Monday, December 24, 2012

Colorado Real Estate Investment Properties

Colorado Investment Properties is the premiere source for wholesale and turn-key investment property in Colorado. We specialize in selling high cash flow residential properties to savvy investors worldwide. Our team has expertise in property acquisition, marketing, property management, cash flow analysis, title and legal, lending/financing, and property maintenance. We’ve got answers to all your investment questions! Denver Real Estate Investment The real estate boom and bust have created the “perfect storm” for real estate investors who are looking to buy low, cash flow big, and eventually sell high.

Sintex Cabins-leading Manufacturer

Sintex Cabins is India's Leading Portable cabin manufacturer. We specialize in manufacturing and supplying of all types of Portable Cabins which can be used as Site offices, Security Guard cabins, Portable Toilets & Bathrooms, Bunk house, portable buildings and Modular Buildings.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Mobile marketing for business and you

mobile marketing is the use of the mobile phone as a platform for marketing a business to its customers or potential customers. Over the last couple of years mobile marketing has become more and more popular and this trend is set to continue into the future as more and more businesses get on the bandwagon. Although the technology to use mobile phones as a marketing platform has been available for years it is only recently that it has been used. This is partly because of the rise in the number of people not just with mobile phones but with smartphones. Better screens and the ability to type on a phone better means that people are relying on their mobile more and more for accessing all kinds of functions and services where previously they used them for just phone calls.

SEO Services Company, SEO Company India

In the online field one has to defeat the other. Every online vendor wants their business to be at the top position on the foremost search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. If you have a website, desire to increase the visibility. It becomes necessary to hire a superior seo services Company. seo services Company will definitely provide the excellent services which help to increase the rank on the search engines.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Some of the Best WordPress Plugins to Optimize Your Blog

 

image

Screen Capture from Neville Hobson’s cool WordpPress Plugin Page

 

 

One of the best things about the WordPress community is that they have developed thousands of awesome plugins that can help to customize your blog. Here are some really great WordPress plugins that we often recommend for clients. We have listed some of the features we like, as well as the drawbacks of some of them.

 

We would love to hear your favorites and why you like them in the comments section below.

 

Blog Backup

Backup Buddy, http://pluginbuddy.com/purchase/backupbuddy/
This plug in allows you to back up your blog on a regular basis, thus making sure that you don’t lose everything if a WordPress update goes wrong or if you get hacked. It is not free, but it is only $75/year for up to two sites. You can also use it to transfer a site to a new host.

Spam Killer


Akismet, http://akismet.com/
A free plugin which identifies and blocks comment and trackback spam on blogs with integration to various blogging systems. This is a free, must-have plugin to reduce spam.

 

RSS Management

Feedblitz, http://www.feedblitz.com

We used to recommend Feedburner as a  replacement RSS service, but with Google’s diminished support of the service in October 2012, we now recommend Feedblitz for those who want more control over their feed and a good delivery service. With Feedblitz you can even send your blog via email to your subscribers that chose to get it that way. Feedblitz charges for email subscribers based on volume, starting at about $1.50 per month and going up from there. RSS subscribers are free.

 

Also see JetPack below

 

SEO Helpers


All in One SEO, http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all‐in‐one‐seo‐pack/ This is a very easy‐to‐use plug‐in to allow you to have basic SEO standards right out of the box so you can easily add title tags to posts and other keywords. This plug‐in is free.

 

Scribe SEO, (http://scribeseo.com/) costs anywhere from $17‐$48/month and helps give you phrase and word suggestions to drive search engine traffic.

 

Inbound Writer, http://www.inboundwriter.com/ The basic plan is free and allows you to customize four documents, with topic research and content optimization. You can have it for up to 15 documents for $40 a month. It is the priciest of the three, and I have used the basic plan. You can reserve the research of some of the most important posts that month.


Yet Another Related Posts Plugin


http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/yet‐another‐related‐posts‐plugin/
This adds a list of posts at the end of each article that are related. This keeps people on your site longer and digging deeper into the content. It is great for virility.


Share Buttons


http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter‐facebook‐google‐plusone‐share/
At minimum you need: Facebook Share, Google +1, Twitter, and LinkedIn InShare buttons. In addition, you can use either the ShareThis or AddThis plug‐in, but you should provide the boxes, as mentioned, though the plug‐in above has all of the basics.  Also see JetPack below.

 

Also see JetPack below

Commenting Systems


LiveFyre, http://www.livefyre.com/:

Livefyre is a popular plug‐in that replaces static comment sections with dynamic, real‐time conversations. It integrates well with Twitter and facebook and allows easy sharing on these networks. It is free up to 20 million views a month. we like the promise of LiveFyre to help spread the word virally


Disqus, http://disqus.com: Disqus is a popular commenting system that puts the focus on ease of use. It has the ability to connect with Facebook and Twitter, but is not as aggressive as LiveFyre. It has an elegant way to reply and moderate from email that is not yet available in LiveFyre. Comments continue to synch with the native WordPress client, making it easier to switch later. It is also a free plug‐in.

 

Also see JetPack below

 

Mobile Compatibility


WPTouch Pro, http://www.bravenewcode.com/store/plugins/wptouch‐pro/ a WordPress plug‐in, is not free (a license is $39), but it makes stunning mobile versions of websites. We recommend this as many people are using mobile smartphones and now tablets to consume content.

 

JetPack, http://jetpack.me. This free plugin actually does a lot more than just making your blog mobile compatible, it also can replace your commenting system and handle email subscriptions, among other things. You can activate as many parts of the system as you want and omit the ones you don’t need. It can be used as pretty complete solution and replace some of the suggestions above. The only things that concern me right now about using it is that you can’t transfer subscribers from an established blog unless it was hosted on Wordpress.org, and I am really not sure how you would transfer OUT of their subscription system, should the need ever arise. Otherwise, it looks like a pretty great plugin, and I learned about it from Neville Hobson, who is using parts of it on his own blog.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Britannic Technology Debate

     There is certainly something to be said for centralising sources in organization, keeping everything clean and near to hand. This will probably be one of the greatest advantages in on-premises phone solutions over organized phone, enabling you to be able to be entirely self-reliant and hardly ever holding out around on other individuals to take care of problems. However, this way of managing is incredibly reliant on a well-trained and knowledgeable IT department who don't have too many other specifications on their time.

