|
|
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
WeTubeU is proud to be an Event Partner of San Diego's Women's
WeTubeU is affordable and great quality!
Mark Schulze, CEO of Crystal Pyramid Productions, says more people can afford to do video production, but the quality has gone down. Monday, March 21, 2011 The proliferation of affordable camera devices mixed with the growing popularity of YouTube and similar do-it-yourself social media sites are leaving a lasting impression on the video production industry. “The tools are getting better and cheaper, but, if the artists don’t know what they’re doing, they won’t end up with a good product,” said Mark Schulze, chief executive officer, director of photography and a producer for San Diego-based Crystal Pyramid Productions. “More people can afford to do video production, but the quality has gone down.” While the availability of small, inexpensive cameras makes video production more accessible to the masses, Schulze says that it takes a multifaceted set of equipment and skills to make an impressive video. Among them are good lighting, audio, script and voice-over techniques. And the small cameras can’t accommodate the bigger lenses that go into making beautiful pictures. On the flip side are technological advancements that have introduced such things as high-definition video equipment, which produces better quality pictures that reproduce well on the big screen for a fraction of the price of standard definition equipment. New microphones, the size of a button, are also producing good audio, Schulze says. Schulze, who has worked on productions for adidas, Qualcomm Inc. and Oprah Winfrey, estimates that 80 percent of Crystal Pyramid Production’s work is for corporate clients, while the remaining consists of broadcast and TV commercials. With a staff of four employees, the 30-year-old company generated $588,000 in gross revenue for 2009, ranking it No. 5 on the San Diego Business Journal’s latest Video Production Companies list. Swinging and Missing Jim Staylor, president and executive producer of locally based Staylor-Made Communications Inc., said, “You can buy the same bat that Tony Gwynn uses to hit home runs, but that doesn’t mean you know how to use it.” Because the price has come down on the cost of video production, Staylor says people are willing to try to do it themselves, but often they’re disappointed with the result. “There’s people willing to do things so inexpensively they’re really dumbing it down,” said Staylor, a 25-year industry veteran who works solo from his Poway home with a cast of contractors on corporate videos. “They think ‘good enough’ is good enough, and it’s not. “If the goal is to have a video on a Web site, that’s easy,” he added. “To actually have a good video, that’s something else.” Cost containment is an issue for Staylor these days because he says people aren’t willing to pay as much for his services. Staylor-Made Communications, which ranks 11th on the Video Production Companies list with $179,449 in gross revenue in 2009, has produced training videos for Souplantation, a promotional piece for Outback Steakhouse, and recordings of Honda sales training seminars. Quality Still Counts David Zeigler, president and executive producer of Wind River Media in Golden Hill, says that in some situations the advanced tools available today make it easier to do quality work as well as make the production process easier. Editing suites on computers, for example, enable video producers to keep their work in-house and make it possible to work with much shorter timelines.As Competition Mounts, Producers Shoot for Higher-Quality Video
MEDIA: Industry Faces Challenges as Folks Take Do-It-Yourself Approach
Saturday, March 26, 2011
7 Tips for Launching a Successful Podcast
Brian Casel is a web designer and co-host of Freelance Jam, the live web show for independent professionals who build the web. Connect with Brian on Twitter @CasJam.
Podcasts are among the oldest types of syndicated content on the web. Yet the format remains a popular choice among content producers looking to connect with a wide audience. Audio podcasts were the norm for many years, but video has taken the podcasting world to new heights.
In this article, I’ll to walk you through the steps necessary to ensure your video podcast gets off to a great start. We’ll cover everything from conception to technical set up, promotion, and monetization. Every podcast is different, but this guide should help you navigate your way through the process and hopefully spark some broadcasting inspiration.
1. Choose a Topic You’re Passionate About
Before you hit record, it’s a good idea to give serious thought to why you’re starting this podcast in the first place. And don’t take this step lightly! Starting a podcast takes a lot of hard work (maybe more than you think). Not everybody is cut out for it. But we’ll assume that you are.
A good starting point is to figure out which topic you can talk about naturally and endlessly. Your true passion. We all have one. What’s yours? A good measure is to do a test show with no notes or preparation whatsoever. Can you fill 30 to 60 minutes just talking about your topic off the top of your head and make it interesting? Good! You found your topic.
