How to Mentor Effectively: Ten Tips for Success

Mentoring another employee, discussed in this month's enewsletter, benefits the mentor, the mentee, and the organization. But how do you mentor effectively? Whether you establish a formal, structured mentoring program or opt for an informal, friendship-based relationship, keeping these tips in mind will help maximize your chances for success.

1. Make sure your protégé's goals match your own. Having similar motivations will make you more compatible in the relationship and will make you more effective as an example.
2. Identify expectations up front. Discuss what you both hope to gain from the relationship and determine how often you will meet.
3. Give the relationship the time it deserves and needs. Consider spending time with your mentee among your top things to do.
4. Correct in private. If a mentee acts inappropriately or messes up, correct him or her in private. Public criticism doesn't do anyone any good.
5. Challenge your protégé. Provide your mentee with of a project or situation he/she wouldn't normally experience and supervise the process. Be sure to praise publically for a job well done.
6. Challenge yourself. Continue to push yourself and to develop yourself professionally. You didn't get the experience you have sitting back and watching others.
7. Practice active listening. Your mentee wants to hear what you have to teach, but he/she also needs you to listen, too.
8. Maintain a positive attitude. Attitudes, like colds, spread with contact. Encourage your mentee regularly and exude confidence and content in your work.
9. Don't be afraid to say you don't know. Just because you have experience doesn't mean you know everything. And that's okay. Your protégé will trust you more if you admit you don't know something than if you stumble your way through an answer.
10. Admit when the relationship isn't working. Not every successful business person makes a great mentor. If one or both of you isn't satisfied with the relationship, discuss it and end it, if necessary.

End-of-Year Marketing Tasks to Complete Now

With the end of 2010 just around the bend, performing these end-of-year tasks will not only maximize your efforts for this year but will also give you a good start into 2011.

Clean out your overage. Do you have extra flyers stored in your warehouse or at the mail shop? Blow off the dust and take inventory of your overage. You may have a quick and relatively inexpensive (the printing is already paid for, after all) mailing on hand. If you have large quantities of pieces that did well--and the pieces don't include any dated references or discounts--you may want to re-mail them to a portion of your house list or to a rental list. Even if you didn't budget for an additional mailing in November, there's always room for a mailing that can pay for itself.

Go back to the beginning. You may have already created your marketing plan for next year, but the most effective marketing schedules aren't set in stone. Update and review the response rate for every campaign you mailed or emailed this year, even those you consider inactive. Were you surprised by any of the results? Did your marketing generate the response you expected? Would the response rate improve if you adjusted your timing a bit?

Survey your best clients. You know who they are: the customers who order often or order big, or the contributors who have supported your organization for years. Assemble a list of your top clients and call them up. Did your customer service perform satisfactorily? Were all products received on time? How about the marketing: did your clients receive notices about new products and services when they needed them? Take this time to find out how their businesses faired this year, too, and what your organization could possibly due to help them in the year ahead.

Say thanks to your supporters. Most people like to know that the organizations or the companies they support appreciate their interest and their income. Whether you choose to mail a holiday card, email a "thank you" letter with a discount or special offer, or post a sincere note on your website, take the time to recognize the folks who chose you this year.

Three Questions That Will Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Next List Rental

When you commit valuable resources to renting a mailing list, you want to make sure you're maximizing your ROI and odds of success. How do you do that? List selects.

Although datacards by nature provide key information about a list—quantity available, description, cost per thousand names, source, last update, etc.—sometimes you have to read between the lines to find out the quality of the names you're getting. The next time you review a datacard for a mailing, ask your list broker the following:

1. What selects are available?
According to David James, President of Bethesda List Center, a good list broker can help you rent a list of names, using selects, that looks like your best customers. Start by choosing a type of list--response or compiled--and your trading area--business or consumer. Then, look at the job title and function selects. But don't over select, he warns. "You're always looking on the outskirts of your target customers, to the ones that are 85% qualified," James says. "That's where you'll frequently find new customers."

2. How complete are the selects?
When you look at all of the counts for a given select category, do they total the number of names available? For example, do the state counts, when combined, equal the total names available for that list? If they don't, ask your list broker why. In the case of a membership list, for example, the gaps could be from lack of member input. It may, however, be a housekeeping issue, in which case you may want to keep looking at other available lists.

3. Can you run a list merging two selects?
This is a biggie. For a seminar company, what's better than renting a list of human resources professionals? Renting a list of human resources professionals (job title select) who have made a purchase in the past six months (recency select). For some list owners or brokers, running a list of contacts who meet two criteria is simply a matter of programming. For others, it's not, but you won't lose anything by asking. The more you can fine-tune your rental, the more likely you are to hit your target audience.

