Final Proof Archives

Working off of a single spreadsheet, ASCD learned how to develop customized member content using dynamic fields.

Associations often produce content for educating members. Here are expert tips on making a great learning video.

Here are some things to consider when beginning the digitization process of lengthy scientific and technical books, standards, proceedings, and journals.

Here's how to make your association's email messages stand out.

What are average click-throughs and open rates in association emails, and how can you move your own metrics closer to the industry standard?

Middle-of-the-road content doesn’t travel very far.

With these simple suggestions, you can soup up your publication’s style while saving your design budget.

Here’s how to make the case that your association’s knowledge should be managed as a members-only benefit.

When selling advertising in association media products, price is only an issue when it is presented as the primary benefit.

If you’re looking for some ideas on how to celebrate an association anniversary, the story behind the 75th anniversary of AAOS is a rich resource.

This matrix is a good tool to help you justify a new media product—before you waste time, money, and credibility.

Here are eight ways to retrain your brain to notice the little things.

Everyone’s a publisher these days, which means more people are reading content that is not carefully crafted and edited. Don’t let the slackness seep into your own publications.

As association's look into the wisdom of hiring their own social media expert, it’s important to know what skillsets you really need.

Before putting your association’s stories out on social media sites, boost your content quality by thinking through this short list of questions.

It's important to know your strategy for navigating the sometimes murky waters of copyright agreements and publishing contracts.

A simple way to tackle your association’s social media policy needs is to consider your stakeholders’ needs by category.

There’s no easy answer, but one thing’s for sure: You are the first line of defense for your association.

Are any of the advertising or sponsorship opportunities in your pipeline stale? Do you have deals that you thought would close months ago, yet somehow they haven’t?

LinkedIn has updated its company pages to help organizations become more engaged. Here are five steps to help your association harness the new capabilities.

If your website isn't delivering value, don’t blame the technology.

Don’t let your focus on bringing in new advertisers lead to neglect of your current ones.

Important lessons and observations regarding trends in social media for the association CEO.

Here’s a new twist on association career development in a digital world.

Think through how to respond to a "negative” post before one shows up on your website or social media community.

What is most critical to your association’s success in social media?

Here are three fresh strategies for associations focused on driving more members to their websites.

Digital publishing is easy, the e-book market is crowded, and your association’s e-books need to stand out. So what’s your plan?

In the second installment of this two-part series, here are some additional strategies to encourage member authorship in your publications.

Take this list of ideas to your next directors’ meeting and knock their socks off.

Thankful association media professionals expose their top media strategies.

Here are six strategies for achieving more member-bylined articles in your publications.

When it comes to digital editions and mobile apps, sometimes your members might not know what they will use until you give it to them.

Yes, most associations are looking to cut costs—but eliminating print is not always your wisest course of action.

Here’s why and how to ‘de-average’ your survey satisfaction ratings.

Associations can’t just keep spewing forth content. Without a content strategy, impact is lost and the tie between association and member are weakened.

Are you thinking of using social media contests? Do you understand how the law could impact your activities?

Learning to monetize your relationship with members will actually help you better serve their needs.

Here are seven fundamentals to address before you make another advertising sales call.

While conventional marketing wisdom says it’s not a good idea to use social media to promote yourself, an effective balance can be struck between content about and from your association and content that you want to share from other sources.

Follow these friendly reminders to keep your message heard above the Facebook and Twitter clutter.

..and the manager you were meant to be.

Here’s how one association solved the problem of member communications that just kept growing and growing and growing.

Amuse yourself this month by participating in National Punctuation Day activities—and learn (or re-learn) a little something along the way.

Here are some good tips on how to get more out of your Adobe software.

To boost your association website's readership, try applying these simple rules.

Here’s how to avoid burnout when the flow of copy needing your immediate attention appears endless.

Here’s a fresh approach: Monitor the piracy of your content with an eye toward possibilities for new markets, formats, or content offerings.

Are you looking for creative ways to discover what your members’ interests are?

Get familiar with the opportunities of e-books by taking advantage of this association publisher’s lessons learned.

Consider a relaunch carefully – there’s a lot more to it than a redesign.

Lower the cost of publishing on the web by effectively using open-source software tools.

A great new potential tool for associations—or just another darn thing to check?

Arizona Attorney Magazine’s unconventional approach to member engagement resulted in a wildly popular member arts competition.

Dwell editor in chief chronicles journey from magazine to media brand.

While revenue will continue to siphon into new media, print is still a substantial portion of most advertisers’ media mix.

When editors become complacent, errors are left to fester on the page. Your reader deserves more than a hasty once-over by a deadline-laden copyeditor.

The Missouri State Teachers Association shares insights in learning to harness the communication tools of segmentation, social media, and sex.

What does web-based computing mean for associations?

The magazine redesign process can feel a bit like a balancing act. Here’s some advice from the Masons of California on how to strike just the right cord with current members and future generations.