Now, search iTunes for other podcasts in your niche. Did you choose a crowded niche with many existing podcasts? Try to think of ways to differentiate your show from theirs. For example, you can choose a sub-niche with a more targeted audience.
2. Brand Your Podcast
Now that you’ve chosen your topic, it’s time to start crafting your podcast. Just like creating products or services, your podcast is its own brand. Branding your podcast starts with choosing a good name.
Pick something that is both memorable and speaks to your topic/audience. It’s my opinion that direct, descriptive names work better than abstract or overly creative names. Before you can hook your audience with your killer smile and groundbreaking content, you’ll need them to tune in. That’s why your podcast name needs to jump out and grab them. Remember that much of your audience will be discovering your podcast via iTunes or Google search. So it’s a good idea to include a keyword or two within your show’s name.
Next, you’ll need a logo. For a podcast, it’s important to come up with an attention grabbing logo and a show image for your iTunes listing. Again, it’s about crafting your brand to stand out in iTunes podcast search results.
3. Format and Structure
Will this be an audio or video podcast? It’s my belief that video podcasts have an easier time gaining traction with an audience simply because they are more personal. Aside from offering valuable content, you’re selling your personality, and video is the most effective and authentic way to do that. It’s a good idea to offer an audio-only version of the podcast for those who prefer to listen and don’t want to download bulky video files.
Now we need to structure the show. Let’s start with your schedule. Once a week? Once a month? Whatever schedule you choose, be sure to keep it consistent. A quick way to lose audience members is to release a show four weeks in a row, then go on hiatus for several months. People appreciate a regular schedule, and even a regular day of the week.
Finally, you need to choose your show length. Break it down into segments and allot a certain amount of time to each segment. I believe 30 to 50 minutes is a good length for an episode as it’s long enough to pack in quality, in-depth conversation, and short enough to fit within the typical work commute. Some prefer quick episodes of under 20 minutes each. Again, consistency is key. You don’t want to set your audience’s expectation for 45 minute episodes, then do a 15 minute episode.
4. Plan Your Content
Now it’s time to map out the most important aspect of your podcast, the content. Podcasts are no exception to the adage “content is king.” Your topics, conversation flow, personality, and overall engagement are what will ultimately determine the success of your podcast.
It’s a good idea to keep a running list of show topics. As soon as an idea strikes, note it down and plan it for an upcoming show. One way my co-host Dave and I come up with topics is to simply recognize when we stumble upon a great topic for a show. We’ll be having a spontaneous chat, talking shop about freelancing and web design, when suddenly it’s apparent we’ve hit on something interesting and relevant for the show. Write it down.
Some podcasts break each episode into segments. If your niche is somehow tied to current events, it may be a good idea to cover news topics as part of your show. Perhaps a guest interview is a main component in your format. Plan for each of these segments and keep in mind the timing and flow of each.
Finally, it’s beneficial to think about some kind of script for your show. This will be different for everyone. My preference is to have a few sentences written out beforehand to use as the introduction to the show; something to get it off to a strong start and introduce the topic and guest properly. The rest of the show’s topics are planned using short bullet lists indicating which points I want to hit on.
The idea is to make sure I’m covering what I want to cover, while keeping the delivery natural and somewhat improvised. Again, it’s up to you to find the right balance.
5. Record, Broadcast, and Edit Your Podcast
Now on to some of the technical aspects for creating a video podcast. Surprisingly, there are quite a few tools needed to piece together a working podcast. Here are the ones we use:
Blue Yeti USB Condensor Microphone — I strongly recommend investing in a quality microphone. It will drastically improve the audio quality of your show. The Yeti USB mic is reasonably priced and it delivers great sound.
Skype — All of our shows start with a Skype video chat. Now that Skype 5 includes the ability to have video conference calls, it’s a perfect choice for having a three-way conversation. Plus, the sheer popularity of Skype makes it easy on our guests who are already comfortable using the platform for online conversation.
ScreenFlow — This is a great app for recording and editing screencasts. It’s easy to use and packs in powerful editing features.
Blip.tv — With the finished recording edited and exported, it’s time to put it up on the web and submit it to the iTunes podcast directory. Luckily, Blip.tv makes all of this very easy. Plus it’s got great reporting tools to check the popularity and reach of your podcast.
BoinxTV — BoinxTV serves as our virtual control room, allowing us to produce a live web broadcast for our show. It has features to allow for quick switching between cameras and screens and other visual effects like captions and transitions.
