[B]cause Media | Social Media Communications is a small company located in Vancouver, Washington (Not Canada but the United States). We help small businesses strengthen their brand and increase productivity by connecting with current and potential customers in the social media world.

During the process of building our company, launching a website, and working with a few clients, we’ve defined our services and honed our voice — show and teach small business owners the power of social media communications.

After researching the field and doing a competitor analysis it’s clear to us what we want to be and what we don’t want to be. We don’t want to be just another consulting company. No. We want to be more than that.

Our core values as individuals will always come first with [B]cause Media — that is helping our community become a better place to live. Giving is our passion. Social Media is our interest. We started this business because we know how effective social media can be (if used properly), and if small businesses in our community fail because we withheld this information than we failed as individuals.

Along with our charitable contributions (client’s choice) and making a conscience effort not to display any advertisements on our website — we are here to help our community succeed more than ourselves. That’s the message we hope to get across — “Good for Business. Good for the Community.”

These past few months have been busy, but rewarding. We’ve seen our clients turn around from non-believers to outright preachers of social media. They are excited, enthusiastic, and have hope for the future of their business. Amen.

We will continue to spread the social media gospel and help small businesses thrive and become successful in a little town called Vancouver, WA.

How does your business reflect your self-beliefs? How does your company give back to your community?

The third wave of results from the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI) sponsored by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business reports social media adoption by small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year.

Nearly one out of five small business owners are actively using social media in their business, including blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. 61% of the respondents indicated that they use social media to identify and attract new customers.  75% of companies surveyed have a company page on a social networking site, and 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months.

Overall, social media investments rank third in small business investments to be made in the next two years.

More details and links to the full report at Grow Smart Business.

Here is the latest statistics on the social media rage:

Social Media Statistics

• Facebook claims that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean at least 175m users every 24 hours.
• Twitter now has 75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis.
• LinkedIn has over 50m members worldwide..
• Facebook currently has in excess of 350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250m…This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months.
• Flickr now hosts more than 4 billion images.
• More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.
• Wikipedia currently has in excess of 14m articles, meaning that it’s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months.
• Photo uploads to Facebook have increased by more than 100%. Currently, there are around 2.5bn uploads to the site each month.
• Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130.
• Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with more than 65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices. In six months, this is over 100% increase.
• There are more than 3.5bn pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.
• There are now 11m LinkedIn users across Europe.
• Towards the end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over 27.3 million.
• The average number of tweets per hour was around 1.3m.
• 15% of bloggers spend 10 or more hours each week blogging, according to Technorati’s new State of the Blogosphere.
• At the current rate, Twitter will process almost 10 billion tweets in a single year.
• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA.
• India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users.
• More than 250 Facebook applications have over a million combined users each month.
• 70% of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog.
• 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews.
• More than 80,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than 60m Facebook users engage with it across these external sites each month.

via EConsultancy

With its 350 million users and average daily session time of 25 minutes, Facebook provides an exceptional opportunity for visibility, Google indexing, live search ability, and fan engagement–whether you’re a solopreneur, a large brand or anywhere in between.

But, if you build it, will they come?

There are two primary components to Facebook fan page engagement:

1) Sharing quality, relevant content and

2) inciting comments.

To learn more, visit Social Media Examiner here

Saw this cartoon and it made me think of whats to come in the next year or two. A few “experts” will claim to be  “Social Media Specialists” just because they are on Twitter and Facebook.

Not.

Success in social media for a business is more than being on the web, but an overall communication strategy that engages passive customers into loyal customers.

How many customers say “I saw your announcement on Twitter or Facebook?” If the answer is none to a very few, then your social media communications strategy by your “Social Media Specialist” isn’t working.

I found this fascinating quote today:

Quit counting fans, followers, and blog subscribers like bottle caps. Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to achieve with and through the community that actually cares about what you’re doing.socialmediatoday.com, 10 Ways to Get Serious About Social Media, Jan 2010

You should read the whole article.

