Experts communicate clearly

Last time we talked about building credibility as an expert.
Today we’ll talk about communicating clearly.
Experts limit their value if they don’t communicate clearly.
Today I’ll share a secret we give student journalists.
Lisa Giles invited Ed Henninger and me to Richmond.
We spoke to the Virginia High School League conference.
Ed showed them how to communicate through design.
I talked with them about writing and editing clearly.
We discussed Rudolf Flesch’s ‘Fog Index’.
Dr. Flesch believed short sentences were easy to read.
Ann Landers and Winston Churchill wrote short sentences.
So did Nobel Prize novelist Ernest Hemingway.
To find your average sentence length, take 10 sentences.
Count the total number of words. Divide by 10.
When next you write, be aware of your sentence lengths.
Write without commas. Use lots of periods.
Think active voice. Use active verbs.
Turn clauses into separate sentences.
Today’s blog has 195 words in 26 sentences.
The average sentence length is 7.5 words.
If high school journalists can do this, so can you.
Next we’ll talk about another Fog Index clarity test.
For a tip on sharpening your focus, click here.

What would you do if you were king of the world?

Last week we talked about what we’re teaching future journalists.
Today we’ll talk about what you would do with unlimited power.
Newspaper tech expert Kevin Slimp posed that question to us.
A group of us were discussing the future of newspapers in Atlanta.
He wanted to know how we would advise newspaper people.
The answers came rapid fire.
Ken Blum said, "Don’t give your content away on the Internet."
John Peterson said, "Be accountable to your readers and advertisers."
Ed Henninger said, "Constantly reinvent your company. Innovate.
"Concentrate on customer service. Keep the personal connection."
Phil Hanna said, "Grow the top line instead of constantly cutting."
In other words, work as hard on the revenue side as the cost side.
Kevin himself said, "Constantly improve your reproduction."
Bob Bobber said, "Rotate your sampling in growth markets.
Introduce more and more people to your community newspaper."
I say, "Get more local names and faces into the paper.
"Look for new ways to help advertisers survive and thrive."
Tomorrow we’ll talk about our annual cost and revenue survey.
To improve your top and bottom lines click here.

Are we losing our connection with our customers?

Yesterday we talked about keeping newspapers profitable.
Today we’ll talk about enriching our customers’ experience.
These insights surfaced at our think tank summit in Atlanta.
Question #1: Is outsourcing our jobs a plus or a minus?
Newspaper technology expert Kevin Slimp sees real problems.
Outsourcing can damage our connections with our customers.
Designers in India don’t understand our culture.
Outsourcing advertising and editing to them is a disconnect.
Question #2: What does it cost to replace people with technology?
Circulation trainer Bob Bobber fears we will become a commodity.
Look at the banks’ attempts to replace tellers with ATMs.
They lost the personal touch, their connection with customers.
Are we headed down the same perilous path?
Question #3: Is voicemail robbing us of that human connection?
Designer Ed Henninger warns of over-reliance on voicemail.
Lets say your newspaper didn’t arrive today. You call the paper.
You get a recording: "If you did not get your paper, press 1."
Three recorded prompts later you’ve given your name and address.
You don’t get to talk to a real person. ‘Real people’ are an expense.
Voicemail is cheaper. But is it a good experience for subscribers?
A banker friend of ours won’t have voicemail answer his calls.
He says his competitors can copy everything else he does.
He stresses the one thing they won’t copy is his friendly staff.
Too expensive, the competition says. Poppycock, he says.
His competitive advantage is that personal customer connection.
Have you maintained a personal customer connection?
Tomorrow we’ll talk about educating future news people.
To get rid of your profit killers click here.

Do newspapers have a future?

Yesterday we talked about learning from our experiences.
Today we’ll talk about something close to many of our hearts:
What lies ahead for newspapers and the publishing industry?
As you’re reading this, my wife and I will be in Atlanta.
I’ll talk with Ruth King on the ProfitabilityChannel.com at 10 a.m.
Then we will meet for the weekend with other consultants.
These include some familiar names you will recognize:
Ed Henninger, Ken Blum, Bob Bobber and Kevin Slimp.
We will discuss the future of newspapers in print and online.
I’ll share our insights with you in next week’s blog.
My take on newspapers’ future? It’s simple and optimistic.
The obituaries are premature. Community newspapers are robust.
They fill a need for local news and information like nothing else.
They tell about your taxes. What your local officials are up to.
About the education your children get. The safety of your town.
Who scored the winning points in the local high school game.
Who was born, got married or died. What’s on at the movies.
We don’t try to cover the world. We cover what we do best.
We should not try to be all things to all people. That’s suicidal.
Local news and sports is our franchise. Our reason for existence.
We should strive to do it better than anyone else ever could.
I hope you have time to watch Ruth and me. To do it, click here.