Category Archives: Book Excerpts

The Question They’re All Asking

[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Do you know the big question on the mind of every reader of your organization’s material? It’s this: “What’s in it for me?”

As far as your readers are concerned, it’s all about the benefits you can offer them. You want to emphasize how your organization’s product or service improves the lives of your constituents and their communities.

We tend to focus on all of the wonderful features of the services and products we offer. But if you try to see things from your readers’ perspective, you will notice that they are most interested in buying or supporting benefits that address their specific needs and values.

For this reason, writing about benefits that matter to your readers is absolutely crucial in any kind of marketing or fundraising piece. I am talking about everything from a personal letter requesting financial support, to a general flyer about a service you offer, to a special report about your industry, to a website article.

Don’t just concentrate on what specific things your organization does or makes, or how. Those are the various features of your work. While those are interesting and necessary to discuss, I suggest you emphasize what difference your organization makes—how your services benefit the users, your supporters, and/or the community at-large.

Ask Yourself: How will your service or product improve the lives of your readers and their community, in the short and the long term?

Did you notice how I said both your readers and their community? That is because we work in the public interest sector and not the conventional business world. Our stakeholders want to find ways to benefit both themselves and the world around them. So we might want to edit their big question to now read: “What’s in it for me and us?”

Simply put, your job is to refine your text (your “copy”) so that it makes your readers feel good about the benefits you are offering. You want them to feel so good that they are willing to take a chance on you with their time, money, energy, or other resources.

Your writing has to persuade them that your product or service will help them achieve their goals, benefiting them and their community.

Personally speaking

This “feel-good” imperative reminds me of the old toothpaste commercials that implied that you would find love and romance if only you brushed with their minty fresh taste. Or of today’s cell phone ads suggesting that their products will win you lots of new friends and dates. While this is a blatant use of persuasive power, we can use that power in the public interest too.

You can, over time, compile especially effective phrases, paragraphs, and statements to recycle in your materials. But, of course, you will have to tweak everything to make sure it uses language that speaks most persuasively to your specific intended audience.

Need to Find Out More About Your Readers? Here’s How.

Leave a reply

[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

If you are having trouble figuring out who your readers really are and what they are looking for, check out these suggestions:

Review event and service evaluation forms. This is a goldmine of information you have at your fingertips. Most people have opinions about how they are treated or events they attend—all you have to do is listen. If you are not already gathering this data, start right away. Be sure to solicit frank responses by assuring anonymity and asking thoughtful questions.

Take online or print surveys. Online surveys are increasingly simple, inexpensive and fruitful. Dozens of companies out there offer this service. A quick poll on your website could also do the trick. Print surveys can be more difficult to track, but they can be well worth the effort if they give you more of the information you are seeking and are more convenient for your readers. Just remember to offer an incentive for completing your questionnaire, such as the chance to win a special prize or a token of your appreciation.

Personally speaking: I have used the free online survey services of Survey Monkey and Zoomerang and have gotten excellent results.

Hold focus groups with different types of stakeholders. This can be as simple as a casual chat during a community open house or envelope-stuffing party, or as formal as an agenda item at your next board meeting. You can also do this online with a chat room, blog, or social media account. People love to be consulted for their expert opinions, and the synergy of people bouncing ideas around can help get the juices flowing.

Do individual interviews. This is just the one-on-one version of the focus group. It works best for people who feel most comfortable speaking with one person at a time, or who have difficulty coordinating their schedules with others. It also allows you the opportunity to ask follow-up questions tailored to the specific respondent. Be forewarned, however, that this technique can consume a lot of time and other resources.

Review the records. Not only will you find out who is investing in or buying from your organization (and how much), but you will also learn how and when. Sometimes a note on the person’s record will give you a hint about her or his character.

Attend gatherings where your readers naturally congregate. This is otherwise known as “networking.” If you watch and listen closely to your potential readers, you can learn a lot. Any time you strike up a conversation about your organization or project, listen for the signs of deepest interest or enthusiasm, as well as confusion or misunderstanding.

Study published opinion polls. Research institutes and media outlets of all kinds constantly find out what is on people’s minds. Find the ones studying your constituents and track their findings.

Research what they have previously supported, bought, or been involved in. You are looking for similarities to your service or product that do not compromise the uniqueness of your specific approach.

Review the media that reflect your readers’ mindsets, attitudes, and concerns. Some of your market research has already been done by others. Make a habit of reading, watching, and listening to the media that your constituents consume—both the content (articles, programs, web posts) and the targeted advertising. No doubt those advertisers already know whom they are reaching.

Keep in mind that no one can keep up with all the news of interest. Instead, we rely on what respected people think and the arguments they present. Look for ways these opinion-leaders play a role in your readers’ media diet, and think about ways that your pieces can join that conversation.

Simply talk to others who also know about your readers. Staff members, volunteers, board members, outreach workers, salespeople, or clients might know more about your readers than you do yet. Strategic partners in your field or market can also be great sources of this type of information.

A final suggestion: keep learning. Your readers are always changing, as the world about them changes. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the people you wrote for a year or two ago are the same today. They may surprise you. Be open to unexpected lessons, and know that understanding your readers is an ongoing process.

By regularly listening to your stakeholders, you can help implement the changes they want to see. You may even find that you have a little re-branding to do. In turn, they will respond to your efforts.

