Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Should You Worry about SEO?

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You get them by email.  You see them as comments on your blog.  You read them through the Contact Us section of your website.  And they want you to worry.

They’re the SEO fearmongers.

My wife Rona Fischman opened an email that began politely, “I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not  getting enough search engine & social media traffic on your website.”  It went on–mostly in bold blue font that screamed from the page–to list the same useless advice that she and I have both seen from search engine optimizers over and over again.

Why useless?  Because it’s generic.  The fearmongers don’t know you and they don’t know your audience.  Here are three reasons not to worry about SEO:

  • You might not need to be found.  If you’re a nonprofit, these days you may already be serving more clients than you can handle!  If you’re a referral-based business, random searches are the equivalent of cold calls.  They’re low-percentage sources.  Why attract people who may never do business with you when you can spend the time and money attracting people who already want your services?
  • Social media may do better for you than search.  If you do need to be found, wouldn’t you rather be found in good company? People are not just Googling “realtor” (for instance) and calling the first on the list.  Instead, they’re asking their friends to recommend someone.   Facebook or Yelp may be more important to you than Google or Bing.
  • What do they find when they get there?  Improving the content on your website may get you better results for less money than increasing the number of people who ever happen to take a look at it.  Spend your resources on content creation and content marketing.

You shouldn’t worry about SEO–but paying just a little bit of attention to it might be worth your while.  Here’s a piece I wrote about “How To Get Found: SEO and the Small Nonprofit.”  It includes ten tips on getting more eyeballs to your site.  But most of them are not SEO.

Don’t worry, be effective!

Your Volunteers ARE Your Reputation

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My dear wife Rona Fischman is constantly shaking her head at what passes for communication. I told you before about the phone solicitor who lied to her, the email marketer who never told her the truth, and the bank that failed to earn her interest.

Here’s the story of the campaign volunteer who nearly lost her vote–in one phone call.

On the Saturday before Election Day, Rona got a live call to her business phone from an Alderman at Large candidate’s organization. (An Alderman is like a city councilor.) The volunteer asked Rona if this candidate could count on her vote.

Rona said something like this, “I have four votes. Two are spoken for. The other two are up for grabs. Tell me why your candidate should get one of them.”

The guy on the phone was gobsmacked. He could not tell her why she should vote for his candidate. After a short silence, he said “____ will work tirelessly for the good of the people of Somerville,” and hung up.

Rona went on Facebook and asked all her friends, “Should this candidate lose my vote because his calling staff don’t have a clue why he’s right for the city?”

That’s not the kind of question a candidate wants voters to ask.  It’s not the kind of question your nonprofit organization wants its donors to ask, either.

Please, please, please train your volunteers.  At the moment they interact the public, they are your organization.  What they do and say is what you stand for–at least to the person interacting with them.  And when you ask for donations, you will need that person to vote yes.

Does Your Marketing Have a Clue?

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Clue Board Game

 

My wife Rona owns a small real estate agency. The people who try to market to her continually amaze her–and not in a good way.  I told you before about the phone solicitor who lied to her.  Here’s a story about an email marketer who never told her the truth.  In fact, never told her anything.

The subject line of the email that showed up in Rona’s Inbox was Two tips to finding a better way.  Rona told me, “I clicked on it to answer the question ‘a better way to what?’  I got cutesy graphics…but still don’t know what [name changed to protect the clueless] does.”

That made me curious, so I looked at the email she’d been sent.

Sure enough, there were the graphics.  Each was supposed to be a clickable link to a video about the company.  But only one of the links worked.

That link led to an engaging little 90-second Youtube video about running your real estate office with less paperwork.  Very nice–except it didn’t include a phone number, an email, or any way to get in touch with the company.

So, let’s see: the company expected a mysterious subject line to get Rona to open the email.  Then, without telling her why, it expected her to click on a link.  Then, it assumed she would actually watch the video.  After that, it apparently expected her to go to her favorite search engine and type in the company name.

Rona’s a busy person.  Frankly, I was amazed she even opened the email.

Please, don’t be clueless.  Don’t make your marketing a mystery.   If you want people to view, read, or listen to something, tell them what’s in it for them.

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