Alchemy On Demand specializes in helping businesses communicate through print, online, and even cool whiteboard videos like this one!
Greetings, Friends! And apologies for the long delay! There is so much to tell you about The Doctrine of Recovery!
First off, we have a gorgeous new website, which better reflects the film and its message. Please check it out–and consider hosting a screening in your community!
Second, and even more important, the film will premiere on July 5th at the 43rd Annual General Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, in Vancouver, BC. This is the first time in history that the AFN has premiered a film–it is that significant to them. They are giving it the red-carpet treatment in the main hall of the Vancouver Convention Center–a venue that can accommodate the 634 First Nation Chiefs, who represent approximately 900,000 First Nations people living in First Nation communities and in cities and towns across Canada.
Here’s what Chief RoseAnne Archibald, the first woman ever elected to the position of National Chief, says about The Doctrine of Recovery:
“The Doctrine of Recovery documentary is a crucial step on our healing path forward. Three generations of First Nations’ women speak to how the Doctrine of Discovery continues to loom over every aspect of our lives as Tribal people. Visually beautiful, it inspires without ever shying away from the impacts of genocide authored in the Papal Bull of 1493. The Doctrine of Recovery is a call to action for reparations and revoking the Doctrine of Discovery.”
Dene National Chief & AFN Regional Chief (Northwest Territories), Gerald Antoine, said this about The Doctrine of Recovery:
“A film of immense power and importance which communicates the undeniable devastation wrought by the Doctrine of Discovery and why the Pope must rescind it.”
(Regional Chief Antoine led the AFN Vatican delegation that received Pope Francis’s initial apology for the Church’s role in the Residential School atrocities, which were one of the genocidal consequences of the Doctrine of Discovery.)
As those of you who follow our posts and emails know, the film evolved from its original vision of a documentary about Native Americans and grizzlies, to a film about human beings’ relationship with Mother Earth. Our writer/director Brišind (RAIN) realized that, rather than working to save one endangered species after another, we must re-evaluate our relationship with our life-giver, the Earth. We must acknowledge the white supremacist roots of the “Doctrine of Discovery” that justified both the dispossession of Native Americans from their land and the decimation of those lands for colonizer use and “development.” We must return to a relationship of respect and care for the planet that sustains us.
And, in other news, our film’s DP and editor, Anthony Stengel, has been nominated for an Emmy for his PBS short film, “Dying Light,” about a neon artist, one of a dying breed. Congratulations, Anthony!
]]>Key Elements of a Press Kit
One of the first things new businesses want to know about is how to put together an effective press kit. Though they know that PR is important, they don’t know how to go about generating a buzz about their business, or how to go about growing their readership. The following is designed to help you assemble a press kit. There are no hard and fast rules about what to include; basically, you want to include enough information to inspire an editor or producer to do a piece on your company, product, service…or you.
Don’t be dismayed if you don’t have all of these elements initially. Just collect them as you go. And remember that it’s called “a press kit” because it’s supposed to get you press. One of the best ways to get press is to already have gotten press, so links or samples of articles, interviews, radio or television clips, etc., are key.
Cover letter
Sometimes referred to as the pitch letter, this is where you grab or lose the reader’s interest–which, in this case, is an editor or producer. Tell them upfront why they should care about what you’re telling them. I’m going to presume you are sending an electronic press kit (EPK)–which is increasingly the industry standard. For an EPK, the cover letter is the email that accompanies the EPK attachment.
Pitch/Hook
Assuming you are sending this press kit electronically, the pitch/hook appears in your subject line, the cover email, and probably in the headline of your attachment. It should be attention-grabbing, provocative, and/or dovetail with the recipient’s known interest(s). Three ways to do this include asking a question, upsetting the conventional wisdom, and offering a list (editors love lists), such as:
- Do nuclear weapons keep us safe?
- Why nuclear weapons don’t keep us safe.
- Ten myths about nuclear weapons.
Summary of Company/Product/Service/Person
Here you state your own/your company’s/your product or service’s credentials. Do it briefly on page one, but include a more detailed description later on. Or you can provide details early on in bullet-point fashion:
Five reasons Miracle Clean should be on your shelf
- All natural
- Non-toxic
- Non habit-forming
- Organic Mothers approved
- Works like a miracle!
Testimonials/product, service, or performance reviews
Great things other people have said about you. Famous people are impressive, but anyone with a credential in your field is good, as are compliments from your consumers, even if no one has ever heard of them.
More detailed product and service information
Fact sheets, sales sheets, or company brochures.
