Become a Publications Sleuth

Journalists have it down. Who, what, when, where, why and how. They get the scoop because they ask the right questions. These same questions can help you sniff out effective solutions to your communications issues. Many times clients will come and say, "We need a brochure." So I start asking questions.

• Who is this for?
• What organizational goal does it accomplish?
• When and where will you distribute it?
• Why will this particular audience care?
• How do you want them to respond?

These questions are part of a creative brief, and having a form you fill out for each method of communication you produce provides a great roadmap to keep you on-track and on-budget. Here are a couple links you might find helpful:

• How to write an effective design brief
  
• A graphic design perspective on using design briefs

It's a Two-Way Street with Vendors

Here's a very familiar scenario for my business: a non-profit gets a grant to improve their communications materials and promotional planning, so they come to me for help. We work together on establishing the organizational personality, write up a communications brief, and then work on design briefs for guidelines in creating a visual identity. Usually this process puts the organization on a learning curve, because if they'd already had a strong visual identity and website they wouldn't be needing the grant. But since most of us in the non-profit world are, by necessity, wearers of many hats, there's a tendency to want to understand and control all the aspects of the process and then, surprise, the money's running low and we need to make difficult decisions about how to spend what's left.

Two of the most important things about choosing a vendor are trust and respect. It's worth the time and energy to find someone you truly, truly trust and respect. And then let them do what they do. Listen to their recommendations and ask questions, but be willing to move in directions you hadn't thought of earlier. That's what they're there for: to guide you in a process that is their specialty. And yes, sometimes things don't go well with a vendor. But nine times out of ten, it's because the vendor was chosen hastily, not reviewed thoroughly, or, in an effort to save money, someone was chosen who's not qualified. ("My cousin's neighbor does something like that . . .")

I recently found this article titled, Turning Vendors into Business Partners that I think is worth a read. Check it out. Good vendor relationships will pay off in the long run, and are worth nurturing for the long-term health of your organization.

Tips for Selecting Photos

So you just had a big event, and a friend who's into photography came and took some photos. A lot of photos. 10 disks worth of photos. Now you want to use some of those photos on your website, but how do you begin to go through them all and choose?

While I whole-heartedly advise hiring a professional photographer whenever possible, at the end of the day I'm also a realist. I know that budgets don't always allow for that, so I've compiled some tips on what to look for that will make going through a lot of photos a little less daunting. Once you know what to look for, the process goes quickly. You'll find that out of those 10 disks, you'll be lucky to get 10 really good photos that are worth using.

1. Before you begin selecting photos, make sure you have a signed photo release from anyone who's face is recognizable. You can see a sample release form at Digital PhotoCorner.
   
2. Look for good composition. It’s a bad idea to cut someone off at joints such as ankles, wrists, etc. Make sure all of someone is in the photo, or that the cropping is pleasing.
3. Be sure photo is in focus, not blurry. If an artistic effect is desired, be sure it looks intentional.
4. If faces are visible, expressions should match the desired emotion. Never use a photo that isn’t flattering to everyone in it. Look for eyes closed, tongues out, clothing bunched up, etc.
5. The exposure shouldn’t be too dark or too light. If you absolutely love the photo but it’s a bit dark, considering hiring someone who can digitally alter it for you.
6. There should be no ambiguity about what’s going on in the photo. If you were there, you might know what’s going on, but will someone who wasn’t? Arms in front of people’s faces, or caught in odd positions are things to look for. The viewer should know in an instant what’s going on.
7. If photos are going in a brochure or on a website, make sure the photos are of different people. The same people in several photos gives the impression of cliquishness, or that there are “star” players. You want your photography to be welcoming and inclusive, as much as possible.
8. Ask the photographer to weed out bad photos so you save yourself, and your vendors, the time and expense of having to going through them all.
9. Be sure you get the highest resolution photos possible from the photographer. Printing anything on a press requires high resolution photos, which means 300dpi at the finished size you want it. You can always down-res something for the web, but you cannot go the other direction and turn a 72dpi photo into a 300dpi photo.
10. If you dont understand item #9, you should hire a professional graphic designer to help you out.
    

