In today’s competitive environment, it is imperative to frequently reach your current customers (to keep them sold) and prospective customers (to encourage them to consider your products and services). To do so, public relations is a good no or low cost method to do so. Services such as Business Wire, PR Newswire PR WEB are good resources to distribute your content. These services offer on-line “how to’s” so you can do it yourself. Knowing the effectiveness and return on your investment of your Public Relations campaign is important. These services track how many people read your release, where it was picked up, and where your prospects
learned about your business in detailed reports.

Utilizing sites like Linkedin and Facebook are other good methods to distribute your news. Your blogs is also an effective way to share your news.

E-mailing your releases, or e-newsletters, to your customer base, prospective customers, employees, agents, distributors, suppliers, strategic alliances, service providers (e.g. – your CPA and lawyer), board members, and investors is recommended to keep them up to date. Don’t forget to notify appropriate members of the press. Constant Contact is one resource to support your e-mail and e-newsletter programs. Encourage all to respond with their comments and suggestions.

Each release should focus on one topic each, so you do not dilute the effect. You can plan a series of releases over time. To be most effective, no less than one release per month is suggested. Typical release topics feature 1) a new product or service, 2)personnel news; e.g. – someone was promoted or hired, and 3) company news, e.g. – a new office was opened in Europe or a new distributor is now representing your company.

Through these efforts, traffic to your website will increase.

About Mike:

Mike spent fourteen years in corporate America with Bendix and Allied Signal corporations. Positions he held included divisional chief marketing officer, new product development manager, marketing channel manager, national sales manager, marketing communications manager and acquisition manager, . Since 1989, he has been in the consulting industry. Of Mike’s current clients, three are start up firms. He holds a B.S., Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), and a M.B.A. from Loyola Marymount University, (Los Angeles, CA), and is certified by the Center for Creative Leadership (Greensboro, North Carolina) to conduct 360º leader assessment and development programs.

The idea of “living longer than yourself” was introduced to me by the book National Parks: America’s Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns and has since popped up a few more times this past month or so. Many people try to create things and ideas that will outlive them, but it must be done for the right reasons.

At California Lutheran University’s Corporate Leaders Breakfast on January 21, 2010, Donald E. Petersen, former CEO and Chairman of Ford Motor Company, announced that one of the predominant problems in the American car industry is that CEOs continue to try to make their mark on companies without any regard to the long-term success of the company. In other words, they push their respective companies to make drastic changes without considering if those changes will create a stronger company or even if those new items will last. Sometimes companies don’t need big, sexy new products, they just need basic alterations on their already successful products and practices to succeed. (I’ve known numerous executives who have done this when they want a product named after themselves, even when it is clear that the product will fail.)

2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus also pushes the idea of living longer than yourself, but he does it (and encourages others to do it) through social business.  When he spoke on February 26, 2010, at an event for California State University – Channel Islands, he encouraged the students in the university’s new social business program to choose a problem they want to solve, and instead of just improving the state of that issue, actually try to solve that problem, 100%. It is his mission to end poverty by 2030. It is a mission that he holds himself accountable for. He says that if it is possible to cut poverty in half, it must also be possible to eliminate it entirely.

Mike Veny, professional drummer and owner of Funky Music Store, uses his online store to raise funds for The Fender Music Foundation as well as promote general support for music education. He has given about four times more often than any other foundation supporter. And, these funds will go on to get instruments into music education programs, strengthening the leaders and communities of the future. Because he is choosing to support an organization like The Fender Music Foundation, he is making a far larger impact than if he had created his own charity and tried to reinvent the wheel. Sure, it’s less glory, but it’s far more efficient in addressing the difference he is trying to make in the world.

All three of these people have looked outside themselves, in space AND time. Only by acknowledging their infinitesimal presence in this world can they create something that they deserve to be remembered for.

From Goodjoe’s website:

Goodjoe is dedicated to inspiring change through creative design and in the process giving back to the community around us. We really believe that people do great things when they’re inspired. A small change can and will create a big impact. Everyone really does care to make their surrounding world better. That’s why we created the goodjoe site, where hopefully, all kinds of creative and inspiring ideas are made visible and will be seen passing through the streets in many different forms.

Goodjoe will hold an ongoing T-shirt design contest. Everyone is welcome to participate by submitting inspiring T-shirt designs, rating designs, and giving artists positive feedback.

