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How NOT to Survey Your Readers

January 11, 2015 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Enough about me, what do you think of meIt’s a good idea to get to know the people who read you. But there are ways of doing it that make them feel welcomed…and ways that make them feel used.

Here’s an example of the wrong way.

My dear wife Rona Fischman received an email that said:

“Rona,

When I started ___ 3 years ago, I couldn’t have imagined how much we would achieve together. ____has grown from a small community to a global one of over 5.5 million members, in nearly every country in the world. It’s hard to believe we’ve come so far, so fast.”

“But what’s next for ___? What will the next few years look like? As we start to think about those questions as a community, it’s critical to hear from as many voices as possible. It’s important to know what we think about what our community does, how we can be better and what we should work on together.”

“Our surveys are put together by a crack team of survey expurrts [picture of  cat at keyboard] and they don’t take very long to fill out. We’d love to find out what you think.”

Here’s what Rona thinks:

I don’t know who you are, and you want to trick me into doing your marketing for you??? Click To Tweet

Here’s the right way:

If you want to know what people think, start out by listening. Continue by giving them something they’ll consider valuable. Get them to know, like, and trust you.

Only then will they be willing to answer your surveys. And only then will the information they give you be valuable to you.

 

 

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Is Your Organization a Stalker?

January 8, 2015 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

stop stalking

You wouldn’t do it in real life. Don’t stalk by email!

My friend Rebecca Lillian wrote this to the companies she deals with. Could someone have written it to you?

Dear Lands End, LLBean, etc. etc. etc. (said with the tone of Yul Brynner as the King of Siam): If I visit your website and don’t purchase anything, I will be less, not more, inclined to visit in the future if you send me a creepy e-mail that makes me feel stalked.

Imagine that you walk into a shop, look around, and walk out. Do you want someone to race out after you, yelling “Did you forget to buy something? Come back and don’t leave till you make a purchase!” ? I didn’t think so. I know how to find you. Leave me alone.

Whether you’re a business or a nonprofit, listen to Rebecca.

What you should do on social media includes following what your supporters are saying online, getting into actual conversations with them, sending them articles of interest, and giving them something they find valuable to entice them to view your website.

What your website should do is to build the trust you’ve started to create, provide more information, give them reasons to sign up for your email list, and give people the opportunity to support you (by making a purchase or donation).

What you shouldn't do--in person or online--is make unwanted advances. No means no. Click To Tweet

If you didn’t get to yes, by all means study your website statistics to see where people lost interest and exited. Hold focus groups. Do what you can to make yourself more attractive.

But don’t obsess over the ones who turned you down. And don’t stalk them.

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Quitters Sometimes Win

December 30, 2014 by Dennis Fischman 4 Comments

I quit.

At this time in 2012, I had had it with my job. I’d been the Director of Planning at an anti-poverty agency in Somerville, Massachusetts for nine years.

In that time, the job had changed. It had started out as writing–in grant proposals, newsletters, and direct mail appeals–about the difference the agency made. It ended up being collecting and reporting data to help state and federal agency try to keep our whole program from losing its funds.

That was not the job for me, and it never would be. So, I stayed long enough to put out some fires, to document what I did, and to work through Christmas week so the people who actually celebrated the holiday could get some time off. Then, I quit.

The Dip, by Seth GodinYou would think I’d love Seth Godin’s book The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick).  I thought so too. But I was wrong.

Out of a 75-page book, here’s what Godin said that I found worthwhile:

  • “Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.”
  • “Quitting [when you’re at a dead end] is better than coping because it frees you up to excel at something else.”

That’s what I did when I left my job. I could never be great at data collection and reporting. I can be great at communications (and teaching you how to communicate better). So, I quit…and I’m becoming great at what I do.

But the title of the book is a lie. It doesn’t teach you when to quit and when to stick. It just says that if you can’t be “the best in the world” at what you do, then do something else.

What’s wrong with that?

  1. There’s no reliable way to know if you are in “the dip” before your sales (or other numbers that measure success) start to rise, or if you’re in a cul-de-sac. You can make your best guess. But you will never know if you would have succeeded by hanging on longer, or if you would have succeeded by quitting earlier. You have nothing to compare it to. You only live once.
  2. Godin says the only way to succeed is to be “the best in the world” at what you do. He qualifies that by saying it’s subjective–but even so, he’s wrong. Plenty of small businesses do well by being great at what they do and accepting their market share. Enough is as good as a feast.
  3. Success and sales are not the same thing. Even if you’re in business, don’t you hold something more dear than your numbers? (If not, I don’t want to be married to you!)

In the nonprofit world, it’s even more clear. You don’t quit on your clients. Being great at finding people housing but ignoring the fact that they don’t have the income to pay for it is not strategic: it is ineffective and immoral, both. You have to help them find the income (even if it’s not your organizational strength) or get a partner who will do so, You can’t just walk away.

I tried to find a way to like this book more than I do, because I have enjoyed so many of Seth Godin’s blog entries.  Ultimately, though, I quit.

 

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