It's About More Than Blogging

My friend, Karen Anderson, has a wonderfully informative blog called Writer Way, and her recent post, Way Beyond Blogs, is certainly worth a read.

One of the challenging things for businesses right now is to adapt to the changing terrain of communications. For decades we've been told that marketing and PR are vehicles with which to shape public perception of your business. But the truth about branding is that perception is reality, and the experience people have with your business has everything to do with their perception of your brand. Customers can sense very quickly if you have integrity, if you're being honest, if you're over-stating your case. We've gone from a demand for services to a demand for experiences, and are now entering a phase of demand for authenticity.

Way Beyond Blogs offers several links and tips to get you up-to-speed on ways you can deepen your brand through meaningful partnerships and participation in the communities around you. Never underestimate the power of good, old-fashioned honesty and integrity.

Strategy and Trust: A Map's Not Enough

Yesterday I received the GuideStar Newsletter, a monthly electronic newsletter that's always full of great advice for non-profits. The second article down caught my eye: "The Most Important Part of Your Strategic Plan."

What do you think of as the most important part of your strategic plan, or any plan for that matter? Goals? Objectives? Timelines? Those all answer the question, "What are you going to do?" But what answers the question, "How are you going to get there?"

I find so often we're focused on strategy and metrics and process, that we forget to talk about what really gets us there. Partnerships and opportunities come from relationships, and relationships require . . . trust.

Trust, and integrity, drive everything these days. We're in the midst of an era of mistrust and skepticism, and the companies that will survive and thrive will do so because of their ability to engender faith and confidence. These are the companies that value relationship-building and the web of efficiency and support that come with that.

So the next time you're looking at a plan, see if you can answer the question, "How will we get people to trust us?"

Doing Business on Facebook

To say that Facebook has become popular would be an understatement. Social networking is growing by leaps and bounds, and the current site d'jour happens to be Facebook.

More and more businesses are posting pages and events to Facebook, but before you do that you should have a look at Nick O'Neill's post, "10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know" on AllFacebook, a blog dedicated to issues about Facebook.

Protecting our privacy in this day and age of "viral" communication becomes more and more timeconsuming, but necessary. Read the fine print. And if you don't want that photo of you from college at a drunken frat party seen by your supervisor or employees (or mother), check out the posting at AllFacebook.

Promotion vs Marketing

Whenever I work with non-profits to help get the word out about their service or product, I encourage them to think in terms of a promotional plan rather than a marketing plan. There are a couple reasons for this. For one thing, traditional marketing is expensive. Direct mail, paid advertising, and color print pieces all cost a lot but may not bring the kind of return you're looking for.

Promotion, on the other hand, includes sending out press and calendar releases to local print and TV media, public service announcements to radio stations, creating an eNews that you can send out to your constituents, and the current "hot" item - social networking. Promotion is really about getting someone interested in what you do so that they'll do the "selling" for you. And at the end of the day, if you're able to articulate what you do and why it matters, it's a lot less expensive.

Very few people in the non-profit world like sales. Most say they know they need to market themselves, but don't want to appear self-congratulatory or toot their own horn. But there's another benefit of promotion: letting your clientele, who've hopefully had a great experience, toot your horn for you. It's much easier to speak passionately about someone else than it is to praise ourselves.

So start collecting success stories, keep a list of testimonials, and include those items where you can: on your website, in a brochure, in a press release. And remember that a balance of pride and humility will go a long way.

Pick Any Two

There's a common saying in print shops all over the country: "Time, quality, and cost: pick any two." You can have quality at a good price, but it'll take time. You can have quick turn-around and high quality, but you'll pay for it. And the most common one that tends to catch people off-guard: quick turn-around that's cost-effective usually results in low quality.

Understanding this triangle can help you manage expectations for not only print collateral, but it also holds true for events. Sometimes circumstances dictate which two you must choose (i.e., lack of funds), but if given the luxury of planning ahead decide which two are the most important and plan accordingly.