Sending customers or prospects to your home page or a pre-existing page on your website could do more harm than good.

Don’t believe me? Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes: you most likely already have. You get an intriguing offer either through the mail or online. You think you just may have found the solution to your current challenge. You go, as directed by the marketing piece, to the organization’s website, and voila…

Nothing. It’s as if the marketing person and the web person didn’t communicate, and you don’t have the time or the patience to sort through the page or the site to find what you were looking for.

To fully take advantage of a multi-channel marketing campaign, you need to put as much effort into the landing page as you do the marketing that directs customers there. To maximize your chances of receiving the outcome you desire, employ these must-have elements into every landing page you create:

Simplicity. Focus on your offer and the benefits thereof. Don’t clutter up the page with peripheral offers or products. Simplify your layout and remove unnecessary distractions.

Repetition. Whatever key words you used in your message, use them again. And again. Make it easy for people to confirm they’re going to find what they’re looking for on that page and make it easy for search engines to find your page.

Convenience. You’ve asked someone to visit your landing page for a reason: to sign up for a newsletter, to request information, to buy a product. Your landing page should make it easy for your visitor to follow-through on your request. Ask for only the information you need.

Commitment. Once you’ve received a response, follow-up whether you’ve made a sale or not. E-mail or mail a thank you, send out the requested product or information, and then follow-up again.

Making Your Direct Mail Pop with Flats

Looking to spice up your direct mail with a flat? Large mail pieces, known as "flats," look and feel more important than other mail by its physical stature alone. However, an improperly designed flat, or a campaign inappropriately designed as a flat, could shrink your budget and your results. Here are a few points and tips to keep in mind the next time you consider creating a flat mail piece.

The pros. With more space to build your case, describe your product, or sell your service, flats let you get as detailed and graphic as you want. Their large size--between 6-1/8 and 12 inches high, 11-1/2 and 15 inches long, and 1/4 and 3/4 inch thick--begs for four-color printing and thicker or glossier paper, which results in a "richer" looking piece.

The cons. More space, of course, means more paper and more printing expense. It also means more postage. In a best-case scenario (5-digit automation), a standard automated letter would cost you $0.233 per piece. The same promotion as a flat? If a single piece weighs less than 3.3 ounces, $0.346 per piece. If it weighs more than 3.3 ounces, you not only pay a per-piece price, but you also pay a per-pound price, which nearly triples your standard automated rate, from $0.346 per piece to $0.921 per piece.

Our suggestions? First and most importantly, make sure your offer or message requires a bigger design. Could you make the same impact with a letter-sized mailing? Could you design it as an 8.5 x 11 piece but fold it in half or thirds and mail it at the letter rate without comprising the integrity of the piece? Is the message/product/service new and unique or a company trademark? Can you justify the higher expenses of a flat mailing in relationship to forecasted revenue?

If the flat is for you, next look at your offer or message. Examine what you want to say and how you want to say it. Can you accomplish your marketing goal with a single, self-mailing flyer, or would a multi-component envelope mailing work better? Then, keep your focus tight. Although having more space allows you to include more information, it doesn't mean you need to cast a wide net. Include only information that directly relates to or supports your offer.

Finally, use one dominant graphic and a series of smaller, supporting graphics to show the detail of your product or to generate emotion. Include a strong call-to-action and an equally strong tracking device, like a promotion code, reference number, unique discount, or contact information, and watch the response roll in.

Correcting Missteps Made in These Difficult Times

Last year was a difficult year, and while 2010 is shaping up to be much healthier, many leaders are still reacting to last year's environment.

Yes, we have had to do more with less. In most cases, the less is staff and the more is in the form of increased workload and hours. But when the pendulum swings, and inevitably it shall, will we be poised to recover swiftly? Use the following five tips to help your organization rebound quickly and fuel growth.

1) Avoid negativity, and rally the troops! Everyone understands the need to cut expenses to survive the recession. Doing more with less can not only be tolerated, but it can also be accepted. But don't treat people like they should feel lucky to have a job! Sincere and timely recognition for a "job well done" can continue to motivate and inspire your staff onward. Communicate your gratitude to your donors and members. Let your partners know they continue to be a key part of your success and future. No matter the magnitude of their contributions, communicate your appreciation promptly and often.

2) Seek input from all your folks. It's not always good to cut "'til you bleed." Rather, gather information and evaluate programs and processes. Determine which projects/tasks are critical to your mission, survival, and growth, and focus on these. Postpone other residual tasks.

