JournaMarketing

Writing like a person

Beth Dunn, inspired by Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog, has some good thoughts on why you should write conversationally. She's been looking at a book with old-fashioned "sales copy" and doesn't like what she sees.

One of the reasons why it’s worth while to build relationships with current and potential donors, members, constituents, et al., by using social networking and two-way communication like blogs is so that we can dump these outdated, alienating, and only ever marginally effective methods once and for all.

I'll go a step further and challenge you to write conversationally in your other printed materials, too. Why let a committee suck the life out of everything you've written before you spend $3,000 on slick brochures? The message will be far more effective if someone can pick up your brochure and see it's been written by a real person. So ditch the committee of copy editors. Have 2 or 3 people check for typos next time you're writing brochure copy, and that's it. Just try it to see how it works out.

Know your organization's expertise

The #1 goal of your communications strategy should be to determine what your organization specializes in. Seth Godin sums up why you want to be a specialist.

If I need an animator, I can find the world's best animator. If I need a bond to insure my movie, I can find the best broker at selling completion bonds. If I need SEO help, get me the world's best SEO person. If I need braces, I can find the best orthodontist in my area. Not the second-best or someone who will try really hard or someone who is pretty good at that and also good at other things.

By virtue of the fact that you have a room full of people who work on the same issue every day, your organization is specializing in something. But too many small organizations fail to understand that they have experts on staff with important information to share with an interested constituency. So figure out what's your specialty, then figure out who needs that specialty. The rest of your communications plan will fall into place.

Photo sharing for a good cause

Yesterday, I posted a photo that floated down from the sky near my home, after the tornadoes over the weekend, 70+ miles away. The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader is inviting readers to upload the photos they've found to the newspaper's website, in hopes that the owners can retrieve them. It's a great example of the network effect of the Internet, and how easy-to-use Web tools can be used for good.

Help re-unite this photo with its owner

The photo on the left ended up near my home this weekend, after tornadoes hit southwest Missouri and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. I have no idea where it came from, but it traveled at least 70 miles, I think. It's just one piece of the debris that was scattered across the area. There's another piece of paper -- apparently some kind of order form for a builder in Miami, Oklahoma.

I'm posting this here in the hope that you'll help find the owner of the photo by spreading the word about it on your own site. Five years ago, there would have been almost no way to get the photo back where it belongs. But the way we're all linked together online now, I think it's actually a possibility. At least it's worth a try.

Marketing a charity auction

Seth Godin has advice on marketing your charity auction.

If you're only willing to bid $19 to buy a $20 bill at this auction,
you're not doing charity, you're bargain hunting. There's nothing wrong
with bargain hunting, it's fun, but it's not philanthropy. I think
bargain hunting for a good cause is just fine, but wouldn't it be great
if the event could raise far more money and change the way people view
the organization?

The Robin Hood Foundation raised more than 24 million dollars at
their last auction, because people competed to overpay. And that's the
secret. The story the charity must tell is: "don't pay $19 for this
twenty dollar bill, don't even pay $30, we need you to pay $40!" The satisfaction of overpaying (whether you overpay anonymously or in public) is what they sell, not a bargain.

Seth points out that this is not the easy way. It's easier to convince people to hunt for bargains than to donate their money. But the payoff is a lot bigger if you do the extra work, and make the act of donating the reward in itself.

Oops! How the Internet ruins secrets

Kevin Rose founded a site called Digg, which uses votes from readers to select featured stories. Digg was readying a new comment system -- but wasn't quite ready to go public -- when Rose acccidentally posted a link to his Twitter account. That message was immediately followed by this message:

crap, wrong window, disregard

Rose deleted the original message, but of course, nobody bothered to "disregard." Instead, they began voting almost immediately for the story on Digg, and it was soon one of the most popular stories on the site.

Within an hour, Kevin Rose had this to say on Twitter: "well, it's almost on the homepage, secret no more: http://tinyurl.com/6jg7dj." What could he do? The story was out, and there was no getting it back anymore. It wasn't an earth-shattering story, but the incident serves as a lesson to think twice about what you say before you post it online.

How to turn employees into story-tellers

Computer-maker Dell has launched a new blog, called Your Blog, and it has applications for all kinds of organizations, from other corporations to small nonprofits.

Dell employees are posting stories or tips about how they use technology in their personal lives. One contributor talks about his online gaming experience. Another writes about turning old camera lens rings into jewelry. The site also asks readers to submit their own tips for "doing more with technology."

The blog isn't about promoting Dell products. It's about promoting Dell people. And it's just the kind of thing your organization can do, too. Your organization trusts its employees enough to hire them. Enough to invite them into the building every day. Enough to pay them for their work. So why wouldn't the organization trust its employees enough to let them tell the stories of their work to the public?

Allowing employees to share the things they've learned is a great way to put a face on your organization. And doing that builds relationships that will make it easier for the organization to succeed.

This is a great idea -- and it's not something most organizations would be comfortable with.
Technorati Tags: storytelling, nptech, nonprofit, blogs, Dell

KidsCast video

KidsCast is an audio program we produce for the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The program's producer, Amy Winder, travels to schools throughout the state and speaks to kids about making healthy choices -- and records the kids narrating segments of the show. It's a really cool program because it helps the ADA reach directly into the classroom. We recorded some video of a couple of school visits, and produced this simple video. It's the kind of thing you can do for your organization without a big investment of time or money, and it's a really effective way to tell your organization's story.
Technorati Tags: KidsCast, Missouri, education, video

Copy editing and soul sucking

Seth Godin writes today about how "good" copy editing can suck the soul out of what you've written.

By sanding off every edge, removing every idiom, making each and every fact literally correct, she made it boring and dry and mechanical.

Next time you're writing copy for a brochure, remember this. Writing a brochure by committee is never a good idea. Just once, try correcting the typos and leaving everything else alone. You might be amazed at how much better the final product works.

Citizen journalism affects nonprofits

Elizabeth Toledo at PR Week writes about how changes in news gathering and the rise of citizen journalism are affecting nonprofits.

In the old model, advocacy organizations influenced the media by sending press releases, holding press events, submitting letters to the editor, and publishing newsworthy information. That model worked because an editor or columnist determined what was "newsworthy."

In theory, there was a professional lens that sifted through the massive number of claims and accusations. Organizations with a good reputation could generally count on professional journalists to dismiss accusations that did not have a solid foundation.

In the new world of media advocacy, the editor's role shrinks while the role of the "citizen journalist" grows. Leading news sites, such as cnn.com and nytimes.com, will invite the public to submit their own stories and, through a combination of popularity and relevance, the public will drive which stories make it through the firewall onto the evening news. It's not simply that more Op-Eds will make it onto the editorial pages - these citizen journalists will drive which stories grab the attention of the news reporters as well.

The reason I started this blog is to write about exactly this intersection. Journalism is something anyone can do -- and that includes you, as you engage others who are interested in the work your organization is doing. Instead of trying to get the attention of the people who write stories, you can write stories yourself. Instead of trying to get the attention of people who make videos, you can make your own videos. If your stuff is engaging and interesting and insightful, you'll get the attention of people you want to engage.
Technorati Tags: nptech, citizen journalism, blogging, news