I think most people would agree that the ideal is having adequate turn-around time to get high quality which will allow you to save money.

What's another word for . . .

In my never-ending quest to be oh-so-creative, I'm always looking for new ways to say things. I usually turn to my trusty thesaurus to do a little exploring, but recently stumbled on the Visual Thesaurus online, and a whole new world opened up!

The Visual Thesaurus allows you to enter a word, and then displays an array of words grouped according to etymology or word type. To the right, it displays the definition of the word, and then the visual shows various other words you can click on that take you another graphic with that word at the center.

It's good for hours of fun, and invites more exploration than a regular thesaurus provides. Now, what's another word for 'obsession'?!

Ideas Worth Spreading

A friend recently told me about TED.com, and after a brief viewing of this site I knew I was hooked. This site offers up streaming video and articles with thoughts and ideas from the best and brightest around the world, and addresses issues across the board. Themes range from technology to entertainment to science to the arts to global issues. The talks are extremely informative and very engaging.

This site provides a feast for thought for anyone looking for new ways to view whatever issue they feel passionately about.

Fight the Bull

I don't admit this very often, but there are times when I sit in business meetings and I haven't a clue what people are talking about. The jargon is flying, acronyms are bandied about, and well, frankly, it all just starts to get piled on a little too thickly. If you know what I mean.

I recently came across a great book, Why Business People Speak Like Idiots, that renewed my faith in my ability to detect . . . er . . . misuse of the english language. I highly recommend a visit to their site. My favorite feature: the Mystery Matador. Just copy and paste the latest missive from your lawyer or insurance company, and the Mystery Matador will highlight the "bull" and send them an anonymous message, enlightening them by pointing how that perhaps they could speak a bit more plainly.

Ole!

A Definition of Branding

If you ask 10 marketing professionals to give you their definition of 'branding" you'll probably get 10 different answers. While there are a plethora of books and articles out now about branding, I find most small business owners and those who work for non-profits are more confused than ever about branding.

So now, for your consideration, I present my own definition of branding:

Branding is the perception of your business that's created at every point of contact.

Branding is different than your brand. Your brand is what you create: a logo, a color palette, a website, marketing materials, etc. And those are all important because you only get one opportunity to make a good first impression. But branding isn't always the impression you intend to make; it's the impression that's created by someone's perception. In the world of branding, perception is reality. Sometimes our best attempts to communicate get misinterpreted.

The good news is that effective branding doesn't have to cost a lot of money. I'll write more about this in another posting, but for now I'll say that providing customers with a good experience goes further to create loyalty, and can have the added benefit of employing one of the most effective (and free) marketing tactics you could ever have: word-of-mouth.

Branding is Branding

I wasn't sure I'd have an opportunity to post while I'm traveling in Southeast Asia, but I've come across a great example of good branding that I want to share it with you.

I'm staying at The Narima, a wonderful group of bungalows here on the island of Ko Lanta in Thailand. (Life's rough, I know.) The Thai owners, Wan and Yodchai, are a lovely couple who've retired from successful careers in Bangkok to live by the sea. They've done no advertising whatsoever, and yet they're full every season. After a long chat with Wan, I realized that successful branding is the same all over the world because it's all about building relationships and having integrity.

At the heart of it all, Wan and Yodchai sincerely want their guests to have a good time. They go out of their way to accommodate any request, their first priority in hiring staff is to find people who are equally sincere about being in the service industry, and they've created an environment that's welcoming and relaxing. We've heard horror stories about other businesses on the island that not only rip off the tourists, but treat other businesses badly. They stay in business because the demand for accommodations is so high, but they miss out on repeat business and end up with a bad reputation all around. As useage of sites like Trip Advisor increases, this will become more and more of an issue because word-of-mouth can spread news like wildfire.

Regardless of what field you're in, the basic principles of branding still apply. Do what you love, care about your customers, and communicate effectively about yourself. Or better yet, give your customers such a great experience that they'll do the communicating for you.

