Don't Listen to your Closest Friends!

Why, you are wondering, should you not listen to your closest friends? Aren't they ones who have your best interest at heart? Yes, but they are also usually the ones who know the least about what works n campaigns. You will hear thing like "I never vote for candidates who send a bunch for mail!" or "if they call at dinner time, I just hang up."

Sometimes, it's the people with a little bit of campaign experience who have the worst advice. "Why don't you have more signs up?" You'll never win without the most signs." or "In this town, people don't like slick campaign pieces. They won't vote for anyone who uses consultants to design fancy mailers."

Those statements are all toxic to a good campaign. well-meaning maybe; heartfelt. They may believe this way, but they are not running your campaign. At least I hope they aren't. Let's take these statements apart:

"I never vote for candidates who send a bunch for mail!"  These people wouldn't have voted for that heavy mail candidate anyway. If their candidate sent "a bunch of mail," do you honestly think they'd turn around and vote for the other guy, the one with little mail who has views they don't agree with? No. Mail works. It gets your message across to voters in the most visceral, physical way. Even if they toss it upon receipt they have to handle it and to glance at it enough to see, and register, your name, maybe even your three priorities listed below. Not mention your nicely designed logo and professional, but friendly, photo. Do it two or three more times, and you cement the relationship you started with that person. If they don't vote for you, they were never going to vote for you anyway. But if they don't know you, you've introduced yourself and told them why you would make the best choice.

"If they call at dinner time, I just hang up." Sure, but not before hearing your name. Or if they let it go to voice mail, they may hear your whole 30 second spiel. They'll be getting other calls at dinnertime too. And since everyone's dinnertime is slightly different, you can't always miss the dinner hour, without running into kid's bedtime, their favorite TV show, or even their own bedtime. Call when it works for you (if reasonable,; we usually stop all phone calls by 8:30 PM) and your volunteers, so long as you keep it short and on point, they'll get the message.

"Why don't you have more signs up?" There's a famous poster used by the Obama campaign. "I'm a Yard Sign; I can't vote. Go knock doors." It's apropos to all campaigns. Sure, it's nice to see your name all over town on signs in windows and on lawns, but the people with the signs are those most committed to you. You'll likely see just as many or more for the other guy. The people without signs are the ones you need to reach. And spending time and precious money on "sign wars" isn't getting your message out to the voters. Hitting them at the door, on the phone and in the mail are the things that count.

"In this town, people don't like slick campaign pieces. They won't vote for anyone who uses consultants to design fancy mailers." This may be my favorite one. It's heard in small towns across America. It may have at one time been true. Maybe when your friend ran for school board in 1987, she could do it with homemade signs and postcards printed at the local mom and pop shop. Today, all campaigns must be more sophisticated to win votes. Your mail must be sharp and well designed. It must catch the attention of the voters. And the competition at the mailbox isn't just with the other guy; it's with all the slick advertising you get every single day from a myriad of companies. So don't look at it as slick, but professional. Make your mail stand out. No, don't send one piece every day. That will get old and turn people off. Send three or four well designed punchy mailers that stick to issues. If you need to point out the difference between you and the other guy, do it in a clever comparison piece. You don't have to get nasty to make your point.

If there are several people running, it's even more important that you step away from the crowd and get seen and heard. All of these techniques are necessary to a winning campaign. The rule of thumb is you "touch" the voter 7 times, in small campaigns and large. In the mailbox, on the phone, at the door. If they come to a debate, that's great too, but most won't. You have to meet them where they live. Everyone has a mailbox, or a post Office box they check every day. Use it to your advantage.

There is still no substitute for mail

In this era of social media, snapchat, instagram, flash messaging, even Facebook is passe. Everyone's plugged in, turned on. Instant communications every minute of every day. But wait. How much of this grab and gone connections you never even think to ask, let alone get answers to.

Who's running for what seat and why? What are their issues? Why vote for this one instead of that one, and when is this election anyway??

Don't be someone to add to the clamor and confusion. Yes, use the tools available in social media, you'd be a fool not to and you might spark interest in potential donors, volunteers and voters.  But, do more. If possible, and the budget allows, mail is still the best way to get into every voter's home. Even if you mail, meeting voters in person and having a good-looking, bullet-pointed handout to take to people's doors and to leave whether they are home or not, is imperative.

You can't see every single voter though. Which is why you need something to leave at the door. It's a tangible reminder you're running, you care enough to knock on their door and what your issues are.

According to Campaign and Elections Magazine the shorter election time and limited spending in European elections make reliance on more digital communications a necessity. But take note, even in this recent French Presidential election, both candidates walked door to door. This is going to be a new trend.  We've been doing it for years. If your coffers are not big enough for TV ads, or much mailing, walk as much as you can, and make sure you have plenty of volunteers to help you.


And when you're walking, a good breakfast is important to keep you going all day. Here's a new/old recipe that is fast and protein filled to get you off to a good start:

CLOUD EGGS:

Thank Instagram for bringing back this old food fad: yolks surrounded in egg whites so fluffy, they resemble clouds.

Appropriately named cloud eggs, the weather-themed breakfast food has surged in popularity recently because they look so good in social media pictures. For weather geeks, it's an opportunity to enjoy a weather-themed meal, and we'll always be fine with that.
It turns out, cloud eggs aren't too difficult to prepare.

Here's what your cloud eggs should look like when they're done. 

First, separate the yolks from the egg whites and whip the whites until there's a foam, as if you're making a meringue, Framed Cooks said. That should take 2 to 3 minutes.
Then, arrange the egg whites in rounded cloud shapes on a baking sheet and form a hole in the middle. Bake the whites for three minutes, then add the yolks to the middle and bake for another 3 minutes.
Finally, scoop them onto a plate and enjoy, but be sure to get that perfect photo for Instagram first.
Cloud eggs aren't a phenomenon – an old French recipe that translates to "eggs in snow" dates back to 1651, Serious Eats culinary director Daniel Gritzer told NPR.