A organized phone support uses the support and features of an external organization, which often indicates that problem solving, though conducted a little bit, is efficient. It is also provided with client support as a issue which often results in a quick, friendly and very beneficial support. Organised phone providers are also able to invest a while monitoring usage ensuring that you are getting the best deal for your money. Moreover, organizations making an investment in organized phone are likely to protect a lot of cash in the brief term; not only are the expenses of buying elements or program restricted to almost nothing as you are using those already put in place by the organization, but you also only pay for what you use with most organized phone providers managing on a "per-seat" foundation. What this means is that you only pay for as much of the gadgets as you yourself are using as a organization, rather than running into expenses for the system as a whole. Moreover, when it comes to execution of organized phone, changes designed from traditional mobile phone methods are easily done, and with all the facts and techniques handled by the providers, you can sit back, rest and delay for the new phone system to be up and managing.

Though there are many reasons for a organized VOIP support, there are also some thing to keep in mind before going for this over on-premises solutions. The important aspect to consider, is how well the external company is aware of your organization and its needs; can they offer the control features that they need, and most of all can the response to your specifications and change the solutions you need efficiently, considering in elements such as regular modifications in your data and get in touch with traffic. While organized VOIP solutions may be a lot simpler initially, they possibly lack the factor of personalization that on-premises solutions offer. They also lack the same level of flexibility as rather than flagging the IT guy when he next strolling past, you are a few somebody off-site. Another aspect to consider is the lengthy run cost significances.

Whilst the preliminary expenses for on-premises solutions will probably be higher than for organized VOIP solutions, the ongoing expenses are less. On-premises solutions have only function and servicing expenses plus the salary of the IT department that is going to be accountable for it. Organised VOIP solutions will include regular expenses which may add up to more than the cost of the gadgets itself over the course of a few years. Moreover, there is an ongoing issue that the offering your organized VOIP solutions may run into problems and go under, or perhaps even settle with a challenger which may keep you with a development of your expenses which you were not anticipating.

Solution With Benefits

   The idea of conference meetings is not definitely new. It has been around for quite a while with conference meetings solutions like teleconferencing and web sessions used by many organizations. Now gradually, other conference meetings solutions like web film talk have been presented. Together, av web conference meetings solutions are going to make a powerful effect on the way organizations link with their clients, associates or suppliers, and how they connect in-house. Originally, expenses of these solutions were on the higher side. This restricted their usage to large organization companies only. However, there has been modifying schedule with expenses for these solutions gradually coming down. This positive schedule is predicted to convince more and more organizations to apply these specific conference meetings solutions.

The av web conference solutions offer as an efficient system to link with individuals situated at distant locations easily. The greatest advantages of such solutions is that organizations can now execute actions, actions, conferences, sessions, product produces from their office real estate asset and many individuals can be a factor of it without being actually current there. In addition, these conference meetings solutions offer as an interesting system as well, it being two-way connections technical advancement. Hence, the associates too can connect with the extensive variety and other associates, as well. Not only on the outside, these web film talk can be applied for inner connections or actions, as well.

Organisations can also use audio and film talk remedy to take advantages of a innovative level of security, during unique actions with clients, where secrecy is inevitable. It is designed possible through complete security and restriction with properly secured PINs and security security passwords. The extensive variety of video clips video talk is approved to regular conferences. Additionally, the extensive variety is also approved to validate the credibility of participants of video clips video conference. Also, audio web film talk. program is designed in a way that allows for personal conference meetings interval to be shut, to restrict unnecessary associates to be a aspect of in the conference.

With the option such useful and highly effective audio, film and web conference meetings solutions, organizations can delay their problems, related to thorough planning and planning, even for a little meeting, travel expenses, car leases, real estate expenses, food concerns and so on. These expenses are definitely eliminated with unique conference meetings solutions. The greatest benefits about unique conference meetings is that it helps in collaboration of thousands of individuals instantly and that too synchronously.

Today, when an organization plans to do a affiliate internet marketing, keep solutions for its workers or new workers, keep media conferences or execute personal actions, it only needs to do obtain the solutions of a organization working in conference meetings solutions that can offer not only the best but also the most cost-effective conference meetings remedy. Certainly, organizations can apply audio, film and web conference meetings solutions in their day-to-day organization actions, as well. The key advantages of unique conference meetings solutions are not only restricted to international business and professional organizations.

Three Different Types

    Conference contacting is the new way to link, and it is not just for organizations anymore. Many individuals, in all of all age categories, are finding a use for such programs. Some individuals use conference meetings for various specifications such as their execute, others use conference meetings to link with distant guests, and some individuals just use it to not invest when it comes to any type of meeting that they may have to schedule throughout their times. One aspect is for sure, and that is that almost anyone can benefits from the use of a celebration system. The best factor is that those who take enough a opportunity to look for a no cost conference meetings system will absolutely find out one, and that makes this amazing system useful and cost-effective, something that everyone can appreciate in these trim times for sure. With the popularity of such programs improving so easily, so too is know-how that it needs to make a organization get in touch with efficient, and so are the options. These times there are many options when it comes to conference mobile phone telephone calls, but three of those options in particular can really help your organization develop as well.

1. Organized Conference actions - Organized conference mobile phone telephone calls are perfect for actions that you are able to get ready, but let's be sincere, sometimes the need for a celebration meeting happens instantly. But for those actions that you do know you have to have later on, planned mobile phone telephone calls are an outstanding way to have them. By planning a organization get in touch with in enhance you can make sure that all associates will be somewhere to take the get in touch with, and it also indicates that they do not actually have to be at execute to do so. This makes having actions much more realistic.

2. On Need Conference actions - When the need happens for an immediate meeting, whether in organization or in personal gadgets, a useful tool you have at your relaxation is at will conference contacting. These no cost conference contacting programs allow you to start a celebration with no enhance observe. So you can talk with one or ten of your co-workers, workers, or near family members without having to get ready. This makes getting several individuals at once simpler than ever.

3. Chronic Conference Calls - Finally, for those circumstances when you know you are going to have to have regular actions, and you know that they will be once each 1 month, you can set up a persistent get in touch with. This is an excellent way to get individuals to keep in mind to subscribe in your actions, because they will get used to the same meeting at the same time every day, week, or 1 month. This needs some of the execute out of planning actions, which anybody can appreciate.

Conference Contact Providers

    Are you looking for the best organization get in touch with providers? How to research and assess the best one out of the lot? What features to look for while best organization get in touch with providers? Read on to find the response.

Almost all the organizations have by now observed the value of connections for the achievements of their organization. The question they have now is what is the most beneficial form of connections - a connections strategy which is not only efficient but also cost-effective.