Other publications and articles
PR is cumulative. The more press you’ve gotten, the more newsworthy editors will find you. In an EPK you don’t include copies of other media coverage, but links to them on your website—or to the media outlet’s website.
Press releases
In practice, it is often a press release—in other words, breaking news about your company—that prompts you to send out an EPK. Using David Krieger and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation as an example, a press release (and the subject line of the email) might announce David Krieger’s newest book. The introductory paragraph of the email will encourage editors to inform their readers about this newest title, and also encourage them to interview Dr. Krieger, referencing the EPK attached.
Similarly with Lucky Penny Press, a children’s eBook publisher, a new title might prompt a press release, but also serve as the opportunity to encourage editors to do a larger story on LPP, and/or its founder, and/or the eBook phenomenon for children.
Suggested topics, or a sample news story:
Suggest topics that your company spokesperson can speak to, or even include a sample news story (if not a press release). Some editors will print it verbatim, or they may edit it, which is their prerogative.
List of frequently asked questions
This helps the editor conduct an interview or outline an article.
Photos
At least one print-worthy photo!
Other items to consider
- Nonprofit and community-service involvement
- Awards
- Factual background material and/or white papers
- Schedules of upcoming promotions and events
- Significant statistics specific to your industry, demographics and target audiences
- Samples or examples
- Camera-ready logo art
There you have it – all the elements to successfully put together a press kit. The above information has been hard-earned from 20+ years in the industry, so take it to heart and you’ll be just fine. Do you have any successes with your press kits that you’d like to let us know about?
-Leslee Goodman
Alchemy On Demand
The web is a company’s first presence to a lot of people. And, as the old marketing adage goes, it’s all in the presentation.
Think about it. How would Apple look if it handed you their iPhone in a ziplock bag? What if the storefronts were all ramshackle and daub?
Yes, image matters – it’s the calling card of your business.
But how, specifically, does it help? Well, check out this amazing infographic from instantshift.com. It really says all there is to say:
-Hudson Hornick
Alchemy On Demand
You know what a press release is:
A press release is the #1 tool in the publicist’s bag of tricks. A press release is what publicists send to media to let the public know what their clients are up to.
But what you may not know is that business owners (a.k.a. Those do-it-yourself publicists) rely on press releases too. It’s true – they send them out when they want to tell the world about a new product or service they’re launching; a store they’re opening; an event they’re sponsoring; an award they’ve won; or some other newsworthy milestone they’ve achieved.
Thus, press releases are popular and important for business.
So that’s a press release. No big deal, right?
So what the hey is an SEO press release?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. An SEO press release is one that is written so that search engines–those robots employed by Google, Yahoo, Bing, and AOL–will read and rank your press release.
You want Search Engines to read and rank your press release because these days online media are as important as print and broadcast.
So how do you write a press release that a robot will read and disseminate?
The same way you write one for people.
Not so bad, right? Here’s why:
Search engines now want the same thing from a press release that readers want: interesting content clearly communicated.
Here’s what PRNewswire recommends about press release writing for SEO:
“Great content written with a specific audience in mind is good SEO and will increase your chances of being found.”
In other words, you write a press release when you have something newsworthy to say to a specific group of people.
Sometimes, however, that’s easier said than done.
How To Write a Great Press Release
Although most people can talk in clear straightforward sentences, too many of us get muddled when we’re saying something in writing. So here are eight easy tips for writing a great press release that both search engines (software) and people will want to read:
1. Decide what your lead is—the news you want to tell. Here are three examples from Malibu NoseRiding Championship, one of our actual clients:
Announcing the 2013 Malibu NoseRiding Championship:
World’s first timed, co-ed noseriding competition
—
Outside TV signs on as Malibu NoseRiding Championship sponsor
—
Win a GoPro camera in Malibu NoseRiding Championship’s photo contest
Why they’re great titles:
Each of these headlines states clearly what the “news” is. Either it’s the first of something, some big-name is getting involved, or there’s something people can win. Any way you slice it, someone will be interested and that, my friends, is the definition of News.
2. Tell who, what, when, where, and WHY—the five Ws. It’s important in a press release to get as many of the basic facts as you can into the first paragraph. Although WHY is the last on the list, it’s often important to say “why” even ahead of who, what, when, and where. That’s because attention spans are short; you need to let people know quickly why this matters. If readers care about WHY, they’ll stay with you to find out who, what, where, and when. Here’s out it played out for Malibu NoseRiding Championship:
“History’s first-ever timed noseriding competition, in which men and women compete as equals for cash and prizes, will take place “On One Perfect Day” in October 2013 at Malibu’s legendary Surfrider Beach.”
