The FUN 2 Give Books initiative was a unique take on a familiar idea, implemented in collaboration with the local city government.
Using some "refurbished" metallic newspaper stands, we picked 8 locations (6 small businesses and two local recreational centers) as the home to the free libraries.
We promoted the locations and the initiative through our website, social media, flyers, etc., sharing that these locations were some fantastic small businesses where people could go enjoy a class, an ice cream, or cake and also get a free book, helping each other promote the locations and the initiative.
* Read an article about FUN 2 Give Books here. *
At the same time, we took book donations to go above and beyond and started mailing a book (at a time) through USPS absolutely for free, meaning we also covered the postage to keep the world of books and reading alive.
After almost two years, we stopped the initiative, as unfortunately, we realized that every time, fewer and fewer people were interested in reading, and even fewer read printed books.
We donated over 350 novels to libraries and different organizations, hoping that someone somewhere would pick up the book, read it, and then share it with someone else, as that was the essence of FUN 2 Give Books.
As critical learning, expectations need to be realistic and managed as the business progresses, as sometimes the emotional side takes over, you see the "noise" you are making in your community or with your potential users/consumers, and start investing more (time or money) on expanding before ensuring the foundation, your base, is stable.
** It doesn't matter if it is a free initiative or a business; this is something to always keep in mind **
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