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Increase Response For Your Nonprofit Organization By Getting To Know Your Donors
Copy that inspires larger donations, motivates more advocacy, or spurs greater response of any kind begins with knowing your donor, your prospect, your audience. That's why a fundamental rule of writing strong copy is... "Know Thy Audience."Knowing doesn't refer to mere demographics or geographic segments of the population. Deep, powerful knowledge of your audience comes from psychographics. Their desires, fears, beliefs, frustrations, interests, and past donating preferences.So how do you get to know them? What are the tools that reveal donor thinking and psychographics?Study complaint letters you receive. They usually reveal a great deal about your donor's expectations and feelings. Study any letters from donors and prospective donors.Examine the mailing list data card. Begin near the top of the card. Here is a useful description of what the prospects have responded to or donated to in the past. Next is the profile data. I recommend you be skeptic

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1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs,

What Makes You Suitable For The Job?
Choosing a job is easy but will the job be choosing you? That's what makes job searching difficult because you may find a job that wouldn't be hiring you... Nowadays employment companies are becoming very choosy. Some are looking for a job applicant that has all the masters degree he may have, some companies prefer at least you being a college graduate from a prestigious university the country has. Well what a competitive world isn't.But what is that, that makes you suitable for the job? Many factors should be considered. Actually you shouldn't be just jumping into something you yourself is not ready of. Definitely you chose to apply for that job simply because it's what you are capable of. But have you thought of how are you going to face work pressures. Now that's the thing, many new hired employees complain that they can not do the job, or its very stressful or what's so ever. Because of to much excitement they had already neglected these things which they should be already prepared of and sometimes this leads to depression of being able to ca

Don't Get "Stuck on Stupid!"

Whatever your political bent, or your view of the American media, you’ve got to love the recent comments of Lieutenant General Russell Honore during the Katrina aftermath.

When interrogated by reporters about Katrina-related mistakes and miscues, during the immediate aftermath of Katrina and the pending arrival of Rita, the Lt. General fired back with one of the best “in your face” rebuttals in media history. “You guys are STUCK ON STUPID!”, he said, “...and I’m not going to answer those questions!” Then, as only great leaders can do, he shifted the attention to what could be done NOW... going forward. In one short phrase, he showed the insanity of a backward looking fixation in a time of crisis, and the importance of quickly learning from mistakes and moving on. If only we could instill that kind of thinking into our organizations and personal lives.

We, as a culture, waste a lot of time fixated on the past. This is a tricky topic, because in order to learn, we have to be able to look backwards. I don’t believe the Lt. General meant to suggest we not look backward. Rather, I believe, he intended to show us the art of WHEN and HOW we should look back.

Here are a few of my observations about backward-looking actions, and where that line exists between effective diagnosis and what the good General would call a “stuck-on-stupid” culture:

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1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs, i

When Good Looks Aren't Enough
Even seasoned experts have to face the harsh reality that great work can't protect them from having to market. Marketing and sales are life skills essential for survival. If you want to do what you love, here’s what it takes to get past that “first date.”Back to SchoolFor many professionals, finding yourself at the bottom of the “revenue learning curve” is a frustrating experience. To make matters worse, your target buyers are on a steep learning curve about what you can do for them. The key is to enlighten both yourself and your buyers. Knowing how to market and sell, then skillfully applying this knowledge to your buyer is what will get you there.There are four stages to climb on your journey - picture a staircase or ladder, with one stage on each level:Clueless. You don't know what you don't know. This often manifests as frustration with your buyer – why don’t they get it?! Can’t they see you’re the best? For your buyers, it could be that they don't know you exist

val of Rita, the Lt. General fired back with one of the best “in your face” rebuttals in media history. “You guys are STUCK ON STUPID!”, he said, “...and I’m not going to answer those questions!” Then, as only great leaders can do, he shifted the attention to what could be done NOW... going forward. In one short phrase, he showed the insanity of a backward looking fixation in a time of crisis, and the importance of quickly learning from mistakes and moving on. If only we could instill that kind of thinking into our organizations and personal lives.

Here are a few of my observations about backward-looking actions, and where that line exists between effective diagnosis and what the good General would call a “stuck-on-stupid” culture:

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1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs,

Opportunity Idea - Business Planning - Action - Culmination
At first all new businesses start of as an idea. How do you turn this idea into a profitable opportunity? When the idea grips you so much, that you wake up in the middle of the night and hurriedly scribble down some notes, what do you do next? Some of the best business ideas I have had have come at night but usually they are so bold that most of them end up in the "ideas box".What is the procedure to follow when a revelation occurs usually late Friday night, early Saturday morning?Business Idea-Now that you have an idea for a new business, how realistic is it? Does it still sound interesting in the cold light of the day? Does it fit into your lifestyle? Can you dedicate the time and effort required to do the next step...Opportunity Planning-Now that you have decided to take your business idea to the next level, break down each stage into manageable chunks. To turn your idea into a profitable opportunity, create a plan for each "chunk" and allocate time and resources to it. Your plan doesn't have to be extremely complic

ackward looking fixation in a time of crisis, and the importance of quickly learning from mistakes and moving on. If only we could instill that kind of thinking into our organizations and personal lives.

