1. BRANDING AND FUNDING 101 Brian Pichman of the Evolve Project January 15th 2014

2. There never seems to be enough money to do anything 3. Stop thinking about a project and just do it 4. How Do You/Your Idea/ Library Stand Out? What is your style? What are your values? What are your skills / attributes? 5. First Step: Branding Your Idea/Project/Library What value add do we provide? 6. BRANDING Come up with a cool catch phrase, acronym, or other way to describeyour project. Give your project a concise and easy to say name Promote your brand across Social Media We will get to that later! Freebies Everyone loves give-a-ways. Buttons and Stickers are inexpensiveT-Shirts/Posters are a bit more costly, but a walking billboard Get people wondering What is Project X? Give people [patrons, companies, etc] small snippets of what isgoing on 7. Resources Required Passion for what you aredoing Be ready to get asked hardquestions, and provide good positive answers Be excited! Dont be afraid to approachpeople and talk. 8. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME 9. CHATTANOOGA 4TH FLOOR The 4th floor is a public laboratory and educational facilitywith a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts. The 14,000 sq foot space hosts equipment, expertise, programs,events, and meetings that work within this scope. While traditional library spaces support the consumption ofknowledge by offering access to media, the 4th floor is unique because it supports the production, connection, and sharing of knowledge by offering access to tools and instruction. 10. STEP 2: DEVELOP A PITCH Short (15 seconds-30 seconds) Provide Teasers (ROIs) We have over 20,000 users and I want to bring in yourtechnology to our library to encourage learning/engagement/collaboration. I have a few questions, if you can call me back at ###-###-####. If they do answer, schedule a time to conference call.Honesty Be honest to who you are speaking with. Disclosebudget for a project. 11. PITCHING YOUR IDEAS You have the power Keep in mind, you are choosing thatproduct/service. Let those vendors know that YOU picked THEM to be part of the library experience. Explain how its a free marketing tool for them,they are getting exposure in the community and/or library-land 12. ROIS As a library, we invest in things that provide a benefitto our community that outweighs the cost of us purchasing it Benefits > Cost Companies do the same thing, but their model is verysimple: Revenue > Cost Formula for dealing with companies or vendors,explain to them this model: Our Benefits + Your Revenue > Your Cost Benefits are hard to put a price tag on 13. BENEFITS FOR WORKING WITH LIBRARIES Exposure We have more control over purchasing power with books than Barnes andNobles plus Borders combined. Explain the amount of patrons your library sees weekly/daily. Delivered Content Companies spend a lot of money (from paying an employee) to deliver theircontent (product or service) to their prospective buyers. Libraries can deliver content, as it is our job to our community. We also support all of our delivered content Community Support / Charity Companies are often required to give-back to communities Offer press releases, naming of chairs/rooms, etc. 14. DONT BE AFRAID TO WORK UP THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART 15. STEP 3: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Meet vendors/companies forbreakfast/lunch/dinner. Talk to them about your Brand and Pitch them your ideas Share ideas and visions Brainstorm and collaborateBecome friends with your vendors/companies. Do set clear boundaries Have an additional meeting scheduled to talk about what theyare working on, upcoming technology, etc 16. WHAT CAN YOU ASK OF PEOPLE? Donations of Physical Products Donations of Money Connections Perhaps the most valuable of all. 17. COMMUNICATE YOUR NEEDS Who to AskHow to Ask Patrons Directly Local Businesses Phone Conversations Global or Large Companies Face to Face Conversations Friends of the Library Local Colleges and Schools Indirectly Reaching out through othermediums Internet (Social Media) Referrals (People) 18. SO WHERE CAN MONEY COME FROM? 19. CROWD-SOURCE FUNDING People across the world group together to fund new projects andideas People are encouraged to donate by either the attractive name orawards based off the amount they donate. Kickstarter.com Indiegogo.com 20. SOCIAL MEDIA Market your Brand through social media Also use Blogging tools Solid