Is Your Business Ready for the 100 Day Challenge? (City of Sun Prairie Office of Economic Development)

Project 365 Announces the 100 Day Challenge

There are only 100 days remaining on Project 365.  To commemorate this milestone, I am issuing the following challenge to area businesses:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, includes the following...

• Issuing at least one press release worthy of being posted on this blog for each of the months of October, November, and December. (Extra credit for any story that makes the Star or other media outlet.)
• Utilizing Facebook and/or Twitter to post at least one of each of the following: 1) a promotional story of a specific marketing effort you are undertaking, 2) at least one customer thank you or other recognition, and 3) a response to a customer service issue. (Extra credit if you aren't on either of these media and you start an account on one or both.  Also extra credit if there are links to or feeds from your social media accounts on your website.)
• Claiming and updating your Google Places page (free)
• Creating and emailing a brief written description of your social media strategy for 2012.  Doesn't have to be long, but it should address the big four questions--What is your message? Who is your audience? What media will best deliver that message to your audience?  And lastly, how do you measure if it was effective?  (Extra credit if you can explain how social media efforts are to be coordinated with the rest of your marketing strategies.)

Think you're up for it?  Want to try it but you're not sure if you can do it or not?  Maybe you would just like to ask some questions about social media? Contact Neil Stechschulte at 608-825-0894 or nstechschulte[at]cityofsunprairie.com with any questions.

Watch for special events during the rest of 2011 to help interested businesses meet these goals.

I ask companies and businesses that would like to participate in the 100 day challenge to sign up by e-mailing me at the address above by Friday September 30th.

Successful businesses completing all four tasks will be featured on the blog for all of 2012, and will receive a special recognition from the City of Sun Prairie, and will be invited to participate in a photo shoot and press release in January 2012. An overall winner will be selected in January as Project 365's Business of the Year.  (I might even throw in donuts for a day at your place of work if you really knock this out of the park.)

Good luck!