Interconnected construction marketing decisions: The virtues of sharing rather than selling

Would you think it rational travel to an all-day non-profit association board meeting event at your own expense, paying a couple of hundred dollars for a train ride and $300 for a night at a hotel -- without even expecting the tiniest amount of business now or in the foreseeable future?

Well, I did that this week, participating in a Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) chapter executive session.  I learned a lot, developing relationship with other industry leaders.

However, the event also garnered several thousand dollars in unexpected sales.

A couple of days before the event, I sent out an email to our Toronto-area readers, inviting them to join in the previous evening's meeting where Holly Bolton described how to make the best use of leads groups.  At least a couple of our publication's readers joined us for the event.

One couldn't make it -- but said a colleague in another division of the organization wanted to advertise.  The order for several thousand dollars in additional sales arrived on Friday, as I attended the director's meeting.

This experience reminds me that the greatest business often arises when you least expect it, but usually correlates with positive community spirit, initiative, sharing, and generosity.

In case you are wondering, there is a reason this approach works so well for a sales and marketing perspective.

If you are thoughtful, you can demonstrate your competence in a non-intrusive manner.  You can also demonstrate that you care about your community, industry and your clients' (and potential clients) real needs.  In essence, you build trust -- and with trust, you achieve persona branding success -- and that translates to comfortable business.

As a bonus, it is much easier to plan a couple of days of community service volunteering than hard-rock selling.  I mean, what is more enjoyable:  Working with other like-minded volunteers on a higher cause, or pounding the phone, trying to get someone, anyone, to return your call where you rattle off a sales pitch your victims have no interest in hearing.

The advice here is simple:  Spend much more time giving and much less selling; market your causes and support the interests of your clients' organizations, and you'll end up selling a whole lot more than by pushing where you are not wanted.

(That is why I mandate that our company's sales reps spend at least 25 per cent of their time on community service.  If they want to spend more, I won't mind.  It pays.)

Your community service bragging opportunity

This might seem to be a contradiction.  "Community service" and "bragging" generally don't go in the same sentence.  One is selfless and humble, the other is self-centred and arrogant.

Yet, for this exercise, could you risk reversing the roles a little and share your community service story here.  (If you know someone who you can "share" it for, that is okay, as well.)  You can use the comment function here, or email buckshon@constructionmarketingideas.com.  If you have an image to share, even better.

The goal is to build a repertoire, a library, of successful initiatives and provide them as examples for others.  See today's other Construction Marketing Ideas blog for some additional thoughts here.

Hangout will be at 2 p.m. this afternoon, as it is every Friday.  Please feel free to join.

Walking the walk (or riding the ride) . . . Charity, community service and construction marketing

On Sept.8, I'll be one of several hundred people participating in a 100 km bicycle ride to raise funds for cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital.  Frankly, while I'll certainly raise some money for a worthy cause and get plenty of exercise that day, the real story is with the business leaders and organizations who have made much more meaningful contributions to this initiative.

There are paradoxes here.  Robert Merkley of Merkley Supply Ltd. and Claude Des Rosiers of Boone Plumbing and Heating Supply are both in the building supplies business, though in different sectors (Merkley focuses on brick and masonry supplies, while DesRosiers works in the plumbing and mechanical spaces).  Neither are push-overs for business humility (you wouldn't be in business long if you couldn't effectively self-promote) but they aren't encouraging others in the construction industry to support this initiative because they expect it will generate more business, or more positive publicity for themselves.  They are doing it because they believe in the worthy cause.

The irony is that the more the business leaders genuinely commit themselves to community service without worrying about recognition for their efforts, the more recognition they receive.  They didn't ask me to write this blog posting.  I chose to do it.  They didn't issue news releases or brag about their contributions.  The hospital foundation, however, has recognized their contributions at special awards and recognition events.

The challenge is that to earn this level of recognition you really have to "walk the walk" (or, in this case, "ride the ride") with genuine, meaningful and time-consuming (and often cash-consuming) support behind the scenes, with sincerity and genuine effort.  This isn't always easy to do -- unless your business culture, personal values and priorities are aligned to achieve genuinely selfless goals.

Then, of course, you are recognized for who you are.  And I cannot think of many things better for a business's brand than to be genuinely appreciated by the wider community (and especially by employees, colleagues, industry peers and clients) that you are true community service leaders.

