A BRAND new issue for not-for-profits

Branding. It's a word that gets tossed around like a football. Some perceive it as a great big overwhelming concept. Others think of it as a logo. By way of definition, branding is everything that makes your organization who it is. It's the personality, ethics, image, reputation and environment you want to display every day to every stakeholder. OK, that does sound pretty overwhelming doesn't it? Especially if you are a not-for-profit organization and everybody tells you that a perfect example of branding is McDonalds or Starbucks. Those organizations spend BILLIONS of dollars to build their brand. Most of us don't have those kinds of budgets, right? One of my favorite sayings that seems applicable here is..."How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." The elephant here is the big scary brand concept. So, let's start with the first bite. Where to begin? Well, let's assume you've already established your business' personality. The problem comes in when you try to build that brand. Trying to employ cost-saving measurements, artwork and photography are often done "in-house" by people who are pretty good at that sort of thing. What gets lost is consistency. Does that mean you have to pay top dollar? Not necessarily. Look at your stakeholders. Are there any professionals associated with your organization who would be willing to lend their services as volunteers or for a trade dollar amount? The only stipulation would be that they are normally paid for their services. In other words, don't include a writer on your team who is a pretty good writer - try to get someone who gets paid for that service. Here are some rules to follow that will help with the consistency issue.

When to hire a professional.
When you want the finished product to show who you really are.

If you are a dog groomer that is working from home, a black and white flyer created on your laptop in Publisher may be ok. However, if you are an organization that is trying to attract high quality investors or stakeholders, you better look like you are a professional organization.

Some must-have professionals on your team should be:
1) Professional photographers. You need to get a library of signature photos that take your breath away. These photos will be used every time you are trying to communicate who you are. These photos will be used on brochures, Web sites, newsletters, posters, billboards, everything. They will become synonomous with your name. When someone sees these photos, they'll say, "Oh, that's XYZ organization."

2) Professional graphic designers. In today's world, there will always be a talented high school student who is pretty darn good at creating Web sites and drawing pictures for a cheap price. Don't use them. The problem is that they don't have the background or skills to understand how their artwork fits into the bigger picture and strategy. Many logos are beautiful - until you make them small enough to fit on a business card or large enough to fit on a billboard. A professionally trained graphic designer thinks about all the applications and designs a look and feel that can and should be carried out through every communication distributed by the organization. A good graphic designer will be able to develop templates that can be easily updated by in-house staff. BUT make sure stringent graphic standards are adhered to. In other words, don't allow a talented in-house staffer to make minor adjustments to the final design. A little tweak here and a tiny nudge there and you end up with a totally different animal. Also - just a caveat - all graphic designers are not Web designers. When you hire one, make sure they have Web background. See #4 below for more on Web designers.

3) Marketing/PR professionals. Use a professional wherever you can for consultation. The challenge many marketing/PR professionals find is that by nature, they are very helpful people. Problem solvers. For not-for-profits, that can seem like a dream-come-true. For a marketing professional, that can be a tremendous time drain. If they can't afford it, not-for-profits often rely on pro-bono services from marketing professionals. That's OK, as long as parameters are set. A good consultant will put plans into motion that can be implemented by staff. For-profit businesses often rely on consultants to handle the implementation as well. Budget is always an issue, but let's face it, for-profits usually have a bigger budget for this than not-for-profits. Utilize consultants to see if your message is consistent. Is it the right message? Are we delivering the message through the right channels? Does it fit in with our overall brand? Is our brand still viable or does it need to adapt? Are we properly communicating the mission of our organization in everything we do? How can we get the most from our marketing budget? Use these consultants as a living breathing "HOW TO" manual. Just don't have them implement unless they've agreed to a certain number of hours or you can pay them to do it. Their time is the only thing they have to sell. Don't ask them to give it all away.

4) Web designers. It is so easy to create your own Web site these days. Programs make it a snap to get a Web presence and everyone needs a Web presence, right? WRONG. It is better to not have a Web presence than to have a site that looks like it was developed by an amateur. Your Web site should start with a navigational plan that lays out the exact objectives of your site. A Web site should be approached in the exact same manner as any other marketing tool. What is the objective? What do you want it to accomplish? How will it contribute to your branding? Sometimes Web designers are not great graphic designers (same as some graphic designers are not great Web designers) You may not get a two for one, but find the funds to do this right or don't do it at all.


