Teams, teams, teams. Whether you love-em or loathe-em, you’ll have to learn to live, not only with them, but within them. You leadership will depend on it.
Here are five strategies for building and nurturing a winning team on the football field and in the workplace.
1. Manage by adultery.
It’s a term coined by Chaparrel Steel to describe its management philosophy of treating workers like adults instead of children. People are hired, not to do mindless jobs, but to put their brains to work. Management’s job is to give the team or work group a mission, see that they get the necessary resources and provide feedback and encouragement. Then turn them loose to be creative problem solvers.
2. Hire people who care.
When evaluating prospective employees, a major airline brings all job candidates together in a room and asks each person to make a presentation. Everybody thinks that the company officials are evaluating the person making the presentation. But in reality, the company is evaluating the candidates in the audience to see who are attentive and supportive as others are presenting. It is a strong signal that these people have the ability to care about others and are potential candidates to hire.
3. Make sure there is a scoreboard.
One critical difference between a group and a team is that a team knows what constitutes a win. Players in sports know instantly where their team stands and whether they are winning or losing. This information then affects how they are going to play the rest of the game. But in most businesses, employees may work for weeks and months and not know if they are winning, losing, or just hanging in there. Like sports teams, business teams should also have scoreboards. Then team members would have some idea how close they are to a win and what they need to do to make it happen.
4. Don’t take on your team’s monkeys or problems.
If the leader keeps running in and lifting the weights for his team, they are never going to build any of their own muscle. The trap in becoming a “hero leader” is that every time you pull a rabbit out of a hat, you generate more dependency from your team. Important: Astute leaders welcome their employees to discuss problems and solutions, but never let them leave their problems with the leader.
5. Set up your team to win, not lose.
If your team is faced with multiple tasks or problems, don’t always tackle the worst ones first. Conventional wisdom says prioritize your tasks and then begin tackling your most important problems, solve them and then move on to smaller ones. This approach ignores the fact that the biggest problem is usually the hardest to tackle. Therefore, if not prepared mentally, team members are more likely to fail, become demoralized and give up. This is not permission for all of us procrastinators to put aside our tough assignment. Rather, it allows us to gain the confidence to first experience success on a smaller level before going for “the big one.”
Management Success Tip:
Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary football coach at the University of Alabama, said winning team members need to know the following: “Tell me what you expect of me -Give me an opportunity to perform- Let me know how I’m doing -Give me guidance where I need it -Reward me according to my contributions.”
I couldn’t have said it better than Bear Bryant. Do you have winning teams?
There are three kinds of people! Those who make it happen; Those who let it happen; Those who are surprised by what’s happened! How well are you making it happen in your career?
To make it happen starts with taking a hard look at how well you are managing your career in today’s very changing workplace.
Here’s a Quick Quiz From the Career Success System. How many of these statements can you honestly answer YES to?
About You:
1. I know what is really important to me and I am living and doing it.
2. I really like the work I do and I’m not hanging on marking time.
3. My skills are up-to-date and valued in the marketplace.
About Your Company:
4. I am a key player. I know what it takes to succeed here.
5. I have good relationships with my boss, peers and others here.
6. I am aware of how my company, division or business unit is doing.
About Your Future:
7. I am developing a personal brand to distinguish me from others.
8. I can use my skills and experience in other areas of the company.
9. I am visible to potential employers and others who can advance my career.
10. I know what it will take to get from where I’m now to where I want to be.
Scoring: I was able to answer YES to ____ questions:
8-10: Take a bow.
You are doing well in managing your career. But don’t rest on your laurels. Continue to keep your eyes and ears open for changes that can impact your success. Use this e-book stay on the ball. 4-7: Push forward. You doing OK but don’t wait for a career crisis to take action. Pick two or three questions you were not able to answer. Use this e-book to sharpen your career management skills. 0-3: Don’t lose hope. You can manage your career. Use this e-book to learn all you can about winning the career game.