Why Conference Contact Services?
In modern globe most of the organizations be it big or little have their organization and clients all over the planet. So to run their organization efficiently and to keep up with the competitors they need to be in regular connections with their clients and organization providers through group meeting or conferences. E-mails and phone method of gadgets are not so efficient when it comes speaking with a team at a anchorman of your power and power. Furthermore viewing a different nation to be current at a celebration reveals complicated and also a expensive event. Thanks to the amazing ideas on the planet of technical advancement who provided us with the organization get in touch with solutions which features a unique genuine basically any number of individuals are aspect of any globe at a anchorman of your power and power. It very well solutions the need of a real meeting and viewing locations to be current at a celebration. One can be at their table and be a factor of a large meeting and conference without the common process of viewing. Conference mobile phone telephone calls have been been proven to be the most beneficial way to link, gather and talk about organization problems and ideas.

One should understand the difference between the Conference get in touch with solutions and web conference meetings solutions where the latter needs the associates to log in to a laptop computer or laptop computer or computer.

Benefits of Conference Contact Providers
The idea in modern organization is to offer more and more quantitative products or solutions in the best possible quality. Speed is the material of any organization. Hence individuals try to do as much execute possible in the least possible interval. Companies nowadays are finding every possible means for decrease cost and enhance performance and earnings. Therefore so many organizations have made the decision to keep their meeting online or through some sort of unique conference meetings strategy which can not only decrease cost but also time. So here is some of the primary advantages of using a support of a organization get in touch with providers.

1) Familiar sources and know-how:

One can access a web conference meetings meeting through their own laptop computer or laptop computer or laptop computer or computer where they have all the facts at their convenience in case if need to current some information to the team. Also most of the web conference meetings providers or program are suitable with the computer systems which gives an tremendous fulfillment to the presenter since he is a while to get accustomed to the system before the meeting. In the regular course, if you are viewing to a different place for a display you might not be accustomed to the sources they have for display which can be a process to the meeting.

2) Quick Team briefing:

If you have your group propagate all over the planet and you need to offer a quick important details or update then it is easily possible through web conference meetings system. You just need to catch an email to everyone exposing you need them online for a celebration or meeting and within no a while to with just a mobile, you will have the whole group almost in front of you for a briefing.

3) Improved productivity:

It has been found that associates in a unique web conference usually get more engaged and engaged. Since their is a little possibility to talk off subject issue with the individuals due to the characteristics of the meeting, Members tends to be more efficient and participative with their principles and ideas.

4) Amazing execute condition and seating:

Since every one in a web meeting will be communicating through their own laptop computer or laptop computer or laptop computer or computer and doesn't need to be available in a oasis, they have the freedom to choose their best realistic seat and place. Engaging can be in an office or viewing or anywhere else while participating the conference. Web conference meetings contacting also offer respite to the person with real problems as they have the freedom to choose their own place and relaxation.

5) Recordable:

Conference get in touch with providers offer factor which allows their customers to history the whole organization get in touch with. Also during the organization get in touch with the generating can be stopped and replayed as per the specifications of the meeting and its associates. Once the organization get in touch with is done the generating can be stored and later distributed to others who could not be current at the meeting.

Benefits of Conference

       Political control managing for office or trying to get support for a certain starting have many sources at their relaxation nowadays, many more than the government control of previously age categories. Engineering has designed connections on a large variety simpler than ever before, and many government control and hopefuls are spending no interval in learning what sources are available and how to use them.

One of the most useful of these sources is no question the globally web, and with the use of the globally web comes to be able to apply an numerous extensive variety of additional sources available online. But one of the most useful modern sources at the relaxation of government control and hopefuls, as more and more of them are acknowledging nowadays, is a uncomplicated little system called conference meetings.

Conferencing programs are accessible nowadays, many available at no charge, and are incredibly simple to use. And for those that use such programs there are a number of advantages that can be acquired, which is why conference contacting is improving in popularity so easily nowadays. Three advantages particularly make conference contacting programs well worth the brief it needs to learn how to use them.

1. Conference actions Provides the Opportunity for Huge Interaction - One of the greatest advantages that come with using a celebration system to reach individuals is the fact that you can reach so many individuals at once. Conference actions programs offer for the possibility of connections on full of variety, and it does not take anymore to reach a lot of individuals than it does to reach one. Governmental control and hopefuls can reach several elements at once through developing organization get in touch with at a certain a while to freely exposing enough a while to recommendations as to how to be a aspect of. It may come as a shock that so many individuals will apply this opportunity.

2. Conference actions Helps in Getting a Younger Team - Younger years nowadays are all about technical advancement, so the best way to reach them is through technical advancement. There have been numerous research that confirm that this is more efficient than trying to reach young elements through the traditional methods. Developing up a prescheduled organization get in touch with will probably fishing baitcasting catch more young associates, which will result in the end in attaining more elements overall. Aside from social networking this is one of the best ways to reach young voters.

3. Conference actions Programs are an Affordable Solution - Finally, the cost of conference meetings programs cannot go unmentioned either. Many organization get in touch with programs are no cost, and those that are not are generally very cost-effective.

This makes conference contacting one of the least expensive solutions for attaining elements. Considering all the investment real estate asset on state guidelines this should be a welcome aspect regarding the use of conference contacting.

Conference Getting in touch with to Ensure

    School nowadays is much different than it used to be a couple of years ago. The way that trainers inform nowadays is different, the options kids have for learning nowadays are not at all the same, and the methods of connections between trainers and moms and dads are much more officially innovative than they used to be. You would think that all of this would add up to the possibility of learners and schools to be much more efficient, but you would be amazed at how many of both have not yet started to apply all of the sources available to them.

More and more you see the globally web being used, which is definitely a step toward the lengthy run, but one of the easiest sources to use that you still do not see enough individuals using is conference contacting. Conference contacting is an cost-effective system that has several uses that can offer several advantages for trainers, moms and dads, and learners. Conference actions programs are really simple to use, available, and need no special gadgets.

So why are more individuals not using conference meetings programs in the desire of better education? Maybe it is because so many individuals do not recognize the many advantages that such programs offer, three of which are particularly important.

• Easy Interaction With Instructors - Many moms and dads have very effective actions nowadays, due much in factor for the need for both moms and dads in a family to execute this day in age. This often results in it being very complicated for trainers and moms and dads to link with each other.

Most moms and dads that do execute usually execute past the times when trainers are available at the school for actions, and although two managing grownups is often necessary the kids are the ones that experience in the end from the no connections. This is where conference contacting comes in, because conference meetings provides a remedy for connections on the interval of your power and power that is good for both you and the trainer.

• University student Training At any time and Anywhere - When it comes to trainers and extracurriculars, trainers and moms and dads are not the only ones with effective actions, as learners have a lot going on too. For those that need a little extra academic help it can be difficult to extra a while, in addition to the problems for the mother or father to find a opportunity to get learners somewhere to get the help.

