Marketing materials: Print vs. online

Several of my clients have asked me if printed marketing materials provide any value in this online age. The answer is unequivocally YES. Everyone is so inundated with e-newsletters and "e-everything" else, that the online medium has become saturated. Yes, print is more costly and more time-intensive, but a well-done printed piece that reads clearly and is visually appealing is more likely to be read by people who are overwhelmed by online media. Here’s why print should be a key part of your marketing mix:

• People like the enduring, tactile aspect of paper. Tangible printed materials sway many customers/clients to buy from you.
• Print is more likely to be filed, saved, displayed, or shared. This keeps your brand top of mind.
• Pieces can be distributed at conventions/trade shows and displayed in lobbies/showrooms.
• Paper can be permanent, whereas online materials come and go.

Let's compare this to e-greeting cards. When they were first introduced, everyone was sending out e-cards for all occasions. (I never saved an e-card but have a box full of meaningful paper cards people have sent me over the years.) An e-card doesn't have the same thoughtfulness as a card that someone personally selected, inscribed, and mailed. As a result, people stopped sending e-cards and the paper card industry is once again booming.

Footnotes....
• It’s important to play to the strengths of each medium. For example, keep lists of inventories that change periodically online.
• Business letters are making a comeback after a long draught due to email. People are so deluged with email, that a well-written letter stands out and is appreciated.
• While hardcopy and the electronic media jostle for supremacy, both are valuable. There’s an old rule in sales that says you have to touch someone 5-7 times. When you conduct a marketing/sales campaign, mix it up with hardcopy, electronic copy, and phone calls (if appropriate).

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

Focus your content on your reader, not on yourself

To get results from your written communications (and that includes email), you must write reader-focused documents, not writer-focused documents. Remember that your readers aren’t interested in you; they’re interested in themselves and what’s “in it for them.” I preach this every time I present one of my business/technical writing or email workshops. That point was driven home very clearly during a visit to a client.

Case in Point
While at my client’s office I noticed a letter hanging on her bulletin board. I saw 28 circles surrounding words such as I, me, and our, and three squares around words such as you and your. When I asked my client about the circles and squares, she explained that it was the cover letter that accompanied a very large proposal. She was so offended that the writer wrote all about himself that she didn’t even consider his proposal for the project. She threw it in the trash and sent him a letter saying: “28 to 3. You lose!”

Lesson Learned
The sender lost the opportunity for a very large project by writing a writer-focused letter that offended the reader. Make sure you know what’s in it for your reader(s) before you send any document.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

Use “body language” in writing

Body language has been a source of interpersonal understanding since the beginning of the human race. Even when you’re not speaking, you’re communicating through your body language. Here are some ways to incorporate “body language” into your writing:

Shake hands
When you include salutations and closings in your emails, you extend a warm and friendly handshake. If you omit them, you send a cold and unfriendly message.

Accentuate words or phrases
Start a sentence with “and” or “but” to accentuate the words that follow. Look at the difference between the following sentences:

• I like red. I like blue. I like purple. (I like all three colors equally.)
• I like red. I like blue. And I like purple. (I’m saying that purple is my favorite of the three colors.)

Smile
“Thank you” and “please” are equivalent to a smile or friendly nod. If you exclude those words, especially in emails, you send a demanding message.

Respect personal space
Personal space is the invisible boundary around your body you don’t want others to enter unless they’re invited. One way to honor personal space in writing is to provide lots of white space. This includes 1” to 1-½” margins on the top, bottom, and sides of paper documents; spacing between paragraphs; and spaces above and below bulleted and numbered lists.

Point
Bold, underscore, and italics “tell” the reader the text is important. If you were face to face, you’d point your finger to signify importance.

Expression tone
Use punctuation to project a dull mumble, a joyful expression, a neutral sound, or a shy whisper. Notice how punctuation changes the tone in the following sentences:

• The ABC Company—winner of the service award—just introduced its new product line. (The dashes heighten what’s enclosed as if you’re raising your voice.)
• The ABC Company (winner of the service award) just introduced its new product line. (The parentheses play down what’s enclosed as if you’re lowering your voice.)
• The ABC Company, winner of the service award, just introduced its new product line. (The commas neutralize what’s enclosed.)

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

Communicating Across Generations

For the first time in the history of the workplace, organizations need to accommodate the contrasting communication styles of four distinct generations. Although they go by a variety of names, let's call them Traditionalists (born 1927 to 1945), Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Gen 'X'ers (born between 1965 and 1980), and Gen 'Y'ers (born after 1981).

Most work teams consist of people representing at least two or more generations. Yet, when deciding how best to communicate across teams, we often employ a "one-size-fits-all" approach which may not work well for anyone, let alone everyone. And because so many managers are from the Boomer generation, these channels typically mean "conventional" communication styles such as face-to-face meetings, phone conferences, email, and the like.

