Streets of Atlanta Promotions (S.O.A.P.) is officially back in the city! It’s been a long stint out in the country, Dallas that is. Dallas, Georgia that is. But the wait was well met with its worth. Since enrolling into school, I’m now the President of the Chattahoochee Tech American Marketing Association Collegiate Chapter. Also, as of May, I will have earned enough credit hours to transfer into Georgia State University, which I plan to do this Fall.

The enablers of my relocation are the kind folks at Mindzai Creative. There, I work along side Scott Weatherwax and others to help build one of the most cutting edge print and design studios in the Southeast. My role is multifunctional. Weekly, I perform a variety of tasks pertaining to social marketing, email marketing, blog writing, content management, copy writing, art direction, graphic design and client management. It’s pretty impressive when I think about it. But on only 3 days a week it’s certainly not easy.

I plan to continue to take on additional projects. Larger projects and clients with multifaceted needs beyond my abilities may get folded into the Mindzai / Atlanta Web Design Store umbrella.

I continue to welcome all inquiries small and large. I’ll try to at least try to point you in the right direction. Many of you have been contacting me about street team promotion, a task I’m personally not involved with any longer. However, I try to keep an ongoing list of current flyer passer outers at all times. I am actively working on larger street installations. But the price tag is a bit high on those and it’s not something that I can go on about here.

Many thank you’s for all of the support! With the spare drive time I’ll strive to update this blog more often!

Many thanks,

Ryan D. Cagle

Owner Operator – Streets of Atlanta Promotions

Really happy I spent the time learning how to make those banners! I’ll probably use more of them in the near future.

This email was his first introduction to our fan based newsletter. To build a little buzz we decided to offer a free download of his latest track “Step Sequence Survivor.” The results were pretty good. I picked up two or three blogger mentions, and we had about 300 plays on SoundCloud after 3 days of promoting the track. One disappointment, however, was the somewhat lower reaction to Dark Arps live set mentioned in this email. I think it was simply over looked, which is a shame because a lot of fans and or blogs would prefer a longer mix. But giving both links equal billing in the email looked cluttered to me, so I went with the layout below.

Sorry for the formatting issues! The email DID NOT have the space between the header and body. I’m working out some MailChimp to WordPress issues To see the email as it was sent please click here.

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.           click image to enlarge Follow Dark Arps Here: Dark Arps Bio and Info Dark Arps on SoundCloud Dark Arps on Facebook   Steamtown welcomes Live PA artist and producer Dark Arps! A new hobo has stumbled into the Steamtown camp, and he came bearing gifts!   A FREE Download!! Dark Arps – Step Sequence Survivor   Preview or Download from SoundCoud Official video of Dark Arps performing this track LIVE!   “Step Sequence Survivor” combines the worlds of dubstep and progressive house. Download the MP3, turn it up and share! Also, check out this Dark Arps LIVE set performed at Box Studios in Vancouver BC, December 18, 2010. We look forward to bringing you more from this well seasoned and immensely talented artist in 2011. Until then, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!   About Steamtown: Steamtown Records is a US based electronica & dance music record label. Formed in the spirit of a traveler, each Steamtown release is a small home for musical wanderers who ride the rails of sound, searching out others who share a love of club music and inspired electronica.  Follow us on twitter and facebook Thanks being a part of the Steamtown Records newsletter! Unsubscribe djnotech@gmail.com from this list. Our mailing address is: Steamtown Records 6365 Marietta St Atlanta, GA 30306 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2011 Steamtown Records All rights reserved.   Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

The requirements were to make something that had a country/americana vibe to it. For some inspiration I checked out the band webpages and fell in love with the designs Little Country Giants used. Their designs had everything you’d expect form an americana outfit, yet they were modern and edgy. So what I was going for here was country, yes, but not cheesy or hillbilly. These are modern bands and I wanted the design element to reflect that.

Ally, of Good Foot Promotions, is the bomb. I designed the flyer and she ruled the streets pasting it everywhere possible. I was really pleased with her distribution campaign. I think it made a big splash! We also worked quite well together on the internet side of things constantly @’ing each other, the event or whatever was most relevant on Facebook. Again, refreshing.