With next year’s editorial calendar due just around the corner, here are three tips for getting into the right mindset for planning and brainstorming.

Striking the right balance between what your members really want, what you can actually deliver, and your association leadership’s expectations is the key to a successful media mix.

Offering content in both print and electronic formats is a cost-effective way to stretch your budget. Here are some design tips for making a successful conversion.

Want your members to spend more time reading your digital publications? Consider a mobile app for your magazine or newsletter.

The growth of the World Wide Web and other Internet technologies raises numerous copyright issues that require publishers to be vigilant about understanding what is free for use and what is not.

Hint: U.S. Supreme Court says yes

Managing volunteers requires political savvy and a grasp of group dynamics, human motivation, and leadership. Here are six strategies to improve your interactions with volunteers.

A media kit is more than rates, dates, and specs. Here's how to develop a kit that tells your association's story.

What’s the role of strategic planning in diversifying your association’s media offerings? Looking back on their own recent experience, the members of one association publishing team share valuable lessons learned.

Stepping into the social media realm? Don’t go in cold.

What questions must be answered to determine the best place for your association to focus its social media efforts?

The business of association publishing is changing, but it still boils down to providing relevant content to all member demographics in the format they prefer.

The practice of co-mailing is "growing like wildfire,” says one major printer. Here’s how you, too, can reduce postage costs with co-mailing.

In this Association Media & Publishing interview with Mari Anne Snow, CEO of Sophia Think Consulting, we take a look at special considerations when associations are developing their social media governance process and strategy.

With the digital age boom, it’s important for association publishers to control their brand—here’s how and why.

In the second installment of this two-part series, we consider the advertising challenges related to reducing a publication’s frequency.

Here’s how to shave two weeks off your production cycle with InCopy.

People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology and Sustainability form the core of a good approach to social media for associations.

Don’t wait another day to consider these cost-cutting measures with your printer partner.

Now is the time when many association publishers are engaging in reader and advertiser surveys to determine how to tweak their association’s media products for the coming year. Here’s how to choose survey questions that will provide the most valuable data.

Exceptional, original content is still your ace in the hole, but here’s how to make sure members get more value from it.

Here’s how to complete a self-critique of your association’s flagship publication and an explanation of why this task should be first on your to-do list.

How do you deliver a high-quality print product when your bottom line is slipping closer to the red?

Social media communications and marketing doesn’t have to be difficult or scary – now, you just have to convince everyone else.

Can This Relationship Be Saved? In this mock "therapy session” at the recent Association Media & Publishing Annual Meeting, Print and Digital see if they can find a way to coexist peacefully—and effectively.

Digital reading devices limit a publication's design, atomize its content, and separate readers from publishers. You want them anyway, Time Inc.'s Peter Meirs told Association Media & Publishing members at a recent Lunch & Learn—here's why.

Association professionals discuss best practices for measuring editorial engagement.

When your members type your organization's specialty into Google, what does the search results page return? Is your association at the top? Near the top? Nowhere near the top? Here are several steps that will maximize your chances of landing at the head of a potential member's next Google search.

More than a dozen individuals gathered at an Association Media & Publishing Annual Meeting roundtable to discuss challenges they've encountered in transitioning publications fro print to online, as well as strategies to alleviate the pain. Here's what has been keeping them—and many others in the association publishing industry—up at night.

Are you getting results from your association's blog? Is it getting harder for you to spend time on your blog because you're just not seeing how it is going to pay off? Hundreds of blogs are started each day, and many of them are abandoned after several months because it takes time and energy to keep a good business blog going. Here is a quick checklist of the most common mistakes professionals make in their blogs.

How do you drastically rebalance a diminishing publications budget without compromising the information needs of your membership? Here's a roadmap to how one association worked through its own near-death experience and actually came out with stronger publications and a new e-bulletin as well.

When is it a good idea to expand your association publication's audience, and what are the best strategies to get you there?

What can you learn from a communications audit, and how can it lead to actionable results?

Here are answers—and additional resources--to address your questions about podcast technology, interview format, editing, and more.

Your colleagues discuss if it is necessary for association bylaws to list the association's magazine as a member benefit or assign it a dollar value.

When creating content for members, more is not better, and the most successful association media products are those that address the needs of multiple demographics. Here are several good insights on how to grow and engage your membership through great content planning.

Putting your magazine out for bid isn't always fun and games. While, there is no right or wrong number when it comes to how many bids you request, here's how to get the most out of your print bid process.

When is it a good idea to expand your association publication's audience, and what are the best strategies to get you there?

A roundtable group of association publishers and sales reps share their trials, tribulations, and strategies for selling advertising in the current climate.

The most important way to protect your publication's advertising sales during an economic downturn is to make sure it is positioned and viewed as the leading authority in your industry.

Selling advertising is tough in this market, but your association can survive the down cycle through a deeper knowledge of the trends and some expert advice on to end up on top.