Presentation given at DLS Days May 2010 by the Geneva Public Library on how we successfully collaborated with local businesses.

1. Collaborating with theLocal Business Community Presenters: Peggy Carlson Assistant Director Jamie Lyn Weaver OutReach Coordinator Ellen Schmid Virtual Reference LibRariAn Peggy Barber Colour Line Hair Studio

2. What we set out to do Respond to our local small business owners in a more specialized and unique way Not by using the same old, same old approach Offer individualized, personalized service to our community businesses Tailor our resources to fit their needs Think/act more like consultants Prove that this collaboration would make a positive impact on them, us and our community as a whole Keeping our community’s small businesses viable in touch economic times

3. Our past attempts to reach out—Some more successful than others We wrote letters to local business groups like GWIB Marketing campaign “When You’re Sleeping the Geneva Library is Awake” Realtors Tea Dewey Dudes on Parade “These are just a small sampling of the electronic tools we have available at the Geneva Public Library. If this is not something you would be interested in being presented to your group, would it be possible for us to provide you with promotional materials on these resources that you could hand out to your members during a luncheon? We would be greatly appreciative of your helping us to get the word out on these services to our Geneva community.”

4. We needed a hook Our Assistant Director joined Geneva Women in Business (GWIB) Nowww they accepted our proposal to speak at one of their 75 member luncheons If no one in your organization can join a group Use personal contacts—your salon owner, neighbor, insurance salesperson, friend

5. This got our foot in the door to be able to: http://www.tesora.com.au/Foot-in-the-Door__100.htm Establish their trust Show them we had the right stuff Expertise Service Electronic tools, articles, current business books We have lots of marketing tools Listen to what they had to say Do we really have the resources they need?

6. But how could we really prove our worth? Invite three small businesses to collaborate with us on our presentation Retail Service Home-based In return for their time, we would feature each business we partnered with in our presentation (win win for all) Provide real life examples of how our specific resources and expertise could help businesses in our community Added bonus: Other businesses could tailor our suggestions to their own business needs

7. We partnered with these fabulous businesses Retail Owner: Debra Phillips Scentimental Gardens is a family owned business built on old- fashioned working values. For over 18 years, Debra has been following her passions -- blending her love of garden design and the exhilaration of the hunt for one of a kind antiques, with an edgy European flare. Home-based Owner: Elisa Sorrentino Elisa believes in building strong relationships with clients, and enjoys photographing and experiencing their life journey with them. Her goal is to capture the magic of a moment, and to deliver images and products that tug at your heart & provide memories that last over a life-time. Service Owner: Peggy Barber A team of passionate service oriented artistic support personnel committed to continually surprising individualizing and exceeding the expectations of all who do business with us.

8. The day of the interview 6 questions we asked each business Visited 2 of the 3 businesses (home-based interview was at the library) Length = 1 hour Video camera and camera to document (with permission) Asked 6 interview questions LISTENED What is your impression of how the Library can help you with your business needs? What are your current challenges in your business? How do you keep up-to-date with new industry trends? How are you marketing your business? Are you using social networking in your marketing strategies? Do you have a website—if so how is it maintained? Collaborative process

9. After the interviews Feedback questions Reviewed info we gathered & brainstormed Collected pertinent resource tools Set another meeting to share our findings Asked for their feedback Did we offer helpful suggestions to you for your business? What was something we offered that you could take away and start implementing? Did your opinion of what the Library could do for you change after we met? Collaborative process continued

10. What we learned Commonality between different businesses Attracting new customers Low marketing budgets Needed help implementing/managing social media strategies Identifying/staying current with new trends Reminded ourselves that our expertise is in finding information and teaching others how to as well Realized we needed to add more social media and marketing books to our collection and we needed to train more staff on the basics

11. The resources we suggested to businesses 112 views on slideshare in the last two months!

12. We demonstrated how our subscription databases can be used in specific searches tailored to individual businesses.

15. Which led to these measurable successes Board approved library cards for business owners

16. and this Geneva Public Library’s Business Hub website Shout out to Mick @ Skokie Public Library for this great idea!

17. More good things Perceived as experts in the community Having too many presentation requests Facebook for Merchants LinkedIn for Businesses Putting Your Business on the Map Drop-in technology workshops Great testimonials Peggy Barber owner of Colour Line Hair Studio was willing to be our guest today to give us one in person!

18. A few written testimonials Hi Jamie and Peggy Thanks so very much for your presentation at the Downtown Merchants meeting. I went in to check out Yahoo and Google and discovered they were still using my old address in St. Charles!! Egads!! So I changed and updated it. Looking forward to your February information! Atala Dorothy ToyCrystal Life Technology, Inc. Matt- As you know Peggy Carlson made a presentation to GWIB (Geneva Chamber of Commerce Women in Business) last Tuesday and the comments were so positive I thought you would like to know. The group was amazed at all the services you offer and the information given was very helpful. Even at our Board meeting on Thursday two of the attendees commented on the many resources that are available to business via the library. It’s just a challenge to get the message out but Peggy did just that. Jean Gaines President-Geneva Chamber of Commerce

19. Who we’re working with in 2010

20. And finally… “We have all been very good over the years in explaining what we do and how much we are used. But this kind of promotion doesn’t resonate with our funders. They know we are good and they know people like us, but they don’t know how relevant we are to the communities we serve.” ~Susan Gardner Reed Executive Director of the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations in Philadelphia

21. How to collaborate with us Peggy Carlson Assistant Director Geneva Public Library District pcarlson@geneva.lib.il.us Jamie Lyn Weaver Marketing and Outreach Coordinator jlweaver@geneva.lib.il.us Ellen Schmid Virtual Reference Librarian eschmid@geneva.lib.il.us Connect with us on LinkedIn