(It’s not often that you can claim a history-making event, and when you can, put it upfront.)
3. Fill out your press release with interesting details (content) as hyperlinks.
“The Malibu Noseriding Championship will bring together sixty-four of the world’s best longboard surfers to compete for ‘most time on the nose’ in an objectively timed event. The event will raise funds and awareness for the Malibu Beach watershed ecosystem—once a pristine environment named “Malibu” by the region’s first inhabitants, the Chumash.
“The event will attract some of surfing’s best, including (long list of championship surfers)…
“The Malibu Noseriding Championship will benefit three local nonprofits: Eco-Malibu, whose mission is to restore and protect the lower Malibu Creek watershed and historical wetlands of Malibu; the Bay Restoration Foundation, working to restore and enhance the Santa Monica Bay; and the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center, dedicated to preserving, presenting and promoting surfing’s heritage for the appreciation and education of current and future generations.”
4. Include keywords in your press release. Keywords are terms that people will search for when they’re looking for a product or service you provide. If you’re a PR agency in Santa Barbara, “Santa Barbara PR agency” are likely some of your keywords, and so are “Santa Barbara” and “PR” and “public relations.” Anytime I sensibly include my keywords in my press release, I’m helping a Google bot rank it higher for those words.
If you’re the Malibu NoseRiding Championship producers, “Malibu NoseRiding Championship” is a great keyword phrase, but don’t forget that “surfing,” “noseriding,” “surf contests,” etc. can be equally valuable. Try to mix it up to get a more complete keyword profile.
Note: It can take some research and analysis to select your keywords, and we’ll say more about it in another post. For the time being, however, once you know what your company’s keywords are, use them in your press release.
Adding keywords can be as simple as including them in the headline: “Announcing the first Malibu NoseRiding Championship,” or in the first paragraph of the press release: “Alchemy On Demand, Santa Barbara’s PR agency, announces …” You can then add them, or variations of them, again in your press release whenever it makes sense to do so–from a reader’s (not a robot’s) point of view.
5. Include a photograph or video. You learned it in school: “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” In the Internet age, that’s an understatement.
Photos draw readers’ attention. If you have no other image to accompany your press release, quote someone—even if it’s yourself—and include a headshot of that person. Photos make editors more likely to include your story—because they know that readers will be more likely to read it.
6. Include contact info, including a link to your own website. That’s important for reporters, but also for readers who may want to know more about you than just the information available in your press release.
7. Include “boilerplate” about your company at the very end of your press release. A Boilerplate is a single-spaced paragraph that describes what your company does. It provides background information for living, breathing editors, and adds credibility/authority for SEO software ‘bots. It’s also one last place to legitimately insert your keywords. Here’s an example using Lucky Penny Press, another Alchemy On Demand client:
“Lucky Penny Press is a children’s eBook publisher founded by Melissa C. Marsted, author of Pablito and the Speckled Bear. Lucky Penny Press, whose motto is “Nurturing the creative spirit,” publishes books written by both adults and children. Each book has a professionally recorded audio version. As part of LPP’s cultural fabric, each book is connected to a non-profit organization, which receives a portion of book sale proceeds. LPP sells eBooks in numerous eReader formats including those for iPads, iPhones, Kindles, Nooks, MP3 players, and any computer. Every eBook can be downloaded in either eReader or audio format, or both.”
8. Use the Associated Press style. Associated Press (AP) wrote the rules for journalistic fine points followed by most written media. Since many editors will run your press release verbatim if they don’t have time, staff, or inclination to rewrite it, your job is to make it easy for them to do so. AP style includes rules such as spelling out numbers one through nine, but using numerals for numbers 10 and above (as I just did in this sentence). This rule doesn’t apply for dates, such as July 1, 2013, for which numbers are always used, or when a sentence begins with a number, in which case the number is always spelled out.
AP style also omits the “serial comma,” which is the comma before “and” in a list longer than two. For example, “dogs, cats and ponies”; not “dogs, cats, and ponies.”
(This omission of the serial comma upsets Hudson, and my son Noah, but we’ll leave the grammar nazis to fight amongst themselves, yes?)
Another AP-style guideline is to put the comma or period inside the quotation marks. When you’re quoting someone, it looks like this: “This is our first award,” the proud business owner said. “We couldn’t be more pleased.”
And that’s it. Follow these straightforward recommendations for writing press releases, and you’ll also be writing an SEO press release in no time.
Congratulations!
