Chapters 5 and 7

The changes in chapter 5 talks about are already outdated, which reinforces the point they were trying to get across. For example, the digital switch has already happened, and it’s hard to find a place that doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi. It also mentions bloggers are becoming more reputable news sources, calling themselves “citizen-journalists”. While I still get my news from a daily news paper and the evening news on channel 4 (it’s the only channel I get because I still have rabbit ears on my TV) most other college students get their news from a variety of ways some of the older generations haven’t thought of: blogs, Twitter, Facebook, internet, and even Comedy Central. The Daily Show with John Stewart is rated higher than Fox News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/01/entertainment/main603270.shtml

This is all good news as far as nonprofits are concerned because of their limited funds to spend on advertisements. With Twitter, Facebook and blogs they can get the word out about an even for next to nothing and it would be more successful. More people are going online to read about something than a newspaper or magazine. Blogging seems to be the way of the future as far as news reporting and understanding because it is so accessible.

Chapter 7 deals with taking the time to build a strong, reliable relationship with a reporter. It can take several months or even years to gain their support. It’s all about the phrase “what’s in it for me?” http://www.brainwoo.com/posts/ralph/building-relationship-reporter-takes-years-destroying-it-seconds

The website above gives some really good examples of how to build that fragile relationship and how it can be destroyed. The book also gives some of the same information: be respectful of deadlines, don’t waste their time, and respecting their preferred way to communicate (i.e. Twitter, emails, etc.) Also, knowing what kind of email to send is a skill to master for anyone. It should be short and to the point and free of attachments.

Get to know the reporter, what interests them, and keep them in the loop whether it’s convenient for you or not. Now, something else to watch out for is not letting that reporter back you into a corner with the “Gotcha” stories. Another website that talks about avoiding the on-the-fly interviews makes some really good points: http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/avoid-victim-gotcha-journalism/  and the book goes along with having 3 points and stick to them. Never offer up information that you don’t want to see in print. And as always watch out for the hecklers http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/audience/handle-a-heckler/   You should also remember to thank the reporters for coming to any event you have, but not for good press, just for their interest.

Chapters 3 and 4

The beginning chapter starts out with questions to ask on how to ultimately reach your target audience, and how to identify who they are. My father ran his own advertising firm for many years and always told me to “Fish where the fish swim”. I always thought it was corny, but it makes sense. You have to  figure out who you want to reach, what message do you want to get across, do you want them to take action or just stress the importance and what is the best way to get the message to your audience?

To answer these questions, it is necessary to brainstorm about the audience with regards to age, race, marital status, etc. Once you have the target audience breakdown then you can conduct research. The first is media trend analysis: story placement, tone, bylines, spokespeople (who is quoted), and messages (research past coverage). Once there is a sufficient sample you should look for patterns. The second is public opinion polls, which is more quantitative information. For this you need to gather information for message development, measure awareness, quantify support level, and again identify your target audience. Focus groups are conducted after a survey, and this is more qualitative research. This is where 12 to 20 people discuss what they thought in a group while in-depth interviews are for 1 or 2 people at a time to deal with more sensitive issues. I would imagine that Safe Harbor would go more towards an IDI than anything else. Though in statistics class we were taught to stay away from online research, it can prove tobe quite helpful because it encourages honest dialogue.  The ultimate part of all this research is understanding your audience; if you understand them, you are better prepared to reach them.

To develop the message you must understand the values that people hold closest. The book gives a list of 11 values, both primary and secondary, that people surveyed have. Responsibility for one’s self and one’s family hold the highest on the primary side. Before any message is sent it is important to know what core values your target audience has, and if any of those values collide and if any value trumps another in a particular situation.  People also have different levels of thinking, while most people you will reach are in level one, to maybe reach out to scientist or experts in their field you would need to appeal to the level three type of thinker.  

I also love the storytelling section. If the problem is too overwhelming for someone to solve their eyes “glaze over.” This is true, when I first saw the humane society commercial I was overwhelmed by statistics. Now they show the poor animals and talk about “for a few dollars a day, you can rescue a helpless animal” as in one. That doesn’t seem as overwhelming and I feel more likely to help. They do the same with the Children’s Hospital commercials; pennies a day.  That doesn’t seem too far out of reach. It is also true that most people’s beliefs and values come from their families. The media is the last and outer lining of the circles of communication effectiveness… but it’s not hopeless to change someone’s mind. The words used in a message dictate how people will perceive it. If it is in stride with the language your target audience understands and aligns with their values them your message will be a success.

http://expertscolumn.com/content/successful-marketing-message-how-create-it

Project thoughts

So I love the idea of helping with the new REP website for Safe Harbor. Though I am not electronically (or social media in general) skilled, I know that the rest of the class is and that is what Julie expressed that she needed help with. I also liked the idea of talking to news stations and local radio stations to boost awareness along with planning something on Clemson’s campus to educate women in the likely to be effected age group (16-24).

