After their first election experience, many volunteers and paid workers decide that they want to go into a career in political campaign management work, which is terrific.  If you’re the right kind of person for the job, professional political campaign management, fundraising and organizing can be a rewarding career.

But a word of warning to young people thinking of starting a career in politics and election strategy: political campaign management work is not for everyone.  While working on a high-profile campaign can be an unforgettable experience, a full-time job in campaigning is stressful, demanding, and often heartbreaking.  It often involves a significant amount of travel, and political campaign consultants can frequently find themselves without a job due to the unpredictability of elections and the quirkiness of candidates.

Regardless of how hard you work as a campaign manager or how flawless your political candidate is, the possibility of defeat looms in each campaign.  You might do everything right on the campaign trail and have the perfect strategy, but a single event or gaff can derail a campaign quickly.  Those derailments can affect your confidence and your reputation in future campaigns, but no consultant is without them; in fact, some of the most famous and successful political consultants in the country have more defeats than victories under their belts.

When it comes to political campaign management work, you often get none of the glory in a victory and all of the blame in defeat.  Politics is a business of big egos, and many candidates don’t like to admit that they need the help of a professional campaign consultant.  If the campaign is successful, you might find that the candidate thinks he could have won without you; if it is a failure, you might find that he thinks he lost it because of you.

One of the reasons why I ultimately left full-time political campaign work is because of the difficulty it presents to someone who wants to settle down and raise a family.  Travel requirements, job insecurity and unpredictable hours all combine to make campaign field work a decidedly difficult career to have if you want to be a dedicated family person.  There’s a reason why many key players in successful political campaigns go on to take full-time government positions; it’s much more stable and reliable.

If you still want to become a professional campaign manager or consultant–even in the face of the difficulties–then you may have what it takes to be successful in the political campaigning field.  I’m thankful for my experiences on the campaign trail, and I’m sure you’ll look back on yours with appreciation, too.  Always be on the lookout, though, for ways to translate your talent in campaign management to a more reliable, stable and lucrative career!

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. . . so to get to my point do you think it’s possible, if a candidate in a political campaign has nothing more than a great website, and runs the best online campaign possible, could he or she win with nothing more than using the Internet?  Like for instance, if someone was not able to leave their home could they win a political campaign just from their computer.  Personally I think it is possible myself.

It’s a good question, Darren, although I do wonder how a political candidate who couldn’t leave his home would make it to meetings if he won on election day.  But I digress.

Websites and the Internet have become a much more important aspect of successful political campaigns in recent years, especially with the advent of online social media and fundraising tools.  As a political candidate, having a great online presence can help you raise money, reach more voters, and mobilize grassroots support . . . even in smaller local elections.

I would not, however, want to be the first candidate to test your theory about being able to win a local political campaign by only using the Internet.  While putting together a great online strategy can help tremendously, the fact is that nothing is more important when it comes to winning elections than good old-fashioned shoe leather and elbow grease.

A political candidate website and Internet presence should be used to compliment your other campaign fronts, such as door-to-door efforts and direct mail.  Inviting voters to visit your website and follow your social media profile (Twitter and Facebook, for example) on campaign literature is a great way to get them find out more about your candidacy and your message.  It can give you a “double hit” of publicity, so to speak, if voters who receive your mailers or door cards are interested enough to log on and look you up online.

I also doubt that there is really any way that you could run a political campaign exclusively on the Internet and keep your message from appearing anywhere but online.  How would the voters ever have the opportunity to even find out about you website or social media presence in the first place?  I suppose a candidate could invest in online advertising, local newspaper website banner ads and bulk email lists, but it would be very arduous and expensive to do.

It’s fine to rely on a top-notch Internet presence and online strategy as your local political campaign’s secret weapon, but don’t ignore the more traditional methods of campaigning in the process.  The people who you associate with might get most of their news and information online, but don’t forget that there’s a significant portion of the electorate that still relies on newspapers and word-of-mouth.

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We created the forum to let political consultants, campaign managers and election candidates talk shop about strategies that win elections.  In addition to the political campaigns forum, we’ve also included a political campaign jobs board where interested parties can post and ask about election jobs and campaign work.

Hey, want to do a quick favor for Killer Campaigning?  It would be great if you could help us test the new forum by taking a second to register for a free account and creating a post . . . even if it just says “wow, cool forum!”

If you have any suggestions for new forum group topics, please let us know.  I’m sure the forum will evolve as time goes by and new members help shape the discussions, and we’re looking forward to hearing what you think!

