Area's flacks find new ways to sell region

By Darrell Hughes - dhughes@thesunnews.com

Success is all about selling yourself these days - and marketing has always been key. Yet economic development groups along the Grand Strand are recognizing that effectively selling yourself costs money.

The Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corp. doubled its marketing budget for 2008-2009 to $70,000 with hopes of tweaking its image.

Meanwhile, Brunswick County Economic Development Commission and the Georgetown County Economic Development Department aren't increasing their budgets, but they're stretching their dollars.

"The economy is in a weird state right now and the regions are getting more competitive," said Lauren Morris, Myrtle Beach Regional corporation's spokeswoman. "Anything we can do to set ourselves apart is important."

The corporation wants to refine and craft the city's professional image, Morris said. The corporation's next move will be revamping its Web site, www.myrtle beachdevelopment.com.
"The world's on the Web," she said.

An integrated, easy-to-use Web site could attract new and diverse industries, Morris explained.
For the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission, perfecting its Web site has been an on-going project since day one, director Jim Bradshaw said.

The commission is now working to present its marketing material in a quality package, filled with abundant information that isn't too expensive to produce and reproduce. The commission has a budget of $20,000 to $25,000, Bradshaw said.

The commission is likely to begin downloading the county's marketing brochures, a presentation and statistical information on USB memory sticks, he said.

Companies "really enjoy the USB presentations," Bradshaw said. "And with that, it's only one memory clip and it has all these brochures and everything, and [the companies] can pick and choose what they want and print it out at their site."

The USB memory sticks should save the commission money on printing costs, Bradshaw said. The 200 memory sticks were purchased for $15 apiece. "It's got a good amount of memory. And of course the mailing cost is less."

Georgetown County's Economic Development Commission has about the same size budget as Brunswick County, but director Wayne Gregory said his commission's marketing strategy is to target industries at conferences and via private meetings.

The Georgetown County commission's budget is dependent on the county's budget, which is limited because of rising costs and declines in tax revenue, but Gregory said he's making do.
Gregory said quality representation is essential, but "it's not about how much you have or how much you spend."

Contact DARRELL HUGHES at 626-0364.