1. BRANDING AND
FUNDING 101
Brian Pichman of the Evolve
Project
January 15th 2014

2. There never seems to be
enough money to do
anything

3. Stop “thinking” about a project
and just do it

4. How Do You/Your Idea/
Library Stand Out?
• What is your style?
• What are your
values?
• What are your skills
/ attributes?

5. First Step:
Branding Your
Idea/Project/Library
What “value add” do we
provide?

6. BRANDING
 Come up with a cool catch phrase, acronym, or other way to describe
your project.
 Give your project a concise and easy to say name
 Promote your brand across Social Media
 We will get to that later!
 Freebies
 Everyone loves give-a-ways.

Buttons and Stickers are inexpensive

T-Shirts/Posters are a bit more costly, but a walking billboard
 Get people wondering
 What is Project X? Give people [patrons, companies, etc] small snippets of what is
going on

8. Resources
Required
• Passion for what you are
doing
• Be ready to get asked hard
questions, and provide
good positive answers
• Be excited!
• Don’t be afraid to approach
people and talk.

9. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME

11. CHATTANOOGA 4TH FLOOR
 The 4th floor is a public laboratory and educational facility
with a focus on information, design, technology, and the
applied arts.
 The 14,000 sq foot space hosts equipment, expertise, programs,
events, and meetings that work within this scope.
 While traditional library spaces support the consumption of
knowledge by offering access to media, the 4th floor is unique
because it supports the production, connection, and sharing of
knowledge by offering access to tools and instruction.

13. STEP 2: DEVELOP A PITCH
Short (15 seconds-30 seconds)
 Provide Teasers (ROIs)
 We have over 20,000 users and I want to bring in your
technology to our library to encourage
learning/engagement/collaboration. I have a few
questions, if you can call me back at ###-###-####.
 If they do answer, schedule a time to conference call.
Honesty
 Be honest to who you are speaking with. Disclose
budget for a project.

14. PITCHING YOUR IDEAS
You have the power
Keep in mind, you are choosing that
product/service. Let those vendors know
that YOU picked THEM to be part of the
library experience.
 Explain how it’s a free marketing tool for them,
they are getting exposure in the community
and/or library-land

16. ROIS
 As a library, we invest in things that provide a benefit
to our community that outweighs the cost of us
purchasing it
 Benefits > Cost
 Companies do the same thing, but their model is very
simple:
 Revenue > Cost
 Formula for dealing with companies or vendors,
explain to them this model:
 Our Benefits + Your Revenue > Your Cost
 Benefits are hard to put a price tag on …

17. BENEFITS FOR WORKING WITH
LIBRARIES
 Exposure
 We have more control over purchasing power with books than Barnes and
Nobles plus Borders combined.
 Explain the amount of patrons your library sees weekly/daily.
 Delivered Content
 Companies spend a lot of money (from paying an employee) to deliver their
content (product or service) to their prospective buyers.
 Libraries can deliver content, as it is our job to our community.
 We also support all of our delivered content
 Community Support / Charity
 Companies are often required to “give-back” to communities
 Offer press releases, naming of chairs/rooms, etc.

18. DON’T BE AFRAID TO WORK UP
THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

19. STEP 3: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Meet vendors/companies for
breakfast/lunch/dinner. Talk to them about
your Brand and Pitch them your ideas
Share ideas and visions
 Brainstorm and collaborate
Become friends with your vendors/companies.
 Do set clear boundaries
 Have an additional meeting scheduled to talk about what they
are working on, upcoming technology, etc

20. WHAT CAN YOU ASK OF PEOPLE?
 Donations of Physical Products
 Donations of Money
 Connections
 Perhaps the most valuable of all.

21. COMMUNICATE YOUR NEEDS
Who to Ask
How to Ask
 Patrons
 Directly
 Local Businesses
 Phone Conversations
 Global or Large Companies
 Face to Face Conversations
 Friends of the Library
 Local Colleges and Schools
 Indirectly
 Reaching out through other
mediums
 Internet (Social Media)
 Referrals (People)

22. SO WHERE CAN MONEY COME
FROM?

23. CROWD-SOURCE FUNDING
 People across the world group together to fund new projects and
ideas
 People are encouraged to donate by either the attractive name or
“awards” based off the amount they donate.
 Kickstarter.com
 Indiegogo.com

