What Should You Be Doing Now?

The economy is in a definite slowdown and opportunities are hard to come by. What should you be doing to increase external and internal growth for your community? No matter where you want your opportunities to come from, and for your community to thrive, it is more important now than ever before to engage both your external and internal audience.

Time to take inventory – what is happening at the local level with your businesses, your partnerships, your stakeholders and your prospects? What is it they expect of you and what can you do to answer? It’s time to step up to the plate and start swinging.

Stay in touch – let your businesses, partnerships, stakeholders and prospects know you’re still around and interested in what they are doing. Determine their preferred method of communication and reach out to inform, educate, listen and just stay in touch.

Ask and you shall receive - ask for feedback on how you can do things better or improve communication. What can you offer to benefit your businesses, partnerships, stakeholders and prospects – they’re your customers and you need to know what they want.

Be someone people enjoy working with – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, enjoy what you do. Everyone wants to work with someone who is passionate about what it is they do. Being passionate about your job and your community is what can set you apart from other economic developers who are just showing up.

Be on the radar – keep marketing and promoting your community. You can’t just build it and expect them to come. You have to build it, market it, promote it and show it.

Where’s your competition – keep on top of what your competitors are doing. You need to make sure you are the first community that is thought of.

Be strategic – this is the time to have a strategic plan firmly in place. You need to know exactly what is it you’re doing today and what it is you’re planning for tomorrow.