Life Moves Pretty Fast

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blogging, blogs, brand, Business Communications, commitment, cooking, ideas, online content, priorities, Sandra Lee, social media, writing, writing content

A few years ago, I worked with a young woman who was interested in defining and creating her own personal brand focused on healthy food. With strong communications skills, a love of cooking and an appreciation for organics, she wanted to be the next Sandra Lee but rather than use a mix of semi-homemade components she cooked with only healthy ingredients. The brand formation was right within her grasp. The problem was that this young woman was very busy and, while she liked the idea of creating a blog site to extend her social reach, she didn’t know where she would find the time to make the commitment to create content and build a following.

My recommendation was to create a cache of blog posts on specific topics that she could then schedule for automatic posting. She could write groups of posts at a time when it fit into her busy schedule. That way she wouldn’t have to frantically write five minutes before her blog should go live or fret that she missed a day. Great idea, right?

She thought so too, but unfortunately she didn’t follow through with writing the posts and her blog never got off the ground. Neither did her brand. It’s unfortunate because she had solid ideas, delicious recipes, and a unique opportunity. It would have taken persistence for her to continue her brand development. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way and other priorities overtake the best ideas.

That’s sort of what’s happened with me during the past few months. It’s been a long while, hasn’t it? One, I didn’t take my own advice in pre-writing and scheduling my blog posts. Two, I let life get in the way of reaching out and interacting with so many of you.  Third, I decided I had enough and reprioritized my time to ensure I continue to communicate.

Ferris Bueller was one of the wisest characters ever to grace the big screen, and while the intent of his words at that time didn’t apply to a future filled with social media and content development, they certainly do now.

Don’t let your dreams or priorities get away from you, because life does move pretty fast.

To Meme or Not To Meme

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bumper stickers, daily prompts, inspiration, life, meme, memes, musings, quotes, social media, state of mind

The world is a meme-filled place.

Years ago when working on speeches or articles, I would reference the site www.quoteland.com for inspiration . Now, all I have to do is open my social media accounts. There I find endless posts on being better, getting better, ignoring the haters, spreading the love, learning I have no limits, focusing on myself, focusing on others, and on and on.

Memes have become the bumper stickers of the 2010s.

Daily quotes, inspiration, one-liners and 140-characters all direct me to change my state of mind, my habits, my global footprint, my interactions with other, my way of living, my everything. Some days it’s too much and my cup runneth over.

What’s Your Inspiration? Sometimes you just have to stop listening to others and just do for yourself. This is my favorite:

#Love the Challenge

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#lovethechallenge, Alverno College, college, communications, faculty, influencers, information, Libby Morse, Lipman Hearne, marketing, online presence, Sebastian Thackenkary, social media, staff, strategies, students

How is your online presence evolving to meet the needs of your target audiences? Here is an article I wrote on how Alverno College is reaching students and the community.

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As Alverno rolls out its newest marketing campaign, Sebastian Thachenkary, director of Marketing Communications, wants to be sure audiences are receiving the right messages in the right medium. When developing Alverno’s plan, Marketing conducted research with both current and prospective (high school) students, faculty, and staff to help define the messaging and approach perspective audiences find appealing.

Three key terms emerged: history, tradition and innovation. “People want to see a more complete picture of what Alverno really is, and what makes the College unique,” says Thachenkary.

Alverno brought in Lipman Hearne (LH), a Chicago-based agency known for its work with educational institutions including women’s colleges like Smith, Bryn Mawr and St. Catherine. Using the research and marketing history, LH recommended the media buy move away from traditional print and billboard media.

“We put a greater focus on digital advertising because that’s what our audiences are using,” says Libby Morse, LH’s senior VP and creative director. “We’re seeing strong growth in this area, and it’s a great way to engage with students.”

In addition to broadcast and outdoor media, Alverno has a greater digital and online presence than before, including tablet and mobile websites, and paid and earned social media.

A new element is the #LoveTheChallenge hashtag campaign, giving the Alverno community a chance to share information. Students, faculty and staff use it to talk about events, programs and experiences. “A successful hashtag campaign will generate more social media views and conversations about Alverno than anything we could buy,” explains Morse.

The new marketing focus will help the College raise awareness and grow enrollment. While targeting enrolling students is a primary focus, the program will also reach influencers such as parents, employers and school counselors. Other components of the marketing mix will target prospective graduate, transfer, adult and returning students.

“We have additional targeted strategies in place to communicate with all audiences,” notes Thachenkary. “We’re also incorporating video, which provides a great avenue for people to talk about Alverno from various perspectives.”

Written for Alverno College Magazine Fall 2015
See more at: http://www.alverno.edu/magazine/our-college/lovethechallenge/#sthash.OSi18mHv.dpuf

 

Death! Murder! Read Me!