But conference contacting provides for a way for learners to get training help where they need it, when they need it. Generally schedule film conference mobile phone telephone calls between your child and their trainer and they can get the help they need.

• The Opportunity for Students to Analysis Almost - Last but not least, the value of study categories between learners must not be neglected when it comes to academic achievements. But as described before, finding enough here we are at everything is complicated.

Vacation Party Planning Made Simple With Conference Calling

      With celebration preparing interval just around the area it's about a opportunity to start considering the most effective to make those programs. Xmas always seems to find their way up on most of us and for many there is generally never a while. Between buying for presents, developing, cooking foods, and the frequent everyday life lije working, cooking foods, cleaning, and going children to and from extracurricular actions, there is brief interval of your energy and energy staying for celebration preparing actions for those people that throw a big celebration every year.

For those people that are developing a big office celebration there are some opportunities to link with co-workers during the execute day, but hardly a while to really accomplish anything. And for those people developing a big get-together with their family there is even less possibility of meeting and referring to celebration programs. This makes for a quite frustrating situation for sure, but fortunately for celebration coordinators these days there is a quite simple solution, and that simple solution is conference getting in touch with.

More and more people that are regularly brief quickly are acknowledging the key benefits of being able to use conference actions programs, and there are a number of benefits when it comes to celebration preparing as well. There are three tasks in particular that can be performed whenever they want and anywhere, with the use of a simple to use no price conference getting in touch with program.

• Putting Together a Guest History - Few people plan a big celebration by themselves, which is why conference getting in touch with is so useful for celebration preparing. One way in which this system will really come in useful is when you and other celebration coordinators use it to put together the list of guests for your big celebration. To be sure, a easy contact may execute for some, but for those with several people involved in choice it generally is realistic to link with them all at once.

• Planning the Meals - Planning a choice for a big celebration is by far one of the most complex tasks celebration coordinators have to deal with. Often there are certain people that will be taking part larger actions that need exclusive foods issues and you should get these things right. But often recommendations and requirements can get losing and neglected. With the use of a no price conference getting in touch with program, though, you can meet with everybody involved in choice preparing and be sure that everyone is on the same web page.

• Identifying on Activities - Finally, actions preparing is also an important part of the process as well, particularly if there will be children at the celebration. Mobile phone interactions definitely have their benefits, but choosing out actions over video clips video conference is even more useful. Such a meeting will allow everyone to get a look at and better feel for the actions a particular advisor is indicating, which helps you to not spend considering you will not have to meet up with face-to-face for a discussion.

For some people preparing a meeting is fun, for others not so much. Whatever type of celebration advisor you are you can definitely advantage from using conference getting in touch with throughout your preparing process/

Conference Getting in touch with Recommendations for Conference

     Using conference activities applications is uncomplicated, but that does not mean that newbies will not benefits from some recommendations regarding the career of such applications. There are all different kinds of conference activities applications to select from, so right from the begin there are options to be created. Some individuals select to use traditional audio conference activities to link, while others select entertaining film because it allows for a better possibility to research the associates.

In addition to choosing the kind of conference activities applications to use, clients can also select how to schedule a company get in touch with. Sometimes the environment is right to strategy a last immediate, on-demand company get in touch with, while other conditions need regular conference activities that can be pre-scheduled in enhance consistently. Either way, there are some recommendations that will create finding and implementing this unique system much easier.

• Where to Find out Conference meetings Programs - It is likely probably quite possible for you to determine that the best position to find conference activities applications is on the internet. What you may not identify, though, is that a certain quantity of research is needed to find the best program that is the best value. There are both no price conference contacting applications as well as those that you pay for, either when you get the program or on a per get in touch with base.

The important factor to consider is the point that some of these no price applications are of just as fantastic of top great quality as some of the ones that you pay for. You generally have to create sure that you select the right one, which a little research will help you do. Basically pay attention to views of a particular program and you will have a much better concept as to the great organization's program.

• Preparations to Make Before Your Conference - To be able to have a efficient company get in touch with it is also important to create the right arrangements before the get in touch with. A relaxing space is necessary for a efficient company get in touch with, as the smallest appears to be can intercede with a organized conference considerably.

It is also important to have all of the details you are going to need during a company get in touch with, so that you do not keep associates on the range looking forward to you to find what you need. And finally, it is important that you are prepared to take is aware during your conference, so that you may go returning and readdress a particular topic.

Doing these three factors will create sure your success with conference activities.

• Conference meetings Etiquette for a Effective Conference - Last but not least, you should maintain the same manners that you would maintain in a face-to-face meeting. Allowing others to talk about, not talking about out of turn, and not distressing are not only fantastic company techniques, but fantastic conference contacting techniques as well.

Conferencing applications are no query easy to use, but having some recommendations only creates the procedure easier. And they will only help you to create your conference telephone cellphone calls more efficient.

Interaction With Your Higher knowledge Learners Created Simple

 Every mother or father is a little bit tired and sad when it comes near to enough time when their kids will be off university and this is easy to understand, to be sure, but nowadays there is a significant distinction in how you will be able to keep touching your college students. It used to be that mother and father would have to try for times to arrive at their son or girl in their dormitory space before lastly getting touching them, but technological innovation as modified this significantly.

Today there are several techniques to connect, creating communication over lengthy ranges much easier than ever before. This enhancement in communication techniques allows mother and father to not only discuss to their kids when they have a purpose to get a keep of them, but allows mother and father to connect with their kids more often for factors having to do with the overall wellness of their kid as well. And one of the best techniques to start such communication is with the use of a meeting contacting system.

Conference contacting applications are the new anger in communication, not only because they are practical but because they are affordable as well. Actually, there are many conference meetings applications available to you on the internet that price nothing at all to use. This is excellent for you because this would mean that communication with your university college student is one of the few factors during their college decades that you can keep the price of down, which is always welcome information for mother and father spending for university college student costs.

There are three circumstances in particular in which a conference meetings system can really be useful when it comes to interacting with your college students while they are away.

1. Using a Conferencing Program to Keep Your Higher knowledge Children Inspired - There is no question that college students need a little additional inspiration every now and then to get through those challenging decades of additional knowledge. The issue is college students do not usually have someone as spent in the amount and learning as you are to keep them motivated every day. Regular meeting cellphone calls can allow you and other near relatives to motivate your college students to keep do the best that they can, even when they are sensation confused.

2. Using Conference Calling to Keep Your Higher knowledge Children from Getting Alone - In most situations when additional university graduate students go off university they do not know anybody when they get there, which can be fairly lonely. Telephone cellphone calls of course can help, but sometimes more than a speech is required to take that solitude away. Movie meeting cellphone calls can help your college students to experience like they have you right by their part when they need you.