–Leslee Goodman
Alchemy On Demand
The Nonprofit Problem:
It’s a common problem in the nonprofit sector: you’ve got limited funds for programs and a waiting list out the door. Seeing as programs are the means through which you fulfill your mission, you immediately funnel money into them and let the fundraising side of your business (and it is a business, albeit a nonprofit one) starve.
Dan Pallotta, the founder of Advertising for Humanity and a frequent blogger on nonprofits for the Harvard Business Review, says this is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing.
Spend More on Fundraising
Why?
Starving fundraising is like putting Hercules on rations. How’s he supposed to do the heavy lifting for you, when he’s under-nourished? He may struggle valiantly for a while, but eventually, he’ll collapse.
Instead, consider fundraising the core of your nonprofit that you must keep healthy and strong for the rest of your business to grow.
In a widely circulated essay Pallotta wrote in February 2012 entitled “Multiplication Philanthropy,” he pointed out the illogic of measuring nonprofits by how little they spend on fundraising when fundraising is the only way nonprofits can increase their impact. He also lamented donors’ resistance to having their donations support the fundraising effort, calling it “one reason that charitable giving has remained constant in the U.S. at 2% of GDP ever since we have been measuring it. …Donors don’t want charities to spend money on fundraising.”
Further, Pallotta wrote:
The cutting edge [philanthropy] is investment in fundraising. [E]veryone tries to suppress it, invoking a flawed theory of social change that says the less you spend on fundraising, the more you have for programs. That’s true if it’s a zero-sum game. But it’s not. Imagine a $10 million pie with $8 million going to programs and with the 20% fundraising slice taking $2 million away from programs. The last thing we want to do is make that a $3 million slice, leaving only $7 million for programs. But that’s not how it works. If done correctly, the extra million enlarges the pie — substantially. A $10 million pie becomes a $15 million pie, and the $7 million available for programs grows to $12 million.
As Pallotta points out, smart charities invest in fundraising because the money they get back is greater than the money they put in. He cites a Giving USA study, which found that “a dollar invested in a major gift program produces, on average, $24 in revenue. A dollar invested in a direct mail program produces $10. A dollar invested in a special event produces $3.20.”
Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County holds an annual Springtime gala that raises tens of thousands of dollars annually. One reason for its success is that the Springtime committee enlists sponsors to underwrite the costs of the event—food, printing, entertainment, etc. As a result of this investment in fundraising, all of the event proceeds go directly to the mission—ending domestic violence. This is an example of donors—sponsors—wisely investing in fundraising—multiplying the dollars available for agency programs.
The Solution
So if you’re a donor who’s found an innovative and effective nonprofit that is really making a difference in addressing an issue you care about, it’s great if you fund their programs. But if you really want to increase their impact, fund their fundraising. That’s “multiplication philanthropy”—getting the most for your philanthropic buck.
— Leslee Goodman
Alchemy On Demand
Sorry about that, my Luddite friend.
I too, am a reader, not a watcher, but times have changed. Today’s websites need video and here are the top six reasons why:
#1. Search engines love video.
For the last few years, Google has rewarded sites that include video, presumably because videos are “content-rich.” When a video is optimized to include relevant keywords, it has a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of Google results than any static text page. And as if to emphasize the importance of video with web users, YouTube has become the second-largest search engine on the web. That means web users are nearly as likely to search for their keywords (your website) on YouTube as Google. If you don’t have video on your website, YouTube won’t find you.
#2. Videos are more engaging than text.
Just as it’s easier to get caught up in television or a movie, than in a book, well-crafted videos pull people into the storyline. And why not? Videos combine words, images, and music to create more compelling storytelling than words and images alone. For that reason:
#3. Videos are shared more often than text.
Because they are more engaging and compelling than static text pages, videos are shared—on Facebook and other social media, as well as emailed—far more often than static web pages. Moreover, a video thumbnail— embedded on a Facebook page, for example–attracts more attention and garners more “Likes” and comments than a static text page.
#4. Videos convert visitors to customers more frequently than text.
Videos are able to imitate the bricks-and-mortar shopping experience more readily than words and still images, giving prospective customers a “you are there” experience that can overcome any hesitation a shopper may feel about purchasing online. A video can also convey your company’s brand—the look and feel you want customers to associate with your company—far more than a static website. Moreover, once a website visitor has clicked on the PLAY button, he or she is in your control. A well-produced video can provide a “one-stop shopping” experience for the user, answering his or her questions, showing the product from various angles, offering appropriate calls to action (and the links to make them a click away), and even guiding visitors to the shopping cart.
