Marketing Seminar

The Community Development Committee of the City of Ouray sponsored a marketing seminar as part of the monthly Business Round Tables. Today, the speaker was Jim Kidd, Director of Small Business from the Development Center of West Central Colorado. He is a good speaker and very knowledgeable on the topic.

Jim presented a few interesting concepts including what he termed as the five pillars of marketing:

1) Advertising -- Print (The written word, used to inform the general public)
2) Promotion (the buzz or excitement you create about the event or product)
3) Public Relations (your standing in the community)
4) Publicity (externally generated, uncontrolled by the business owner)
5) Sales (as in markdowns or something is on sale)

He also spent a lot of time discussing how you define the customers that you have or that you want to have. We did an exercise that really opened up my mind on this subject where we tried to create three profiles of customers. It was very beneficial.

He emphasized the importance of a budget, walked through a sample budget and stressed the importance of a fully integrated marketing plan.

At least 30 people were there representing various businesses and not-for-profits in the community including:

Spare Design
Box Canyon Lodge
Ouray Chalet Inn
Cascade Falls Lodge
Ouray Riverside Inn
Ouray Comfort Inn
Weehawken Creative Arts
Ouray Gallery
Second Chance Humane Society
Khristopher's Culinaire
Rocky Mountain Treasures & Gifts
Exotic Earth Coffee Roasters
Ridgway Outdoor Experience
Ouray Trails Group
Ouray Historical Society
Columbus Hotel

During the meeting a small discussion ensued where people asked about marketing Ouray County as a region as opposed to the two little towns of Ouray and Ridgway. Mr. Kidd seemed to think that a lot more cross pollination would occur and the concept is very forward thinking and would be successful. Mr. Kidd even pointed out that the region from Grand Junction to Durango is just the "Western Slope"... No one but these little towns think of it individually, the rest of the state lumps us all together. Pursuing the question a bit further sounds like a great idea.

I am happy to be part of such a great community where continuous development and improvement are part of the lexicon and so many people are involved!

Karen
http://www.boxcanyonouray.com