MERE HEALING

My Story.

I was born in 1950 with several medical problems including a cleft palate and lip, which required immediate treatment and isolation from my mother – literally from the moment of birth.  My sudden and violent separation from her resulted in two emotional (read: psychological) conditions universally recognized and validated by Christian and secular psychotherapeutic professions: separation anxiety and defensive detachment.

Gay Rights Agenda Is Shutting Down Debate on Homosexuality, Says Author

From The Christian Post comes this no-brainer:

Both Brown and Mahoney believe their struggles are symptomatic of efforts by gay rights advocates and supporters to shut down the debate on homosexuality.

"It as if those who came out of the closet fighting for what they said was equality and tolerance want to put us in the closet who take respectful difference," Brown remarked.

GLAAD Has Turned Into One of Hollywood’s Biggest Bullies

GLAAD’s latest anti-free speech rampage is so misguided that for what might be the first time ever, they’ve actually forced actress Susan Sarandon over to the correct side of an issue:

via bighollywood.breitbart.com

Amazon.com: The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure

Curtis Silver throws down the gauntlet with Amazon.com:

The Kindle e-book titled The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure crosses the line of free speech, spits in our face and then crosses back over the line. Everything that is happening here, with the existence and sale of this book is protected by free speech - unless a crime has been committed by the author. That is yet to be proven.

Read the whole thing.

via www.amazon.com

Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist

Brands are flocking to Facebook in greater herds than ever before. Facebook has become an integral tick box on just about every marketing plan.

via tomfishburne.com

Great stuff from the antisocial network. Read the whole thing.

Book Review: Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children

From NARTH's soon-to-be-released Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. II come this excellent book review of Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children:

Physicians J. S. McIhaney and F. M. Bush have written this short but fact-filled book, aptly titled Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children (Chicago, IL: Northfield Publishing, 2008), to make the general public aware of emerging scientific understanding of brain development as it pertains to adolescent sexuality. The authors give clear and easy-to-read insight into how nature has intended human beings to function optimally and why sexual behavior is reserved for marriage.

Waterfall planning.

Brilliant post from "marketoonist" Tom Fishburne on planning... and not overdoing it.

My favorite quote:

A finance director once told me that "spending more time on planning won't make the numbers more accurate; it just makes the numbers wrong to the penny."

Read the whole thing.

Sign of the times.

This explains a lot.

Why I am a consultant...

We're supposed to move up the food chain as we grow older and more experienced in business.

What we realize is that as we grow older, all that changes are the titles that we apply to our existence.

Arrgh! This is what I'm afraid of!

Therapy made easy (and cheap)!

Got issues? Sure, we all do. So why see an expensive therapist when you can get psychotherapy from Dr. Freud himself for less than $8?

Just pour your heart (or head) out, then shake the Dr. Freud Therapy Ball to reveal what the world’s most famous psychoanalyst has got to say.

How brands talk.

From Tom Fishburne at Brand Camp comes a great little note on the four types of media available to your brand:

Whether on package copy, TV ads, or websites, most brands talk in the same self-referential and self-absorbed way. It’s by design. That’s usually the first filter of a creative review: run through a checklist to make sure that all the key benefits from the brief are there. The problem is that there’s rarely a filter that all that brand talk is actually interesting.

Hugh Macleod [Gapingvoid] refers to this as The Cocktail Party Rule: "What’s true at cocktail parties is also true in marketing i.e. If you want to be boring, talk about yourself. If you want to be interesting, talk about something else."

Read the whole thing.

It's Literacy Month! Thank a tree!

David Foster on building a successful fb fan page.

Social internet marketer David Foster has an excellent step-by-step series on how to set up and run a successful Facebook fan page. Here's the first in the git 'er done series:

This is solid stuff, David, particularly for those non-profit leaders who are absolutely being left in the dust by the changes taking place in social media development.  Thanks so much.

Google Analytics made easy.

Nancy Schwartz at Getting Attention has a must-read entitled clearly and succinctly 7 Easy Ways to Boost Your Nonprofit Marketing Impact with Google Analytics that is the bottom line for how to make your website work for you... instead of the other way around.

Way too much to quote at length here, so you need to go read the whole thing at least several times, but in a nutshell, here's what she says. First of all, for those who are unexposed to this stuff, analytics:

• Consistently quantify site performance and usage. Remember though, that comparison of findings among sites doesn’t mean a thing, since each site has unique goals and audiences. Focus on tracking metrics on your site over time, from the baseline of right now.
• Build your understanding of how or if your site or blog is meeting stated objectives critical to achieving communications goals.
• Suggest approaches for course correction if necessary.

That's not even scratching the proverbial surface. She says the first step in undertaking such a strategic need is the following:

1. Define site goals.
2. Pinpoint measurable objectives that will demonstrate your moving towards reaching your goals.
3. Identify, as specifically as possible, the target audiences you need to engage to meet your objectives.

