Print 4A Purpose

How to Make Your Print Marketing More Affordable

One of my favorite bloggers and top notch nonprofit marketing consultants wrote a blog post yesterday titled the same as above. I really admire and respect Kivi Leroux Miller for her expertise in the nonprofit industry. She should certainly be on your short list if you want consultation from a nonprofit expert.

But Kivi is not a printing expert. While in her "How to Make Your Print Marketing More Affordable" she made some valid points, she also missed the mark a few times. I run a commercial print and marketing company that serves a great number of nonprofit organizations in my community. Combined with fairly good advice I felt like she was throwing printers under the bus. She advises, "Tell him you are considering dropping the newsletter entirely because of the expense." Well, just in case no one noticed, the printing industry has literally been a "nonprofit" over the last couple of years. Printer bankruptcy and closings are happening every day. And any organization, nonprofit or otherwise, trying to negotiate pricing in this way is very unprofessional. The fact is, at least with my company, we already discount pricing to nonprofits from the beginning. This is no margin for further reductions.

Additional points:

Default should be an e-newsletter instead of print newsletters as the primary communication tool. This doesn't bother me too much but that's only because we also provide email marketing as a service. But statistics show that the majority of donors to nonprofits are older. Statistics also show that older givers prefer print. They prefer something to hold on to versus the email. For the donor population in general, print cannot be abandoned. The trend is changing, but for now, print is still king.

One of the best untapped resources is your printer. She's right about this. Hopefully your printer has already suggested ways you can improve the effect of your marketing materials, the quality and the cost basis.

Paper is typically 30-50% of printing costs. Wrong. Not typically. This can be true when very high quality paper is being used. You will see this when attorneys choose a 25% cotton linen for letterhead and envelopes. But I have never seen a frugal nonprofit use anything but basic 20# bond or 60# offset for common print projects. When these papers are being used, paper costs are an insignificant factor. And changing the brightness of whites to save money (10-15%) is ludicrous. For example, I can show any Executive Director a 20# bond 98 Bright that's cheaper than a 20# bond 92 Bright. So while the Brightness can be a guide on price, is certainly isn't the rule. Kivi also suggested a thinner paper to save money. Understand that if a paper is too "thin" you can only print on one side and will have to use twice as much. Look at the real costs. Paper is priced per thousand and please don't print on inferior paper to save less than ½ a penny per page. I can "upgrade" an organization to a nice 24# over a 20# for less than ½ a penny (that's .005).

Don't be picky about colors. Kivi was right on target here. Many organizations will spend a lot of money on a fancy, multi-color logo design. Most anything more than two colors is a waste of money. You'll have to spend a small fortune on printing because every time you use your logo you have to print in full color. You rule out the opportunity to use black only or one or two-color presses.

Prepare your files correctly. Again, great time-saving and money-saving advice here. In fact, seems she is the only that realizes that "it's not as simple as handing over the file from the computer program you used to create the document".

I hope this clarifies and maybe educates on these issues. Kivi, no hard feelings I hope. Better yet, it would be great if this generates more conversations and deepens relationships between quality nonprofits and quality printers. And, please, nonprofit readers; everything that Kivi Leroux Miller writes is worthy of your reading. In fact, she has a new book coming out in the Spring 2010. In the meantime, you can get priceless information on her www. Nonprofit Marketing Guide Blog and webinars. By listening to her, the money you save and additional funds you raise can be spent on quality printing!

Advantage Printing is a commercial print & marketing services provider serving small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits and churches.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

Your audience deserves excellence

Today is the National Day of Prayer and I attended a community prayer breakfast. Several hundred attended with several community and church leaders speaking briefly and showing PowerPoint slideshows. I've been to tons of these type functions and this had to be the worst presentation I have ever endured. To be such a great cause and something that should be glorifying to God, it fell far short of the excellence that He calls us too. All due to the 4 P's: piss poor pitiful planning.