OK, I lied. This really IS a big overwhelming concept. And that bite was a pretty big monster. Next blog, we can talk about how to incorporate branding into your everyday activities. For now, today's bite is "Know when to hire a professional to help you develop your brand!" Happy elephant eating everyone.

Make No Mistake - Freedom Still Rings

I had the opportunity this week to share with my high schooler about 9/11. She was 6 years old at the time and really had no memory of the events that happened that day. Retelling was reliving. It gave me a deep sense of purpose to help young people today understand. I think I feel like those who experienced Pearl Harbor. While we as a new generation know what happened, it was so far removed that our hearts do not break when we think about it. Our tears do not fall for those who went through it. Probably not so with someone over the age of 65. Pearl Harbor is probably as raw and alive for them when they retell it as 9/11 is for us. When she asked, "What was it like, Mom? What were you doing when it happened?" I was transported back to my office at Priority Marketing. I was talking on the phone to Teri Hansen, the company's owner and president. We were interrupted by a telephone call from her husband, then the chief of EMS. We learned about the tragedy, but didn't have a television. The Internet was still very new and was innundated - so although we were able to get some glimpses of what happened, the system was completely overloaded. After we sat there stunned and in shock for a while, I tried to gather myself and "get back to work" I called a client who said, "Colleen, I can't deal with this right now, I'm watching New York City being destroyed." It was like a slap I needed. What was I thinking? You can't go back to normal when something like this is going on. In fact, an event like 9/11 changes you forever. After the plane went down in Pennsylvania, I began to panic. How many more planes would fall from the sky? Was my family safe? My father was staying just outside of Dover Airforce Base - was he safe? We all came home that night and hugged each other. I cried and went to my friend's house. Her husband was just finishing up his two weeks as an Army reservist and she received a call that he wouldn't be returning anytime soon and to bring some supplies to Homestead. After the shock and pain settled, I noticed something though that I had never felt or experienced in my life to that point. Patriotism. I watched my brother return from Vietnam and be persecuted. No heros. I watched the President of the United States resign in humilation. No pride. I watched our world trudge along while citizens became the "me" generation and the sense of entitlement to all that was good started to emerge. The other guy wasn't important and our nation was a joke. Then, 9/11 changed all that in my eyes and heart. For the first time, I was proud to be an American. Watching people pull together to help and feeling a deep need to be one of those people overwhelmed us all. Our generation - the Generation Xers - never felt connected to "The Cause" as the Baby Boomers often did. We felt hopeless and cynical. But 9/11 changed that for a while. Instead of me-first, we watched our nation step aside out of courtesy. People smiled at each other more. The bigger picture came into view. People were scurrying to get flags and for an entire generation, we finally understood what the flag really meant. For the first time in a generation, we listened to the Star Spangled Banner and cried. Wow. Never really listened to those words before. Now I understood what they meant. Our flag was still there! Following 9/11, Tom Sterbens, a pastor at a local church recorded an amazing song called Freedom Still Rings. The lyrics are unbelievable. At Priority Marketing, Teri dedicated her staff to produce a video to accompany the song. The cd and video were to be sold with proceeds to go to the families of the firefighters and police who were killed. The team consisted of Teri Hansen, Olivia Rill, Christine Polito, Kevin Owen, Gary Sharp, Lindsey Grimes and me. I hope I didn't forget anyone, but those are the ones I remember. We spent days either searching for photos, putting together the video or handling everything else while the video was in production. I am going to try and post this video - I found it on someone's MySpace. I hope they don't mind. I thought about the after affects of 9/11. It inspired artists to use their talents - whatever those talents were - to help make a difference. Musicians put on benefit concerts, Bruce Springsteen wrote an entire album - The Rising - to memorialize the event. Country singers wrote rebel songs to inspire patriotism. Painters created visual memories, sculptors crafted breathtaking sculptures. As our civilization has done forever - we tried to make an unspeakable horror into something beautiful. I think we did this because of the patriotism aspect. That burning feeling inside that you are part of something much bigger. In Europe, if something like this happens, their neighbors say, "Boy, that's a shame that happened to THEM" In the United States, if one our states is attacked - it happened to US! We developed an immediate brotherhood with our kin in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Some of the girls from our office bought tickets to support the crashed tourism industry in New York. They just went to take in a show. That gesture was felt by many New Yorkers who felt vulnerable and alone. These courageous girls (remember - flying was not exactly a popular mode of transportation at the time) took the time and money to fly all the way from Florida to New York, just to let New Yorkers know they cared. We became all part of a bigger family. So was 9/11 a tragedy? You betcha. The worst in our current memory. But our God, the one who was honored by the president's appeal after 9/11 to the country to PRAY, gave us all the courage and strength to pull together and get through it. Please don't allow our children to forget 9/11 like we have forgotten Pearl Harbor. Don't let this fade into history as just another bad thing that happened. Let's help them realize that no matter how bad things get, there is always hope. Americans are good people. Yes, there are bad apples. Yes, our government is a little shaky sometimes. Yes, we argue alot about silly things...and important things. But in the end, we are STILL the most amazing group of people in the entire world. Nowhere in this world is there a land mass the size of the United States that would foster the brotherhood we feel here in the UNITED States. We can go to bed feeling sure that if something really bad happens in Florida - our brothers and sisters in California and Kentucky, New York and South Dakota - all of those other States will be there for us. We may not always agree, but I can guarantee that we are a nation of honorable men, women and children who when pushed will push back to protect our land and those who live in it. I love you all. God Bless each of us. I've posted the video - but I'm not certain it will play. I'll also post it on my facebook page. We can never ever forget.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=6602959

