When I joined BannerView.com, it had a program to promote the company to customers and prospects named, “The Edutainment Tour.” Essentially, officers and staff of BannerView.com would give a presentation of the company, a free lunch or breakfast depending upon the time, and a tour of their offices, including their most impressive data center, and it really is awesome. If the goal of the program was to generate sales...the results were lack luster at best. If the goal was to generate awareness in the business community...the result was marginally better.

So...what was right and what was wrong with this strategy?
The Answer: Form versus Substance.

Form:
It’s a fine idea to sponsor functions at your corporate offices. The experience legitimizes your company to your audience. Pointing out what you do and how you do it based on your environs, can impress. But what wasn’t done effectively, was making the point of HOW BannerView.com can help the attendees achieve success in their business. The core value proposition was sorely missing from the tour.

A value proposition is your statement and strategies of what it is that you offer which can help your customers and prospects achieve their success. From a marketing perspective, your value proposition is the substance, the foundation for building a business for success. In this discussion, a business website can be a powerful tool in raising a business’s prospects and revenue opportunities. However, the rules of the Internet have changed in recent years, and they have placed a great burden on business owners to be very hands-on and active in the operation of their websites. The search engines are requiring that the content of websites be kept fresh and current in order to improve ranking. They change their algorithms often. All of a sudden, business owners, particularly small to mid-sized business owners, are taking on additional responsibilities by employing such content-rich strategies as blogging and writing email newsletters.

Substance:
So...when I came aboard in April as Chief Marketing Officer, I put myself in the position of the small business owner who recognizes the importance of having a website and who is time-challenged. In those shoes I said to myself, first, “I need help in keeping up with all this website knowledge,” and second I asked, “Where can I go for help?” The answer was staring right at me...BannerView.com. This company, with over 12 years of experience and a pool of expert talent, was the perfect candidate for teaching business owners the business of owning a website and understanding the ever-changing rules of engagement for succeeding on the Internet.

The Birth of The Edutainment Learning Series...a Substantive Value Proposition:
Programs Designed to Raise Your Website’s Business Prospects and Revenue Opportunities:

A Plan to be Hitched:

I wanted the series to be a hands-on, roll up the sleeve workshop format, with each session running for two-hours. The sessions in no way were to be self-serving to BannerView.com---the classes would be objective and informational, throw in a picnic lunch and offer it all for FREE!! Was I nuts...it costs a lot of money, time and resources to plan and run such an undertaking. How can I not charge for it? What kind of ROI would we ever see from such a potentially ill-conceived, one-sided project?

I had done my homework, identified a need and a demand. If my logic as a marketer was right, by imparting knowledge and giving people true skills that they could readily take back to their offices and apply, that when they had need to improve, renovate or totally rebuild their business website, BannerView.com would be the first called. In other words, the Edutainment Learning Series was a means by which we would be sowing seeds for building our business. Furthermore, I believed this repositioning of the original tour would elevate awareness in the business community for BannerView.com as an expert resource on how to use the Internet and websites as important portals for conducting business. This kind of “awareness” is specific and memorable and can also be counted as a sown seed for revenue generation. Also, I saw that the program in its present form and its content separate from the program format, could be parsed in a variety of ways, beyond Nevada’s borders, and could be monetized.

So...I collaborated with my Assistant Marketing Manager, Brian Mell, and we developed a curricula of four courses and a syllabus for the Edutainment Learning Series from May until December of 2011. (By the way, we just added four additional courses for 2012 for a total of eight for 2012.)

Last but not least, to instill greater credibility, I wanted, “The Edutainment Learning Series,” to be CEU eligible by UNLV. Starting September 14, 2011, the program in fact will be so.

So...the marketing strategy of taking, “The Edutainment Tour,” at BannerView.com and repositioning it using Form and Substance into, “The Edutainment Learning Series,” has resulted in delivering a value proposition that is a help to our clients, has converted prospects into clients, and has sown seeds for more. A strategy whose underpinnings are set in the belief of, ”You Get What You Give, and demonstrates that where used appropriately, its results can surpass and be more sustainable than using the, “hard sell.”

To get started on your being “Edutained” on how your business website can raise your prospects and revenue opportunities, review our course syllabus and register here:

(Please note, the 2012 program will be posted by September’s end.)