Making Choices

Quick turn-around, quality work, or affordability. Pick two of these, and let go of the third.

Really. I know there are people out there who insist you can have all three. But, truly, you must pick two. If you want it quickly, you're going to have to pay or sacrifice quality. If you want high quality, you're going to need more time and/or pay more. If you want it cheap, it will either take a long time, but, more likely, the quality won't be anything to write home about.

I've been in this business for 24 years now, and this rule has always held. My best advice: plan ahead. That's the one item you have the most control of, and wouldn't you rather have quality AND affordability?

One Thing at a Time

A recent article from one of my favorite e-newsletters, Wylie's Writing Tips, talks about performing "message triage" -- the act of whittling your message down to one, single, focused point. The less your readers have to remember, the more likely they'll remember what you have to say.

According to Wylie, "political strategist James Carville preaches the gospel of 'exclusivity.' That is, to come up with a single message -- not two, not three -- for your campaign. Carville famously chose 'It's the economy, stupid,' for Bill Clinton's successful presidential campaign. Less famously, he had to convince Clinton not to dilute that message by also talking about eliminating the national debt. Carville says the communicators' toughest job is to convince the client to stick to one message or theme. 'People say I fill empty vessels,' he says. 'But I empty full vessels.' "

Graphic roulette: choosing the right designer

In an earlier post I said I’d elaborate on why you shouldn’t hire your neighbor’s son who’s taking a PhotoShop class to design your logo and/or print materials. OK, here it is.

First of all, I’m sure he’s a very creative guy. He’s young, he’s probably up on the latest visual trends, he’s fearless with a computer and, most importantly, he’s willing to work for free. But ask yourself this: does he know the right questions to ask to understand your target market, and the best way to reach them? There’s a lot more to design than making stuff look good. And if you’re looking to save some money, I’d argue that scrimping on design probably isn’t the best choice. After all, you only get one opportunity to make a good first impression.

Choosing the right graphic designer is kind of like choosing a stylist for your daily walk down the red carpet. Instead of paparazzi, your red carpet is lined with potential customers and clients. And odds are that you’re one of several people walking down it. So you want to stand out, make a great first impression, and be asked to step up to the camera to answer some questions so you can get the job.

Here’s what to look for when considering a graphic designer:

Look for variety in their portfolio. You don’t want a one-trick pony; you want someone who speaks several different visual languages. Unless you’re absolutely certain you want a specific style, it’s much better to work with someone who knows the right questions to ask to put your information into the most effective visual format for your target audience.

References are crucial. Ask for at least three professional references, and call them. Find out how this person is to work with. Are they easy to get a hold of? Do they create, and stick to, a timeline and budget? Did the client feel listened to and understood? Were they happy with the design work they received? Would they hire them again?

Take the time to meet in-person. Ultimately, you need to interview this person to decide if you’d be comfortable working with them. Trust your gut. Does this seem like someone you can trust? Does this person behave professionally? Are they a good listener?

And, in the end, if you still want to hire the neighbor’s son, go for it. Just be aware that you’ll probably have to help him understand who your target audience is. Oh, and make sure he doesn’t put you in something that makes your butt look big.

New Year's Resolution: Taming the E-mail Beast

It's that time of year when many of us look ahead and wonder what we can do to make the next year a better one. I woke up yesterday morning to a story on NPR on an issue that business-consulting firm, Basex, terms the "Problem of the Year: Information Overload". Actually, I think this is the Problem of the Millenium. Sometimes I open my e-mail program feeling like a lion tamer at the circus - whip and chair in hand.

While it seems like stating the obvious, that we're all feeling inundated, and often times frustrated, with e-mail, what I didn't realize is how our Pavlovian response to "you've got mail!" diminishes our productivity and efficiency. Apparently to the tune of $650 billion to our national economy in 2006.

But all is not lost. The top two tips I came away with were these:

• Turn any auditory reminder of e-mail off, and try to check it only every hour.
• Use the letters "NRN" in the subject line, indicated "no reply needed," and "NTR" for "no thanks required". I suppose what should be added to that is to resist the urge to send any "me, too" replies to messages. Not that the world needs any more acronyms (just ask anyone working in the aerospace industry), but these two seem like a good idea to me.

