Five Twitter Questions to Ask Yourself

As popular as Twitter is these days, we have likely just begun to tap into its potential. The more people use it and experiment with it, the more it will evolve.

Many companies are already using Twitter in innovative ways. To learn more about them, and to learn which questions you should be asking yourself about how you use Twitter, read this article at ChiefMarketer.com

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

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Are you listening?

Blogging, Tweeting, Facebook friending, Linking-in... you've got more ways than you can count to push messages out via social media. But that's only half of the communication process. The other critical piece is where you listen to what others are saying - about you, your organization, and about their own needs and challenges.

A recent article at MarketingProfs.com provides tips on 13 social media "listening tools":

1. Google Alerts


2. Technorati


3. Jodange


4. Trendrr


5. Lexicon


6. Monitter


7. Tweetburner


8. Twendz


9. TruCast


10. Radian6


11. Cision


12. Techrigy


13. Collective Intellect

See tools you've never heard of before? Learn more about them and how to apply them to your social media strategy. Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

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What next? 10 Questions for CFOs

McKinsey Quarterly invites you to take part in a conversation starter - being by reading the essay titled, "What next? 10 Questions for CFOs" and then contribute your comments to the community.

"As companies shift their attention from fighting the crisis to getting the most from the recovery" where you do think CFOs' priorities should fall? The questions presented include:

• What shape will a recovery take?


• Is your supply chain sufficiently flexible?


• Do you have the financial resources needed for an upturn?


• Do you know what risks a recovery might bring?

Submit your comments at McKinsey Quarterly and then share your perspective with the DigitalNow Community on Twitter or LinkedIn.

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

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Cultivating passion for your organization's brand

People who are passionate about your brand will enthusiastically promote your organization to friends and family - a benefit that is especially valuable during these tough times when marketing and communications budgets may be suffering.

Kate Newlin, author of, Passion Brands: Why Some Brands Are Just Gotta Have, Drive All Night For and Tell All Your Friends About has identified seven key ways to create passion and develop deeper relationships with your constituents.

• Work the Worldview, Not Age, Race or Gender


• Differentiate on Design


• Passionistas as Brand Stewards


• Know They Know You Need Them


• Democratize the Brand


• Mine the Mythos


• Brand the Buzz

Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

These days, the question isn't so much, "To Tweet or not to Tweet?" - Twitter has fast become a mainstream tool for everything from political campaigns to job searching, to customer service. The real question is this: How can you use Twitter to further the goals of your organization?

In an article at Chief Marketer, Jonathan Paisner and Bill Westcott discuss some of the ways in which Twitter has been used by companies such as Whole Foods and Southwest Airline to build brand. Read more.

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Fundraising in a difficult economy

We're all feeling the effects of the economy, but for organizations that depend upon donations to keep the wheels turning, these are especially challenging times. Mal Warwick is a professional fundraiser and author of the book, Fundraising When Money Is Tight: A Strategic and Practical Guide to Surviving Tough Times and Thriving in the Future and in a recent article he offers nine concrete steps for a rational response to the fundraising crisis including:

• Stick with what works


• Cut costs with a scalpel, not an ax


• Fish where the big fish are

Read the article at the Stanford Social Innovation Review

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Social network rules of engagement at WSJ

With the growing popularity of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and with so many people at the computer for the majority of their workday, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what differentiates "business" from "pleasure."

Many organizations are composing social media policies and codes of conduct to guide their employees to make sound online communications decisions. According to Marketing VOX, "Last week, staff members at the Wall Street Journal were given a fresh list of rules outlining 'professional conduct.' The updated list includes a guide to using online outlets appropriately. Of especial note were activities that occur on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook."

Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009:
Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Transparency is good for business

In economic theory, the more transparent a market is, the healthier it will be. When sellers hold information that buyers can't gain access to, "information asymmetry" occurs, which is a toxic asset, according to Daniel Goleman author of Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What we Buy can Change Everything.

Information that used to be considered proprietary is now published for all to see; withholding information fosters mistrust.

On Leading Green, a blog at http://www.harvardbusiness.org, Goleman writes, "Radical transparency has arrived. Radical transparency converts the chains that link every product and its multiple impacts — carbon footprints, chemicals of concern, treatment of workers and the like — into a force that counts in sales. Radical transparency leverages new software capabilities that render massive collections of data into a simple read-out. An eco-mom can take GoodGuide.Com (in the form of a free iPhone app) with her while she shops.

"But is this still a niche market? How many people really care? One of the first product transparency websites, SkinDeep, ranks personal care products like mascara and hair dye by matching each ingredient to findings of concern in medical databases. How many people have checked to see if their baby wash contains a suspected carcinogen or if their shampoo might harbor an endocrine disruptor? The site has had more than 100 million searches since launching in 2004."

Read the article here and then return and leave a comment: What does "radical transparency" mean to your association?

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date! DigitalNow 2010: April 11 - 10, 2010.

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Collaborative Image Editing

A new web-based tool makes it possible to edit images online without the need for expensive image editing software applications.