Holy cow! This is awesome(ness) at its best! Yahoo Asks (each and every one of you) “You In?”

This holiday, create a ripple of happiness triggered by your single act of kindness.

Yahoo is giving people a chance to perform random acts of kindness and encourage their friends and families to do the same with its “You In?” campaign.

To participate, people do a good deed, such as donating coats to charity or paying the toll for the car behind them, and then post it on the site. Update your status to share what you’re doing to spread joy. Then inspire others to join you by asking “You in?” The more people you tell, the larger your ripple.

So throw your pebble into the pond of “hope.” Your ripple will touch lives.

More acts of kindness:

• 10 Simple Random Acts Of Kindness (slideshare.net)
• How To Become Happier (howcast.com)
• Purple Acts of Kindness: Yahoo! For Good + Charity Water (debaird.net)

People want to do good. It’s in our human nature. Whenever we do something good for someone or a cause we care about — we feel good.

There are many forms of doing good. Some people do good by volunteering at a local shelter, or donating to their favorite charity, or making a conscience effort to save the planet by reducing waste and using clean energy.

Another way of doing good is purchasing products that give back. It’s kind of like a two-fer: you purchase products or services, and the company gives a portion of the sales to charities — win-win.

As a cause marketing enthusiast, I study cause marketing campaigns and strategies of companies who give back to their community. There are many giving campaigns that go on throughout the year, especially during the holiday season. My goal is to share these practices with you.

Originally, I wanted to create a list of stand-out campaigns that give-back as a resource when purchasing your next gift. Fortunately, someone has already beaten me to the punch — Tasha Lopez. On her blog, Tasha’s Thoughts, Tasha has created an outstanding list of companies and services that give back. She states,

I typically prefer to give gifts that help make the world a better place in some way. In addition to the wonderful ways to make donations in lieu of a gift, there are options to give a tangible gift that still goes to a good cause.

I could not agree with her more. Buying a gift that gives back, to help a good cause, is always better than the gift itself — you are helping those in need to build a better tomorrow — that’s priceless.

Below is a list of products and services that in some way, shape or form that gives back for a better tomorrow:

1. Unique ways to give through online retailers and search engines

www.igive.com, www.givingpal.com, www.care2.com/shopping and www.goodshop.com let you shop for personal and business needs with hundreds of brand name retailers, and a portion of each online purchase is donated to your favorite cause

www.goodsearch.com and www.searchkindly.org are search engines that donate a portion of their revenue to the charities and schools designated by its user

www.free2work.org helps holiday shoppers find great gifts that do not have forced or child labor in their production

2. Donation cards and gift cards in lieu of an actual gift

heifer.org, worldvisiongifts.org, worldrelief.org/gift, fh.org/catalog (Food for the Hungry), harvestofhope.org, foodforthepoor.org, changingthepresent.org, treesforlife.org, alternativegifts.org, mercykits.org, oxfamamericaunwrapped.com, and others offer great options if you want to buy a cool gift in someone’s name

www.fivetalents.org offers “Create a Job” gift cards, each featuring a photo and story about a Five Talents entrepreneur – after 6 months your microloan will be given out again to another deserving entrepreneur

www.optinnow.org is funded and managed by Opportunity International, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending global poverty by selling gift cards to grant microloans to entrepreneurs in some of the poorest parts of the world

www.kiva.org offers gift certificates for microfinancing that the recipient can use to loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world (www.trickleup.org is a similar org but doesn’t appear to offer gift certificates yet)

www.justgive.org is a nonprofit that sells charity gift certificates that can be redeemed by the recipient at their choice of nearly 1.5 million local and national nonprofit organizations, and JustGive deducts 3% from all donations to cover the transaction costs

www.charitygiftcertificates.org sells plastic charity gift cards (rather than just online certificates) that can be redeemed to make a contribution to one of over 100 major charitable causes (organized into a dozen categories) – an 8% administrative and credit card processing fee plus $0.50 per card is deducted from the funds prior to allocation

www.tisbest.org sells email charity gift cards that allow the recipient to support a charity of their choice (over 250 carefully chosen and responsible nonprofits are listed) – the charity receives the amount of the Gift Card, less a $1.95 transaction fee and 3% that goes to the credit card company – and you can upload your own image for the card

www.globalgiving.com is a nonprofit that connects donors with community-based projects that need support, and they sell biodegradable gift cards to allow the recipient to select one of hundreds of grassroots social and economic development projects and environmental causes around the world

