Note: This is another archive article from today’s website consolidation project. If only I would have pursued the “sticky” thought while I had the chance (before the Heath brothers got so famous off of Made to Stick). Lesson to me and probably many other entrepreneurs/solo-preneurs: go ahead and do something now! Don’t keep waiting for the perfect time. Yes, it’s good to strike while the iron is hot, but as I heard Zig Ziglar say, “It’s better to make that iron hot BY striking.”
“Know your audience” is not only what your speech teacher told you, it’s also a foundational principle for creating sticky communications. Part of knowing your audience is understanding why people do what they do.
One audience I write for regularly gets an overwhelming amount of mail: prospective donors to charities. Fortunately, they have well defined “buying” habits.
Donors tend to give to charities who:
- Are seen as a leader
- Connect with donors both emotionally and rationally
- Help provide relevance and meaning
- Offer significance and fulfillment
- Help donors make a statement about who they are and what they value
- Help donors fulfill their vision for their community or the world
- Contribute to the donor’s sense of belonging to something greater than one’s self
- Provide the donor with a sense of true partnership in making something good happen
Donors enjoy doing the right thing and putting their money into something that will create a profitable return on their investment. The return isn’t usually measure in dollars but in terms of lives saved, lives enhanced, obstacles overcome, and good accomplished.
As you read this list, you may be thinking, “Hey, I suppose MY audience probably values the same things when they’re looking for the products and services I offer.”
I think you’re right!