3) Look for opportunities that will allow you to build and not cut. Involve everyone in the search for innovations and efficiencies. Engage everyone; ignore no one. Give them a sense of ownership in common goals and stand with them. If you are there for them, they will be there for you. Reward ideas that work. In addition to recognizing talent, if an idea has saved money or generated additional revenue, provide the individual(s) with some additional reward, like a gift card or even cash.

4) Do not cut marketing spending, but instead consider increasing it. While others are cutting, it is critical to keep your message alive and your organization visible. Increase your testing and market research to learn more about your audience than you ever did before. History proves that those who increased advertising during a recession improved market share and ROI over competitors who cut back.

5) Invest in employee education. Training provides your employees with the extra skills your company needs you stay competitive in an ever-changing world. Training also leads to higher job satisfaction and better job performance.

Eight Tips for Top Press Releases

Whether you're a non-profit or for-profit organization, you have something to share with the general public, industry publications, customers, members, and others. New products. New services. New events. New opportunities to get involved. Get the word out with a clearly written, purpose-driven press release.

Even if you're never written a press release before, you can create a focused announcement that delivers timely information and creates interest, and you don't have to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, every time you write one. Applying the following eight tips to any press release you write will help you organize and execute your publicity plans and communicate key information every time:

1. Identify the piece as a press release. It sounds obvious, but if you don't identify what your document is, preferably in the upper left-hand margin of your page, your news may never get read. The phrases, "For Immediate Release" or "Press Release," in all capital letters, are all you need.

2. Include contact information. Including your spokesperson's name, title, phone number, and email address makes it easy for a reporter/recipient to call with follow-up questions.

3. Answer five questions in your lead paragraph: who, what, when, where, and why. That includes your dateline, which tells the reader where and when the story was written (WASHINGTON, D.C., June 14, 2010, for example). Make this first paragraph as intriguing as possible so you not only grab your readers' attention, but you also convey all the important details as quickly as possible.

4. Make it news. Make sure your press release focuses on something newsworthy: a new product, service, event, change in operations, etc.

5. Focus on the facts. Your press release should include facts, not a sales pitch. Reporters know the difference between news and marketing hype.

6. Let someone speak. Including a descriptive scope from a person with authority personalizes your release and gives you an opportunity to break from the "just the facts" tone.

7. Don't forget the headline. Your headline should summarize your announcement. Include the name of your organization, when possible, and at least one strong action verb.

8. Don't get carried away. Not everything is newsworthy. Limit yourself to the number of press releases you distribute each week to maximize their impact. Otherwise, your press releases risk losing their potency.

Extra! Extra!: Use News in Teaser Copy to Get Your Direct Mail Opened

You could create the most effect pitch in the history of your organization, but unless you get your recipients to open your mail piece, you might as well send them last week's newspaper.

So how do you get your mailing opened and read? You could use irregularly-shaped packaging, but doing so will cost you exponentially more in production and postage. You could ship your mail pieces via first class mail, but that, too, will increase your postage expenses significantly.

Or, for just a few cents per piece—or for free, if you're designing a self-mailer—you could draw your recipients into your mailing by printing teaser copy on your envelopes.

According to advertising expert John Caples in his book, "Tested Advertising Methods," writing successful teaser copy isn't just the luck of the pen: it's the careful application of time-tested formulas.

Although Caples identifies 35 specific formulas, he breaks them down into four main categories: news, price, key words, and other.

1. News. What makes news effective subject matter for teaser copy? People like advances. They like innovations that make their tasks more bearable, their work more effective, and their personal life more satisfying. They like keeping up with change.

You can tap into this natural curiosity more easily than you may think. Try including dates or using "newsworthy" words in your teaser copy. Words such as "introducing," "announcing," "now", and "new" will grab your prospects' attention and make them want to read more.

2. Price. For many consumers and donors, the decision to buy or donate comes down to one question: how much will it cost me? Particularly if it's a reduced price or a special offer, including a dollar figure in your teaser could be just the thing that gets your direct mail package opened.

3. Key words. You probably already know the marketing value of the "f" word, "free," but do you know which "w" words you should be employing in your teasers? According to Caples, "why," "which," "who else," and "wanted" will likely get your mail opened.

Direct Mail To Increase in 2010 because of Proven Success!

Direct marketers challenge predictions of a decline in direct mail and expect 2010 to yield an increase instead! As said in a study from the Direct Marketing Association, mail spending is expected to increase by more than $1 billion!!! The report states that e-mail, once thought to be the next big thing as a prospecting medium, drives fewer sales that most other marketing channels.

According to the report, non-catalog direct mail returned $15.22 for every dollar spent in 2009 and drove $445.8 billion in sales! This type of ROI is not only impressive but also a much needed resurgence to the overall economy! So get it in the mail and enjoy the increase in response.

Happy Mailing!!