It was a breakfast and was supposed to run from 7:00 to 8:00 to accommodate folks getting to work on time. It started a little late and went downhill from there. The major problem was the technical difficulties with the PowerPoint presentations. Not starting properly or the wrong presentation running. Music from one presentation playing so loud you could hardly hear the speaker. There were many awkward dead spots due to equipment malfunction and not prayer time. The "tech" guy was constantly moving his mouse around the computer screen for all to witness his struggle. It was painful to watch.

The lesson: If you are going to require the valuable time of an audience, you had better spend the proper amount of preparation to do a proper presentation.

So here are my 4 P's:

Plan – The organizers of this event are all well-meaning, hard-working people with full-time jobs. But everybody knows well in advance when the National Day of Prayer is. This presentation didn't sneak up on anybody. Plan your timeline working backwards from your presentation. "Plan your work and work your plan." Give yourself plenty of time to do it right or don't do it at all.

Prepare – I once heard a rule of thumb about putting in 1 hour of prep for every minute of a speech (30 minute speech = 30 hours plan/prep/practice). Depends on the speech and depends on the person. But the pastor who told me this was a phenomenal orator. If you want to present, you must prepare. The amount of preparation will be directly proportional to the quality of the presentation.

Practice – This may be the hardest part. After putting in all the effort to develop and design your presentation, you feel like you know it inside and out. And the last thing you want to do is practice your delivery. On top of that, it does feel a little silly. But it matters. The greatest comedians in the world are great because of their impeccable timing and delivery. Practice, practice, practice.

Please – Please your audience. Just a pet peeve of mine. If the speaker hasn't Planned, Prepared, and Practiced…the audience most likely will not be Pleased. An audience is giving a very valuable asset called "TIME" in exchange for the information in the presentation. It is the speaker's job to make sure they are Pleased and satisfied when they leave.

Advantage Printing (davidamoore) is a commercial print & marketing company serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses and is not participating in the current economic recession.

Twitter for Churches

Twitter is one of those things I find very hard to explain. Either you "get it" or you don't. And when I hear the ones who don't "get it", try to explain what Twitter is, I am so afraid that those listening will never investigate further and give Twitter a chance. Twitter benefits some far more than others, but I think it offers something for everyone.

That brings me to churches. I deal a lot with churches on the business side with print and marketing projects, but also on the ministry side with men's events, speaking and a community men's group study. As my pastor said recently, lots of churches are just getting around to putting sermons on a cassette tape when they should be using mp3 and podcasts. The point is, many churches are slow to adopt new technologies. Reasons may be financial or just fear of an imagined technology hurdle.

But I received a RT (retweet from one of my twitter friends @jleray) about a church taking the steps to get involved. Are they doing it perfectly? Probably not and they probably didn't expect to. But they are taking great strides to "get it" right and learn as they go. Look at their Staff on Twitter. I counted 18!

Check out the Mt. Bethel UMC website also. Looks like a lot exciting things happening at church in Marietta, GA. Mickey Mellon (@mickmel) is on staff at the church and wrote this great post:

Twitter for Churches and Non-Profit Organizations

Follow me! @davidamoore

Advantage Printing specializes in serving the print and marketing needs of churches, nonprofits and small businesses. Check for details on FREE Business Cards for LIFE for churches and nonprofits.

Email Newsletter Overhaul

Seems like about the time you start convincing the slow to react nonprofits to actually start using email marketing, their methods may already be out of date. Marketing methods and technology are changing so fast. So you should evaluate you newsletter at least twice per year. Take a look at your analytics (deliverability, open rates, click-throughs, etc) and look for trends.

Those individuals charged with the responsibility for producing the newsletter has the pressure of getting fresh, interesting material every month. This takes a great deal of time and effort. Many nonprofits feel they are doing a great service to their subscribers when they dump the "mother-load" of information on their email "victims" each month. As our inboxes get stuffed with more and more wanted and unwanted items, we resort to quick and dirty filtering methods just to avoid getting buried. If you don't read or take action on an interesting email within 24 hours, it usually gets swept away in the sea of incoming messages never to be looked at again.

