While responding to comments on the blog I wrote entitled Go To School For New Prospects, I was reminded of a phone-in conference call Brad and I led for the ePower Group of students this past Wednesday evening. During the call we were talking about how websites should offer original, valuable content to the site visitor. If the copy was compelling and presented properly, site visitors would return to the site time and again using it as a local information resource. So why not go back to your local school and find some help for your website using the hidden talent there!
We all have excuses we have used at one time or another for not writing copy:
- I'm too busy and I don't have time to write copy for my website
- I'm not a very good writer
- I'm not interested in writing copy for my website...I would rather blog (?) Go figure!!!
- I can't afford to pay a copywriter or virtual assistant to write for me. (Yes.... VA's offer this service and AR member Evy Williams and other Virtual Assistants like her do a really nice job!)
So when you go visit the schools in your farm community to meet all those teachers and pass out all your Survival Bags filled with all kinds of valuable school supplies, ask the English teachers to recruit several students or assign a class-wide project to write articles about their school and about the area too.
WHY?
Explain to the English teacher that you would like to "publish" some of the articles the students write on your website (and your blog and in Localism)! This will be an absolute win-win-win for everyone! You get to add original content to your website, the student(s) receive the recognition for being published on your website (add their photo and credit) plus you now have a whole new contingent of site visitors (relatives and friends) going to your website to read the student's articles!
Get The Picture?
At the sametime go to the graphic arts and photography teachers and tell them you would like their class to submit photos of the school, their neighborhood and the area to be added to your website....and the process starts all over again.
Of course, advise the students that all articles and photographs become your property and that you will be sure to credit the work of each author and photographer on your website!
Offer a Reward! 
You can even make it a competition if you like and select the top articles and photo's awarding prizes for the best work. By the way - age doesn't matter. I would do this for each school age; elementary, middle and high schools.
Schools will be back in session before you know it, so have those future journalist and photographers in your community ready to take action! Be sure you have those website pages ready for "press", you wouldn't want to disappoint those future writers and photographers.
Have fun, be successful and remember, if you find these marketing tips to be useful, why not subscribe to my blog!
Comments (35)Subscribe to CommentsComment