3. Using a Conference Contact to Invest Great quality Time with Your Higher knowledge Children- Finally, a meeting call, particularly videos meeting call, gives you more of an probability to invest a little quality time with your university college student. Everyone associates can appreciate a food, or a vacation, or any other party together over a video chat period, something that was not possible only a few brief decades ago.

Errors to Stay Aware Of In Huge SMS

   As the company market becomes more competitive, investors and entrepreneurs are looking for new methods to reach out to clients. Moreover with globalization being the concept of the age, every product wants to show up at out to broader range of clients to be able to enhance their sales traffic better. To experience the key benefits of promotion and promotion, mobile is the newest system that is increasing in reputation with its SMS support. The concept of huge SMS has effectively taken the stylish of people that makes it much easier and flexible for traders to keep in touch with clients.

Though there is no question about the key benefits of huge SMS, it is in the same way actual that this technology needs to be used effectively to be able to attract the attention of clients. However, most generally it is seen that many traders practice common errors which results the impact of huge SMS promotion badly. Before you also begin acquiring the support of huge SMS, it is suggested that you remain suggested about the mistakes to prevent in big amounts SMS promotion to be able to get maximum possible benefits:

Insufficient contact to action: The first mistake that most traders do is that they are unsuccessful to impact the clients with a appropriate practical technique. If your concept does not click well with leads, they will not feel any desire to consider it. Hence, when creating promotion concept for big SMS, make sure that it's attractive and immediate with a minimal stick.

Do not try to power customers: Getting hold of numerous mobile numbers is no challenging process. However the key is to get started with the technique with acceptance from clients. Instead of acquiring amounts of mobile customers and delivering them with details, it is better to keep your present clients customized and suggested for better relationships. In most cases it is seen that traders forward promotion concept in big amounts to huge list of numbers. However they are unsuccessful to get appropriate response in come back as either their concept gets regarded as scammers or gets eliminated without developing any impact among people.

Frequent before message: The third mistake that is normally devoted by traders is that they keep delivering clients with too many details at regular interval. It has been observed that regular promotion details usually get people to frustrated and disinterested, thus developing your promotion projects a unable. Hence it is suggested that you keep your clients customized about activities, services and offers at appropriate interval so that it appeals to their attention in an immediate.

Maintain a appropriate time: It's actual that giant SMS support allows you to deliver details whenever they want of the day. Financial on this fact, many traders forward promotion details at odd hours such as day or evening. Such details mostly do not get enough attention from clients as they end up as junk in the mail box.

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Friday, August 10, 2012

Seven Productivity Tools That Can Make You Better at Public Relations

In public relations, workflow is everything. Here are seven (plus a sneaky eight at the end) tools that I use on a daily basis that could help you to stay organized and even do more than would otherwise be possible.

 

One caveat, these tools are largely for people using Gmail. If you use another email platform, like Outlook, you can check out these add ons. If you are on a Mac, you should also check out the tools my friend Michael Schechter uses.

 

Also, two of the recommended tools, Asana and Diigo, are platform agnostic.

 

Go Professional with Gmail

 

Google Apps

 

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If you are using GMail you should consider paying the $50 per year, per user and getting Google Apps. This will allow your calendar to work with your branded email seemlessly and has some other benefits, like letting your team share calendars and scheduling, much like Outlooks allows in team environments, but for much less than an Outlook server. You can read the Small Business Guide to Google Apps to get you started.

 

Write that Name

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Write That Name is a French startup which updates your Google Contacts. I used to spend 15 or more minutes a week doing what Write That Name does automagically. This saves me 13 hours a year at least. There is a free version to update 20 contacts a month, I pay $23 per year to get unlimited service and have some control over the account. I also love that the CEO Phillipe Laval is so responsive on Twitter @writethatname

 

 

Getting Organized

 

ActiveInbox

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The basic ActiveInbox package is free, but I pay the $24.95 per year because it is just that good.  It is a Gmail addon that can be use in Chrome and Firefox. It lets you organize your tasks and project folders in Gmail to and do simple CRM. You can also use it to get a zero inbox and use the GTD system, for those who are into it. I am not even close to completely utilizing the power of this app yet.

 

Asana

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Asana is one of the most talked about startups of last year with an all-star team, including co-founder of Facebook Dustin Moskovitz. This is great if you are working on tasks with a team, or even on your own. You can set up workspaces and then projects inside of those workspaces and finally add tasks to those projects. You can assign different people to each task and get email reminders of what is due and when. Everyone on the project can assign tasks. You can read an in-depth review on Lifehacker here. Asana is free for teams up to 30 members and then pricing starts at $100/month and goes up from there.

 

Engagement and Outreach

 

Rapportive for Gmail and Google Apps

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Rapportive connects your email interactions with your social networks. When an email comes in, it allows you to follow that person on Twitter, friend them on Facebook, request to connect on LinkedIn and numerous other channels. Everything that the email connects with shows up in the right sidebar. I have used this to connect with new clients, prospects and just new friends. It is invaluable to give me the info I need about each new (and sometimes old) contact.

 

 

ToutApp

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ToutApp advertises itself as a great app for sales, and I can see how it would be very useful for that. But it is also a really useful application for PR work. You can keep track of email pitches through its easy to use interface, and you can put together templates to use for all kinds of correspondence. Because it is a one to one email sent directly from my email address, and because each email can be customized, it doesn’t feel spammy. Also, it ensures all the formatting stays the same. I have used it to pitch bloggers, organize speakers for events and many other uses. You can read some of the may ways you can use Tout on its help site. There is a free and paid version. The free version allows five emails per day and allows three templates. Bigger plans start at $30 per month.

 

Organizing my Brain

 

Diigo synched to Delicious

 

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Working online makes one a voracious consumer of information. One way that you can categorize all the information you see every day and turn it into your own personalized library is by tagging your links and saving them. I have saved nearly 7,000 links since I started doing this on Delicious. More recently, I imported all of my links into Diigo, and I love this tool. It allow you to annotate a link on the fly, add sticky notes and make public or private lists that you can share with others, and which allow them to see the web pages in a handy slideshow format. Since each tag has its own RSS feed, you can use a service like TwitterFeed to send the content to other social networks based on the tag you give it (no unsightly hashtags needed). Better yet, you can still synch back to Delicious, so that your extensive library of links is always backed up.

 

 

Hope you find one or two of these tools useful to improve your productivity. As with any tools, consistency of use is the key. There have been many tools I have used and abandoned, but these tools have “stuck” for me. Which tools have you found invaluable?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Social Media and Cause Marketing: How to Paint with a Tweet

 

 

MolsonM Facebook Banner

 

Cause marketing can be tricky.

