Teen Pregnancy in Mississippi: It’s Time To Do Something About It

Over the last several months, the subject of teen pregnancy has gotten a lot of attention here in Mississippi. Glad to hear it.

Mississippi has traditionally had a very high teen pregnancy rate. Currently, it’s the highest in the nation and, according to a 2008 estimate from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, it’s costing our state at least $159 million per year. Teenage parents are more likely to forgo higher education and rely on public healthcare and child welfare programs. Their children are more likely to be incarcerated, too. It’s a heart breaking situation any way you look at it.

Our teen pregnancy rates have been declining a little. The rate has dropped about 23% since 1991. Still, there’s a long way to go. Fortunately, it seems like momentum is building for some real evidence-based strategy and intervention. Our new Governor, Phil Bryant said in his state-of-the-state address:

“…the epidemic of teenage pregnancy in this state must come to an end. Churches, schools, community organizations and most importantly, families, must realize that the highest teen pregnancy rate in America will eventually cripple our state. Such a change in a societal norm is possible. Forty years ago many of you here today would be smoking during this ceremony. It was the norm and few would have noticed. Society, however, decided that smoking was harmful and a slow but certain repudiation of the habit began. A similar repudiation of teen pregnancy must begin throughout Mississippi society.”

We couldn’t agree more. In fact, as the advertising agency that helped develop Mississippi’s youth tobacco prevention and cessation strategies, this kind of talk gets our gears turning. More to come…

Is It Time For a Website Update?

Unless you’re a start-up, chances are you already have a website. But is your website really doing enough to market your company?

Here are some things to think about:

• Is your website current? Considering how fast Internet technology is advancing, five years is like an eternity. Are the pictures small and fuzzy? Are your product descriptions still accurate? Do you have pages missing? Do you have a “coming soon” notice that has been in place since your website launched? Or, worse yet, are there typos and inaccurate information?
• Can you update your website yourself? Several years ago, content management systems required a lot more technical expertise. So simple website updates were often left to the experts – at a fee of $100 or so a pop. Those days are over. Content management systems are now much easier to use, and simple updates can be made easily.
• Is your website mobile friendly? Having a mobile website is a good idea. But, at the very least, your website should use mobile friendly technology (i.e. not Flash).
• Can search engines find you? Sure, your company pops up on Google when you enter your company name (eg: Bob’s Diner). But does your name show up for non-branded searches (eg: Jackson, Mississippi restaurants)? Do your competitors show up higher on the search results page?
• Is your website easy to navigate? It may seem easy to you. But test your website on a few people who don’t know your business as well as you do. Can they find information easily? Or is it more of a chore?
• Do you have access to your website’s analytics? It’s your website. Shouldn’t you know how many people are visiting it? How about these questions: What search keywords brought them to your website? How many pages did they check out? Where in the world did your visitors come from? Here’s the answer: You can get very comprehensive reporting with a quick, free installation of Google Analytics. It’s a must have. After all, not have access to analytics is like not being able to tell how many people walked through the front door of your brick-and-mortar business.

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, then it’s time to make updating your website a priority.

Asking for Likes Gets You More Likes. But Can It Make You Unlikable?

Asking people to like your posts on Facebook does actually increase the number of likes you get. Likewise (pun intended), asking people to leave comments increases the number of comments you get. (more…)