Retail, retail, retail - read all about it!

I didn’t accomplish my goal of completing phase one of my marketing campaign which involved creating and distributing flyers, contacting two college professors, and getting in touch with half of the young men I surveyed at the career fair. However, sometimes I find that even in only partial completion of a task, that small wins are to be had and celebrated.

I didn’t complete this task due to underestimating how much time I had and how much time it would take to design the flyer, translate it, and proof it, as well as the time it takes to set up meetings with professors and previously surveyed community members. So what I did do was complete and distribute the promotional flyer to five main areas in and around Bagar.

What was great about creating and posting the flyers around town was that it started a buzz. Because previous conversations with young people about my program did not go favorably, I was reasonably apprehensive about whether there would be any interest in my course at all. But after flyering, I got calls from about seven people genuinely interested in the course. One man even said he could give me the contact information of 15 of his friends who might also be compelled to apply to the program. Based on the outcome of this, I think I have the momentum needed to forge ahead and start the course by the date I had earlier decided upon (November 22 nd).

What I learned from flyering was that: a) I need to include the basic education requirements on it so that individuals can do self-selection, and b) community interaction with is possible when you least expect it. Letter a) is pretty self-explanatory; letter b): I set out to flyer one morning and headed over to the neighborhood on my bike. I got to the neighborhood and before I even put my kickstand down, I heard my name being called. A 7 th grade boy and his friends approached me, wanting to just hang out and play. I asked them if they wanted to flyer and they replied “yes!” with so much enthusiasm it energized me for this otherwise monotonous task.. So I will definitely approach these children when I need to flyer again because they had the energy needed to compel people to read these flyers.

Next steps include creating flyers for the informational session I plan to have in which managers from two retail and hospitality chains will be guest speakers. Hopefully industry specialists will help legitimize the course and help me earn the trust I need for people to join it.