Career Success Tip:
Invest in your career. Most people forget they really have two jobs. The first is to do what you get paid for and to do it well. The second is to do what’s required to ensure your career is where you want it to go and not leave it to someone else. Are you ready to take charge, take action, take control of your career? Next post: Career Success Part 1: Don’t Let Your Guard Down
Tip #3: Use trained interviewers who are able to build rapport
Effective interviewing is both an art and a science and takes training and lots of practice! As I mentioned in my previous post, interviewers need to think quickly on their feet. This is important because they need to “go with the flow” so it seems more like a friendly conversation than an interrogation and still manage to cover all the major questions. If resources are very tight, consider networking to find a highly motivated graduate student or professional who is a stay-at-home parent who may be willing to conduct and analyze phone interviews from home:
either in exchange for a modest stipend or
pro bono to stay in touch with their field or branch out into a new area of expertise
In my early days of beginning to learn about qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, focus groups), I received a lot of help from Earl Babbie’s surprisingly down-to-earth textbook “The Practice of Social Research.” I still recommend this book as a great resource for interviewers.
Tip #4: Obtain audio recordings with the permission of your respondents.
Remember to make a decent audio recording of interviews and to obtain consent before doing so. Some evaluators decide to translate interviews word-for-word, even including non-verbal events such as pauses, laughter, etc. Weigh the benefits and costs of transcription versus detailed notes.
Tip #5: Conduct interviews and begin analyzing results simultaneously
Keep an eye out for emerging patterns and themes as you conduct interviews. Analyzing the interview results for themes, also known as qualitative analysis or coding, as you go, helps alert you to modifications you may need to make to questions to best capture the information you need. For example, in a recent set of interviews, I soon realized that my questions needed to be more direct. For example, “do you receive XYZ type of support?” versus the more indirect: what benefits do you receive from this program? (Although the indirect question can yield a wealth of information on unanticipated outcomes that are still very important!)
Tip #6: Allocate time to learn to use software that assists with qualitative analysis of your data, if needed.
Generally, these tools are very beneficial if you are using multiple interviewers and have a large number of respondents, or if the analyst detests the tedious work that accompanies coding transcripts for themes. These tools do not replace the important role of manually reading and re-reading the interview transcripts though. The American Evaluation Association has a LinkedIn group that is a great resource for questions related to which software to use and for those interested in evaluation in general! http://www.linkedin.com/
Tip #7: Begin writing the interview report even before you have finished analyzing all the data
Stepping back and beginning to see the big picture helps to deal with analysis paralysis or the condition of over-thinking about and over-analyzing the data. Your inputs affect your outputs. Well-designed interview questions that are based on the peer-reviewed literature as well as candid feedback from your program stakeholders, in concert with skillful interviewing techniques, all contribute to facilitating a meaningful and informative interview report.
Some time ago, I got a note from a reader asking, pretty much, that question:
My question to you is — I have donated to a small organization, for a year, in my town to help poor children. I have never received an explanation on how the money is used. Should I expect that and if so how do I gracefully ask for that information?
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I responded:
There are no legal requirements for a nonprofit to provide that information to its donors; but not to do so is just dumb.
It’s bad donor relations, and it’s not the way to keep people interested in the organization, its mission and in ongoing giving !!
The ethics of fundraising (yes, Virginia, there is such a thing!) emphasize the right of donors to know how their contributions are used, and require that donors be kept informed….
You should contact the nonprofit and ask for a copy of their latest annual report. If they don’t do annual reports, you’d be right to wonder whether they are operated in a business-like manner and are worthy of your support.
I don’t know how/if “gracefully” relates to asking for information that should, in any case, be provided to you. If the nonprofit can’t or won’t provide that kind of information to its donors, maybe a local newspaper would be interested in “investigating” what that organization does with its donations.
Obviously, you touched on a sensitive subject. I’d be interested in what you do and in the results of your inquiries.
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To continue … thoughts off the top of my head:
There are lots of ways a nonprofit can keep their donors informed….