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The reason why is pretty simple: television political campaign commercials are very expensive because they are broadcast across a very large viewership that sometimes numbers in the hundreds of thousands.  If you’re a local candidate, then it’s likely that a large percentage of those viewers won’t even live in your district.  Since the majority of the commercial audience can’t even vote for you, then it equates to a huge waste of money for your political campaign.

Local elections in large cities or counties, however, can benefit from commercials if the broadcast area is contained within your district.  If you’re interested in purchasing political campaign commercial time in your area, it’s best to contact your local cable stations and ask to meet with a representative who can provide you with pricing information.

Many local cable or television stations offer special election season rates for political campaign candidate commercials.  Additionally, cable stations frequently allow you to choose a package of channels where your commercial will appear, so you can focus your advertising on more specific demographics.  A lot of local election candidates choose to run their campaign commercials on local and national cable news stations, since viewers who are interested in the news are usually more reliable voters.

The process of producing a political campaign commercial has become more affordable in recent years, since video recording and editing equipment has become less expensive and easier to use.  I don’t suggest filming and editing your own commercial unless you have the right experience and equipment, but you should be able to find local options that are both cheap and professional.

Just like any other form of mass media advertising, don’t dedicate too much of your political campaign budget toward political candidate television commercials.  While they can be moderately effective and help improve your name recognition and messaging, you can’t win a local election on commercials alone.

Grassroots efforts, direct mail, door-to-door efforts and other forms of advertising are all equally important aspects of a winning political campaign.

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Political Campaign Website SEO and Keyword Phrases

Search Engine Optimization–or S.E.O. for short–is the art and science of building a website that is more likely to show up in search engine results when web surfers type in relevant searches.  There are two main components of SEO: onpage efforts (stuff you do ON your website) and offpage efforts (stuff you do on OTHER websites).  Both are equally important, but before we talk about them, let’s focus on your targeted keywords first.

As an election candidate, you want to make sure that your political campaign website shows up in the search engine results for a specific subset of web surfers: namely, people in your district who will have the opportunity to vote for you.  When putting together your SEO plan, the first step is to figure out what “keywords” and “keyword phrases” these people will likely be using to search for information about your political race online.

Ranking In Search Engines For Your Own Name

The most obvious keyword phrase that you’ll want your political campaign website to rank highly for in the search engines is your own name.  If people in your district type your name into a Google, Yahoo or Bing search and your site is listed on the third page of results, they will likely never get to your webpage at all.  Virtually no one goes beyond the first page of search engine results when they type in a given keyword phrase.

So, how do you make sure that your political campaign website shows up high in the search engine results for a search on your name?  The first step is to make sure that your domain name–or website address–has your name in it.  My own personal campaign website, www.PhilVanTreuren.com, didn’t take long at all to rank number in the search engines for a query on my name.

If you have a more common name, like “Bob Smith” for example, you aren’t going to be able to get your hands on a domain that consists of your name only.  Instead, consider lengthening it to something like “BobSmithForCouncil.com” or something similar.  Just make sure that your name is spelled out in the domain, since that is a very powerful component that search engine algorithms use to rank sites for given keyword phrases.

One important thing to keep in mind, though: DO NOT make your domain name too long, or it will become confusing for people to remember and could even hurt you in the search results. “BobSmithForClevleandCityCouncil.com” is far too lengthy.

On-Page SEO and Keywords for Political Campaign Websites

Wanting to rank high in the search engine results for a query of your own name is pretty obvious, but how do you define other keyword phrases that voters might use to look for information on your race?  In addition to the candidate’s name, you will want to make sure your site ranks high for terms having to do with your state, county, district or city and the office you are seeking.

When designing a local election candidate’s website, I always try to weave my targeted keyword phrases into the text throughout the site–especially on the homepage.  The inclusion of your targeted keywords in the content of your campaign website is another way to help it naturally rank well in the search engines.

While you should try to write for your readers and NOT for the search engines, make sure that you keep SEO in mind when adding content to your website.  Be sure to mention the name of the office you are seeking, the name of you city or town, and any other relevant phrases that you think people might type when searching for information about your race.

Additionally, when setting the Meta Title and Meta Descriptions for your site, make extra effort to include as many of those targeted keyword phrases there, as well.  A homepage Meta Title that reads something along the lines of “Bob Jones for Cleveland City Council” is great, since it mentions the candidate’s name, the city he is running in, and the position he is running for.

