Blog

Social Media for Non-Profits

October 23, 2009
by Robin Moss

Non-profits often feel like social media is just “one more thing” – okay so all my clients do. But non-profits don’t always see the benefit, but think about all the publicity. A recent Fast Company article in the October issue “Stinking It Up: We had a big party, but got no buzz. Lessons from a PR failure.” shows why Twitter is relevant for non-profits.

What DoSomething.org found was that they let some really big PR opportunities slip through their fingers, because they ignored social media. Why not let everyone in the room keep their phones on during the event and let them take photos, post them to to their Facebook accounts, Twitter about the event in real time. Blog about the event as you build it, as each event happens.

Before an event you can grow excitement by blogging about the event, Twitter about it, ask people to “fan” your Facebook page. Non-profits need to utilize social media more than corporate entities for a very simple reason, its free.

SEO, What Can You Do To Increase Your Ranking?

September 14, 2009
by Robin Moss

When trying to improve your search engine optimization there is a lot you can do to improve your standings. You can “pay” to move yourself up in the list by using pay-per-click ads, although this can get expensive as “the best words” in most categories are as expensive as $8.00 per click, yes eight dollars per click. And while you can limit your cost exposure by telling the search engines you only want to spend “x” dollars per month, when that amount is up, your ad is gone….

I personally think that for the average small company, pay-per-click is fraught with cost. There are other, more cost effective things you can do. If you have a web site, such as the one’s Ribit design’s, that is built with a content management system you will be able to easily update your site yourself. By making changes to your site on a regular basis the search engines tend to rank your site more highly.

Of course you can blog, this is adding a “change” to your site. If you use your blog to impart knowledge, you can also use it as a way to establish yourself as an industry expert. Also, you should work with your web developer to be sure that your site has the appropriate code for the search engines to read when they go through the web categorizing all the sites on the internet.

Have fun and happy typing!

YouTube is a Viable Marketing Tool

August 20, 2009
by Robin Moss

Using YouTube as a Marketing Tool requires having the ability to make a video. Today, that’s as easy as spending $149.00 for a Flip Video Camera. The Flip camera has made everyone a director and given everyone the ability to get “their” message out to the world.

Once you post a video on YouTube you get a YouTube channel, this also makes it easier for people to follow you on YouTube (yes, more followers). You can then embed the video on your web site and grow traffic to your web site by editing your video to include your web address at the end of the video. Just remember that once the video is on YouTube it is on YouTube, it can go viral which can be good (if your message is good) or it can be deadly, if you go on a rant. As Google would say, just “don’t be evil”.

Utilizing YouTube is just one more marketing tool in the social media toolbox. You can have fun with your topic, make it personal, or make it professional. If your lucky it will go viral and take your company to the next level. Maybe it will be as popular as the cat who plays piano!

Best Ad Campaign

July 14, 2009
by Robin Moss

The International Cannes Advertising Festival awarded one campaign the Grand Prix award for direct, cyber and PR for the “Best Job in the World” campaign for Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. According to Fast Company, the campaign was “done on a comparatively paltry marketing budget of just 1.7 million dollars and reliant on fortuitous PR and word of mouth, the campaign achieved stunning results, including over 34,000 video entries from applicants in 200 countries, and more than 7 million visitors to the site who generated nearly 500,000 votes.”

Okay, let’s start with the comparatively paltry marketing budget of just 1.7 million dollars. I think paltry is relative. Seeing as Hamilton Island has a population of 1500 people (according to Australian Bureau of Statistics) no math I know makes this look like a paltry budget, although it could just be that I’m jealous. The town I live in has just over 15,000 residents and and our marketing budget is approximately a whopping $200,000. Now I realize I’m using “Boomer Math”, but my friends in Hamilton Island are spending $1133 per resident while versus $13 per resident, yes they had better results. Miracle results? Let’s not let the media fool you into thinking they had a small little budget and pulled off a miracle, they had real money and agencies working for them on two continents.

Now for what they did right, they came up with THE IDEA (yes I meant to shout), it was fabulous. They had a beautiful, gorgeous location they wanted people to visit. Hmmmm, how to get the word out, I know, let’s have a contest! So they created a contest for the “Best Job in the World” where the job is to live for six months on Hamilton Island and share with the world your experiences through a blog, twitter, etc. And don’t forget you get paid for this, you get paid a lot.

