook.com/debworks

www.facebook.com/GreaterFranklinCounty

Small  Print:  What  You  Need  to  Know  About  Facebook  Pages  

• You  need  to  have  an  account  on  Facebook  in  order  to  create  a  Facebook  page.  • Your  Facebook  page  will  be  tied  to  your  personal  pro9ile  as  the  admin  of  your  Facebook  page;  however,  only  you  and  Facebook  know  the  connection  exists.  • You  can  have  an  unlimited  number  of  Facebook  pages.  • You  can  have  an  unlimited  number  of  fans  (Facebook  users  who  “Like”  your  page).  • Facebook  Pages  are  public—anyone  can  9ind  and  view  your  page  whether  they  are  logged  into  Facebook  or  not.  • All  content  posted  on  your  Facebook  page  gets  indexed  on  Google.  • You  can  target  your  posts  by  location  and  language.  • You  can  add  applications  to  your  page,  including  your  own  custom  content—video,  rich  text,  graphics,  opt-­‐in  box  and  more.  • You  can  add  additional  admins  (highly  recommended).  • All  admins  have  equal  rights  to  administer  your  page,  including  adding  and  removing  other  admins  (choose  with  care!).  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php  

Go  here  to  create  your  Fan  Page  –    

this  is  where  we  begin.    

Timeline It’s really social – and

puts your facebook page in chronological order

It’s like an online

scrapbook of your life!

However …… Important information about

your business/organization should also be on your web page

Think OWN versus RENT

WHAT DO YOU GET WITH TIMELINE

An order to your page displayed how you want to display it – you decide what is important what is not

You are writing the story!

- choose your cover photo carefully, use a pic that works well for you

- you decide who can see it This is your profile page, uniquely displayed to be more

interesting

VISIT TOP OF IOWA TIMELINE

NEWSFEED

Hide those stinking updates from applications you don’t like (games, Spotify, anything with an icon)

WHAT ARE LISTS?

Screen Shot 2012-10-21 at 3.31.50 P

FACEBOOK LINKS YOU MIGHT LIKE

How to create a media room for publicity on facebook Aptly titled Queen of Facebook, Mari Smith Blogging Basics 101 http://freelancefolder.com/how-to-migrate-your-personal-

facebook-profile-to-a-business-page/ www.allfacebook.com www.mashable.com

HAVE A PLAN.

Create an editorial calendar (it’s easier than it sounds)

IT CAN BE VERY SIMPLE

Start with your events for the year -- list them on a spread sheet (I use Excel)

How do you promote them? ¢  Newspaper ads ¢  Press releases ¢  Newsletter ¢  Email ¢  Facebook ¢  Twitter

BACK INTO YOUR CALENDAR

¢  Event ...Activity… Date … Time to do it ... notes ¢  When does the local newspaper need press

releases in order to run the article before the event happens? That’s your submission date

¢  Do you have an ad person you work with? Set up a yearly calendar with him/her – often you can save money if you promise to run x amount of ads

¢  Are you using a newsletter? Be sure to get the info to the writer way before they need it

¢  http://www.slideshare.net/Fletcherprince for more ideas on using an editorial calendar

LET’S TALK EMAIL …..

THE CLARION WIRE

¢  Karen Weld sends an email about once a week with events and activities happening in Clarion Iowa

¢  She keeps a document on her word processing program and updates it as people call her or she hears stuff

¢  As dates pass, she deletes them ¢  Once a week she sends it out to her list ¢  Who do you know that would be a good point

person to do JUST THIS?

CREATE AN EMAIL LIST

Have a sign up sheet EVERYWHERE! Let people know you are creating a enewsletter, facebook page, and/or you may send them an email once and awhile.

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

¢  Get a program like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite

¢  Schedule your posts ahead of time �  Facebook: 2 times a day for several days �  Twitter: 2-3 times a day, but be sure to post other

comments and share links to cool stuff as well (don’t just shove your info down the throats of your followers)

HOOTSUITE

IT’S NOT ONLY FACEBOOK

There’s a large internet world out there ….

Let’s go exploring!

Find where you fit – and begin with 2 or 3 things that work for you.

There are many tools available to help build a viable marketing plan– whether it’s 60 hours a week or 6 hours a week.

LET’S START WITH GOOGLE

Reader Alerts Trends YouTube Docs Google+ Skype Blogger

We want Google to be the third half of your brain.  Sergey Brin 

1st Step: Set up your Google

Account – its free

READER

Organize all the blogs you follow and see when they are updating their content – all in one place.

You should be keeping

track of what other places are writing about … just copy the address, past it into the subscribe button on your Reader.

www.google.com/reader Description of how to set

up an account – and why http://thecartdriver.com/an-

idiots-guide-to-google-reader-and-why-you-should-use-it/

ALERTS

¢  monitoring a developing news story

¢  keeping current on a competitor or industry

¢  getting the latest on a celebrity or event

¢  keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

¢  See when your town or location is talked about! http://www.google.com/alerts

YOUTUBE

Hey baby, wanna make a movie?

