how much does social media really cost?

Social media can be exhausting. To do it well takes a lot of time, effort and knowledge. Social media aggregator tools (like the one that i have been using--Yoono) are great, but at the same time can be so distracting that you can literally spend your entire day clicking and reading on links that are posted, replying to tweets and starting conversations. Then, there are the other social media aspects to pay attention to--blogs, comments on blogs, mainstream media, etc. i think that I can literally make a career out of being on social media all the time looking for a job in social media (any takers?)...

This doesn't even talk about the dollars and cents cost of social media, and hiring an outside consultant can run a nonprofit A LOT of money. Insanity. Some excecutives at nonprofits reject the idea of social media because they think that it's a fad, while others may reject the idea because it is just too expensive. At a resource strained nonprofit, can you blame them??

Facebook is Diggin' it

This week Facebook introduced the "like" button that can be used on any site anywhere., similiar to "Digg". It will be interesting to see how this will be used, and if it will catch on. Then again, it seems like anything that Facebook does will catch on. I was thinking of the ways that nonprofits will be able to use this to their advantage--will the sites get info on who is liking their site/article? Will they have access to any information on the sites? Facebook has said that the "liking" will allow advertisers to target their audiences more accurately, but what will happen with nonprofits? Also, I wonder if Facebook will have a grant program (similar to Google Ad Grants) that allow nonprofits to follow up with some of those who "liked" their pages...

Phemonenal Presentation--I had to repost!!

Wow--this is a rockstar presentation! I wish that I had been able to go to the AFP conference to see this in person, but the slides are amazing as well!

Concrete ideas on how to actually get a social media strategy up and running and how it can be measured. Even though it's been said before, I haven't heard it said that social media has changed the conversation with constituents from "Monologue--> Dialogue". Love it love it love it!

great to check out!

NTEN Conference, Part 2

At the remote conference at Convio, we were able to choose some of our sessions. There were a couple that I desperately wanted to go to, and luckily they were one of the ones chosen for Convio to stream. I geeked out a little bit over the fact that I was able to attend "The Networked Nonprofit," which was led by Allison Fine and Beth Kanter. I had read Allison's book "Momentum" and LOVED it, and pretty much every informational interview that I have ever gone on has recommended to follow Beth's blog, since she is THE expert on social media.

One of the biggest brain grapes that I got from this session was that "Listening is the gateway drug for social media." Whoa--this ties in to what Andrew Sullivan was saying about how blogging is a one-on-one conversation, that social media is really SOCIAL, it's not all a one way street. Listening does so many things for the social organization--it allows the organization to not only find where its constituents are, but also to figure out HOW to interact with them. The session talked about how there is a "great learning in reflection"--how organizations need to assess ideas, look and see what works and if they don't give them a "joyful funeral" to say goodbye.

But doing this means that there must be a culture of innovation, of not just forging ahead blindly, but figuring out what to do and giving it up if it's not working. That's a lot of pride to swallow. If this isn't part of the nonprofit's culture, taking small steps in that direction will definitely help--but big steps would probably be better. :)

my Tom's Shoes obsession and a Day without Shoes

Ok, like most females (and a portion of my male friends), I love shoes. At the risk of turning into one of those Sex and the City chicks, I will say shoes make me happy. If I'm feeling down, a pair of heels will literally give me the lift I need to get through the day.
Anyway, last week was Tom's Shoes "A Day without Shoes", which encouraged people to go without shoes for an entire day to raise awareness about those who do not have shoes at all. There are millions of people who are exposed to a variety of diseases through their feet because they don't have shoes. I had to work on the "Day without Shoes", but I rocked my red Tom's in solidarity with the cause.

Tom's did an AMAZING job promoting this cause through social media. They twittered, sent out reminders, talked about the t-shirts they had for sale (if you couldn't go shoeless), and asked for pictures of people who were going without shoes. They really turned this event into a "social" event--even though many of the connections that were made were virtual.

Great job!


Here's a pic of my Tom's on a recent outing to Austin's Mount Bonnell:

Lining up people and their passions

I read this blog post and I thought it was pretty amazing site with a pretty cool concept. Most people know what they want to become involved in, but they don't know how to find an organization that does exactly what they want.

Status messages the automatic way!!

