Page 209 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

198 Michael D. Woods and Glenn Muske

as Main Street which work to improve the overall atmosphere and look of a
community.
Community marketing though is more than just how things look. Effec-
tive marketing also includes customer service. Quality customer service can
often overcome other limitations such as selection or convenience. Front-
line employees can “make or break” a business, and no amount of financial
planning can overcome rude or ineffective employees. The Oklahoma
PRIDE program has been a successful training effort for front-line employ-
ees of rural businesses (Woods, Selk, and Rash 1997). The program (Pro-
ducing Resourceful Informed Devoted Employees) includes a “train the
trainer” format, so local community groups can launch a PRIDE effort.
Firms benefit by having employees who not only understand that they need
to be friendly, but also that they should know the firm’s policies and goals.
A related tool often used by communities is a secret visitor program de-
signed to capture the experiences and perceptions of visitors. An individ-
ual(s) drives through town, shops in local stores, and asks for directions or
information. The experience is recorded, sometimes with pictures, and
shared during a debriefing with local merchants and organizations. This is
a community-wide variation of a secret shopper program. In this approach,
businesses are visited and evaluated on criteria such as product, service, and
accessibility. Also, communities should recognize a need for community-
wide and regional efforts designed to attract visitors. For examples of these
types of programs, visit the University of Illinois Website materials on Com-
munity Swap (University of Illinois, Community Development Toolbox
2006).
Finally, community marketing can include the events and attractions in a
community and how it advertises them to others. The key in these market-
ing pieces is that all parts must work together. Usually no one single mar-
keting element will make a successful microbusiness. To paraphrase Jay
Levinson’s book, Guerilla Marketing (1998), marketing is everything you do.
There remains however an important limiting factor on what all of these
marketing efforts can achieve. As noted by Muske and Woods (2004), mi-
crobusinesses tend to focus only on the local market. This was especially
true for businesses that already depended upon local sales. Expansion for
30 percent of owners depending on local sales meant now reaching out to
the town next door. If they have not done that in the past, such a move rep-
resents a step in the right direction and should be encouraged. However,
when marketing is identified as a need, another possible response would be
to work with an owner to take his or her product or service statewide,
nationwide or even worldwide.
The competitive environment for many of today’s businesses is evolving.
They may not recognize it but most are part of the global economy. Mi-
crobusinesses must consider market access via the World Wide Web as a