Off-Page SEO and Linkbuilding for Political Campaign Websites

Having a political candidate webpage that is optimized perfectly for the keyword phrases you would like to rank for is great, but it won’t do you much good unless you do some off-page search engine optimization, as well.  Off-page optimization has one very important component: linkbuilding, or obtaining links on other websites that point back to your website.

The more links that are pointing back to your campaign website from other domains, the higher search engines will rank your site for its relevant keyword phrases.  While the average website only has a few external links pointing back at it, older and more popular site can amass tens of thousands of links, which makes for a lot of “link juice” and higher search engine rankings.

You don’t need to worry about getting tens of thousands of external links pointing back at your political campaign website, but you do want to try to get as many as you can.  The “low hanging fruit” of linkbuilding are local web directories, community websites and other online resources that will give you a free link if you provide them with your website information.

Additionally, you can contact local bloggers and request that they link back to your website on theirs.  In order to make the request more appealing, you might want to offer to write a guest post on their blog in which you can link back to your website, or ask if they would be interested in doing an online interview about your campaign.

There are many different ways to build links back to your political campaign site, and with a little work you should be able to get dozens of backlinks within a few weeks.  As your backlinks grow, you will notice your website slowly climb in the search engines for relevant keyword phrases–which will mean more visitors, volunteers, donors and votes for you on election day.

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It’s true that the average newspaper reader is more likely to vote than someone who doesn’t keep up with the news, which makes political campaign print ads a  more effective buy than billboards.  But  newspaper ads have many of the same problems that campaign billboards have: namely, you’re paying to put your message in front of a lot of people who will never have the opportunity to vote for you in the first place.

Remember: you just can’t beat a good targeted direct mail campaign for laser-focusing your political candidate message to the right people.  By spending the same amount of money on direct mail that you would spend on a print newspaper ad, your efforts will be many times more effective.

The problem with newspaper ads is that they are appealing to many local political candidates for the same reason that billboards are.  I like to call it the “look, it’s me!” effect.  Seeing your name and photo in a newspaper makes you feel good as a political campaign candidate, and makes you feel like your accomplishing something.  Unfortunately, feeling good about your campaign doesn’t win a local election; sound political strategy does.

Don’t get me wrong–if you’re a candidate running in a local election, there’s nothing wrong with buying a few column inches in the local newspaper for some advertising in the final weeks of the campaign.  In fact, if you’ve done a good job of paying adequate attention to grassroots efforts, door-to-door campaigning, direct mail and other essentials, newspaper ads are a legitimate way to spend any extra cash you might have on hand.

But spending a significant chunk of your campaign money on newspaper ads isn’t something I endorse as smart political strategy.  Sure, there are plenty of comfortable, shoo-in incumbent politicians who always blow a big wad of cash on newspaper ads, but they win their elections in spite of this strategy, not because of it.

And a word to the wise: this advice goes for newspaper website banner ads, as well.  These Internet newspaper ads might be cheaper than their print counterparts, but it’s still not a wise way to spend your campaign money.  (If you do decide to drop some funds on a newspaper website ad, make sure that it at least links back to your political campaign website or your Facebook Fan Page.)

Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with devoting a small percentage of your political campaign money to buying newspaper ads.  Just don’t go overboard with it, and make sure the vast majority of your cash goes toward more effective advertising options, like direct mail or door cards.

As the print industry continues to lose its readership and smaller local newspapers start going out of business, the appeal of paper ads will inevitably drop even further in the coming decade.

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All of our other stats are looking spectacular, as well.  As I posted yesterday, our LinkedIn Group just surged past 100 members, and the Killer Campaigning Facebook Page hit 1,100 fans today.  We have about 875 Twitter followers, and our RSS feed is subscribed to by 115 readers.

As we move forward, we’re planning other great new features on the site for Killer Campaiging fans.  Although we’ve installed a political campaign forum on the site, we still haven’t gotten around to developing and promoting it, and will soon.  Additionally, I hope to start posting more YouTube video tutorials before we reach our 200th post.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for making Killer Campaigning a better resource for candidates looking for the best campaign strategy advice online.  We’re looking forward to the next hundred posts, and are glad to have you there with us!

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If you have a LinkedIn profile and haven’t joined our group yet, please take a moment and become a member.  It’s a great place to meet other professionals around the world who are interested in the art and science of political campaigning.

Personally, I’m still learning the ins-and-outs of LinkedIn and noting the different ways it can be used to help political candidates.  As I wrote in a past post about using LinkedIn for campaigns, it’s a more difficult social media tool to utilize for elections than Facebook or Twitter.

As I get more comfortable with LinkedIn and how to best utilize it in a political campaign, you can be sure that there will be more posts to come about any techniques I figure out.

