A New Hat

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Barbara

Change happens.

Make Hay Communications continues to provide excellent strategy, counsel and design to activate your Ideas, Image and Information, especially in the areas of digital and content marketing. And, we now also have taken on a new business hat; digital publishing.

TheFlesherton.ca – Local News & Rural View – is Make Hay’s first online news presence.

TheFlesherton.ca offers hyper-local news on everything from arts & eats, to government & growing – all in south Grey County. We have a popular Community Views blog (with opinions on same) and a distinctive mix of unique content, such as our popular edible gardening blog On My Knees written by local farmer, Steve Vassallo.

TheFlesherton.ca speaks to rural living everywhere; we focus on issues such as water, food, education, health, heck even dating, through a rural lens. We address larger rural issues through the specifics of south Grey County in Ontario. I’ve even written a theFlesherton.ca manifesto for those interested in that kind of thing.

And, we welcome visitors and voyeurs of country living; with alluring features on fall colours, giant elms, caves and crevices hiking, waterfalls and cycling routes. I am hard at work on our first digital book scheduled for May, 2013 release: A Shoestring Guide to Walking in South Grey (thankfully, title still in development).

So, if you would like to reach a growing audience of affluent, active and engaged readers, please check the TheFlesherton.ca rate card.

For those of you not in business, there is a Donation Button in the right-hand column which is ready to accept your Paypal contribution.

I welcome you to stop by TheFlesherton.ca, take a look around, read a blog and maybe even post a comment.

We love hearing from you.

 

 

Posted in branding, communications, community development, creative, social media, tourism | Leave a comment

Art, Meet Marketing

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Barbara

Recently Make Hay received an email asking if we could offer marketing assistance to an artist – a painter – who wanted to:

1)      Generally, increase her profile as an artist

2)      Specifically, promote an art gallery show in a small resort town

Marketing is not an event; it is a process that, ideally, builds relationships. The concept of relationship is especially important in promoting the arts where customers often want to know the artist. And, with the advent of social media in marketing, community is something that anyone selling anything wants to define for their own means. Relationship building takes time, especially in social media, you need to interact with your community – respond and engage – not simply push “sales messages.” Continue reading →

Posted in branding, communications, creative, marketing, partnership, public relations, social media, strategy, tourism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Walking boosts health & creativity

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Barbara

Walking. It’s so simple. Most of us start at about the age of one and keep doing it all of our lives. Problem is, we’re not doing enough of it daily.

Now, here’s the really good news: Walking is the SINGLE most important factor that can make a difference to your health. And all it takes is 30 minutes a day. Continue reading →

Posted in community development, creative, economic development, health care, non-profit | 2 Comments

Creative – live!

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Barbara

It’s a meta-meta world. Well, at least it is this season on this blog page.

Make Hay, in addition to delivering creative and strategic work to our business and non-profit clients, publishes a community web site, theFlesherton.ca (It even has a manifesto, if you’re interested in that sort of thing).

We are working to make theFlesherton.ca a sustainable community site. One current goal is to raise awareness of the site among residents of south Grey County. And, who could be better at tackling this task than Erno, the Littlest Elf? Continue reading →

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Activate your Strategy!

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Barbara

Sometimes it feels as if just getting the darn plan written is the accomplishment! And, it is. Now you have created an agreed-upon road map for the near future. It is an essential start. So take a deep breath and realize that now you have a plan – you can activate it!

You have a document. It may be a “plan on a page,” a popular approach for its accessibility, or it may be 250 pages. Either way, the document doesn’t implement itself.

If it’s a strategic plan, consider it a two part process: first, you need to communicate the plan itself and, second, the objectives within the plan need to be activated. Continue reading →

Posted in communications, community development, economic development, non-profit, strategy | Leave a comment