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Get
a good Web address
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Collect e-mail addresses with religious
fervor > Develop campaign strategies
> Bells & Whistles
Develop
campaign strategies
There
are three basic components to this: public relations,
e-mail campaigning, and guerrilla
marketing.
- Public
Relations:
The press likely will report on your campaign at some point and
you can get more coverage if you come up with good media stories.
Look for the unusual and unique, as well as opportunities to explain
your overall story. Send out press releases via e-mail (to the
media and all supporters) and post them on your Web site. Include
your Web address on all releases, and offer additional information
on the Web site to get reporters and others accustom to turning
to your Web site to glean information.
-
E-mail
Campaigning:
Remember those e-mail addresses you've religiously accumulated?
Now is the time to put them to use. Use e-mail as a way to frequently
communicate with your supporters. Let them know about your campaign's
latest coup, point out new features on your Web site, argue an
opponent's wrongheaded statement, ask supporters to forward you
message to friends, ask them to contribute money online. You get
the picture. Sign up for a few online campaigns that you support
to glean ideas. Just remember to always honor a request to be
removed from your database.
- Guerrilla
Campaigning:
Even if you can't afford banner ads or a slick public relations
campaign, you can use your Web site to market your campaign, thereby
drawing attention to your ideas. Think of cost-effective, creative
ways to get your campaign message out. Anyone with a hefty bank
account can send a direct mail piece. Try and think of other ways
that you can get your campaign name and message out. For example:
- Put
a sign on your car that boasts your Web address. The "dot-com"
in the Web address will tell people where they can go for
more information -- and to donate. With a big sign exposed,
leave your car legally parked in a high commute corridor.
- Laminate
a campaign logo and glue a tie-tack pin or safety pin to
the back, then wear it every day of the campaign. Carry
campaign literature to hand to anyone who asks about it.
- Create
a sign that you can e-mail to your friends to print out
on their printers and put in their windows. Using certain
computer programs, you can even do signs that print out
in multiple panels that can be assembled and taped to a
window.
- Sew
a sign onto your dog's overcoat and put it on when you go
for a walk.
- Change
the message on your answering machine to add the words:
"Don't forget to vote Yes (or No) On (Fill in the Blank.)"
- Contact
friends in high-profile locations to put up a sign you make
for them, or one of the official campaign signs.
- Get
a rubber stamp made with your message and stamp every check,
bill and piece of correspondence you mail.
- Organize
a banner campaign on private buildings where owners agree
to let you hang banners from their rooftops.
Do you have
more guerrilla campaigning ideas? Write us at info@e-elections.com
and we'll add them to this list on our site!
Bells
& Whistles >
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