And if you need one more reason to try out this new method of egg preparation, the Coventry Telegraph says it's a fairly healthy option. Cloud eggs have just 160 calories and require no fat to prepare.

Time to start Planning that first Mail Piece

Today is Sept. 2. Monday is Labor Day, the "official" start of the campaign season. If you're a serious campaigner though, you know the campaign started months earlier with your decision to run, hiring the right consultants and staff, and assembling an awesome team of volunteers.

You've honed your budget and used your fund-raising skills to make phone calls for that important early money. You've got a walk piece or door hanger "in the can." Or you may have already started walking with it, depending on the size of your volunteer force and your district.

Now you are ready to start planning that all-important first mailer that will hit the voters' mailboxes around the same time their absentee ballots do. More and more Americans are voting by mail and the vote-by-mail (sometime called permanent absetee0 voter is more and more important. Although many of these voters hang on to their ballots until the days before the election, there is still a significantly large enough number of them that you need to reach them early. That means your mail needs to be created and sent to the printer well in advance of the date, so that it arrives in the voters' mailboxes right on time.

Work with your consultant who knows the timing, and can be sure that the mailing label is placed correctly and get an estimate for costs well ahead of time. Most printers need payment up front, and the Post Office doesn't take IOU's.

So, start working on that messaging now. Make sure you have good photos to tell your story with, and you'll be well prepared to get the mail out and in the early voters' hands when it counts the most.

Fund raising letters

Direct mail fund raising is one of the tools savvy candidates use. A short letter, on one page, if possible, with highlighted paragraphs of key issues and asking for the donation. There has to be a strong pitch or you don't get the dough.

A PS at the bottom catches the eye to promote an upcoming event, or just send the reader to the website.

The letters should ideally be mail merged from your excel spread sheet so they are personalized. You can do this yourself and stuff and stamp (a more personal touch for the smaller campaign, not to mention less expensive) or have a mailhouse do it for you.

Use a pre-printed no. ten envelope with your logo, and a union bug, or if you are really saving, use labels for the return address. Make sure a remit envelope with the union bug on it is on the inside, and if you are printing the letters on your home computer, put a disclaimer on the bottom, something like "printed in house by volunteers", "printed on pc by volunteers", or "labor donated," so people know you did this yourself.

Once the letters have been out about a week to your prospect list, start making follow up phone calls to the ones where no donation was sent in yet. This is the most crucial part of any campaign.

It's a one-two punch. First make the pitch. Then make the calls; it's the only way to actually collect the cash.

Then send a personal thank you note to the people who come through. They will be sure to donate more later.

Lessons Political Consultants Learn

Even we seasoned campaigners can still learn from one another and from our clients and others involved in campaigns. Take for example my experience this weekend as a trainer in Direct Mail at the California Teachers' Association Political Training Academy in San Jose.

I was asked by a friend who's a trainer and organizer and all around amazing campaigner, to help her present a short talk on Direct Mail - my favorite topic.

Before our time to speak, we heard another veteran CTA campaigner talk about the ballot statement. How important it is and how you really can say a lot in 200 words or less. In fact, the problem has been to convince the candidates to say less, not more, in their ballot statements, not in an attempt to hide anything, but because brevity is everything in campaigns. The more text, and the denser the type, the fewer people will read it and those that do, may well miss the main points you are trying to make as they skim over the "wall of words."

I also learned that studies have shown that voters tend to look first (and possibly longest) at the side of the mail piece with their name on it. This is contrary to what many think, who think of the label side as the "back" of the mailer, and use it as a dumping ground for their long list endorsers in tiny print, or some dense language with their 12 point program on it.

Wrong. First of all, you don't know which way it will land in the mail box but chances are better than 50/50 it will be label side up as that's what the letter carrier is looking at. That's what you will see first. I wrote a blog post on this very topic in 2013.What's on the back of YOUR miler?

Second, you only get about 3 seconds of the voter's valuable time as he/she glances over your piece. Make the most of it on both sides, especially if it's a post card and those are the only sides you have.

If it's a folded piece, be mindful that both sides have to entice and lure the voter into opening it up, a process made more daunting when there is a sticky on one side, which there usually must be according to postal rules.

Knowing these and other "technical" rules, along with good graphics, a strong bulleted message and good timing, will help you send out the best and most persuasive mail you can to get voter's to cast their vote for you on Election Day.

Campaign Tip of the Day - A Good Graphic is better than Lots of Lousy Language

I wish I were artistic. I have good ideas all the time that could be expressed, if only I could draw or collage or montage or whatever it takes to express them graphically. Sigh.. But I can't, so I work with a very good graphic designer. One who is well versed in political campaigns and understands the difference between commercial and campaign art.

A good campaign mail piece should contain few words and lots of pictures. A good photo of the candicate is a must. A head and shoulders shot and not one that is from your high-school yearbook.

Pictures of the district, of key supporters (especially if they go with short testimonials) and pictures that depict your issues, standing up for better schools, saving open space, even transparency in government all can be graphically illustrated.

A lot of words explaining your ten point program in detail will not be read. But a few short bullet points with the key issues, your relevant skills and background and how you will move things forward accompanied by sharp interesting graphics will get the voter to take the mail out of the box.

Think about your logo, your font, whether to use a border and what colors best reflect you and your campaign? A good graphic designer with experience in  the political world can make all the difference between blah, unread mail and an eye-popping vote getting message that not only grabs the voter's eye but answers that all important question on every voters' mind: What can you do for me?