Manufacturers around the world have adopted the idea of continuous improvement for more than 20 years now. That same philosophy applies to writing. If your blogging today is no more polished and professional than it was a year ago, then you’re neglecting your craft. 

There are many ways to improve your writing, but for this blog I will limit myself to three recommendations. Resolve to do these three things, and I guarantee that you will be writing far better in a few weeks than you are right now.

First, start putting together a swipe file. What’s a swipe file? It’s a few file folders into which you stash anything that grabs your attention. I have a separate folder for headlines, first paragraphs, testimonials, offers, envelopes, postcards and donation appeals. You can set yours up however you like. But from now on, whenever you come across a strong headline that gets your attention, rip it out of the magazine and stick it in your file. When you need an idea, start going through your ever-growing swipe files and the ideas will begin to flow.

How’s this for a grabber: Liver Problems – the New Epidemic! Is your liver a ticking time bomb? Just try to skip over that ad! I always get a good laugh over that one.

Second, make it a point to read as much as you can, and pay attention to words. I read fiction, non-fiction, signage in stores, menus, technical articles – practically anything I can get my hands on. The good writing will begin to stand out, and you’ll be able to emulate it, or at least appreciate it. If you’re not reading a lot every day, your writing will deteriorate into blandness,

Finally, commit to life-long learning. Invest in a good dictionary, a thesaurus and the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook. (You’ll rarely run into trouble if you follow AP style.) Strive for simple clarity and understanding.  Never try to impress by using big words when a little one will work just as well. Learn punctuation and sentence structure. I know there’s a lot of informality with blogging, but informal shouldn’t mean sloppy.

Got a tip to share? What are you doing to improve your blogging ability? Leave me a comment below and I’ll respond. And have a great day!

I have always believed that communication is at the heart of any relationship. Marriages fail when partners stop talking to each other. And companies lose more customers by neglect than they dare admit.  A solid communication strategy helps companies forge the strong customer relationships that drive brand value.

Unfortunately, too many organizations do a poor job of communicating with their stakeholders. Nowhere was this more evident than with the recent crisis created by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

First, Komen for the Cure announced that it was cutting funding for Planned Parenthood. When you think of the sheer size and influence of both organizations, wouldn’t you think someone would have anticipated the reaction that took place? Can we really believe that Komen never planned out a response to the negative publicity they were sure to receive? How could they not have anticipated such a strong reaction? Given their backtracking once the you-know-what hit the fan, you have to question the wisdom of Komen’s decision in the first place. What were they thinking?

So the strategy may have been bad, but the communication was a disaster. Komen said the cutoff took place because Planned Parenthood had come under congressional scrutiny, and Komen – under newly adopted rules – could not fund an organization that was under investigation.

Of course, the explanation was laughable and a ruse that anyone could see through. Komen was chasing the dollars that had gone south because donors had been persuaded by religious leaders to cut their support of an organization that funded one of the country’s main abortion providers, Planned Parenthood.

Now, of course, Komen is reeling under the backlash and working to do damage control. Of course, they have no one to blame but themselves for creating such a public-relations nightmare.

There are at least two lessons here. First, when planning your strategy, think beyond the first and second move. If you can’t be solid in your response to pressure, maybe the decision is a poor one. It’s hard to reverse such a decision and keep your integrity intact.

Second, never treat your clients, customers, fans or supporters as if they are stupid. Their anger will come back to bite you, and it will take a long time to restore your credibility. Komen came out of this scandal appearing manipulative and deceitful. They deserve so much better than that. The damage control could have been avoided with better planning and a more sensible communication plan.

It is inexcusable that an organization that has done so much to help so many women should come under such a fierce backlash because of its own ineptitude. Heads should roll.

Anybody working in corporate communications can learn a lesson from a recent news story.

A story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Wednesday, Oct. 12, reported on the installation of an 18-foot wide helix wind turbine at Progressive Field. The turbine was developed by a Cleveland State University (CSU) engineering professor whose work was fueled by a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The story says that this turbine will generate 40,000 kilowatt hours a year, about what it takes to power four homes for a year.

I figure an average Cleveland home’s electric bill to be about $100 a month, maybe less. So let’s be generous and figure the value of the power generated to be about $5000 total.

Am I the only reader wondering how anyone can cost justify such a ridiculous investment? Don’t reporters ask questions anymore?

I’d like to know how likely it is that wind power will ever be financially feasible. We talk about clean energy like it’s gospel. I’m not convinced it’s a great deal, but talking about it and spending other people’s money on it feels good, and that’s all that matters to too many politicians and academics.

