FACEBOOK EMAIL MARKETING
Ok guys,
For years I have been hearing that directories were dead, I have always thought that if you develop a true niche - you might be able develop something unique.
So here is what I did. I did extensive research to see if anyone had developed this idea because like everyone else, I was very skeptical about the power of a local directory. I researched day in and day out, I still couldn't find anything that resembled my idea.
When I did find something, the directories were very basic, unattractive....crude. So now I am feeling like I may have an idea. I asked a colleague of mine what he thought about directories and he basically said, "with sites like google, bing, yahoo and yelp. you're not going to make any money." LOL. He is a smart dude. One of the guys that you want to prove wrong whenever you get the chance. Now I am truly motivated!
What is the directory? A pizza directory. A directory that caters to pizza owners and the pizza business. Some of you are saying, big deal, not unique at all. Well I did it.
The first thing I wanted to do was make this site feel homegrown. I didn't want it to feel like another corporate entity that was trying to attract businesses with no love for the community. Yes, love for the community was my slogan and I think it helped.
Ok. So this is what I did on a very small scale. I built a Facebook page and invited pizza places to participate in school programs that would encourage and reward students and/or classes that achieved goals such as good grades, financial goals, whatever the case was, I wanted to be a voice in the community. I thought dealing with the school system would be good because I was allowed to send goodie bags home with the students and plus its great promotion for 500 students to see.
Surprisingly, 20 pizza owners signed up and they were very involved in the process. I convinced those involved that dealing closely with the community could only do positive things for their business. So the first event was a pizza party for a class that scored high on a standardized test. Oops! Who was going to pay for the pizza's. I negotiated with the owners and I paid half. I also agreed to put the business all over my Facebook page and give them many thanks for what they did. After the event, people emailed and thanked the pizza owners for their involvement. It was a success, my business is born
In the beginning, I wasn't planning on doing a directory but I saw how easy it was to contact businesses through Facebook without doing a lot of marketing.
My question is:
I want to turn this into a directory. How would I do a professional email marketing campaign to pizza owners throughout my state. I want to invite them to join and be apart of the something special. In a way, I want to keep it small - organic, I don't want to be overwhelmed but I do want to see this grow. How can I make this right?? What would you do. I have relationships with 30 pizza owners already. We have discussed my passion to start a directory and they have said that they will pay, if I decide to start one
How would you market this statewide. Social Media?
For years I have been hearing that directories were dead, I have always thought that if you develop a true niche - you might be able develop something unique.
So here is what I did. I did extensive research to see if anyone had developed this idea because like everyone else, I was very skeptical about the power of a local directory. I researched day in and day out, I still couldn't find anything that resembled my idea.
When I did find something, the directories were very basic, unattractive....crude. So now I am feeling like I may have an idea. I asked a colleague of mine what he thought about directories and he basically said, "with sites like google, bing, yahoo and yelp. you're not going to make any money." LOL. He is a smart dude. One of the guys that you want to prove wrong whenever you get the chance. Now I am truly motivated!
What is the directory? A pizza directory. A directory that caters to pizza owners and the pizza business. Some of you are saying, big deal, not unique at all. Well I did it.
The first thing I wanted to do was make this site feel homegrown. I didn't want it to feel like another corporate entity that was trying to attract businesses with no love for the community. Yes, love for the community was my slogan and I think it helped.
Ok. So this is what I did on a very small scale. I built a Facebook page and invited pizza places to participate in school programs that would encourage and reward students and/or classes that achieved goals such as good grades, financial goals, whatever the case was, I wanted to be a voice in the community. I thought dealing with the school system would be good because I was allowed to send goodie bags home with the students and plus its great promotion for 500 students to see.
Surprisingly, 20 pizza owners signed up and they were very involved in the process. I convinced those involved that dealing closely with the community could only do positive things for their business. So the first event was a pizza party for a class that scored high on a standardized test. Oops! Who was going to pay for the pizza's. I negotiated with the owners and I paid half. I also agreed to put the business all over my Facebook page and give them many thanks for what they did. After the event, people emailed and thanked the pizza owners for their involvement. It was a success, my business is born
In the beginning, I wasn't planning on doing a directory but I saw how easy it was to contact businesses through Facebook without doing a lot of marketing.
My question is:
I want to turn this into a directory. How would I do a professional email marketing campaign to pizza owners throughout my state. I want to invite them to join and be apart of the something special. In a way, I want to keep it small - organic, I don't want to be overwhelmed but I do want to see this grow. How can I make this right?? What would you do. I have relationships with 30 pizza owners already. We have discussed my passion to start a directory and they have said that they will pay, if I decide to start one
How would you market this statewide. Social Media?
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