Everyday brings new challenges and new opportunities but today I think that I heard a sad thing. We have websites to sell shoes online and that pretty much sums up the grand plan. However, as time goes on pretty much one good thing brings another. This is definitely the case with the web: we have to marry some pretty complex marketing strategies into our site structures to have any chance of making a sale full stop. Nothing comes easy especially if it brings revenue. This is never more so online. So as time goes on I blog, tweet and link my day away, I am not the only one certainly it just comes with the territory. So onto today's events:

I spoke today to our marketing manager, Rebecca. She has been out gathering content for our free listing local directory. (Bit of a side track in some ways but I see it as giving back to our local community. It is also the best and most effective way that I can help using our resources.) So Rebecca sees people, gets their story, gathers news and we post it up.

The shock came when a local business man announced to her that he has gathered £10,000 in sponsorship to be able to print up an enhanced local map. I felt so dejected that all the effort and contact that has been spent gathering funds was simply spent on print. If the poor guy had spent £20 on a fairly current marketing book he would have produced ten more effective and cost neutral ideas. Let alone what could be done for £10,000. I will have to do some sums but that would build lots of websites on a charity built basis. That is sites built to promote local events and business via a none-profit model.

Just think of one clued up shopper in this modern world who reaches for print based information instead of web. The fixed use only once nature of print based media is seeing it die a little every day. Any good well built web information system grows and evolves every day. Literally the more content that goes in, the bigger the whole. Like a black hole the content rich site gathers from around it eventually growing deeper and bigger all the time.

Simple message here do not spend the money until you have done 100 free marketing tricks online. Then when you have done that read a book and do the next 100 that come to mind. We are currently working on our second 100 and the list grows.

We are currently working on a new free listing website called http://www.bawtry.org this is designed to promote and build Bawtry business and the town all free of charge. The finished project goes live on the 15th of November 2010.