This story has a huge hole in it, one that should have been filled in with more information about the finances behind the project. The story says that grants will cover the construction cost and installation. Really? How much does that cost? Where are the grants coming from? What other projects didn’t get funded so we could finance this one?

Without this information, the story sounds like a press release put out by CSU.

Unfortunately, many companies make the mistake of providing incomplete information in their own employee communications. The organization assumes that employees and other stakeholders understand its mission, products, markets and operations. They don’t. If you want to fully engage your employees, you must constantly reinforce the messages you want them to understand.

Failure to do so will generate the kind of skepticism and cynicism I felt when I read about the turbine atop Progressive Field. And that’s not the mindset you want your employees to have when they come to work.

I like direct mail because I can measure the results, right down to the dollar. No other advertising medium can be tracked the same way. Try to calculate the return on investment (ROI) for print, radio or television advertising or social media and you will always be guessing. Direct mail lets you manage your costs and precisely calculate your ROI.

Developing a direct mail campaign is a six-step process, none of which can be executed without careful planning. Pay attention to every element or your campaign will fail. Here is a brief explanation of how to proceed.

1. Establish your objective. Note the use of the singular. Too many organizations make the mistake of trying to accomplish multiple objectives with a single mailing. That’s risky, even foolish, because of the nature of direct mail. You have very little time to get your prospect’s attention. Unless your message is focused on a single objective, your piece will end up in the trash.

Some common objectives include acquiring new customers, stimulating trial purchase, and building or rewarding customer loyalty. Pick one and focus your message on achieving that single objective.

2. Determine a budget. You will find far more prospects than you can possibly afford to contact. So you’ll have to determine what you’re prepared to spend. You don’t have to carve it in stone. As you move through the other steps, you may have to adjust your budget, and it’s okay to do so. But having a number in your head and on paper is better than flying blind.

3. Target your customers with a good mailing list. I use Info-USA for my lists, but you can get one from any reputable direct mail house. Work with your list broker and make sure he knows who you’re trying to reach. If you’re selling home furnishings to women, he should be able to segment the list and identify women who have made similar purchases. Figure out the geography you want to cover. You can control your postage costs by limiting the geography of your target market, so explore this with your broker.

If you are mailing to your own list, try to determine whether it’s best to target your customers on the basis of recency of purchase, frequency of purchase, or total amount spent. Each segment needs its own messaging.

4. Write and design the piece. Books have been written about mailpiece design. The choices cover a broad range from a simple postcard to a long-form sales letter to a tube or lumpy mailing. You’ll need outside help managing this part of the process. Direct response copywriting is a special art form, and I cannot overstate the importance of good design. If you insist on writing your own piece – very likely a big mistake – at least have it professionally edited.

Start setting aside pieces you receive that catch your attention. I keep a swipe file that has several folders. One is for headlines, another for envelopes, and another for postcards. I also save pieces that have a great first paragraph, strong guarantees, good use of testimonials, and other tactics. When I need an idea, I go to the swipe file to see what others have done. I can’t tell you how helpful a good swipe file is. I’d be lost without it.

5. Print and mail the final piece. A lettershop addresses, labels, sorts and stuffs your envelopes before you mail them. Many times the shop can also handle the printing, but if you have a very large quantity to mail, you should get quotes from commercial offset printers. Always get written price quotes, and ask if the printer you choose has worked with your lettershop in the past. The lettershop you use will tell you how much the postage will cost, and you need to pay the postage in advance.

6. Now that the piece is in the mail, there is one more step – analyze your results. Common metrics include your response rate, cost per response, break-even response, cost per piece mailed and ROI. Once you’ve made these calculations, the piece you mailed becomes what’s called your “control.” Your job with the next mailing is to beat the control. Tweak the headline, change the offer, add more testimonials, add a lift note, etc. The possibilities are endless. Over time, you’ll be building sales and developing expertise that few people take time to acquire.

If you’re looking for resources to learn more, I have a few books you should buy. One is Million Dollar Mailings, by Denison Hatch. Another is No B.S. Direct Marketing, by Dan Kennedy and The Ultimate Sales Letter, also by Dan Kennedy. You can also get information from the United States Postal Service.

If you need help with direct mail, give me a call. I’ll be glad to help.

Someone asked me recently what I like the most about Twitter. Actually, the question came from a non-user and was more like an indictment: Why do you waste your time with Twitter? What’s in it for you?

The answer was easy. I like having a gang of people who share my interest in marketing and other subjects bringing interesting articles to my attention. It’s like having an army of researchers at my disposal, all working for free.

