Looking for a way to build your prospect database without glad handing at every after-hours event around town?  While not applicable to every business, social networks make the perfect tool for gathering information on potential clients.

Aside from allowing you to gather contacts 24/7, online resources like Twitter, Facebook, etc. provide other tangible benefits. First, the prospect must opt in to follow your company. Unlike mass e-mails, advertisements, commercials and so forth, social networks net only folks who are interested in your operation. They must be – they signed up for more details.

If maintained properly and on a regular basis, this targeted approach tends to yield loyal fans. They check in from day to day, recommend friends become followers, and keep your business name at top of mind. Moreover, these accounts build a relationship – the most essential rule of marketing.

Social networks have been around for some time, so none of this is new. However, the methods we use to run a social network campaign have changed. Companies continue to concoct fresh approaches to get the most people inspired to sign up.

One of the more elaborate approaches involves holding a contest of sorts. The business announces its goal to reach online supremacy – or something like that. For example, Acme Beer pushes for 500,000 new followers. If they reach this number, they will give everyone a free shirt that says “Official Acme Brew Taster.”

The idea is to create incentive to not only sign up individually, but to encourage others to sign up as well. The participants, in a sense, become part of a movement. As a result, Acme Beer gets a half-million contacts for its database. Even better, those same people serve as living advertisements, wearing apparel (that they clearly wanted) that dons the Acme name. It’s cross marketing at its finest.

Other ideas for growing social networks – hence building a prospect database – include offering valuable advice (weight loss tips, recipes, etc.), coupon codes to other Web sites, to-be continued content, etc.

Remember, the end goal isn’t to draw everyone and everything, but to reach a core of people with a real interest in your business. After all, these are the folks who most likely want what you’re selling.

When we moved to Wilmington seven years ago, the biggest draw for us wasn’t the beaches or the coastal weather. It was downtown – the historic homes and buildings, the restaurants, the shopping, the Riverwalk, the festivals and the occasional star sighting (maybe not so much for Steve). Downtown has been a prominent setting in our lives. We got engaged here, married here and now run a business from here.

It’s hard for us to believe there are people who live in New Hanover and northern Brunswick counties who do not take advantage of downtown. Yet we come across people all the time who never set foot there.

Why? Is it the parking? You won’t find cheaper parking in a downtown area (i.e. Charlotte, Charleston, Savannah…). Is it safety? Well, I don’t like being downtown after 2 a.m., but I feel that way about any city or town.

Do It Downtown is asking these same questions in a grassroots effort to promote downtown to locals. It’s an effort Bon’s Eye Marketing strongly supports, because, as Joan Loch, owner of Crescent Moon in the Cotton Exchange, said at the first Do It Downtown forum, “We need a thriving downtown 12 months a year.”

With five theatres, five museums, 20 galleries, 50 restaurants, 100 shops and more, downtown has so much to offer. It’s why Bob Jenkins, owner of Wilmington Adventure Walking Tour Company, moved downtown more than 30 years ago.

“Why did I move?” he said. “The history, culture, architecture, the people. There’s not another city in North Carolina that has the diversity that downtown has. I’ve had to find 23 different translators. What’s incredible is that they’re all Wilmingtonians.”

Jenkins called the Do It Downtown movement a “dream come true” for him. He pointed to a wood beam in the middle of The River Room, a meeting and event space where the first forum was held.

“That beam is 500-700 years old,” he said. “This room is held up by that. People come from all over the world to see this city’s history. A lot of locals take that for granted.”

Do It Downtown hopes to educate people about the uniqueness of downtown and to dispel any misconceptions about the area.

“It’s about community,” said Richard Davis, president of the Brown Coat Pub and Theatre. “We are strongest when all businesses downtown are strong. We need each other, and we need the people of Wilmington.”

If you don’t often go downtown or try to avoid it all together, why is that? The folks behind Do It Downtown want your input.

Someone recently told me “You can’t beat free” when it comes to marketing. This made me think a bit. I often see businesses settle for lower-cost options when investing in PR and outreach efforts.

I understand that many folks hit a wall when it comes down to available budget. Let’s face it, the cost of building a business does not come cheap. However, sometimes “more-affordable” doesn’t necessarily translate to “greatest value.”

For this particular blog, I’ll use the example of online marketing. At one point or another, most companies realize they can benefit from a Web site. Many of them shop around and discover, huh, it’s kind of expensive!

Overwhelmed with price tags and techno-dork jargon like SEO, back-end programming, etc. – the quest for Internet presence quickly turns into a journey of hellacious proportions. Confused and discouraged, the business decides to explore simpler options. Enter: the friend whose nephew builds Web sites in his spare time.

We all know someone who fits this description. They find out you’re in need of a site, and pitch a family member’s IT services. The real clincher: “He does everything for around $300!”

Now that’s what I’m talking about. No over-the-top lingo to decipher, no signed agreements, no four-figure fee… In short, no-brainer – right?

Listen, if you can get a professional-looking, custom Web site with clean aesthetics, strong market message and smooth navigation for less than $1,000, more power to you. Jump at that bargain and never look back. In fact, e-mail me the contact info of the person building the site. I want to use them as a contractor!

