Blog | Straightforward Management & Consulting

The Greatest Showman: Marketing Communications "Come Alive"

I recently had the pleasure of flexing some marketing muscles and overseeing the marketing campaign for a client’s annual gala. The event...

Clear Your Mind - And Your Lobby

Think about your lobby like you would a retail store. And I mean a fancy retail store--like the kind most arts administrators can't...

What En Vogue Taught Me About Subscription Marketing in 5 Easy Tips

Subscription/membership marketing is SOOOO boring. And it takes grit--real shoe-leather sales like packaging and repackaging...

Aliens are coming ... and they want our culture

I am, admittedly and proudly, a science fiction nerd and was rather disappointed this story (about, no joke, credible record of...

A Buddhist, Politician and Artist Walk Into A Bar...

Turn to cultural, political and religious studies to organize your communications around data. LaPlaca Cohen recently published their...

Please, do your own Facebook advertising

[Originally Published by Americans for the Arts/NAMP: https://namp.americansforthearts.org/2017/10/18/please-do-your-own-facebook-adverti...

Multiplicity: Why Copying Copies is a Bad Idea

This video appeared in my inbox today. The headline is really what grabbed me: "Why you shouldn't copy someone else's marketing." I like...

Uh... Uh... Chaotician... Chaotician

Math for Arts Administrators Part V: Locate You and Your Organization in a Cynefin Framework Chaos has been in the news of late: the U.S....

No Shame in Just Playing Checkers with Your Website

Overwrought and expensive web work stifles many nonprofit arts organizations. Like most technologies, web design/implementation/maintenan...

Strategic Bombing and Your Nonprofit Arts Org Brand

I almost always advise not spending out-of-pocket funds on "branding." Here's an analogy that explains why. Britain was faced with an...