The Internet is making us smarter. What can’t you find nowadays on Google or YouTube? Better yet, go to your local library where you can tap into their paid subscription databases and marvel at the information that’s right at your fingertips. You can tap into many of these databases from your home if you have a library card.

The Internet gives me the basic information about a subject so I can formulate better questions for the people I interview. For example, I recently wrote an article about tire pressure monitoring systems on cars. Before I talked to a single mechanic, I was able to learn how the system works and watch a technician remove a failed sensor from the wheel of a car, all without leaving my office.

Remember what doing research was like before the digital age? Who remembers the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, a collection of army-green, fat, squatty books that held the citations to articles published in hundreds of periodicals? Once you retrieved the citations, you’d have to find the hard-copy issue of the magazine you need – usually enlisting the aid of a librarian. You could easily spend an entire morning at the library running down three or four articles.

With my luck, the library that actually housed the periodical I needed was across town. Or, worse yet, do you remember finally getting the magazine only to find that someone had ripped the very article you wanted from its pages? I found this offensive even when I myself was a proud juvenile delinquent. No wonder we hated term papers.

Today, with RSS feeds, Mashable and an army of Twitter friends, I can scan a dozen articles and blogs with my first cup of coffee of the day. I have Twitter lists for marketing, writing, social media, advertising, politics, music and news. Each has its own tribe, most of whom will tweet a link to an article that caught their attention. That’s what’s in it for me – a steady steam of links to articles and videos that I find entertaining, informative and useful.

What’s not to like?

I was saddened to learn that the firetruck purchased by people in greater Akron, Ohio, and donated to Ladder Company 163 in Queens will be taken out of service next year. Somehow, I’d hoped the legacy of caring that Akron had demonstrated would be in evidence longer.

In the days after the terrorist attacks of 9-11, people felt both helpless and yet strangely driven to do something for the people in New York. I was a senior manager at the Akron Beacon Journal at that time. In fact, several of us were in a meeting when the plane hit the first tower on that awful Tuesday morning.

I spent that day shuttling between the newsroom and production department and was witness to an incredible effort by reporters, editors, photographers, columnists, pressmen, designers, truck drivers and others to put out an extra afternoon edition on September 11. It irritated me that some called this a souvenir edition. It was much more than that, with local reporting, sidebars, information graphics and columns that tried to make sense of what was still incomprehensible.

Just getting the edition on the street that day required the coordination of scores of staffers, many of whom came directly to work when they learned of the attacks.

In the days that followed, we were all glued to our TVs, watching what was still a rescue operation. There were occasional rumors that someone had been found alive, but those hopes were just as quickly dashed. Soon the mission changed from rescue to recovery.

That’s when I got the idea to buy a firetruck for New York. I’d been watching CNN before going to work, and I saw a huge fire engine completely covered in white dust being towed out of ground zero. The newscasters talked about the firefighters who perished on 9-11 and the loss of nearly 100 pieces of equipment. I thought, “We ought to buy them a new firetruck.”

That morning, in a meeting in the publisher’s office, we discussed how we could help the people of New York. Some suggested raising money for a college fund for the children of those who died in the attacks. Others discussed a blood drive for the local Red Cross. Neither idea got traction. I was reluctant to bring up my idea. I thought it was crazy, more of a pipe-dream than an actionable suggestion, but I offered it anyway. It immediately resonated with everyone in the room.

Then Editor Jan Leach got behind it, as did Jim Crutchfield, the publisher. We questioned whether we could actually raise $350,000 in a short time, but everyone agreed it was worth a shot. First Merit Bank came on board to handle the money, and the Akron Community Foundation, Acme (a local grocery store chain), and the Akron Fire Department soon joined the cause.

But it was the Beacon Journal newsroom and editorial staff that made the Firetruck Fund a success. Columnist David Giffels wrote a daily front-page column that kept the drive in front of readers for the duration of September. Reporters peppered the paper with stories of children emptying their piggy banks to give money, and of a woman who went door to door in her senior citizens high-rise apartment building collecting dollar bills and pocket change. She proudly donated the near $100 she collected.

When the drive closed less than a month later, we’d raised $1.4 million – enough to buy a 95 ft. ladder truck, two ambulances and three police cars for New York City. The ambulances and police cars disappeared from service years ago, according to a story in today’s Beacon Journal. The firetruck will be retired sometime next year, as required by contract with the firefighters’ union.

I wonder what will become of it? It doesn’t matter, I guess. For tens years it stood as a reminder to New Yorkers that regular people somewhere in mid-America cared. And that’s good enough for me.