By Mail:
o The note thanking the donor for the gift can/should include some discussion about how
the gift will make a difference
o A note from a second person saying thanks and giving more specific information about
how the gift is being used
o A note from a person being served by the NPO discussion how they had been helped
o A “keep in touch” note; more about how the gift is being used
o A (one-page/quarterly) newsletter addressing one or two issues
By Email:
o A note thanking the donor for the gift that can/should include some discussion about
how the gift will make a difference
o A note, “just to let you know how things are going”
o A note, with specific data about the number of people being helped
o A note, referring the donor to your website to get the latest info
By Phone:
o A call just to say thanks, and mention how the gift will help, or that it has made a
difference – and be specific
On Your Website:
o A page (that is regularly updated) discussing current programs, the number of people
being helped, and how those folks are being helped
All of that writing/communication should be in narrative/conversational format. None of it should be lists of facts/numbers. Make it easy to read, and people will read it. Make it too long, include too many statistics, make it preachy, and folks won’t want to read it.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.
J is for the pure Joy of presenting. How often we view presenting as a chore, something to be worried over, gotten though, and sometimes frightened by. The truth of it is, if we can get into the moment, presentations can be nearly effortless and even joyful. In addition, when we come from joy, not fear, our presentations are far more compelling to our listeners. Yes, you need to be as fully-prepared as the situation requires, no matter how much time it takes. But instead of approaching the presentation with dread, approach it with joy. This is an opportunity to connect and influence people. This is a chance to do good in the world. Use a little self-talk if you need to: “This is a joyous occasion, and I am so happy to be speaking and influencing people in a positive way.”
Speaking of joy, J is also for Jagger. Mick, that is. Here is an old soul, a 68 year old rocker who still rocks. Picture his swagger, observe how he uses his whole self to communicate with his audiences, think about the joy he brings to performances. Tentative? Timid? Unsure? No way! Here is a guy who goes all-out no matter what. I suspect if each of us had that mind-set and that commitment to our causes, our presentations would be so much richer and more compelling. Swagger a little? Better than creeping around feeling like a mouse. If you can’t rock your own presentations, who can?
J is also for Jobs, Steve Jobs. Well known for his casual dress and his conversational style, but also for the Wow Factor he always brought to presentations and announcements. Here is what I want you to know about Jobs; he wasn’t born that way. By all accounts, he started out a low-key, rather unimpressive speaker. In order to achieve the greatness we all associate with him, he had to work harder than most, and he spent untold hours rehearsing over and over, every aspect of the presentation, until it looked natural and spontaneous. Don’t resent the time it takes you to prepare in order to look smooth and polished in your delivery. In the long run, all your presentations and everyday communication will be better as a result.
[Editor’s note: Today we bring you a special guest post by our multi-cultural colleague, Carlos Victor Costa, that takes a hard look at the Spanish royal family’s most recent crisis]
Crisis Management During Hard Times: Lessons from the King and the Elephants
Once upon a time there was a very happy Kingdom with a much beloved king. Everything was fine, people had money, dreams and their king was bold and young and fair. But time went by, and things changed: peopled ceased to have money, jobs grew scarce, people started to worry about their dreams and were not happy anymore. Meanwhile, the king grew old, but kept doing the type of things that Kings usually like to do, such as hunting and hanging out in the company of wealthy, beautiful people.
Unfortunately, while hunting elephants in Africa (exotic land of Simba, The King Lion) something unexpected happened: he missed his shot, and had an accident. He broke his hips, people’s dreams – and his image of bold, young and fair.
While all this seems to be a sad ending for an unusual fairy tale, it is, in fact, true. King Juan Carlos I from Spain suffered an accident while hunting elephants in Botswana that received huge international press coverage recently and left us some lessons about crisis management during the hard times we are living. The main one, I guess, it is something that I heard for the first time from Richard Edelman called “the dialectic between control and credibility.”
Institutions are having a hard time managing this dialectic. How do they keep secrets under wraps, while managing public image in a coherent way, aligning image to stakeholders´ expectations? The crisis era we live in demands more sensibility from companies in order to keep things smooth in the public arena, something that, apparently, was missed in this example.
We can learn from the royal case some interesting lessons that explain the forces behind this dialectic struggle between message control and credibility building:
Secrecy doesn’t exist anymore. One of the most shocking aspects about this crisis (personal and institutional for Spain and Spain´s royalty) was that, apparently, the king´s trip was not communicated (as law requires) to Spain´s head of Government (Spain is a parliamentary monarchy). However, once the accident happened, the trip got immediate attention in a world avid for news like this. Bad risk management.