Regardless of their ages, many managers fail to take generational preferences and styles into account when mobilizing and motivating their teams. Instead, they develop team norms and operating principles that may run counter to what individual members might need or value. For example, a Boomer manager may insist that all people work from a central office during typical working hours. However, many Gen 'Y'ers are most productive at 10 PM, working from the comfort of home. Some Gen 'X'ers, on the other hand, may need an afternoon off for family obligations, coming back online later that evening. Instituting a rigid policy about work hours or locations may leave some team members feeling alienated, excluded and ultimately, not very productive.

This article is co-authored by Nancy Settle-Murphy, Principal of Guided Insights. We offer practical guidelines to connect people from different generations through more targeted communications. In future editions, we'll tackle other issues related to intergenerational differences, such as retention, rewards and recognition.

We have made many generalizations in writing these guidelines. And while each person must be treated as a unique individual, making some "best-guesses" about communication styles and preferences is a great first step toward creating a team communications plan that works for most.

Rethinking "normal" work hours: Apart from some government offices and banks, the 9-to-5 business day has given way to more flexible work times and locations, with people working at all hours from multiple locations. For a team that works virtually, it's much harder to find an agreed-upon window for group meetings, whether face-to-face (FTF), phone, web conference or videoconference. A Boomer manager may feel more comfortable when all team members convene FTF for the weekly 8 AM status meeting. But consider a Gen 'X'er who's caring for a family, and needs to battle traffic for 90 minutes to get there. Or the Gen 'Y'er who insists s/he is most productive from 11 AM - 11 PM.

Many Traditionalists easing their way into retirement are also demanding more flexible work arrangements. Managers must consider the comfort level and preferences of all participants when deciding which team meetings really need to take place FTF and which can be done via call or web.

Sharing vital information: When time is of the essence and you need to get critical information to team members, what's the best choice? It depends on a host of factors, including the likely preferences and habits of members representing different generations. Older generations tend to rely on email, phone or FTF as the default, while many younger members may look to instant messaging, blogs, wikis or phone texting as their primary means of giving and getting important information.

Consider multiple channels for information-sharing, especially if you have people with strong preferences for different communication methods. At the same time, make sure you have an agreed-upon method for sharing urgent information, such as news likely to affect the work of the team or missed deliverables that will trip up others. Keep in mind that younger generations tend to be natural and eager collaborators, and often do so from a distance as a matter of routine.

There's no place like "home." Create a team portal that's easy, quick and intuitive for members of all generations to use. Younger generations expect and demand highly efficient websites where needed information takes just one or two key clicks to find exactly what they need. Otherwise they may tune out quickly. Older generations may require a bit of prodding to regard the team portal as the place to go to share and view the latest and greatest information.

If people are slow to gravitate to your team portal, try pushing out emails that contain a sentence or two about what content can be found on the team site, and refrain from including the actual information in emails so they have more incentive to visit the portal. Constantly seek feedback from team members representing all generations as to how the team space can be made even more useful.

Instant gratification vs. patience as virtue: Younger workers typically expect responses and information right now, as evidenced by the popularity of social networking sites (such as, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others) and the proliferation of text messaging and IM. Waiting a day or two to receive a return email or voicemail is a non-starter. Older workers tend to expect a reply to take a little more time, and likewise may be slower to respond themselves, especially if they have to wade through a jammed inbox to reply.

Create agreed-upon norms for responsiveness to certain types of inquiries or issues, and then determine how best to use specific tools to get the job done. If one person insists on an IM or a blog update and another prefers an email, work together to agree on the best ways to meet as many needs as possible without extraordinary effort from any one.

Open wide vs. buttoned up. Older workers tend to prize consistency, predictability, accuracy, good grammar, and thoroughness in communications. Even the most creative ideas may be dismissed if such ideas crop up randomly, without context and without a way to prioritize them. After all, if the ideas don't lead to something tangible, you've just lost a lot of time!

Younger workers, on the other hand, are adept at brainstorming and collaborating with people who have shared interests, including total strangers-for the sheer joy of creating something new and fresh. Social networks enable this type of spontaneous collaboration that may lead to great new ideas that may do nothing more than satisfy intellectual curiosity. Openness and creativity are especially valued by younger generations vs. playing by proscribed rules of engagement, which is something their parents may be more prone to do.

Ramping up and ramping down: People from different generations have a lot to teach each other, if we create the right opportunities for knowledge transfer. Many younger people coming on board bring rich new perspectives, a keen appreciation of how best to apply the right technology tools, and a passion to learn. They embrace challenges with gusto and are devoid of the "this-is-the-way-we've-always-done-it" mindset. Older people, many of whom might be nearing retirement, have accumulated wisdom about the business, industry and organization, and know what it takes to operate successfully within the enterprise.