Your community service construction marketing perspective

Can you measure the value to your business of community service, association participation and generosity?  These questions are not always easy to answer with a direct return on your construction marketing investment matrix.  We do good deeds and contribute to the community because we truly care. It is cynical and insincere to work with an ulterior business-development motive.  In fact, in conversations with non-profit organization leaders, they often tell me about their frustration with salespeople and business developers purportedly "generously" offering some surplus merchandise with the expectation of significant public recognition for their contribution, which (in the eyes of the recipient) is less than useful.

 These thoughts come to mind as I prepare to spend several hours (and a few hundred dollars) flying to Toronto tomorrow for a SMPS Ontario Chapter board of directors meeting.  While I've enjoyed some wonderful relationships and true friendships from the SMPS community, the direct "return on investment" in actual business from other SMPS members is hardly something to write home about.  In fact, some members downright object to the special feature profiles and advertising supplements, which continue to provide the bulk of our business income.

Yet the SMPS participation "works" in a most fundamental way -- it helps differentiate our business from the other publishers out there doing the same thing, but who do not offer the depth and respect for the people truly paying the bills--the advertisers.  While most of our clients don't take full advantage of the consulting and support services available to them, the chemistry is different when our  business leadership is able show true expertise and effectiveness at marketing -- and suggest practical, low-cost ideas for effective business development.

If you are looking for a wealth of resources relating to business development and marketing, certainly consider joining the SMPS chapter in your area.  If you are in Ontario, hopefully we'll see each other soon.

Can a party overcome the negative consequences of canvassing?

Leonard Megliola at Bestline Plumbing in Los Angeles keeps thinking up new marketing ideas -- and maintaining successful older ones. He is one of the leaders in implementing practical marketing approaches, and should be an inspiration to other contractors wondering how to really build their businesses in good and hard times.

This weekend on Contractortalk.com he suggests another idea, which he thinks will help mitigate some of the negative results of his (successful) canvassing initiative.

Actually, this is something I have been thinking about for many years.

Next week, I am going to look for a location in a neighborhood where I can give away free hotdogs, soda, chips, coffee mugs, calendars, ink pens, helium balloons, and literature. We may even get one or two arcade rides that will be free for small children.

As we draw in a crowd, we will hand out literature explaining the free services we will be providing in their neighborhood for the next week. We will set appointments at the booth. For those who don't set an appointment, we will warn them that our canvassers will be knocking on their doors to bother them.

We will deliver 5,000 brochures one day before the show and 5,000 brochures on the day we have the showday. Each brochure will have a coupon that will give free hotdogs, soda, water, mugs, etc. We will use our 10 inch by 6 foot Acrylic tube filled with candy to help draw a crowd.

This campaign will cost about $2,000 to $3,000. One good job will leave me with a profit and we will build a very good presence and branding effect that will be long-term. I may do this two times a year in each neighborhood.

Everybody love a good free hotdog.

I like these ideas, and I like his use of flyers, and so on, and think they all are good and valid approaches -- though I stand my ground that canvassing, while undoubtedly effective and profitable, is a bad form of marketing in most circumstances. Free hotdogs are good; waking up people at their homes, and disturbing their dinners to sell homeowners stuff, is not -- for the majority who don't want to be bothered with intrusive selling messages. But I can't argue against canvassing's effectiveness.

Small communities and big opportunities

The Design and Construction Network -- Ottawa is still at the early stages, but is part of a growing interconnection of international Internet specialized networks with local counterparts.

Following yesterday's posting, I engaged in email communications with Rory Swan at Servicez Unlimited in Washington DC and Leslie-Anne McAllister in Atlanta, GA. Both are contributing useful and effective resources on the remodelcrazy.com forum and both helped answer some questions I had about construction marketing issues. (Rory clarified his CRM system is part of a much larger -- and much more expensive -- software package, and Leslie-Anne and I explored aspects of SEO and the local Internet vs Yellow Pages marketing.)

Dialogue on a Sunday morning between Washington, Atlanta and Ottawa, without any oral communications? (I'm setting up further discussions with both Rory and Leslie-Anne but we all appreciate that these need to be fit within sometimes intense business/work schedules.)

Of course, remodelcrazy.com is actually a small community, and (not surprisingly) we find many of the same participants there in other online groups, and among this blog's readership. These communities represent only a tiny portion of the remodeling and renovation industry; tens of thousands of small businesses in communities around the world are nowhere near these online groups and networks.

But that is okay, because the people in this space are probably the most important community in the industry.