One last note. After being built in Wisconsin, the firetruck had to pass through Akron on its way to New York. We took it around to several locations in town to show it off, but we made it a point to take it to that senior apartment complex so the old folks could see what their $100 helped buy. It was a fitting payback for the sacrifice they’d made.

John Murphy, right, with Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic in front of the 95-ft. ladder truck on its way to New York.

This morning’s Cleveland Plain Dealer has a front-page story about MetroHealth Hospital System using a crisis communications firm, Hennes Paynter,  to help it develop a messaging strategy. The county-owned system has come under scrutiny during a widespread investigation of corruption in Cuyahoga County.

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and County Councilman Dave Greenspan question whether hiring Hennes Paynter is a wise use of taxpayer money.

“If all you’re doing is responding to [public-records requests] and supporting decisions that you’ve made, why do you need to hire a firm to help you craft your message and explain your actions?” said Greenspan in the article.

FitzGerald comments that the health system should embrace the added scrutiny it is receiving and see it as a chance to prove how transparent it can be. Are you serious?

The story further describes the expenditures MetroHealth has made with Dix & Eaton, a well-respected public relations firm, adding that MetroHealth has recently put together its own marketing communications department with an annual payroll of $1.3 million.

The article’s implication is that MetroHealth’s use of a crisis communication firm signals wrong doing or, worse, a cover-up. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m surprised the Plain Dealer thought this story was worthy of front-page treatment. It’s equivalent to saying the defendant must be guilty because he showed up in court with an attorney. Huh?

Marketing communications, public relations and crisis communications are all related, yet each has its own set of skills. Any corporate crisis tends to escalate in intensity and disrupt the organization’s ability to function. Firms like Hennes Paynter are experts at quickly getting to the heart of the crisis and then developing messaging with truthfulness and clarity.

MetroHealth is a valuable community asset. The medical center is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and handles nearly 800,000 patient visits a year. Its substantial brand equity should be vigorously protected. After all, restoring a tarnished image is much more costly than defending it. If you don’t believe me, ask Toyota.

MetroHealth has acted responsibly in addressing its communication needs, using professionals to help them get their message out. FitzGerald and Greenspan ought to better understand the importance of effective communication. For them to question MetroHealth’s motive in attempting to get its messaging right is entirely wrong-headed.

It seems that every day a new story hits the wire about companies shifting marketing dollars into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media while cutting back on traditional marketing methods.

I recommend companies get into social media as quickly as possible if they haven’t already, but I caution them about completely throwing out all the marketing strategies that got them to where they are today. Direct mail, for example, is still a viable, cost-effective option for many companies who have learned how to harness its power.

If you’ve never done direct mail, you may be surprised at all it has to offer. Here are some of the benefits of direct mail.

It’s targeted to exactly the individuals you want to reach. Mass advertising can be extremely expensive for smaller companies, even B2B firms that want to use trade publications. Direct mail allows you to focus your message on a smaller group of individuals who are most likely to respond to your offer.

Direct mail is flexible. You can use practically any format you like, from postcards and brochures, to sales letters and lumpy mail. Mailpiece design experts at the post office will advise you about the deliverability and costs associated with unusual sizes and shapes.

It’s personal. Most of us can think of an experience early in our lives where a letter came addressed just to us. For many, it was a birthday card from Grandma. For me, it was the package I’d get from various Major League Baseball teams. As a kid, I would write a letter to  my favorite teams, asking for anything they would be willing to send me. Within a couple of weeks, a thick package would arrive with my name on it, and it would contain team and individual players’ photos, a scorecard, a season schedule, bumper stickers and other great stuff including a ticket order form. I used to get these packages from the Indians, Yankees, White Sox and Tigers – all my favorite teams.  Personal addressability is a powerful tool and may explain why 55 percent of customers report that they look forward to getting the mail every day.

Direct mail is tangible. Your customers get to handle your message and inspect it, which allows you to foster interaction. Giving your customers multiple ways to respond will increase your success rate.

Direct mail can be measured. Your first mail piece becomes what’s known as your control. With direct mail, you can track and analyze your results, and then make adjustments as needed. On subsequent mailings, you might tweak your offer, do a split test, change the envelope design or a host of other things in order to improve performance and beat the response of your control. Over time, you’ll learn what types of formats and offers trigger the best response, and being able to calculate your return on investment (ROI) is huge.