Here is how the process works:
1. Artists submit T-shirt designs with an inspiring message into the contest.
2. Each week, goodjoe selects inspirational designs from the contest to print.
3. Printed tees are sold and everyone involved (artists, schools, and other organizations) shares in the proceeds.

Goodjoe contacted me at The Fender Music Foundation last fall and proposed a t-shirt design contest in its honor. During the contest, we received 138 design submissions, and the winning design was much more stylish than what I would have designed on my own.

Goodjoe’s t-shirt design contests are a great way for nonprofits to engage potential supporters online. The company was established with the intention to make a difference, which they not only accomplish with their t-shirt design contests but also with how they treat their charities, celebrities and partners.

What a world this would be if every company were run like Goodjoe.

I recently invited Rod Skidmore, VP of US Bank and member of the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise, to speak at one of my Rotaract meetings on the topic of effective professional communication. Not only was he a dynamic and passionate speaker, his advice showcases what it truly means to be a Rotarian. As follows is my summary of his presentation:

• Tell the truth. Be an honest person. Don’t lie, even when you are told to.
• Look things up when you aren’t sure. Be resourceful.
• Share your happiness with others. Smile when you speak on the phone.
• Ask questions and be generally inquisitive. Don’t think you know everything.
• Admit your mistakes and be humble.
• Consider where other people are coming from. Don’t make assumptions.
• Listen to others, both their verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Admit when you don’t know the answer and be open to feedback.
• Be genuinely appreciative of anyone and everyone who does something for you. Don’t make people regret being nice to you.
• Move things forward. Ask for the sale/next meeting/etc. Be interested in and focused on the task at hand.
• Do the right thing.
• Be someone people like and check to make sure it’s working.
• It’s not about you. It’s about everyone else around you.

The points Rod made aren’t about just being an effective communicator in business or life. This is about who to BE, and the internal conversations you have with yourself. Once you ARE the person who is honest, grateful and has compassion, others will respond well to you.

A video on social enterprise:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u-HMmlkaAE]

Many people have dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. They have stood up for those without a voice, and they strengthen our communities. However, few of them treat their charitable dreams as businesses, and instead trust that they will make a difference because, “who wouldn’t support this cause?” But there’s more to a charity than the cause.

It is the charities that are set up as social enterprises (businesses that do good), however, that I see making the most difference. And, as long as they keep up with their competitors and with current trends and technology, I believe that they will continue to be effective. Edelman even did a study on this and found that consumers are much more likely to purchase products associated with causes — even if they cost more.

Sometimes, a charity can even last for a while without a strong business model behind it, but when an economic downturn comes along, these organizations seem to drop like flies. Over the past year or so, I have witnessed this. Social enterprises that are saving lives but have weak marketing are failing. Organizations that are saving the environment but have let their overhead get out of control are filing for bankruptcy. Charities that were cutting their communities’ crime in half have cut back until they are no longer effective. In other words, when these social enterprises fail, we all lose.

One of the most unfortunate examples of this right now is the newspaper industry. If journalists aren’t a significant force in this country, I fear what those who are wealthy, powerful and selfish will get away with. I also fear that if they are not supervised and protected by a large newspaper that either they will either also become wealthy, powerful and selfish or will be eliminated. And where will we be then?

The solution?

Social Entrepreneurs/Nonprofit Founders: Do your research before you start a company/charity. The way you do business is at least as important as the cause you choose.

Corporations: It will benefit you to give back. (There is too much to say about this to insert it here.) But, give back strategically. Choose a cause or charity that is in line with your mission statement. Either start a foundation to address that cause or select a few charities. Either the company or the corporate foundation must give to those who will really make an impact on that cause.

The Public: Support at least one charity. Find a charity that will make the biggest difference on your cause with what you have to offer as a donation (money, goods or time). Not all charities will fail. Just do a little research so your contribution won’t be for naught. 

During this depression, companies have completely pulled back on their sponsorships because they no longer have extra money to donate. Many charities, without sponsorship dollars, have either funded their events out-of-pocket, earning nothing, or next to nothing, at their events or have decided not to put on their fundraisers at all until the economy is more stable. This situation hurts each party concerned; it’s time to reevaluate the process.