 

You need to make sure the cause you are supporting aligns with your branding and that the two come together for a win-win. This is even more important if you are just one

 

Molson M, which is a craftsman version of Molson Beer brewed and sold in Canada, is conducting a cause marketing campaign that seems to get that balance right. Its massive Liquid Art campaign, which consists of outdoor advertising, video ads (see below) and a social media components, centers around the idea that beer making is an art, and like other art forms, it can be mastered.

 

“Every Medium Has Its Master”

 

Watch the video to get the gist of it, but of course they position Molson M as a master crafted beer.

 

MolsonM has agreed to donate $1 for every tweet that contains the hashtag #MolsonM_Art to the Canadian Art Foundation. They will donate up to $20K, according to their Twitter account. They also are painting a mural in Toronto at King and Church around a billboard of the Liquid Art creative. The mural contains all the Twitter handles of people who have Tweeted the hashtag.

 

Molson Mural from CAF

 

The campaign was launched from its @MolsonM Twitter account, which didn’t exist before the campaign but now has over 1K followers. The Molson M Facebook page has over 15K connections.

 

The benefits of this campaign is that it connects Molson M with a community interested in art which would resonate with the concept of craftsman beer. They may also come to learn that Molson M’s craftsman beer is very different from the mainstream Molson Coors products. By connecting the brand to the artisan sensibility it has the potential to work to build Molson M some real value. Moreover, by tying to a venerable and respected arts organization in Canada, each person who participants know that he or she has benefitted a worthy charitable organization.

 

The campaign will continue for a few more weeks (May 2012) and the mural will come down sometime at the end of June.

 

What do you think about campaigns like this that take advantage of advertising, PR, and social media while adding a cause marketing component? What works for you and what doesn’t?

 

Liquid Art

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

CoolTools: 4 Instagram Apps for Android and iPhone, too

 

Last month, Instagram, a photo sharing social network, finally added an Android app. A few days later, Facebook bought them for an incredible amount of money. Of course, I immediately went out to find some MORE apps to play with Instagram and do our jobs better, of course, Why have one app when you can get five?

 

Here are my favorites so far, along with some ideas about how to use each of them for business. What apps are you loving for Instagram, and do they work on Android yet?

 

 

Postagram

 

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What if you could take a cool picture of that new person that you met at a conference then send it to them as a postcard for 99 cents? Isn’t that way cooler than just sending an email like this, “So glad to have met you, yada, yada, yada?” I am headed to Mom 2.0 this week and plan to try Postagram out. You don’t even need Intagram to use it, you can also send photos from the website as well. Smart idea.

 

Webstgram

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Search for hastagged photos using this search engine on Webstagram, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for your searches in Google Reader, or whatever reader you use. To use it you have to login with your Instagram account

 

http://web.stagram.com/tag/webstgram/

 

Photo Grid

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Photo Grid allows you to take 9 photos and rearrange them into a photo montage. It allows you tell the story of a moment in time and then share it to instagram, or anywhere else. It creates a Photo Grid folder in your camera application, and you can just pull from that folder in Instagram. I would classify this one eye candy, but you could use this photo to send make a photo to send as a Postagram to a group of people. From a brand perspective this could be a great way to make an impression, and you could include one photo with your logo or brand identity in it.

 

Personal Bonus: Lovestagram

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So, what is the good of all business and no fun? Thought we would throw in Lovestagram, which allows you to send an e-card to the one you love. It allows you to use photos from Instagram. And this one has a fun back story. It was created by Kaitlyn Trigger, the girlfriend of Instagram’s co-founder Mike Krieger. She downloaded “Learn Python the Hard Way” to learn how to program and crated Lovestagram as a surprise for Krieger.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Machines are Doing More for Us Than Ever: But When is it Too Much?

Humanize

 

 

It is natural a to want to do more with less. Over the past few centuries we have relied more on machines to do a lot of our work for us. It was once thought that computers would help us do all of our work and we would sit by at our leisure and enjoy life. We are enterprising creatures, looking to get the most value out of the least amount of work.

 

It’s human nature.

 

As you know, that utopian world of non-working people and hard working machines hasn’t come to pass, but it won’t stop us from trying.

 

We Are Relying More on Systems

 

A couple of seemingly disconnected things have come together over the past few weeks to make me reimagine this world of machines anew.

 

First, I read Maddie Grant and Jamie Notter’s book Humanize, which made me consider how our companies have taken on the likeness of machines, and as such have lost some of their flexibility and adaptability.

 

Second, I heard about a new computer program that can write articles that are just as convincing, if a little less inspired, than human journalists. Read this article “Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?

 

Third, I attended the Social Media Analytics Summit, where one of the arguments were around the idea that automated sentiment analysis is flawed and businesses should not use it to make decisions. Here is a really great post that explains why automated sentiment analysis is not very accurate.

 

Fourth, I heard a segment on NPR that pointed out a new computer program that can grade student papers more accurately than the teachers. Good news for over busy teachers, but maybe not so good for creative thought. Check out the story, “Can A Computer Grade Essays As Well As A Human? Maybe Even Better, Study Says.”

 

Finally, I heard about an experiment using a robot nanny. From the article, “80 percent [of kids] thought the robot was intelligent, while 60 percent thought it had feelings….The children didn't believe that the robot had the right to be paid to work or vote in an election, and most felt that it was okay for it to be bought and sold.”

 

Taken separately, these things are just a great book, a concern about a type of analysis and interesting news stories. But in its totality, it got me to thinking about how we turn over more of our decision-making power to machines every year and how easy it has been for us (me included) to relinquish that power.

 

In our rush to increase productivity and get simple answers, we have reduced people down to single digit Klout scores, judged people by their avatar, and valued companies by their digital footprints.

 

The Digital Migration

 

The recent squabbles over the valuation of Facebook as it nears its IPO on one hand and the sale of Instagram for $1 billion US to Facebook show that our society has certainly moved online for good. Perhaps our collective move away from manufacturing and toward a service and knowledge-based economy have made this mass migration into the digital world inevitable.

 

After all, as humans we have been migrating since the start of time. Why should this be any different?

 

It seems that the sheer speed of this transition, more than any other in human history, is moving faster than we are adapting our laws, our social understanding or even our brains.

 

In an effort to “keep up” we turned over the mundane tasks to computers. This is all well in good, but now a “little” has turned into “a lot.” We regularly let machines determine what times are best to  tweet (Buffer), what words to use (Scribe SEO or Inbound Writer), or even what products to buy based on our values (Good Guide). Some of use use the Internet a little bit like we would an external brain (witness my Diigo account).