3. Greeting Cards

www.cardsthatgive.org, www.charitycards.com, www.goodcausegreetings.com, and www.cardsforcauses.com list a variety of places where you can buy greeting cards that donate a portion of the proceeds to charity

4. Baked goods, food gifts, confections, and wine

www.misericordia.org has a Hearts & Flour Bakery that provides jobs for developmentally challenged adults, and a friend tells me that their baked goods are wonderful

www.dancingdeer.com has a program called “The Sweet Home Project” and 35% of the price of the “Sweet Home” cake and cookie gifts go to education, job training, child care and housing through One Family Inc. (www.onefamilyinc.org) in an effort to help families move permanently out of poverty

www.bakemeawish.com, a nationwide gourmet birthday and special occasion cake delivery service, will donate 5-30% of all online cake sales to the various rotating causes (including soldiers serving overseas and US-based nonprofits)

www.lesleyslifeissweet.com was founded for the sole purpose of using the net proceeds from sales of artisan chocolates and gourmet confections to support global humanitarian projects that would contribute to the well being of all of our communities

www.basketworks.biz offers “For a Cause” gift baskets, where a percentage of each basket sold will be donated to the indicated charitable organization (and a card is enclosed with the basket advising the recipient)

www.womensbeanproject.com works with women, giving hard-to-employ folks a new start in life, and they offer lovely gift baskets with delicious bean soups – they have also added jewelry this year so I’ve listed them again in that section

www.christkitchen.org is a nonprofit Christian ministry providing work, job training, and fellowship for women in poverty through production and sales of food gift baskets

www.onehopewine.com creates good quality California wines and donates 50% of their profits to charities that support the fight against Breast Cancer, AIDS, and Autism, and causes that help the environment and help military families – each varietal is paired with a certain cause, and they’ll release more varietals that donate towards additional causes as Hope Wine grows

5. Flowers

www.organicbouquet.com offers “Flowers For Good” where proceeds from the sale of each flower bouquet are used to support nonprofit organizations dedicated to social justice, wildlife conservation, animal rights, environmental protection, and other causes

www.urbanmeadows.org is a nonprofit organization that is a full-service florist dedicated to providing vocational training to individuals in their recovery journey from mental illness (local delivery in Chicago, national/international fulfillment provided by Bloom Net and FTD)

6. Jewelry

www.narimon.org sells handmade jewelry, cards, and stationary made by women who were formerly trapped in Thailand’s sex industry

www.tandazulu.org sells hand-beaded jewelry, wood carvings, and stationary to generate income for rural South African women (30% of each purchase goes directly to the beader) and to fund a non-profit organization (62% of each purchase) that support orphans and other vulnerable children at the Thanda After-School Project

www.beadforlife.org is a nonprofit that eradicates extreme poverty by selling beautiful beaded jewelry handcrafted by Ugandan women (they turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads) and using the profits to invest in community development projects (including food, medicine, school fees)

www.nightlightinternational.com sells beautiful handmade jewelry and accessories to raise funds to assist women and children (through educational and alternative employment opportunities via a registered nonprofit organization) who are being exploited in the bars of Bangkok, Thailand

www.peacetags.com sells fashion dog-tag necklaces inscribed with words of peace, and in the process supports several non-profits by raising funds and raising awareness about their missions

www.womensbeanproject.com works with women, giving hard-to-employ folks a new start in life, and they offer lovely handmade jewelry

