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Pat Heffernan

Pat Heffernan — marketing strategist, writer, and founder of Marketing Partners in Burlington, Vermont — writes about strategy, words, and communication to create change.

Power-of-words_HawthorneQuote_final

2 min read

On the Power of Words, Labels and Language: Do No Harm

The power of words, labels, language and frames is often a popular topic at the water cooler and lunch table here, but it has been top-of-mind...

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Words-Words-Words_Flickr

3 min read

The Psychology of Words: Revealing more than you realize

Thoughts on the psychology of words, word use, pronouns, and social issues have been scurrying across my brain lately. Not that you can’t find me...

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science-of-visual-storytelling_child-joy_flickr

3 min read

Changing Minds: The science behind visual storytelling

Do you feel that? That tugging sensation on your heart? You’re not sure why, but as serious, and as focused, and as grownup as you are, you likely...

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Mission-Driven-Marketing_EndOfTheTunnel_flickr.jpg

3 min read

Mission-Driven Marketers: Are You Focused or Fearful?

I am worried. As I wrote earlier, part of creating a persuasive change message is to document and describe the problem before offering a solution...

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Magpie2 bird_i-love-shiny-things

2 min read

In Marketing, Don’t Mistake a Shiny New Tool for Your Goal

One day as I flicked through a group of RSS and Twitter feeds for a client in education, I came across a sketch that made me chuckle in recognition....

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2 min read

How Inbound Marketing Metrics Will Save Public Relations

Rich metrics are one of the delights of implementing an integrated inbound marketing program. Inbound’s ability to track the history of an...

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4 min read

Conquer Your Website Design Accessibility & Inclusion Challenge

Making sure that your website reaches and communicates effectively to everyone requires attention to many factors—design, language, search...

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changing_minds_frames_word_cloud_870x574ratio1pt5

4 min read

Changing Minds: Frames Matter More Than Facts

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about. —Benjamin Lee Whorf I can no longer count on my fingers the number of times...

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1 min read

Why Your Nonprofit is a ‘Best-Kept Secret’ and How to Fix It

If ‘best-kept secret’ is a phrase you’ve ever heard used to describe your nonprofit, you are not alone. Perhaps it’s just the popularity of the...

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Seven-things-your-brand-is-not.jpg

3 min read

Seven Things a Brand is Not (and Two It is)

Brand and branding are terms you hear used and misused daily in marketing and advertising. Once terms used only by those working in the field or by...

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change-strategy-avoid-bad-words.jpg

3 min read

Change Strategy: Avoid Bad Words and Message Mistakes

Do you worry about saying bad words? I know sometimes I feel as if I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how to avoid bad words and...

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An image of numerous coffee beans with the text: Social math, stories, examples, and message framing for change

4 min read

Changing Minds: Social math, stories and framing

While officially this is the second in a series of posts about changing minds and message framing, you may be interested because it can also be...

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