companies pro-actively manage their social mediaaccounts. They watch what people are saying because everyone else can see whatpeople say They want only positive remarks about their company on the web, they willwork to only have positive comments. If a company does provide assistance, always show your support throughsocial media (you may need more support later on down the road).Social Media is a way to develop relationships 21. TIPS - TWITTER Try to remain positive when communicating on twitter 140 Characters, make them count! Wow! @COMPANYX has some really great stuff. I need to get my hands on it Who would like to see @PRODUCT in our library space? Once you build a good relationship ask the hard questions Can you help me on the cost @COMPANYZ 22. TIPS - FACEBOOK Go to the Companys Pages, be sure to Like their page beforecommenting Again, be only positive. Tell your story, pitch your idea. 23. HANDLING OBJECTIONS You will hear no A LOT But that just means phrased the question wrong or asked theincorrect person. Who else can I talk to about discounted pricing/donations Does anyone make a similar product that would be more inline with ourbudget (ask them about their competitors). What other things would you recommend? Dont be afraid to ask the hard questions of why Everyone has a bottom line. 24. Win-Win Negotiation Long Term Goals outweigh Short Term Goals Focus Less on Prices, But Benefits Do your homework about who you are working with. 25. JUST ASK 26. PLACES TO SAVE MONEY Buy Refurbished Refurbishment is the distribution of products (usually electronics) that havebeen previously returned to a manufacturer or vendor for various reasons. Refurbished products are normally tested for functionality and defects before they are sold, and thus are the approximate equivalent of certified pre-owned cars. - Wikipedia Refurbs are OK!!! Discount Sites: 1SaleADay.Com Woot.Com Monoprice.Com E-Bay 27. ASK FOR GIVEWAYS Companies love to provide give-a-waysJust Ask! Clothes (T-Shirts, Hats, etc) Toys (Frisbies, Balls) Gadgets Pens/Pencils/Buttons/Stickers/Pins Give-a-ways are marketing materials forcompanies. 28. SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES 29. DEVELOPING SOFTWARE The cost to develop custom software is hard to put a price tag on. Ask Local Colleges/Universities for help Their students are often required to seek project work (where they dont getpaid). Unpaid Internships Pitch the experience to do something for library-land, great exposure, greatresume add. Build development groups in your library. Hire programmers/technology enthusiasts on your staff 30. FURNITURE FOR YOUR LIBRARY Maker Spaces People pay a membership to be part of aMakerSpace where the tools are provided for them to build Community Out Reach Ask your community for help Ask local businesses to makemonetary donations towards new furniture/rooms and let them advertise on it If Fifty People Donate Fifty Dollars =2,500 = Very Nice New Couch. 31. BONUSES FOR YOUR PATRONS Comcast Internet Access $10 a month (InternetEssentials) http://www.internetessentials.com For the folks in school, using your @edu address get: Free Microsoft Products at www.dreamspark.com Free AutoDesk Products at http://students.autodesk.com If you have to filter internet / protect from web basedthreats OpenDNS.com 32. EVERYLIBRARY EveryLibrary 1st Super PAC for libraries. Builds votersupport. http://everylibrary.org 33. You Will Also Need: Equally Motivated People Volunteers Staff Patrons 34. STAFF Have motivated and positive staff Staff members who want to do more than just check in andout booksStaff Development Days Get them involved with programs / decision makingSkill Assessment Staff members all have unique skills / hobbies Create badges / shirts that help identify the staff members withthose specific skills 35. VOLUNTEERS Dont give them busy work Ex. Cleaning BooksGive them a tangible product, that theycan be excited about Start a new program Help setting up for an event Ask them for INPUT 36. PATRONS You probably know the needs of your patrons But do you know the skills of your patrons?Identify which regular patrons have which skills You will be very surprised how willing they are to help start anew program at your library! They may be willing to donate too Or cater a program Or buy equipment Or donate old equipment 37. CONTACT ME Brian Pichman Twitter: @BPichman Cell: 815-534-0403 Email:bpichman@evolveproject.org Sides will be posted on: Slideshare.net/bpichman