Also, I do want to talk with the athletic departments about a purple out, as my blog suggested. I’m sure with everyone’s contacts along with mine we can achieve some sort of cooperation with one or some of the teams on campus and let larger crowds know about Safe Harbor, both how to donate and where to get help.   

Strategic Communication Plan

Comm 456
I liked how in the second chapter the topic of how issues move up the media "food chain" was brought up. It's surprising how much is involved just to get information for your organization mentioned on a local news channel, and how something like a natural disaster, can catapult an issue all the way to the front page of a national paper. In the nonprofit industry, one develops a communications strategy by out lining its tag line and mission statement, as well as adding measurable goals. There are several questions one must answer before launching a communications plan. Does the public support or oppose the goals of an organization? Is there even public understanding, and if so at what level? There are six key elements listed on pg 17 that are needed to begin a communication strategy plan from understanding your target audience and how to reach it, to a written work plan to maintain or achieve certain goals.
http://safeharborsc.org/
I think Safe Harbor does a wonderful job at reaching out to women who are subjected to domestic violence, and I would love to help them reach more college students. Since students are between 18-24 that is exactly their target audience. Their tag line "A Safe Home, When Home Isn't Safe" reads to the women that so badly need to understand what Safe Harbor is trying to do. The Twitter messages I receive also appeal to the emotional side of people, as well as giving positive and uplifting stories.
When meeting with Julie Meredith, she was knowledgeable with Safe Harbors goals, vision and background, and though she was the only member of the staff we met, it was clear that these things were communicated to the other members constantly. The website is good, and it is very well set up to get information and to reroute if necessary. I would love to help with the new REP website so that a younger generation might be able to have questions answered and get help if needed.
I liked a website that showed what dating abuse was:
http://www.loveisrespect.org/

Safe Harbor thoughts and ideas

My first reaction while visiting Safe Harbor was slightly overwhelming. As much as I wanted to understand, I couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. These women have made a very brave step and here we were, with notepads in hand learning to the best of our ability of what they had to have experienced to be there. It was obvious from the moment we met Julie how much compassion she had for these women. She made it very clear that her biggest concern was awareness and education. She told us about the Meghan Project, now renamed REP, or Relationship Education Project. She stressed the hurtle of changing the name of a project, and I think that was one of her worries. She also mentioned the new website, and asked if we had any thoughts of things to put on there before it is launched.

I had a few ideas for projects, mostly for awareness only. My first idea I brought up in the meeting with Julie. If we could get in touch with someone in the athletic department, maybe we could have a purple out in October at a football game. Now that I have had time to think it over, even if we couldn’t get the football team I have the number for the coach of the lady tigers and the number for Mr. Bob Mahony, who could put me in touch with the game day operator, John Secada. I think we would need the whole class spreading the word and using social media like Facebook and Twitter to let everyone know about the event.

Another idea I had is along the lines of what some other girls had said about educating students at Clemson, especially freshman and sophomores since they may be new to dating without parental guidance.  Though I don’t think singling sororities is a fair idea. A lot of girls who are not in sororities need this valuable information too; plus girls not in a sorority may not have that tight knit group of friends that would notice abuse. That is why it may be a good idea to contact the Tiger news paper, along with someone who can send out a mass email alerting students, both male and female, to this event. Then we would have to find space to hold this event, could the Hendrix Center hold, could we use the Strom Thurmond building? I believe if we all pulled together we could get this ready for the end of October.
Good call Neil, maybe have an announcement during half time about October being domestic violence month and maybe futting the website up on the screen.

Nonprofits and the media

It's no secret that the more attention a nonprofit gets, the more likely it is to grow and succeed. The trick the book tells us is to start with a good communications department. Though having a sound communications program will not solve all issues of being noticed, it will have a leg up on how to put the nonprofit into the right light. To start, everyone needs to have a connected understanding for what the organization stands for. The mission statement is a tagline that people will remember, especially when they hear it over and over again. http://gettingattention.org/articles/136/message-development/guidelines-nonprofit-taglines.html
The website above talks about Smokey the Bear’s tagline “Only you can prevent forest fires.” It talks about being simple and to the point, a tagline can’t cover everything but it can engage audiences and raise interest. The goals of name recognition and reaching influential’s I find more intimidating. Building solid relationships with people in the media takes time and patients. I found a lot of good information from this site:
 http://www.free-pr-advice.co.uk/buildrelationswithmedia.htm The site talks about giving journalist exclusives, and the book supports that along with returning phone calls quickly and efficiently.

The best quote I read was on pg 13, “The more money and resources your organization can devote to media relations, the more coverage you will receive.” Well yeah! The hard part is convincing an organization to spend that kind of money. The 1 to 10 scale is one way, and making sure everyone is on board and making sure the ones who aren’t won’t be roadblocks.