Empathy should be real, otherwise it is just royal propaganda
Spain has Europe´s highest unemployment rate, one in four Spaniards doesn´t have a job. The government is working on a radical turnaround plan that includes very unpopular measures such as tax increases and cuttings in health and education, among other public expenditures. As we know, in modern democracies, monarchy is seen as an OK thing that unifies a country on its cultural roots and common past, like in Britain. And, actually, to be fair, King Juan Carlos I has been seen as more than just a symbol, he has an impeccable track record in crucial moments of Spain´s recent history (like when he stood for democracy during a military coup d´etat). However, while nobody expects the royal family to fly economy class, taking a leisurely trip to hunt elephants is not exactly a good message to give in times like these. Bad reputation management.
Everything is connected
Much like the British royal family 15 years ago, Spain´s first family has been suffering its astral hell in the last months. The king´s son-in-law is being investigated for fiscal fraud in a high-profile case, and, a couple of weeks ago, the king´s grandson shot himself in the foot (the kid´s just 13, and at that age he legally cannot carry a gun). I can only remember in the recent years BP´s CEO Tony Hayward having such a talent to do the wrong things at the right time (my post on this here). Couldn´t the king postpone the trip? Bad, bad, timing.
Other aspects: To make things worse, this imbroglio brought to light two additional aspects –
The fact that Juan Carlos I was honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund didn´t help to improve things here. Through an activism online site called Actuable (Change.org Spanish clone) more than 80,000 people required WWF to end the King´s job as the institution´s honorary president. At the end of last week, WWF’s board in Spain voted unanimously to make this happen.
Finally, guess who had been invited to the hunting? The organizer of the safari was a beautiful German princess and the gossip around this suggests a possible closer than expected relationship between her and the king, spicing things a little bit more. The German newspaper Bild displayed a photo of the two on an official trip.
How did all this end up?
In an unprecedented gesture, Juan Carlos I left the hospital and, with a quick statement, apologized to the people in a typical “Dropped the ball, I am sorry, will never happen again”. As the press said, Spaniards aren´t accustomed to accepting guilt easily, and such attitude might open an incredible precedent, leading people to see themselves from a different perspective; if even a king can make mistakes, ordinary people can, too, and to accept mistakes is the first step to change things for the better. That would be nice if it really happened, and it would be the good part of the lesson learned by the country from this sad fairy tale.
Or not?
Some analysts like the respected academic Manual Castells produced a fierce article asking the king to resign and others (like me) say that “sorry” has become a devaluated currency: everybody says sorry. Politicians (like Clinton) say sorry, CEOs (like BP´s) say sorry, high profile athletes (like Tiger Woods) say sorry. Is that genuine or just an easy way out taught by spin doctors? Can credibility be regained just by saying “I´m sorry”?
In general, I guess people welcome an apology as a first step, but things really have to change in order to regain trust, otherwise the reputation will be tarnished. However, their positive inner feelings regarding the person can play an important part on the outcome, and if nothing bad happens again, everything returns to normal, and the issue will be regarded as the bad story that everybody prefers not to talk about at family dinner.
Other people will simply just forget all the fuss, and see the story as another curiosity from rich public people and their extravagant life style. Let´s move on to the next scandal.
The elephants, on the other hand, they don´t forget.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Carlos Victor Costa is a Brazilian professor and consultant living in Madrid. He writes the blog www.carlosvictorcosta.com
I am always talking about bringing in training from the outside, not just a vendor but from another occupation or profession.
As most of you may know I have a theatre background as well as one in training and psychology. My latest brainstorm in the area of theatre is to develop a community theatre based on modern classics, where perfection is the name of the game. You come to one of my shows and you will see what the playwright intended.
I’ve also decided a talk back after the show will give us an opportunity for teachers and students to see a value in live theatre. For those not familiar with the term, a talk back is simply an opportunity for the actors and crew, and audience to interact. Often historical questions are asked and answered. Questions asked about certain actions. Those should be reviewed. The idea is that if a person has to ask the purpose, communication did not take place. The talk back brings a depth of ideas and more information; I always found this to be most rewarding–either as an audience or cast member.