Then she gets right down to the nittty-gritty of things. Take this next 'graph to the bank:

When you’re thinking about measuring the impact of your website, start with your desired outcomes, not with analytic reports. Your goals for your site will pinpoint the metrics that matter. So rather than opening your analytics tool and getting overwhelmed by all the bells and whistles, focus on factors that will help you understand the whys and whats around your desired outcomes.

And then she proceeds to get into the seven fixed metrics that are really worth tracking on. In just a word, here they are... but you'll want to read the whole thing for every bit of insight she offers on this mind-numbing [for me] subject.

1. Keywords — What top 20 words and phrases (keywords) your users enter into Google or other search engines that drive them to your site?
2. Top referring web addresses
3. Top 10 pages visited (a.k.a. content popularity)
4. Percentage of site visitors who visit the home page
5. Site bounce rate
6. Conversion Rate (goals and funnel)
7. Most Frequently Searched for Keywords (assuming your site has a site search tool)

Go read the entire piece. And sign up for her excellent newsletter. I've been reading her for several years now and she's my numero uno go-to for everything non-profit.

How to say "Thank you!"

Jennifer Windrum at WTF? just hit just hit 4K fans on fb. She asked the one and only John Haydon how she ought to thank her fans, and here's the stellar list he came up with. 

1. There is no app to say thank you
   I’m not that good at predicting the future, but one thing I know for sure is this: There will never be an app that says thank you. You can’t select sincerity from a drop-down menu. It has to come from you. You have to go through whatever you need to go through to get to the most sincere place you can in your heart. Don’t worry about what to say – let your words become servants of your sincerity.
2. It’s “Thank you” not “Thank I”
   When you say thanks, say it in the second person, not the first. Your fans are the ones receiving the appreciation, so speak to them, and not about you (they can hear stories about you some other time).
3. Don’t name names
   If you’re thanking 4,000 fans, mentioning the contributions of a few specific fans might make others feel left out, and not appreciated. Best to send those on the short list a private message of thanks.
4. Use video
   If a picture says a thousand words, video says a million. And saying thank you requires you to communicate how you feel, which can always use a million words. Plus, taking the time (and the courage) to make a video will prove your sincere.
5. Go back to number 1
   The power of a sincere thanks has no limits. Everything else is secondary.

BTW, you should be reagularly stopping by John's excellent website for the latest in social media and inbound marketing. I first came across John through the Authority Blogger and his continual insight and expertise has made him an essential arrow in my quiver. John's a big gun for Headway on WordPress and has a terrific overview of the theme, to which I'll make a move the second I'm through with this TypePad contract.  

2nd in a series on direct mail.

Direct mail wizard Jerry Huntsinger says it's a little of both. If you are a writer assigned to create fundraising letters, then you have to deal with feelings, intuition, motivation. Direct mail is a personal form of communication. And communication occurs only when you reach out and touch a person at a deep level.

This is why successful fundraising letters are rarely produced by committees or individuals who are locked into neat, logical routines of thinking.

Letter-writing is a true art form, but is restricted to the realities of budget, package, programme and cost. The techniques used in the communication process must be focused on the purpose of creativity, i.e. increase net profit.

What's not to "like" about your NPO?

eMarketer has a great discussion of what actually motivates individuals to “like” a brand in social nets like Facebook.

#1 for consumer brands, not surprisingly, is an interest in getting information about “deals.”

But the #2 driver is simply self-expression … people simply want to express their support of a company or brand (or nonprofit) to other people. A form of sharing “feel good” news — a fundamental human impulse.

Nonprofits tapping into social nets need to realize that your “friends” do not necessarily crave “interaction” with your organization — check out the list and note that “interact” is firmly entrenched at the bottom.

They do, however, want to identify publicly with you … and that’s plenty to be grateful for.

Indeed, their greater value to your organization might be as missionaries rather than as donors. So be sure you gently offer your “friends” easy ways to take additional supportive steps. As they take those additional steps, they’re probably moving closer to donating (or donating more/again).

Brand loyalty according to the Gospel of Seth.

Some solid observations from the marketing guru on loyalty. And yes, as a nonprofit leader, you need to be passionate about loyalty.

First, an interesting definition: “Loyalty is what we call it when someone refuses a momentarily better option.” Not too sentimental … at first glance.

Then some bad news: “Loyalty isn’t forever. Sometimes, the world changes significantly and even though the loyal partner/customer likes that label, it gets so difficult to stick that he switches.”

And his conclusion: “Tell a story that appeals to loyalists. Treat different customers differently, and reserve your highest level of respect for those that stand by you.”

Take a minute and read the whole piece.

Do you have ten stories from loyal donors in  your files? How are you using them?

I was wondering the same thing.