Email protocol

Best selling business author and top blogger, Seth Godin, posted a great list of 36 items to consider before clicking send on an email. Email has become ingrained into our business and personal lives to the point that we barely think about how to manage it. Seth’s post points out a number of things to consider.

Here are the tips that either made me say, “Oh yeah, I hate that” or “Gee, I think I do that”.

# 3 - Are recipients blind copied?

Seth’s referring to group emails here. It amazes me when I get a group email and all the addresses of the other recipients are visible to me. That’s OK for the gals in my book club but not for an email where the recipients don’t necessarily know each other. You wouldn’t give someone’s telephone number and address to strangers would you? Use the blind copy (Bcc) address box for these emails.

#13 - Are you angry?

I have both been a recipient of angry emails and will admit, I’ve sent out a few in the past. I take Seth’s wait one hour advice a bit further. I now won’t draft a response for 24 hours or as long as it can reasonably wait. I’ll sometimes get someone else to read over my response before clicking send just to make sure I’m not saying something I might regret later. Email doesn’t go away. Once it’s out there, you can’t get it back.

#14 - Would it be better to make a phone call?

Ok, I struggle with this one. I love email. I prefer to get email over phone calls. Why? I’m an introvert and so I like to process information before I respond to it and I find interruptions jarring. I just assume everyone is the same so I email more than I phone. However, clearly a phone call is better in some cases. Complex ideas or information that will take a long time to type isn’t best for email. As well, if you’re worried about how someone will interpret your email, pick up the phone.

#15 - Blind copying the boss

Seth asks you to consider what will happen if the recipient finds out you’ve blind copied your email to the boss. Visibly copying the boss is not always advisable either. Are you doing it because the boss needs to be involved in decision-making or needs to know an outcome? Or, are you copying the boss as a message to the recipient that you don’t trust he/she will follow up or because you want the boss to know that the person you emailed has screwed up somehow. Either way, this is a nasty way to communicate. Be careful with this one.

# 28 - Forwarding a hoax?

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate forwarded emails telling me about some concern that is clearly an urban myth (e.g. Don’t let someone spray a perfume sample on you in a parking lot—it’s poison etc.). Seth recommends checking snopes.com before you forward something like this.

# 30 - Am I quoting back the original text in a helpful way?

Related–make sure you respond to all the questions asked. There are some folks out there who routinely answer the first or last question in the email only, making subsequent emails necessary.

Check out all 36 items and let me know the ones that you can relate to. Are there any you disagree with?

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Why use a wiki?

I’ve been working on a wiki for one of my clients this week. It’s the first time I’ve created one and so far, it’s been relatively easy to do.

The client is responsible for leading a large working group. The members are scattered across Canada and recently, productivity within the group has slowed. There have been missed deadlines and members are unclear about what’s happening with some of the agreed upon activities. There’s been a communication breakdown.

Although not the whole answer to the above woes, I suggested creating a wiki to re-energize the group and get things back on track. A wiki is server software that allows multiple users to create and edit a simple webpage. It’s great for collaborative projects. The best way to get a handle on wikis is to watch this excellent video by the creative folks at Common Craft. It’s focus is on wiki’s for personal use but it will give you the idea.

The wiki I’m creating has a project management focus. I’ve set it to “private” so only working group members can access it. It will allow members to track progress on tasks and create working documents that everyone can edit (with a recorded history so you can revisit earlier versions). Members can use the wiki while they are on conference calls to discuss progress. During these meetings, everyone can view the same pages at the same time and live edit.

There is also a calendar feature. This allows for notification on deadlines, meeting dates etc. Wikis allow you to link pages and insert videos making their engagement potential high. The templates I’ve seen are easy to use and visually appealing.

Depending on the number of users with writing and editing privileges you need, you might be able to use a wiki platform for free. Most providers offer a 30 day trial to get you started and to see if the platform meets your needs. Monthly subscriptions are affordable as well.

There are oodles of wiki providers out there and it can be tough to decide which one to go with. I found the Wikimatrix helpful. It lists virtually all the wiki platforms out there and then itemizes their features—allowing you to compare them with each other.

If you have a large project to manage, staff in satellite offices or simply need an easy way to track documents you’re collaborating on with others, a wiki might be the communications/management tool to keep you moving forward.

Any of this blog’s readers using a wiki? Share your experience in a comment.

Creating the perfect tagline

I just listened to a great podcast on taglines over at The Nonprofit Jungle. The subject relates nicely to my last post about creating a logo.