Recently, I became part of the Progressive Exchange Listserv. Yesterday, someone from water.org or one.org sent out an email asking all of the PXers to join World Water Week. There was a link to the Facebook application for the week, so I was immediately intrigued and clicked on the link. I was given the opportunity to choose exactly how involved with the campaign I wanted to be. I had the option of donating my status messages and/or my profile picture for the campaign. I decided that I would just do the status message, and I have posted a couple of status messages from water.org already encouraging others to donate their messages, and to learn more about World Water Week and the plight of those who do not have access to water.
I am happy to donate my status messages—I didn’t even have to do anything since the app does all the work for me. I am a little afraid that this is a “Big Brother-y” type app since it automatically updates my status messages and it can change my profile picture. I hope that my friends aren’t getting spammed by the app, and I can always check and update my preferences for the app at any point during the week.
A few days ago, I wrote about how our social networks have become our editors for news, videos, issues, etc. I don’t know if my network on Facebook is clicking on the links or not for these posts, but I feel good knowing that my friends and family (the only people in my Facebook network) know that this is important to me.
Has this become the future for advocacy in nonprofits? Will it be as easy as creating an app that will give you access to status messages and profile pictures? Will this be cost prohibitive for some organizations? But does this cheapen advocacy for an organization? I don’t feel like I am really a part of World Water Week—sure I gave my status message, but I’m not doing anything more than that…It will be interesting to see if this catches on or not.

Five insights into the behaviors of social media users

Five insights into the behaviors of social media users

This article is particularly interesting to me because social media seems so ubiquitous, but that's only because we are really immersed in it. If you are following a bunch of people, how do you remember who is following you and who isn't on Twitter and whether or not they are posting? I certainly don't remember, and don't have the time to check because I am too busy updating my other sites or reading blogs. :)

One thing that I found really amazing is the line in the article that says "Social media users of all ages are still spurred to check things out online as a direct result of face-to-face communication". I find this to be true, and thanks to the iPhone, I can check it out almost immediately. Word-of-mouth is still extremely important, and it wasn't so long ago when most companies were finding ways to guerilla market their products, and now they seem to be neglecting this in favor of social media. Oh, but both need to be focused on. Both are extremely important!!!

What does this mean for non-profits? So, many non-profits are doing one or the other--they are not using social media at all, and are trying to focus on their constituents in person or only via email. Others have foregone the in person focus for social media. Neither of these is good! Granted, I do want to work in a job where I can use my the knowledge that I have gained about social media, but I still want to be able to interact with people face to face.

Moral of the story--Face-to-face communication is still important. So is social media. Use your resources wisely!!!

SXSWi

SXSW Interactive is just wrapping up here in Austin. I wish that I could have gone because there were so many different amazing resources for nonprofits and other geeky things that I am interested in. There were a lot of panels and talks on social media and the ways that nonprofit organizations can use them to their advantage.
Last year, the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas decided to do something unique during SXSW. Using a 4 person street team and 50 Bloggers, Twitterers, and Facebook users they were looking to increase donations to the CAFB. Tyson Foods said that it would donate 100 lbs of food for every person who went to a specific website and filled out a form.
Neither Tyson nor CAFB knew what would happen next. Over 4800 people signed the pledge! Additionally, 714 people who signed the pledge gave an additional $28,000. 95% of these donors were first time donors!!
One of the most amazing things was that one single Tweeter was the source of 967 visits to the website to sign the pledge. Who would have thought that one single person could drive so much traffic?
The age of social media is here and nonprofits can clearly be successful by using it. SXSWi may be a unique case because it attracts techie, social conscious people. This was a perfect thing for Tyson and for Capital Area Food Bank to launch last year.

This year, Capital Area Food Bank just came out with an iPhone app. I was curious what the “iPheedaneed” app was all about, since they are one of the first (possibly only?) nonprofit to have an app. The app includes news and facts about CAFB and their mission, recipes and events. One of the most innovative things is a game called “Catch the Can”. I tried to play it and failed miserably, but kudos to CAFB for having something interactive on the app!!

