What Marketers Can Learn at the Farmers' Market

Imagine walking into a farmers' market. Like many other visitors making their way through the stalls, you've become increasingly concerned about where your food comes from and the techniques used to grow it. The farmers' market offers you a distinct advantage because here you can actually speak with the people who grew or raised the food you're looking to buy. You can ask them questions.

You approach the first stall. The farmer offers a variety of foods -- fruits, vegetables, and even a bit of meat and cheese. You try to ask some questions about what pesticides were used when the plants were growing, what the animals ate, and whether or not the chickens were allowed to roam. The farmer seems annoyed by your questions. He gives you gruff, brief answers that don't really address your concerns but seem focused instead on getting you to make a purchase or move along.

The next stall is similar, except you note that the prices are about 10%-20% higher. Still, you reach out to the farmer behind the counter and start asking questions. What a difference! The farmer comes out from behind the counter and tells you all about the methods he uses to grow and raise his different livestock and crops. He explains what safeguards he has in place to protect the consumer's health and the experience he has in the field.

The time comes for you to make a purchase. Who are you more likely to buy from? Is it the farmer who just pushed you to buy or the farmer you've begun to trust because of his helpfulness, even if he does charge a few cents more? For most people, the answer is going to be the second. When people form bonds with merchants and begin to feel as though they can trust them, they become increasingly likely to buy from those vendors. This same concept should be incorporated into all your marketing campaigns.

Helping to build a relationship of trust

Becoming a source of answers and an authority in the industry for potential customers is a critical part of building this relationship. This often involves building plenty of valuable content online that customers can turn to when they have questions. Content that adds value helps customers begin to trust a company, their products, and their knowledge of the industry. When a single company has the answers a customer is looking for time and time again, there's little question who they'll turn to when they're ready to make a purchase.

One way to build this kind of relationship is by working to become a regular community figure. Look for events or people you can sponsor to help get your company name in front of potential customers on a regular basis. Being available in person to answer questions for potential customers is one of the best types of marketing.

You should similarly take advantage of networking opportunities and work to establish friendships with many other professionals. As you nurture these relationships, remember that you're building for the future, too. Even if you don't get any immediate sales from a contact, they'll be far more inclined to turn to you in the future if they know you're someone they can trust.

Taking the time to build relationships with potential customers -- by answering their questions, providing them with quality content, and even forming friendships -- is a wonderfully easy way to grow your business. People naturally turn to the people they trust in business, so follow the same rules as the helpful farmer in the farmers' market, and begin to improve your own marketing techniques.

Management Lessons From Our Elementary School Days

Think back for a moment to your elementary school days. Chances are, some of your best memories revolve around celebrations. Whether celebrating a classmate's birthday, a favorite holiday, an accomplishment for the class, or even the 100th day of school, everyday celebrations are an essential part of many elementary school classrooms.

Why are these types of celebrations so popular?

For one thing, they offer everyone, including the teacher, a bit of a mental break from the daily grind. When people return from a break, they're ready to sit down and work some more. Without a break, it's easy to get burned out.

Secondly, they help to keep the atmosphere happy and joyful in the classroom. Everyone functions better when they work in a positive atmosphere.

And finally, they offer the teacher and classmates the chance to recognize the accomplishments of the group as a whole, as well as those of individual students. When students know their efforts are recognized, the motivation to continue to perform and earn more rewards is strengthened.

While most working adults are far removed from elementary school, that doesn't mean these basic lessons learned in childhood no longer apply.

What business leaders today can learn from their elementary school teachers

Elementary school teachers understand that the best way to keep people motivated is to celebrate their accomplishments. When you find ways to congratulate people or teams who meet particular goals at your organization, you'll also be encouraging them to continue to strive and accomplish more. Employees who feel as though their accomplishments and efforts are recognized are more likely to feel satisfaction at the workplace and trust that their efforts contribute to company success.