Of course, this is what happens to all the "other" emails while your subscriber is reading your email newsletter, right? Wrong. If you haven't improved your email newsletter "best practices" in the last 6-12 months, your open rates probably reflect a downward trend.

Kivi Leroux Miller recently wrote a post that grabbed my attention titled Three Trends That Beg for Shorter Email Newsletters. I highly recommend reading the entire post as well as many others on her site. But just a few quick highlights:

1. Inbox zero. This has really hit me lately. My inbox is in a constant state of motion as emails, notifications, followers, direct messages keep coming and coming. The newsletters that I have chosen to "opt-in" for are buried amongst everything else. So today, I just started deleting. If I wasn't or couldn't read it immediately, it got flushed. Your readers are the same way. They are looking for reason to delete your email, not read your email. So subject lines have to be spot on target and super relevant. And timing is everything so avoid the obvious crunch times.
2. Social media killing email? It's no secret that people are spending more time in social networks. I bet your own habits have probably changed. Shear time constraints prohibit us spending too much time sorting through the inbox. So how do you compete? Make your emails more engaging and interactive with more calls to action, interesting links, videos and surveys. I know this is easier said than done, it does take effort and creativity. But it's necessary for survival in the inbox.
3. "E-Newsletters are a waste of time." This quote comes from Thomas Gensemer of Obama's team proclaiming nonprofit newsletters are a waste of time. Apparently, what he actually meant was that nonprofits should send shorter emails. Don't stop sending e-newsletters; just make them shorter with higher impact. And who can argue with that?

So there you go. The competition for space in the inbox is fierce. Social media is the 1^st choice. And e-newsletters need to go on a diet and lose some words. But look at it this way…if it is your responsibility to put the monthly newsletter together; a little bit of info can go a long way.

Check out Nonprofit Marketing Guide and more of Kivi's resources. Tons of free stuff as well as subscription webinars and such. You can be your own nonprofit guru in no time.

Advantage Printing (@davidamoore) provides print & marketing services for churches, nonprofits, and small businesses. Email marketing workshops are available free of charge for churches and nonprofits.

What does a donor want in a Nonprofit website?

Due to limited time, money and technical talent many nonprofits (and churches for that matter) are doing good just to have an online presence in the first place. But are some of those websites doing more harm that good? Donors want to see nonprofit websites to help them decide whether to donate.

Let's look at just one aspect of website design: the usability for prospective donors. A recent research study found many nonprofit websites fall short in providing the information needed for site visitors to make donation decisions.

-Nonprofits would increase online donations if they would clearly state what they are about and how they use donations.

-The study indicated considerable frustration as potential donors had a hard time figuring out the organizations' goals and objectives.

In 2008, about 10% of donations were given online. Target Analytics predicts that by 2020 the majority of donations will be given online if nonprofits have properly designed websites. Well designed sites will be adept at attracting new donors and efficiently support small-scale giving.

-For encouraging donor loyalty, email newsletters remain the internet tool of choice.

Donors want to know:

1. What are you trying to achieve?
2. How will you spend my money?

-Only 43% of websites in the study addressed the organization's mission and objectives on the homepage.

-Sadly, only 4% answered how the donations would be spent on the homepage.

These two questions are the primary decision makers for a donor. The majority of nonprofit websites are hiding this information somewhere on their site. Donors have to search. People want to know what the nonprofit stands for, because they want to contribute to causes that share their ideals and values.

Donation killers:

-47% say usability problems with page and site design.

-17% couldn't find where to make a donation.

-53% were content issues such as unclear or missing information and confusing terms.

-Worst user experience was caused by poor integration of local chapters with national organizations.

