Worthy Cause: Local Man is Fundraising for New Spandex Outfit
Just kidding… but he does need skates 
Ever thought of dropping everything to chase a dream?
We all would…. as long as it fit in to our busy schedules. BUT who has the time or the energy?
I was chatting with Steve Jagger, my co-author for Sociable!, and he shared the new adventure his younger brother Kevin has undertaken.
I had spoken with Kevin just a few months ago, at the time he was working for a US college media firm after putting in his dues on Bay Street as an investment banker. Turns out I was a little out of the loop.
After watching the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Kevin has decided to quit his job and attempt to compete in long track speed skating with the ultimate goal of trying to make the Canadian National Team.
Crazy right?
What makes it only slightly crazier is that Kevin has never even competed in speed skating and up until the time of writing has yet to step on Oval ice!! Talk about bold.
One thing I did not realize is speed skating is not cheap – especially when you have to commute to Calgary to compete (the ice at the Richmond Oval has been removed), hire a full time coach and get custom made skates & blades.
As a way to support himself, Kevin has started a great blog that follows his journey from the cubicle to the ice. The blog is aptly named: Long Track Long Shot (http://www.longtracklongshot.com).
If you want to support Kevin on his journey he is selling t-shirts to help raise funds to buy his first pair of custom skates. For $25 you can help Kevin and even get the t-shirts delivered by Kevin on his bike! (for those of you living in the Lower Mainland). You can order for the next 48 hours if you want to support his vision.
Here’s a video of him training:
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
10 Best Practices in Social Media for Social Causes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
There are dozens of organizations out there that are effectively using social media in the not-for-profit and charity sectors. I have truly just begun to understand and study all of the fantastic case studies and success stories from events like the annual Blogathon to some of the great stuff that organizations like the Redcross have achieved through online funding.
Today’s podcast is not about some of these global examples but a very local one I had the privilege to be part of. In a 24 hour period Anthony Caridi of KasuFunding.com and I along with a very committed social media community here in Vancouver raised over $12,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation. Almost 100% of the donations came from Twitter or FaceBook connections.
Here are 10 things we discovered that worked (some of them we implemented and others we will implement next time):
1) Organize your collateral material early for each stakeholder group
2) Make your content easy to share, cut and paste
3) Integrate the offline with the online and get influencer buy-in early
4) Have multiple platforms for RSVP’ing for events
5) Get donors with big lists and big reach to not just cut a check but use that influence and reach to promote your cause
6) Contact people individually and ask them to do something easy
7) Use a fundraising platform like KasuFunding.com that makes it easy for people to Tweet, share and forward information about the cause.
8) Work close with the Charity
9) If you are a charity leverage your stakeholder groups when social media marketing instead of using internal resources
10) Keep your message really simple.
-
-
Special Thanks to:
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Make a Wish Foundation 24 hr Online Fundraiser is Today
Anthony Caridi of KasuFunding.com met with me a month ago and shared with me a great vision. His goal was to run an online social media campaign to raise funding for the Make a Wish Foundation. Globally Make a Wish grants a child’s wish every 40 minutes. Most of these children are very ill, many of suffering from life threatening illnesses. The stories are both heart warming and gut wrenching for me. (See some recent wishes here) Being a parent and knowing the innocent bliss that most of our kids live in, it’s hard to see children live with such hard realities. I’d like to ask you to donate a small amount, the goal is not to have a few big companies cut big checks. The goal is for all of us just to donate $20 and invite a friend. Through the power of our online social networks, blogs and Twitter accounts we hope to prove that a whole bunch of little contributions by a large community can make a huge difference. Click through below to learn more:
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
How the World’s #1 Online Building Supply Company uses Social Media
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Today’s podcast is an interview with Rob Jones the Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for BuilDdirect.com. BuildDirect sells more building supplies online than any other company on the planet. Rob and I discuss how they have used social media to augment their online marketing efforts.
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Why Social Media in the C-Suite is Vital
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Why executives must invest in understanding and driving social media use in their organization.
Social media is not just another tool. It can be, but it’s a lot more for those organizations that embrace it. The challenge is it’s also not just about learning a new technology, it’s about changing the way we communicate with customers, stakeholders and staff.