The reason is simple: By openly sharing ideas and best practices, they are gaining a powerful competitive advantage. Sure, some people out there are lurking, listening in without participating, and "stealing" ideas, but without active engagement in the community, they fail to realize the back and forth dialogue, insights, and market testing that goes on in these spaces.

The interesting and exciting development is that we can now begin taking these concepts to a more local level. Previously, your networking and business development opportunities locally would be through relevant associations and community groups (and your existing/previous client list). These resources continue to be the most effective route to networking especially for business-to-business marketing.

Now, however, you can link the online and offline network opportunities within your own area, and in many cases tie these to the larger online communities.

This is still at a very early stage, but the progress with the Design and Construction Network and local subgroups is exciting. You can see our early version for Ottawa, here, in co-operation with the Ottawa Chapter of Construction Specifications Canada.

The online communities are (still) relatively small but I believe provide forward-thinking construction industry marketers big opportunities for the future.

Construction marketing: Outsiders, insiders and the point of transition

At the Design and Construction Network Happy Hour in Washington on June 30: Sarah B. Dolby, Associate Account Manager with Atlantic Risk Management Corporation, Kathleen C. O'Leary, Business Developmentt with Scott-Long Construction, Inc., Lindsay B. McGhee, Account Manager with Atlantic Risk Management Corporation, and Brad McCoy, Account Executive with Mainbrain. You can connect with this group (no cost!) by visiting mydcn.com.

Successful construction-industry marketing is all about winning a place within your current and prospective clients' inner trust circle. When you get there, your relationships don't feel like business, they are more like enduring friendships. Money is still important, but your clients don't begrudge you your price (and profit) because they know you have their best inters ts at heart.

If your clients are "forced" by regulations or standard practice to ensure there are competitive bids, they will wire things so that you virtually always win. (I still remember a Labor Day weekend email containing the complete bidding documentation of a competitor sent to me by the bidding authority. No, I didn't ask for this confidential information, or imply even indirectly that this unofficial communication should happen. It just did.) In the U.S. public sector work especially at the federal level operates under Brooks Act rules, which takes price out of the picture and puts relationships and trust at center-stage.

The first construction marketing success question is how you win this trusted place? Equally important -- and providing a great clue to the the second question's answer, is "How do you retain the trust?"

The second question of course is easiest to answer. You retain the trust by delivering the goods with sensitivity, respect, and a sense of community, compassion, security, and adventure. In other words, you do your work so well and with your clients' interests so much in your heart that they would be insane to leave you.

(If you have in good times had a successful business by 'relying' on referrals for new work and repeat orders, you mostly have the second question answered correctly.)

Most importantly, you need to solve the second question before you even try to answer the first question. In other words, if you cannot truly deliver value for your clients, you must stop, think carefully, and either revise your business or do something else. You will be spinning your marketing wheels.

Nevertheless, even if you are great at what you do, you still need to answer the first question. You need new clients to replace ones that leave and to grow. You need to show people who don't know you, or who know you but aren't ready to accept you, that you are worthy of their consideration. Solutions include:

Connect your current, satisfied clients with new/prospective clients
This is where organized referral programs are helpful. These could be as simple as inviting clients for a meal and seeing if they know friends or colleagues who would do business with you, or as sophisticated as co-ordinating Networking and Thank-you events for your current/prospective clients.

Achieve media recognition and respect
Positive articles about your business in credible news media provide powerful trust-developing capacities. You aren't selling, you are delivering. The best media publicity is mostly "free" in that you don't pay directly for it, nor can you control every word or image that is published, and you don't have marketing control over the time and schedule of the publicity. Advertising-supported editorial (advertorial) publishing can be an effective compromise. It is what we do best and we can often provide this service without any cash or financial requirement from your business. See the Design and Construction Report for example.

Connect with your community
In the consumer market, this includes sports and community groups and associations; in the business market, you'll gain much traction by contributing to relevant client-centric associations. (Yes, participate in your own trade association, but your marketing clout will be highest when you participate in the association reflecting your clients' interests.)

Get your web presence in order
You need a great website optimized to attract leads and client interest within your marketplace. Most people now head to the Internet when they are looking for someone new, or to verify the credibility of someone they have heard a little about. High search engine rankings are better than top billing on the old Yellow Pages (these still work in some places), or community classified ads because they convey both credibility and provide immediate connections between potential clients in immediate need and your business. (We can help you out here, of course, especially if you have discovered this blog through the search engine process!)

Will any of these resources provide a quick-fix to your business/marketing challenges? Certainly, you can quickly develop your current and previous client relationships and build on them.