The new tool, launched by Aviary, enables open, collaborative image editing. Read more about the tool and how some sites are using it to reinvent the way that they use images at TechnologyReview.com.

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

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Save the Date for DigitalNow 2010! April 7 -10, 2010.

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Are you ready to hire a Social Media Manager?

Social Media strategy, planning, and execution represent an entire new field that cuts across traditional marketing, communications, public relations, and networking practices. If your organization has identified the need to take your social media marketing and communications to a new level, it may be time to think about hiring a Social Media Manager.

Exactly which skills and competencies make up this strange role? Admittedly, the role itself will continue to evolve as the technology landscape continues to shift, but below is a job description that you may want to use as template, making customizations to suit your organization's unique needs.

Manage, Monitor and Engage in Social Media/Online Communities:

• Passionately in tune with latest social media developments, online member behavior and trends


• Own Social Media, Online Communities, Blogs, Microblogs Message Boards, Email or listserv Discussion Groups and Live Chats to generate exposure, publicity and membership, event participation, and e-commerce


• Identify opportunities and develop plans/proposals for implementing scalable social media programs to generate maximum social media optimization with goal to establish association web site stickiness


• Work with Leadership team on messaging to ensure compelling, consistent, innovative and favorable interactions and programs


• Devise and implement appropriate campaigns for social media activities


• Define and track performance of campaign testing and live campaigns

Marketing Analysis:

• Provide regular reports to internal stakeholders on campaigns and social media metrics


• Provide recommendations and champion action derived from analysis


• Use knowledge gained through analysis to provide insight on forecasting, budgeting and social media marketing direction

Membership and Marketing Communications:

• Develop FAQs, messaging, and talking points consistent with brand quidelines and champion them throughout the organizationM


• Coordinate, support, and summarize valuable teleconference channel


• Continually work to develop and/or improve efficiencies in internal membership, web, and marketing operations processes


• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Demonstrated capacity for original thinking and independent initiative


• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Communication or other closely related degree


• Experience with experience with web 2.0 related products a must


• Experience creating, evaluating, analyzing and optimizing marketing campaigns


• Excellent verbal and written communications skills


• Knowledge of ecommerce, and internet-based business models


• Must be an enthusiastic and avid social media/internet community guru


• 2+ years experience working with brand messaging, public relations, or membership marketing communications


• Proven project management forte with successful program implementations and deliveries


• Possess strong understanding of marketing analysis and reporting


• Must have great creative energy and ability to generate ideas


• Ability to work under minimal guidance


• Proven track record of meeting deadlines and deliverables

The ideal candidate will have some prior experience managing association social network strategies (Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace); must understand member/user engagement, online media, creative and the challenge of tying effective community strategies into engagement opportunities. Experience with online marketing would be a bonus. In addition, candidates should possess great interpersonal skills; an ability to juggle multiple tasks and excellent time management skills.

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date for DigitalNow 2010! April 7 -10, 2010.

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What's your PIQ? (Personality Intelligence Quotient)

An individual's personality provides key information for leaders. Understanding personality is crucial for making sure that the right people are in the right roles - getting the right people "on the bus," as Jim Collins would say.

As you hire and lead, it is necessary to increase what Michael Maccoby calls your Personality Intelligence. Maccoby is a leadership consultant, psychoanalyst and anthropologist. He is the author, most recently, of The Leaders We Need and What Makes Us Follow, and Narcissistic Leaders: Who Succeeds and Who Fails. In an article at Ivey Business Journal, Maccoby outlines four personality concepts that can guide you in understanding personality and predicting how certain personalities will behave. They are:

• Talents and Temperament – what we are born with


• Social character – how we are like others brought up in the same culture


• Personality type – how we are like some people within our culture

Maccoby cautions that understanding personality is an art, but that there are some guiding principles to follow. Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

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Save the Date for DigitalNow 2010! April 7 -10, 2010.

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Social Networking to Build Brand

Consumers are skeptical. They want trust; they need personal connection. According to an article at Knowledge@Wharton, this environment creates a perfect opportunity for organizations to tap into the branding power of social media.

Consumers - and your members - are buying up virtual real estate at warp speed. They can be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning, and MySpace - to name just a few. They're talking about themselves - and they're talking about you.

Learn more about how individuals and organizations are using social networking to advertise themselves and build brand. Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date for DigitalNow 2010! April 7 -10, 2010.

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Six Elements of a Good Decision

In today's uncertain business environment, the ability to skillfully make decisions is key. If you find that you're mostly making decisions based on experience or intuition, you may be interested to hear what Carl Spetzler has to say on the subject. Spetzler is Director of the Strategic Decision and Risk Management program at Stanford University and CEO of the Strategic Decisions Group.

According to Spetzler, there are three types of decisions: strategic, typical, and in-the-moment. Regardless of the kind of decision you may be facing today, Spetzler says that there are six elements that go into a good decision. Read the article here.

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DigitalNow 2009: Another great success! Watch videos and download session content at http://www.digitalnowlive.com

Save the Date for DigitalNow 2010: April 7 - 10, 2010

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Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com