Notes from the 2009 COMO conference in Columbus GA

Market yourself market your library – Lori Reed

PTA group has a facebook page that is very successful

Traditional marketing vs 2.0 marketing – 2 way exchange, ppl are talking about your library, whether you’re listening or not

Traditional market 4 Ps – Product pricing placement promotion

Marketing 2.0 4 Cs – consumer collaboration

Mistake ppl make is they jump right in & start producing – stop doing this, you’re putting the cart in front of the horse.

Build a marketing plan
1. Identify a need
2. Research – find out what other ppl or libs are doing to meet that need.
3. Identify the audience
4. Identify objectives
5. Identify message, what you do want to say?
6. find the right tools
7. implement
8. Evaluate – how will you know it worked?

Focus on number 6 the tools
Can your users find you?
Are you on google? Add your info if you’re not
List your library on free wifi hotspots sites Wifihotspotlist.com
You can list your programs and storytimes on Craigslist
Blogs can be used in a number of different ways, book reviews, video of children’s storytimes, tie community events to library books & other resources
Myspace
Facebook page – problem with admins
Flickr – announce that you are taking pics that they can do look at later, discussion on legality of images on flickr without a photo release
Youtube – training videos, patrons created, events etc
Eventful
Wikipedia

Need a team, its too much for a one person, it would be a full time job!

You need to monitor your brand

Gotoweb20.net

Keep your content up to date, if not get rid of it. Better to not have a precense at all than to have an outdated one

Don’t under estimate the staff time it takes, one person can not do it.

Stick to your message

Duplicate content
Talk to the users in their space

resources
davidleeking
librarianinblack

Keep up with Lori at her blog.Similar Posts:

• TedX Atlanta Re:solve
• Sneaking the Social Web into Your Library: Tips Tricks & Just Plain Sneaky Tactics
• TechSoup Global Contributors Summit Notes

I don’t normally blog about customer service issues (although I have been known to tweet complaints) but I feel like I should blog this, in part because I am not so angry I can’t see straight, which is usually a hint for me that blogging is not a wise decision and because its about brand loyalty which in light of returning my iPhone I am thinking about.

I’ll provide some background, but if you’d like to get to the point it’s don’t buy a camera from Casio and think hard about Customer Service.

My first digital camera was a Sony, but my second was a Canon Powershot and two subsequent cameras have been Powershots.  I love taking photos and I know I am working my way towards an SLR. Last October I traded in my Canon PowerShot SD870 IS  (great point & shot by the way) for the Canon SX10 IS, love it! But found I missed having a small point & shoot in my purse handy in case I wanted to take a photo of something.  Having sold the SD870 (I so regret this) I looked at my options, I didn’t want to spend a lot as I already have a nice camera, but I did want image stabilization and a wide angle lens.  Canon had an option but of course it was more expensive than the one Casio offered.  So I put aside my brand loyalty and bought the Casio.  I’m not completely thrilled with the functionality of it and wouldn’t want it for my “good” camera but it worked.  Until 2 weeks ago when I dropped it and the screen broke.

I’d had it for less than a month and it was under warranty so I sent it into Casio to be repaired.  Today I got the estimate for repair, now keep in mind I indicated the screen was broken when I filled out the forms & they did not indicate it what it would cost and I paid about $10 to ship it.

• Flat Amount: $69.00
• Labor: $0.00
• Parts: $0.00
• Shipping & Handling: $10.00
• Sales Tax: $4.74
• Service Total: $83.74
• Remarks: review screen broken

I only paid $124.95 for the camera! Seriously?  Worse there is no view finder so it is useless without the screen, but there is no freaking way I’m paying them $83.74  In truth I’m more frustrated with myself than Casio, I know that sometimes cheaper is cheaper for a reason and you end up paying for it in the long run.

update 6:30 pm EST – just realize I have to pay them $10 to send it back to me or allow them to keep it.  Now actually mad.

