Where Do I Click?!?

Insanity is often times defined as doing the same thing over and over, and then expecting different results. I would like to propose a new definition, if I may. Insanity should really be defined as "the action of using vague words for your website links so that people have to click multiple times to find exactly what it is they are looking for!"

Not that we need to spend a lot of time with him, but here is what Mr. Obvious always says about how you should treat those visiting your website - "Don't confuse people with asinine, disorganized copywriting!"

Thank you Mr. Obvious. Your perspectives are enlightening.

No place is copywriting more key than when it comes to web links. These often times different colored specimens of clickability, are the doorways for site visitors to get from one room to another within your website. So, if you want someone to enter through your "front door", pick up a few items in your "warehouse" and then proceed to checkout, it is vital that you have a sound strategy to lead users with on-screen verbage.

And don't just settle with what other folks are doing on their sites. You would be surprised at how many larger organizations' websites become "lazy" with website copy.

If you are interested in delving further on this subject I highly recommend Nick Usborne's recent iMedia Connection article: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/4557.asp

Keeping It Real

Direct response copywriting legend Herschell Gordon Lewis recently gave a standing-room-only talk to a group of direct mail letter writers. One piece of advice he gave...

"Write like people talk. The Internet has made us all more casual in our language, so your direct response copy should follow suit. Avoid the trickiness, overly formal language and pomposity that will turn prospects off. "We are not being graded on an academic basis," asserts Lewis. "We deal in response.""

I agree wholeheartedly. Too much ministry mail is written as if it will be graded by our 9th grade English teacher. The goal of ministry mail is to communicate powerfully and get a response. End of story.

That's certainly what we keep in mind as we help our clients.

Spam's Ugly Cousins: Spit and Spim

Every single person with an email address knows the painful annoyance of spam. Unfortunately, spammers are no longer happy with invading your inbox...they want your cellphone, your blog, your instant messenger (spim) and even your phone.

Users of web-based telephones should get ready for the next version of spam (also known as spit) to hit their systems soon. ?Spit? ? spam over Internet telephony ? is beginning to surface as more people make phone calls over the Internet instead of regular phone lines, security experts say.

And if you think that the number of Internet-phone subscribers is too low to matter, you better think again. There will be nearly 1 million Internet-phone subscribers in the USA this year, up more than seven times from 2003, says market researcher Yankee Group. By 2008, the number will swell to 17.5 million. There are currently 179 million traditional phone lines and 178 million cellphones in the USA.

Read this USA Today article for more info: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20041110/1b_spit10.art.htm

Some Common Sense Fundraising Advice

Looking for Major Gifts? Don't Lose Your Nerve
By Margaret Battistelli, editor in chief, FundRaising Success

In his book, "Big Gifts for Small Groups," Andy Robinson says that "honesty, follow through and reasonable expectations" are key elements in securing major gifts.

* "Honesty and transparency generate the best results," he writes, explaining that "at each stage--letter, phone call and visit--you must be completely clear about your purpose, which is to raise money for your organization."

* "Don't start what you can't finish," he adds. "The worst thing you can do is to mail a letter to a prospect that says, 'I will call you,' and then studiously avoid the telephone. If you're going to lose your nerve, do so before you begin."

* Finally, "begin with reasonable expectations," he advises. "If you send 10 letters to legitimate prospects, you will eventually reach six or seven by phone, and three to five will agree to meet."
The reliability of those numbers, however, depends on your mailing to "legitimate prospects," Robinson stresses.

"The beauty of a straight-forward approach," he explains, "is that it screens out those that are less likely to give."

A Christian Nation?

I'm sure the creator of this graphic thought this was a bad thing. (View image">) But it works for me.

Red/Blue America

Take a look at this county by county breakdown of the US presidential vote. (Please note the pristine, unsullied red-itude of my native Oklahoma.)

This map is even more instructive than the red state-blue state maps we've all seen so much.

Christians Were the Difference

Larry Kudlow thinks Evangelical turnout was the key to President Bush's reelection. Key quote...

"But in the end the evidence points to the Evangelicals as Bush?s primary engine of victory. It?s still a rumor, but if Team Kerry leaked phony exit-poll numbers they may have actually increased the Christian turnout, rather than depressing it."

Re: Re: 270 to Win

Okay. So, a groundswell of support for Bush didn't materialize on the left coast and in Massachussetts. I still have a dream...

I have a dream that one day little boys and girls in Marin County won't grow up to think like deranged nincompoops and vote accordingly. I have a dream that significant numbers of people in Brookline, Massachussets see Michael Moore for the fatuous, America-hating blowhard that he is.

It could happen. Keep hope alive.

Re: 270 to Win

Brent, the map I created has Bush winning Massachussets, California and Oregon. Do you think I'm being overly optimistic?

Early Christmas Cheer

Wallace & Grommit fans (attention Jon!)... Check out the latest...a short film..."The Christmas Card-o-matic."