Hey, Mr. Obama - you need to read my post about Objectives!

I usually stray away from political discussions. Why? Well the cat is coming out of the bag now. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat either. I'm of a party that doesn't yet exist. I call it the "Straight Down the Middle" party. I know this disapponts many of my friends on both sides of the aisle because you all assumed I was your way. Well, I am in many ways. In fact, I'll bet, I represent more of a majority than either of the two parties. One thing I CAN say is that of the things that I believe in passionately, neither party will sway me, so please don't try. All of that is being said so that I'm not accused of or praised for Obama bashing. Watching the controversy unfold about his plan to broadcast live to schools, I simply had to post and ask the President and his advisors to read my former post about setting objectives. Sorry, but the school address is a bonehead idea. Why? Let's look at the possible objectives...

Objective #1 - to encourage more kids to stay in school.
Seems pretty straight forward to me, right? WRONG. This is a fluffy, feel good objective that has no basis in reality. Why? Simple - it makes NO sense.

Reasons? You, Mr. President are highly controversial. People either LOVE you or HATE you. As a result of that, your plan to broadcast live will have a direct impact on having kids NOT go to school that day. Think about it. If the County is a Republican County, the District will refuse to show it live. As a result, the Democratic Party parents will keep their child away from school that day in protest. If the County is a Democratic County, the District will embrace the idea and Republican Party parents will refuse to send their child to school that day. Net result - 1/2 the kids get a day off of school. Missed the objective.

Reason #2. Shall I just say the words - Nancy Reagan? Ring a bell? Oh, how about her "Just Say No" campaign. Exactly how many children did she dissuade from taking drugs after launching that multi million dollar campaign. Easy answer - none.

Does anyone, anywhere REALLY believe for one second that the President's message to children to stay in school will make any impact AT ALL on ANY student? Maybe I'm naive, but my guess is NO.

Come on Mr. President. Being a middle of the roader, I try really hard to cut through the crap and screaming on both sides and make an informed decision. I'm not an emotional person who believes in all the conspiracy theories. I don't think you're going to try and warp young minds by some subliminal messages. I do think your objectives are WAY off. I could be wrong. It is highly possible that you and your advisors had a totally reachable objective. Perhaps your objective was: "Let's enflame as many people as possible and make my unpopular health care reform issue get back-burnered" If that was your objective, I think you're closer to the mark. Mind you, I don't think health care reform debates will be silenced, but you may have just found a way to get your extreme lefters to take your cause back up with a vengeance.

Tame the savage beast

As a PR counselor for a major charter school system, I've seen my share of irate parents, overzealous news reporters and complicated situations. Half of my job is calming the emotions of all involved. I watched rumors escalate to mob lynchings (almost) and non-stories get top status. Through it all, there is always a common denominator - lack of good communication. As is usually the case with disintegrating relationships, one side says one thing and the other side hears something entirely different. If I were to get technical, I could probably find a quote from my APR text book that talks about the underpinings of communication models or something, but I don't think we need to go into all that. Instead,there are a few simple rules to getting to a solution before a simple issue blows up into a major catastrophe.

1) Listen to the other side.
I mean REALLY listen. Don't just hear the words. Listen to what the other person is saying. If they are screaming at you and telling you how you are feeling or what you are doing - (ie: You're just trying to make more money and don't care about us!) There is probably something they are having a hard time articulating. Perhaps if we took the screaming and epitaths out, you'd find the REAL sentence to say "I'm frustrated that I'm not getting my way. Help me to get there or truly understand why I can't.

