You.Need.To.Get.Out.There.
Yes, emphasis is intended on that statement. It’s so easy to get caught up in your office handling “business”. You have security issues to review, financials to be done, and board meeting agendas to prepare. To say your days are full would be an understatement! Even though the work is plentiful, you still need to find a way to communicate the great things that you are doing as a district.
As I have talked to districts both big and small across the country, I have noticed those who are successful are doing at least 3 or more of the ideas I am suggesting today. If you are already doing these things, then great! Feel free to share your ideas and success stories with us. If you are not, get started today.
These are things that you can do free that will promote your district to your community of owners, residents and local government agencies. Brag on yourself, your staff and those who partner with you everyday to make your district work!
1. Monthly Email Newsletter
Send out a monthly newsletter. You can use a mail service like MailChimp or Constant Contact and both are free email services. Keep your emails simple, not wordy or overloaded with text. Just list highlights from each of the focus points for your district (i.e. Security, Cleaning, Events, etc.) . Be sure to use pictures of local business and local residents and highlight good news to keep people interested. (You can check out the blog about 5 Free Resources Here)
2. Join Community Forums and Meetings
Get the heartbeat of your community, therefore your district, by joining local community forums. They can be online or in person. Don’t limit yourself. You will be amazed what you learn about your community when you join your neighborhood FaceBook group. One real estate company I know actually posted very cool black and white pictures every week of what the town used to look like before it was developed. It received a lot of engagement because the residents and businesses enjoyed seeing what their town looked like in the “old days”! Try it out for your district. Get some interesting photos of the “old days” before all the updates and improvements.
3. Blog about Your District
Sometimes you have to give yourself a great write up! š Do it through blog posts on your district website. A couple of paragraphs from someone in your office telling people how an event turned out, or what they can expect from the next event makes personal and easier for people to engage. When you tell them you plan on taking your own family to have fun somewhere, it’s more likely they will bring their own family.
4. Highlight Business Owners from your District
It’s a fact. When people see a group photo, the first face they will typically look for is their own. That doesn’t make them bad, it’s just human nature. Use this as leverage to get the attention of your owners in a positive way. Choose a format to promote one or two of your businesses owners weekly or monthly. You can easily include a write up in your monthly email newsletter, or you can send a couple of write ups to your community newspaper. Find out what is good about them or their business and promote that. A few kind words will go a long way in garnering support from these owners for your district.
5. Press Releases…..lots of them
Don’t be bashful about doing this. Many people underestimate the mileage that you can get from just writing stories or updates about their district. You can easily get a great story about your district picked up by your local news outlets especially if you are consistent at sending those press releases in. Do a web search of how to write a press release. There are thousands of templates and samples that you can follow that will get you going in the right direction.
These are just 5 ideas – there are so many more if you will take the time look around. Hopefully I’ve primed the pump to get you thinking about some ideas that you can implement for your and your staff.
You don’t have to do all of this at once, but I want to encourage you to do something today! You got this.
Emily