Practice What You Preach: Update Your Content. It’s the Quicker Picker-Upper.

For the five of you who are regular readers of this blog and not related to me by blood, I want to extend my sincerest apologies to you.

We have failed.

We have suffered a content drought on this blog not seen since the lack of emails to campus leading up to the MFUSE concert of 2008.

Knowing that this is a letdown of epic proportions to our dear readers, I am vowing to return to a tried and true method that gets results no matter what medium you are using to communicate.  That method is the simple but powerful updating of content.

Those of you who have been with members of the UR team in meetings, especially in Marketing Council sessions have often heard all of us preaching, “Update your content.”  We say it so much, it’s becoming a little bit like a tagline for us.  Kind of like Rosie the waitress in the old Bounty Paper Towel commercials from the 1970s.  It never failed that when I was home sick from school watching “The Price is Right,” Rhoda’s mother (sorry for the ongoing 1970s references) would come on as Rosie the waitress and say, “Bounty, the Quicker Picker-Upper.” I couldn’t always remember the actress’s name, but I did know her as the “Quicker Picker-Upper” waitress.

Nothing will get the job done faster or help your target audience to absorb your information more than having updated content.  It’s not a fancy approach like a whole new website design, but it is a clear approach that your intended audience will thank you for.  Having content that is not updated is like wearing the same outfit everyday for two weeks.  People might forgive your for the first few days, but by that second week, they’re going to wonder if you’re even bothering to wash your underwear.

Although I wish we could quickly update all of the website, every brochure, this blog, and numerous other things quickly, the fact is that it all takes time.  However, we must make it a priority to review often the content of all tools of messaging.  So, while I am renewing my pledge to keep content updated in all areas of UR Land, I invite you to do the same with your little part of the UM-Flint world.  Got some old dates on your website?  Delete them.  Changes to your program offerings?  Make those changes.  New staff added and old staff gone?  Update your information.

It may seem like a daunting task on top of everything else you have to do, but I think you will be surprised.  Updating content is a Quicker Picker-Upper for the brand.

Jen Hogan