This is a corporate cultural change, it’s also about embracing one of the most powerful word of mouth tools ever invented. There are huge inherent risks and opportunities presented by this. For that reason social media or online engagement initiatives in general have to be driven by the C-suite, the people who can hold others accountable and sponsor change in their organization.
In today’s social media podcast I talk about the following:
- Senior executives and their need for buy-in
- What and who to invest in
- The importance of a corporate social media policy
- How soft steps lead to ROI
- Why most social media marketing fails:
- Lack of a goal
- Poorly defined market
- No listening
- No real launch plan
- Quitting too soon
The bottom-line is that social media is too important to compartmentalize or see as a pet project.What do you think?
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
12 Social Media Tips <140 Characters
- Keep giving and contributing more than the competition. Pay back will be huge.
- Every tweet, blog entry, comment and status update will be saved forever and is permanently part of your brand.
- Before permission to market comes permission to connect. There’s a lot of trust building in between.
- Make it easy for people to find you. While you’re out looking for business there is an entire market looking for you.
- “It’s not about B2B or B2C it’s about person to person marketing in social media” – @jeffbooth.
- Use the back links function in Google to see who is linking to your competitors. Reach out to those connectors.
- Go wide with social media then build strong deep networks by going deep with the phone, Skype, webinars or in-person.
- Twitter search and tools like Twellow.com can dampen the noise down from millions on voices to the exact ones you’re targeting.
- Picking a fight publicly stays on record long after the battle is done. Rarely is it worth it.
- Not getting the results you want? Are you asking for help often enough? It’s about community. Reach out.
- Share and give more than you think is practical… then do it again. It will build positive momentum for your brand.
- When partnering with other social media influencers start by making sure your values and principles are aligned.
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
.tel Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #88
Excerpt from Guerrilla Social Media Marketing by Shane Gibson and Jay Conrad Levinson:
.tel: This is a new domain name extension but it’s more than just another domain. Yourname.tel, Yourproduct.tel and yourcompany.tel are vital guerrilla tools. A .tel domain is driven by a proprietary software that integrates a variety of SmartPhone and web based applications. Embedded in the .tel are your contact details and key information. With a click of a button your prospects can immediately download your contact information into their address book or cellular phone. George Moen CEO of Blenz Coffee has a business card with no phone numbers, addresses or e-mail on it. It simply says GeorgeMoen.tel.
What the .tel network is building is worlds biggest phone book that dynamically integrates into websites and applications. Anytime you update your contact details in your .tel dashboard it automatically updates all of the other sites and the Smartphone applications. How many times have you been somewhere and forgot your business cards? Now you can simply tell people to visit yourname.tel, yourproduct.tel or yourcompany.tel, and most people will find that easy to remember and easy to do.
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson, Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #65 Alltop.com
Alltop.com: Is described by co-founder Guy Kawasaki as “the online version of the magazine rack in your bookstore except that it has 900 subjects and is free.” It organizes news and blog entries by subject, and gives you the five most current pieces from top websites and blogs. You also get a preview of each story.
Guerrillas need to constantly feed their community and connections with value added content. They also need to keep up to date with specific industries and niche markets to remain competitive. Alltop’s always current and up-to-date news and blog feeds are a great source of guerrilla intelligence and content.
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
In writing Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Jay Levinson and I developed a quick comparison between traditional websites and social sites. Guerrillas know that to build community and consent your website and homebase must be social.
Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
|
Traditional Sites |
Social Sites |
| Require technical knowledge to update and add content | Require very little knowledge to update and almost anyone can add content |
| Full of me-focused marketing and are written like a corporate brochure | Written for the customer about things that can help the customer |
| Are unidirectional in their mode of communication | Allow for bidirectional communication between guerrillas and their visitors and also allow visitors to share and communicate with one another |
| Is a marketing island | Are community hubs and push content out to guerrilla outposts and also pull in and aggregate content from those networks |
| Are difficult to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of their static nature | Are easy to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of constantly added content by guerrillas and their visitors |
| Lock up and protect their content, such as videos | Make all of their content easy to share and repurpose |
| Require visitors’ contact details and consent before establishing a relationship or providing any real value-added content | Are full of value-added content, tools and information that benefit their market, and don’t require you to give consent before adding value |
| Require expensive custom plugins or web-based applications and a significant financial investment when upgrading the look and feel | Due to their open source nature, are inexpensive or free to upgrade. This also allows for inexpensive redesigns |
| Typically corporate-supported | Typically community-supported |
| Provides limited channels and access to limited number of people within a company | Provides multiple methods for connecting with your company and provides access to multiple people within your organization |
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Follow Friday is now People Friday
Enough. With the advent of Twitter there’s the follow Friday or #followfriday or #ff. People post lists of people they endorse or want to thank for their impact on them via Twitter. It may be the trend du jour but I feel for us hyper wired social media and web geeks People Friday is a much greater cause. We spend so much time behind our monitors or squinting at our iPhones and Blackberry’s that we have forgotten the purpose; PEOPLE. Instead of posting on Twitter how much you like someone and why everyone else should follow them online — why not meet them in person or pick up the phone and let them know how much you appreciate their efforts. It’s great to promote and connect with a broad base of people and expand our network. Intimacy and trust however is built by deepening key relationships. When you know each other better, and deep trust is built we can than truly and endorse someone as credible.
So I have my People Friday booked up. I’m visiting with my co-author Stephen Jagger, then meeting with a long time client, and then I will be meeting with George Moen of Blenz Coffee. Most of these conversations and interactions could be handled online via a wiki / chat collaboration BUT there’s huge value to looking someone in the eye and taking the time to let them know how they have impacted you. If at all possible today… get offline in person with someone you have rapport with online and see if you can add depth to that relationship.
Have a great Friday,
Shane
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
10 Hard Questions about Your Corporate Social Media Use
Social media is one of the most measurable and engaging online compliments of marketing tools available. With that said social media is a rabbit hole that entire teams can dive down. It hurts your brand, it hurts your real world relationships and it wastes your resources. It’s time to get real about our habits.
Social media, particularly my blogging, Twitter and YouTube activity has brought me clients from three continents that include a number of Fortune 500 clients and major government organizations. So I’m a big believer, and this stuff works. Over the years here’s some things I have done that don’t work, things that many people can relate to:
- I have hit Twitter instead of writing a proposal, it was for procrastination and fun, not for business or community building.
- I have engaged in conversations that are off topic, not anywhere near my target market and spent hours on such conversations.
- I have written numerous blog entries with no real goal or over reaching theme.
- I have ripped, thumped and chastised newbies for their ignorance or blatant spam (which is also usually due to ignorance) and hurt my own credibility.
- I have started, stopped, started again and then quit on blogging and podcasting. This cost me readers momentum and business opportunities as well as trust.
- I have done another dozen things wrong at least (See Twitpics gone wrong part 1 and part 2)
Why do I share this? We’re all guilty of taking a good business tool and wasting time and resources. It can be cell phones calls for personal reasons, or business lunches that are really an excuse to cocktail it up etc. Executives and decisions makers are quick to blame the tools – the reality is we should blame the people, and blame management for not teaching and driving best practices.
Here are 10 hard questions you need to ask about your social media use:
- Have you started your social media marketing with a solid goal, plan, and monthly calendar that keeps you on message?
- Do you abuse your social media voice and constantly bash competitors or suppliers before you try less public options?
- Do you hop on Facebook or Twitter when there are more business critical and urgent revenue opportunities pressing?
- Do you have a well-defined target market that you listen to and talk with – or are you mass broadcasting and hoping someone will hear?
- Have you researched or been trained in social media use or does your company train staff before letting them run rough-shot with your brand?
- If you have several staff, have you assigned a junior in-experienced person to manage your brand online versus a tenured strategic thinker?
- Are you using multiple social media or just the ones you are comfortable with?
- Are you consistent with your activity and your messaging?
- Is your personal social graph putting you at risk (are there pictures, information or behavior that could hurt your brand?)
- Are you involving your whole team and opening up multiple channels for client communication or is your marketing department hoarding your social media voice?
These are just a few hard questions. There are many more. If you want to succeed and get an ROI out of social media you will need to ask these questions, and constantly check in to make sure you stay on the path.
What questions do you ask? How are you auditing your social media use?
-
-
-
Click here to Tweet this Sales Blog Post to Twitter
Speaking and Training
Subscribe in iTunes
Buy Sociable! Now.
-
One of the Top Sales Sites On the Net!
