A new beginning

Life is a delicate balancing act for those of us who are living life at full throttle. We all only have 24 hours in a day and so we are continually bartering for minutes from one area of our lives to spend in another. I had too much on my plate when I decided to add a few more things ... that last straw finally broke the camel's back and my projects fell into chaos.

So I've reorganized and reassessed and I'm back. I know Kathy is happy :-) Hopefully, you will be too.

I started this blog almost five years ago. Much has changed since then. More libraries have marketing departments, conferences have marketing programs, there are plenty of marketing blogs and our readership has grown.

But much hasn't changed. Marketing is still viewed by many libraries as an afterthought. Many departments purpose is to create posters and write press releases rather than help a library know their customers and help to create relevant programs, products and services. Rather than establish interactive communication paths for staff to use to communicate with customers, we hear complaints that the staff is too busy to "do our work." I'm sure you can add your own story to this list.

Kathy began an important conversation in her book, The Accidental Marketer, when she outlined and defined each step of true marketing (see image here). Mary Evangeliste, Jonathan Silberman and I wrote our book about ways you could break those steps into Bite-Sized pieces. But even with those two books on the shelves, there is still a disconnect between theory and reality.

The book I am working on now is about that disconnect and I'd like to enlist the help of my friends on this blog, my Twitter feed and Facebook account to help ensure this book can help us do a better job of marketing in the library field.

So here's the deal. I have traveled extensively and interviewed some of the best people in our field. I'll share a passage or idea from the book and then ask you for your thoughts, examples, etc. You can write comments here, or email me directly. I'll also be tweeting and creating a Facebook page.

I need your help to make this book truthful, practical and relevant so that it can be used to enact the changes needed for libraries to take advantage of marketing and help them make the changes needed that will position them as essential organizations to fund.

I will credit anyone who contributes, unless you don't want to be included. I look forward to hearing from you in the next few months. -Nancy