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[You're reading http://BenMartinCAE.com. Yeah, you rock.]

McKinley Matters newsletter is out, as is this month’s Blog Watchdog column. Subscribe to McKinley Matters to get this column and others from the smart people at McKinley Marketing on a monthly basis. As always, I have to say this: I’m a paid freelance writer for McKinley Marketing.

As 2008 draws to a close, most association professionals are faced with thin 2009 budgets and ever-growing to-do lists. This month we focus on doing more with less. Let’s look to the blogs for help:

First, let’s step outside the association blogosphere to hear from Realtor-by-day, basketball referee-by-night, Daniel Rothamel, who goes by “the Real Estate Zebra.” Daniel is a smart and savvy real estate agent who loves social media. The trouble is, his clientele isn’t quite there yet. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t use social media in his market, but he has been forced to re-imagine how to get the results he needs with the tools he wants to use.

In journalism, reporting the news — not running a printing press — is the essential business activity. That’s why David Gammel was relieved to see a traditional newspaper (Christian Science Monitor), in light of declining revenues, favor its reporters over its traditional print periodical. Making the painful decision to get out of the print business, Christian Science Monitor will be able to continue providing high quality reporting, while other papers lay off reporters in order to make ends meet. Does your association have a similar core competency that provides the foundation of your association’s value proposition?

Sometimes, you can go overboard trying to do more with less. Take for instance overzealous web developers who implement all manner of hyperactive and seizure-inducing features like videos that automatically pop up, multiple animated banner ads, Flash intro screens, and on and on. Frank Fortin from Guilt by Association offers up a few more web no-no’s that have him making a quick click on his browser’s Back button. Note: the comments are just as educational as the post.

Finally… sometimes doing more with less means just going back and checking to make sure you’re executing on the basics. Take, for instance, this tale about invoices from Wes Trochlil at Effective Database Management. Does your association do the things that help the money come in quickly? In these times, cash flow can be a serious issue. Bonus tip: Don’t forget Kevin Holland’s advice on dues invoices: Bills get paid, letters get filed.

As always, if you have feedback or a tip, e-mail B {at} BenMartinCAE {dot} com