Marketing is not a science, and there are few absolutes to deal with. (That’s why we’re called practitioners.) So don’t discount direct mail, or radio, or television, or newspapers, or video…or…or…or…etc. The key to success is knowing how to use these tools effectively, and that takes a certain amount of hard work and diligence. Be encouraged knowing that many of your competitors will be too lazy to learn how to do direct mail well. Let them abandon it to you. You’ll secretly thank them when your results start coming in.

A business plan is one of a company’s most important documents. It lays out the company’s objectives and describes the strategy for meeting those objectives. More importantly, it shows how the business will obtain financing and how much money the company expects to make.

Don’t think for a minute that as a startup, or as an army of one, you can skip the business planning process. That’s a terrible idea. Why? Because so many major decisions and strategies are determined by the business plan.

Plenty of books are available to help you write a plan. Usually, libraries have sample business plans you can look at, often arranged by the type of business.  If you’re just getting started, here is a good outline to help you formulate a solid business plan. The scope of the plan you end up with will be determined by the size of the company, your access to capital and production resources, and a host of other variables. The following items are the components of a good business plan.

1. An executive summary answers the who, what, when, where, how and why of the plan. Plan on writing this last even though it appears in the front of the plan. You’ll need to have all the details worked out before you can put this part together.

2. A competitive analysis will look at the environment in which you’re going to compete. You need a good understanding of the business environment in which you’ll be implementing your marketing plan.

3. The mission statement summarizes the company’s purpose, vision and goals – the foundation upon which all further planning is based.

4. Component plans for each functional area of the business. Obviously, these need to be tied into the objectives of the larger business plan. For example, you should have:

A marketing plan. How do you intend to take your product or service to market? What strategies will develop long-term relationships that build brand equity? I will write a separate blog on what needs to go into a marketing plan. For now, however, I just want you to see that the marketing plan is informed by the business plan. You cannot create a marketing plan in a vacuum.

A financing plan. Describes how the company will be capitalized, sources of funds, and how debt and cash flows will be managed. How much working capital is needed?

A production plan describes how products will be developed in the most cost-effective manner possible. Do you require an assembly line? What material handling equipment is needed?

A facilities plan will describe the property, plant and equipment needed. Does the business require a warehouse, manufacturing or light assembly plant? How about sales offices or a distribution center?

A human resources plan will estimate employment needs and the skills required now and in the future. How big is the available labor pool? What job training is available in the community? How computer literate is the workforce?

I recommend making every one of these component plans part of your business plan, no matter how small your startup company may be. Getting an organizational structure in place is important for future growth. Just because your facility consists of your basement today doesn’t mean you’ll be locked in there forever. The business plan outline here is a format used by many successful companies, and it can easily be adapted as your company grows.

If you need help with a business plan or marketing plan, we can help. Call us at 330-342-1255 or complete the form on the contact page and I will call you back.

I went to lunch the other day at a local restaurant, a popular place that’s been around for years. I found two misspellings on the menu. I was surprised and, yet, not surprised. How many times have you spotted a mistake on a document, menu or brochure? It’s become so common that we hardly make note of it.

The problem is that too many people rely on their own proofreading, only to find out, often embarrassingly, that they’re not up to the job. Take my word for it, you need an extra pair of eyes or two looking over anything you write.

A few years ago, we produced a newsletter for a client. I wrote all the stories, double-checking them for errors. At least four other people proofed the newsletter before I took it to the printer. The owner of the printing company and I sat down, and within a minute, he pointed to a word in the newsletter and told me it was misspelled. To my amazement, he spotted the mistake looking at the page upside down. I was amazed that a fresh pair of eyes could see upside down what four of us missed.

Which brings me to the title of this post. Kill the Irishman is a movie about Danny Greene, a notorious mobster in Cleveland in the 1970s. The movie is based on a book by Rick Porrello, who is currently chief of police in Lyndhurst, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. The movie is a good story with lots of bombs going off and a great cast that includes Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Vincent D’Onofrio and Val Kilmer. With a cast like that, wouldn’t you think they’d have gotten the name of Danny Greene’s weed-infested neighborhood right? It’s Collinwood, but all through the movie it was pronounced Collingwood. Worse yet, a title graphic identified a church in one scene as St. Malachy, when it should have been St. Malachi. A minor error, for sure, and one that only native Clevelanders are likely to catch. But it left me with an impression of sloppiness.

What’s the worst blooper you’ve seen in print? Keep it clean! No names of individuals or companies, please. Post them below or email them to me at ideas@themurphyagency.com. I’ll compile what people send me and share it in a future post. Have a grate weekend.

(Just wanted to see who’s paying attention!)