Another exciting breakthrough that happened while we were promoting this event was the Facebook Page updates. At once my DJ Notech Page could @ people and interact with the event page. Previously this privilege was reserved for my personal Facebook Profile.

So anyway, it all came together! I sent out an email through my Funk’s Not Dead! email list. I also created a short sample mix the week before the show and sent out a Facebook update to my fans notifying them of the free mix as well as the upcoming show. We didn’t get much press, but we did get support from the Fusicology email list.

Night of, The Five Spot sound man top-notch! All the bands sounded great! And one thing I’ll say The Five Spot really has going for it is: location, location, location. What a difference indeed.

Here’s the run down of the bill…

Atlanta’s own Newberry Jam, Nashville’s Deep Fried Five, and JazzChronic from Athens to be hosted by DJ’s Notech & Dr. Adam Bomb.

NEWBERRY JAM
For years, Newberry Jam has been one of the main staples of the Atlanta funk scene. Ian Newberry fronts the band with his signature slick guitar licks and other big Atlanta music names such as Michael Hurly (Bass) and Radley …Fricker (Drums) make this one very funkalicous band.
http://www.myspace.com/newberryjam

DEEP FRIED FIVE
One of Nashville’s top funk acts, Deep Fried Five is a group of friends who formed this band with the goal of funk revival. Their approach brings back the sounds of retro 60s soul and 70s disco while incorporating acid jazz and funk into a melting pot of high energy and climactic jam.
http://www.myspace.com/thedeepfriedfive

JAZZCHRONIC
Athens-based jazz chronic is some of the smoothest original funk around. Horn and key heavy, its a real treat for the funk music fan. Its got that guaranteed groove that’ll get your feet dancing and your booty shaking.
http://jazzchronic.com/fr_home.cfm

FUNK’S NOT DEAD! (DR. ADAM BOMB & DJ NOTECH)
Top shelf new funk and classic ATL DJ’s known for their Funk’s Not Dead! series at Highland Inn Ballroom, and Adam Bomb’s Soul Kitchen radio show, these guys know how to get ya groovin’ and will keep it goin late night with some bass heavy goodness.
http://www.facebook.com/djnotech,

$7 Presale/$10 Door- Limited Number Of Presale Tix Available
Brought to you by The Good Foot Promotions and Pabst Blue Ribbon

I thought the original rowing man head had an iconic look, so I traced it in Illustrator and applied lighting effects in Photoshop. The background shapes were also created in Illustrator and processed further in Photoshop. I’m really pleased with the result and best of all, so is Wes! Oh, and the music is great too! Give it a listen here.

Original Sketch by Wesley Dysart

1.) When flyering cars place the flyer on the drivers side window or side view mirror.
As annoying of a tactic as flyering cars is I’m amazed at how many people make it even more annoying for the prospect by placing the flyer underneath a cars windshield wipers. It could damage the wiper blade, and most people won’t even notice the flyer until they’ve started the car and looked ahead and then will have to get out of the car to take the flyer, or just drive off and hope it’ll fly off on the highway.

2.) Inside is usually better than outside.
If you have some 11×17 tabloids or posters consider placing them inside stores before stapling them to telephone polls. They generally stay up longer, and people walk a little slower than cars drive so they’ll have time to read your poster. Outdoor posters are not all bad just try to be strategic and place a few over a large area, not 50+ on one street.

3.) Come Prepared.
Make sure you have the proper gear to hit the streets; clear tape, a staple gun with extra staples, package tape for outdoors and a back pack or messenger bag is standard issue.

Window Posters

4.) Be Clean.
Take a little time to straighten up the flyer table or wall. It makes all the flyers easier to read, it gives you some time to look over everything and take out anything out of date, and most importantly the people working there will see you care about the appearance of their store and welcome your next visit.

5.) Be Nice.
Most stores that allow flyers are independently owned. They pay for the space you want to fill with an advertisement, so don’t assume an entitlement to place one there. Ask nicely, say thank you, and leave. Saying too much can get you into trouble as well.