27. SOCIAL MEDIA
 Market your “Brand” through social media
 Also use Blogging tools
 Solid companies pro-actively manage their social media
accounts.
 They watch what people are saying because everyone else can see what
people say
 They want only positive remarks about their company on the web, they will
work to only have positive comments.
 If a company does provide assistance, always show your support through
social media
 (you may need more support later on down the road).
Social Media is a way to develop relationships

29. TIPS - TWITTER
 Try to remain positive when communicating on twitter
 140 Characters, make them count!
 Wow! @COMPANYX has some really great stuff. I need to get my hands on it
 Who would like to see @PRODUCT in our library space?
 Once you build a good relationship ask the hard questions
 Can you help me on the cost @COMPANYZ

31. TIPS - FACEBOOK
 Go to the Company’s Pages, be sure to “Like” their page before
commenting
 Again, be only positive. Tell your story, pitch your idea.

33. HANDLING OBJECTIONS
 You will hear “no”
 A LOT
 But that just means phrased the question wrong or asked the
incorrect person.
 Who else can I talk to about discounted pricing/donations
 Does anyone make a similar product that would be more inline with our
budget (ask them about their competitors).
 What other things would you recommend?
 Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions of “why”
 Everyone has a bottom line.

34. Win-Win Negotiation
•
Long Term Goals
outweigh Short
Term Goals
• Focus Less on
Prices, But
Benefits
• Do your
homework about
who you are
working with.

35. JUST ASK

36. PLACES TO SAVE MONEY
 Buy Refurbished
 Refurbishment is the distribution of products (usually electronics) that have
been previously returned to a manufacturer or vendor for various reasons.
Refurbished products are normally tested for functionality and defects before
they are sold, and thus are the approximate equivalent of certified pre-owned
cars. - Wikipedia
 Refurbs are OK!!!
 Discount Sites:
 1SaleADay.Com
 Woot.Com
 Monoprice.Com
 E-Bay

37. ASK FOR GIVEWAYS
Companies love to provide “give-a-
ways”
Just Ask!
 Clothes (T-Shirts, Hats, etc)
 Toys (Frisbies, Balls)
 Gadgets
 Pens/Pencils/Buttons/Stickers/Pins…
 Give-a-ways are marketing materials for
companies.

38. SCHOOLS, COLLEGES,
UNIVERSITIES

39. DEVELOPING SOFTWARE
 The cost to develop custom software is hard to put a price tag on.
 Ask Local Colleges/Universities for help
 Their students are often required to seek project work (where they don’t get
paid).
 Unpaid Internships
 Pitch the experience to do something for library-land, great exposure, great
resume add.
 Build development groups in your library.
 Hire programmers/technology enthusiasts on your staff

41. FURNITURE FOR YOUR LIBRARY
 Maker Spaces
 People pay a membership to be part of a
“MakerSpace” where the tools are
provided for them to build
 Community Out Reach
 Ask your community for help
 Ask local businesses to make
monetary donations towards new
furniture/rooms and let them
advertise on it
 If Fifty People Donate Fifty Dollars =
2,500 = Very Nice New Couch.

43. BONUSES FOR YOUR PATRONS
 Comcast Internet Access $10 a month (Internet
Essentials)
 http://www.internetessentials.com
 For the folks in school, using your @edu address get:
 Free Microsoft Products at www.dreamspark.com
 Free AutoDesk Products at http://students.autodesk.com
 If you have to filter internet / protect from web based
threats
 OpenDNS.com

44. EVERYLIBRARY
EveryLibrary
1st Super PAC for libraries. Builds voter
support. http://everylibrary.org

45. You Will Also Need:
Equally Motivated People
Volunteers
Staff
Patrons

46. STAFF
Have motivated and positive staff
 Staff members who want to do more than just “check in and
out books”
Staff Development Days
 Get them involved with programs / decision making
Skill Assessment
 Staff members all have unique skills / hobbies
 Create badges / shirts that help identify the staff members with
those specific skills

47. VOLUNTEERS
Don’t give them “busy work”
 Ex. Cleaning Books
Give them a tangible product, that they
can be excited about
 Start a new program
 Help setting up for an event
 Ask them for INPUT

48. PATRONS
You probably know the needs of your patrons
 But do you know the skills of your patrons?
Identify which regular patrons have which skills
 You will be very surprised how willing they are to help start a
new program at your library!
 They may be willing to donate too
 Or cater a program
 Or buy equipment
 Or donate old equipment

49. CONTACT ME
Brian Pichman
Twitter: @BPichman
Cell: 815-534-0403
Email:
bpichman@evolveproject.org
Sides will be posted on:
Slideshare.net/bpichman