In the meantime, there are plenty of great LinkedIn networking books out there for you to check out, including my favorite: Linked Working by Lewis Howes.  I had the pleasure of meeting Lewis last year at a networking event, and hs book offers some amazing tips on using LinkedIn.

Do you have any ideas or recommendations about how LinkedIn can be used by political candidates to better their chances of winning on election day?  Leave some comments here on Killer Campaigning and let us know . . . or better yet, join our LinkedIn group and start a conversation about it!

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When candidates in a local elections are designing yard signs, brochures, billboards and etcetera, should they create a unique political campaign logo that everyone will recognize?  I am thinking of candidates for higher office, like presidential, senatorial and governors, who have their own campaign logos on materials.  Thanks a bunch.

No problem, Matt.  Here’s your short answer: no, you don’t need to design a unique political campaign logo if you are a candidate in a local campaign.

Now for the longer answer.  I’m not quite sure what you mean specifically when you write “political campaign logo,” but I’m assuming you mean the artistic design, colors and images that are used on a candidate’s yard signs, ads, banners and etcetera.

I suppose, in that respect, that any local candidate who chooses a specific yard sign design–you know, one of the endless “stars and strips” type designs you see during election season–has their own “campaign logo.”  That design is reproduced on hundreds of lawn signs and mailers, and sticking with the same look is a great way to brand your campaign and make your name more memorable.

I think the best successful example of a real “political campaign logo” would be the famous Barack Obama “O” logo that could be seen in so many places during the 2008 presidential election.  This was really a professionally-designed logo in earnest, and was so popular that it became a part of contemporary culture.  The Obama campaign, though, was an entire countrywide political movement in itself, so it sort of lent itself to having an official logo.

Think for a moment, though, how silly the voters would think a local candidate was if he had a special, unique campaign logo designed–in the mold of the Obama “O”–just for his candidacy.  That would probably seem pretty arrogant and ridiculous.

So if you’re thinking about designing a unique political campaign logo for your local race, don’t do it.  Stick with the tried-and-true “stars and stripes” type logos that you’re used to seeing.  If you want to get really bold and original, you can try making your yard signs stand out a bit with an unusual or eye-catching design.

Remember: if you’re running for City Council, Mayor or County Commissioner you don’t need your own branded campaign logo.  You might think you’re a pretty amazing candidate, but the voters won’ t be as impressed.

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A printed political campaign disclaimer is simply a sentence included on campaign materials that states what campaign committee paid for its creation, the name of a representative from the campaign, and the address where they can be reached.  While it may seem silly to some first-time local political candidates that they have to include their campaign disclaimer on even the smallest materials, the law is in place to ensure a couple of important things.

The first reason that political campaign disclaimers are important is because they help keep track of all materials that are paid for by a specific campaign committee, and help identify mistakes or violations in campaign finance reports.  Secondly, political campaign disclaimers help identify exactly who funds election materials that might present false, slanderous or inaccurate information about political candidates.

Making sure that your election materials follow the rules when it comes to political campaign disclaimer requirements is pretty easy to do (keep in mind that the election laws may be different in your state, and make sure that you do research to find out the specific campaign disclaimer rules that apply to your race).

On printed materials like yard signs, flyers, brochures, literature, mailers, door cards, post cards, hand cards, newspaper and website ads, and any other political campaign trinkets, you must make sure that your disclaimer is printed clearly.  It doesn’t have to be huge, and in fact it’s often better to make sure that your campaign disclaimers is small and doesn’t take away from your material message.

In my case, I simply have to include “Paid for by Vote Van Treuren, Phil Van Treuren, Candidate, 171 Harris Street, Amherst, OH, 44001″ somewhere on my campaign materials.  This political disclaimer includes the name of my campaign committee, the name of a representative of my campaign (in this case, the candidate himself), and the address of record for the campaign committee.

As I mentioned before, the election ethics laws might be different in your state regarding disclaimers, so please check them out before following my specific advice.

Another option would be to include the name of my campaign treasurer or chairman instead of the candidate’s name on my disclaimer.  In fact, many political candidates make an effort to get a well-known incumbent politician or trusted local figure to sign on as their campaign treasurer, since it will ensure that their name will be included on their disclaimer.

Always ere on the side of caution when it comes to your political disclaimer, and try to include it on any materials that are produced by your campaign if at all possible.  While many local political opponents might not notice or care if you don’t include your disclaimer on one small flier or sign, there are always adversaries out there who will gladly file a campaign ethics violation report against you for the smallest infraction.

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