Am always on the lookout for interesting and innovative marketing efforts, especially as they relate to online and the Internet.
One of the more interesting, if not effective, ploys occurred today. The phone rang in our office and a prerecorded voice said that a satisfied customer had left positive feedback at our listing on MerchantCircle.com and asked us to go to that website to check it out.
Being the curious person that I am, it didn't take but a moment to log into the website and enter our phone number. Yup, we were there, but the promised "positive rating" from someone was nowhere to be found. After searching around the website for awhile and becoming increasingly frustrated, it was apparent that there was no easy or convenient way to contact this California based company.
Lots of information about how to advertise with them and all of the other fine services they offer. There's even bios of their management team listed. A street address in Palo Alto, California is the only point of contact.
Was hoping that an email address or phone number would allow me to express my displeasure with their company for luring me to their website under false pretenses. Remember that phone call earlier saying someone had left positive feedback? Needless to say, it caught my attention, got me to their website hoping to read something nice about us. Great marketing. Bad that I had no way to express my frustration with their effort. Maybe they'll Google this blog and find out this way? One can only hope.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Planting Trees, Pasta and Buzz on Bees
What a positive week of work at your chamber of commerce.
Our Chamber Transportation Committee had an extremely successful event when they hosted our own Congressman Colin Peterson along with his fellow Member of Congress James Oberstar. Both Congressmen chair very powerful and influential House of Representative committees in D.C. (Peterson: Agriculture and Oberstar: Transportation). While Congressman Peterson is a frequent visitor to our community, Representative Oberstar admitted that much had changed in the 25 years since he was last in Marshall.
Our committee's intent is to pitch a funding proposal that would provide for local, regional, state, and federal funding efforts to be focused on creating a 4 lane highway that would run between I-90 at Pipestone and I-94 at St. Cloud. Preferably Highway 23.
"Let's complete the "X" is chamber transportation committee chair Steve Strautz's rallying mantra. Congrats to Steve along with his co-leaders for the event: Jeff Modica and David Sturrock. Mayor Bryne did a fantastic impression of an industrial prospect tour guide for our community.
There's an old Chinese proverb that goes something like: "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today." If we want to enhance surface and air transportation to our region, we need to continue the efforts begun through this committee.
TWO SPICEY MEATBALLS
What a Spaghetti Feed it was on Wednesday evening! The crew at USBank did a phenomenal job preparing, serving, and clearing the pasta crowd. Not only did they move folks thru the lines in a timely and efficient manner, but was also impressive to watch their curbside service too. Proceeds for the event were dedicated this year to The Refuge (a proposed transitional housing facility). Just a bit ironic though that while the feed was happening that same evening the Marshall Planning and Zoning committee were listening to the pros and cons (mainly cons) to the request by The Refuge supporters to seek out a variance for their property on North Bruce Street. Maybe the crowd of 40+ at the P&Z meeting may have mellowed with a healthy dose of spaghetti!
OK, just call it a pet project, but am very excited that a group of folks has organized to plan for a Corporate Spelling Bee event next Spring. With proceeds initially to be dedicated to children and young adult projects at The Library, the group is on the lookout for additional spelling bee enthusiasts to get involved with the planning of the bee. Need a great buzz? Get involved with this fun event.
Our Chamber Transportation Committee had an extremely successful event when they hosted our own Congressman Colin Peterson along with his fellow Member of Congress James Oberstar. Both Congressmen chair very powerful and influential House of Representative committees in D.C. (Peterson: Agriculture and Oberstar: Transportation). While Congressman Peterson is a frequent visitor to our community, Representative Oberstar admitted that much had changed in the 25 years since he was last in Marshall.
Our committee's intent is to pitch a funding proposal that would provide for local, regional, state, and federal funding efforts to be focused on creating a 4 lane highway that would run between I-90 at Pipestone and I-94 at St. Cloud. Preferably Highway 23.
"Let's complete the "X" is chamber transportation committee chair Steve Strautz's rallying mantra. Congrats to Steve along with his co-leaders for the event: Jeff Modica and David Sturrock. Mayor Bryne did a fantastic impression of an industrial prospect tour guide for our community.
There's an old Chinese proverb that goes something like: "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today." If we want to enhance surface and air transportation to our region, we need to continue the efforts begun through this committee.
TWO SPICEY MEATBALLS
What a Spaghetti Feed it was on Wednesday evening! The crew at USBank did a phenomenal job preparing, serving, and clearing the pasta crowd. Not only did they move folks thru the lines in a timely and efficient manner, but was also impressive to watch their curbside service too. Proceeds for the event were dedicated this year to The Refuge (a proposed transitional housing facility). Just a bit ironic though that while the feed was happening that same evening the Marshall Planning and Zoning committee were listening to the pros and cons (mainly cons) to the request by The Refuge supporters to seek out a variance for their property on North Bruce Street. Maybe the crowd of 40+ at the P&Z meeting may have mellowed with a healthy dose of spaghetti!