Now I wish I’d bought the Canon. Why? Because several years ago, when I had my very first Canon, I broke the screen.  I foolishly left it laying on the stairs and someone (I can’t remember if it was me or a roommate) stepped on it and broke it after it was almost a year old.  I sent it to Canon, they repaired it and mailed it back to me a no cost. I’d almost forgotten this was part of my foundation for loyalty to Canon (I get flack for it sometimes you know) until this little incident.  In truth it probably cost them very little to fix it for free and it earned them a life long customer, I’ve since purchased 2 more Canons, each increasingly higher end, therefore more expensive models. I’ll be replaced the Casio with a Canon thank you very much, and I’ll also be advising other people not to buy a Casio. I am the techie friend that so many friends and family come to for advice when they are thinking about a new gadget. Sometimes it is the little or not so little things that matter.

Ok so how does this relate to libraries? Customer service matters, and not just in the front line smile and be nice kind of way, but in the don’t offer excuses and just fix my problem sort of way.  I’m sure Casio has very good reasons for these fees, and I’m certain its their policy.  I can’t argue with that.

But sometimes by sticking with our very good reasons and policies we’re digging a hole.  You may gain a small amount in fees or fines, but what did you loose in the form of customer relations, good feelings and PR?  How much do you spend on marketing and PR?  What if by providing exceptional customer service your patrons could be doing positive PR for you instead of negative?

I know times are tight and we’re all looking to save a buck, but what you gain today in $10 or $20 (or $83.74) of  fees you could pay back many times over in the money you could have saved on marketing and PR.

photo by debairdSimilar Posts:

• Emotional Customer Service for Library Professionals – Andrew Sanderbeck
• Managers – The Message You’re Sending About Time is Affecting Customer Service
• Put Down the Phone and Pay Attention

Update 10/20/2009 The orginal warning still stands

Update 9/29/2009 Organizations can now create a page without linking it to a personal account.

Facebook ties a page to the account of the person who originally created it and I quote

however the original creator of the Page may never be removed by other Page admins.

Why does this matter?  Because if the original creator leaves the organization for any reason, there is no way to remove them.  (You could try to contact Facebook, but if you’ve ever done that you know how that works.)  Do you really want someone who no longer works for you to have control over your page?  What if they were fired, or quit in a huff?  I know, in an ideal world no one would ever leave and we’d all live happily everafter, but it does happen sometimes.

Groups on the other hand at least allow the creator to promote other admins and remove themselves.  No need to contact Facebook.

Groups and Pages have been compared so many places I’m not even going to attempt to, but I don’t see this issue on any of the lists.  Just something to think about.Similar Posts:

• What Libraries Should Know Before Creating a Facebook Page – Libraries & Facebook Update 2
• Libraries and Facebook pages – Update!
• Dear Facebook, I Would Like My Illusion* of Privacy Back, K, Thanks

I’m showing this for two reasons, one it’s a great example, two I believe in the message.

Last month I wrote about using stories to market your library.  This is another great example of storytelling.  This one isn’t about libraries, but it is for a good cause and every effective.  It doesn’t use photos or a voice over, it uses typography to make its point.

Learn more about the cause

• Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
• Why Girls?
• Join the Facebook Group

Learn more about the presentation:

• Kinetic typography used to present The Girl Effect
• Deconstructing The Girl Effect

Similar Posts:

• The Only Thing This Video Proves is 3 Year Olds Can Be Coached
• For Those Who Are an Overnight Success and For Those Who Aren’t a Video Series From Chris Brogan
• Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Last week I attended a WebJunction townhall meeting on Tough Economic Times.  I got some good info from it (there are two more coming up if you’re interested). Someone in the meeting said we need to appeal to people’s emotions.

It made me start thinking how we can connect with patrons emotionally to demonstrate our worth to the community.  Showing them numbers isn’t enough, we need to connect with them on a personal level.  Today I saw this slideshow from Nancy Dowd.  She participated in the Pecha Kucha at Internet Librarian and she showed us a video of the type of stories she is teaching Librarians in New Jersey to create.  It was a slideshow of still photos with a voice over,  and it was  it was very moving and effective. It was a great example of how we can demonstrate our worth by tell the stories of real people and how the library has touched their lives.

Similar Posts:

• The Girl Effect

Sometimes how you say something is more important than how you say it.  What can libraries learn from this? I’d love to hear creative ways libraries have said the same old thing Similar Posts:

• The Girl Effect
• Information Overload: Bringing Order to the Chaos
• What is a Public Library?