Instead of just asking for money, charities need to understand their events’ value to a sponsoring company. How many impressions will the company’s logo or product receive? Who are these people? How does the event encourage guests to subscribe to or purchase the company’s product or service? Once the charity knows the answers to questions like these (and many, many more), they need to put together a professional sponsorship deck to give to potential sponsors. To read more about asking for sponsorships, visit http://whohastimeforthis.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-not-write-business-plan.html. In his blog, David Cowan offers his insight on putting together an effective presentation to get funding. (In his case it’s from venture capitalists, but the format is the same.)

The second part of this equation is the corporate sponsor; the recipient of this deck needs to evaluate it as it would any advertising or marketing opportunity. Often, charity events are a much less expensive way to reach a target audience; where else could you find a whole room full of people who have extra money to donate and are completely driven by something (and you know exactly what that something is).

For example, if an environmental charity is hosting an event, which will be attended by 500 of their biggest donors from the Seattle area, green companies should be jumping at the chance to get their product into the hands and/or minds of those people. These people are the voice of their consumer base and will reach far more potential customers than the company ever could on its own for as much money.

The charity – Charities need sponsorship dollars to reach their financial goals. Many charities couldn’t raise funds at their events without sponsorship dollars. In order to maintain momentum for their cause, many charities have continued to host fundraiser events though they have brought negative event profits.

The company – Especially with the economy the way it is, companies need to see large returns on their investments. A well-thought-out sponsorship plan can give a company far more than a traditional marketing or advertising plan.

The public – The public likes to learn about products or services that are applicable to them.

I occasionally attend the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club luncheons, and the presenter at last week’s luncheon was really inspiring. The presenter was Tom White, the Executive Vice President of RKS, a “strategy, innovation and design firm” based out of Thousand Oaks, CA.

More than anything, I liked their corporate philosophy. RKS not only works hard to design well, with psycho aesthetics (the idea that it’s not how the consumer feels about the design; it’s how the design makes the consumer feel), they go out of their way to help their clients’ sales. Tom gave an example of this in his presentation:

RKS designed a new water bottle for KOR, the KOR ONE hydration vessel, but by the time the design was complete, KOR didn’t have the budget to produce it. So, instead of letting KOR fend for themselves, RKS went viral with the problem. And, in three months, they had more than enough orders to begin production. Now, they are scrambling to keep up with their orders.

KOR ONE by RKS Design

Who benefited when RKS helped KOR?

RKS – KOR will probably choose RKS for future design challenges, giving RKS more business. KOR will probably also help RKS to get more clients because they will share this story with others. RKS also increased their value; clients will probably pay more if they can trust that RKS is really invested in them as well.

KOR – KOR grew their profit exponentially. They not only were able to get enough orders to produce the water bottles, they received a lot of attention from the publicity.

Consumers – Consumers were able to benefit from a great design

Every for-profit company should have a nonprofit and/or cause relationship. The public expects it of them, and it will improve and increase their business. Now, it’s time that companies start looking at those relationships as a business strategy.

Guitars in the Classroom and D'Addario

Why do companies currently start cause/charity relationships?
1.    They use it as a benefit to their employees – making donations to organizations selected by their employees.
2.    They consider it as a marketing initiative – donating product or awarding sponsorships to charities and/or causes that they believe their customers or target customers would like.
3.    They think it will bring them added publicity – choosing any well-known charity to receive proceeds from something.
How could those efforts be more effective?
1.    Cause/charity relationships as an employee benefit: People want to work for companies that make a difference in the world. I would even suggest that future and present employees are more concerned that a company is philanthropic than they are worried about which charities and/or causes the company supports. So, although your employees’ choice can be considered when choosing a charity or cause, it should not be the only factor.

2.    Cause/charity relationships for marketing: Sure, customers are more likely to spend money with a company when they think part of their money will be going toward a charity or cause, but that doesn’t mean companies should only choose charities or causes that “match” the demographic of their customers. For example, let’s say that company A gives 5% of their profits to homeless shelters in San Francisco, and company B doesn’t advertise any philanthropic activity. A potential customer (who has never been to San Francisco or thought about homelessness) is still more likely to buy from company A because they are doing good.

