communication

Lots of Summer Ramblings: Strawberry Moon to Strawberry Festivals

Several years ago the bulb in our yard light burned out. It was one of those dawn-to-dusk lights set high on a line pole and even though my husband’s job is to regularly climb such poles, he just never got around to climbing ours.

At first, when I’d go out at night it seemed unnervingly dark. We don’t have immediate neighbors so nothing but the celestial sky lit our yard. Oh, but let me tell you, there’s no going back. The event of that burned-out bulb has totally heightened my appreciation of the night sky and I’m now a moon-gazing habitué.

Given that, here’s to a happy Strawberry Moon (Tuesday night) and upcoming Summer Solstice (Friday night). I love them both. With the full days of summer ahead, it’s a wonderful time of festivity and adventure.

Speaking of Strawberries…

They’re finally here! We live on a windy hill and it seems my patch is always a bit behind. But they’re here now and as delicious as ever. Just look at how red and juicy they are, unlike those so-called “strawberries” you find in the grocery store.

Hey folks, shop your local farmers! Eat real food!

Strawberry Festivals and More

One of my tastiest childhood memories is of a strawberry festival we attended while camping in northern Michigan. If I recall, it was a community church serving shortcake piled mile-high with strawberries and cream. Oh, so good!

Quite often such festivals are benefits for a specific cause (like these upcoming festivals here and here). Joining the celebration not only creates fun memories but also supports grassroots working together at its finest.

Food festivals have become one of the fastest growing forms of tourism and there’s a good reason why. They offer a sensory overload of the landscape, ethnicities, history, and food cultures of their given community.

Food lovers love food festivals; ask me how I know!

Which Leads Me To…

When it comes to festivals, I’m proud to help promote two Wisconsin biggies: The Soil Sisters in August and Fermentation Fest in October. These are annual celebrations that each draw thousands of people and have great social and economic impacts on their rural communities. Needless to say, a lot of organizing and marketing goes into these events.

Do you know of a festival looking to grow in its success? I’d love to help. Let’s talk about what makes a good festival and how to get the word out to all those fun-loving, destination travelers!

Where We Talk About Women and the Difficulties of Self-Promotion

My cousin JerriLynn is an amazing woman. When we were both barely into our 20s, she was an audacious entrepreneur with her own whole foods store. Since then she’s succeeded in a variety of ventures, always with moxie and always with finesse. These days she’s in real estate and even though I’m a Great Lake away from her Lansing, Michigan market, I love following her work.

I’m bragging about my cousin because just about the time Lisa Kivirist and I were taping our In Her Boots episode on the difficulties women have promoting themselves, JerriLynn’s quarterly newsletter came in the mail. I was blown away by how skillfully she announced her latest achievements, all the while keeping to her genuine and unpretentious self (and anyone who’s met JerriLynn knows this is who she truly is).

No matter what industry you’re in, tooting one’s horn is a necessary component of running your own business. It’s marketing, after all. Interestingly, many women think of self-promotion as a necessary evil. Maybe you do too? I admit I have to push myself, but I’ve also learned ways to make advocating my work easier and more authentic.

So here’s our In Her Boots, episode 60. Lisa and I share great first steps for telling your story and effectively promoting what you do. Listen up and then share your own ideas!

The Power of the Story

MOSES conference 2017

Last weekend we did a getaway to the MOSES Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse. I had done some design work for them earlier this year and was anxious to really be part of this great event. It was so much fun! Think hobnobbing with 3,500+ farmers, academics and friends; learning lots from any of the 65 workshops, 23 roundtables and two keynote speakers; and networking with two floors of ag-related business owners. And, oh, the food…it was deliciously diviiiiine.

My husband and I are not organic farmers by trade (we are at heart!). Even so, at the MOSES conference we felt inspired, wiser and excited about the many people who do make their living providing the world with good food. As a marketing professional, I couldn’t help notice a dominant lesson repeated throughout the weekend—the power of the story.

Stories Create Connection

There were two keynote speakers—Mas Masumoto and Liz Carlisle—and they were both captivating storytellers. They shared heartfelt narratives of themselves and farmers, and they emphasized the importance of telling your own story. Masumoto asked each of us to turn to our neighbor and share the story of how we got into organic food. It was slow going for about five seconds and then the conversation took off in an excited hum. What a great way for everyone to realize they have a unique story, all the while meeting other people and hearing theirs.