2) Remove the emotional attachment.
Much easier said than done, but critical if you want to move forward. Listen to an upset person and imagine them talking like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Only pick out the important words. For example: "Wa wa wa wa, my child is not doing as well as I think he should. Wa wa wa, I want to find a way to make this better. Wa wa wa wa wa, this is something you should be aware of and need to take action. Wa wa wa wa, here are some suggestions." Without the "S.O.Bs" and the "you don't know what you are doing", this conversation becomes more manageable.

3) Help the other person feel important.
Most people want to make things better. Many don't know how to express that calmly. Many want to be the big man (or woman) who is the savior who came up with the solution. If you have one of these people standing in front of you, let them be that person. Imagine how quickly an escalating conversation can become tame if you say, "I am so glad you are involved in this solution. I really think your expertise and leadership will help us all solve this problem. Let's figure out how we can get this resolved" Egos are strong things and when you acknowledge someone, that ego can accomplish great things.

4) Know when to stop the conversation.
Regardless of how calm you remain and how reasonable you attempt to be, there will be times when the savage beast just refuses to listen and calm down. In a situation like this, you have to be the one to say, "I'm so sorry, but we are getting absolutely nowhere right now. Perhaps we both need some time to calm down and think things through. I promise, I will call you at ?? time and we can try again, but I believe we've hit an impasse."

Sadly, in a school environment, we've had to actually get police involved to remove irate and abusive parents from the situation. That's really unfortunate, but you know that ego thing I talked about earlier. Without proper stroking, that ego can become completely unmanageable.

Recently, I had an opportunity to be a peacemaker. An irate parent and concerned citizen with a very sarcastic side, a blog and an audience to boot was mad at a situation at a couple of our schools. Legitimate gripes? Absolutely. The problem was that he used violent language. Being from the northeast, I recognized this violent rhetoric as sarcasm. In the education world, however, it is considered a threat. However, instead of getting lawyers involved and issuing a cease and desist, we had a face-to-face with the parent. Setting the ground rules first, we asked him right away to curb any future violent rhetoric in his blog if he wanted to be part of the solution. Afterall, we can't have someone who threatens - even in a sarcastic way - to hit a child to be part of a reasonable discussion. I think it embarrassed him a little. He meant it as sarcasm. I don't think he ever put himself in the shoes of an educator. Once it was pointed out, he agreed. We'll see in future blogs if the reasonable approach works, but I believe it will.

Why exactly do you want to do that?

Imagine this scenario. You and your significant other (S.O.) are getting by OK. Money is a little tight. You have a couple of kids in private school. You're saving for college. You can pay the bills, but there isn't much left over for luxuries. One day your S.O. says, "Honey, I believe we need to purchase a BMW. Not a really expensive one - just one of those convertible models. Nothing too extravagant. Let's go out shopping."

What would your first reaction be? "You're kidding, right?" After the initial shock, you may get caught up in the excitement and say, "Hooray, let's go." More likely though, you are going to ask a reasonable question like, "Why would you like to do that?" Your S.O. may have some very good reasons like, I need to get to work, our other car isn't as nice as I'd like it to be, I want to look hot...etc." As the sensible one in the relationship, you will try to find out your S.O.'s objective. Mid-life crisis? Needs more attention? Had a concussion on the way home from work? His friends all just got new BMW's? Regardless of the reason, you will steadfastly work toward finding the reason and looking for a more cost effective way to accomplish the objective.

Now, let's change the scenario. Your boss or client says, "I've been thinking. We need a new brochure (website, open house event, seminar series). Let's get started on that right away. Chances are, you as a loyal employee or consultant will click your heels, salute and say,"Yes sir/maam I'll get right on it."

Why not ask the same questions? I've had many occasions when a client has requested something that I thought was a bonehead idea. Instead of blindly following the rules, I find that those ideas aren't always written in stone. In fact, if your boss has hired you for your expertise, doesn't it make sense to say, "Why exactly do you want to do that?" Perhaps there is a more effective or cost efficient way to do it. Maybe not, but don't you owe it to your boss/client to find out?

This is where true professionals show what they are made of. It is terribly tempting to say, "Sure, I'll take your $5,000 (or $10,000 or $100,000) to do what you've asked." But think about the respect that you'll get if you say,"Why do you want to do that? Let's look at your objectives and see if this is the best way to accomplish them."

