Welcome to ETCHED

The best blogs avoid empty calories. In a cottage industry known for navel gazing and self-promotion, what stands out are reflections with intention: well-articulated thoughts that offer real value and illuminate new perspectives. It’s what we counsel our clients at ETCH – to reach out to new and established audiences with quality content, not rehashed, recycled messaging. To follow our own advice: This is the goal of ETCHED, a venue we hope to use to shed light on communication trends, to explore the benefits and disadvantages of particular brand strategies and generally to discuss topics we think may be of interest to our clients in higher education, healthcare, nonprofit and beyond. And while our motivation may be commercial (a business, after all, needs to grow), our approach is philosophical. We want to practice what we preach, showcasing why we think, when it comes to new student/donor/client acquisition, content is king.

The idea is a fairly simple one: People are smart, and sales pitches are usually transparent affairs that are more self-serving than service-providing. No matter your business category, prospective clients are out there shopping, but you need to give them an actual reason to bite – something that empowers them to choose you, to trust you and to make you understand you have their best interests in mind. In other words, if you’re going to advertise, make the advertisement about more than just you – stimulate and engage in a way that gives people food for thought. You’ll be surprised by how often that thought leads to, “Great! I want to learn more.”