Organic farmers—well, any business for that matter—can tote facts and features all day long, but in the end, emotions are what really motivate people to buy. This was true decades ago when Dale Carnegie said “we are dealing with creatures of emotion.” It’s even truer today in this “experience-economy,” as Masumoto explained, where consumers are looking for a personal connection to the things around them. When you share your story with others, you allow them an emotional ownership in your farm, your brand and your product.

The World is Waiting to Hear Your Story

So what is your story? As Masumoto asks, “What is your story of significance?” Maybe you have difficulties figuring this out. Or maybe you feel uncomfortable telling it, like on your website or in a brochure.

Here’s where I’m your gal. As a trained journalist, I excel in the interview. I ask lots of questions and get to the heart of who you are. I listen. I take notes. And then I take all this wonderful stuff about you and weave it into a meaningful story, one that captures the emotion of your consumers and motives them to action.

If you need help telling your story, whether in design or in words—I’d love to help.

Adunate Now Offers Social Media Marketing

Forward Mutual Insurance Company social media marketing

You know you should be doing social media marketing. But maybe you don’t quite know how? Maybe you don’t have time? Or maybe you just don’t have an interest?

Here’s something to think about.

The days of passive consumerism are over. Impersonal advertising, like television, radio and newspaper, no longer holds the all-influencing power it used to have. Now we consumers seek connection, communication and information. With all our cool tech devices, we pursue these desires whenever we want, wherever we want. Given that, social media has become the primary marketing venue for reaching today’s consumers.

Forward Mutual takes on social media marketing

Mutual insurance companies generally are not frontrunners in online marketing, yet, last spring when Forward Mutual updated its website, we discussed the idea of social media marketing. President and CEO Lois Wiedenhoeft wanted to reach out to its younger target market in the way they communicate. She also wanted to answer their insurance questions and offer helpful ownership advice. Social media was just the tool to do that, plus it would increase Forward Mutual’s exposure and build credibility.

Last month we got the ball rolling!

Once a week, Forward Mutual and Adunate work together to post on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. We’re also doing regular blog posts in the form of News. Contracting Adunate to manage its social media marketing allows the staff at Forward Mutual time to do what they’re committed to doing best—serving home and farm owners throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

So check out Forward Mutual’s new presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Be sure to “Like” the pages and follow this innovative mutual as it reaches out to its market!

Oh, and by the way, if you’re on the fence about social media marketing for your business, check out this little infographic I put together. Based on statistics from Statista, it’s easy to see your business is hiding in a hole if it’s not active online.

If you’d like help with your social media marketing, be sure to give me a call.

Social media marketing infographic by Adunate

November Means Working Together (Pro-Bono)

sandhill cranes in the distance

Here it is November and we still have sandhill cranes. If you look closely in this zoomed-to-the-max iPhone shot, you see two of them enhancing the otherwise desolate cornfield. They caught my attention a few mornings ago as they gaggled away in response to another pair far in the distance. This weekend we’re supposed to get several inches of snow so these snowbirds will likely say to heck with this and take off for warmer temps.

Aren’t the migratory habits of birds amazing?

For example, for several months in autumn the sandhills gather in wetlands before heading south. These are called staging areas and here in Wisconsin there are several where thousands of cranes assemble at a time. I like to imagine this is a time of preparation and joining together of forces for the arduous journey ahead.

You probably knew migrating birds fly in the V-Formation, officially known as the echelon formation. They do this for its aerodynamic advantage, obviously. But did you know birds take turns flying the front helm of this V, a very strenuous task? And did you know the mortality rate for birds is six times higher during the migration season? Given this, isn’t it interesting that even though survival favors the selfish—those that promote their own well-being before that of others—the God-given nature of birds is to selflessly share the responsibility?

This author makes a good point when he says, “If migrating birds work together, the flock has a greater chance of having all of its feathered brethren make the long trip to their destination.”

Working together. For the good of all.

With this caring concept in mind and because November is the month of giving, let me announce it’s my season for pro-bono applications. Each year Adunate accepts two pro-bono projects for greatly reduced or no cost. These are projects I strongly support and believe will positively impact God’s creation, his people, or his ministry.

My interests include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Architecture
  • Arts
  • Children
  • Faith
  • History
  • Humanity
  • Natural Food & Living
  • Nature & Animals
  • Preservation & Sustainability

If your organization needs creative assistance in the upcoming year, click here for an application. Then, to guarantee your project’s success, be sure to click here!

Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2015. I will let applicants know of my decision in January.

Forward Thinking Means Responsive Thinking

Forward Mutual Insurance Company website is now in responsive viewing

I often use the phrase “forward-thinking” to describe Forward Mutual Insurance Company. Yes, it comes across rather pun-ish, but, pun or not, I’m proud to give kudos to this —here we go— forward-thinking company. On top of that, I’d like to present Forward’s recently updated website. Ta Da!

