Yes, it’s that time again. Trio Solutions will join the ranks of the sleep deprived as we host CreateAthon 2008. During this 24-hour, work-around the clock creative blitz, Trio will provide free marketing and creative services to nonprofits. CreateAthon will be held from at 8 a.m. on Thursday, September 18 to 8 a.m. on Friday, September 19 and five lucky applicants will get to assist in turning the staff at Trio into caffeine-addicted zombies for a 24-hour period. Although this is the second year Trio will participate, CreateAthon is in its 11th year and has benefited 1,008 nonprofit organizations nationally with 2,143 projects valued at $8.5 million. So help us keep the energy alive and fill out the application on Trio’s site. The deadline to apply is July 28, 2008. Who knows…you could be on of the lucky five!

Friday evening as I was running around the kitchen preparing for our company, I turned on the television and saw Tim Russert’s face. The NBC station is typically on in our house, so this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. However as I continued listening to the story I realized what had happened and that I would never really see Tim’s face on television again. Tim had died of a heart attack doing what he loved so much, preparing for Meet the Press. This weekend I learned more about Tim Russert than I ever would had this horrible event not occurred. And learning about the kind of man Tim was just makes this all the more bittersweet. I almost felt as if I was mourning a close friend or family member. All of the sudden you see him as a husband, a father, a devoutly religious Catholic, a loving son and a wonderful co-worker. We talk about our philosophy at Trio often and this weekend I learned what it means to live it day in and day out. Got get em’ Tim. You are probably in heaven right now explaining to God about the crazy politics of our time. Hopefully you have the biggest whiteboard you could ever ask for!

The care package and request to Michael Franti went out yesterday so let’s all keep our fingers, toes, and whatever else we can manage to cross, crossed! We’re asking Franti to headline our latest effort to support Project OKURASE. The event, United Artists for Hope - A Music Festival to Benefit Project OKURASE, will raise funds to help build a clean, safe water system for the Nkabom Center that will house, educate and support orphaned and vulnerable children in Ghana.

The children of Djole Dance Company created a book called “What We Be” for Franti that was based on his book “What I Be”. They put a lot of time, energy, and love into the project…hopefully he’ll be as moved as we were!

Having Franti involved is key to this project - we simply cannot imagine doing it without him. He is more than just a musician - he is a liberator, a healer, an advocate and so much more. Combining his musical talent and powerful messages with Project OKURASE’s mission will move this effort by leaps and bounds.

Looking forward to hearing back from Franti and his camp. Please say lots of prayers everyone, that we may be fortunate enough to bring Michael Franti to the Lowcountry to enjoy his music and gain his support for this worthwhile cause.

Peace!

I am happy to say that with a little over a month since the Nonprofit Nook Web site launched, we have over 80 members! Jessica M. and I have been promoting the Web site like crazy. She is the social marketing guru who has taken the Nook into the world of facebook. I have been concentrating on finding partners and posting new content daily on the site. We even got a shout out in the Post and Courier! It is really coming together! I just wish that I could get members to start talking to one another, but I know that will come with time. It just seems like the biggest member benefit would be sharing information with each other. In the next phase we will be adding a feature that allows you to receive notification when someone has posted in the community or a new event has been added to the site. Hopefully this will result in an increase in traffic on the site on a regular basis. I just keep reminding myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. So, are you in the Nook? If not and you are a nonprofit making the most of marketing, events and Web, join today!

Getting business owners to understand the true value of marketing is tough much less during economic hard times. The ironic thing about having weak sales or dealing with a not-so-wonderful economy is it’s really your opportunity to make the most of your marketing dollars. When the going gets tough, don’t cut your marketing budget! This is your chance to increase market share, shine above the rest (because you’re competition has probably cut their budget) and have a great market presence.

A fellow, local marketeer, David Rawle did a great job of comparing his experience with a bike race and marketing in a weak economy in his column in the Charleston Regional Business Journal - Marketing Matters: Ten marketing tips in a weak economy.

As marketing professionals, we know business owners have to think about the bottom line - but here’s the bottom line: Don’t cut your marketing budget. Get smarter about your marketing dollars. View them as an investment not an expense. If you cut your marketing efforts then you cut your lifeline to your target market and future growth.

Researchers at Penn State University said it best in 2005 after surveying more than 150 senior marketing executives from a variety of industries. “For well-positioned companies, an economic recession should not prompt marketing cutbacks, but rather an aggressive increase in marketing spending to achieve superior business performance.” Read journal excerpt.