In my experience, it just doesn’t work that way. Yes, I’m one person, so please understand that I hope I’m missing out on something. I think every business owner deserves a fair shake to promote their products and services – whether it be through online or traditional marketing methods.

But the idea of delivering a company’s greatest asset – a steady stream of consumers – for pennies on the dollar…It simply doesn’t add up. I liken it to buying a new BMW for the cost of a pinto – it can’t happen. The fact is, we pay more for performance. The same goes in marketing, whether it’s a Website or other tool.

I talk to entrepreneurs every day who let price determine their marketing decisions, not quality or effectiveness. Those same folks tend to come back a few months later looking for fixes to their once “bargain” purchases. Sometimes we can help them without completely starting over, but those occasions are few and far between. More often, they must spend additional money to correct the situation – one that could have been avoided if they questioned: “Why’s the price so low?”

It seems the answer always comes back to the same three scenarios.

The contractor charges less because they:
A.    Do this just as a hobby (the son of a friend’s friend)
B.    Lack experience  (the portfolio builder, looking to get some work under their belt)
C.    Lack capabilities (a template seller – one size fits all)

Don’t get me wrong, there are cases when these folks step it up and provide a stellar product. But, you should at least review their track record before letting the low cost sway your decision. The main thing to remember is: if money’s tight, there’s nothing wrong with waiting for marketing. That’s fine. While the need might feel urgent, investing in useless or inferior tools and services won’t help. If anything, it will just make it more stressful. Take some extra time to build up savings, do research and purchase effective marketing. No matter the case, don’t dive head first into the grave that is frugality – at least when it applies to your growing your livelihood.

Mornings at the Bon house typically go something like this: My son (Grayson) wakes up around 7 a.m.; all hell breaks loose with the cats shortly thereafter. Non-stop meowing, jumping up and clawing the walls, unattended food plates knocked to the floor. It makes for a pretty nerve-racking start to the day.

Vinnie, the youngest of the two hairball bros, isn’t so much rambunctious as he is paranoid. He walks through life mired in anxiety, his face looking like he just got mugged. This is the same guy who occasionally goes primal and relieves himself on the laundry room floor. Hell, why should he overextend himself and take that extra step into the litter box? That might cut into his “me time.”

In Vinnie’s defense, these accidents only occur when the washing machine’s been running sometime in the last 24 hours. I guess the hum of a turn cycle – or mere thought of it – frightens him. Who knows? At this point, I don’t even ask questions… Just grab the paper towels, 409 sanitizer and wipe up what’s left of my dignity.

Even so, Vinnie isn’t that bad. The real problems stem from Mario – a feline version of Gallagher, who insists on destroying stuff to get attention. Maybe he’s “acting out” because of Grayson. Maybe he’s more jackass than cat. Whatever the case, his bag of shenanigans is the gift that keeps on giving.

He’s the only lactose intolerant feline I know. Every day, he leaps up onto Grayson’s highchair and licks clean yogurt cups, bowls of cereal milk, etc. He then proceeds by vomiting, not on the hardwoods (which run throughout the entire house), but on the only surface rug we own. This happens once every 24 hours. I don’t know who’s dumber: him for repeatedly lapping up the very thing that sends him into throw-up fits or us for leaving the damn stuff out.

Last week, Sarah finally snapped and declared her hatred for the whiskered hurler. While cracking open a new bottle of the 409, she blurted out, “I’m so sick of this. I swear I’m going to open the door and let him run out.”

She was very mad. I could tell because she kept repeating the same thing to an empty room. Correction. Mario was there watching her clean up his snack gone horribly awry. It was almost like he was mocking her, saying, “Yeah, I ate it, and I’m going to do it again tomorrow. You just smile, and be ready with the paper towels, sweetheart.”

Later that day, he snuck into Grayson’s room during nap time. Positioned under the crib, he waited until Sarah finally got Grayson to doze off. Minutes after she laid him down and left, Mario starts bellowing this ungodly moan. We didn’t know what it was until we realized it was resonating from the baby monitor.

“That little EXPLITIVE is going to wake up Grayson,” Sarah said before dashing off to get him out of there. When she opened the door, Mario darted under the crib once again. The next two minutes made for a battle of the ages. She’d reach for Mario with one arm, and he’d refuse to leave. After some meows and an onslaught of mumbled curse words, a broom handle shoved violently toward the cat’s body finally convinced him to move elsewhere.

The whole feud came to a head that evening. Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch. I gave her the old “Let’s go to bed” try. When I’m tired, I say it once. If there’s no takers, so be it. I headed into our room and collapsed onto the mattress, Mario jumping up and curling beside me. “This is nice,” I thought. “There’s nothing wrong with this cat – she’s the instigator.” An hour later, a boisterous rant rattled me from my sleep.

“Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” Sarah stood yelling and pointing. “Look what he did. Are you kidding me?”

I propped myself up to see Sar staring down at a nice little pool of Mario upchuck on her pillow. I must admit, he was considerate about the whole thing, making very little noise when it actually occurred. I slept right through it.

Still, my wife was not so impressed. In fact, she was out for blood. We ultimately swapped places in bed, and I took one for the team.

The next few days following that whole debacle, Mario was smart enough to stay out of her way. As far as I can tell, relations between the two are on the mend. Nonetheless, I can’t help but worry we’re only a Yoplait cup away from all-out war.