Tips for Communicators

Personalize Your Letters-to-Readers

If you open your periodical or Web posts with a regular “Letter-to-the-Reader” column, personalize your communication for maximum impact:

• Inform readers about important content.
• Motivate readers by discussing challenges and opportunities you observe in your field, and urging readers to take action.
• Lead readers with stories and commentary about innovation.
• Inspire readers with accounts of success and service.
• Entertain readers with humorous anecdotes from your own work life.
• Affirm readers by reminding them of the importance of the work they do. 

Nurture the Creative Spirit

Hundreds of tools are available to help you nurture the creative spirit of your staff, colleagues and freelancers - and get them talking to you about great ideas and copy for your periodical or Web site. Here are just a few:

• Ask your people to send you their favorite periodical articles, and explain what makes them so great.
• Write a series of provocative headlines and ask for article proposals on them.
• Pass along pieces you think are great, and solicit comments and reaction.
• Send your people a prospective subject list and ask for topical suggestions.
• Ask your people to send you their very best work – with suggestions for more great work.
• Invite your folks to design an ideal table of contents.
• Pick a series of pieces (published or unpublished) and ask your people to critique them.
• Provide a random series of words and images your people can use to generate periodical and Web content ideas.

Recognize Readers and Build Loyalty

Recognizing your readers for their achievements and distinctions usually builds widespread interest – and lots of reader loyalty.  All it takes is a line or two of text.  If you have a photo available, all the better.

Be on the lookout for reader news that can add luster to your periodical or Web site:

• Professional achievement
• Degree or academic honor
• Important sale
• New product line
• Civic, community or professional award
• Speech or presentation
• New membership in an organization (including yours)
• Publication of an article
• Accolades from a customer or client
• Reaching a milestone or anniversary
• Positive recognition in the media
• New ad campaign
• Expansion of a business
• Unique service project

Make Anniversaries Work for You

Every anniversary represents a potential news or feature story, sidebar, or Web clip.  And the next twelve months are packed with anniversaries you might not be thinking about.  Consider developing editorial material marking the anniversary of:

• The introduction of a new industry invention
• The births or deaths of leading figures in your industry
• The founding of your trade or professional association
• Your first professional convention
• Sale of the first, thousandth, or millionth of a popular product
• A noteworthy research discovery
• A momentous charitable or civic contribution
• A prestigious award
• The opening of a well-known building
• Approval of legislation that significantly influenced your industry
• Introduction of your product line into a new region or nation
• The founding of your periodical

Add Editorial Spice with Humor

Occasional humor on your editorial pages can boost reader interest and commitment.  Next time you want to generate a few laughs, make a half-dozen random calls to readers and ask for real-life humor suggestions.  Here’s what you might ask:

• Can you think of any funny or unusual fact associated with your business?
• What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you in your profession?
• Have you encountered any humorous business acronyms or plays on words?
• What is the strangest or funniest customer encounter you have ever had?
• Are you aware of any historical oddities about your business or industry that produce chuckles?

Celebrate History

Historical features make a great addition to your print or Web pages.  Next time you want to focus on your industry’s or association’s past, consider one or more of these features:

• Photo Gallery – images of people and activities of the past
• "Then and Now” – comparison of today’s practices with those of years gone by
• "I Remember” – brief recollections of employees or members
• Quiz – unidentified photos or phrases, or stories with missing parts – and an invitation to readers to fill in the missing information
• Factoids – quips and trivia from yesteryear
• Decade Glimpses – anecdotes on a particular topic, one anecdote representing each decade
• People of the Past – brief look at leaders and influencers of days gone by
• Moments that Made a Difference – listing of important historical events in your industry or association

Hot Feature Topics - What Readers Want

Over the years, I’ve conducted a few editor’s surveys.  And I correspond with editors and trade authors frequently.  There’s nothing scientific about this communication, but over the years I’ve come to understand the “hot” topics editors want to present to their readers.  Here’s what’s on readers’ minds these days:

• Finding and keeping good employees, and turning good employees into great employees
• Staying abreast of new technology, and creatively using technology to boost sales and productivity
• Finding those “hidden” customers
• Maintaining balance between work life and personal life
• Learning and perfecting top-notch organizational and time management skills
• Successfully managing the effects of governmental regulation

Want to fill empty space with a hot feature, one that’s almost sure to attract – and help – readers?  Chances are one of these subjects will fit the bill!

Add Personal Spice to Your Editorial Mix

To liven your pages or Web site, add brief roundup comments or factoids about - or by - readers.  Comments need only be a line or two long, and involve three to five readers, but they'll be a popular item.  Start with these ten question-and-answer possibilities:

1. What was your first job?
2. How did you get into this business or profession?
3. Who was your primary mentor, and what did you learn from him or her?
4. What was your biggest business mistake, and how did you overcome it?
5. What is your view on this issue?  (Specify a current issue that is compelling to your readers, and perhaps, controversial.)
6. What great idea or piece of knowledge did you glean from your most recent trade or professional convention?
7. What was your proudest accomplishment?
8. What hobbies do you pursue in your spare time?
9. What great business reading would you recommend to others?
10. What words of wisdom would you give to someone entering this field?

Liven Your Quotes

Quotations can bring any feature to life.  Use any of these quotation styles to add color and spice to your pieces:

• The subject's sensory impressions. For example:  "I took one taste of the meal, and my mouth was on fire."
• The subject's thoughts.  For example:  "I have been involved with over 50 product questions, but I have never heard one so bizarre."
• Snippets of the subject's conversation.  For example:  "When I heard him say that, I turned and said 'Joe, they're going to chase you out of town'."
• The subject's recollection.  For example:  "I remember when we opened the office six years ago she said that we would look back on that day ..."
• The subject's observations.  For example:  "The entire scene was like a panorama out of a south sea island - brilliant sunshine, palm trees, even a sand beach."
• The subject's first contact with a person or task.  For example:  "The first time I plugged it in, I was in a hurry, and the unit charged in only ten minutes."

Great Openings for Any Feature

Use any one of these openings to interest and motivate your reader:

• Startle your readers with an amazing fact or statement.
• Ask a provocative question that touches on readers’ interests.
• Offer a compelling benefit.
• Suggest the answer to a secret.
• Convey a sense of urgency.
• Offer clues to the compelling story that follows.