Here's a true story. I met with a doctor client about a year or so ago who insisted on having a seminar in a different county than where he was located. He would have spent about $4,000 total with promotion, food, room rental. I would have gotten some money out of the deal too. After listening to him, I asked him why exactly he wanted to do a seminar in another county. Was he trying to lure patients from the other county when there was a perfectly good provider in that county? Was he trying to expand his practice into another county? If so, did he have the means to accomplish that if it was really successful? If so, did he have enough money to do it right and advertise consistently in that market?

Do you know what? The answer to all of the questions above were "No." It came down to ego. He admitted it. He wanted to be in the face of his competitor. I explained to him that I had a cost saving alternative for him. It would cost him $4000 to do it his way, but I would save him $500. For $3,500, I would call him every day and tell him how great he was. When you shine the light on the situation that way, the seminar didn't make a whole lot of sense either. I saved him a lot of money. Do you think he appreciated it? Probably. He never became a real client though. That was my choice. I don't like to work for egotistical doctors.

One last thought - make those objectives measurable. "My objective is to create a beautiful brochure" is NOT a legitimate objective. "My objective is to create a brochure that will increase Website hits by 10% by the end of the year" is a measurable goal. Why start a project, if you don't know if and when it was a success?

Pizza, Sweating and PR - A perfect combination

This sounds like the beginning of a really sick joke. What do pizza, excessive sweating and public relations have to do with each other? While you may think this is going to be a ding on Dominoes - think again. This is actually a good news story and an opportunity to think about how positive PR can affect you or your client's business.

Let's start with some background. Gulfcoast Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons offers a surgical intervention called sympathectomy that helps eliminate or reduce excessive sweating from the armpits, hands and feet. This does not apply to overall body sweating or the normal sweating most of us humans do. This is for a group of people who have suffered through their entire life having terribly sweaty palms - to the point where they could not shake hands, couldn't try on shoes in a shoe store, or changed shirts several times a day, even when they weren't exerting themselves. We ran a marketing campaign on the radio and apparently, this is really big news. Over 300 phone calls in one month.

Sounded like a news story to me, so I spoke with a reporter who also found it interesting. She did a big feature story on the subject.

Good news right? Yes... but there is a major caveat. If you score a great story like this, it is IMPERATIVE that you clearly communicate with the people answering the phones. Prepare them for an onslaught of calls and tell them exactly what to do. In this case, callers were scheduled for free screenings. The staff was well aware of the date the story was scheduled to run and they were ready.

Now where in the world does the pizza come in? Well, it has been my experience that when a major story hits, the phones don't stop ringing. Getting away for lunch is a pretty tough prospect. Show the staff how much you appreciate their courteous and professional telephone answering skills. A big coup for a PR person can really be a big pain for the staff - even if it DOES mean more business. The cost of a few pizzas can buy a boatload of goodwill and will encourage the staff when they get weary.

Finding business everywhere

It has been entirely too long since my last post but my excuse is very legitimate. I've been on vacation - well sort of. My family and I had the opportunity to rent a house at the beach for a month. Being self employed and fairly mobile, I transported my office to the beach location and resumed business as normal. Well, as normal as it can be with a Gulf full of water across the street and a really cool boat beckoning in the canal right out front. Anyway, I digress. During this relocation exercise, I discovered that opening your mouth can get you new business. Everyone thinks of networking while at Chamber of Commerce functions, but how many think about it when they are sweaty and greased up with sunscreen - no makeup and let's face it, a little smelly? This post is primarily for my female readers. Males don't have much of a problem getting sweaty and asking for business. Females on the other hand loathe being caught in ugly moments. We feel the need to dazzle with our brilliance as well as our well-groomed good looks. Men aren't all that concerned usually. Take Ed Bonkowski for example. He's a highly successful Real Estate Broker, contractor and property manager who happened to rent our house to us. I spoke up soon after I met him and told him what I did. I dropped a few names, made a few relevant comments about his industry and he immediately started feeding me business. Now, it doesn't always work this way. There are definitely some factors that must be in play. You have to actually HAVE some industry knowledge before you can speak it. You also can't be pushy - you're on vacation afterall. But a saavy business person will see past the sweat and Coppertone and listen to the wisdom. I'm hoping this relationship develops into a long-lasting friendship. I think we can help each other in our quest for success. The learning moment for the day is: Don't miss those networking opportunities. You can be effective even if you aren't dressed to kill.