Promotions

Promoting your circle is vital to letting everyone in the community know about your newly formed knitting circle and its meeting dates. Word of mouth is a great way to get your message out especially if you are affiliated with other organizations. However, to reach a larger audience you will need to use other more traditional means to communicate with potential new members.

For those of you who are not comfortable with the word promotion, it simply means a way to communicate your message to potential new members. These can take many different forms. You can use newspaper advertising, newspaper articles, radio advertising, calendars in newspapers, email newsletters, posters, and especially talking with others to get your message across to your knitters and the public.

Advertising

We started advertising for our first meeting in two newspapers. One was our local Armstrong Advertiser and the other a newspaper with a larger circulation, the Vernon Morningstar. Both of these publications had community calendars. Placing information in the community events calendar was free.

Here is the first ad that we placed.

New this Fall. Knitting Circle Armstrong. Enjoy an evening sharing projects and pointers, learning new techniques and chatting. Beginners welcome. First Meeting Thursday, Oct 12 @7 pm at the Odd Fellows Hall in Armstrong. Call Judy 123-0000 or Marlene 123-0000 for more information

Once phone contact was made with the editor of the lifestyles section, each of the subsequent ads or revisions were simply emailed to the editor before the deadline. Keep in mind that these individuals have a hectic schedule and don’t always get things right. Remember, they are doing the best they can and always deserve your kindness and respect. Make a special effort to build a good, friendly and professional relationship with them. A little kindness goes a long way when your competing with dozens of other organizations to get your special article and photo onto a prominent page in the publication.

Pointer: Don’t forget to put at least two members names and phone numbers on all your written advertisement. Phone answering machines are impersonal and some people will simply hang up when they connect to one. Having two phone numbers available will provide the opportunity to meet a new knitting friend, answer their questions and encourage them to attend your meeting.

If you are one of the contact people make sure you understand that you want all your callers to have a positive impression of you and your Knitting Circle when they put down the phone. Over ninety-five percent of the knitters that come to our meetings made first contact by phone. Expect a lot of questions and be prepared to answer them regardless of your personal situation at that time. The best way to do this is to have a pre-prepared phone script agreed upon by all contact people. That way all enquires are greeted with a consistent, friendly message.

Phone script for inquiry calls

We are just a group of individuals sharing our knitting experiences, projects and the joys of knitting and crocheting. New knitters are always welcome. All you need to bring is yourself and a current project if you wish. If you need assistance I’m sure someone will be happy to help.
We really look forward to seeing you. We are meeting at ____time -- at _____place

• Don’t forget to ask for their name, phone number, and email address.

Posters

A poster can be as simple as a plain piece of white paper with the name of your knitting circle, place and time of your meeting and contact persons’ phone numbers on it. Take advantage of the numerous public places and businesses that will permit you to display a poster. If it is a business always introduce yourself and politely ask if you can display your poster on their premises. Always take the opportunity to talk about your knitting circle and enquire if they knit or know some one that does. You will be surprised at how many do.

Poster basics

Keep in mind that your poster will be competing for eye balls on a crowded public bulletin board, so you will need something special to draw attention to your poster. Try a simple header using big fonts or a knitting graphic like a ball of yarn or knitting needles. Colour also helps to make your poster stand out. But most importantly keep it simple, consistent, and direct. This is one of those instances where less is definitely more. The following basic information is all you really need to include.
• name of group
• place of meeting
• date
• time
• what's going on
• contact names and phone numbers
See sample poster in Circle Resources.

Email

Email messages and email newsletters are an excellent way to keep your circle members connected and current on meeting times and dates. Make a point of always asking for everyone’s email address and telephone numbers at meetings and whenever anyone calls with questions. We have a number of knitters who have never attended a knitting circle meeting but are still connected via email and the newsletters. Always try to get a member with email access to buddy with someone without email so they are able to communicate via telephone.

Newsletter

We regularly send out an email newsletter to all Knitting Circle Armstrong members. In the beginning it included little more than times and dates of our next meetings. As our circle grew the newsletter included information on our current charity projects and other items of interest. See editions of our newsletter on the Our Circle page.

Newsletter Pointers:

1- Keep it light and use the personal touch. Write like you are having a conversation with a friend. Use we and you which make it friendly. Keep an up beat tone.
2- Keep it short. Choose three or four things to share with your knitters.
3- Always publicize your next meeting date, time, and place
4- Always include at least two names and phone numbers for people to call if they should have questions.
5- A friendly thank you to members for special efforts are always welcome and nice to include.

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