How Can You Engage Specific Readers? – Part 2

Leave a reply

[Dalya’s Note: This is Part 2 of an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact. Today we pick up where we left off on Thursday in Part 1]

A simple way to start adopting the mindset and voice of a marketing writer (known as a “copywriter”) is to think and write in terms of “you” (the reader) more than “we” (the organization you are representing). Remember that your job is to make your piece beneficial to your readers, even as they are reading it. You are not writing it to hear yourself talk.

Most organizations have an “About Us” section on their websites, in their brochures, etc. But why not add a bit that is “About Our Readers” (not necessarily with that title)?

Examples

1) With an environmental educator in mind, you may write something like:

As a middle-school science teacher, you are always looking for fresh, up-to-date material on today’s pressing issues. With diminishing resources in our public schools, you may find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the times. On the E-kids website, you will discover a wealth of high-quality classroom resources updated every semester to reflect changing frontiers in the environmental sciences. Get teaching materials that will inspire your students with dozens of lively class discussion starters, coupled with engaging and educational indoor, outdoor, online, and offline activities.

2) With a vacationer in mind, you could write:

When you go on vacation you just want to be free of concerns and worries. You want to enjoy yourself in whatever way feels best. But let’s face it: there simply is no escape from this interdependent and globalized world. Your actions—wherever and whenever they may occur—do indeed affect other people and the planet.

Now our socially responsible eco-tourism company makes it easy to let your concerns take a hike while your feet do too! We worry about the ecological footprint you’re making so you don’t have to.

3) 1% for the Planet has socially responsibly businesses in mind as it presents this piece in its website’s “About Us” section.

To be perfectly honest, it’s not about us. It’s about businesses recognizing that industry and ecology are inherently connected. It’s about realizing the positive effects of connecting businesses, consumers and nonprofits through philanthropy. And it’s about understanding that the true cost of doing business can be mitigated by a simple pledge to the planet.

Since 2002, 1% For The Planet has inspired members of the business community to contribute 1% of sales to environmental groups around the world. In return, this growing alliance of companies is given the opportunity not only to see their self-worth rise, but their net worth climb as well.

(Website: One Percent for the Planet)

How Can You Engage Specific Readers? – Part 1

Leave a reply

[Dalya’s Note: This is Part 1 of an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Writing to make a difference must be reader-centered and not writer-centered. You have to shift your attention, and your pre-occupations, from yourself to your readers. After all, they care about themselves, their communities, and their impact much more than they care about your organization.

To write is to engage in an intimate conversation (on paper) with your readers. And for that, you need to know whom you are addressing, and—most importantly—what they want to get out of conversing with you.

You might be one of the lucky writers out there who already know exactly who will be reading their work, and why. But chances are good that you are at least a bit fuzzy.

The good news is that your document will, most likely, be read by one person at a time. In a sense, you and your reader will create a private world—together. That means that you can write toward only that one person.

So, try to visualize a “typical” reader (or maybe two or three). You might even want to post a picture of that person in your writing space, to serve as a constant reminder of whom you are talking to. You want to make sure that what you have to say is going to be understood. While each reader will interpret your words differently, you can do your best to make it easy for her or him to integrate what you are saying.

Bonus tip

In his bestselling book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes three types of people who comprise an especially effective group that you want to reach: “connectors” (people who know an enormous number of people as friends or acquaintances), “mavens” (people who accumulate knowledge and want to share it with others) and “salesmen” (people with a gift for verbal and nonverbal persuasion). Gladwell writes that, “In the six degrees of separation [between each person and everyone else], not all degrees are equal.”

Personally speaking

When I write in my personal journal, I know exactly who is going to be reading it: me, myself, and I. I can just look in the mirror to get a good image of my reader. So I feel free to write with abandon, about anything, however I choose. I have no concerns about writer/reader differences or reader misinterpretations, or even reader interest. I highly recommend journaling, for these reasons. However, beware of confusing your own perspective with that of an outside reader. Navel gazing has a tendency to chase away everyone except your therapist and close friends. That goes for organizations too!

(See Part 2 of this article: HERE)

Go beyond promotion for its own sake

Leave a reply

[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

When you are writing to make a difference, your two-fold goal is both to promote your organization as a part of a socially responsible solution AND to educate your readers about key things they need to know in your issue area.

Constituent education is often the first step in marketing, especially if you are tackling a complex, often misunderstood problem that involves many variables, processes, or actors. Most of your readers are not specialists in your area, but their interests make them want to know more. You would be wise, then, to build an educational component into your organization’s branding.

EXAMPLE:

As a socially responsible business, you offer environmentally friendly laundry services to people in your neighborhood. While your customers obviously know their need for clean clothes, many of them may not be aware of the hazards of chemicals often used in the dry cleaning process. Your marketing, then, would need to include information about why you offer green services, as well as how you do so.

In this world of information overload, we all could use a guide to the most critical aspects of the issues important to us. We also want to hear about how we can personally get involved, presented in a way that we can relate to.

And that information is precisely what you and your organization excel at providing! Give it to your readers—repeatedly and consistently. The more value you can deliver, the more they will see your organization as worthy of their support, investment, or patronage.

Promoting your brand and appropriately educating your community go hand-in-glove.

BONUS TIP:

Just remember that you can never be 100% objective, no matter how hard you try. While your readers know you have a perspective, they also expect you to be clear and honest with your facts and opinions, and to explain your frame-of-reference.