Get out the donuts, the coffee and the toothpicks…it’s CreateAthon time. Each year, the crew at Trio Solutions Inc. stays up for 24 hour straight (for the record it’s actually more like 36 hours) for five deserving Lowcountry nonprofits. The annual event is part of Trio’s commitment to the community and an extension of our philosophy to make a difference through our time and talent. Over the years, we have provided pro-bono services to organizations like My Sister’s House, Palmetto Medical Initiative, Camp Good Times, Liza’s Lifeline, Love Inc., Charleston Community Sailing and many, many others. It’s always an adventure and each year proves that the 24-hour creative work blitz provides more benefits than eight hours of sleep could ever provide. This year’s applications are in and being reviewed. This year’s winners will be announced on Aug. 15. Stay tuned.

As do many agencies and marketing companies, we get calls all the time for businesses that ‘need a brochure’ or ‘want to send out a postcard or e-newsletter.’ That’s great that these businesses are even thinking about marketing their businesses. However, it is so important that businesses have a marketing plan in place before spending any marketing dollars. By not having a plan, not only are you doing an injustice to the business you are also doing an injustice to the entire marketing industry. You probably won’t see results and you’ll become disgruntled with marketing in general.

The way marketing works best is to have a strategic business plan and then follow that plan up with a marketing plan that outlines exactly how marketing efforts will help you achieve your business goals. Your marketing plan may or may not include a brochure. It may not include doing an e-newsletter. There are a ton of variables that we have to look at before determining what’s a fit for your business. Some of those include your target market, demographics, historical data, competitions, etc.

All this aside, the key point is that in order for any business to really see a return on every marketing dollar spent, a plan should be in place. This plan should have buy-in from everyone on the team and it should be revisited every few months. It’s fluid and may require adjustments but the important thing is that there is a plan and all of your marketing efforts are moving together in a unified and consistent fashion. If done correctly, it works!

Getting about that time…presentations to the amazing organizations we are helping. Seriously, if you take a minute and reflect on what these groups are doing for our community and the world, it is so impressive. These are people that spend they lives focusing on the goodwill of others. Godspeed to all of you! You are a true blessing to the world and remember on those days when things seem tough that your efforts don’t go unnoticed and WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO!

Everyone at Trio Solutions Inc. is looking forward to helping out our 2009 Createathon Winners: Charleston Area Children’s Garden Project, Good Neighbor Center, Charleston Community Sailing, Palmetto Medical Initiative and Liza’s Lifeline! It was very difficult to narrow our selection to these five. Every organization that applied should be commended for the work they are doing in our community. We would love to be able to help them all. Createathon will begin on Thursday, Sept. 18. Be sure to follow our progress on Twitter.

I have enjoyed getting the Business Know-How e-newsletter for several years. Their articles are quick, easy reads and always provide great insight for small business owners. This week’s e-newsletter included an article about Ten Rules for Succeeding in Your Own Business. I thought it would be worth sharing. In a nutshell, love what you do and it will shine through in all your actions and bottom line.

Trio Solutions is proud to be kicking off our annual CreateAthon project to benefit some of the Lowcountry’s most important nonprofits. We will be offering free marketing services to five local organizations who have little or no marketing budgets during a 24-hour, work around-the-clock creative blitz. This year’s projects include two Web sites, one logo, one communications plan and the design of a fundraising coupon book. All hands are on deck and we’re ready roll!

Check us out on ABC News 4!

Congratulations to the 2008 CreateAthon beneficiaries:

Camp Good Times
Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy
Family Resource Center for Disabilities and Special Needs
Fields to Families
Lowcountry Environmental Education Programs (LEEP)

And many thanks to the 2008 CreateAthon team:

Brad Caricofe
Jennifer Cherock
Brian Dadin
Jordan Freeman
Roxanne Hicks
Nancy Lyons
Jessica Munday
The Cultigraphic Girls!

The Trio team is thrilled be supporting such worthwhile causes and we can’t wait to see what we come up with throughout the day and night!

Everyone at Trio is very excited to announce that this week we are gearing up for CreateAthon. In anticipation of the event we wanted to make everyone aware that Trio Solutions Inc. will be closed on Thursday and Friday, September 18 & 19 for CreateAthon 2008. During this time we will be providing free marketing services to five area nonprofits as part of our annual CreateAthon, 24-hour, work-around-the-clock creative blitz. This year’s recipients include Camp Good Times, Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy, Family Resource Center for Disabilities and Special Needs, Fields to Families and Lowcountry Environmental Education Programs (LEEP). If you have an urgent need during this time, please feel free to let us know, however if you have a non-urgent matter we will be available on Monday, September 22. Be sure to follow our creative blitz progress on our blog. We would also like to give special thanks to our creative partners, who have graciously agreed to donate their services to our CreateAthon recipients - Kristen and Catherine at Cultigraphics, Brian Dadin and Brad Caricofe.
 

May 12, 2008 marked the beginning of another postage increase through the United States Postal Service. Across the board on all postage the increase was over 2%. Of course this will have a slight effect on direct mailing efforts. Trio Solutions has a mix of for profit and nonprofit clients with both types of clients relying on direct mail efforts to get their message out to the public. Keep in mind, that direct mail is a relatively inexpensive way to advertise, even after the increase in postage. With the growth of the Internet and Web based services many individuals and companies strive to be as “paper-less” as possible. In the past this has caused the USPS to cut back on cost and raise rates. It is very likely that the postage rates will continue to increase over time. On a good note, they are allowed to increase the rate only once per year and are required to give a 90-day notice to the public. Remember that direct mail remains an effective and cost-wise way to advertise, postage increase or not…

NOTE: If you have nonprofit status make sure you are a registered nonprofit organization through the USPS. It could save you a significant amount on postage when doing direct mailings.

Trio Solutions Inc. is happy that Jordan Freeman joined our team. Jordan is a recent graduate of NC State University (but we aren’t holding that against her) and will be working on our Nonprofit Nook Web site as well as a variety of other marketing projects during her time with Trio.

Well, after much deliberation, we have selected the winners for this year’s CreatAthon! It was a tough decision considering all of the worthwhile nonprofits in the area but we finally narrowed it down to five groups that we’re thrilled to be working with!

The organizations selected as CreatAthon recipients this year include:

• Camp Good Times
• Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy
• Family Resource Center for Disabilities and Special Needs
• Fields to Families
• Lowcountry Environmental Education Programs (LEEP)

The five beneficiaries will receive free marketing services provided by Trio during a 24-hour, work around-the-clock effort designed to help local nonprofits with little or no marketing budgets. The staff at Trio, along with a few generous vendors and freelancers will lock ourselves in the office starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, September 18, and work all day and through the night until Friday morning at 8 a.m. It’s a creative extravaganza - lots of work, fun, and what we value the most…giving back to the community!

Trio Solutions - working hard, enjoying life, and making a difference. You know how we do!