OK, just call it a pet project, but am very excited that a group of folks has organized to plan for a Corporate Spelling Bee event next Spring. With proceeds initially to be dedicated to children and young adult projects at The Library, the group is on the lookout for additional spelling bee enthusiasts to get involved with the planning of the bee. Need a great buzz? Get involved with this fun event.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
More Odds and Ends
Busy weekend in our community. Hats off to the Lyon County Fair Organizers and volunteers. Spent a wonderful evening on Friday at the Fair Grounds watching the rodeo. Have had the chance to serve on two rodeo committees for top 50 rodeos in the US and in my opinion the rodeo on Friday night ranked right up there with the big time rodeo shows around the country. The quality of the athletes, livestock, specialty acts and "crowd energy" added up to outstanding entertainment value.
Saturday decided to explore the region with a driving trip. Hard to believe how much corn there is within a 50 mile radius. Even ran into a couple of traffic jams along the way. Not the usual variety. South or Redwood a truck transporting a wind tower needed about an hour to make the turn from one road to the next. The additional detour allowed me to discover a couple of communities that were well off of my beaten path.
Later that evening stopped by another delay caused by a car pedestrian accident. While the details aren't very clear, the accident scene required multiple law enforcement vehicles, an ambulance, and eventually the arrival of a medivac helicopter. Very impressive to watch it land on the county road, retrieve the accident victim, and fly off to provide the much needed medical treatment.
Sunday afternoon on the golf course was interesting as the normal serenity of the course was covered with the roar of the big Tractor Pull at the Fair Grounds. The stands, again looked to be crowed, and the excitement spread in every direction.
Who says nothing interesting ever happens in this town?
Saturday decided to explore the region with a driving trip. Hard to believe how much corn there is within a 50 mile radius. Even ran into a couple of traffic jams along the way. Not the usual variety. South or Redwood a truck transporting a wind tower needed about an hour to make the turn from one road to the next. The additional detour allowed me to discover a couple of communities that were well off of my beaten path.
Later that evening stopped by another delay caused by a car pedestrian accident. While the details aren't very clear, the accident scene required multiple law enforcement vehicles, an ambulance, and eventually the arrival of a medivac helicopter. Very impressive to watch it land on the county road, retrieve the accident victim, and fly off to provide the much needed medical treatment.
Sunday afternoon on the golf course was interesting as the normal serenity of the course was covered with the roar of the big Tractor Pull at the Fair Grounds. The stands, again looked to be crowed, and the excitement spread in every direction.
Who says nothing interesting ever happens in this town?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
ODDS & ENDS
So far, our efforts to partner with SMSU for their AG Bowl Celebration seem to be moving forward nicely. We'll soon be sending to our members a flyer with sponsorship opportunities that will allow them to hold a customer appreciation type event during AG Bowl...sort of a tailgate party with a business - customer feel to it. Should be fun. The good folks at SMSU have put plenty of time, energy and effort into the plans and it's exceptional of them to be willing to partner with the business community to allow for the ag/customer appreciation component.
Attention Young Professionals under the age of 40. Sometime in the next few months, your chamber will be launching an effort designed exclusively for folks between the ages of 21 and 40, specifically designed with networking, professional development, and community engagement as the main focus. Stay tuned for details.
Are you old enough to remember the word: "Plethora"? It came into vogue about twenty years ago in a detergent commercial. Thank goodness its popularity went away. Now if the same thing could happen for the word: "Robust." It found its way to popular use a couple of years ago from our elected leaders in Washington, D.C. who thought the word to be a great adjective sound bite. Now for me, it just bites.
As a newcomer to Marshall it's been a hoot exploring my new environment. Short day trips to surrounding communities have been a great way to learn about our region, not to mention getting a feel for where other communities lie. Now if only our relocation materials could include a regional map. Hundreds of people every year are recruited to take a job in our community. Often times they've begun the house hunting research prior to the interview or job offer. When I was contemplating the move here, I couldn't tell you where Ghent was, much less Tracy or Balatan or Tyler. Yet, homes in each of these communities are listed as for sale. It would have been nice to have seen a map of the surrounding communities in relationship to their distance and access to Marshall. Will need to get working on creating a map to go into our relocation and recruitment materials. Like the old saying goes, "if you want something done, it's sometimes best to do it yourself." Anyone know any good cartographers?
Attention Young Professionals under the age of 40. Sometime in the next few months, your chamber will be launching an effort designed exclusively for folks between the ages of 21 and 40, specifically designed with networking, professional development, and community engagement as the main focus. Stay tuned for details.
Are you old enough to remember the word: "Plethora"? It came into vogue about twenty years ago in a detergent commercial. Thank goodness its popularity went away. Now if the same thing could happen for the word: "Robust." It found its way to popular use a couple of years ago from our elected leaders in Washington, D.C. who thought the word to be a great adjective sound bite. Now for me, it just bites.
As a newcomer to Marshall it's been a hoot exploring my new environment. Short day trips to surrounding communities have been a great way to learn about our region, not to mention getting a feel for where other communities lie. Now if only our relocation materials could include a regional map. Hundreds of people every year are recruited to take a job in our community. Often times they've begun the house hunting research prior to the interview or job offer. When I was contemplating the move here, I couldn't tell you where Ghent was, much less Tracy or Balatan or Tyler. Yet, homes in each of these communities are listed as for sale. It would have been nice to have seen a map of the surrounding communities in relationship to their distance and access to Marshall. Will need to get working on creating a map to go into our relocation and recruitment materials. Like the old saying goes, "if you want something done, it's sometimes best to do it yourself." Anyone know any good cartographers?
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