Nonprofit web design and why it matters
Modern websites should follow some standard best practices in design and usability in order to be effective as marketing and communications tools. Smart businesses understand that following these best practices leads to increased sales and revenue. However, nonprofits also need to understand how design and usability affects their revenue. Nonprofits are interested in many of the same things that businesses are: increasing revenue, building trust, and reaching the right audience. For some reason, many nonprofits seems to skimp on marketing and communications because they feel that they need to...
Read MoreMoney, time, or magic?
I talk to a lot of business owners who are looking for ways to grow their businesses. It seems that everybody wants to be more successful and is eager for advice on how to do it. However, I’m surprised at how many of these business owners are looking for magic. Magic can come in many forms. How about a Facebook fan page? That will bring lots of new customers, right? How about showing up at the occasional networking meeting and exchanging a few business cards? This will lead to lots of great prospects, right? Maybe launching a great new website will do the trick… people will come...
Read MoreAssociations: Is it time to eliminate the newsletter?
As we all know, paper is getting less relevant. Many associations are scrambling to “go green” with their newsletters in an effort to reduce costs and make use of electronic means of delivery. Kudos for this! However, what most associations are doing is simply emailing out a PDF version of the newsletter they used to print. While this does save money and takes advantage of modern electronic tools, there is a problem with this approach: it assumes that members want to consume information the same way they always have. We need to abandon our old thinking of just “going...
Read MoreStop making excuses and start blogging
Blogging is hard. I get that. It’s not easy to consistently create new content and make the time to tweak and publish it. However, blogging is one of the best ways to build deeper relationships with your constituents and reach deeper into their networks as well. Often when I talk about blogging with others, I hear all sorts of excuses: I’m not a good writer I don’t have time I don’t like to write I don’t know what to write about I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it No one would read what I wrote The list goes on and on. However, like most...
Read MoreStop shouting from behind your logo
It seems like more and more businesses are starting to use online tools to market and communicate their messages. Social media is new and shiny and companies are eager to find more ways to broadcast commercials using Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. However, it frustrates me to see that so many businesses are still applying marketing 1.0 tactics to web 2.0 tools. Traditional marketing utilizes techniques that broadcast a message to the masses. Make a commercial, buy some airtime, and shout at your viewers for 30 seconds in hopes that the message sticks. Buy a billboard, paint it...
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