Here are a few of my observations about backward-looking actions, and where that line exists between effective diagnosis and what the good General would call a “stuck-on-stupid” culture:

-----------------------------------

1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs,

The 7 C's of Personal Branding Success
Everything you do is linked directly to your Personal Brand. As entrepreneurs and small business owners, we have a distinct advantage that larger companies do not. When it comes to our brands, we have the ability to get very personal.Larger companies strive to establish a relationship with their target audience by making their brand feel more personal or relatable. This is one of the reasons why spokespeople are such a commodity – larger companies piggy back off of the relationship an audience has with that spokesperson. Those experiences are then tied directly to their product or service thanks to the Personal Brand draw of their spokesperson.Take Tiger Woods for example. W hen he is hired by Nike to represent their latest ad campaign, the mere image of him stands for perseverance, determination and overall excellence. Nike benefits from those perceptions simply by having Tigers brand lined up with theirs.You don’t have to take such expensive measures, as a small business owner, because you have

kwards. I don’t believe the Lt. General meant to suggest we not look backward. Rather, I believe, he intended to show us the art of WHEN and HOW we should look back.

Here are a few of my observations about backward-looking actions, and where that line exists between effective diagnosis and what the good General would call a “stuck-on-stupid” culture:

-----------------------------------

1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs,

The Next Step In E-Commerce – Doing It Better
E-Commerce Challenges for Small BusinessSo now you have a Web site, but as Shania Twain might say, “it don’t impress me much”. Don’t be discouraged, it’s a common feeling after the first attempt at joining the Internet economy.It is easy to spend a lot of time, effort, and money to launch a Web site and still accomplish very little. But don’t give up and write off the investment. Extract as much as possible from the learning experience. And give yourself credit for not ignoring the New Economy. At least you are trying to participate in the Internet gold rush that seems to be happening exactly 100 years after the original Klondike. Then too, a lot of brave souls suffered pain and hardship to be part of the adventure and get their share of the bonanza.To succeed with the next step up your own Chilkoot Trail to Internet glory let’s look back and learn from the experience up to this point. Were your objectives and plan clear from the start? Were you committed to the plan and to the resources required? Did you ignore the obstacle

ulture:

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1. When (and WHEN NOT TO) look backwards- the theme I believe was most central to the Lt. General’s comments was this: There is a time and a place for a backward looking assessment.

In a football game, assessments occur at various intervals- half-time, end of quarters, during time outs, in the huddle, and sometimes even right before the play during a “check off” at the line of scrimmage. But assessments and questions about fault or blame NEVER occur DURING the play. The few seconds it takes for the play to unfold is about execution only. How stupid it would appear if one of the sports reporters walked onto the field and began questioning the coaches and players in the middle of a particular play. In sports, we see that kind of on-the-field interference as unacceptable, but in other crisis situations (like Katrina), we don’t think twice about the appropriateness of it.

In business it’s even worse. We have management agendas, advisors and consultants, board politics, and a myriad of other factors all screaming their opinion about how the play should unfold. Let’s take a lesson from our sports brethren, and save those assessments for AFTER the play is run. There’s nothing wrong with good assessment. But let’s save them for a time when they’ll have real impact instead of being seen (appropriately) as a distraction.

One more quick analogy on when and how often we should look backwards. Think of the last time you drove a car. How much of the total time would you say you looked in the rear-view mirror. Most driving instructors will tell you that you should look up into the rear-view mirror about once every six seconds. That translates to about 15% ...probabl

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Are you a successful over-achiever? Considerable research has been done about the characteristics that typify the successful business owner. The article details the top 10 key characteristics...

Improving organizational performance is the job of management within a business and over the years many solutions have been investigated with varying success. However the behaviors of peak performers have been overlooked. This article looks at the behaviours associated with top performers who are 5 times more productive than their average performing colleagues.

There’s a group in every office. They hit the nearby watering hole for happy hour once or twice a week after work to vent shared frustrations, talk about the boss behind his back, maybe even plot future career moves.

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Will You Add? - Stuck on Stupid ? (How Too Much Time Looking in the Rearview Mirror Can Set You Up for Failure)

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