Inclusive advertising that doesn’t pander
I work in Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal (whoot for equality), and I was recently asked by my workplace to put together a brochure about the wedding rental facilities we have available — pavilions, parks, that sort of thing.
I am already planning on including a “We rent to everyone, regardless of who you’re in love with ” in the FAQs, but I want to make a bigger statement with the actual design.
On the flip side, I don’t want to seem like I’m blatantly pandering for the sake of it — I guess in my mind, I just feel like it’s somewhat exploitative to include a picture of two brides or two grooms just because “See how different they are? AND WE DON’T EVEN CARE!!”
What do you think? What’s the best way to advertise in a non-gender specific way? How would you do it?
Clicks don’t lie: people gravitate toward drama (and who am I to deny them?)
I wrote yesterday about the process of realizing that a community management tool I’d established in 2008 for the Offbeat Bride Tribe was no longer relevant to my community’s current needs. In a nutshell: my current community doesn’t need high-drama posts filtered. But more importantly, they don’t WANT them filtered out.
You know why? Because on a certain level, we all gravitate toward difficult emotions. As one Offbeat Bride Tribe member said…
From Blog to Empire: An Interview with Ariel Meadow Stallings
Over on the Skimlinks blog, they just published an interview with me about growing your blog, monetization, coworking, and the future of the Empire.
Hate-reads and how for-profit sites work
Let’s say you don’t like an ad-supported website. I mean, REALLY dislike it so much that you feel compelled to regularly read it, but also wish it would stop existing. (This is often called hate-reading.) Here’s what NOT to do…