Page 18 - March April 2015

Building The Connected Economy
By Stacey Leigh Mohr
This is the first in a series of articles designed to help us build what many call the New
Connected Economy. This connected economy is not based on the corporate model of
competition, price slashing, cheaper by the dozen, massed produced, environmentally
destructive products and impersonal services. It is, rather, based on the development of a relationship between purchaser and provider; a sense of community; a commitment to keep our hard-earned dollars working for us locally; the provision of quality products; striving to keep our environmental footprint light; respect for all individuals involved in each transaction; and with the understanding that we are all connected and, as we respect that sacred connection, we will prosper and we will be able to build an economy that truly works for the benefit of all, not just a privileged few.
So how do we who are healers, counselors, Light Workers, and those who have products or services created to lift the burdens of our fellow beings, communicate and connect locally with those who would most benefit from what we have to offer?
And how do those seeking healing, comfort, solace, or advice on the right essential oil for an upset stomach connect with the local products and services they seek?
Making the Connection
Nowadays we can find so much by, as I say, “googling it up on the Internet”. But what if you don’t know what search terms to use? What if the local practitioner or purveyor of the product you need does not have a website that is search engine optimized to your search terms? They won’t show up in the search results and then you’ll assume they don’t exist! The connection doesn’t happen.
A great way to “make the connection” is through a combination of targeted print and online access – making your products and services very visible in both places. In the next issue, we’ll talk about making your website “search engine optimized” so your future customers can easily find your website. In this column, I want to talk to you about print advertising.
But isn’t print a dinosaur? Lumbering, ineffective, and going extinct? Being quickly extinguished by the fast and nimble Digital Age?
Au Contraire, Mon Frere
Print connects people in ways that digital mediums do not. Micah White, the founder of the Occupy Wall Street movement, has said that the Occupy movement started as a digital meme. But, he said, within two weeks of the establishment of ANY Occupy encampment, anywhere in the US, a print newsletter or magazine was started and used to connect participants in the encampment and spread the message of Occupy.
Mr. White also said that the first community owned business started by the Occupy movement was a print shop.
Local communities connect, and are grown and nurtured through print publications. Yes, the Internet is a valuable tool, but it is a support of, not a replacement for, the relationship building power of print.
“But”, you may say, “I have paid for print advertising in the past and seemed to get little response from it”.
Print advertising can be very effective. In a 2013 study conducted by The Nielson Company, (the TV ratings company), the average return on investment for every dollar spent on print was $7.81, well above the average $2.79 bump ads on “digital portals/ad networks” have generated in the last five years.
But this is assuming that advertisers are spending their ad dollars in the right place with the right ads. If you are paying big dollars to advertise your healing arts business in a print publication that is not delivered exclusively to your target market, you are wasting your money. If your ad doesn’t attract the readers’ eyes, or quickly engage browsers, your advertising will be largely ineffective.
So here are some tips to help our local healers, metaphysicians, and creators of marvelous holistic products connect with those who would benefit from what they have to offer:
Hey Look, A Squirrel!
Whereas those who browse the Internet largely ignore the banners and sidebar ads, Print Readers BROWSE the ad section of print publications. But their eyes move quickly across the page and will slide right past ads that do not catch their eyes. Their attention is easily lost to other pursuits if a page of ads is dull and un-enticing. But if your ad is interesting, with colors and text that promise reward for the time spent reading the ad, readers will pause and give such an ad a good once-over. Give them something in the ad that provides value to them, and they’ll call you! But they won’t even look at what you have to offer if your ad does not have visual appeal.
18 www.thewaveholisticjournal.com