Being Known puts you in a Place and Mental Space

Selling a community for economic development purposes includes efforts-methods to stimulate outsiders to take a look at you. This is the first step toward success "IF" you are trying to lure in new businesses, new residents, tourists, meeting planners, real estate investors, and the list goes on. To be considered, you must first be known. In my book, Small Town Solutions (available on Amazon), I devote a chapter to this challenge titled "It Takes Being Recognized for Something-Anything Positive." Potential businesses, investors, tourists, families, anyone looking to relocate, LOOK for a reason. In other words, they have a reason to look, and they did. This places them squarely in the prospect category. Other good news is that by virtue of their "look" you already have something that caught their attention.

Where will the LOOK lead? How will they interpret what they see online, in person, or hear from the experience of others? This is an every day job for community leaders and economic development practitioners. You must shape, create, instill in your locals and other allies to do their best to look their best, and to speak positively about your town. Appearance is what others see when they look. This comes from photos as well as data, lots of numbers to identify trends, standard of living, business costs, available resources, etc. They will also concoct their own interpretation of your reputation as a community. They will also imagine what level of satisfaction they might enjoy should they move there, invest there, visit there. This is actually a multi-level exercise that hopefully leads to further exploration, and in time, an official or unofficial visit. The visit then gives you the best chance to win them over. The lesson here is that people are looking at your community every day, many from far away (online) or close-up (driving in or through). Make sure they see and hear things that positively impress, inspire, surprise.

Too often, small towns have not developed nor do they showcase the things that make them special and memorable.This came to mind recently when I had someone from a bigger city 50 miles away comment that a small community in our region was "in the middle of nowhere." This is the depth of impression that small towns must strive to avoid. Your job is to have something-anything (to see) that rolls off the tongue of first-time visitors. Everywhere is in the middle of somewhere. Your town can even be that "somewhere" that people will drive from everywhere to see.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that "there are no foreign lands, it is the traveler that is foreign." If your travelers instantly feel at home, see a place for them to make their home, the battle is more than halfway won. GIVE THEM SOMETHING NICE TO LOOK AT AND TO REMEMBER FONDLY WHEN THEY LOOK. Roll out the welcome mat and invite them to come again, or better yet, stay.