Forward Mutual's website on a laptop and iPad

At first glance, Forward’s new site looks very much like its old. In many ways it is.

Here’s how it’s not.

Last spring President and CEO Lois Wiedenhoeft discussed updating their website with new content and a few minor layout changes. We talked target marketing. We talked user-friendliness. And then we talked responsive web design.

Lois, being the forward-thinking CEO that she is, was gung-ho for all of the above, including re-writing the framework in responsive design. Why the extra effort and expense? Especially when some mutual companies don’t even have websites?

Historically, farms were the majority of Forward’s market. Nowadays, its landscape has changed to include city dwellings, country dwellings and hobby farms. The people in Forward’s market have also changed and the mutual now actively targets a younger generation. Forward wants to communicate the same way its market communicates. Nowadays, that’s via mobile devices.

Usability on All Devices

Forward Mutual website on the iphoneResponsive web design is a framework that automatically resizes, hides or moves content to fit any device of the user’s choice. Simply put, responsive design makes a website look good on any device, whether a desktop, tablet or smartphone.

Forward’s previous website looked good on a computer, but not so great on a smartphone. The phone on the left shows Forward’s site in its previous state. It’s the same layout as the computer’s except proportionately smaller and, obviously, much more difficult to read. Also note the photo slideshow, or lack thereof. Most mobile devices don’t accommodate Flash Player so the ol’ standby coding we used to use is now completely out of date.

In comparison, look at the phone on the right. This is how Forward’s website now appears in its responsive form. Each of its elements have automatically resized and re-ordered themselves according to priority. It’s legible. It’s clean. And because Forward now has a larger, more helpful menu, we grouped all the links into a clickable toggle.

Google Rewards Mobile-Friendliness

There’s another reason Forward moved ahead with responsive web design. It’s a very important marketing reason.

In April 2015, Google changed the way its search algorithms rank websites. It now gives top billing to mobile-friendly websites, meaning those that employ responsive web design will be listed in searches before those that do not.

How Mobile-Friendly is Your Website?

When is the last time you’ve checked your website on a mobile device? How legible is it? Is your website coded in responsive design? If you need to be higher in search rankings, drop me a line.

What’s Your Sense of Place?

lilacs in bloom

My 4-year-old granddaughter is coming for a sleepover this weekend. Of course, it’s a grandmother’s job to create the most magical memories ever so I’m pulling out the purple bedspread and planning heart-shaped pancakes.

We hear the phrase sense of place a lot. People develop a sense of place through their physical and emotional experiences in an environment. In addition to excesses of love and spoiling, our granddaughter will unknowingly take in the freshness of lilacs in bloom, the soothing white noise of wind on our hill, and the happy chatter of birds in early morning.

(Or, depending on her level of tolerance, she may or may not come away with an appreciation for the incessant crowing of Cornwallis, puffed up rooster that he is.)

Did you know sense of place and our memories are closely related?

Knowing this, it’s logical to apply sense of place to marketing and design. When customers make note of a business, their impressions are influenced by their experience. The colors of your logo, the imagery on your website, the words in your content…they all work together to create a memorable sense of place in your business environment.

What’s your organization’s sense of place? Does it convey who you are? Is it meaningful and memorable?

 

Award-Winning Heritage Homes Hosts Art Auction

A "water-painted" photo by Adunate Word & Design

Photoshop actions are one of many tools in a designer’s box for creating communicative art. Here I’ve taken a photo I used in this post, merged it with two more photos, tweaked here, colorized there and with the help of an action—violá—I’ve brought spring’s watercolor to my message.

Now let me promote communicative art of another kind—real watercolors. Communication with real connection. It’s called Memories in the Making® and it’s a fine arts program designed for people with memory loss. Long after their words have faded, these loved ones reach out with a brush, canvas and watercolor paint to convey their thoughts. Heritage Homes, an award-winning health and memory care facility in Watertown, Wis., finds the program to be a meaningful bridge between residents and their families.

This Sunday, April 19, 5-7 p.m., Heritage Homes is hosting a Silent Art Auction for works done by its memory care artists. These are beautiful expressions of the person within and are accompanied by descriptive stories. Proceeds from the event will benefit memory care programming at Heritage Homes.

In the meantime, let me refresh a press release I wrote on Heritage Home’s award-winning program.

Heritage Homes Helps Residents Communicate with Art, Watertown, Wi