Sounds simple. You and I both know it’s harder to achieve a perfect project result in reality, but not so much if you have the attitude and people to make it work. Let’s see if the process doesn’t sound the same for just about any project on several levels and pick the essential ones.
First, we need a theatre (a production needs a convenient place to operate and must meet specifications for you project). Let’s keep that a separate issue for now. I have a theatre large enough that has the lights and sound to do the job. As you can see I’m minimizing the variables so all we have to worry about is the management plan.
Second, we hold auditions. Just as in your project, you need to have people who can and are willing to do the job. In theatre, I have a special problem and it’s not just available talent. We both have that problem so we work with what we have–beg, borrow and steal. And if you have to steal–steal the best. Once the best cost me a case of Moosehead beer; he was definitely worth it. He was an award-winning sound producer and he applied his talent and knowledge on my production, which certainly enhanced it. Coerce as gently as possible because the idea is that you want them to attach themselves to your group enthusiastically and dedicate themselves to your mission.
My special problem has to do with area actors who are used to rehearsing three-days a week. That won’t do. Professional theatres don’t do that; they work until they get it right (the good ones anyway). I rehearse several hours Sunday through Thursday initially. And, with tech, there’s more later. Good management (a good assistant director or subcommittee chairman) keeps those not actively working on stage, working on the other parts of the play, keeping them engaged. This tough idea has to be sold during auditions, but most actors agree they could use the help. Make no allowances. Those that want to do it bad enough will make it work. Keep auditioning until you get what you want. It is going to be a big deal. It guarantees results. It makes the players proud and others want to be them. It’s a start.
We have our company: our proud challenged actors, and crew if we have managed to get them yet. Some may have heard we aren’t messing around and want to be a part of the action if they are good enough.
Let’s assume at this point, we have everyone ready to go. Just to let you know you don’t have to be heartless and cruel all the time, allow exceptions once. You can be more flexible but performance in hand trumps promised performance anytime. And, have a back-up plan if you can, but it’s still better to push professionalism. A show takes a limited about time to produce: four to six weeks. After that, its weekends mostly and any other special performances. Don’t change the performances without consulting actors; those that have made it to opening night deserve to have some of their schedule in concrete. You may still get what you want. I don’t care how good your actors are, if they aren’t professional don’t switch roles just because they can do it. They might or might not when the time comes.
Sometimes the company, in all of its wisdom, decides so and so is out of town and he ought to see this. Videotape if you can. If dear old company insists on the performance date change, meet on the regular day and present it to who ever is allowed to listen. Then, meet as often as you see necessary to be ready for the new date. This doesn’t happen in theatre? All the time on Broadway. A change of theatres. A change of star. For change you still need rehearsal. There is no such thing as a simple insert. Something always goes wrong. Rehearse it until it becomes as natural as the original and don’t play around by switching back and forth for fun.
What is the primary purpose of our project or, in this case, the play? Should be the first question asked and who it’s for is critical. It is not an exercise, nor a game, or a fun thing to do for a few months. For the professionals, this is their life’s work and reputations; for you actors, it’s part of how they get to be professionals or it’s just fun. For some, it may be as much fun when taken seriously. Therein lies the real problem. Taking it seriously. For professionals, generally no problem, but there are always the demigods. They learn in the end.
In real life? Problems. I can hear the buzzing out there. Like anything, when you know at the beginning the way things are going to be, you are not surprised when it’s tough; you expected that. But you are surprised when it is no different from any other project you have been involved with. The idea is keep up the notion, vision that this is important stuff. After a while, they’ll begin to believe it themselves. Everyone has been in a show they wish they hadn’t for the lack of professionalism that goes on. I’d say the same with any project–all the way to the top.
I think that’s enough, but I’m sure you get the idea. The import thing is planning. Know what you need and do not proceed until you get it. You will need certain obvious tools such as a space, a means for good regular communication to take place. Hold out for the best place that works for you. That may mean you need to have your idea fleshed out even more just so you can sell your vision.
