Taking Care of Business

1
Taking Care of Business

• Joan C. Divor, Business Services Librarian
• Burlington County Library System
• Uri Toch, Reference Librarian
• Schaumburg Twp. Dist. Lib. (IL)

2
Marketings Importance

• Community partnerships and marketing are very
  important. A library is more than a building. It
  is about relationships within a community. You
  have to have relationships for your library to
  thrive.
• Michael Madden, Library Director, Schaumburg
  Township District Library

3
Objectives

• EXPLAIN the benefits of business outreach
• DESCRIBE what your library can offer.
• CREATE an benefits-based elevator speech for
  communicating your librarys value.
• LIST local contacts for accessing the business
  community marketing strategies.
• IDENTIFY 3 5 things you can do within the next
  3-6 months to build visibility.

4
Who are they?

• What segments of the business community should
  we focus on?
• Traditional vs Non-traditional
• Understand the fluid nature of business segments.

5
Our Relationship to the Business Community

1. Win win
2. You can do this NOW

6
Win - Win

• Business Good for the Library
• Enhanced stature / image / testimonials
• Advocacy
• Partnering / Support

• Library Good for Business
• Free, premium business knowledge
• Synergy Resources staff
• Comprehensive objectives
• Sponsorship makes them look good

Unique Powerful Positioning!
7
You Can Do This Now - Exercise

• Resources start w. what you have now
• Book resources (directories, circ books)
• E resources / databases
• Staff
• Marketing build on what you do now
• Website
• Brochures, bibliographies
• Programs

8
Know Describe Capabilities and Benefits

• Know resources train staff
• Develop benefits-based talking points 90 second
  elevator 10 min ppt

9
The Elevator Speech Answers

• What do we do?
• Whom do we serve?
• What makes the library unique?
• How does the library bring value?
• Targeted to your specific audience.

10
Elevator Speech - B.A.S.E.

• Brief
• Articulate
• Sincere
• Enthusiastic
• Exercise

11
Marketing in Action

• Outreach to communitypersonal touch
• Outreach to communitythe broad touch
• Special displays in the library
• At the reference desk/the ref. interview
• Via Web 2.0 e-letters, wikis, building database
  for special contacts
• Partnerships with the business communitychamber
  touch and others

12
A Cost-Effective Approach Word of Mouth
Marketing

• Let others do the talking the same way
  businesses succeed
• Multiplier effect
• Word of mouth marketing is a key to the
  librarys future. We need to figure out how to
  politely get in peoples faces. Gary Price
• Examples of word of mouth (buzz) marketing

13
Sources of other Marketing Ideas

• Library literature
• Library Marketing Committee
• Benchmarking other local libraries (Your ideas
  here)
• Benchmarking other nonprofits/for profits
• Serendipityother avenues

14
Barriers to Marketing Success

• Time
• Training
• Library staff are often risk averse

15
Overcoming Barriers Creating the Marketing
Mindset

• Administrations support
• Marketing gives us what we need statistics and
  partnerships.
• Entrepreneurial thinking (civic entrepreneurship,
  increasing funding options)

16
NEED Business Know-How

• Local contacts, govt agencies, organizations
• Business trends market data
• Business planning guidelines
• Marketing directories

17
STRATEGY A practical toolkit

• Your website, and/or a program (hands on)
• Local focus
• Highlight library resources especially
  databases / ebooks
• Booklist circulating reference books
• Screencasts on your website

BCLS Biz Gateway http//explore.bcls.lib.nj.us/b
usiness
18
Community Partnerships Business Content and
Contacts

• Government agencies offer access to expertise.
• Colleges and universities have a wealth of
  business expertise.
• Not only helps with programs, but helps develop
  reputation in community among other nonprofit
  organizations.

19
Possible Program Partners

• Small Business Development Centers (or other
  state agency)
• Small Business Administration (or other federal
  agency)
• Federal Reserve (Money Smart Week)
• Division of Employment Services (state)
• Planning Departments (local)

20
Your Community Touchpoints

• Exercise List individuals and/or organizations
  in your community that serve the business
  community, that you could approach and possibly
  partner with.
• For each organization, list one or more ways you
  could approach them or create a relationship.

21
Marketing Scenarios Applying the Mindset

• A library that is already very successful
• A library with a small staff and small business
  community
• A random comment at the reference desk
• Exercise 4 - Worksheet / Discussion
• 3 5 things

22
Summary - Objectives

• EXPLAIN the benefits of business outreach
• DESCRIBE what your library can offer.
• CREATE an benefits-based elevator speech for
  communicating your librarys value.
• LIST local contacts for accessing the business
  community marketing strategies.
• IDENTIFY 3 5 things you can do within the next
  3-6 months to build visibility.

23
Summary take-aways

• Name one thing you learned or idea you got today
  that you didnt know before.
• Email us ideas/articles
• We will share to others?
• Build into a group maybe become a blog.

24
For More Information Reads and Links

• Inspiring Business Web sites
• Collection Development
• For more information

25
Know Your LibraryIts Good for Business

• Joan C. Divor, Business Services Librarian
• Burlington County Library System
• jdivor_at_bcls.lib.nj.us
• www.bcls.lib.nj.us
• Uri Toch, Reference Librarian
• Schaumburg Twp. Dist. Lib. (IL)
• utoch_at_stdl.org
• www.stdl.org