Since Camp Bow Wow opened, life has been in overdrive. While I have been able to establish somewhat of a "work" routine (I work two regular Camp shifts per week), I still spend nearly every waking moment marketing or thinking about marketing. Our Grand Opening party is August 25, for which I'm in charge of planning and orchestrating. Newspaper ads have been running in the Tribune since July 20 and radio spots on K99 (99.1 FM), TRI 102.4 FM and another station begin Monday.
For the record, the newspaper ad money has been wasted. We've gotten a measurable zero response from the ads. Apparently, no one reads the newspaper anymore, unless it's online where the paper advertisements aren't posted. We are hoping for a much better response from radio. Otherwise, ALL of our current customers have found us via the Internet and word-of-mouth. Consequently, I've spent hours trying to optimize our website and Internet presence without paying a service to do it for me. As they say, time is money, so this time investment on my part had better pay off.
For the Grand Opening party, K99 will be doing an onsite live-broadcast remote. We'll also have several vendors with booths, including Weld County Humane Society, Second Chance Rescue, Canidae dog food, Greeley Chamber of Commerce, Qdoba, IntaJuice and some others. We'll be doing facility tours as well as running a doggy photo booth (get your picture taken with your dog) and a doggy "bobbing for hotdogs" pool. Whew! Please send me your prayers and positive energy that we'll have hundreds of people and great response.
If you're reading this and within 4 hours of Greeley, I expect you to come. No whiny excuses like "I don't have a dog," or "I don't even live in the state." Unacceptable. You should be there to support me.
MAX
Where does little Max fit into all this? Well, he's been logging in a lot of grandma and daddy time. As a result, it seems to me that he has grown up overnight. He is doing all sorts of new and crazy things...like learning by observation how to flush the toilet, turn on/off the computer, open/close and turn on/off the dish washer, point the TV remote at the TV and change stations/volume, etc. Tomorrow he will be driving the car.
He also understands nearly everything you say to him, except with the selective hearing filter he inherited from his father. So, while he immediately responds to "let's go for a walk," "time to take a bath," and "do you want some ice cream," he completely ignores "no," "get out of the dog food bowl," and "time to pick up your toys." Hmmmm.
FINGER INJURY
Yes, LaDawn, you heard right. Max logged in his first trip to the ER a few weeks ago. We were at Camp and I was working in the back while Adrian was in the lobby checking email and surfing the 'Net. Max was crawling around in a gated area (under the close supervision of his dad) and found the only thing available in which to stick his finger...the 3"X3" metal fan mounted in the lobby desk to exhaust the heat from the computer. Imagine a CuisineArt chopping blade.
Luckily, it didn't chop his finger clean off, but it did slice a gory swath of skin and nail from the top of his left index finger. I won't bore you with the ER trip details, as I'm sure you can imagine the chaos, screaming and tears (both his and mine).
For the record, the newspaper ad money has been wasted. We've gotten a measurable zero response from the ads. Apparently, no one reads the newspaper anymore, unless it's online where the paper advertisements aren't posted. We are hoping for a much better response from radio. Otherwise, ALL of our current customers have found us via the Internet and word-of-mouth. Consequently, I've spent hours trying to optimize our website and Internet presence without paying a service to do it for me. As they say, time is money, so this time investment on my part had better pay off.
For the Grand Opening party, K99 will be doing an onsite live-broadcast remote. We'll also have several vendors with booths, including Weld County Humane Society, Second Chance Rescue, Canidae dog food, Greeley Chamber of Commerce, Qdoba, IntaJuice and some others. We'll be doing facility tours as well as running a doggy photo booth (get your picture taken with your dog) and a doggy "bobbing for hotdogs" pool. Whew! Please send me your prayers and positive energy that we'll have hundreds of people and great response.
If you're reading this and within 4 hours of Greeley, I expect you to come. No whiny excuses like "I don't have a dog," or "I don't even live in the state." Unacceptable. You should be there to support me.
MAX
Where does little Max fit into all this? Well, he's been logging in a lot of grandma and daddy time. As a result, it seems to me that he has grown up overnight. He is doing all sorts of new and crazy things...like learning by observation how to flush the toilet, turn on/off the computer, open/close and turn on/off the dish washer, point the TV remote at the TV and change stations/volume, etc. Tomorrow he will be driving the car.
He also understands nearly everything you say to him, except with the selective hearing filter he inherited from his father. So, while he immediately responds to "let's go for a walk," "time to take a bath," and "do you want some ice cream," he completely ignores "no," "get out of the dog food bowl," and "time to pick up your toys." Hmmmm.
FINGER INJURY
Yes, LaDawn, you heard right. Max logged in his first trip to the ER a few weeks ago. We were at Camp and I was working in the back while Adrian was in the lobby checking email and surfing the 'Net. Max was crawling around in a gated area (under the close supervision of his dad) and found the only thing available in which to stick his finger...the 3"X3" metal fan mounted in the lobby desk to exhaust the heat from the computer. Imagine a CuisineArt chopping blade.
Luckily, it didn't chop his finger clean off, but it did slice a gory swath of skin and nail from the top of his left index finger. I won't bore you with the ER trip details, as I'm sure you can imagine the chaos, screaming and tears (both his and mine).
2 comments:
Marketing is tricky, risky business. Marc and I found that newspaper ads were a complete waste of time. We drop leaflets through doors and pay to have them included in things like "Welcome to the Neighbourhood" packs or area magazines. We have a Family Fun local magazine which gives us great response. Word of Mouth is still our numero uno most effective tool. We now leave extra leaflets with satisfied customers to handout to their neighbours/friends and actively seek referrals from our business customers. That works the best for us!
This might have been the first but most certainly not the last trip to ER. It's amazing our children survive us at all! Sebastian went 4 times in 2 weeks and social services called. He's been 16 times in his short 6 years. It makes him stronger I keep telling myself. And it makes me stronger. I almost fainted when he cut his head open at school and the nurse cleaned the wound. I realised how big it was and nearly hit the floor. Give him cuddles from me!
Thanks for the tips, LaDawn. Good ones. I have lots of ideas, but only little me to implement at this time. I'm going to get a slave-labor marketing intern when the UNC term begins.
Yes (big sigh), I imagine with an adventurous little boy I will frequently taxi him to/fro the ER over the years. I just pray it is always for bumps/bruises and nothing more. :-) How did you deal with social services? LOL!
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