Personnel often see it as extra work. Meet with managers and sell your vision so that those personnel asked to be a part of this feel privileged. You may still have to sell the vision through out–even the managers who may have forgotton the vision that didn’t affect them directly.
This is mostly from my theatre side. Of course to see all sides, check out my website where I talk even more. Don’t worry – most of it’s coherent. My Cave Man Guide to Training and Development, with its nonsensical approach to the field, continues to do well. Sixty pages or so of sage advice looking at training and development from another point of view for ridiculously low price. My novel (under $4.00), In Makr’s Shadow, is often funny, sometimes serious and poignant; and definitely an entertaining adventure and wit of what happens when Man no longer feels competent to run the world and allows an evolving intellect to take the reins. Both books are available through major producers of e-books as well as the links listed.
Recently I wrote an article on my blog, Marion Conway – Consultant to Nonprofits entitled “Rethink…Energize…Action! Connect Your Strategic Plan and Fundraising.” I announced the post in the LinkedIn groups Strategic Planning for Nonprofits and Boardsource with the question, “If you lead a strategic planning process do you connect it with an organization’s fundraising process?” The question is still generating some thoughtful responses and this article shares the comments added by experts to my original article.
In the original article I talked about how when you develop a strategic plan, it should energize staff and board members to be more involved in fundraising. The plan and the planning process should enable you to communicate clearly with focus on your mission, your goals and your priorities. The strategic plan helps you find and organize the words that lead to action and results. This is an important output for any strategic plan.
A comment made by Dan Clark startled me at first. He said “Your post helps a nonprofit see the value of connecting their fund raising efforts to their mission.” My spotlight was on how doing a strategic plan could benefit your fundraising effort. But Dan reminds us that even if you aren’t doing a strategic plan make sure you are connecting your fund raising efforts with your mission.
Don’t all nonprofits know that they need to connect their fund raising efforts to their mission? The answer is pretty much yes to that question but more lukewarm if asked how well they do it. Many nonprofits just don’t communicate why they are worthy of a donor’s gift very well. Your strategic plan should help you identify your strengths and opportunities. The planning exercises will help you frame stronger key messages. Having fundraising be an issue to be addressed in your strategic planning will make sure that communications about your mission, goals and specific plans are a key output item from your plan.
Simone Joyaux and Marilyn Donnellan commented –each with their own framing – that the strategic plan should be holistic, encompassing all facets of the organization. I certainly agree but since my article had such a singular focus on fundraising I didn’t make that clear at all.
Finally Robert Hodge offered a fresh idea for a strategic plan. He recommends a two section approach – one for short term and one for long term. The short term plan addresses how limited resources are to be strategically allocated. The long term plan identifies the steps, priorities and additional resources needed to achieve them. The long range plan becomes the basis for fund raising apart from that of the annual fund. I was not familiar with this approach, but I can see how effective it can be in integrating your strategic plan and fundraising. Certainly, this is a good approach for an organization with very limited resources to come to terms with focusing on its priorities and having a plan that requires resource development for the next steps.
When I work with an organization with a strategic plan I am always conscious that we will fail if we produce a nice binder or report that is filed away never to be looked at again. You want to have a report that becomes dog eared with frequent use. Many nonprofits have done belt tightening due to the economy in the last few years. They are ready now, to take stock of where they are, define where they want to be and develop a plan for what they have to do to get to a healthier place. A lot is changing for nonprofits in the way we do business and expectations of us. Going through a strategic planning process, putting it all out on the table, deciding what your priorities are and recommitting to ACT on the priorities is a good first step to recovery. And yes, it is about a great deal more than fundraising.
How to Achieve a Great Look and Search Engine Optimization
For the past few months, I’ve been working with a client on their website redesign. The first thing that the lead project Partner, Peter, told me was that he loved a clean, sleek look. One of his friends has a site that he admires, and Peter would like to achieve something similar: http://www.goldenstartea.com
My client also liked the look of another site, closer to his industry: http://www.coop-systems.com Both of these sites have a very large graphic that occupies the space closest to the upper right hand corner. Here’s the problem: search engines work by spidering a website, starting at the top left corner. These sites display graphics in that valuable space. What’s wrong with that? Let’s start with some basic SEO principles.
