photo by darwin bell

When is it better to do nothing? I find myself having this conversation (argument, really) more and more these days. The flip answer, of course, is when you don’t kow what the hell you’re doing.

The refrain I hear all the time: “We’ve got to do SOMETHING!” Just do it—run that ad, produce that brochure, put out that newsletter. Doing something’s GOT TO BE BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING.

Please forgive me for disagreeing.

Run that ad? Not if you have no clue what you’re saying or who you’re trying to reach. Worse, not if all past evidence tells you it won’t generate a response.

Produce that brochure? Not if it serves no purpose other than to add to your local landfill.

Put out that newsletter? Not if you’re pushing out a message your audience has no interest in, that adds no value to their lives or the conversation you’re having.

The problem today is that we’re beyond up to our eyeballs in communication. We’re drowning in friggin’ communication. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone’s idea of communication. Everyone’s throwing everything against the wall, hoping something will stick. (In case I’m being obtuse, you’re the wall.)

You may not agree with this, but personally I think it’s better to figure out the right way to communicate before you start, you know, communicating. Contrary to what some believe, bad communication is not better than no communication at all. Stuff that doesn’t stick frequently has the opposite effect … it repels. Of course, if repellent is what you’re going for, by all means have at it.

Figure out your communication goals. Choose objectives that meet your goals. Create a strategy that best serves those objectives. Develop tactics that execute on your strategy. Measure the results. Tweak and repeat.

Feel free to have this tattooed on your forehead in case the powers that be aren’t clear where you’re coming from.

For those who still don’t get it, this preso by Marta Kagan does an excellent job of making the case for social media as “a force to be reckoned with” with the potential to be something far more transformative and impactful than just another marketing channel.

While the for-profit world may have the resources and the motivation (read: potential sales revenues), I believe nonprofits have greater incentive to be the innovation leaders in the social media arena.

Unlike traditional marketing channels, social media offer us the tools to identify potential allies and supporters, learn what others think (or don’t think) of us, build relationships, organized and collaborate around common causes, and measure the success or failure of our efforts, all at a cost signficantly lower than in the past. Who has more to gain than nonprofits?

And as you fret over your next newsletter or year-end appeal, try naming one other communication or marketing tool that comes close to offering what social media can offer you. It’s not the print advertising you continue to run despite the evidence that no one’s reading your daily paper any more. Or the direct mail. TV and radio have certainly gotten more affordable, mainly because they’re losing their traditional buyers in droves. Even your old-school website doesn’t do half the work of a social media-focused site.

This isn’t about social media augmenting or replacing your current marketing efforts. Sooner than you might think, social media are going to be at the center of your program efforts. Operational efforts. External and internal communication efforts. Fund-raising efforts. Recruiting efforts. And yes, your marketing and promotional efforts.

So why are so many of us so slow to get on board? That’s the $64,000 question we all must ask ourselves. Better ask it quick.

photo by fotodawg

I don’t remember who I first borrowed the idea from, but I really love reviewing my top 20 tweets each month. My approach to twitter is as editor/curator: I look for posts I think will appeal to those who follow me in the areas of marketing, communications, social media, journalism and related subjects, especially as they relate to nonprofits and small business. I of course liberally tweet my own posts since those happen to be the subjects I tend to write about.

What is particularly interesting is what my highest-performing tweets tell me about my followers on Twitter: they’re a fairly discerning bunch interested in real substance, not fluff. I can always tell when I’ve missed the mark, and it helps me quite a bit when considering what to blog about.

Here’s what was most popular in October. I encourage you to check out any you may have missed when first we tweeted. It’s all good stuff. Even my stuff (I think).

No More Excuses for Crap Communications

If Marketers Today Created the Stop Sign

Social Media and the Paradox of Choice

Why Every Communicator Should Blog

The Dangers of No Content Strategy

Your Communications Plan: What It’s Really For

Small Business: Get in the Social Media Pool

Why Nonprofits Are So Good at Social Media

All You Need is the Story

Results of the Fourth Annoying PowerPoint Survey

Build a Social Network for Your Business

Why Uncensored Blogging is the Future of Corporate Communications

Blogging is Dead, Long LIve Journalism

A Tagline is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Is Philanthropy Ready for the New Consumer?

Five Reasons Corporations are Failing at Social Media

My Five-Year-Old’s Future in Marketing

Hyatt: Managing the Boston Aftermath

Debating Seth Godin’s “Non” Slam

Small Business, Social Media Not Mixing

photo by the u.s. national archives

Why do we create so much crap communication? You know what I mean. The inane press release no one reads. The badly composed photo of people standing around, doing nothing of interest. The ad apparently created solely because a deadline had arrived and something was needed to fill the space. Email so dull based on the subject line that it’s deleted without being opened. Annual reports that follow the same tired formula year after year because (wait for it) “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Websites whose only purpose is to remind us that you exist (and barely succeeding at that).