Woodcraft Rangers and Sally Beauty Supply

3.    Cause/charity relationships for public relations: Many companies choose, at the last minute, to add a charity or cause into the mix. Their only consideration is that they don’t want to alienate their customers, so they choose a charity that will be liked by the lowest common denominator. Usually they don’t do anything special for that charity and just throw a few dollars at it. Then, they say, “Look at how great we are! We are donating money to the XYZ Foundation!” They don’t know exactly what the charity does, and instead of finding out, they put a lot of money and effort into getting credit for the donation. They use it to bring in sponsors and celebrities. They write countless press releases about their generous behavior, and then their appalled if no media covers the story.

I hate to break it to them, but tying a charity or cause in is nothing new and, therefore, is not news. What is news? A company going to great lengths to help that charity or cause by creatively raising money for them or getting them some other product or service they need. A journalist can easily spot a company that is going out of its way to help and can also spot someone who just wants their name in the paper.

Who benefits?

The company - Companies that select charities strategically will not only have a lot of PR power for making a significant contribution to charity, they will also greatly improve the success of their business.

The employees – Companies that are maximizing their charitability will gain greater respect from their employees, who will be more likely to stay with the company.

The charity – Just like a for-profit benefits from associations with sensical partnerships, nonprofits also improve their branding when they work with companies that have similar missions.

The community – When we’re all working together to support the causes that we can actually make a difference in, we will be able to really begin to solve these big problems in our communities. 

The first step in starting a relationship with a cause or charity is choosing the right one. What you probably want out of it is increased sales. So, the first question is, “Do you have enough potential customers out there, or do you need to create them?” If you need to create them, what charities are already creating customers for you? I, for example, run a nonprofit that creates musicians by putting musical instruments into music education programs. For a while, we were partnered up with a music instrument retailer, and now we are partnered up with a musical instrument manufacturer. They help to create more customers for themselves by supporting the charity I run, a win-win situation.

Once you have selected a charity that will help your business, think about how your company can make the biggest difference for that charity/cause, find a way to fit it into your company’s current operations, using your company’s assets (people, products, machines, operations, etc.) to benefit the charity/cause. Then, let your customers know that you are helping that charity or cause, and give them ways to also get involved. It will strengthen the relationship you have with your customers.

When you are ready to publicize your relationship and your efforts to help the cause or charity, you can choose to communicate the size of your contribution or the creative approach to your philanthropic effort. But, neither will get any attention unless they are impressive. The public expects you to help others already. In order to get notice from the media, you have to turn heads.

Who benefits?

The company – more customers, successful public relations, improved community relationships

The customer – they get to help others with the money they would have spent anyway.

The charity/cause – not only do they get the money or product, they gain you and your customers as advocates, and they get increased publicity, too.

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

I recently encountered the book The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni, and I was pleasantly surprised by his insight. He points out the three things managers can do so that their employees are fulfilled at work.

According to Lencioni, the three signs are anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement. So, in order to do your part in keeping your employees happy, these should be your three goals:

1. Care about who your employees are personally and act in a way that acknowledges it. Talk to them about who they are as people. Also, encourage your employees to get to know each other.

People need to feel known. If they don’t feel like anybody even knows their name, then they won’t think anybody will notice if they don’t show up the next day.

2. Show your employees that what they do matters to others, that they impact their communities and/or the company’s customers.

There is no point spending 40 hours of a week doing something if it doesn’t affect anyone. Each employee of a company should have a reason to be there, but that reason may have been forgotten along the way. Remind yourself why each person is there and then remind each person how important they are to the system. And, if an employee deals with the public, remind them how much they affect those people, companies or communities. Make their contributions worth it to them.

3. Give your employees ways of measuring their own success.

Your employees success should not be dependent on your objective opinion. Give them a way to independently measure their job so that they would be able to see on their own if their performance is acceptable. And, when choosing the criteria for this assessment, really put thought into it. Just because there is an easy thing for that employee to measure, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that item is correlated to their success.

In all honesty, I haven’t done this for all of my employees. Until this book, I don’t know if I would have considered the importance of these three items. However, I can vividly remember the unhappiness of the employees who did experience anonymity, irrelevance and/or immeasurement. I knew at the time that something wasn’t quite right, but couldn’t put my finger on it.

Now that I have this tool, it will be much easier to not only keep employees happy, but to keep them excited about their jobs. They deserve to want to come to work everyday, and I deserve employees who are in a position that they will do their best.

Who benefits?

The company – the company will have a lower turnover rate and will employees who are more dedicated to the company.

The employees – the employees will enjoy their jobs.

Customers – happy employees will provide better customer service.