A little bit different: www.lucinda.com is the website for Designs By Lucinda, a cause-related business dedicated to creating affordable jewelry of the highest quality for the purpose of bringing much needed financial help and awareness to non-profit organizations and their causes – the main purpose is to allow nonprofits to fundraise with these designer pins

7. Soap and spa products

www.theenterprisingkitchen.org is a nonprofit social enterprise that manufactures natural soaps and spa products to provide workforce development and support services to women who are working toward self-sufficiency and economic independence

www.saveyourworld.com sells personal care products (soap, shampoo, etc.) made with organic ingredients and then uses the proceeds from the products to save an acre of rainforest for one year (one acre for one year per $25 purchase)

8. Fair Trade Handmade Products

www.globalgoodspartners.org is a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by strengthening women-led development initiatives and creating access to the US market for marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, and the Americas – their online store is extensive and allows you to search for hundreds of gifts by category, country, or producer

www.serrv.org is a nonprofit alternative trade and development organization that promotes the social and economic progress of people in developing regions of the world by marketing their gifts in a just and direct manner

www.kingdom-ventures.com sells high-quality Fair Trade home fashion, jewelry, women’s accessory products, and other gifts and items made by fair trade artisans from around the world (you can shop by product or by artisan)

www.ashaimports.com distributes Fair Trade products (accessories made from recycled plastic bags, saris, and tote bags) made by people who have been given a chance to rise above their circumstances and take back their humanity (i.e., Free Set bags www.freesetbags.com made by former Calcutta prostitutes, Saris made by training and employing families out of the slum districts in Calcutta, and accessories made by the urban poor in Delhi, India, who are paid a fair wage for their work)

www.saribari.com sells handbags and blankets that have been made from Indian saris by women living in a safe home that has restored their dignity after they have been exploited in the sex trade; each product is marked with a woman’s name, a woman who now has the opportunity to make a choice for freedom and new life

www.madebysurvivors.com sells beautiful Fair Trade handicrafts (bags, jewelry, stationary, and clothing) made by survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery at shelters and prevention programs all over the world

www.novica.org (in association with National Geographic) offers handmade home décor, jewelry, apparel, paintings, and more by talented artists and artisans in Asia, Africa and Latin America who set their own prices so they earn more and customers pay less

www.madre.org is a nonprofit that uses human rights to advance social justice by partnering with women in communities worldwide to meet urgent, local needs and create long-term solutions to the problems that women face – their online store sells unique items (jewelry, textiles, household items, and clothing) that were hand-crafted by women from around the world, which helps build sustainable sources of income in those communities

www.bridgeforafrica.org is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting self-sufficiency and the dignity of work in rural Africa – the sales of the handcrafted baskets, jewelry, pins, textiles, tableware, bags, and purses go back to the African artisan groups and are reinvested in community development, training, and job creation in the regions

www.originalgood.com is the online shopping site for World of Good, which aims to eliminate poverty and structurally improve the quality of life for artisans in very low income craft producing communities around the world by selling Fair Trade and handcrafted bags, purses, home decor, housewares, jewelry, desk accessories, notebooks & journals, scarves, and more

www.world-shoppe.com sells Fair Trade products (garden supplies, housewares, accessories, jewelry, kitchen items, stationary, bags, and children’s toys) that not only provide income, dignity and hope to people in developing regions, but the products also help sustain the communities by promoting community development, healthcare and childcare, education and literacy training

9. So much variety, it’s tough to categorize

www.free2work.org helps holiday shoppers find great gifts that do not have forced or child labor in their production

www.appreciate.org creates socially responsible & sustainable designs for corporate gifts, and 100% of the profits from every purchase fund programs for homeless youth operated by the Reciprocity Foundation and the enterprise provides employment and design opportunities for homeless youth

www.giftback.com offers a wide variety of gifts and gift baskets, and 10% of every purchase goes back to a charity of the giver’s choice

www.worldofgood.com is the world’s first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values: you can search for a vast array of products that are People Positive, Eco Positive, Animal Friendly, and/or Support a Cause

