By Rick Nobles
I recently celebrated my birthday, and it was not a big deal.
Although it was a milestone birthday – 65 – which means I get $2 off my next haircut at Great Clips and some other swell discounts, it still was not a big deal. To me. Or to anybody else.
Want to know something else that’s not a big deal? Just about anything you have to say about your school district. Oh sure, the 5% of your patrons who are raving fans will be interested in everything you say. And the 10% of patrons who are C.A.V.E. (citizens against virtually everything) Dwellers will find fault with anything you have to say. Otherwise, it’s just a not big deal.
It’s sometimes a hard pill to swallow because you care so much about the district, the kids, and everything that happens. It’s hard to understand everyone else doesn’t feel the same way.
If patrons took time to focus on the district, they probably would show more signs of interest. But there’s so much information to assimilate on a daily basis, it’s sometimes impossible to focus.
In fact, the average American is exposed to more than 3,000 commercial messages per day – and that’s not counting email, Facebook, texting, Twitter, etc. We all are being bombarded with content, and it’s increasingly difficult to keep up with it. For example, a colleague reports he receives and has to deal with more than 300 email messages per day. Oy vey!
Just keep in mind, everything you are wanting to communicate is competing with everything everyone else wants to communicate.
The best communications advice is to keep the message simple and repeat, repeat, repeat. Whatever you have to say will rarely be the most important thing your patrons want to know, but if you are diligent in your communications efforts, they might at least hear it.