Two-way mentoring programs, pairing a younger employee with a more senior counterpart, afford the opportunity for both to learn from each other. The result: New people position themselves for success more quickly and older workers can leave behind valuable knowledge skils and knowledge for the next generation.

Bottom line: Organizations need to examine the most significant generational differences and determine how best to anticipate and address the implications within each work team. The outcome: High-performing teams that consciously take advantage of generational differences instead of ignoring or dismissing them.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

PDAs and the Changing Face of Email

The groundswell of personal digital assistant (PDA) usage is rapidly changing the face of email. No longer are users viewing messages on large monitors or subject lines in fields of about 35-40 characters. Monitors have given way to 2” screens; subject lines, to fields of a few words.

Instant messaging and emailing are morphing as users incorporate IMing and texting abbreviations into emails. I’m not recommending that you start using these abbreviations quite yet, but know what they mean when you see them. Some popular abbreviations include @ (at), BFN (bye for now), CID (consider it done), CU (see you), FYI (for your information) HTH (hope this helps), IOW (in other words), L8R (later), NRB date (need reply by date), NRN (no response necessary), PLS (please), THX (thanks), TBA (to be announced), YW (you’re welcome), and many more. Here are some tips to help you communicate more effectively with PDA users.

Subject lines
Many PDAs display only a few words in the subject line. That very valuable real estate will determine whether the intended receiver reads your message. Conventional wisdom has told us to write compelling subject lines. However, with such a limited field of view, it becomes a matter of what to skip, what to abbreviate, and what to start with. Here are a few suggestions:

· Instead of writing, We need to reschedule the March meeting, consider writing March mtg to be rescheduled.
· Instead of writing I’ll see you at 3:00; consider writing CU @ 3.

Calling attention to information
Traditional ways of calling attention to information have included boldface, bullets, tabs, and more. Some of these methods don’t always survive the trip through cyberspace and show up as gobbledygook on PDAs. Here are some options:

· Instead of using bullets, consider using asterisks (**), greater than symbols (>>), hyphens (--), or other ASCII characters.
· Instead of boldface, include some other way to emphasize the text. You may write **Deadline: May 5**. If the bold doesn’t appear, the reader will still see **Deadline: May 5**.
· Instead of tabbing, use the space bar.

Attachments
If you send an attachment, summarize the essence of the attachment into a brief opening paragraph so the reader can get the gist of the message quickly.

Copying and pasting
If you copy and paste from another format (such as an Excel spreadsheet) the PDA may display the word Insert instead of the file that was pasted. Consider sending the file as an attachment.

On a final note, although brevity is an asset with PDA users, don’t omit common courtesies such as Please and Thank you, even if you do abbreviate them. Also, don’t get sloppy. I learned of a CEO who includes the following disclaimer at the end of his poorly written messages: Forgive errors, I’m writing on a BlackBerry®. Many users find this distasteful.


Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

Sheryl’s Top 8 Tips to Make Newsletters & Ezines Pop

An easy and inexpensive way to promote and grow your business is by generating a newsletter or ezine. When you make your publication useful and friendly, you build a rapport with your readers and become their valued resource. This often turns readers into customers or clients.

Have you ever read first and second editions of a publication that are so interesting you can’t wait for the next issue? Then the third edition begins a long line of descent until you don’t want to read those publications. This doesn’t happen when you keep the content fresh, varied, timely, and interesting. Following are eight tips for generating valuable newsletters or ezine and keeping them valuable. These tips also work for infusing new life into tired publications.

1. Know what your readers care about.

For your publication to be successful, you must understand what your readers care about and what they value. Here are some things to consider:

• What are the demographics?
• What are their interests?
• Do they work in a specific industry?
• What are their job functions?
• What publications do they read?
• How do they spend their leisure time?

2. Choose the “write” name for your publication.

The name you select should make your publication appealing and represent your company well. What’s in a name? Everything.

• Think of a name that complements your company name, rather than using your company name.
• If you use your company name, include words such as Alert, Challenge, Forum, Monthly, News, Report or something along those lines.
• Remove words that don’t add value such as the, newsletter, and others.
• Consider benefits to your reader and include them in the title.
• Choose action words. Instead of “The New England Hiking Newsletter,” how about “Hiking the Trails of New England.”


2. Create an appealing look and friendly tone.

Do your homework. Review at lots of newsletters and ezines and make note of what you do and don’t like. For example, do you like single, double, or triple columns? What font works well? What colors appeal to you? Is the tone formal or informal? Following are some tips for creating an appealing look and friendly tone.