Justin.tv or UStream — Both are viable options for when you want to broadcast live on the web. We feed our output from BoinxTV into one of these services to fire up the live show. We then embed the video and chat room right on our website for the audience to participate live.
CamTwist — This little utility allows us to route the video feed between BoinxTV and Justin.tv or UStream.
Audio Hijack Pro — This fun little app is used to route the audio from Skype into BoinxTV. Be sure to check out the psychedelic sound effects you can apply in the process!
Skype Call Recorder — This plugin for Skype adds functionality to let you record a Skype call. This can be useful if you’re only interested in making a recorded podcast (not broadcasting live). Plus, it comes packaged with handy utilities for splitting a conversation into individual movie files, and stripping an MP3 audio file from your movie file.
6. Grow Your Audience
With your podcast created and released to the world, now comes the hard part: promoting your podcast and growing your audience.
I’m a believer that if you focus your efforts on creating the most interesting and engaging content possible, you will naturally attract an audience and grow a community around your work. But there are a few things you can do to help move things forward:
- Have a solid website. Something professional, clean and simple. The focus is your podcast, so let the design of your site support that. I recommend going with a quality, premium WordPress theme to get up and running quickly.
- Build community around your podcast. Encourage your audience to participate in your live chat (if you have one). Ask for feedback, conduct surveys and polls, keep a close eye on your podcast’s analytics (via blip.tv). Know which topics garner the most interest from your audience and let your audience help shape the direction of your podcast.
- Sharing is great. Ratings are better. As with any web content, social media integration is a must for your podcast to help your audience spread the word faster. If your podcast is largely distributed via iTunes, you’ll want to encourage subscribers to rate and review your podcast to help boost its standing within the iTunes directory. This is one of the best ways for your audience to help you get discovered.
7. Monetize Your Podcast
Just like starting a blog, starting a podcast should be about quality, authentic content first and monetization second. You can’t have the latter without the former. That said, there are several methods to monetize your podcast which are worth considering:
- Try to sell advertising placements on your show. Just like advertising on a blog, this requires a significant audience in order to bring in real revenue. It also runs the risk of turning off your audience who may not want to hear plugs in between quality content.
- A more viable approach, and one that may be more lucrative, is to simply build your personal brand using your podcast as the medium. Hosting a podcast — particularly a video podcast — is a great way share your personality and let your ideas shine. Today’s wisdom dictates that promoting your personal brand can translate into building a prosperous business. Just watch any video by Gary Vaynerchuk and I think you’ll agree.
Have Fun!
I hope you find this guide helpful as you plan your video podcast. No matter what niche you’re in — live or recorded, video or audio — the key is to have fun with it and let your passion for the topic shine through. Now press record and start podcasting!
Interested in more Podcasting resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.
Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Graffizone, and Flickr, borman818.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tactics for Responding to Online Critics
March 16, 2011
http://officialblog.yelp.com/2011/03/tactics-for-responding-to-online-critics...
blog.html
Tactics for Responding to Online Critics
Posted by Luther, Local Business Outreach
In an entry yesterday morning on the NYT Boss Blog, Southfork Kitchen owner Bruce
Buschel writes earnestly about a pain-point we frequently hear about from business
owners:
What’s the best way to deal with an online critic?
I won’t recount the piece in full here. The gist: one of Bruce’s customers has written a
negative review about his restaurant (on Yelp and elsewhere), recounting a crummy
experience. Bruce wants advice on how to address the critic.
I feel your pain, Bruce. As the manager of business outreach, I’m constantly out on the
road for Yelp, mainly speaking at gatherings of small business owners -- some of whom
get panned on the website that employs me. As a human representative of a forum
where businesses’ dirty laundry is sometimes aired, I’m accustomed to encountering
critical feedback (though anyone can yelp Yelp).
It’s never easy to read negative things about your business on the Internet.
Here’s some advice on how to respond when it happens:
2
Step 1: Stay Calm.
Give yourself a cooling down period. When someone is using a public forum like Yelp to
attack something you’re pouring your heart and soul into, a very natural response is to
get emotional. Don’t. The last thing you want to do is overreact to someone online (See:
Streisand effect).