You may hit it off immediately with someone new, "Love at first sight", but obviously if you are banking on this happening with strangers, routinely, you are asking for trouble, both personally and in business.

What about price? Can you win trust by lowering it?
I think this is the hardest and most foolhardy way to win marketing battles. Do you really want to work with clients who hammer you down so far that you can't earn a profit?

And if you are marketing on price, how will you ever make enough money to make your business worthwhile? The only exception is if you have such a technological or operating advantage that you can truly be profitable while undercutting your competition. But most of us don't have that advantage.

As you read this, you may be scratching your head. You are being under-cut by fly-by-nighters, your loyal clients have deserted you to save some money (even though you provide great service), and you aren't worried about whether a potential client is an outsider, insider, or some fly on the wall. You just need business, quickly.

My advice for you is to take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves, reduce your business expenses and overhead as much as possible, and spend an hour a day studying marketing. Then compile a list of your current and former clients, and figure out some "gives" (time not cash!) to justify a call or visit.

As you do this, start your community/association connection and publicity strategies. Call or email me at 888-432-3555 ext 224 or buckshon@cnrgp.com for some ideas.

How do you know you've reached the point of transition when you turn from an outsider to an insider? That magic moment occurs when someone you know and respect calls you, without hesitation, and either offers you business without worrying about price, or forwards a referral, seemingly unrequested. At that moment, you can celebrate true marketing and business success.

Great needs and great deeds: The spirit of effective Construction Marketing

Can you do great deeds to achieve great needs?

If so, you'll change the world.

"Sure," you might say, as you struggle to find enough business to feed your family (or yourself, for that matter), and you go through the daily routines and habits, good or bad, that define your current life.

Maybe, however, greatness isn't that far away. Little things can sometimes mean a lot, and small changes in your life and your perception of how to market and promote your business could result in big changes in your results.

Here are some thoughts to consider. Maybe your answers to these questions will provide you with clues about an effective marketing strategy.

What charitable, community service, or social services can you provide in your community that cost you little in time and effort, but capture the spirit and needs of the people around you?

What cause or issue matters to you the most -- that reaches to your heart and personal passion? Maybe it is health related, maybe poverty, maybe environmental or ecological.

If you could spend an hour a day for a year on a project or activity that would do good for others more than yourself, what would it be?

Think about your passions, your interests, your values -- and, yes, your time -- in answering this one.

In asking these questions, you may be tempted to think about existing community projects and services. For construction-related businesses, especially in the residential sector, you might gravitate to Habitat for Humanity. This is good, but in completing this exercise, I would like you to think more about what you think you have to give/share, and what you perceive is your community's greatest needs, regardless of whether it is directly relevant to your business.

Then, find a way to take a first step to implement the vision.

Share the story with your clients, your colleagues, and your suppliers. If it is a good idea, they will immediately offer to help. (If it is a great idea, and they don't immediately support you, you will have to persevere for a while on your own until they catch on. Don't give up.)

Email or call me as well. I'll help you with some free publicity, or advice on how you can achieve positive media publicity in your local market/media. This (for me) is one of my great deeds.

You'll make a difference. And, yes, when it comes time to finding clients for your service, you may just find a few more yeses for the same amount of marketing effort as you would get by pounding the pavement or spending thousands of dollars on advertising.

P.S. You can apply these principals on a business, rather than community, level as well. Just think about the needs of everyone you meet or connect with at networking and business events -- focusing on what they really require, and where you can help, without concern about "What's in it for me."

Serving (and giving) works much better than selling

Mel Lester, in his E-Quip Blog posting "Why that dog don't hunt" makes an important point:

The secret is to stop selling and start serving. Sounds simple, but it's not. It involves a heart transplant, where you begin to care more about the client's needs than your own. It's not easy, but it sure is satisfying. Now your want to has caught up with the need to.

How can you promote such a change in your firm? Keep in mind that most A/E firms are probably not equipped to make such a nuanced transition. So if yours can pull it off, you'll be in rare company. Isn't that what differentiation is all about?

Lester's point is fundamental to effective marketing but many people trapped in the sales mentality get it only half right. They give -- but expect something in return. When they don't receive a payoff or a positive response to their sales pitch, they disappear into the wilderness, looking for another 'prospect' to 'sell'.

Generosity and service requires an entirely different mind set. You put your commercial self interest totally out of mind, and focus instead on sharing and helping people around you.