#5. Videos can be shared on multiple channels
—thus maximizing the bang for your buck. By loading videos to multiple sites—YouTube, Vimeo, Google Video, Facebook Video, and more—in addition to your own website, you reach far more prospective customers than through your website alone. Moreover, videos can be optimized to play equally well on mobile devices, televisions, and in-store monitors, further maximizing the return on your video investment.
# 6 Best of all, Alchemy On Demand can create your videos
From animated shorts and two-minute sales pieces to full-length corporate documentaries, our team of award-winning producers, directors, and writers are masters of the craft of video storytelling to meet any budget. When you’re ready to go video, contact us.
-Leslee Goodman
Alchemy On Demand
Copywriting has long been the black sheep of the marketing world. It’s a crucial part of the marketing process, but it’s tricky, and therefore many overlook copywriting as something that will take care of itself.
Big mistake.
Numerous studies have shown that small tweaks to your copy result in huge returns.
Still, most don’t want to pay to have it done professionally, so how can you get away with writing copy that sells?
Easy. Like this:
- Know your target customer
- Focus on benefits
- Know yourself
- Keep it simple, Keep it on point, and Be specific
- Yell at them, Build trust, & Dissuade fear
- Make them like you
- Show them that others have already jumped aboard (Social Trust)
- Universalize your tone
- And finally – follow through
BAM – There you have it. 9 steps to write killer copy. Remember, practice makes perfect, but armed with this knowledge you’ll be well on your way to writing killer copy that converts traffic.
And it all starts with…
Know your target customer
The goal of any marketing campaign is to guide your customers through the Buying Funnel:
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, Satisfaction – that’s the name of the game.
5 steps to customer (and business) happiness. You’re going to use your copywriting to guide your customers through these steps, and all of your marketing copy should be unified in this goal. Thus, your landing page copy should per tailored to where your customer is in that process.
Optimize your landing pages accordingly.
Example: Let’s say you sell shoes. You’ve designed a landing page to target those who search for “Santa Barbara Shoes.”
Your landing page copy should be geared toward conversions, yes, but you should also recognize that at this point in the buying phase, those that are searching for something as generic as “Santa Barbara Shoes” are likely in the first stage of the buying process, and that’s Attention.
Your potential clients aren’t not sure what they want, or even what’s out there. So your first step for these keyword searches should be creating a landing page that captures their attention, engages interest, and stimulates awareness and desire.
Pro-tip: Use emotion – it’s the strongest stimulant.
Therefore, the landing page shouldn’t be geared to raising awareness, but more about getting the customer to take that action. This is where things like coupons, free shipping, ease of returns, customer service, and social trust metrics like “# of satisfied customers” comes into play. The desire is there, you just have to get the customer to convert:
Now, the amount of space you have to accomplish these goals differs with your target task. If you’re writing PPC Copy, you’ve got precious few words in order to attract your potential traffic.
But ultimately, for any of your copywriting, what you’re trying to do is offer meat, in the language of the dog, directed to the dog.
Let me explain:
Remember Pavlov’s dogs? It’s a classic experiment about classical conditioning.
Good ol’ Pavlov proved that he could stimulate a physiological response by conditioning dogs to know that when a bell sounded they would be fed. In this case, when Pavlov sounded the bell, the dogs knew (or thought) that they were going to be fed, and that stimulated the response to salivate.
Great response, no?
But imagine if Pavlov hadn’t used meat to stimulate the dogs. What if, instead of steak, Pavlov used… lentils.
Lentils don’t get dogs going like meat.
Nothing does, in fact.
So if you don’t present meat for your customers, they aren’t going to salivate. Period. End of story. They won’t be hungry. They’ll go elsewhere for the meat they desire.
Take-Home: Know your customers, and present them what they want (give them meat).
Keep it Simple
Additionally, if Pavlov hadn’t rung a bell, but had used a whistle beyond the range of their hearing, the dogs wouldn’t know it was dinner time.
Take-Home: The language you use matters. Don’t over-sell something, don’t use ostentatious language. All big words do is isolate people. If you can use a simpler word, do so. Or, as a student of mine pointed out, if you can use an Anglo-Saxon word instead of the Latin, use the Anglo. That requires you to know the difference between Anglo-Saxon and Latin words, however….
Alright, now you’re ready to start writing some copy. But before you do, you must…
Know Yourself
It might sound silly, but many small businesses, especially those early on in the growth phase, suffer from an identity crisis.
Before you write a lick of script, you’ve got to know who you are, what you offer, and what makes you unique. These are the things that your potential clients are going to be looking for, and they’re going to want those things quickly.
