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CGS Business Cards

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I’m still working on a post about some of the lessons learned at Jamboree but I wanted to share a tool that Jane, Carolyn and I used last weekend.

As the chair of the Marketing Committee, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to promote the California Genealogical Society and Library.

My blog-mentor, Jasia, of Creative Gene, suggested the use of society business cards in her post, Two Plans for Marketing Your Group:

What you’re going to do is give a dozen or so to every member in your group. Include them in initial membership or renewal packets or pass them out at meeting with the instruction to ‘become an ambassador for the organization.’

Members should be encouraged to pass out these cards to anyone they have a casual conversation with when they’re at the library doing genealogy research, chatting with someone at the bus stop, or even leave one with a tip for their favorite waitress. The point is to use these cards like a mini brochure for the organization. Ask group members to talk up the group whenever they get the chance… and pass out those business cards!

The card above is a generic one, created for use by anyone at the society. In addition, inexpensive personal cards are on order (from VistaPrint) for some board members and a few others with specialized jobs at the society. The cards proved indispensable at Jamboree.

Jasia admonishes:

Remember, genealogy is a people-based hobby if ever there was one. Word of mouth advertising by your members is a very personal and powerful resource. Use it!

If you are a member of CGS and you would like to have some cards to use to promote the society, please e-mail me or leave a comment.

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Comments

  1. Thomas MacEntee  July 1, 2008

    Great idea that you can take one step further: use the business card info as your signature for email.

    We do this at the law firm I work for: in Outlook, we use the Signature feature and add as much info from the business card as possible, including graphics.

    It also adds a bit of legitimacy to emails if you tend too “cold email” (like “cold call”) people. With so much email it gets difficult to weed out the legit ones from the spam ones.

  2. Kathryn Doyle  July 1, 2008

    Thomas,
    Thanks for the great “next-step” idea. I have never investigated any aspect of our e-mail program at the society so I have some homework to do. I do include the signature info on my g-mail account that I use for publicity. This ties into a goal for 2009 to achieve some uniformity and create a “brand” for CGS. Wish me luck!

  3. Jasia  July 1, 2008

    [I’m grinning from ear to ear] You’ve just made my day, Kathryn. I wish you much success with your marketing campaign and many, many more members!

  4. Kathryn Doyle  July 1, 2008

    Jasia,
    That’s my goal – to “make” many of your days by implementing as many of your ideas as possible! Your series on “Declining Memberships” continues to be a wealth of information for me. You laid it all out and all I have to do is follow directions. Thanks for making my job much easier.

  5. Unknown  July 5, 2008

    Hi Kathryn,
    Those would have been great to have at the county fair… (which was really fun, BTW, and I hope we can get more participation from CGS members next year–hint, hint).
    Cards: easier to carry around than fliers! 😉

    ~~Lorna W.

  6. Kathryn Doyle  July 5, 2008

    Lorna,
    Thanks for the feedback! Let’s talk more about the ways we can use the cards at the society. As you say, they are perfect for meetings, and much more.

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