How businesses can create the environment on an adult scale

Working to keep the atmosphere light and pleasant can also contribute to a positive work environment. While most professional environments wouldn't be able function with parties every week, there are plenty of other ways to encourage a positive workplace. Cards, token gifts, bonuses, announcements of accomplishments at meetings, and similar strategies can all help employees feel appreciated. Even personal notes from management will let employees know their leaders notice the efforts of everyone below them. Save the parties for more memorable occasions, such as the holiday season.

Employees who feel appreciated have greater company loyalty. Loyal employees tend to be fantastic company evangelists, while also contributing to the stability of the company. The result is a stronger company that can move forward more effectively. Loyal employees tend to speak positively about the brand to their friends and family, as well as online. Creating a positive company environment will help to make the entire company a welcoming place for employees and customers.

When companies have specific goals in mind, it's tempting to just expect everyone to put their noses down and work. In reality, companies that work to create a rewarding atmosphere where employees feel happy and content are likely to accomplish greater things and have employees who feel more loyal and appreciated by management. How happy an employee feels can have an incredible impact on their productivity. So take the time to foster happy employees, and get started building your company today.

Outside the (Paper) Box: Creative, Innovative Uses for Paper

Chances are, you already know how indispensable paper is to marketing and business. But did you know that paper can -- literally -- save lives?

Around the world, some very bright, creative people are coming up with some very innovative uses for paper that truly represent "outside the box" thinking. Here are a few of our favorite paper inventions that have the power to change the world for the better.

Origami Microscope

When you hear the word "origami," your mind probably imagines cranes, paper airplanes, and funny pointed hats. But Stanford University professor Manu Prakash and his team of researchers have taken this folded paper art to a whole new level with the Foldscope.

This ground-breaking invention consists of a flat sheet of paper, an LED, a watch battery, and a few tiny optical units that can be folded together -- just like origami -- to create a functioning microscope. This portable microscope offers a number of benefits, especially for medical personnel in developing countries. For starters, it's easy to assemble, as it consists of just a few parts. The foldable design itself is printed directly onto a sheet of paper.

Plus, it's lightweight. The microscope's optical devices are about the size of a grain of sand -- so it's easy to move from one spot to another and simple to store or take into the field. The Foldscope is inexpensive, costing from $.50 to $1 to manufacture, yet powerful, with the ability to magnify objects up to 2,000 times and to project images onto almost any flat surface.

Best of all, the Foldscope provides healthcare workers with a cheap, simple, and effective way to diagnose diseases such as malaria, improving the lives of those in developing countries.

Drinkable Books

In many parts of the world, safe, drinkable water isn't readily available; diseases related to contaminated water lead to more than 3 million deaths each year. Many of these deaths could be prevented if people had access to filters -- and knowledge -- about water safety issues.

That's where Water is Life comes in. This non-profit organization partnered with researchers at the University of Virginia and Carnegie Mellon University to create a (paper) book that not only teaches recipients about water hygiene, but also comes with built-in water filters (its pages) that eliminate 99% of the waterborne particles and microbes that cause diseases like E. coli, cholera, and typhoid.

The Drinkable Book performs almost like a coffee filter; when water passes through one of its specially treated paper filters, germs and bacteria are killed by a special coating of silver nitrate nanoparticles that render treated water as safe as tap water in developed nations. The book costs just a few cents to produce and provides enough filtration to last up to four years.

Water-Condensing Billboard

Finally, researchers from Peru's University of Engineering Technology took a familiar sight -- the billboard -- and transformed it into a water-producing tool. More than 10 percent of Lima's 7.5 million residents have little to no access to potable water. But UTEC's innovative invention gathers moisture from the air during humid summer days and runs it through a series of condensers.

The water is then cleaned through a reverse-osmosis system, and Lima residents can access the clean water through a faucet at the bottom of the sign. This amazing invention provides almost 100 liters of water per day.

As you can see, paper isn't just for brochures and business cards anymore. It's -- literally -- saving the world!

Bill Eckert
Ink Images, Inc.