www.amberchand.com sells well-designed, high quality products (jewelry, baskets, candles, purses, and more) created by physically disabled artisans and women who are victims of war, genocide, civil strife, pandemics, and natural disasters – the founder is a former Ugandan refugee and she works with her team to create sustainable, market-driven relationships that result in poverty alleviation, economic opportunity and shared prosperity

www.greatergood.com lists 10 sites that offer Gifts that Give More™, where 5-100% of the purchase price of jewelry, apparel, and gifts is given to the charity (helping people, animals, or the planet)

www.thebreastcancersite.com has an online store as part of its nonprofit mission, where they sell a wide variety of gift items (jewelry, clothing, home accessories, and more – including many items that are not pink) whose proceeds benefit breast cancer research and fund mammograms for women who can’t afford them

erasems.org has an online store (jewelry, clothing, accessories) where 100% of the proceeds fund Multiple Sclerosis research through Center Without Walls

www.drawbridge.org is a nonprofit that provides art programs for homeless and other vulnerable children in an environment that fosters their sense of joy, creativity and exuberance – their online shop sells greeting cards, clothing, tote bags, and posters designed with the kids’ artwork

www.homeboy-industries.org (located in downtown Los Angeles and recognized as the largest gang intervention program in the county) includes five nonprofit economic development enterprises (two of which can be accessed online if you don’t live in the LA area) whose proceeds help support their services for at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth: Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen (custom shirts, pens and more with silkscreen or embroidery of your logo), Homeboy Maintenance, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise (casual wear, backpacks, totes, and other products emblazoned with the popular Homeboy and Homegirl logos), and Homegirl Café

www.globalfundforwomen.org lists several sites that sell gifts, bags, accessories, jewelry, home accents, stationary, children’s toys, baby goods, photo books, handcrafted artisan truffles & confections, clothing, and music and donate a portion of their sales to the Global Fund for Women (a nonprofit international grantmaking foundation that advances women’s human rights worldwide)

(Source: http://www.lopeztasha.blogspot.com)

Feel free to pass this list to your friends and family. If you have any additions or changes, feel free to comment below or email me.

Noland Hoshino | President and Creative @ Bcause Media |  noland@bcausemedia.com | www.bcausemedia.com

Kids are great. Especially, during the holiday season when young boys and girls start to make a list of the toys for Santa Clause to bring them on Christmas Day. While observing wide-eyed children shouting “I want this” and “I need that” in a toy store made me wonder, “How can we teach our children that Christmas is more than just receiving gifts — but giving gifts to those who are less fortunate.”

A Christmas Eve tradition, for most families, consists of leaving cookies, milk, carrots (for the reindeer), and a letter to Santa Clause before heading to bed. The next morning, the cookies and milk are gone and a present from Santa is strategically placed in front of the Christmas tree. I think this scene is typical in most homes in the U.S. with some variance. But, is there an opportunity to educate our children about giving? I think so.

This season let’s teach our kids about Christmas giving for those who are less fortunate with one simple twist to the Christmas Eve tradition — “Give One. Get One. (GoGo).” The task is simple. Tell your kids that in order to receive a gift from Santa (on top of all the other requirements you’ve agreed upon) you must give a gift to Santa.

Here’s how it works:

1. Place an empty box or bag next to the Christmas tree or Christmas stockings
2. Make a sign “For Santa Clause”
3. Talk to your children about “GoGo.” Every toy they place in the box — they get a new toy from Santa
4. On Christmas Eve, gift wrap the box of used toys and place it next to the other goodies for Santa
5. Once the kids are tucked away, place the box of toys where they won’t see it the next morning (like the trunk of your vehicle)
6. Before the end of the year, drop off the box of used toys to your favorite charity

Benefits:

1. Teach your children about giving in a fun and meaningful way
2. Reduce clutter and old toys around the house
3. Donate to your favorite charity
4. Tax write-off

This year be “Santa Cause” and teach your children about giving. They will become better citizens of the world and make you a proud parent.