In researching this subject a little further, I found an interesting blog called Taming Email, the goal of which is helping you empty your inbox. Imagine that . . . an empty inbox. One can always dream.

So, happy new year, and good luck with those resolutions! Maybe by this time next year I can retire the whip and chair.

The Psychology of Color

Years ago a client came to me asking for a logo, and told me that the logo needed to be inviting and convey warmth. Just as I was picturing a color palette rich in buttery yellow, chocolate brown and maybe brick red, he said, ". . . and my favorite color is blue."

Now, this is one of those times where I have to muster all the diplomacy I can find. Because here is where clients get tangled in a web of personal taste versus speaking a language their intended audience will understand. Yes, your company's image needs to reflect you. You created it, after all. However, if you try to do business in Brazil without speaking Portuguese, you're not going to get very far.

The psychology of color is all about conveying your message to your desired audience, which means you need to speak their language - literally and figuratively. Sometimes this means putting personal preference aside. I know, I know, it's a hard thing to do. Color is a very emotional thing, and we all get very attached to our own associations with various colors. If you grew up in Washington State, green might symbolize the great outdoors and wonderful memories of camping as a kid. But if you grew up in Southeast Asia, green might symbolize death. You can see how lack of understanding might set your business back, like it did for an airline company back in the 1970s that painted a fleet of airplanes green that flew to Southeast Asia.

Leatrice Eiseman is highly regarded as the queen of color and consultant to the Pantone Institute, the folks who make the notebooks full of little, tiny color swatches with rather large pricetags that graphic designers live by. I once attended a workshop she gave on color forecasting, and was fascinated and impressed by the breadth of knowledge she brings to the task. Not only does she take into account the psychology of color, but of history and how we humans respond to various world events; our need for comfort, or our tolerance for risk and change.

For further reading, there's a great Wiki page about the psychology of color. And, in the words of Kermit the Frog, "It's not easy being green."

A Quickie Doodle

I don't know about you, but if I never have to schedule another meeting via e-mail again, I'd be one happy camper. You know the routine: someone sends out a meeting request, someone replies with the one hour they have available in the next six months, someone else responds with a question and no time suggestions, and you end up spending way more time than is reasonable trying to herd the cats.

But one fine day, I got an e-mail from someone asking me to take part in a Doodle poll. Wow! The simplicity of it! The ease of use! With one click, I found myself on a website with days and times, and a place just for me. All I had to do was type in my name and click on my available times, and that was it. I could see who else had been there and what times they were available. So easy, and so wonderfully time-saving. And even better, you don't need to log in to use it.

Created by Michael Näf at the University of Zurich, this cool tool also works well for potlucks, gathering opinions about what movie to see, and anything else that might take a whirlwind of e-mails and cause a whole lotta' frustration.

So, are we still on for tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.?

Cultivating Creativity

It amazes me when people say, "Oh, I'm just not the creative type." I don't believe creativity is something you're born with, but rather something you cultivate, nurture, and strive for. Creativity is part of our biology; if our bodies can constantly create new cells, then our brains can create new thoughts, and therefore be creative.

I recently became aware of a local campaign called Creativity Matters that believes that creativity can be taught. Imagine the possibilities! The best problem-solving happens when you let yourself step out of the box and think about things in a new way. I've sat in more meetings than I care to remember where new ideas are shot down before being explored, and I blame our quest for instant solutions. Creativity needs a little time and space, but the the rewards are often far more effective and lasting than going for the quick fix.

So, how do you learn to be more creative? Creativity Matters has a great list of 25 ways to cultivate creativity every day. Check it out. Oh, and I highly recommend firing your inner critic. Creativity needs optimism, and our inner critics live on a steady diet of doubt and fear. So, whenever possible, put that voice aside in favor of the one that says, "Hmm, I wonder what's possible?"