If you can’t define yourself and your service in a sentence or two, your first priority is to learn how to be able to.
Define. Your. Mission.
Learn what sets you apart.
Seth Godin called this the “Purple Cow,” and Santa Barbara-based Zeeblu spins this into a blue zebra:
The point is, you’ve got to know what sets you apart and highlight it. Level of customer service, cost, quality, whatever – you’ve got to know what that is and promote that so that you stand out from the crowd.
When you find your purple cow/zebra, whatever, you’re ready to put pen to paper.
When you do, be sure to…
Focus on benefits (not features)
I’m a big believer in the selfish nature of people and their time.
It stands to reason.
People want to know if you’re worth your salt before they waste any time listening to you. It’s the same with the guy handing you the flier in the street, and the message is simple:
DO NOT WASTE MY TIME.
When people are on your site, it’s all about them. Make sure that they know that. Don’t fall into the mistake of talking about you.
Example:
Check out this website from the Santa Barbara Small Business Entrepreneurship Center. This is cut from their homepage, and before I know anything about them, or what they do, I’m hit with a wall of text about who they are.
Right. Got it. No offense, but What’s in it for me?
A better design choice would have been one that speaks to the target customer’s needs:
“Get your business off the ground and running.” OR “What’s your goal? Here’s your solution.”
Or something thereabouts.
Take home: Make your copy about your customers, and they will thank you.
This brings us to…
Yell at them, Build Trust, & Dissuade Fear
Seems counter-intuitive, no? But it’s the truth. Well… sorta.
Talking firmly projects confidence, and people respect others with confidence. Many times people don’t know what they want – they want you to tell them what they want. So tell them. Use action verbs:
Just do it.
Act Now.
Subscribe.
Check this out: You tell me which one reads better:
A: “They may not even be hungry. They’ll probably go elsewhere for the meat they desire.”
B: “They won’t be hungry. They’ll go elsewhere for the meat they desire.”
If you guessed B, cheerio.
Remove doubt from your copy, and your readers will thank you.
*Caveat* Confidence isn’t enough. You actually have to know what you’re talking about. But before you do so, you’ve got to build up your reader’s trust. To do that, you’ve got to form a relationship with them.
Think about it. When you compose an argument, you start by getting the people to like you. This is why speakers start off with a joke. Bust up the crowd a little bit. Use conversational tones. Use “you” and “I”. Tell a story. Use your own picture:
Me hogging the spotlight at Christmas.
In short, get them to know you (and hopefully like you). Then, once you’ve established a firm relationship, you can speak directly, but don’t come out of the pulpit all fire and brimstone, or you risk alienating your readers.
Make them like you.
Humans aren’t such tricky animals. Ultimately, we’re social creatures and generally pretty predictable. It’s upon this premise that an ancient martial arts trick rests.
Ask any 3+ degree blackbelt what they would do to stop a fight from happening, and they’ll respond: “Smile.”
Yep. Smile. That’s it. Ten years of kung-fu knowledge distilled into a single word. And marketers use it daily.
Why?
Because it’s a lot harder to hurt someone you like, and as humans, we’re hard-wired to respond positively to smiles.
It’s called reciprocity, and it’s a powerful marketing tool.
Don’t believe me? Ask yourself what happens when someone you don’t know follows you on Twitter. Chances are, your innate response is to follow them back. Take and receive. That’s our social instinct kicking in again there.
So when writing your copy, go ahead and yuk it up. Put some funny images in there. Lighten the mood.
Look at Groupon, they’re champs of the sly-quirky just to make you smile:
Yep. They’re the masters of quirky. And I should know, I used to work for them.
Show them that others have jumped aboard the bandwagon
This is another one of our innate human characteristics. We’re social creatures. Additionally, if someone else does it, it reinforces the feeling that if we do it too, we’ll be doing a good thing, and that will release a small amount of dopamine (happiness chemical) into the brain.
Predictable, see?
The rub is that if someone did jump off a bridge, you might not, but you’d want to know why, and if it was a good idea, and if you were missing out on anything.
Your copywriting can exploit this.
“Scientists in California don’t want you to know this amazing secret to dieting.”
“These celebrities do things just like us.”
“1000s of satisfied customers”
…and so forth. Use some social trust indicators on your website with logos and testimonials, and use it in your copy to slam home the trust instinct.
Universalize your tone
All of your web copy is going to be setting a tone. Is it funny or serious? Flippant or stern? Direct or vague? You have to make these choices and stick to them. Obviously, if you’re in the business of selling caskets, you’ll want to take things a bit more seriously than Groupon. But they have the luxury of selling fun times and fun things, so they can get away with a little playfulness. This is where knowing your audience is key. Figure out what you can get away with and then tailor all-out copy to suit.