There are several ways to add a bit of kindling to the word of mouth fire. Still, you must remove all spam tactics from your mind. There will be no pointless plugging of your services. Offer something real and be a friend.

Word of mouth can only be a natural process that grows organically. Thus, it cannot be faked. It cannot be forced or directly controlled. It is the voice of the people and you can’t stop anyone from saying negative things about you. Likewise, you can’t force people to say nice things about you. One good example I’ve seen is from Sweetwater Music. They add a bit of candy to everything they ship, displaying a real appreciation for the clients business that in turn fosters genuine word of mouth. (**NOTE** they spend $10k per week on candy and keep records of what clients enjoy) It’s a harmless gesture, not a product catalog. Nothing spammy, just a nice way to say thank you. Although expensive gesture, but worth it in the long haul.

Some businesses offer free advice to clients about their specific field of expertise. One may view this is as giving away trade secrets, but providing clients something of value that they can use in everyday conversation is a great way to encourage word of mouth. Think of the many social situations in which you discuss products or services with others. Often it’s when someone is asking you for advice, so offer a little free advice to your clients and increase the chances of your brand coming up in conversation.

Another strategy to get people talking about you is to select the key people who are most likely to talk about you, or more importantly select the people who are most likely to talk to the people you want to talk to but don’t know. For example, years ago Adidas was launching a new running shoe and wanted some buzz on the ground level before the product hit the stores. They compiled a list of promoters, door security men, club owners and many others to send a digital picture frame that could play movies with sound and accepted a variety of small media cards. The movie players came with a flash card pre-loaded with a fantastically edited commercial about Adidas’ new product. It didn’t matter if the people who received the promotion were avid runners or even huge fans of Adidas, they didn’t even have to watch the commercial! We couldn’t talk about our cool new video player with out mentioning Adidas!  It even came with a remote and I still have it.

With the above examples it is my hope that I’ve lifted the veil somewhat on word of mouth marketing. What are people likely to talk about regarding your business? What can you do to stand apart from the others in your marketplace. What do you have to offer and what can you give away that is of value and is also something people will want to share with others? Always remember; word of mouth marketing is a piece of the marketing mix you do not own, control or fake.

EFFECTIVELY:

One of the unique things about hand to hand promotion is the element of surprise. Whether your soliciting door to door, or outside a club most people don’t necessarily expect you to be there. This is both a benefit of flyer distribution and one of the greatest challenges.

As stated in the previous article getting information to people at the exact moment they are looking for it is a much sought after strategy in marking and promotions. However as solicitors we are more often than not sneaking an advertisement directly to an individual at more or less a random time. One strategy to increase the chances of your messages falling into welcome hands is to deliver the message quickly. With as many annoying solicitors as there are out there are it’s important to distance yourself from their tactics. Whether your passing out flyers on the street or going door to door in an office building be brief and to the point. Leave a good impression and you’ll increase the chances of your message being welcomed.

One of the great benefits of this element of surprise is that you can cut through the advertising noise rather effectively. A print ad in a magazine or a giant billboard off the highway is much easier to forget or ignore. Also on a flyer the information is already written down so there is no need to hope your phone number was easy enough to remember for the prospect to contact you when the need arises. If interested, the prospect now knows about your service, and has your calling card.

ETHICALLY:

There are only so many steps a solicitor can take to remain ethical. For the most part, I expect people to ignore “no soliciting” signs. With that said a solicitor can still be mindful of others valuable time and try to keep their pitch brief to the point, in addition to being relative to the business being solicited to. Examples of people selling baseball tickets to video duplication houses and religious wacko’s selling God to anyone come to mind as non-relative solicitors. Internet and search engine optimization however may be a good candidate to sling door to door. I think that most business to business marketing is more acceptable than the idea of business to consumer marketing if soliciting door to door. As the solicitor try to envision yourself as attempting to build a network of professionals instead of merely trying to make a buck. Even if someone has no need of your service, attempt to leave an acceptable impression so that they may mention your product or service to someone else. This does not mean hounding the prospect for more information or with more questions. As stated before, be brief, to the point, drop off a flyer and get out. Let the prospective customer digest the information on his or her own terms and you’ll see a much better return.