Brent Billock » Recession http://billock.net/blog Web Marketing, Social Media, Life Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:51:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 How Can $1,000 Make A Difference? http://billock.net/blog/2009/03/26/how-can-1000-make-a-difference/ http://billock.net/blog/2009/03/26/how-can-1000-make-a-difference/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:23:41 +0000 Brent http://billock.net/blog/?p=111 Over on LinkedIn, Thom Monahan poses an interesting question about how one person can stimulate the economy with $1,000.

  I would like to have a personal impact on the economy. We’ll call it Thom’s Economic Stimulus Impulse. I’m setting aside $1,000 to be used on something or things that I had not planned. Any ideas?

This got me thinking about what kind of impact you can get from four figures. Of course, the first challenge as I saw it was to leverage social media to get a multiplier effect from the money so the benefits extend beyond the people who actually touch the check.

So here’s the idea I submitted to Thom:

Use your blog and Twitter stream to take nominations for an online retailer grant. Have people from around Cincinnati give the names and locations of their favorite local (non-chain) retailers. Booksellers, secondhand shops, record stores, etc. Narrow the list to the 3 or 5 most popular candidates.

With $1000 to the winner, you should be able to get a significant number of retweets and cross-links.

Then solicit proposals from independent contractors on how to create or enhance one of those retailers’ online selling. Turn to your community again for votes on which proposal would have the most impact, and hire the winning contractor to implement the plan for the winning retailer.

So for one contractor, your $1000 has provided enough work to pay a few bills. Through the opportunity to demonstrate their strategic chops in the proposal, they gain exposure which may lead to more work.

For one retailer, you create a new channel for sales which may help an otherwise troubled business stay in operation and retain employees.

For everyone else in the running, you spread the word about their business and enhance their local exposure to potential clients and customers.

If your pilot program is a success, maybe you’ll inspire other donors to repeat the project for an even more stimulative effect.

Great thanks to Thom for trying to make an impact on our community.

If you have ideas for Thom, submit them through the LinkedCincinnati Group on LinkedIn.

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