Print publications such as magazines and newsletters are valued, tangible products that represent a direct connection between you and your audience, and can be shared with colleagues, friends and communities. A well-managed website that is mobile-ready is another powerful tool. By providing a central location for timely, relevant news about important issues and serving as a resource for activities and events, your site can encourage your audience to visit regularly — keeping them engaged and up to date, and ultimately helping your organization to achieve its goals and mission.

Print and Web both convey credibility and deliver your message efficiently. Call 911MEDIA to discuss which tools would work best for your organization.

The Web is a great place to start, but distributing information exclusively online does not guarantee delivery of your message to your entire audience. And, while a website’s information can be more time-sensitive, the information is only as timely as the person who is updating it.

There is a tangible benefit to receiving something in the mail! Studies show that people prefer reading a printed document more than online content, and print is a better medium for explaining complex issues. Advertisers still prefer print to digital, and 64% of readers return to a periodical more than once. While email marketing can be an important tool for your organization, it can also be easy to ignore or delete in an overcrowded inbox, perhaps never to be seen again.

Combining print and Web into a comprehensive communications plan across multiple channels helps your voice be heard clearly and consistently, and reinforces your message. 911MEDIA can help design an integrated approach to best reach your target audience.

Mobile applications can be useful, but they work best when they serve a very specific purpose, like playing games or paying bills. When you build an app, you have to ensure that it works on multiple platforms (iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.), and once it’s created, it requires ongoing support just to keep it bug-free and compatible with the latest operating systems. Why invest in an app when your website can do it all? In our experience, if your goal is to make your organization’s information available to users of smartphones and tablets, developing a responsive, mobile-enabled website and regularly updating it with fresh, relevant content is a better option. If your site is built correctly, your audience will be able to easily access all the information they need on their mobile devices without an app. Most likely, your website is already your organization’s main communication hub, and you devote valuable time and energy to keeping it current. Having a separate app that needs its own maintenance only adds to your workload by duplicating your effort.

911MEDIA can create a website that meets all your organization’s needs in one place. Call us to find out how we can help with responsive mobile design, content development, social media integration and more.

The importance of conveying relevant information to your audience is invaluable. Once you’ve determined the best communication tools for your organization, pricing is based on your size, the number of printed copies you plan to produce, or the scope and functionality of your website, as well as the level of involvement 911MEDIA has with your project.

If appropriate for your needs, advertising sales or other fundraising methods may offset production costs. We can help develop an advertising and/or sponsorship base that can drive revenue back to your organization in order to reduce these costs.

Don’t think you have enough material to fill an entire publication? You’d be surprised at the wealth of content your organization can generate. Utilize your board of directors and other leaders, as well as your general membership — they are great sources for contributions on a range of topics relevant to your audience. Cover your special events, including fundraisers, conventions, awards ceremonies or dedications. If your organization is politically active, ask your legislative consultants to discuss current bills that your organization is supporting or opposing, and why. If you hire other advisors or specialists, ask them to contribute articles in their areas of expertise, such as legal, financial, technical or professional issues relevant to your audience. Everything generated can also used with various social media outlets to ensure a broader reach.

Content management and development is a specialty of 911MEDIA. Depending on your needs, we can serve as a full-scale communications firm — from creating promotional materials to writing articles based on your ideas — or we can work as project managers for your contributors and edit the copy you provide. Additionally, our team can determine a strategy using the best social media outlets for your message and deploy targeted information as needed.

Your staff has important matters to handle. 911MEDIA can work independently from your staff to help maximize your resources. We can also modify your existing publication through a redesign or an editorial reorganization in order to better serve the needs of your audience. Our experienced staff can guide you through the production of your projects. We understand that every organization is unique in its needs, and we will work as your partner, ensuring success.

For associations, building and maintaining relationships with members and the community is crucial to public support and successful fundraising, especially in an increasingly political environment. Keeping members informed creates a united and involved membership. Regular communication ensures that your members have the most current news and your association’s vision is upheld. The distribution of strategic, targeted messages can be a powerful tool against hearsay, apathy and dissension.

Print publications can play a special role in an association’s communication plan. Member newsletters and magazines are ranked among the top benefits of belonging to an association, and are regularly cited as a reason that members renew their membership. A user-friendly, well-maintained website is another important way to connect, providing the latest updates as well as serving as a central hub to foster a sense of community, and mobile capability lets your busy members access the information they need on the go.

It’s vitally important to maintain the highest level of online security and confidentiality when it comes to your data and that of your members and clients, especially given the frequency and scope of digital attacks in today’s world. While no site is 100 percent secure, there are some precautionary steps you can take to help boost the odds in your favor.

• Update passwords on a regular basis, at a minimum of one to two times per year. Passwords should be complex, contain both alpha and numeric characters and have at least one case change. There should also be at least one “special” (non-alpha/numeric) character. Staff names should never be part of any password. Try a passphrase, so it’s easier for you to remember. For example: If you like the scene from “A Few Good Men” when Jack Nicholson is on the stand, take the line “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” and convert it to “Ywtt?Ychtt!”. This example has uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as special characters.
  • The best bet is to use a truly complex and random password. We recommend using a secure generator tool, which will provide you with passwords like “MK9T77776$yV.2P”. Strong Password Generator is a good one.
• Remind your staff and members of your organization to be wary of attachments to emails coming from unfamiliar sources, and never open an attachment with an .exe extension.
• Social networking pages are also vulnerable and should be monitored regularly. In addition, if applicable to your organization, staff should remove information about their affiliation with the organization from personal social media.
• For more information, read this interesting article about cybersecurity:
  • 25 Worst Passwords of 2013

911MEDIA is dedicated to the security of our clients’ websites and resources. We utilize the strictest protocols to protect your digital information and maintain the integrity of your contact lists. Our website hosting and management services embrace the following security promises:

• We use reliable resources for hosting and third-party software.
• We monitor website server logs for unusual activity.
• We perform a backup of your website on a quarterly basis, and offer options for increased frequency.
• We sustain an administrative policy that includes regular password changes, utilizing complex, randomized passwords.

To help meet these commitments, we keep a variety of security measures in place at all times. Contact us to discuss how we can help to address your online security needs.