Additionally, make sure that your tone is the same across platforms. You’re building relationships with people whether you’re aware of it or not. If you’re Joe Happy one day and then Stern Moe the next, people won’t know what to think. And if they don’t know what to think, then they can’t count on you, and if they can’t count on you, then they can’t trust you with their money, can they?
Follow Through
This is the end of the AIDAS marketing funnel. You want your customers to be your biggest proponents. Follow up with them. Thank them for their business. Make sure they’re satisfied. It goes a long way to repeat business and referrals.
Use the same tone in your follow-up copy as the rest of your marketing efforts and you’ll be A-OK when it comes to quarterly profit reporting time.
And there you have it. 9 steps to copywriting mastery. So what do you think? Have you got any copywriting tips that I missed? Care to share? Drop me a line in the comments and I’ll holler back!
-Hudson Hornick
Alchemy On Demand
You hear all kinds of things about grant-writing:
There are tons of money being given away! All you have to do is ask!
Grant-writing is difficult. It’s incomprehensible, time-consuming, and tedious.
Grant-writing is a waste of time! You invest all that effort and don’t get funded.
So what’s the truth about grant-writing?
The bottom line is that all of the above statements are true some of the time and in some contexts.
Here’s what I mean:
Yes, when you add it all up there are thousands of organizations giving away millions of dollars, and all a qualifying recipient has to do is write a compelling grant to receive a portion of them. Sounds easy enough, right?
The other pertinent facts are: there are also millions of organizations applying for those grants; it takes some research to determine what type of person, organization, and projects qualify for the funds; and only the most competitive applications are likely to receive any money. We’ll get into how to write a successful grant in a moment, but first, let’s look at some other hurdles to effective grant writing.
Yes, some grant applications are difficult, time-consuming, and tedious to complete. These tend to be government grants, which, because they dispense public funds, have to document their decision-making by collecting all kinds of demographic data, such as age, race, ethnicity, residence, and income of the people the grant will benefit. If you don’t routinely collect that kind of data, it’s difficult to complete the application.
Other grant applications can be tedious and time-consuming, such as those that use a computer-generated form that requires all of the answers to fit into tiny rectangles that will only accommodate a certain number of characters, or that have a bug in their programming so that the numbers dutifully entered into the columns don’t add up to anything like the correct total; or that inexplicably fail to save your data after you’ve gone to all that trouble to enter it and you have to do it all over again. Perhaps repeatedly. These types of grants make you want to pull out your hair, change your career, and conclude that grants are the hard way to get money.
And then there’s this: you can go to all that trouble and not get funded. Yes. It happens all the time. Even a well-qualified applicant whose project is closely aligned with the purpose of the funding organization, who writes a thoughtful, compelling application, may get turned down for a grant. Why? The granting organization just received more compelling applications from qualified applicants than it had dollars to cover. Or one of the trustees had a pet project that took precedence over yours. Or, in the interest of fairness, they had to spread the grants over various regions or communities the funding organization serves. There are dozens of reasons a grant application might not get funded and a lot of them you—the applicant—don’t have any control over.
That being said, there are some surefire things you can do to put yourself in the best position to get funded. Let’s take a look at them.
How to write a successful grant:
Number one: do your research.
Read the website, funding guidelines, or other available information about the funding organization to understand what they fund, where they fund, and whom they are most likely to fund. If you are using a grants database such as Guidestar, or the Foundation Directory Online, you may see that the granting organization is a big supporter of teen programs, which is what you provide. Great, you think. Just what I’m looking for. Then you see that they restrict their funding to the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Still good! We’re in Seattle. But then you read that they only give to faith-based organizations…which you’re not. Don’t waste your time applying for a grant unless you know someone on the Board of Trustees (or whatever they call the people who review the grants and make the decisions) who has encouraged you to apply and will recommend you for funding. It’s true in grant-making, as in many other aspects of life, that relationships often take precedence over overstated criteria.
One other note about research:
Take a look at the list of grants the prospective funder has awarded over the last few years and look to see organizations similar to yours in size and purpose. If the website says the funder is interested in teens, animals, and the environment and funds universities, zoos, and environmental research centers, they’re most likely not going to fund a small teen after-school program, no matter how great a program it is, or how great a grant you write. They’re going after bigger fish, and in their eyes, you’re small fry.
Number two: Have your organizational ducks in a row.