-Donors want information about nonprofits activities in their local communities.

David Moore is the managing partner at Advantage Printing. Advantage specializes in print, email, & web marketing services for nonprofits and churches. This entire 124 page report with 58 design guidelines and 111 screenshots of sites that worked well or poorly in user testing is available in PDF format. Please email david@advantageprint24.com for details.

Follow me on twitter @davidamoore

Churches and Nonprofits working together for the benefit of all

Read a brief post on Church Marketing Sucks about a couple of churches and a local nonprofit working together to make the dollars under their management go further. These economic times certainly call for creative solutions and partnerships that you might not expect.

In this case, the local nonprofit Intermedia Arts had plenty of space in their building but were facing a shortfall on the budget side. At the same time, two churches were looking for some temporary space. A partnership made in heaven.

Now Salem English Lutheran Church and Lyndale United Church of Christ are renting some space from Intermedia.

Everybody wins. This temporarily helps Intermedia during the budget squeeze and the two churches are welcomed tenants. And all the parties are being good stewards of the funds entrusted to them.

Advantage Printing The Church Printing HQ (@davidamoore) specializes in printing for churches and nonprofits.

Purpose Driven Communication

In his book, The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren recounts the early days of Saddleback Church in southern California. He describes his first service on Palm Sunday, where about 60 people attended services at a local school. During the service he asks listeners to "open your Bibles" and realizes that nobody has a Bible. During the songs, nobody is singing. And when he instructs, "Let's pray", confused visitors just look around.

Know your Audience

Rick Warren says it's funny now, but during that first service he realized a few things. You must know your target audience. The target audience for Saddleback was the "unchurched". Rick had done his research and purposed that he would not pull members from other churches. That church goers in that area were being served by very competent leadership. Some of the best know church leaders in the nation. So, Saddleback would market to the "unchurched" only. Preparing for that first Easter, Warren and a few volunteers sent out 15,000 letters. What Rick forgot to do was speak the language of the "unchurched".

Don't speak in code

Saddleback's target audience shouldn't have been expected to have a Bible. Would never had heard any of the music. And most likely, had never participated in corporate prayer. You see this a lot in men's ministry. Men who are mature Christians start speaking the "code" language or "Christianese" as Richard Reising (Church Marketing 101) calls it. These same men who at one time thought Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were the only books they knew in the "old" testament are now using words like: "believer", "saved", "called", "quiet time", "brother in Christ". While the men they are trying to "reach" (that's another one of those words) start looking around the room for a stamp on someone's forehead that says "believer".

Remember where you came from

In these settings like a church service, bible study, or small group where this terminology is likely to be used, a couple of things can happen:

1. The visitor can be taught what the words mean. The speaker can and should do this in the very next sentence. My pastor does this very well. Always cognizant that not everybody is at the same level of maturity. This includes everyone and makes them feel welcome. It also makes them feel wanted and more likely to take more steps to learn because you are making it easier for them.
2. If the words are not explained, the visitor will feel stupid. Just that simple. They will feel like the outcast, which is what the probably expected to begin with. Not understanding the terminology just confirms their feeling. The confusion will prevent them from taking any additional risks in their Christianity experiment.

Watch your language

It's easy for us to forget what we didn't know. Some of us were fortunate to have a close friend help us in those days. Remember how that felt. How can you remove the barriers for someone else? Maybe you should watch your language.

Do it Yourself Graphic Design

Let's face it; we all need to cut corners where we can. If that means using "sweat equity" instead of dollars, then that's what we have to do. So putting some extra time in learning and designing your own business cards, brochures, posters, etc. can save your printer time and save you money. Sometimes "good" design is "good enough". Not all projects require the services of a professional graphic designer. Churches, nonprofits and small businesses need to pick and choose your projects to allocate design dollars. Most of the time, I think you'll agree, you spend money on the design or "typesetting" in some cases, just because you are not sure how to do it.