At the same time, we now have these amazing tools and technologies at our disposal, just aching to be used to push the boundaries of what we mean by effective communication. Instead we use them to deliver the same old crap with ever-increasing flair and pinpoint accuracy (think Predator drone armed with cow dung missile). We have wikis and blogs and micro-blogs and social networks and virtual communities and social bookmarking and content sharing and … we use it to deliver grip-and-grin photos, bad writing and spam marketing.

We’ve got the most phenomenal content delivery systems imaginable, and yet we fill them with crap. It’s a craptastrophe of epic proportions. Please, god, save me from bad photos of guys in suits awkwardly shaking hands. And stories of meetings that even the five people at the meeting don’t want to read.

It’s time to start living up to the potential of the tools at our disposal rather than dragging them down into the sludge of our old, tired ways. There no longer are any excuses for bad content.

Can’t write? Hire a writer … there must be a million out-of-work journalists who will work cheap for you. Can’t take a picture to save your life? Take 20 minutes and read one of the thousands of blog posts that explain how to stage a shot that won’t embarrass you. Or buy a really cheap, really good stock shot. Can’t afford a graphic designer? We’re in a recession, folks. When times are tight, rates are negotiable. Or do I dare mention the wealth of design templates out there that can make your publication halfway presentable?

The point, friends, is that there’s no excuse for crap anymore. Hallelujah. If you’re still producing crap, it must mean you’re either ignorant, lazy or incompetent. Or you’ve just given up. If that’s the case, please step aside and let others who still care do the work.

photo by wsilver

You may remember last week when I told you what your communication plan is really for. Here’s a reminder: the purpose is to get stakeholders to do something and then help them do it.

Pretty straightforward, right? So let’s try a little exercise. The whole thing shouldn’t take you more than 10 or 20 minutes tops.

First, make a list of everything you’re doing in your communications program. Newsletters, annual report, brochures, direct mail, the web site, email campaigns, advertising campaigns, T-shirts, bumper stickers, Twitter, Facebook … whatever you’re doing, write it down. If you have a communications plan (and don’t tell me you don’t), just pull it out and highlight your tools and tactics.

Now take a good honest look at each item and ask yourself: Is this getting results? And by results, of course I mean are people doing what I want them to do as a result of your activity.

Are they signing up to volunteer? Giving money? Changing their behavior? Showing up for meetings? Helping to spread the message? Enlisting their friends in the cause? Whatever you want them to do, are they doing it in response to your effort?

Be honest. You’re not being graded, so the only one you’re cheating if you lie is your organization.

If a communications initiative isn’t moving people to action (and you define what that action is, but make sure it’s substantive), then you have two choices.

You can try to fix it, hoping that it WILL generate results. Or you can stop doing it and instead do something else.

Life’s too short and your mission too important to waste time on work that doesn’t get results. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If something isn’t working, I don’t care how many people tell you, “But we’ve always done this!” or “But I LOVE [fill in the blank]!” Either make it work or make it stop.

photo by ontwerpplus

What’s the purpose of your communications program? Is it to build awareness for your organization and its mission? Inform people about your issue? Get your name in the media? Maybe you think it’s about sharing the latest news of what you’ve accomplished.

If that’s what you think, you’re not alone. Too many nonprofits have a severely limited understanding of a communication program’s purpose. Nonprofit boards and staff may value their communications team, but too many think its job is simply to get the word out as to what the organizers and policy wonks and fund raisers are accomplishing.

That’s all well and good and vital to the cause, but an effective communications strategy can be much more than that. Let’s reframe things a little:

A great communications program gets stakeholders to do something and then helps them do it.

See the difference? Yes, making people aware of you and what you’re doing can lead to others joining your cause. And getting media coverage can certainly enhance your credibility as an organization that gets things done. But if you’re not turning awareness and knowledge and support into action, you’re not accomplishing anything. Remember, the point of all this is to change the world (or at least your small corner of the world). Anything less is missing the big picture.

Setting aside for a moment the absurdity of the ongoing “birther” controversy that seems to hold Lou Dobbs, FOX News and the Republican Party in its hypnotic sway, don’t congresspeople have, like, whole departments of communications pros trained to help them avoid situations like this?

If you’re going to be a party to the charade, at least be prepared for the inevitable media ambush designed to make you look (rightfully) silly. Get your talking points straight. Don’t get caught on tape running away. And try not to use phrases like “scum of the earth” when addressing a reporter, no matter how much you hate his lyin’ liberal guts.

photo by intangible arts

Print or digital, the newsletter continues to be one of my favorite communication tools. It’s a quick targeted read, relatively inexpensive and easy to produce with current technologies. For example, I do a 12-page philanthropic newsletter for my nonprofit’s stakeholders and distribute it cheaply via print by using in-house color copiers (the quality is surprisingly good) and by emailed PDF. We get great feedback and it’s helped to create a culture of philanthropy where little existed previously.

There’s really no excuse for a bad newsletter these days, and yet they’re everywhere (like here and here). Bad writing and poor design are common culprits, but I think the biggest mistake made is a lack of thoughtful planning.