You can use video to

promote your sites Don’t miss out here –

this is amazingly popular

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=clzl_hCVot4

Interns from UNI developed a

video for the Old Stone House

GOOGLE DOCS (NOW KNOWN AS GOOGLE DRIVE)

Use to share info, store data and collaborate online easily and effectively!

https://docs.google.com

BLOGGER – WHY USE IT?

¢  It’s free ¢  It’s simple ¢  It’s Google ¢  It’s reliable ¢  You can always switch

to another platform later!

Why blog in the first place? Set yourself up as the expert Create an identity people can

relate to and get to know you

Share about your product or service

BIGGEST RULE EVER

Remember all that stuff you put on Facebook and the articles you wrote?

It needs to go on your blog/

website too! You OWN the content on

your website/blog – you don’t own it on Facebook.

RULES FOR BLOGGING

1.  Don’t push your stuff down everyone’s throat. 2.  Don’t lie. Check your facts. 3.  Credit your sources. Ask first. 4.  Disclose professional relationships – if you’ve

been given something, tell us. 5.  Provide value – make it interesting. 6.  Be yourself – and create a conversation 7.  Be nice.

HOW TO SET UP A BLOGGER ACCOUNT

No need to recreate the wheel – lots of help online!

http://www.slideshare.net/Marcus9000/how-to-use-blogger

http://buzz.blogger.com/

TIPS FOR BLOGGERS

¢  Be consistent with your blogging efforts – pick a frequency and stick with it.

¢  Have a great photo with each blog post.  No stealing!  (photodropper.com is a great resource)

¢  Get your stories down on paper – and a blog is a great way to tell them!

¢  You can video record the story teller, and put that right on your blog.

¢  Keep it fun my friends!

WHERE TO SHARE YOUR POSTS

¢  Add in your enewsletters – we use mailchimp.com and it’s free

¢  Groups or forums you belong to ¢  Add links to your email signature – use

wisestamp.com ¢  Your listserve – send to the serve and ask for feedback ¢  RSS feed – this will automatically push your post to

the people who sign up to receive it ¢  Comment on relevant blogs – and leave a link to

yours, but don’t be spammy ¢  Submit it as a guest post to other blogs – will require

some rewriting ¢  Join a blogging community – exchange links with

other bloggers

SYNDICATION

¢  This allows you to spread your content across many networks.

¢  IFTTT.com – allows you to syndicate to over 50 different sites

¢  Blogcatalog.com connect with other bloggers ¢  Demandstudios.com – distributes to usatoday.com,

salon.com, ehow.com ¢  Amazon.com – submit blog to

https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com /gp/vendor and get paid when Kindle owners read it

¢  Networkedblogs.com – get found and get more traffic, also links to facebook

EVEN MORE …….

¢  Alltop.com – syndicates content in every category ¢  Scribnia.com – source for reader reviews of the

webs bloggers and columnists ¢  Syndic8.com – syndicates blogs that cover a wide

variety of topics ¢  Evancarmichael.com – if you provide business

related content, this is a must ¢  Outbrain.com – syndicates your blog posts to sites

like cnn.com and fastcompany.com ¢   Pick 2 or 3 --- having the same content on too

many pages can actually hurt your SEO! ¢  Thanks to launchgrowjoy.com for this information!

PINTEREST

WHAT IS PINTEREST?

¢  Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

¢  Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

¢  You can also showcase collections on Pinterest!

MOBILE – A MUST HAVE

Want to reach youth? (18-25)

Talk to them or

message them!

SQUARE

Accept credit cards right on your phone

Free hardware at

www.squareup.com http://mashable.com/

2011/10/24/square-wal-mart/

TWITTER

Another great way to connect to others that may be your customers, your mentors, your potential customers or your competition!

Twitter Stats ¢  230,000,000 Tweets per

day ¢  100,000,000+ active users

http://business.twitter.com/

What does Twitter do for businesses?

As a business, you can use Twitter to quickly share information, gather market intelligence and insights, and build relationships with people who care about your company. Often, there is already a conversation about your business happening on Twitter.

TWELLOW

Use Twellow to start finding people you can follow

EBOOKS

Using ePub to publish an ebook Ditto for Smashwords Finally – Angela England is an Iowan mom who ‘gets

it’ – I really recommend her book http://30dayebook.com/ (I just bought it myself!)

CONFUSED? Don’t give up, Try a few things until they

feel right Then try something else Start with a plan!

THANK YOU! Deb Brown 641-580-0103 deb@debworks.com www.debworks.com www.facebook.com/debworks www.twitter.com/debworks www.linkedin.com/debworks (notice the consistency with

Debworks? )