Of course, you select your environment where you express your generosity but you don't want to box this in too narrowly. My business (since it sells marketing and advertising services) focuses on generosity within the community of relevant trade associations and groups. Your universe will be different, depending on your market. Your current and former clients, of course, should always receive top priority -- after they have done business with you once, no effort should be spared to make them feel respected, connected, and able to call on you for guidance, advice, and follow-up support.

Will some (perhaps most) of the people you help and serve just take the free stuff and provide nothing in return? Sure, and that is okay. You'll find some give you far more in return than you can imagine -- they'll call you, make large orders, refer friends, and spread the good word about your business. Note you do not need to spend large amounts of money for your generosity: You can provide your time, your ideas and observations, and in some cases, can contribute in-kind support which has high value to your market but costs you little if anything in cash dollars.

In addition to the rather exciting business results you achieve through your generosity and service, you'll discover something else -- your marketing process becomes enjoyable, rather than something to fear. If your whole attitude is "How can I really be of service?" than "How much do they need to purchase so I can meet my profit quota?" you can wake up each day and enjoy success, even before the phone rings or E-mail pings with the (seemingly) unsolicited business from clients who really want to do business with you, and are ready to pay for your services.

The advantages of sharing

Chase, in his recent blog entry, describes how he connected at the Niagara Construction Association Golf Tournament.

Sometimes the universe lines up and a whole bunch of good intentions or kind gestures get noticed. Events or ideas you sent in motion suddenly collide in the best type of situation where you get to showcase yourself and the company you work for. . . Sometimes the best way to sell yourself or service is by not doing any sales at all. I like my job!

Absolutely -- if there is any lesson I've learned in the past three years, it is that you achieve the highest results by forgoing selfishness and contributing and sharing from the best of your heart. Of course, it helps if you contribute in co-operation and with visibility of your current and potential clients; but the contributions must be sincere and without expectation of reward/recognition.

Increasingly, I'm encouraging our employees to spend at least a quarter of their time contributing to the community; and we allocate marketing/advertising resources for these initiatives.

Advertising, generosity and branding

One way to build a reputation for generosity is to support community projects financially and with trade services -- such a s The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. But your business brand is even more effective when you take a leadership role in the process -- your network of contacts, and good-will, will translate into much additional business. But you have to do it without worrying about immediate reward or return.

How do businesses which sell advertising for a living succeed. If you understand the answer to this question, you might learn something about your own marketing -- and how and when to use advertising or other resources to achieve the results you are seeking.

Fact is, most advertising-supported businesses need to deliver something of great value to enough of the right people for a truly low (or free) price that the audience is large enough to encourage people to want to pay to access that audience! In other words, a television station attracts millions of viewers, a local newspaper goes to virtually everyone in the community with some money, or Google develops such an effective search engine that virtually everyone on the Internet uses it (often at the moment they are considering a purchasing decision).

In our case, of course, we reach a highly specific -- but important -- audience of construction industry readers, who need many products and services to do their business.

The cornerstone of the media business is successfully giving away enough real value that people want to do business with us -- then delivering the advertisers enough value that they want to keep doing business. Like any business, we have competition, both from peers and interlopers. The competition challenges us to improve our practices and effectiveness.

And, like any business, there are a few players who go over the line, over promising and under-delivering (or not delivering at all). Most of these outfits fail sooner or later, or find some scammy way to find a continuous number of new suckers (or sit close enough to the edge that a few people think they are getting enough value, that they can continue despite high turnover from the majority.)

You can see from our survey results that advertising is a valid -- but minority -- source of new business for most construction enterprises.

But at root of our business -- and perhaps the biggest clue about how you can succeed at yours in marketing -- is we take something really useful, do it well, and virtually give it away! Google provides a wonderfully effective search engine and we provide editorial content -- information and news about the industry that just is not available elsewhere. For free.

Now, I am not suggesting if you are a drywall contractor that you will be in business long if you give away your services without charging for them. But if you share your expertise, your ideas, and your insights into effectively reducing drywall installation costs -- or making the product more effective -- with your community or clients, you may find some surprisingly positive results. Or if you strategically give away your services as a community service initiative; or take a voluntary leadership role in a relevant industry group or association, you may find results far beyond your expectations.

You can provide this benefit informally and quietly (creating an aura of exclusivity with your clients) or publicly, perhaps using media such ours, or by email, or speaking, or association participation.