Here’s how too many newsletters are born. Someone’s boss suddenly decides, “Hey, we need a newsletter.” The newsletter “editor” (sometimes qualified, often not) throws together a story list based on what management thinks everyone needs to know rather than what the audience will actually find interesting. Some poorly written stories are cobbled together. Someone takes really bad snapshots of people standing around at a meeting or posing awkwardly against a bare white (sometimes beige) wall, holding a check or report or some other lame prop that “connects” to the story. Then someone puts it all together using Microsoft Publisher and a newsletter template they found in the program or on the web and voilà! We have a newsletter.

Creating a great newsletter isn’t rocket science (unless it’s a newsletter about, you know, rocket science). But you do need to answer these questions before you get started:

What am I trying to accomplish? Seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many newsletters are launched with the vaguest of answers. “Informing people what we’re doing” and “creating greater awareness” are lame at best. Get specific. The answer to this question should dictate everything that goes into your newsletter.

Who is my audience and what need am I fulfilling? These aren’t simple questions. Your audience may be composed of several different stakeholder groups, each with different information needs. How are you going to meet these needs and yet remain focused?

How will I organize what I’m trying to communicate? A good periodical is made up of well-defined parts that hang together as a whole. Every article should have a specific reason for being that relates directly to your communication objectives. If you can’t quickly explain why you’re including something, then it probably doesn’t belong.

The easiest way to organize newsletter content is to establish departments and a feature section. Departments have a specific focus and are consistent from issue to issue. For example, an alumni newsletter might have a department that tells a current student’s story as a way of drawing a connection between life on campus today to the reader’s own experience. An association newsletter may have a standing roundup of legislative actions taken that affect the industry it serves.

Features are where your newsletter can really stretch, but again keep in mind your objectives. Readers like both the comfort of the familiar that departments offer and the unexpected surprise of a feature that takes an unconventional approach to its subject.

What are my resources? If you’re relying on amateur writers, be sure to give them plenty of guidance and time to develop their stories. I’ve found that giving a novice a fairly detailed outline that suggests how the story might flow can help a lot. Rather than rely on bad photos, consider the creative use of stock photography and illustrations. Play good art big and minimize the bad if forced to use it.

What’s my schedule? Make sure you allow enough time to get it right. Rushing production is a sure path to a sloppy, unprofessional final product. Be sure to pad your schedule for unanticipated issues like approvals taking longer than expected, or a story falling through at the last moment.

As you answer these questions, keep the following in mind:

Every story has a purpose. I’m going to say this again because I see pointless stories all the time. There shouldn’t be anything in your newsletter that doesn’t link back to your communication goals and objectives. If the story you’re considering doesn’t, then chances are it doesn’t belong in your newsletter.

You’re building a relationship with your audience. What I love about a great periodical is the sense that I belong to a larger community of shared interests. I felt it when I was a kid reading comic books. Each issue had a letters to the editor section where fellow fanboys would comment on the latest developments, rail about something someone else wrote in last issue’ s letters page, etc. Although I never wrote a letter myself, I still felt a part of the community.

The same thing is true today with magazines. My subscription to Inc. enrolls me in a community of fellow travelers, all interested in what it takes to start and grow a business. When I read Garden & Gun, I’m communing with others who love the life and culture of the American South. Your periodical has the potential to tap into this power … if it’s done well.

Incorporate calls to action. A good newsletter engages the reader in a conversation about what you’ve written. Give your audience a way to respond. Encourage letters, use polls to find out readers’ thoughts on relevant issues, create quizzes and contests that are both fun and informative, anything that begs a response.

Keep it short, simple and easy to follow. You hear this all the time with respect to writing for the web, but it’s always been true for newsletters. This is short-form communication. Newsletters are uniquely suited for an audience that has little time for long, drawn-out stories.

Vary your story approach. As with departments and features, use different ways of telling a story to keep your publication interesting. Telling someone’s story can take the form of a straightforward profile or a Q&A. Do “10 Things You Didn’t Know About X,” or make it a photo essay with very little text at all. Make sure whatever you do is appropriate to the subject; don’t try to force cleverness. But don’t do story after story in the same voice, from the same perspective. You’ll bore your readers.

Design is important. We live in an age of sophisticated design, from furniture to teapots to office supplies to newsletters. You may not be able to afford great graphic design, but there are enough resources out there for you to fake it. Affordable graphic designers and inexpensive design templates are just two options available to you.

I could go on and on (and probably have), but I’ll save further discussion for a future post. The important thing to remember right now is that if you’re thoughtful and strategic in your planning, you just might end up with one hell of a newsletter.

photo by neogabox

Tip of the hat to Katya Andresen for the lead on this great communications evaluation guide from the folks at The Communications Network.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your communications program is one of the toughest jobs there is, so many organizations just don’t do it except anecdotally.

This is a well-considered step-by-step guide with lots of great advice on how nonprofits can set objectives, identify audiences, identify the right questions to ask and choose the best techniques to use.