Step 2. Respond (Privately)
If you haven’t already, unlock your business listing on Yelp. One of the tools you’ll
unlock is a free review response feature. Start out with a private response. Most
online review platforms (Yelp, Yahoo Local, TripAdvisor, Citysearch, etc.) allow
business owners to respond to their reviews. On Yelp, a business owner can respond
privately or publicly. We recommend starting with a private, diplomatic response. Here’s
a template:
• Introduce yourself. (“Hi, It’s Bruce, the owner of Southfork...”)
• Thank them for the review. (“Thank you for sharing your feedback...”)
• Apologize. (“I’m deeply sorry you didn’t have a 5-star experience...”)
• Acknowledge their complaint, and explain what you’ve done to address the problem.
• Don’t be too defensive. As tempting as it is to try to convince reviewers to see things
from your vantage point, it’s easy to come off as dismissive of their accounts.
• Invite them to return. (“We hope you’ll consider joining us again... Here’s my direct
contact information if you do...”)
In short, embrace that old mantra, “The customer is always right.” Jeff Diamond, of
Farmstead Wine & Cheeses. (See the URL for video of Jeff Diamond)
Optional Step 3. Respond (Publicly)
If the reviewer doesn’t change their review after you’ve apologized privately, and there’s
something flagrantly inaccurate within that review, write a short public response to
correct the facts. (i.e. “Molly mentioned the bar closes at 10:00 PM, but we actually
close at midnight.”). You shouldn’t view the public comment feature as an opportunity to
nitpick at slight inaccuracies within a review; instead, it’s a chance to demonstrate to
would-be customers that you’re on top of your customer service. The overwhelming
number of people who are on Yelp right now are reading reviews, not writing them.
Approach each public comment with caution, because if something is miscommunicated
by you, other potential customers will be able to read it. Again, don’t be defensive.
Getting your side of the story out isn’t as important as demonstrating you can keep your
cool when problems arise and that you care about customer feedback.
While only constituting 17% of Yelp, 1- and 2-star reviews seem to receive
disproportionate attention from just about everybody -- except consumers themselves.
Generally speaking, using common sense and applying a customer-is-always-right-
(even-when-they’re-not) mentality is the best way to keep your online reputation strong.
Mar 16, 2011 5:30:00 AM | Permalink
Monday, March 21, 2011
WeTubeU is proud to be an Event Partner of San Diego's Women's Week.
March 18, 2011
For Immediate Release:WeTubeU is proud to be an Event Partner of San Diego's Women's Week which will be held at The Center for Performing Arts Escondido, March 30th thru April 2nd. A premier symposium with hundreds of women in leadership roles across all organizations and industries. Designed to inspire, empower and connect women executives, managers, professionals, emerging leaders, young women and social entrepreneurs. San Diego Women's Week is truly an inspiring event. San Diego Women's Week will provide inspirational keynote speakers, host breakout forums and provide unique opportunities for all who attend. Speakers at San Diego Women's Week will focus on a variety of topics, ranging from health and fashion to business and technology . More than 5,000 visitors from the San Diego region are expected to attend the event hosted at California Center for the Arts in Escondido.
| Wednesday, March 30th 2011 5:30 - 9:00 PM | $25 | |
| Thursday, March 31st 2011 5:30 - 9:00 PM | $25 | |
| Friday, April 1st 2011 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Luncheon & Runway Show | $49 | |
| Friday, April 1st 2011 5:30 - 9:00 PM Beauty Changes Lives, Fashion, Hair and Makeup Shows. | $25 | |
| Saturday, April 2nd 2011 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM All Day Event-Includes Lunch | $59 | |
| All Inclusive Week Pass - Includes all Lunches and Events | $149 (Save $34) |
Please join us celebrating "Women's Week". For more information please go to: http://www.sdwomensweek.com/index.html
Optimizing local search results for your business
Optimizing local search results for your
business
By Bradley Simonis, Special to the U-T
Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 9:28 p.m.
Social Media Monday is a weekly feature that helps businesses and consumers understand how
to use social media tools to their best advantage. This week’s feature is from Bradley Simonis,
founder of E-Marketing Solutions Network (e-marketingsolutionsnetwork.com or on Twitter
@emktgsolutions), specializing in local search, social media and mobile apps for restaurants
and the service industry.
Lately, local search has been at the top of everyone’s radar, from search engines to social media
sites to local advertising such as Groupon or, more locally, TipCity. As a small-business owner,
you are missing a huge opportunity if it’s not on your radar.
