DAVID DEAN MENZIES

Published on LinkedIn April 29, 2020 by David Dean Menzies A couple years back Hurricane Florence came ashore just south of Topsail Island , a 26-mile stretch of sand between Jacksonville and Wilmington, North Carolina. She did serious damage to the beach towns in my neck of the woods, trashing homes, washing away dunes, forcing business closures (some permanent), and halting tourism in its tracks. The COVID-19 outbreak is having a similar negative impact economically, albeit on a wider scale. Economists and pundits are wondering aloud how a coronavirus pandemic recession might impact small businesses in the long term, and whether they could vanish altogether. Here at the coast, our hospitality industry is getting hit especially hard. Savvy business owners, however, are doing more than wringing their hands about what the future might hold and waiting for things to “get back to normal.” Instead, they are taking action to flatten the curve of lost revenue and opportunities. Here

Published on LinkedIn April 22, 2020 by David Dean Menzies If you’re a small business owner scrambling to increase engagement with customers in these challenging times, consider adding media relations to your marketing toolkit. High-profile publicity of your small business can add a spark to sales in the short-term, while increasing your market share over time for continued growth. The trick is knowing how to attract positive press in a cost- and time-efficient manner to realize a strong return on investment. What is Media Relations? At its core, media relations is a method for convincing someone else to deliver your marketing content to their audience—consisting of your customers and prospects—without paying them to do so. This could be a newspaper or TV reporter, a blogger, an opinion columnist, or even a social media influencer . Since this is not a “pay-to-play” type of arrangement, you’re going to have to take a personalized approach to soliciting news coverage. Here are

Published on LinkedIn April 20, 2020 by David Dean Menzies Those of us affected professionally by the COVID-19 pandemic can look to the United States Air Force Academy’s Class of 2020 for inspiration. Saturday, April 18, was not the traditional graduation the 967 cadets had envisioned back in 2016 when beginning the long, hard road toward becoming commissioned officers. No applause from family and friends echoing throughout 46,692-seat Falcon Stadium. No marching across the stage to shake the hand of a national leader and receive a diploma. And most heart-wrenching, no celebratory hugs with incredibly close classmates—brothers and sisters—who’ve literally shared blood, sweat, and tears throughout four years of intense academic, military, and leadership training. My wife and I watched a live stream of the graduation ceremony on YouTube in part because of a connection we feel with USAFA. Our oldest son is a 2017 graduate, currently serving our nation in a global hot spot al