 

We are seeing the world through our own self-imposed , filtered glasses, but we forgot to take out the rose colored lenses.

 

The Trouble with Machines

 

Texting

 

There is so much good that comes with machines that it is hard to see the drawbacks, but here are six areas I think are impacted by machines. What are the drawbacks that you see?

 

  • Lack of Thoughtfulness. Sure a computer can consider many options, as long as they has been programmed into the system. A human is much better at processing information and seeing the subtlety.  Moreover, we think more critically than a machine can do.
  • Lack of adaptability. While it is true that neural networks can learn and “adapt” to new input, they can only consider the variables input into the system. What about information that is missing, body language and other clues for which it is very hard for a machine to understand or react.
  • Loss of Creativity. If we rely on machines to relay information, there is not the same room for the creative turn of phrase. And what about breaking the rules of grammar to make a point. Get my point? The use of machines to set the standard for writing sets the bar too low.
  • Autopilot Mistakes. When a system is on autopilot, even small deviations can eventually lead to huge accidents and unintended consequences. Machines can make recommendations and do the heavy lifting in a quicker time and with more accuracy than a human, but it isn’t as good at making decisions that require opinion.
  • Spam. With the ability for machines to write for humans more convincingly, it leaves the door wide open for more spam sites and email. If humans don’t even have to write the stuff it becomes even more prevalent.
  • Shallow Thinking. Some scientists and thinkers have hypothesized that our brains are being rewired to only have shallow thoughts. Even if you don’t completely buy that hypothesis (I don’t), it is true we have become a generation of skimmers. The sheer volume of information thrown at us every day necessitates it. More volume can only exacerbate the problem.

Monday, April 2, 2012

New Internet Dating Sites (PinPal, Girls Around Me, FaceMatch) Compromise Safety

 

Mashing up data from multiple social networks seem like a great idea, certainly for marketers and those of use in public relations. However, unintended consequences can crop up pretty quickly.

 

Please Rob Me was probably the first such application to cause widespread concern. Its aggregated check ins from Foursquare announced when a person just checked out of their house. The owners of the site were trying to make a point about over sharing.

 

More recently a crop of online dating and meetup “services” have been released that have given rise to concern about personal safety.

 

PinPal Collects Data and Makes a Match

 

PinPal Dating Site

 

The most recent one is called PinPal, which was launched over the weekend into Beta. Jimmy Addison, the founder of Pinpal, was aggressively promoting and defending the service from the Twitter account @pinpalwizard last night. The service mashes up your Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, then looks up your Klout score to make potential matches.

 

Girls Around Me for Stalkers

 

girlsaroundme stalker app

 

Another service that recently made headlines as a potential safety hazard was the iPhone app, Girls Around Me. This service mashed up Foursquare checkins with Google maps and GPS to show you people who have checked in nearby your location. The app debuted in December and was downloaded 70,000 times before it was pulled from the app store after it lost its access to the Foursquare API. Its Russian developer, defended it in the Wall Street Journal, saying its “intention was simply to help people discover public venues nearby.”

 

FaceMatch Helps Make Love Connection

 

Facematch dating

 

When I attended SxSW, I noticed an app from a Japanese company called FaceMatch, that supposedly lets your signal to someone on Facebook that you would like to get to know them better. I am not sure how it works since its website it pretty vague. Perhaps it is like a superpoke, or it deposits one of those awful posts on your timeline to join FaceMatch.

 

What do you think about all of this? Are we overstepping our bounds with technology by putting creativity before concerns about safety.

 

Would love your take.

 

UPDATE: The Pinpal service was an elaborate April Foos Day joke, here is how and why we did it. However, Girls Around Me and Facematch are real services, as is the app Cupitino, which was brought to my attention by Brian Block. That service matches you with other Mac lovers. Here is how they describe the service:

Cupidtino is a beautiful new dating site created for fans of Apple products by fans of Apple products. Why? Diehard Mac & Apple fans often have a lot in common - personalities, creative professions, a similar sense of style and aesthetics, taste, and a love for technology.

 

We believe these are enough fundamental reasons for two people to meet and fall in love, and so we created the first Mac-inspired dating site to help you find other Machearts around you.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

International Women’s Day: Doing Good Just Got Easier

Oxfam International Womens Day

 

You might be a little like me. You see the faces of starving children and your heart breaks a little. But you really have no idea how to make a difference beyond making a donation. Part of the way forward is awareness of the problem and how to solve it and recognition and encouragement of those women already on the front lines.

 

I am lucky that my day job allows me to work with organizations whose mission it is to make a difference. So I am always interested when I get a pitch from one that is using communication tools in a unique way, which is what I got from Oxfam America last week.

 

Best of all, you can easily get involved and it only takes two minutes.

 

In celebration of International Women’s Day this Thursday, March 8, Oxfam has put together a pretty original and compelling campaign to recognize women who are already making a difference in your community. They have put together two ways for you to do this immediately:

 

1. Send an International Women's Day eCard to a woman you know, to say thank you for all that she does. Better yet, send it to several women who’ve made the world a better place.

 

2. Give the Oxfam America International Women’s Day 2012 award to a woman you think has made a difference to the world. She could be a teacher, your mom, a non-profit leader, a woman entrepreneur, the neighbor who always checks up on you when you’re ill… the possibilities are endless. You can send it as a PDF or print it out.

 

I plan to send out quite a few of these to some amazing women whom I know are changing the world. I hope you do the same.

 

Consider these facts:

  • Sixty-six percent of the world’s work falls on women’s shoulders, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income;
  • If women were given the same level of access to resources that men have, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%;
  • Hunger and poverty are about power and inequality, and women and girls face the biggest inequalities of all.

Watch the video to learn more about how Oxfam America helps to end hunger and injustice.

 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Unraveling the Mystery of Edgerank on Facebook

 

Best Facebook Content Type

via Wildfire’s Edgerank and Your Brand

 

Just as PageRank was used by Google to help people find the most relevant search, Facebook developed Edgerank to surface the most interesting content.

 

Late last year, Facebook made a number of changes to Edgerank that made it more difficult to get in the newsfeeds of your fans. Brian Carter, author of the Like Economy, outlines a number of them here, including the now often-quoted finding that only 17% of your fans are likely to get your posts in their newsfeed. And earlier this year Buddy Media did a study that shows people spend 27% of their time in the newsfeed.

 

Facebook released the following algorithm that they used to calculate Edgerank.

 

Facebook Edgerank Algorithm

The likelihood of someone seeing a fan page status update depends on a combination of these three factors: Affinity is the measurement of the strength of the relationship between the content page and the fan; weight is the type of interaction (tag. comment and likes); and finally the amount of time that has passed since the update. You can read more about how the Facebook algorithm works.