So as a small-business owner, what can you do to increase your website’s local ranking without
being a website programmer or search engine optimization guru? Put on your Google goggles
and look at your website the way Google does.
Factors that determine your local rankings
There are two big factors you can control that help determine your local ranking results. One is
your main identifier, known as NAP (Name, Address & Phone), and the other is your social
media presence.
Imagine for a moment that somehow you have ended up with a listing under Juan’s Mexican
Restaurant on one site, and a listing under Juan’s Mexican Café on another. When a search
engine is looking at your Internet profile to determine how “important” your restaurant is, it
cannot make a connection between the two locations so it assumes they are two different
businesses. Sure, the address and phone are the same, but that is not enough to give the search
engine the confidence that you are in fact one location. Such discrepancies are very detrimental
to local search results.
Here are four steps to take control of your local business listing
1. Do a search under your business name, under your business category, under anything that
might pull you up. Look at local business directories like Merchant Circle, look under
review sites like Yelp, and determine if your NAP is consistent.
2. While you are on each of these sites, claim your listing if that option is available.
3. Most sites have a place for additional information: products offered, coupons, hours of
operation, credit cards taken, etc. It is critical that you complete all of the fields on every
site.
4. Now go to the two main sources of all business listings. That will be Localeze.com
(sdut.us/localezelisting) and InfoUSA.com (expressupdateusa.com). Register your site,
again with the exact NAP and all additional information they are seeking. The results will
take time to permeate the Web, and you may have to go back and remake corrections you
have already made, especially on the individual sites.
The role of social media in local search
By looking closely at a search query results page, in Google’s Places section for example, you
will see that after a brief description, Google shows an address and phone (culled from your
NAP). A recent review and its source are shown below that. Then the total number of reviews
are shown to the right, as well a breakdown of review counts by source at the bottom of the
listing.
So we can see that reviews are extremely important. And it makes sense. The more people are
talking about you, the more Google assumes your location is a popular choice. (Assuming your
reviews are all or mostly positive.) As such, you need to be proactive in gathering and
monitoring reviews. Encourage your good customers to write about you and have them do it on a
variety of review sites.
Finally, your social media presence plays another big role, and for the same reason. If two
websites are created equal, doesn’t it make sense that the one with a higher social media profile
must be a more popular place? Maybe that will help motivate you the next time you dread
posting on your Facebook site.
Don’t just look at social media as something you know you should do because everyone is doing
it (even though you don’t see results from it). It’s critical for getting your business found.
Join the conversation: Are you a social media professional in San Diego County? We’re looking
for your tips. Contact Money Editor Diana McCabe on Twitter @mcdiana.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
What's It Cost? ROI of social media can be an intangible- The NonProfit Times March 15, 2011
March 15, 2011
What's It Cost?
ROI of social media can be an intangibleThere's Facebook, Second Life, Myspace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and now Jumo. There are many smaller social networking platforms. When it comes to deploying assets, where to be in cyberspace is a tough decision.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Baltimore is going through the evaluation process. CRS is one of Facebook's 500 million active users, and also tweets on Twitter and posts videos to YouTube. CRS has a Myspace profile with 3,288 "friends," although it is not seeing a lot of activity there and managers are trying to decide what to do with it. Deleting it is a serious option.
"We, like many other nonprofits, struggle to accurately measure the financial ROI (return on investment) of our efforts," said Laura Durington, online community manager at the CRS. "We look at Facebook Insights, Google Analytics and we look at source code reports in our online fundraising program. But, it only gives us part of the picture. Still, I would argue, although it's more of a hunch, that we are getting something important out of these efforts."
According to an Idealware study, "The Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide," CRS isn't the only organization considering cutting back on Myspace. The Portland, Maine nonprofit technology group surveyed 460 nonprofit employees, held six telephone focus groups, and a case study collection in which 273 staff members provided details of which social media channels they are using and who they are targeting.
As you might expect, since 2008 Facebook has seen a huge increase in popularity and there has been a substantial decline in Myspace nonprofit users. Many nonprofits aren't investing much time in it and are seeing decreasing benefits.
Myspace cut its staff in half in January, letting go 500 employees. The decision came after the social media website was revamped in October 2010 to run with fewer people. MySpace had 54.4 million unique U.S. visitors in November, down 15 percent from a year ago.
