We need more Brazilians

After hours of research, I conclude that the world would be a better place if more of us were Brazilian.

The research was at the airport, where I looked for people who flew more or less regularly to South America.  The Brazilians were uniformly courteous, even the ones who declined to take my survey.  How pleasant the world would be if more people were so civil.  I didn't even have to use my Googlely-translated script. I can't even fake Portuguese.

Though fewer of them actually took the survey, I'm proud to say that Spanish-speaking travelers complimented my pronunciation.  I credit Pimsleur, which is a great way to learn a language, better, in my opinion, than Rosetta Stone.  (Travel, of course, is the best way, but I don't do enough of that.)

Gracias lo mismo y buen viaje.

Too bad I don’t lead a community foundation

The Pew Internet & American Life Project will present a media learning seminar about the information ecosystems of communities at the end of this month.

 

The new research looks at citizen experiences and attitudes in Macon, Philadelphia, and Santa Clara about local media and institutions. It explores the ways local news organizations, governments, libraries, and other anchor institutions are serving the information appetites of their communities.

Even though I’d like to be there, I’m not invited because I don’t lead a community foundation.

Still, from my own computer I get lots of information from the Pew Center, such as this report on the use of the internet in higher-income households :

• Higher-income households are more likely to own more internet-ready devices and to have broadband access than their less wealthy counterparts.  (Well, it's a good idea to confirm the obvious.)
• "79% of the internet users in the higher earning bracket have visited a government website at the local, state or federal level versus 56% of those who fall into the lowest-income group ."
• "Internet users in the top income brackets are more likely to search for medical information online, seek treatment information, seek material about doctors and medical facilities, and get data concerning test results."  (Speculation: Maybe that’s because lower household income correlates to lower likelihood to have health insurance? If your coverage is good, it pays to try to find the most effective treatment, rather than what your insurance company dictates or what you can pay out of pocket.)

 

The report separates out the internet use statistics for ultra-high income households.

 

 

Also, have a look at the Pew reports on social and demographic trends, because, as Benjamin Franklin said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

 

 

 

 

Off-the-wall idea for churches and houses of worship

 

Houses of worship of any religion should always be looking for ways to attract new members.  Here’s one you may want to try.

Distribute a letter to recent arrivals and neighbors.

• ·        For neighbors, use church volunteers and door hangers.  Target the houses and apartments nearby.  The more volunteers you have, the farther afield you can go.
• ·        For new arrivals, check municipal records for property transfers and mail out the letters.

The letter:

Welcome to (community name)!   (Or “Hello, neighbor.”)  If you’re interested in joining a house of worship, the congregation at (house of worship name) invites you to visit us at (address). 

(House of worship) is special because (unique selling proposition).

Our services are at (day and time).  If you have questions, please visit us on the internet at (URL) or call us at (telephone number).

Whether you decide to join our congregation or not, if you visit us we’d appreciate your honest and anonymous feedback about how you felt when you visited.  Here’s an anonymous survey.  If you care to fill it out, please send it to (PO Box number/city/state/ZIP)

We hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

(Religious leader name)

(Religious leader title)

PS If you’d like more information, please do call us at (telephone number).  We promise no sales pitches!

The survey

Thank you for visiting us at (house of worship).  Your anonymous answers to this survey will help us understand how new visitors feel when they visit us.

Why did you visit (house of worship)?

• ·        I received a letter.
• ·        A friend or neighbor invited me.
• ·        Special occasion:
• ·        Holiday service
• ·        Special service such as a funeral
• ·        Other ___________________________________________________________________

• ·        When you visited us, did at least one person greet you with a friendly smile and an introduction?     Yes/No
• ·        Did anyone invite you to return?  Yes/No

•  ·        Was the building itself welcoming?  (Were there any physical barriers that made it difficult for you to participate in the service?) __________________________________________________________________

• ·        Have you visited a (denomination) church before? Yes/No
• ·        Was it difficult to follow the service? Yes/No
• ·        If it was difficult, why was it difficult to follow the service? ________________________________________________________________
•  
• ·        What did you think was the best thing about our service or our welcome?  ________________________________________________________________
• ·        What did you think was the least positive thing about our service or our welcome? _________________________________________________________________ 

Please answer the questions below on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “completely untrue,” 3 meaning “neutral,” and 5 meaning “completely true.”

