Enter Today to Win a Social Media Makeover!

My friends at the Case Foundation are giving away a great suite of products and services to 5 lucky nonprofits who want to become more social media savvy. Prizes include:

• a Flip video camera;
• a $100 Apple gift certificate;
• a WordPress PremiumAccount;
• a Flickr ProAccount; and
• 2 hours of consulting with a social media expert.

It's easy to apply. Take this quiz and then tell them, in 500 characters or less, how you could benefit from a Social Media Makeover!

Good luck!

How Do You Shop and Learn?

If you get a chance watch the first 4 minutes of this video.



Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSPOT, a new company which is helping small and medium-sized business marketers (that means you!) adapt to consumers new purchasing patterns, asks a great question, "How do you shop and learn?"

When you're researching a product, service or charity, do you...

• Haul out the yellow pages
• Email a friend
• "Google it"

Halligan asserts (and I think he's right) that most marketers miss the market because they're still using old-school tactics like advertising, telemarketing and trade shows to get out the word and these tactics DON'T FIT the way that prospective buyers (in our case - donors) actually learn.

Take a minute to today to think carefully about how you shop and learn? If you're anything like the folks you're trying to reach you may want to rethink the marketing tools you use.

Jocelyn

2008 Election is Historic for More Reasons Than 1

(This post is also archived on www.emailforimpact.com.)

2008 will most certainly be remembered as the year that we elected the first African American President. It will also be remembered as the year that mobile, email and social media generated incredible returns for political advocacy and fundraising!

The Pew Internet and American Life Project - a great source of information on all things Internet - says that “a record-breaking 46% of Americans used the Internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.” More important, this multi-media communication turned into a pile of gold for the Obama Campaign, i.e. over $600 million in funds raised.

I know you’re not Obama. Nevertheless, this historic election has implications for you and your nonprofit.

1. Mobile and social media are here to stay. Don’t get stuck in “old-school” marketing. Start investigating and testing these new means of communication today!

2. Start/continue building your opt-in databases. Because it’s all about the list!

3. Learn as much as you can about your stakeholders so that you can personalize your communications. One way to do this is to append demographic and lifestyle data to your files. (Call me. I can help!)

3. Ask your supporters to help you. Your marketing budget will never be big enough for you to get all the signatures/donations/members you want or need. But you can leverage the dollars you do have by asking your best supporters to market for you. Help them to spread the word by building a charity widget, forwarding your emails, and sharing your research.

4. Remember that your supporters are connected to each other. You aren’t in control of the conversation. It’s already happening.


Cheers!

Still Thinking About Social Networking

Came across this interesting article yesterday in the WSJ online. RapLeaf a company which we partner with at Triplex Interactive, took a look at where voters "live online" by state. Here is what they found.

"In Iowa, there is a high usage of social-networking sites by people under the age of 25, and low usage among those 25 and older. Iowans are all over Facebook and a site called MyYearbook, but tend not to use other sites. It’s a different story in Wisconsin, however. While the social-networking crowds there are also young, they favor a site called Bebo."

To learn more about the social networking sites were/are used by voters in other states, read the article. To learn more about where your donors/members/volunteers, etc live online, send me an email!

Cheers!
Jocelyn

Thinking About Starting a Social Network for Your Stakeholders? Part 2

Here is the second half of a great list of social networking sites courtesy of Everything Blog Magazine. Missed A - I?

My point again, determine where your stakeholders already "live online" before creating your own social network.

Cheers!

Thinking About Starting a Social Network for Your Stakeholders?

Think again!

Here is a list of social networks ALREADY OUT HERE. Call me crazy, but I'd check here first to see if your donors, members and activists are ALREADY hanging out on these sites. It's a lot easier to join a conversation than start your own.

Jocelyn

Make Sure Your Message Fits Your Medium

This article from Mobile Marketer - a trade publication which focuses on everything mobile - got me thinking about how important it is to ensure that your message fits your medium.

For example, if you are advertising on the Internet you should use different language, font sizes, and even creative than if you are advertising on a billboard. The same goes for marketing via trade shows, radio, and mobile. (There's the issue of that teeny, tiny screen.)

Think carefully about space and tone when you are writing copy. Also, be aware of how much time people are likely to spend on your medium of choice. For example, last month, visitors to this site (that means you, dear friend) spent an average of 1:17 minutes reading my prose.

Yikes! Better get to the point - and quick!

Cheers!
Jocelyn

Blogging 101

You're probably wondering what the heck my last post was all about! I'll tell you!

I spent the morning with the passionate state advocates for Mental Health America - "the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives." After covering a little strategy, we launched into a round of "tech-dating" tutorials. I led the one on (you guessed it) blogging.

It's always helpful to introduce newbies (old or young) to the world of blogging, because it reminds me of how new the technology is to many folks. This helps me to be more detailed in my instruction and break it down in "lay speak."

If you are new to blogging, here's what you need to know. For more info, check out this overview on Wikipedia. Debbie Weil's book, The Corporate Blogging Book, is also a GREAT primer!

1. Blogs are just another form of a website. Nothing more. Nothing less.
2. Blogs are VERY easy to launch and update.
3. You don't need to know HTML to blog.
4. Blogging software is VERY inexpensive, sometimes FREE!
5. Successful blogging requires linking to and from other blogs.
6. The more you blog, the more likely you are to come up in the search engines.
7. You can use blogging software to create a website.

Cheers!
Jocelyn

Mental Health Goes Online in 3 Easy Steps

1. Old dogs learning new tricks.

2. Fear not, Facebook.

3. New tricks revealed

Stay tuned...

Fall Policy Conference Kicks Butt

Learning to connect advocacy with technology.