Julie Somogyi, director of integrated marketing and communications for the Girl Scouts of the Greater Chicago area, believes the organization needs to focus on the social media websites where their girls and volunteers are virtually congregating. "Even though we did have some initial interaction with Myspace a couple of years ago, we began investing our time more heavily in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in the past two years because those are the most active sites within our key demographics," she said.
According to Andrea Berry, Idealware's director of partnerships and learning and coauthor of the study, nonprofits are using social media websites for public interest, although the idea of fundraising is always in the back of their minds. "A lot of nonprofits are struggling to use it as a fundraising tool but use it as a way to reach out to new people, potential supporters, engage current supporters and reinforce their brand for key people in their area like the press," she said.
More than 30 percent of people surveyed who use Facebook and Twitter said they know that these social media sites are reaching new supporters for their organization and more than 75 percent responded saying they think Facebook and Twitter are reaching new supporters. The numbers jumped to 80 percent for sites such as Facebook, Twitter, video sharing sites and blogs for nonprofit managers who responded they think that these sites are enhancing their relationship with their audience."It's a good way to reach an untapped audience," Durington said. "When we started we weren't sure what to expect three years ago. Every article about it said this is going to be this huge boom for fundraising but very quickly most nonprofits found that not to be the case."
CRS uses Google Analytics, but it's still hard to see the absolute correlation for the Facebook donations because the tracking gets lost and it becomes a "grey area." They also spend more time promoting and encouraging people to go to their own website rather than the organization's Facebook page, although, the Facebook page is becoming a place where people can go to build and engage in an educated community, Durington said.
"Our commenter's seem to be very educated about global issues," she said. "We have witnessed a lot of some interesting dialogue, not just between us and them but also with each other."
It's an interesting experiment to see what people are talking about. CRS's goal is to boost traffic to their website and have Facebook be a referral point. Durington said that the people going from the Facebook page to their website is in the single-digit percentage but it is equal to the number of referrals they get from Google.Facebook isn't as reliable as a website but it's starting to be a place were people look for information. "A website is always going to be number one. You shouldn't be using a Facebook instead of a website," Berry said.
ROI for nonprofits is hard to calculate, said Thomas A. McLaughlin, vice president of consulting services for the Nonprofit Finance Fund and contributing editor for The NonProfit Times. One way to see if there is anything happening is to look at the overall fundraising of operations. "In reality, even assuming that organizations have record keeping for this, its almost likely the best we could hope is to calculate a marginal interest on fundraising costs and attribute it to social media if that's the only thing that's changed," he said.
Another reason ROI is so hard to determine is it doesn't translate to mean the same thing for nonprofits. "ROI is popular for for-profit businesses and doesn't transfer easily to the nonprofit world," McLaughlin said. "There is no such thing as an investment in the nonprofit world like there is for for-profits. It would be more of a cost."
One cost expense would be if an organization hired an employee solely to work on social media campaigns or trying to break down the time of an employee who works on overall fundraising campaigns. "If organizations can somehow isolate the employees' times in various elements of fundraising, social media will be one of those elements," McLaughlin said. "If you get lucky enough, some organizations might track what that employee spends their time on. In those cases you might be able to strike some approximation on dollars and time spent on social media."
For the Girls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, instead of having one person designated exclusively to social media, they include the social media responsibilities in three marketing team members' job descriptions.
Maria Wynne, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Greater Chicago area, thinks its important to have a place to go on the Internet for all ages, which is why the Girl Scouts just launched their new website, www.worldsstrongestgirl.org for girls 13 and younger. "It's a place for girls where they can express themselves that is safe, with anonymity and the latitude to be imaginary about a story or tell something that is very concrete," Wynne said.
The website is animated with cartoon-like characters that represent badges. Girls can click on a badge and write a story or create their own badge. "The younger girls are very much about something that interacts and engages them," she said.
For girls who are 13 and older, they want to network and talk with people online. One of the reasons why they created the website was to give the younger girls an entry point for interacting with the Girls Scouts online with an activity that isn't threatening.
"The financial value of those communications is secondary and although some decline in the program and marketing print budget has been realized, the intangibles are a bit more difficult to quantify," Somogyi said. "For example, when girls use social media to reach out to their friends and family members to ask them if they would like to order Girl Scout cookies, there is a financial advantage to the girl and her troop because they have reached more customers, and to the council as a whole because proceeds from the Girl Scout cookie program support how we can best support our membership locally."