Your generosity needs to be sincere, and if you expect a quid-pro-quo response, you will not get very far. (Of course I am not suggesting giving and giving indefinitely to leeches -- there are some out there!) But over time, you will find amazing things -- potential clients will come to you, you will be able to charge more than others for the same service, and you will build a successful business. Essentially, you will create a brand for your enterprise. And that is the essense of marketing success.

The construction association meeting

The reception at the Ottawa Construction Association's AGM.

Daniel Smith and I attened the annual meeting of the Ottawa Construction Association tonight. For me, this event combines business development and news gathering -- I won't forget the time I attended one of the association's AGMs when, in reviewing some small print in the annual report, I uncovered a scandal involving the then-association president and the local labourers union that ultimately resulted in a major shake-up within the organization and the president's resignation.

At tonight's meeting, we gained some insights into the current scandal involving the local general contactor who decamped to Lebanon, after arranging to wire close to $2 million in cash to the Mideast; shortly after this, his company's payroll and subtrade checks started bouncing. The question, raised at our table, is why the bonding company granted surety to the GC, whose reputation, at least among the people around me at the table, was well known (and not positively) within the industry. I explained to my table mates that we are slow on this story because we will be covering its impact with care and depth long after the daily and general business press move on to other topics.

But the topic of this blog is marketing, and the question is, do these kinds of meetings and events help in the process. Certainly some businesses think so; and spent significant money sponsoring the event. The effectiveness of this type of sponsorship is debatable. In an article in the latest issue of the SMPS Marketer, Lisa Rhatigan, a shareholder ansd senior vice-president at the Whetstone Group, reports that virtually every architectural business her practice surveyed uses sponsorship, but this certainly not the most effective marketing tactic.

(Top of the effectiveness list on her company's survey is "referral sources" and "client referrals", with speaking, articles, industry groups, social events and seminars significantly less effective, but still much more powerful than a final grooup of options including direct mail, newsletters, telephone leads, and advertising.)

Equally, I'm not sure how much marketing value you are going to get when you -- as several companies did -- purchase a 'company table' at these events. Sitting with your peers at one table may help bonding and internal communication, but you sure aren't going to meet anyone new that way. But sitting at a 'general' table with a diversity of people from the industry produces interesting chemistry and results; but sales . . . I'm not so sure.

Networking value here is highest if we forget the sales pitch and focus on the community and relationships; I am happy to see Daniel has met some people and connected with them through the steering committee he joined; this is the beginning of relationship-building which, as noted in Rhatigan's article, is the most effective way to find new business.

Probably the highest marketing value is achieved when you can reach a level of active recognition and involvement in the community. At the meeting, the Ottawa Hospital's CEO thanked the association membership for supporting its fund-raising campaign, pulling in more than $9 million. This is good, but credit went to the fund-raising committee leader Robert Merkley of Merkley Supply Ltd. whose business has built a reputation for community involvement and service through active invovlemment and leadership. This is far more than the relatively ineffective 'sponsorship' described in Rhatigan's article -- it is the intense, time-consuming and highly visible leadership only a few achieve.

The radio ad

Taping a radio commercial in support of Algonquin College's Centre for Construction Trades and Building Sciences.

Algonquin College, the regional community college for Eastern Ontario, invited me to tape a radio ad in support of the college's planned Centre for Construction Trades and Building Sciences -- designed to meet the need for skilled tradespeople within the industry. We've made it our policy in Ottawa Construction News to support this project, of course, so when college communication officer Andrew McKelvery asked if I would volunteer to tape an endorsement commercial, I hesitated, not.

Of course, the college -- with its radio and television technician and journalism programs -- has facilities on-site for this type of commercial production, but this initiative is definitely not a student project: The commercial where I am quoted, along with several others from community/industry leaders, will be broadcast on three Ottawa-area commercial radio stations in the next few weeks. (I'll post the actual radio tape once I have it.)

I learned a few things in the taping process. First, since this is not live radio, bits and pieces can be pasted together to create the whole, and fuzzy details can be corrected to create 'perfection'. Second, the whole thing is really not intimidating -- again, because you can fix anything not right, you don't need to stress out about the script. (McKelvery told me to smile as I talked -- it makes the thing sound more natural.)

Of course, from a marketing/branding perspective, this is an all-round win. I'm quite happy to effectively promote my publication while showing support for the college. And the college, in inviting me to the taping, encourages us to provide more publicity and support within our own publication for the project.

You can learn more about the Algonquin initiative by visiting http://www.algonquincollege.com/expansion/