diy Archives - Claxon Communication

Introducing The Wordifier!

November 10, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

We are overjoyed to announce the arrival of our newest (and dare we say spiffiest?) tool to the Claxon family–The Wordifier!!!

What the heck is The Wordifier?

The simple answer is that it’s an amplifier for your words.

The slightly more in-depth answer is that it’s a tool based on research we did to figure out what words nonprofits were using to talk about their work.

You see, the more a word is used, the less likely someone is to notice that word. It’s just how our brains work. We crave new-ness. So we figure, give the people–and their brains–what they want. Use words that others aren’t using and you dramatically up the odds that someone will pay attention.

We decided nonprofits needed this information. Yet it was nowhere to be found. We felt that was unacceptable and decided to do something about it.

Research. What research?

Here’s what we did to rectify this problem of not knowing what words nonprofits were using.

We pulled a random, yet representative, sample of 2,503 nonprofit websites. Then we partnered with Community Attributes to create a tool that would tell us which words were used most often and who was using what words.

That makes it sound easy. It wasn’t, trust me. But it was worth it because now you have a tool that will tell you exactly which words you should stop using, use with caution, or use all you want. And it’s, like, statistically significant. #OMG

Go ahead. Give it a whirl.

#WordifierLove

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We’re just starting to sift through everything our research reveals about nonprofits and language. We will be sharing everything we learn with you!

BTW, if you play with The Wordifier and have a suggestion for how we can improve it, pretty please let us know. This tool is meant to be useful, actionable, helpful, etc! So let us know your ideas in the comments, on Facebook, or Twitter using #Wordifier!

FREE Marketing 101 Toolkit let’s you ‘Just Say No to More Marketing’

January 27, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

In marketing, we focus a lot on what you will do. Often a better question is: what will you NOT do? What will you say ‘no’ to? More marketing doesn’t mean better marketing. In fact, it often means worse marketing. Because there are only so many hours in the day and dollars in the bank.

If you want to be successful in 2014, kick it off by figuring out what you won’t be doing this year.

To help you ‘Just Say No to More Marketing’, we created the Marketing 101 Toolkit. It’s FREE, people. Free. Download it. Use it. Decide what things you’ll do really, super well. Focus on them. Prioritize them. Rock them. And forget about the rest. Really.

Want some quick inspiration as you gear up to just say no? This fun, yet practical, post from Nonprofit Marcommunity lists 8 things nonprofit communicators will stop doing in 2014.

Will you join the ‘Just Say No to More Marketing’ movement in 2014?!

Going Dark So You Can See the Light…and get some freebies

January 8, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

Going Dark In December, we went dark. We did not publish a single post. Nary a word was typed on this blog. And we did this (gasp!) on purpose.

Why? We wanted to see if the old saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” was actually true. (Just kidding.)

December is frantic. Frenetic. Over the top. It’s a blur of Top Tips, eggnog, awesome advice, sparkles, and post after post on how to boost end-of-year fundraising.

This isn’t a bad thing. But your year-end planning should really start in January, not December. So instead of adding to the flurry of holiday craziness, we spent December creating a suite of new DIY resources to help you throughout the year.

We are super excited to share the three newest additions to Claxon’s suite of free resources–TOOLKITS! Each one focuses on a different area and includes the very best tools for you to use, along with helpful instructions.

Without further ado, here they are:

In the coming days and weeks, we will be dark no more! We will be taking a closer look at each of the aforementioned toolkits, sharing before and after posts featuring the winners of the #FixMyPitch contest, and looking at the very best words for you to use in 2014.

If there are other word-related resources that’d be handy to you, let us know in the comments. We want to do everything we can to make 2014 a truly fantastic year for you!

Back to School with the 1,2,3 Marketing Tree

September 5, 2012 by Erica Barnhart

It’s the first day of school in our neck of the woods. Time to get back to the basics. Claxon’s 1,2,3, Marketing Tree gives you the basic steps for your organization to inspire action and engagement (i.e. market itself) in a way that’s simple, effective and fun. Yep, yep! Find out how in this quick video.

1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree from Claxon Marketing on Vimeo.

DIY Marketing for Nonprofits

September 15, 2010 by Erica Barnhart

Here’s one thing we know about marketing: if you have a plan, you are way more effective. And yet, very few nonprofits have a marketing plan in place. We must put an end to this, people!

A plan is easy, especially if you take a DIY (do it yourself) approach to marketing, which most nonprofits do. You’ve got to have your plan or you end up working really hard and doing a bunch of stuff, but not necessarily getting results. Not good.

As a way to help our fellow do gooders create mission-driven marketing plans in record time, we created the ‘1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree’. It guides you through the process of figuring out your plan in 3 simple steps. Watch this video in which Erica explains how this great tool can make your life so much easier!

In order of importance, here are the three steps:

Define WHAT success means for your marketing.
Figure out WHO you need to reach for your marketing to be successful.
Figure out HOW to most effectively reach your ideal supporters.

Click the template here to download your very own ‘1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree’. Get planning!