 

New Facebook Research

Edgerank and Your Brand

 

In a new study, to be released by Edgerank Checker, an analytics tool, and Wildfire, a tool to offer content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, did another analysis recently looking at 50K pages and 1MM status updates, along with six macro categories and how different kinds of content that performed best in Edgerank. Overall, photos were clearly preferred in most categories. Below is a quick overview of what did best in each category.

  • Local business: Photos are most popular, leading video by 33%. The least engaging type was links.
  • Company/organization: Photos led as the most engaging posts (by 33%), with video as the second most engaging. Links were the least engaging type of content.
  • Brand or product: Photos were 7x more engaging than status updates, all other content types averaged less than 1% engagement
  • Artist, band or public figure: Photos most popular, leading status updates by two times. Links were the least engaging content type
  • Entertainment: Status updates (.9%) are most engaging, followed by photos (.75). Videos are third most engaging.
  • Cause or community: Photos were 4x more engaging than status update. Video was just behind status updates.

How Long Should Your Updates Be?

Best Facebook update text length

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The study also looked at the length of the text that garnered the most engagement on Facebook.  They found that text in combination with multimedia always drove more engagement. And text with more than 141 characters did better than less.

 

The bottom line is that Facebook and Twitter content should be prepared differently and Facebook fans are more attracted by longer updates. So if you are still cross posting on Twitter and Facebook, stop doing it and make each update is tailored to the platform.

 

6 Takeaway Tips for Content That Performs

 

As part of the release of the study, Edgerank Checker and Wildfire held a webinar, "Demystifying Facebook's EdgeRank Algorithm," which I heard about from Shelly Kramer, to unpack the results and they left us with these six tips:

  1. Plan messaging around popular posts, the high Edgerank of particular posts will carry over to the messaging posts.
  2. Quality over quantity wins since poorly engaging content decreases your Edgerank and opportunity to be seen.
  3. Always pair a written description with each post and make sure its over 141 characters.
  4. Use a call to action in your posts, ask people to like your post, or to take other actions.
  5. Pair your links with an engaging photo.
  6. Link your content to current and relevant events

Monday, February 13, 2012

Have Video, Will Enter: Win Prizes for Your Cause

 

Doooder 6th Annual

 

 

Visual storytelling is one of the most poignant ways to reach people with your cause by pulling at the heartstrings, shocking, through humor, or otherwise playing on emotional appeal. 

 

If you are a part of a nonprofit, this is your chance to showcase one of your most compelling videos. If you are someone who works, volunteers or has seen an amazing video from a favorite cause, this is your chance to get that nonprofit involved in this great opportunity.

 

I rarely promote contests on this blog, but this one is worthy, Moreover, you should take the time to look at the contest design and some of the videos, there is a lot to be learned by checking out what others have done.

 

See3 Communications and YouTube Nonprofits have done a great job with the DoGooder NonProfit Video Awards, This year they are sponsored by Cisco, NTEN and the Case Foundation, all forward-thinking organizations that have earned their stripes as community builders.

 

Winners receive prizes provided by Cisco, grants by the Case Foundation and free registration to next year's Nonprofit Technology Conference. The top winner will have their video featured on the homepage of YouTube on April 5th! YouTube.com/Nonprofit Winners will be announced at NTC in San Francisco, a massive conference where nonprofits converge each year to learn about new technologies and ways to reach nut to their core constituencies.

 

I will be attending, so I am really looking forward to seeing the winners first hand.

 

The deadline to submit is February 29, 2012, so don’t procrastinate on this one. See the categories and prizes below.

 

You can check out the contest here:

http://www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards

 

Entry Video

 

 

Entry Categories

  • BEST Small Organization Video: Awarded to best video made my an organization with an annual budget of $1,000,000 or less.
  • BEST Medium Organization Video: Awarded to best video made by an organization with an annual budget between $1,000,000 to $5, 000,000.
  • BEST Large Organization Video: Awarded to best video made by an organization with an annual budget of $5,000,000 or more.
  • BEST Storytelling Video: Awarded for the best use of video to tell compelling, moving stories.

Prizes

  • Your Video on the YouTube Homepage
  • Winning videos will be featured on the YouTube homepage on April 5th
  • Each winner will receive $3,500 in donations and a suite of great products provided by Cisco
  • Winners will receive free registrations to the Nonprofit Technology Conference from NTEN
  • Special Prize Grants from the Case Foundation

One of the causes that really pulls at my heartstrings is poverty and homelessness. These two videos, already entered in the competition, addressed that issue is very different ways. Both interesting. I thought I would add them as examples,

United Way of Edmonton

Rebellious Truths

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Commonsense Social Media Measurement as a Diagnostic Tool

I am willing to bet that a very small fraction of online outreach has a measurement component baked in. I think there are a lot of people moving in that direction, but even if they do measure, it is usually something fairly meaningless to business objectives, like fan follows and web traffic. Or on the other side, they over measure and it leads to paralysis.


Both of these kinds of measurement aren’t helpful. What is helpful is measurement that acts as a decision-making tool. A good measurement program can help to:


•Diagnose: Adjust communications, get better


•Prioritize: Build into planning, make decisions


•Evaluate: Demonstrate ROI, Value


Measurement Diagnose

Zoetica Media published a whitepaper late last year on social media measurement that came from a chapter I wrote in Geoff Livingston’s book, “Welcome to the Fifth Estate.”


In this post I am sharing the AAA Framework for measurement developed in that whitepaper. The frameworks is pretty simple, it encompasses looking at a combination of Actions, Attitudes and Actions that people make in response to online engagement.


The AAA Social Media Measurement Framework


Attention: The overall volume of interest, these include fans, traffic and other analytics. Can also include measuring clips.


Attitude: Overall sentiment and relationship to the brand.


Action: Business results of online outreach and what actions people take as a results of a campaign, outreach effort, or sustained online presencds in social networks online.


The issue isn’t the availability of the data, but instead is how to narrow down the data you do use, and determining which are most important. Some of the most common reasons people aren’t measuring include feelings that is is too hard or time consuming, that it costs too much, that they don't really know how, and the most insidious, they are afraid that measurement will provide proof that what they are doing isn’t working and they might get fired.


The truth is that if you use measurement for what it was intended, a way to improve performance and prove value, it can be your ally. Below is a PowerPoint presentation with more information and the copy of the whitepaper is below that. Happy measuring!


PowerPoint Presentation

Commonsense Social Media Measurement

View more presentations from Kami Huyse.

Whitepaper

Commonsense Framework to Measure Social Media