Appealing look

• Generate exciting headlines. Readers will ignore exciting stories if they have dull headlines.
• Make the main headline dominate the page, just as newspapers do.
• Create a headline your readers will relate to.
• Include photos with complete and accurate captions.
• Use illustrations, tables, graphics, charts or callouts, as appropriate.
• Include plenty of white space. Neophytes tend to fill in all available space, making the publication unreadable.
• Minimize jump lines which are stories continued on another page.
• Include contact information.

Friendly tone

• Keep paragraphs and sentences short.
• Use the active voice.
• Use simple and direct language, using technical lingo only when you must in order to be convincing.

4. Come up with great story ideas and must-read content.

Content is king; it must be timely and relevant. Content can come from lots of places. Use internal sources such as employees, press releases from your company or others, internal or external publications, and your readers.

Great story ideas

• Problems you can help readers solve
• Timely issues they care about
• Applicable trends
• New products or models
• Milestones
• How-to’s
• Case studies
• Customer/employee recognition
• Human interest
• Research and development
• Interesting publications
• Financial news
• Community affairs
• Outstanding employees
• Interviews
• International news
• Saving time or money
• Industry news

If your subject matter is narrow, vary your content or you risk losing even your most loyal readers.

Varying the content

• Make your readers smile.
• Add something light-hearted.
• Include a hot industry tip.
• Create a top-10 list.
• Hold a contest.
• Create a questionnaire.
• Include human interest stories.
• Generate votes and poles.
• Invite guest writers.
• Include quizzes, cartoons, puzzles.
• Add advice from experts.
• Include people’s names.

Additional tips

• If a topic is too long, break it into separate issues.
• Let readers know that you won’t share their contact information with anyone without their explicit permission.
• Purchase industry-specific content from companies that specialize in your market.

At the end of each issue, include a brief “About Us” section of two to three sentences. Let your readers connect the dots and imagine themselves working with you. Keep this section brief because your readers must perceive that you (the publisher) are giving, not just taking.

5. Determine the frequency of your publications and stick to it.

Work your way into the routines of your readers. When you create a regular publication schedule, your readers know when to expect it. It’s akin to waiting for the latest issue of your favorite magazine to be delivered. That doesn’t mean you need to publish every week, every two weeks, or every month. It merely means creating a schedule that’s predictable and one you stick to.

6. Establish credibility and integrity.

Remember that with every publication, your reputation is on the line. If you’re honest, your readers will appreciate your candidness.

• Recommend only products and services you have full confidence in.
• Test products or experience services before making an endorsement.
• Be absolutely honest about products or services by pinpointing negatives, if appropriate.
• Offer free advice so people don’t think you’re always dipping into their wallets.
• Avoid blatantly promoting yourself. A well-written publication with valuable content will do that for you.

7. Publicize.

Build it and they will come applies to ballparks, not newsletters and ezines. Announcement lists are a good way to launch your publication. You can start by subscribing through http://www.groups.yahoo.com or http://www.topica.com. To launch your publication through directories, check out http://www.the1000.com, http://www.newsletteraccess.com, http://www.promotefree.com, or the many others out there. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Go online for other ways to publicize.

8. Aim to draw in new readers.

Although you may think your newsletter or ezine is to inform, your primary purpose is to promote something (however subtle that promotion may be). Writing promotional copy means writing to persuade. This includes attracting attention, creating interest, stimulating a need, offering a solution, and calling for action. Offer value and your readers will recommend you to other readers who may become customers or clients.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com

Instant Messaging: Adhere to Safety Rules

The following is a selection from 21st book, 135 Tips for Email and Instant Messages, which will be published by Houghton Mifflin in the spring of 2008.

Thanks to better virus checkers, emails have become safer. However, IMs provide new a breeding ground for viruses and digital worms. Whether you’re a veteran IM user or you just decided to take the plunge, here are safety rules to remember:

On the technology side
• Run antivirus software regularly and apply security patches to your computer.
• Be sure your firewall is secure because IMs can dip into a firewall until they find an opening.
• Know that IMs can be saved and archived.
• Don’t accept downloaded files from people you don’t know.

On the common sense side
• Never give out sensitive or personal information such as your social security number, credit car numbers, passwords, and the like.
• Never relate confidential or sensitive information.
• Monitor your children’s use of IMs against a Contact List or Buddy List you’ve approved.
• Avoid posting your screen name online.
• Keep your business contacts on a list separate from family and friends.
• Follow company policies regarding the use of IMs.

Note: Some services let you archive IMs. If yours doesn’t, you can cut and paste the message or chat into a notepad or Word document. Remember that anything can and may be used against you.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.sherylwrites.com