In the podcast, Sarah Durham and Dan Gunderman discuss the elements of a good tagline and how creating one for a corporate entity might differ from creating one for a non-profit. The duo provides a number of examples of effective and not-so- effective taglines and even includes a test to see how your organization’s tagline stacks up.

I agree with Dan’s comments that creating a tagline is one of the most difficult jobs for a copywriter. It’s often much easier to write a six-page brochure or annual report than to come up with those perfect few words (no more than seven) to sum up the work of an organization.

If you haven’t given podcasts a try yet and you work for a non-profit, this is a great one to start with. It only runs 10 minutes so give it a listen.

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How to create a logo that works

I’ve been involved in re-branding, including logo makeovers, as an in-house communications professional as well as a consultant. For many, the hardest part of re-branding is getting the logo right. People have strong feelings about logos. They pin a lot of hopes on them and believe that getting the logo right will greatly enhance their success—however that’s defined.

I work with some amazing graphic designers, so I thought I’d ask three of them a few questions about the process of logo design and what they think makes a great logo. The panel consists of Suzanne Braun from Relish Design, Bob Gair from Spark Design and Kevin Braun (no relation to Suzanne) from Element B Design Solutions.

The Questions

1. What are the elements of a good logo—Is it all about how it looks or must it achieve specific objectives?

Kevin: Simplicity and consistency are key. Simplicity ensures easy recognition and reproduction. You want people to identify your company or product as quickly as possible. The focus should be on whether it works not whether you like it. You can’t rely on personal taste (what if you have BAD taste?). Instead, you have to focus on the target market and key communication objectives.

Suzanne: A logo is more than just a graphic; it’s part of a larger marketing concept. It conveys what you want your customers to identify your product/company with. A logo should be simple, not overly elaborate or complex. It also needs to have longevity—you’ll want to retain it for a long time. The logo is about your company and not about you personally so you need to separate your personal feelings and emotions from the logo.

Bob: First, it should be recognizable. It should also be unique in some sense. The role of the logo is to graphically represent a company amongst the clutter of marketing material out there. It needs to take on the attitude of the company it portrays but not look like the competition. So if everyone is using swooping shapes in your industry, be careful to take a new direction. The important elements of a recognizable logo are: Shape, colour and content. So if your logo is a blue circle, it might not be doing what you want it to.

2. As a designer, what do you need from your client in order to create a successful logo?

Kevin: A clear objective and trust. What is the ONE thing that you want to communicate? Trying to convey too much is beyond what a logo can do and it becomes ineffective. As for trust, as designers, we are thinking about more than just creating a unique logo. We consider the overall brand and how the logo will be produced in countless ways including print and online production. It needs to work well large, small, in colour, and black and white.

Suzanne: A mission statement and the objectives of the company as well as the demographic it’s marketing to. I also want to know what the online presence will be. Looking at competitors’ logos and samples of what the clinet finds esthetically pleasing can help as well.

Bob: Involvement. The most difficult task is when a client tells me to try a few things and that they’ll know what they like when they see it. That’s like throwing darts blindfolded. The client needs to follow the designer through a discovery process where the concept for the logo can be refined. Their input is critical to creating a successful solution. It’s best to engage everyone at the outset—all the stakeholders.

3. What do you think gets clients “hung up” when it comes to creating or changing logos?

Kevin: Unrealistic expectations can be a problem. Sometimes clients want the logo to represent or say too much visually. A logo is not an advertisement. it is a simple, abstract icon to identify your company or product. Advertising and marketing convey the rest of the message. I find that smaller companies tend towards making their logos too complicated. The most successful companies and organizations in the world generally have very simple logos.

Suzanne: Business owners sometimes second guess logos and start to take the design personally rather than looking at the logo from the outside in.

Bob: The most common problem is second guessing on the part of the client. Clients will often be happy with a solution as it addresses the criteria set out in the discovery process. They then gather opinions from outside of that process and some are bound to be dissenting. This can lead to them second guessing their instincts and it throws a wrench in the process. it’s fine to seek further opinion but when bringing the feedback to the designer, listen to that professional’s advice. They are the experts in this endeavour. A designer needs to listen to all the input but in the end, it his his/her recommendation that should hold the most weight.

There you have it—insight from three experienced design professionals about logo development. I hope that if you are embarking on a complete re-branding or simply a logo makeover, this post will help you along the design process.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with logo development. Why not leave a comment?