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100% of these resources are inspired by real problems we’ve solved for real clients.

5 Things to Help You Lead Change

The toughest part about making something happen is waiting for others to catch on. Here are five things to help you stay the course as you try to pitch a project, champion a strategy, and win people over to embrace change of any kind. Don’t miss this: it’s less about technique and more about attitude.

Content Questions Everyone Should Ask Before Posting Anything on Social

Digital content is part of an entire online ecosystem – and every part has a distinctive part to play as you reinforce your brand, serve your people, and accomplish your mission. Points in this ecosystem are are successful when they help people connect, not when they broadcast more promotional noise.

3 Ways You Should Start Over With Church Communications

Bad communications start with a bad definition. And, one of the least defined roles I’ve seen over the past decade is “Church Communications Director.” The title is used liberally as a synonym for anything graphic, design, online, content, video, brand, print, and swag. The business sector is experiencing the same problem with Chief Marketing Officers (CMO), the equivalent to the Church Comms Director.

 

Don’t Kill Your Own Message: Here Are 4 Ways to Stop

Communicators can be murderers. We kill our message. We don’t mean to do it. But nonetheless, we’re destroying the very thing we value. We need to relate to people to effectively communicate. That means paying attention to what’s going and understanding why someone would, or wouldn’t, want what we have to offer.

3 Communication Fixes That Always Fail

If you follow any road of pain and frustration in an organization, it will inevitably lead to communication. Even if the problem didn’t start there, the communication activity is where people feel it and the communication person is where it ends. Whatever “it” is, the temptation is to fix communication—and fix it fast.

Essential Communication Decision Tree

In a non-stop drive to create, grow, innovate, automate, engage, meet cultural demands, react to crisis, and adapt to new threats —  people are burning out and tuning out. The solution isn’t found in the “how to” but the “so what.” Adjust your plan and simplify your scope to bring your people and projects together.

The Only Meeting Outline You’ll Need

I was on the executive management team at a fast-growing non-profit with an aggressive vision. Everyone was working at an intense pace, with a lot of moving parts, seven days a week. And, I only had 60-minutes with my boss every other week. Obviously, the list of topics I wanted to review with him outnumbered the minutes available to work with him

Simple Social Media Framework

There are different components to a social media strategy. Senior level leaders don’t need to be involved with the content calendar. What they do need is clarity around how to organize social media efforts around a specific purpose for each channel and who runs point for the content in each.

Communication Job Titles and Expectations

There are no winners if you make a hire without an awareness of the difference between function, competency, and capacity. Too often, the “catch-all Communications Director” fails to win because they have all of the responsibility without the authority or all of of the authority with none of the responsibility. Define the role before you assign the role. 

Brand Experience Audit

Brands are built through the total experience they offer. A good experience delivers on its promise; it doesn’t contradict itself. And, neither will a good brand. What is the sum of your parts? Are they adding up?

 

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