Balancing school, work and my Caribbean passion

It's 8:40 a.m. and I'm awake...it's a minor miracle. I'm still groggy but thought I should crank out a post as it's been a while since I've blogged. Why did I think that balancing 3 days of grad. school a week, working part-time four days a week and volunteering for several projects would be a good idea?
But anyhoo, life in the Big City is definitely moving at top speed. In about six weeks I'll be done with my first year of grad. school (Go me!) and hopefully I'll be interning somewhere. So while I'm looking forward to summer, I know that the work won't be over anytime soon. I'm reminded here of a post by author Seth Godin. In it he talks about sprinting, not in the literal sense of the word but as it relates to getting projects done. It struck a chord with me because sometimes we do need to sprint to get papers done, to get projects completed and when you're doing it, your fears really do fall away and your creativity and resourcefulness come into play. But I've come to realize that I've been doing a lot of sprinting lately and that can quickly lead to burnout. So as exciting as the Big City is right now, I know I have to pace myself if I intend to accomplish everything I'd like to. So that's that.
In other Island Girl news, I've been doing a lot of research lately on Caribbean events taking place in North America as I hope to get involved through volunteering and such. What I've discovered is an appalling lack of information on so many of the events and happenings that have been billed as big Caribbean hapenings. Granted I've been doing my research via the internet and not by phone, this is the way that most people research events these days! If there is a web presence, it is not as polished as it should be in order to attract sponsors and attendees. Without naming organizations, (and I know I've harped on this before) the Internet is the cheapest and easiest way to garner publicity, so use it to your advantage! That goes for every organization and that concludes my post for today. Hopefully I get around to posting more often even as the semester starts closing in around me :-)
Also, I'm thinking about moving the blog to Wordpress, so stay tuned.

The two-step flow in developing marketing strategies

As marketers and PR professionals, an understanding of how people acquire information from the media is necessary for developing successful strategies. One popular academic theory is the Two Step Flow Theory (Katz & Lazarsfeld). It basically posits that in general, people are more influenced by personal contacts rather than news sources when they have to make a decision. It's a two-step flow because opinion leaders first receive the information from the mass media and they in turn pass on the news content along with their own interpretations. This theory can explain why some media campaigns fail...they simply aren't targeting the right publics, the opinion leaders. Just something to keep in mind as strategies are developed.

Think about Twitter and alot of other social media. The early adopters are generally the ones who influence others to use. You didn't sign up for Facebook because you saw an ad..you did it because the influencers in your circle may have mentioned how and why they use it and then you subsequently adopted. Will this approach work for your product? Thinking about this may save alot of marketing dollars.

Caribbean brands: Leveraging the Internet

It is rapidly becoming clear that in order to obtain worldwide relevance as a brand, organizations and individuals need to leverage the Internet effectively. It's a simple statement but in relation to Caribbean businesses and products I think it needs to be articulated. Within the region itself where internet penetration is still relatively low, businesses typically use traditional modes of promotion like advertisements, event sponsorships and celebrity spokespersons. But if Caribbean companies seek to take their products further than the region, it is imperative that they leverage the Internet. West Indian expats are a large community in the U.S. and often go to the web to seek out information on their favorite foods, artistes, events and news. It is an audience that is often ignored by companies from the region but which has the potential to increase revenue for these companies.

A web presence is necessary if Caribbean companies intend to increase their market share and I'm often amazed at how many companies don't get this. This doesn't apply to companies only, events and artistes would also benefit tremendously from good online exposure. Having worked in the Caribbean, I know that it can be difficult to see the big picture when you're on the ground, but if our islands intend to remain competitive in this economy then we need to take advantage of the tools available. It's not as if the talent isn't there.

How are small locally-owned villas along our coasts supposed to compete with large world renowned hotels if they don't even have a website which caters to tourist intending to visit the region? The same can be said for many other Caribbean businesses. If Caribbean businesses intend to thrive, their marketing strategies need to be revamped to keep up with the changing way information is sourced. And of course this does not just apply to Caribbean businesses. In another post I'll take a look at ways in which individuals typically obtain information and examine which of these modes influence their decisions the most.