                                                

                                                  Untrue           Neutral           True

                                                          

I felt welcome at the service        1         2        3          4          5

I might return to (house of

                                 Worship)         1         2        3          4          5

• ·        Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about your time with us?   __________________________________________________________________

                         

Thank you so much for filling out this survey!  We’re always trying to ensure that (house of worship) is as welcoming as possible.  Your opinions will help us.

Please mail this survey to PO Box number/city/state/ZIP

A special note from (religious leader): Thanks again for visiting us!  We hope we’ll see you again at (house of worship).

(Signature)

I can’t think of any congregation that wouldn’t benefit from feedback from visitors.  You’re welcome to use this idea, and if you do, I’d appreciate your opinions!

Happy new year.

My Cringeworthy Website

Please don’t visit KatharineHadow.com. 

Whenever I visit it I tell myself that it looks disorganized and unprofessional.  Then I do what anyone else would do.  I close the tab.

I started my site for two reasons:

1. as a portfolio for my print work, so I could send URLs instead of attachments
2. to show that I could produce and maintain a website

 It serves those purposes, but it’s unwieldy now.

It needs to portray a bold, confident marketer who can size up customers and bang out compelling copy on tight deadlines.  It, well, doesn’t.

But, ugh, the thought of rewriting all that copy from scratch, finding the perfect USP and call to action feels so overwhelming.

And yet, I do it daily in my pitch letters.  Pitch letters are easier, probably because I can tell myself that no one reads them anyway.

My project for today is to cull the best lines from my pitch letters and refashion them into exciting web copy for KatharineHadow.com.

About perfection—It’s actually good if the web copy isn’t perfect.  If the site were perfect, I’d never change it.  Then the search engines would assume that I’d abandoned the site, and eventually my rankings would slip.

So, in web copy, as in life, the goal is

Progress, not perfection.

Mystery Shopping

It's a mystery to me why, when I visit a local business, I find posters in the front window advertising the firefighter's barbecue that took place two months before. Why doesn't the proprietor simply hang out a poster instead that reads,

I don't care what my business looks like to my customers.
I never walk in the front door, anyway.
In fact, that's why I never flip over the "open" sign,
even when my business is clearly shut for the night.

Often what I don't find is some indication of when the business is open. I'm a real, live customer with money in her wallet, but I don't know if I have to wait 15 minutes or an hour and 15 minutes until I can get inside and buy something. Meh. I have other things to do than wait around.

I understand that freehand painting store hours on the window is expensive--and what if you decide to change your hours? But last time I checked, Staples sold lighted signs for $129.99, and if you really don't want to make a commitment, there's the flimsy plastic sign for $5.49.

While you're putting up signs, can you somehow mark your street number? I know it seems like no big deal to you, but if I'm walking down the block in high heels, I really do want to know if 350 Main Street is close at hand. This issue has been raised in New York City. Let's spread our concern all around the country, at least where I shop.

Finally, nothing says "the heck with my customers" like snow treatment. As a pedestrian, believe me, I remember which businesses barely clear one shovel width of snow, and which ones think that sprinkling a little salt suffices.

You have sidewalks. They're good for walk-in traffic. You have snow. Sorry, but them's the breaks.

Surveys in the Big Box

I have long thought that it would be cool to work for the Census department. For some reason I have been lucky enough to answer the long form once. I have also lived in an apartment with a special longitudinal census. For that census they asked me everything: how big were the cracks on my walls, how far did I live from public transportation, did my toilet flush most of the time?

The idea of collecting and aggregating so much information fascinates me.

That's why I was really looking forward to yesterday. In the past I have enjoyed conducting consumer research. You go to a retail outlet and promise a consumer some incentive if they will answer your questions. People like free gifts, and they like talking about themselves. I like listening.

In reality, yesterday was not amusing. I worked at a big box store. Even though I wore orthopedic shoes, the concrete was very hard on my feet; the shoppers were uncomfortable, too. The survey did not take 10 minutes the way the company promised. It was closer to 20. The company wanted pictures of shoppers, too, but at the end of the surveys I was too embarrassed to ask.

It was a concrete lesson in keeping surveys to the bare minimum. Sure, when you're sitting in the office and thinking about all the things you would like to know from consumers, it's easy to let your imagination run away with you. Don't let it.

I am sure of one thing: no one who took my survey yesterday will ever consent to take another one in the big box store.