Founder & CEO, the Imagine companies
Abridged and reprinted from The Fast Growth Blog with the author’s permission.

I hear it all the time:  “I just need a brochure that explains what we do better,” or “If we could just create a piece that gets people to see how we’re different.”  While I’m not (necessarily) against brochures or corporate collateral, the vast majority of them (like 95+%) are not only bad – they kill profits.

How?  They completely commoditize you. They’re like watching a home slide show, without the entertainment.  They not only bore your audience, they make you completely indistinguishable from your competition (remember, they have access to stock photos too).

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Abridged with permission from Henry Stimpson’s PR and Marketing Tips

It’s easy to just Google whatever you’re researching and stop there. Well, don’t just Google! You’re likely to miss invaluable information that isn’t anywhere on the Web. Trust me—I was a research librarian before I went into PR and marketing many years ago.

Here are a few key research tools that can turn up lots of great information that Google can’t.

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Posted in Audience research and strategic planning, Writing and Editing 1 Comment »

Chief Content Evangelist at Nutlug Content Marketing
Abridged with the author’s permission. Read the original on the Junta42 blog under the title “Keeping Score: Measuring the Effectiveness of Content.”

Amidst budget cuts and strapped resources, elements of a marketing communication plan that lack at least some metrics linking back to effectiveness tend to be early casualties.

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In a recent post we called CaringBridge^® a fundraising superstar. CaringBridge gives away websites to let users—150,000 to date, they report—stay in touch with family and friends during a critical illness, treatment, or recovery.

Recently the organization launched Version 3 of their site, aimed at “making personal CaringBridge websites easier to use, visually streamlined and more customizable.” A new feature is a Spanish-language option.

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The following is excerpted with the author’s permission from a post that appeared recently on the ChangeOrder blog.

On the restaurant’s Web site: penne pasta, seared oyster mushrooms, greens, basil, reggiano.

At the actual restaurant: penne pasta, winter greens, alfredo.

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We are rapidly becoming a society that sees its experts as sources of valuable information and opinion rather than as directors of behavior. For example, patients come to their doctors having already done extensive Internet research on the conditions they think they might have. Read the rest of this entry »

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This guest post was provided by Jennifer Brundage of Smithsonian Affiliations, a program that fosters relationships with museums, cultural and educational organizations across the country. Read the rest of this entry »

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Most Web sites brag about products, services, or programs. Better sites offer proof in the form of success stories or case studies. They may also toss in analytical white papers. These real-world resources give site visitors a reason for feeling confident in whatever is being sold.

But, as Jakob Nielsen points out in “Writing Style for Print vs. Web,” Web users and print readers behave differently. Web users want content they can act upon, immediately. What does that mean for a Web content developer who wants visitors to read a narrative documenting the organization’s success?

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According to a recent survey, workers of different ages generally don’t talk to each other on the job.

[A] poll of 3,494 adults by employment services group Randstad USA showed that 51 percent of baby boomers and 66 percent of older workers report little to no interaction with their younger colleagues.

Employment experts fear the lack of communication could create a shortage of U.S. skilled labor because retiring baby boomers aren’t passing on their knowledge and experience.
…
The survey examined four generations, Generation Y, born between 1980 to 1988; Generation X, born 1965 to 1979; baby boomers, born in 1946 to 1964; and matures, born [in 1945 or earlier].

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I spend months at a time traveling the world. I have backpacked Europe, Northern and Southern Africa, across Asia on a trek from Beijing to Cairo, and most recently around South America’s Southern Cone up to Peru.

As a result of my travels, I get speaking engagements on my wanderings, and such venues have included area high schools.

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Posted in Audience research and strategic planning, Framing content in print and on the Web No Comments »