Using MySpace, Facebook and Linkedin as business tools

This article from Computerworld discusses corporate applications of Facebook. It is pretty interesting. It discusses how in "Facebook's directory listings, a company can establish its own free "fan" page, complete with links to its Web site, photos, videos, and contact information to key employees or salespeople for all its customers to view. It's like a supercharged, multimedia Yellow Pages ad, but it's in a global telephone directory -- not just the local volume for one city -- and it's free."

As we move into v2.0, it is important that we walk the walk and dig even deeper into social networking as a business tool. Here is another article that is worth looking at, also from Computerworld, which compares the benefits of Facebook and Linkedin to business applications.

Lee Aase, manager of Syndication and Social Media at the Mayo Clinic and chancellor of Social Media University, Global noted that Facebook is the perfect "collaboration network" because it allows businesses to create unlimited numbers of free groups. These can be open (anyone can join), closed (by invitation only) or secret (where their existence doesn't show on any profile).

Workers can collaborate on projects, keep up with company news, or communicate with external vendors and agencies without companies having to provide the employees or the external parties with virtual private network access behind the corporate firewall. This is especially important to small and midsize businesses, which may not have the resources to provide VPNs to their employees and customers.

Nibbles and Bytes: Email Etiquette Tip: - DON'T SHOUT!

Link: Nibbles and Bytes: Email Etiquette Tip: - DON'T SHOUT!.

Edith Macefield, 1921-2008: Ballard woman held her ground as change closed in around her

Link: Edith Macefield, 1921-2008: Ballard woman held her ground as change closed in around her.

When Macefield's story first ran in the P-I, her home was swarmed by news reporters from around the country trying to get her to open her front door. Word of her death brought another crush of cameras to the street in front of her house.

Her aged blue car is still parked in front of the house, her collection of glass animals still lined up on the windowsills.

People remembering her said they were inspired by her spirit and spunk; by her choice to live simply in her small home, the way she wanted.

Others suggested that the lot where her home stands could be turned into a small memorial park, a pocket of green among the concrete.

Her life story is as intriguing and curious as the sight of the concrete parking garage rising around her home.

Some wonder at her stories, hinting at being a spy during World War II and touring with some of the most famous big bands of the day. She talked about attending teas and dances, once finding herself in conversation with Adolf Hitler.

Her friends never doubted a word.

The Future of Politics

I saw this while watching a piece about campaign finance. However, the big picture is the whole world knowing about "About Face" or at least those who watch NBC in the morning.

Crazy Darpa Bot - Big Dog

I'm blogging this mostly because it came up in conversation at the pre-production dinner for a client.  Big Dog is the latest engineering wonder from Boston Dynamics.  At first I feel bad for it when it's slipping on the ice.  Then I think about how it's going to kill me in my sleep.

I propose a duel

When tensions run high......

http://view.break.com/521743 - Watch more free videos

10 Best Practices to Increase Email Response Rates for Fundraising | FastTrack Fundraising™ Tips and Articles

Link: 10 Best Practices to Increase Email Response Rates for Fundraising | FastTrack Fundraising™ Tips and Articles.

We asked an expert for his top 10 tips on the nuances of email marketing for nonprofits and ways to increase conversion rates.

Online Fundraising Stats and Tips

Link:
Fundraising
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DMAW - Direct Marketing Association of Washington
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Your online conversion rate — the percentage of Web visitors who join, give or take a desired action online — is the critical measurement of your organization's online success. Your conversion rate tells you how well or how poorly your Web site is serving the needs of your prospective donors or members — and your organization.

Think of online conversions as the equivalent of direct-mail response rates. In direct mail, the number of total pieces mailed is divided by the number of responses to yield your response rate. It's the same formula for the online world, except "total mailed" is "unique visitors" (number of individuals who visit your site) and "responses" are "online actions" (donations, memberships, e-mail subscribes, etc.).

Average online-conversion rates for retail Web sites are in the 2 percent to 4 percent range, even with top retailers such as QVC and Land's End seeing 12 percent to 16 percent, according to a recent Nielsen//NetRatings report.

Shocking, isn't it?
That means 84 percent to 98 percent of most Web visits do not result in a transaction.

You'd want to set your goals for a double-digit conversion rate. But since most nonprofit Web sites don't have a singular focus on membership or fundraising, as do retail sites selling products, you should look at your specific program's online conversion rate, too.

For example, what percentage of donors who visit your online donation form end up completing their donation? Use the same formula for memberships.

Among nonprofit organizations, I've seen donation-page conversion rates from a low of 0.5 percent (the site had problems) to a high of 17 percent for optimized sites.

For relief organizations collecting donations for the recent Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, that number shot up to 30 percent. While tsunami fundraising was certainly a special case, it shows us the potential for online fundraising.

Web’s effect on politics: big bucks, big turnout, and big scandals | csmonitor.com

Link: Web’s effect on politics: big bucks, big turnout, and big scandals | csmonitor.com.

In a year when he continues to break all fundraising records, Obama raked in most of his $265 million from the Internet. The Clinton campaign complained regularly that Obama was outspending it by 2 or 3 to 1 in many states. All that cash came from the Web.

Consider that when Obama raised $32 million in January – a previously unimaginable total – he only raised 12 percent of the money “offline,” according to Patrick Ruffini of TechPresident, a website that tracks how campaigns use technology. That means $28 million came from mostly small online donations.

And Obama wasn’t the only one turning the political world upside down thanks to his fundraising prowess. Maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul was famous for his one-day Internet fundraisers that would regularly haul in $5 million to $6 million from his online supporters.

But in a sense, Obama, Mr. Paul, and anyone else who relies on the Internet to help fuel their campaigns owe a debt of gratitude to two men: Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who in 2000 was the first political candidate to show that you can use the Web to raise large amounts of money quickly; and former Vermont governor and current Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, who showed in 2004 that coming from a small state without the mainstream media paying much attention to you wasn’t necessarily a problem if you knew how to work the Internet.

But the Web is more than just an avenue to raise money. It allows politicians to connect with younger voters in ways that 10 years ago were unimaginable. One of the big stories of 2008 has been the 30 million new voters, many under age 30, who have registered to vote.

A new study out this week from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that a “record-breaking 46 percent of Americans have used the Internet, e-mail, or cellphone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views, and mobilize others.”

The report says that three online activities have been particularly prominent: “First, 35 percent of Americans say they have watched online political videos – a figure that nearly triples the reading the Pew Internet Project got in the 2004 race. Second, 10 percent say they have used social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. This is particularly popular with younger voters: Two-thirds of Internet users under the age of 30 have a social-networking profile, and half of these use social-networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns. Third, 6 percent of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2 percent who did that during the entire 2004 campaign.”

Rich media is dead! Long live "Interactive Digital Marketing"!

Link: iMedia Connection: Is this the end for rich media?.

Findings of an anonymously fielded online survey of online advertising influencers conducted by EyeWonder in March 2008 highlights the inadequacies and confusion within the industry. The survey revealed that:

62 percent of the respondents agree that the term "rich media" is too "generic and meaningless."
66 percent of industry execs surveyed did not believe that "rich media" accurately defined today's online video ads.
76 percent of agency executives did not believe it to be an adequate term to cover "emerging platforms" -- mobile, IPTV, etc.
68 percent agreed that a new category name for "rich media" is needed (term "rich media" doesn't capture where digital advertising is headed in the next five years; it is too generic/meaningless).
92 percent of agency influencers had a positive to neutral opinion of the term "Interactive Digital Advertising," finding it more accurate than "rich media."