In Seth Godin's blog post today, Why aren't you (really) good at graphic design?, he encourages all of us to DIY. Invest some time, each day or so, and in a couple of months, you'll look like a genius. Just think of the money you can save, or better yet, maybe put to better use. How many more people can you reach with your message over the course of a year? Something to think about.

Also, check out: Squidoo page: Become a really good graphic designer This has several books and ideas for additional education. It won't be easy. It won't happen overnight. But you will get a lifetime of benefits. This is stuff you can use forever.

Contact me at Advantage Printing "The Church Printing HQ" for more printing and design tips.

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM) and the Church

Word of mouth (WOM) marketing is obviously the cheapest form of marketing on the planet. Cheap as measured in monetary terms. WOM is by far the most effective form of marketing when measured by results. So why doesn't every church (or nonprofit or business) wildly succeed. Money isn't a factor. But being cheap doesn't mean WOM marketing doesn't require an investment. It does. It requires a HUGE investment. It's typically more of an investment than most are willing to make. But not an investment in billboards, radio or newspaper advertisements. It requires an investment in people.

It' seems obvious, doesn't it? That WOM marketing is driven by people. For a church, it has to begin with the current congregation. It must possess a strong sense of community and a passion for wanting others to enjoy that same sense of community. We all want to be a part of something bigger that ourselves. If a church member isn't inviting others to come to church or "talking up" their church, it's not because they're ashamed of Christ, they're ashamed of their church.

The catalyst in a growing, thriving church body is the sense of community and divine purpose. It's a being part of a movement that changes lives.

Too many churches invest in new logos and "branding". That's a cheap mistake. Others spend the big bucks on new buildings or maybe a coffee bar. And while those things CAN be a good investment, sometimes they are not in the proper position on the "to-do" marketing list.

Now to me, it wouldn't be a bad thing for business if every church client rotated through logos/branding like changing socks. I have designers and printing presses that can produce that stuff overnight. But we are accustomed to talking about marketing campaigns. I would like to see that changed from marketing campaigns to marketing conversations. And a conversation starts with that one person that not only loves Christ, but loves their church community.

For more on Word of Mouth marketing: WOMM 101 Brains on Fire blog

For custom printing for churches/nonprofits: Advantage Printing

For 1:1 marketing conversations: OBX Advantage

Follow me: @davidamoore

50% of Churches should not be Marketing themselves

Back to Church Marketing 101.  The Starbucks video presents a church in all the wrong ways.  It’s humorous and we can see a lot of ourselves and others in the video.  But the sad truth is: a lot of well meaning churches are spending a lot of time, effort and money promoting themselves when they are not ready.

Richard Reising makes the bold statement, “that over 50 percent of the churches in the United States should not promote themselves.”  It’s a shocking statement and he expects to shock people.  Sometimes that’s what it takes.  His belief is that if the church members aren’t actively inviting new people to come to church, there is a hidden reason.  The internal health of the church might be failing if existing members aren’t excited about bringing friends and neighbors.  And worse, if a church isn’t prepared for new visitors, it may damage their ability to grow in the future.  Imagine a visitor coming, getting a terrible first impression and then spreading the news.  And this isn’t the “Good News”.  As Reising says, “All they are doing is inviting the outside world in to see why no one wants to invite people to their church.”

This is not a book promo, but Reising says his book “deals with the heart of marketing.”  And I plan on addressing that in detail.  But what I like so much about the book is the heart of Reising.  You really get a sense of his calling in the first 30-40 pages.  His professional training is blended with his passion to see the church really get it.  To get it right and get people in the doors for the right reasons and keep them there because they connect with not only other people/members, but they connect with Christ.  Why else market?

So for those reasons, over 50% of churches need to do a lot of things BEFORE they begin marketing themselves.  We’ll look at some of those.

If you haven’t already, do check out Richard Reising's blog.  The Starbucks video is there as well.