So people started to apply online, lots of people. So many people applied that the web server crashed two days into the campaign. (oops, you’d think one of the agencies might have prepared for that.) Because you needed to have people vote for you to get the job, people started to create web sites and blogs to promote themselves, and of course this promoted the “job” itself. The perfect storm of publicity, when your PR goes viral.

So what did little Hamilton Island get for their 1.7 million dollars, they generated $200 million in global publicity for Tourism Queensland according to the BBC (I found this reference on Wikipedia). Now a new Yacht Club as well as a new Golf Club are opening in 2009. Oh, and I’m writing about it in my blog. What more could they ask for! Guess they’ll have some more “great jobs” for us to apply for.

One Step

June 17, 2009
by Robin Moss

It all starts with a step. Whether it is finding a new job, a new client, writing your next blog, or coming up with a 140 characters for Twitter it all starts with a step. You either have to get on line and look for job listings or hit the networking circuit, or put a letter on the page (that’s what is the most difficult for me, that shockingly blank white page).

In my experience, once you get past that first step, it is all so much easier. It is just like when we were kids, don’t dangle a foot in the pool, just jump on it. Yes it is cold. Yes it is shocking. But you are in the pool, and now it doesn’t seem so hard.

I realize that you need to organize your desk drawers, vacuum, take the dog for a walk. These are all very important things that keep you from taking that first step. At least I know they are things I think I need to do when there is a project that is daunting. I find if I just jump in with both feet I am through before I know it.

I know we all think that we have no boundaries and have no time, but I actually find that as long as I don’t procrastinate, I have all the time I need. It is when I start to stall and delay that the day goes on forever, because I never started what I needed to finish. I never looked for the client, I never wrote the blog, I never came up with a mere 140 characters to amaze and amuse my followers (however few of them there might be).

I made a mid-year resolution (yes a mid-year) to be better about blogging, I have been sporadic so far this year and I pledge to be better. So start to check back often to see what topic I have picked, I will be entertaining and enlightening. At least it’s a step.

Twitter for Business Can Be Effective

May 21, 2009
by Robin Moss

Twitter is a great tool for a business if used correctly. There is a difference between using Twitter for personal use than for professional use. In the case of a business, I do not think it is necessary to Twitter daily, only Twitter when you have something important to say, such as you have a product update, a new product announcement a feature enhancement, etc. Announcements on Twitter are often forwarded faster than other media. I tend to Twitter daily, and I only Twitter about work.

Twitter is a great way to connect with your clients with information about what you do or what you think. It also keeps you from over thinking what you are going to say. When you are limited to a 140 characters you have to be succinct. I admit, as I see the character count down turn to red I start to evaluate the most efficient, clear and concise way to make my point. I am still a stickler for using proper words, I don’t want to use “text-speak”. I feel that as long as I am using Twitter as a professional medium, my tweets (okay, it is hard to write the word tweets and feel professional) need to be in proper English and sound professional.

You can follow me on Twitter @robinatribit

Facebook Pages, Are They Professional

April 14, 2009
by Robin Moss

Several of our clients have asked if they should use Facebook as a way to connect with clients. If you have a personal Facebook account and like to “share” on it, continue to do so, just not with your clients. For your clients, set up a Facebook Page. The difference is that a Facebook Page is for a business or organization or band, etc. This is where you connect as a professional, so you can separate your personal and professional sides of your life.

I use my Facebook page to keep up with friends, Ribit’s Facebook page is strictly professional. For instance, when I post this blog to the Ribit web site, I will also post a comment on Ribit’s FB Wall (for those that don’t use Facebook, the wall is where you post your comments) that I have posted a new blog and suggest that Ribit’s Fans check it out. Yes, you have friends that connect to your personal account, but you have Fans that connect to your Facebook Page for your business.

I know it is all a little confusing separating personal and professional, but it is worth it. Once you have 1000 Fans for your Page you can get a vanity URL for your Page to make it easier for people to find your Page. A vanity URL is where instead of having a random set of numbers assigned as your page id, you can set your own id as long as no one registered it with Facebook before you did. Ribit still needs several more Fans before we will be getting our very own vanity URL.