It seems to me that there are a ton of Social Media experts in the world today.  When I’m out at events it appears than 6 out of 10 people are social media experts and 8 out of 10 can build a website, or have a relative or friend [...]]]>

Has Social Media Swung to Far?

It seems to me that there are a ton of Social Media experts in the world today.  When I’m out at events it appears than 6 out of 10 people are social media experts and 8 out of 10 can build a website, or have a relative or friend that can do that for them.  This is all well and good, but we are talking about your web presence – the most important marketing tool you have besides you and your staff.

It’s important to have a clear plan and strategy for your marketing on the web.  It needs to be efficient and directed to bring you leads and clients.  Here is a quick view on how to use these tools.

1. Your Website: This is the core of your presence on the web.  It needs to be clean, have great information about your service, and keyword search optimized.  This is the only thing on the web that you really have control over.
2. Your blog, YouTube, Flickr and Slideshare:  This is how you create content and establish yourself as an expert in your given field.  Each one of these tools is it’s own social network and you can begin to develop community within each of these networks.
3. Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter:  While with Linkedin you are establishing a professional network, it can be used to promote the content you are creating on the web.  Facebook and twitter are your main quick social networking tools.  These two tools are your main promotional tools for all the great content you are producing and the main conversation and interaction within the community around your services.

I hope this helps.  Social Media is a powerful tool, using all the tools in a focused efficient way can help grow your business and establish you as an expert in your field.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event September 30th!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has constantly evolved since the beginning of the internet.  SEO experts portray their craft as a dark art and since optimization is constantly evolving it can seem truly mysterious.  However, there are several things we do know that can help your organization be found.

We [...]]]>

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is constantly evolving

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has constantly evolved since the beginning of the internet.  SEO experts portray their craft as a dark art and since optimization is constantly evolving it can seem truly mysterious.  However, there are several things we do know that can help your organization be found.

We view optimization as your overall presence on the web.  Basically with the change in the web to an interactive media platform, your site is only one small portion of what you should be developing on the web to help your organization get found.  You can read more about our viewpoint in this post, Building a Web Presence, posted December 7, 2009.

3 SEO Tips

Improving your ranking and getting found on the internet rarely happens overnight.  I was reminded of this reading a post from Bernie Borg, 3 SEO Tips for the Ages, on his Find and Convert blog.  Here are his three tips:

1. Site Architecture
2. Keyword Strategy
3. Content Strategy

This is a very well written article and the information should be really helpful if you are trying to improve your search engine rankings.  He reminds us that optimization is an ongoing process – not a one shot deal.  His information on site architecture is really important and not a lot is written about this aspect of optimization.  Most of the newer software platforms ( i.e. Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, Plone) are written taking into consideration search engine optimizations.  Most of the sites we rebuild in wordpress immediately show up better on Google.  While there is a lot written about Keyword optimization, it is important to realize that this is only a small portion of SEO strategy and should be incorporated into your larger strategy of Content Creation.

If you would like a quick evaluation of your current website try out Hubspot’s Website Grader.  We use it as a basic starting point for evaluating websites.  The results for you could be quite interesting.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

You can’t escape social media and personal computer usage on the job – or can you? Many companies have implemented blogging and personal computer usage policies as part of their Employee Handbook and Information Technology Policy. The focus of such employee policies gives personal bloggers guidelines on how to [...]]]>

Nancy Saperstone, Insight Performance HR Consultant

You can’t escape social media and personal computer usage on the job – or can you? Many companies have implemented blogging and personal computer usage policies as part of their Employee Handbook and Information Technology Policy. The focus of such employee policies gives personal bloggers guidelines on how to reference their employer, their products and their services within their blogs or personal dealings on the internet. These guidelines are especially important given the Federal Trade Commissions guidelines to protect consumers from erroneous endorsements on social media and blogging sites. In response to the FTC guidelines, employers are strongly encouraged to specifically spell out what the company allows and doesn’t allow with respect to online comments about the company and its products.

While we do a good job addressing guidelines for personal blogging and computer usage, what many companies fail to address is how much personal access to social media and personal usage of computers can they tolerate on the job? I know what you’re thinking – “I don’t tolerate ANY personal use, let alone access to social media sites, while on the job.” But, is this really the best policy in today’s social media climate? Should employees be limited to NO personal use during the work day?

Many experts believe that in today’s technology climate, this is no longer reasonable and that allowing employee’s personal technology access can have positive effects on your workforce. Companies need to be realistic that social media is the way many people communicate. By limiting such communication you’re forcing employees to be “out of touch” completely while at work. This may make many employees uneasy and resent the organization’s stringent rules.  Allowing them access to check Facebook or send personal emails throughout the day allows them to make a quick connection to the outside world. According to the Harvard Business Review, there can be additional positive results to allowing personal access to social media sites during work. An organization that is more accepting of social media in the workplace can be viewed by many people, especially those of the younger generations, as a more attractive and as a forward thinking organization. Often times we believe that if an employee is spending time surfing the net, that’s time they’re not working and thus, loosing productivity. Research has shown the opposite; allowing employees to take a quick break allows them to return to their work refocused and more productive. Lastly, employees feel appreciated and more engaged when employers acknowledge their interest to check and use social media. The employee feels like the organization trusts them to do the right thing and often times, that trust goes a long way.

Facebook, Twitter, blogging and social media sites are here to stay – so embrace this new technology and determine what makes sense for your organization and design employee policies to support it!

