Minute to Market It #3 – Feed Your News Feed

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

A series of short and sweet marketing tips you can implement right now.

M2MI #3: Feed Your News Feed

On Facebook, it’s really easy to be focused on your wall and forget about your news feed.  But remember, your wall is pretty much focused on you – your profile pictures, your timeline, your posts for the day, your admin panel that tells you lots of cool info about your page and how its doing. All important stuff, but not the only area to focus on.  Your news feed is focused on everyone else – it shows you what everyone you follow on FB is talking about.  Start listening to them.  Start talking to them.  Start *engaging* them.

After you read this post, hop onto your library’s FB page and forget about the wall for a minute.  Click onto your news feed and see what others are saying.  Click “like” on a few posts, maybe drop a comment or two where applicable, or you could even share something you’ve found on someone else’s page on your library page.  Set a goal to do this at least once a day and try to do it more.  Give it some time and see what happens.

Here’s what I think will happen:

  • You’ll be more aware of what’s going on in your community.  (This assumes that from your library’s FB page, you’ve “liked” lots of organizations and businesses in your community.  If this isn’t the case, go search for these groups and like their pages.  Then they’ll show up in your news feed for you to interact with).
  • Your community will be more aware of you.  You don’t just want to see, you want to be seen!  Cruising your news feed is a great way to do that.  If the local paper is running an FB poll, vote on it.  If the Visitor’s Bureau is asking followers what their favorite place to take out-of-town guests is, give them an answer.  Social media is one of the easiest and most visible ways to be a part of the community’s conversations.
  • You’ll get more followers on your page.  At some point, when you get back to your FB wall and check that Admin Panel, you will see more followers.  There probably won’t be a huge surge in numbers and you may not see much action immediately.  But the more people see you interacting with others, the more they’ll want to interact with you.
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Putt-ing the Fun in Library Fundraiser

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

As with many public libraries these days, Lawrence Public Library is not a quiet place with shushing librarians and silent stacks. But for one weekend every year, things get really crazy with the Lawrence Public Library Foundation’s Caddy Stacks Mini Golf Fundraiser. Last weekend, the sounds of golf balls bouncing off bookends and families laughing together filled the library – and the cash register drawer was ringing, too!

Caddy Stacks was organized by Kathleen Morgan, the amazing Executive Director of the Lawrence Public Library Foundation (this is the same brain behind the Stack of Stories) and her equally amazing crew of volunteers. The idea is simple in its insanity ingenuity: For one weekend a year, there is a community-built, 18-hole mini golf course winding its way through the library both during and after regular hours of operation.

Hole built by the Americana Music Academy.

The Friends of the Library hole showcases the library past, present, and future.

Each year, community groups build holes that reflect the year’s theme and/or their group’s mission. The basic holes were built the first year – based on plans from a 1960s-era Popular Mechanics magazine – and each year they are given a makeover by a new organization. Community groups that have built holes over the years include the Humane Society, the Boys and Girls Club, KU Alumni, and of course, the Friends of the Library. In addition to the builder, each hole has a sponsor as well – in exchange for a donation, the sponsoring entity gets their name on the flag at the hole, a spot on all PR, a line on the t-shirt, etc. There are also sponsorships available for both bigger and smaller ticket items as well.    Continue reading →

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Three Reasons to Love World Book Night

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

It’s 11:00 pm on Monday night.  This time last week, I was cruising the main drag in town with two colleagues, passing out copies of Ender’s Game, chatting up folks of all stripes, and hoisting a pint with many of them.  World Book Night USA was a great night to be a librarian – especially one whose passions are readers’ services and marketing.  And beer.   Continue reading →

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Got Marketing? Bubble Room Blogger Answers Six Questions

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

At PLA this year, I had the great good fortune to share a cuppa in the hotel lobby with Alison Circle.  She is the Director of Marketing & Strategic Planning at Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio and she blogs for Library Journal’s Bubble Room blog.

Her marketing experience is impressive as is her work at CML and with the new Lead the Change series.  However, upon meeting her, what’s most impressive is her warmth, her enthusiasm, and her generosity.  She agreed to virtually “sit” for the 658.8 interview this week:     Continue reading →

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Top Five Take Aways from PLA

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

PLA 2012 in Philly was a great one - a conference that revealed the hard work and innovative thinking of librarians around the country and the world.  It’s taken me a week to recover!  I went to a great preconference, saw some amazing new products on the exhibit floor, went to some inspiring sessions, and networked with some folks who I only knew by name and reputation and now consider contacts and colleagues.

Stay tuned in the next week or so for some more in-depth articles about #PLA12, but in the meantime, here are the top five things that I am bringing back home to my library to guide my actions and keep in the forefront of my thoughts: Continue reading →

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Six Questions with Kasey Riley

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Introducing the 658.8 interview - six questions with public library marketers.  This occasional series is meant to be fun for the interviewee and informative for the reader.  Kasey Riley kicks it off!

Kasey is Communications Manager at Johnson County Library, where she was part of the team behind this brilliant campaign.   I was fortunate enough to attend her ”Marketing at the Point of Contact” workshop with a colleague, who wrote a nice recap over on her blog. 

Kasey is full of energy, ideas, and the willingness to share both with her colleagues and peers.  She generously agreed to answer six questions from 658.8: Continue reading →

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Taking the Temperature of a Capital Campaign

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

Fundraising thermometers are almost always presented literally as thermometers, often painted on sturdy plywood and posted at a busy intersection or campus gateway.  When a fundraising milestone is met, the thermometer is filled up to that point, a process that is repeated until the campaign is complete and the thermometer is full.  These thermometers are de rigeur aspects of a campaign – necessary but rarely engaging tools.

When the Lawrence Public Library Foundation embarked on its “New Stories“ capital campaign to raise a million dollars last year, they knew they needed a thermometer to show the community how the campaign was progressing.  They also knew that they wanted the thermometer to do more than measure – they wanted it to engage and excite the community and somehow reflect the nature of the campaign.  What they ended up with was the “Stack of Stories.” Continue reading →

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