Go Green with Your Written Communications

Resolve to "go green" with your written communication in the year ahead. “Green” communication can save you time and money as well as reduce clutter and your environmental footprint.

Check out these examples of greener communication:

Sell sheet vs. brochure — Before you develop a new brochure (or re-design an existing one), consider a sell sheet instead. A sell sheet is a high-impact single page presentation of your core capabilities, customer benefits, and contact information. It is a smart way to get your brand into the customer's hands without the bulk or expense of a brochure. Use sell sheets for prospects and brochures for leads. A sell sheet is a way to tell pre-qualified prospects who you are and what you do. A brochure is a way to tell qualified leads specifically how you do business and why they should partner with you to meet their objectives.

Email vs. direct mail — Email is obviously "greener" than paper-based direct mail and it also offers several other advantages over direct mail. Many of your prospects and customers spend a lot of their time at the computer, and email is usually the fastest way to reach them. And even though people receive a lot more email than direct mail, it is easier to capture attention with email than it is with direct mail. You can use an engaging subject line, colorful graphics, animation and video to set your email apart from the Inbox crowd.

Be concise — As much as we embrace digital communication, many people still rely on the printed word. Assume that a percentage of your readers will print out your digital communication, and make it "greener" by writing concisely. Highlight key messages with bullet points and links to relevant sources rather than sending long paragraphs and multi-page messages.

Consider file sharing for large files — Instead of sending entire Power Point presentations and 100-page reports, consider parking the information on a secure file sharing site. It's much "greener" for your team to download a presentation from a file sharing site for review during a conference call than it is to send the presentation and have everyone print it out for their own reference.

Issue a press release vs. direct mail campaign — And now for one of my favorite "green" writing techniques - the press release. A press release (sent digitally, of course) can deliver your message to a vast market without using a single piece of paper or envelope. If you're not sure of the benefits of using press releases please read my article “Permanent Press”. You will be glad you did!

Sally Bacchetta
Onwords™ column
My Google Profile+