Another Benefit of Nonprofit having a strong social media presence

Many nonprofits already know the benefits of becoming involved with social media and how it can bring in new volunteers, donors, and advocates. Yes, that’s true, but having a strong social media personality can also benefit an organization by showing a corporation that your nonprofit is a “cool” and that this is something that a corporation would like to partner with for a sponsorship.
Think about it—a corporation wants to improve its image by supporting a nonprofit. The corporation has a strong Facebook presence with a few thousand fans, a Twitter account with a lot of followers and an iPhone app. When the corporation is looking for a nonprofit, will they choose the nonprofit with the template website and Facebook page that hasn’t been update in months? Or will they choose the nonprofit with the strong social media presence?
There may be some overlap with the followers of the corporation and the nonprofit, but each would get more “eyes” on them with a partnership. They would mutually benefit from a sponsorship, and everyone would be happy.
If your nonprofit is approached for a corporate sponsorship, it is important to talk about what your social media obligations will be. Most nonprofits think about what the signage will be at their events and to include their logo on the programs and website, but what about the social media aspect? How many times will the corporation mention your cause and how many times do you need to mention the corporation?

The most useful one of these I have seen yet!

In my research on ways your nonprofit can use social media, I have come across a bunch of "10 ways your nonprofit can best use social media". However, this one is the best one that I have found yet. I think that the tips mentioned are incredibly useful and relevant for nonprofits. One of the tips that resonated the most with me is the one about making social media social. Most people enjoy seeing pictures of themselves and their friends online. Add in the fact that they are doing something good, and they get some bonus points!

However, nonprofits do need to get permissions before tagging people in pictures. Some people don't want to be tagged (even if they are doing something positive), so make sure that the registration form/sign in sheet has an opt-in for this.

This can also get a nonprofit more followers to your Facebook, Twitter, etc. because people will want to see when the pics are posted, details of the event, etc.

Boy am I on a roll today: The Albert Einstein Guide to Social Media

Albert Einstein is amazing! When I came across this article, I thought that it put social media into a really unique perspective. One aspect of this article that really struck me was the line "Information is not knowledge. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

There are so many different blogs, articles, books, webinars, etc. on social media. Everyday I can hardly keep up with the amount of resources that are updated daily. Sure, someone can spend the day reading all these articles, but to actually put them into place and to figure out what role social media has within their organization. Putting all of this information into practice is imperative to the health of the organization's social media strategy.

The Albert Einstein Guide to Social Media

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***My thoughts and prayers are with the people who have been affected by the plane crash just a few miles down the road here in Austin***

Two posts in one day!!!

Ok, so I just came across this article from SocialFish. How amazing is this to be able to see exactly where your constituents are and how to reach them. I'm all about efficiency, and being able to see where a nonprofit can use its energies for the maximum benefit is amazing. Thank you for sharing this amazing resource SocialFish gals!

PepsiCo gets more Super Bowl buzz than Coke, even without ads | ajc.com

This is pretty amazing! A company (not just any company, PEPSI) has chosen to forego Super Bowl ads in favor of promoting the way that they are giving back to the community. Pepsi has asked consumers to vote on the nonprofits that will receive grants from Pepsi, and they have already seen their website traffic increase as a result of this initiative. So, rather than paying $3 million for 30 seconds of advertising, Pepsi will be helping out nonprofits in communities all over the country.

PepsiCo gets more Super Bowl buzz than Coke, even without ads | ajc.com

Will have an impact on advertising for the future? More and more companies may choose to go this route, rather than spending the money on traditional marketing and advertising. Pepsi seems to be the first major corporation to really jump on board with this "crowdsourcing" as a viable publicity alternative to television advertising.

This is great for nonprofits since more organizations may jump on board with this trend and give more grants to organizations. The nonprofits will have to increase their marketing efforts to make sure that they are gaining "fans" in cyberspace who are willing to vote for them. This is even more of a reason for the organizations to have a strong presence in social media and with their constituents online. Nonprofits may also want to ask the nominating foundation to collect information about the voters to determine key demographics to market to and possibly individuals to solicit for donations.

It will be interesting to see how Pepsi's decision will affect advertising for years to come!

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50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits

This is a great presentation, and has some really solid ideas for how social media can be utilized by nonprofits to help promote their missions and reach out to constituents.

50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits

View more presentations from Chad Norman.

..and so it begins....

My quest to move to DC, break into the nonprofit world, get a job that utilizes my MBA and makes me enough money to cover the loans for said MBA (and the undergrad degree). Not so hard, right? All I need to do is to gain some more experience in the nonprofit, create and maintain my own personal brand, and distinguish myself from all the local candidates in the worst economic recession in recent history.

I don't mean to sound negative at all, I want to break in to the nonprofit world. I am passionate about nonprofit organizations and their missions. I want to break into development so that I can help them achieve their missions and become very successful.

...and away we go!!!