On the Girl Scouts' Facebook page, girls and volunteers are connecting and even creating their own Facebook pages for their capstone projects and other programs that the Girl Scouts participate in. The Girl Scouts are also on Twitter and LinkedIn. "I think it's the way people expect entities to participate in the virtual world today," Wynne said. "Along with having a presence, it is for many the practical way of sharing information."
For example, Wynne has seen new leaders and volunteers ask for advice on their Facebook page and almost immediately there are 10 responses from other members of the Facebook group. "It's a mentoring and networking tool for best practices and a way for people to ask for help in the volunteer community," she said.
Justin Perkins, director of nonprofit strategy for Care2.com, has been working with nonprofits for five years with online marketing and donor improvements. He was inspired three years ago to make the ROI in social media calculating tool when Facebook Causes launched to help nonprofits decide if this would be worth their time and money.
"There was initial skepticism that there was a vital business model there (Facebook)," Perkins said. "Before investing time, it was ideal to come up with a tool to look before you leap."
The calculator was created using typical metrics that nonprofits use to measure online success like how many employees or volunteers are working on a social media campaign, how many hours a week they spend on it, how many "friends" they recruit, how many of those "friends" sign up for an e-mail list and ultimately how many become donors.
The calculator allows nonprofits to plug in their information or number goals in a four-step process to see their potential ROI. It can be found on www.frogloop.com/social-networks-calculator
Perkins believes nonprofits that started using social media had a sort of "gold rush mentality" but they need to figure out if it will actually be promising for them in the end. "What's the actual cost? What's the opportunity cost if we do this at the expense of something else? What is something else we could be doing to have a higher ROI," he said are some questions that nonprofits need be asking themselves when using social media. NPT
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Dirks On Strategy: Use social media wisely
Dirks On Strategy: Use social media wisely
By David DirksPublished: 2:00 AM - 03/16/11"Here is the true beauty of social media: it has little or nothing to do with media and everything to do with you. It's a mirror of who you are, what you are doing, and how you are impacting the world around you."
So says Joshua Dirks (no relation) of Social Creature Media. He continues: "For the business owner who truly cares, this means being able to fix problems as they arise, and talk with customers in a conversation" instead of a monologue.
The road to true two-way conversations in a social media world is not easy; it takes work. Dirks categorizes the common pitfalls he sees and how to avoid them.
Three-part series
This is the third installment in a series based on an interview with social media expert Joshua Dirks.
To read the first two columns, go to www.recordonline.com/dirks.>
The aimless wonderer:
"Sit down and figure out what your goals are, what platforms you are going to use, what budget you will allocate and how much time will go into your efforts."
The flash in the pan:
"This person has seen the news, heard the hype, builds a page, posts three times, gets five fans and then leaves because they say social media does not work. Would that work in a traditional networking setting? No, so why would that work here? People, just like in past times, want to connect with their merchants. It takes time to gain this trust. So if you decide to enter the conversation, don't just get up and walk out because no one is talking to you yet."
The self-promoter:
"These people have posted 20,000 messages on Twitter but only have 47 followers, and every message has the word 'sale,' 'special,' 'limited time offer.' They have taken their traditional message and began spraying it into the social media world."
The spammer:
"They spam the same message on every platform they have using a distribution tool. Remember that these sites are made up of real people who have established a social norm on their platform. Know the communities you are getting into and know how to participate intelligently."
The social media intern:
"Really? Would you give your TV creative to an intern? Of course not. Yet some would allow an intern to form who they are on a social network that usually has far greater reach than any TV station in the world."
Feeling enslaved to social media:
"Don't do it if you don't have the time. And if you don't get a post up today, don't worry. The sun will come up tomorrow. Remember to control the network; don't allow it to control you."
The non-responder:
"Customers want to feel acknowledged even if it's a simple 'Thank you.' Don't allow comments to go by without responding. If you desire deeper engagement, then respond and ask them a question."
Social media and the opportunities it provides you to create a dialogue with both prospects and customers are here to stay. Creating a social media strategy and integrating it into your business life is yet another way to drive growth.
David Dirks of Port Jervis is a business strategy and marketing consultant. Visit his strategy blog at growingmybusiness.wordpress.com and listen to his weekly radio show at wtbq.com. E-mail him at dirksmarketing@gmail.com. His column appears Wednesdays.
Ads by Google