Nancy Saperstone is a Human Resource Consultant and Blogger for Insight Performance with over fifteen years of experience in Human Resources.
Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

One of the benefits we offer to sponsors and speakers for the Non-Profit Toolbox is video.  We use the video interviews to promote our events, workshops, speakers and sponsors.  We use video from the event so people that couldn’t make it to the event can see what they [...]]]>

YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine

One of the benefits we offer to sponsors and speakers for the Non-Profit Toolbox is video.  We use the video interviews to promote our events, workshops, speakers and sponsors.  We use video from the event so people that couldn’t make it to the event can see what they missed and learn about the topic presented.  It is one of the most powerful benefits we offer – search juice.

So what does that mean to you?  Not much, unless you’d like to be found easier on the web.

Stephen Melanson spoke at our June meet-up about verbal branding.  We did a video interview before the event and videoed the presentation.  We posted the videos on YouTube (the second largest search engine behind Google), transcribed the audio portion and used it in the description, and embedded the video into our blog.

Here is what it’s done for Stephen:

• It’s on the first page of Google Search for Verbal Branding
• A Video and blog post of the video is on the first page on a google search for Stephen Melanson
• The video’s are in 3 of the 1st four positions on a YouTube search for Verbal Branding
• The videos are now embedded in other blog posts

Did any of the videos go viral? No.  Did they greatly improve his search rankings?  Yes they did, quite a lot.  We met Jane B Ford ( who speaks and blogs for us) yesterday and she told us that because of the videos and blog posts she now owns the first page of google search for her name, which she didn’t before.

Video, if used properly, can be a very important tool in your marketing mix.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

This Friday, July 9th, Cape Cod Tech Council Group’s First Friday is hosting an event, Non-Profit Social Media Marketing Strategies, at Hyannis Golf Course, Hyannis, Cape Cod, MA (Map).  The event starts at 7:30 in the morning.  Presenting for the Tech Council is John Hayden [...]]]>

Cape Cod Tech Council Presents Social Media Marketing for Non-Profits

This Friday, July 9th, Cape Cod Tech Council Group’s First Friday is hosting an event, Non-Profit Social Media Marketing Strategies, at Hyannis Golf Course, Hyannis, Cape Cod, MA (Map).  The event starts at 7:30 in the morning.  Presenting for the Tech Council is John Hayden from InboundZombie, a group that specializes in social media marketing for Nonprofit Organizations.  John blogs a lot about social media marketing on his site, JohnHaydon.com.

Cape Cod Tech Council is a wonderful membership based non-profit organization promoting technology and business on the Cape, Islands, and Southeastern Massachusetts.  The councils’s definition of technology reaches across all industries. It’s not just IT. It’s not just computers. It’s the myriad of applications where human inquiry meets human invention to produce a new way of working, thinking, or creating.

This should be a great event.  Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members.  You can sign-up on their site here.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

July 2, already half way through 2010, we hope everyone has a great and safe  fourth of July weekend.  The long weekend is a great time to relax and maybe have some time to think strategically how to move your nonprofit organization forward.

Creating great content for your web is one of the [...]]]>

Fireworks Over Boston

July 2, already half way through 2010, we hope everyone has a great and safe  fourth of July weekend.  The long weekend is a great time to relax and maybe have some time to think strategically how to move your nonprofit organization forward.

Creating great content for your web is one of the best ways to promote your organization and it’s mission.  This is easier said than done.  We see recommendations that one of the best ways to do this is hire a great writer with a journalistic background.  With the cutbacks in the print industry (newspapers and magazines) there are many more writers around.  Short of that, if you are short on funds is to understand the elements of great writing for the web.

Here are some highlights from a Hubspot guest post, 7 Key Elements Of Great Business Content, by Kipp Bodnar from Pr 20/20.  Quoting from the post:

“However, continually producing premium content worthy of links and leads is not easy. It requires significant time and resources, executive support, long-term vision, internal expertise and often a willingness to share the knowledge businesses once held sacred.”

Here are the seven areas Kipp writes about that you need to be concerned about when writing:

1. Strategic
2. Brand Centric
3. Buyer Persona Focused
4. Optimized for Search Engines
5. Technically Sound
6. Creative
7. Results Driven

Hope this helps.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

We blog a lot about how potential donors, volunteers, and staff of Nonprofit Organizations are using the web to connect has changed dramatically in the last 3 or so years (see Building a Web Presence).  Social Media is now accepted by pretty much everyone [...]]]>

Twitter can be an important tool for your social media optimization

We blog a lot about how potential donors, volunteers, and staff of Nonprofit Organizations are using the web to connect has changed dramatically in the last 3 or so years (see Building a Web Presence).  Social Media is now accepted by pretty much everyone as an important element of successful community outreach programs.  Now more than ever it is important to create and implement a strategy to make all these new tools effective.

Network For Good published a really good post 3 Surefire Ways to Use Twitter To Promote Your Organization that gives several great tip on how to effectively use twitter.  More importantly, it covers what your organization needs to have in place before starting and devoting a lot of time to social media.  The core of any strategy needs to be your website.  It is your anchor on the web, and where all the social media should direct potential donors and contributors to.  Your blog needs to be attached to your site so people can see what an expert your are or how important your cause is.  To be really effective your social media entries should be directed to a specific landing page.

Here are some of the main points from Network for Good’s post:

1. Lay A Solid Online Outreach Foundation
2. Create a Social Media Strategy Using the 11 Stps to Success and 6 Things to Avoid
3. Use Twitter to Promote Your News

This is a pretty good start.  What we see is that to be really effective your organization needs an effective web marketing strategy.  At this stage you may really want to hire an expert to help develop a strategy and get you started rather than flounder on your own.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!