At the end of the day, grantors make grants to organizations, not to grant-writers. You can write a great grant application, but if the organization you’re writing for doesn’t have a strong and effective board, a clear and compelling mission, demonstrated community support, well-designed programs and means of measuring results, and diverse sources of income, you’re pushing a rock uphill. Most grant-makers aren’t going to fund your proposal.
As the grant writer, however, you can help your organization get its act together by pointing out these facts. You can do so without having to play the heavy, but by explaining, “We need to include more diversity on our Board because that’s what our funders look for.” Or, “We need to explain to the Board that their financial contributions influence grant-makers’ contributions, because why should a grant-maker give to a cause that even its own Board members don’t give to?” Or “We need to do more outreach to individual donors because grant-makers want to see strong, grassroots support.”
What about grants to individuals?
Most grants are to organizations—specifically nonprofit organizations—not individuals. The exceptions are grants to artists, writers, filmmakers, and other creative types; scholarships; and some special-purpose types of grants to encourage individuals to take actions that benefit society. Examples are grants to individual homeowners to install solar panels or to weatherize their homes to conserve energy. Though individuals have to apply for these grants, the government, utility company, or other entity offering the grants typically advertises their availability and has staff that will help applicants complete the application. In general, however, you’ll find that most grant-making organizations explicitly state: No grants to individuals, or for film or media projects, travel, or any of the other things we’d all love to do if only someone would give us the money.
Number three: Follow the clues the grant-maker gives you.
This means using the language the grant-maker uses. Sometimes, this can be subtle. The Orfalea Foundation, for example, uses positive, “strength-based,” or “asset-based,” language in describing its work. Its mission reads, “Strengthening communities by empowering individuals.” Its REACH program, which stands for Resilience, Education, Adventure, Community and Health, “works to prepare students for lives of purposeful action, continuous learning, and the courageous pursuit of opportunity.” Notice that there isn’t a mention of “problems,” “needs,” “underserved,” or other language that one commonly finds in descriptions of nonprofit work. The Orfalea Foundation doesn’t want to fill holes; it wants to scale mountains. It wants to work with nonprofits that see their clients as potentialities waiting to be unleashed; not as problems needing to be “fixed” or “solved.”
The Orfalea program officer working with one of our clients, AHA!, went so far as to recommend that AHA! use the term “diversity appreciation” rather than “eracism,” or “tolerance” in the grant application describing the goals of its teen after-school program. Yes, all three terms refer to the same issue, but one describes a benefit; the second refers to a problem, and the third lacks enthusiasm. While not all prospective funders will quibble over the use of individual words, the point is still worth noting: You should describe your work through the lens of your prospective funder, not through your own conventional frame.
This leads us to “secret” number four:
Customize each application to the organization you are applying to. It is seldom effective to write one grant application and mass mail it to a dozen organizations. Although there may well be language you can cut and paste for all applications—such as your organizational history and accomplishments—each funding organization is different and deserves individual thought and analysis. Each funding organization has its own purpose it is working to fulfill, and your job as a grant writer is to show them how funding your organization helps them achieve their purpose.
Number five: Tell a good story.
At the end of the day, giving is an emotional decision. Yes, foundations are conservative, and they want to give to applicants that have solid management practices in place and that can quantify their results. And they want to feel good about giving. There are millions of organizations with good intentions trying to make a difference. Why should they fund yours? Because you’ve told them such a good story, you’ve made them such a believer in your efforts, that they want to be a part of it.
That’s “getting to ‘yes.’”
–Leslee Goodman
Alchemy On Demand
I hear this one often: you’ve got a small business, so why even bother with social media?
As much as we might like to ignore it, social media has become a major player in today’s internet. As a business owner, it’s not something we can ignore, and with Facebook’s Two Billion+ reach, why would we? Lamenting your lack of business shouldn’t be an excuse if you’ve got a decent product. How many times have you said to yourself “I know that people will want what I have to offer if I could only reach them.” Well, writing a killer blog and correctly utilizing SEO is essentially free advertising – as is maintaining a social presence.
Generating some quality content is a great way to let these people know what your business is about. Keep in mind, however, that it’s imperative that your social presence be a quality social presence, as this Neil Patel blog will tell you. It’s also important that you don’t hard sell your customers, at least not right off the bat – do this and you risk losing your fan base. What you want to do is engage them, build a rapport with them, and then link them to your services.
Start things off slowly, and give people some quality information. Think of this process as making the web the best possible experience and you’ll do just fine. A sort of “Give the people what they want” ethos for the long run.
-Hudson Hornick
Alchemy On Demand