Worried that you might lose a customer, client, or supporter because of something you do? My experience has taught me that more losses are caused by what you don’t do. Lousy customer service will certainly lose a piece of business now and then. But what I call benign neglect is one of the most consistent […]
About what you say in your marketing materials, that is. I wish that weren’t the case, but it’s absolutely true. I may spend hours trying to get a paragraph just right, even though I know that the audience is only going to glance at it for a couple seconds. You’d never know that from the […]
You’re responsible for your organization’s newsletter, and the other day, you read a great item in a magazine. It’s perfect for your organization’s audience, so you reprint it in your newsletter. If you didn’t get permission to do so, you’ve just broken the law. “Wait!” you protest. “I put the name of the magazine under […]
A well-known consumer marketer emailed what they thought was an irresistible offer. Using my address, they deduced that I must be a St. Louis Cardinals fan and presented me with a great deal on some Cards memorabilia. Bad move. My lifelong allegiance lies with a team that plays at the intersection of Clark and Addison […]
Our society is more politically divided than it’s been for quite some time. Rational, respectful discussions have largely been replaced with angry tweets and angrier talking heads. Simple social media posts explode into angry battles in which both sides are so eager to promote their points that they don’t even read what they’re responding to. […]
Are there certain things that people don’t know but should, and that drives you to distraction? For me, one of the biggest is the difference between features and benefits. While that distinction has been talked about for years, and successful communications and sales professionals invariably advocate for emphasizing benefits over features, there continues to be a […]
Have a job where you find yourself saying the same things 150 times a day? Don’t lose sight of the fact that each time you do, it may be the first time your audience is hearing it. I think about that every time a cashier or an employee on a store’s PA mumbles “thank you […]
If you’re looking for a way to catch the attention of your audience and focus their full attention on your message, ask them a question that matters to them. Some people think that asking questions in headlines and opening statements is a bad idea. I once had a boss who became furious anytime anyone presented […]
A good portion of my business comes from helping companies develop websites, so you won’t be surprised to learn that I believe creating a new site or redoing an existing one is a worthwhile investment. But I’m less enthusiastic about companies that see rolling out a new website as an exciting event for their customers. […]
A quarter-century ago, when I started my business (in the days when nearly all websites were blue), I spent time in online groups that catered to the small-business crowd. I was looking for sound advice, but found little. One conundrum really seemed to vex visitors to those sites. “When writing about my business, should I […]