Website SEO Basics
Search engines all have an algorithm that determines what the site is about, and which words (keywords) describe that. Generally, Search Engines place emphasis on the first 200 words, Headings, Subheads, bolded, italicized and underlined words.
So, if you’ve placed a graphic in the top left spot, the search engine wades through HUNDREDS of lines of code before it even gets to the text. Search engines’ algorithms account for this, and the sites’ rankings are negatively affected. SOLUTION: You want to place your most important, keyword-laden text in that area of prime Home page real estate.
Grab Attention with Headlines
The Home page headline should really be about THEM – your potential customers’ needs and problems, and how you promise to solve their problems and/or meet their needs. It should not be about YOU – yet.
Headlines should grab the visitors’ attention within 2-4 seconds.
The next 3-5 seconds should affirm that they found what they’re looking for, and give them a reason to stay on the site.
These should promise a benefit to the visitor and incorporate the most important KEYWORDS.
The best headlines should be:
Benefit-driven
How-To
Attention-grabbing
Offer-driven
Ask a question
Direct statement
With these concepts in mind, you can boost your website rankings quite a bit by just re-arranging the graphic placement to a lower position on the page. For more tips, tricks and SEO insights, check out CVG, Inc.
Do you have other tips for Home page SEO and Headlines? Please share!
Ms. Chapman’s new book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available in May 2012. Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com
It’s now spring, which is an interesting time for charities in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), because this is when the overlap of getting the results from the fall campaign and preparing for this fall’s solicitation period occurs. Even though the CFC solicitation periods occur each fall, the books on one year’s campaign don’t close until March 31st of the following year; and, since the CFC takes place everywhere in the world where there is a Federal installation (including all military installations and embassies), it takes a while to compile all the information.
Anonymous Donors Are Strong Supporters
The non-profits in the CFC first get the overall results of the amount of gifts that have been pledged to them, and then they will receive the names of the individual donors that have chosen to release their contact information.
One attitude change that many CFC charities need to undergo is to be thankful, not irritated, that they have a large pool of anonymous donors. What they don’t realize is that CFC anonymous donors are some of a nonprofit’s best supporters, and that a majority of CFC donors choose to be anonymous.
These donors care enough about your organization and its mission that they chose to donate to it. You’ll never know exactly why they chose to remain anonymous; and, even though they’re anonymous, they do deserve to be thanked in public forums – including your website, newsletters, and at recognition events.
Now is a good time to consider what messages will resonate the best with your Federal supporters, including, but not limited to your donors. Obviously, one of the messages should simply be, “Thank you for your gift.” Include what their gift means to your organization and what their gift can help you accomplish.
What comes next will vary depending upon what type of charity yours is (local, national or international) and the strategies you’ve chosen that best match the strengths of your non-profit.
If, for example, yours is a local non-profit that’s well known in your community, and you’ve chosen to pursue participating in charity fairs as one of your tactics, you should include mention of that practice in the thank you letters to your CFC donors … and ask them to let you know about charity fair opportunities. It also wouldn’t hurt to ask who will be the CFC campaign manager in their agency.
CFC Donors are Multi-Year Donors
One fact that is easily overlooked is that with the Combined Federal Campaign, your non-profit can-and-does develop multi-year donors.
The reality is that most CFC donors are multiple year donors, and once they start donating to their favorite CFC charities they become loyal supporters who support their favorite charities every year.
I have seen thousands of CFC pledge cards during my Federal career, and I’ve seen that most of donors make minimal changes from year to year – CFC donors are “loyal” to the charities they care about and support.
What are Your 7 Messages between now and the Fall?
Marketing experts will tell you that before anyone makes a decision about a purchase or a gift, they need to be reached at least 7 times before they will decide to buy or, for non-profits, give.
What are your messages and how are you going to deliver them to your Federal supporters by the time the fall solicitation period begins? Now is the time to start planting these seeds, don’t wait to do it all in September and October.
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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach, served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions, contact …Bill Huddleston
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