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attention span, audience, blog, business writing, communication, connection, context, death, Happy Birthday, hook, murder, purpose, reader, setting, social media, sound bite, technique, Twitter, writer, writing

Hooking the reader. This has become one of the most important elements in writing, especially in an age of abbreviated attention spans. Social media has upped the ante on being interesting and relevant. Tweets are 140 characters. Most blog posts are between 300-600 words. News segments are edited to :30 sound bites.

In teaching writing to my students, they learn ‘hooking the reader’ is one of the first components under setting context. The hook could be your title, your first sentence or a thought at the close of your first page. Wherever it is, the hook needs to come within the first 30 to 90 seconds of your reader’s attention.

Reader’s do not read your work if they lose interest.

If you don’t capture a reader’s attention immediately, s/he’ll turn the page, click on another link or look elsewhere. So how do you set context and keep a reader in an age where attention spans that are shorter than length of the Happy Birthday song?

You want to provide a connection between the writer (you) and the reader. You can do this by bringing the reader into a piece of writing at the onset and directing one’s attention throughout the piece. How do you do this?

• analyze the audience and tailor the message to that audience;
• bond with the reader;
• use terminology the reader is familiar with; and/or
• create a tone and style the reader will respond

You will most likely find success if you address the reader directly (as an individual or a group) with an interesting thesis, cause and effect, or compelling fact/opinion in the first paragraph.

And remember, if you’re bored with what you write or can’t find the hook, there’s no doubt your reader will have the same problem.

Social Media Quandary

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communication, email, Facebook, marketing, non-profit, organization, postal mail, relevant information, snail mail, social media, strategic, Twitter, volunteer, web sites

If I have to be on Facebook to be invited to an event, then I wouldn’t want to go anyway.

A volunteer made this statement when she learned — after the fact — of an organization’s important event. The only method of communication the group’s director was using was posts on the organization’s Facebook page. While the volunteer was upset because she didn’t receive an invite to the event, her desire to stay off social media sites was greater. If they want to reach me, they can call, email or send a letter.

cmthree.wordpress.com

It got me thinking: since social media is important to so many organizations, how can you be sure you’re reaching audiences adequately or effectively? Some think, “Because we have a Facebook page, everyone can find everything out about us so we’re only going to post information there.” Unfortunately, if someone doesn’t have a Facebook account, then access is prohibited. In that particular case, the organization – like the one mentioned above – would have been better off posting information to its Web site (which it did not) or emailing info to its volunteers (again it did not).

Without experienced, strategic and tactical guidance, companies and organizations often find themselves travelling down a path of uncertainty and into a sea of shortfalls concerning customers, volunteers, employees, etc. Is social media enough, or should you still employ “older” tactics such as email or direct postal mail?

Maneuvering an organization through the social media universe toward a strategic plan can be overwhelming and exasperating. Often companies will internally hire an industry expert or externally hire an experienced agency or consultant to manage those avenues of communication and keep messages integral to the overall marketing plan. When Facebook was just taking off, the company where I worked had a severely understaffed marketing communications department. However, someone at the C-level was made aware of a competitor’s Facebook page and immediately the directive was sent: “We don’t want Company B looking better than we do, so get a Facebook page up pronto!”

It was a shoot-from-the-hip and a “me, too” scenario all rolled into one – most marketers’ nightmare. The company certainly needed to amplify social media efforts because the majority of customers spent a considerable amount of time surfing the web and sharing information, however, the major roadblock to implementing a smart and strategic social media program was the basic fact that the department was understaffed and under budgeted. Without dedicated personnel (internal or external) to manage what would not only be the Facebook site, but also the YouTube page, the Twitter feed and the management of Wikipedia pages (just to scratch the surface), the company was destined to fail in its efforts.

Ultimately, there was no alternative and no additional budget was available, so the team dug in and did what they could to maintain and refresh information on the social media sites. They squeezed these tasks into their already full schedules. As predicted, the social media activities and results were lackluster, infrequent and certainly not industry leading. They were there and created, but nothing of which to boast or brag.

Managing social media sites can be a daunting task for companies who may have personnel or a budget assigned, but when working with volunteer organizations, it can be more difficult because resources are often in shorter supply. One organization I work with is still in its fledging stage of developing its social media programs, but does have a Facebook page and a web page. Overall, the organization’s success doesn’t revolve around social media, but considering most people are computer-savvy and have some level of access, it makes sense to stay connected. The challenge for this group comes as the committee is celebrating a 50th anniversary celebration. There are many activities and events scheduled, so during the planning process someone asked about social media:  what was the organization going to do? How could this group best advertise the show and communicate information to its intended audiences?

The volunteers are thinking about what to do. That’s the first step of climbing the social media mountain. Where it will go, who will manage it and what the messaging will contain has yet to be determined. It may surely be a blend of electronic communications and some of the “traditional” efforts. If so, there’s at least one volunteer who will be happy she won’t miss any events. In the meantime, she’ll have to just ask around and see if ‘word of mouth’ is as effective as a Tweet.