npMarketing Blog

That Was Fast!

2008-04-10T13:34:00.001-04:00

I can't just stop blogging about marketing - did you really think I would? I didn't either! I've had this bizarre personal blog since 2001 called "Mindnumbing Thoughts" and lucky for me, it turns out the URL was available!

My new blog, the one that replaces this one is now live! Visit www.mindnumbingthoughts.com to subscribe to the feed, read up and get all the goods. This new blog will be focused on more general social media, online community building and of course, my own mindnumbing thoughts.

I hope I'll see you there!

Haitus

2008-04-07T11:19:00.002-04:00

As many of you know, I've had a major shift in career strategy about a month ago. I took a job with Microsoft (yea, yea, I know... evil empire, borg, assimilation etc...) and am leaving for now, the non-profit arena after 7 years.

I'm sad to write that this blog is on hiatus until perhaps I join the board of a non-profit (it could happen!) or decide to come back.

I *may* be starting a new blog, focused on social marketing, but haven't come up with a good name yet. I'm also busy finding my way at the giant known as Microsoft. Comments remain open, thought it seems that my blog has become ground zero for Runescape gold advertisers. Feel free to chime in or peruse the archives.

You can always follow my adventures on Twitter if you feel so inclined. Somehow, I am sure this is not good bye but more like a pause in programming.

True Blue

2008-03-05T09:44:00.002-05:00

Regina Spektor
Joss Whedon
Neil Gaiman
Kevin Smith

What those four have in common is that I'm a true fan. I buy and see everything they do and I subscribe to their blogs and friend them on Myspace (or Facebook). I didn't realize how important that was (but had a notion) until reading Kevin Kelly's recent 1,000 True Fans post.

This is so, so applicable to non-profits it's scary.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?
One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:
A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Non-profits must consciously develop their fan bases - and being a once a year donor isn't enough. By consciously developing 1,000 fans, non-profits will discover their voice and figure out new ways to reach into communities and networks to find lifetime supporters.

Marketing as a Conversation

2008-02-22T09:30:00.004-05:00

Phew! Just got done this morning over coffee reading Joseph Jaffe's "Join the Conversation."

Jaffe is relentless (yay!) about the new marketing and how it is transforming marketing and brand management/building.

If I had been lucky enough to get to put a quote on the book jacket (maybe he can open that up to a wiki on his next book, why stop at the cover?) I would have *maybe* said this:

"This book (and the author) is so relentless and passionate about new marketing that it practically forces you to start a blog and a conversation with your customers before you even finish it."

Ok, seriously though, Jaffe lays out the case and makes it time and time again with examples, case studies and a workbook like approach that includes manifestos, checklists and planners.

As I was reading, I took a few notes knowing that I was going to blog about it when I finished. The problem is, my notes ended up being pages and pages long, almost every chapter had a nugget or thought I wanted to capture and remember.

That said, I will simply agree with Jaffe's "one thing to take from the book" which was that It's never too late to join the conversation.

Disclaimer: As part of the "marketing" for Join The Conversatio n (and in full disclosure), Jaffe is also running a program he calls, UNM2PNM (Use New Media To Prove New Media) where he gave away 150 copies of the book to bloggers (yes, that's me, and yes this is me blogging on my own free will about something I really enjoyed).

I'm now 3 for 3 on business books in 2008. Made to Stick, Meatball Sundae and Join the Conversation. It's like the new branding trilogy.

Dignity vs. Humanity

2008-02-20T10:59:00.001-05:00

This is a great, great article written by a very smart man.

"There is no us and them. There’s just us."

Nice job Jeff!

Words that Drive Me Crazy

2008-02-18T10:30:00.003-05:00

A rant, just because I feel like it... (find out who I'm blaming for my ornery mood at the end of this post).

Web2.0
Words matter, I know! But the abuse of short-hand terms makes me crazy. Web2.0 is classic abuse. It's become a catchall for anything "conversation related."

Platform
I abused the term platform back in 2001/02 while at a technology start-up. It's making a MASSIVE comeback to it's own detriment. It's so innocuous and generalized that it simply is a useless term. Let me ask you this...

Is Windows a platform?
Is Google?
Is Microsoft Office?
Is Facebook?

Yes, of course they are... so someone please tell me - what do you mean when you say platform?

Social Media Strategy
Using this phrase is 99.9% of the time a shield to mask the fact that we have no idea what to do next. We'd rather talk about our "Social Media Strategy" than discuss the fact that we don't control our messages anymore.

The "New" something
Regular readers should know by now that I'm a Seth Godin disciple. However, didn't we go through the "New New" thing ages ago? Didn't I read a book about that? Godin is talking about "The New Marketing" and Jaffe's agency is "a new marketing company." It's all shiny and new, isn't it? I'm not saying they aren't both absolutely RIGHT... but this post is about words and how they drive me nutso.

So Who is to Blame?
This is the 2nd ornery post and/or comment I've made on my blog since I started Joseph Jaffe's new book Join the Conversation. The guy is spot on and the book is brilliant. But it's putting me in a bad mood. He's partially to blame, and I'm going to tell him so when we eventually meet.

But Jaffe didn't make me write this blog... no... the catalyst was this podcast from 1to1Media. Anyone want to play a new marketing terms drinking game with me as we all listen? (Was that over the line?).

What words drive you crazy - please share!

Must Blog About This...

2008-02-15T16:12:00.002-05:00

I couldn't have posted this video fast enough.

Forgive the Spam?

2008-02-14T15:43:00.002-05:00

Got this email today from someone (not sure who or how they got my e-mail address):

Dear Nonprofit Bloggers:

Forgive the spam, but we just wanted to let you know about our new blog on fundraising: http://www.toobusytofundraise.com. We are two veteran fundraisers with a combined 35 years of experience in nonprofits big and small. We have enjoyed your writing and thought you might like to see our contribution to the growing nonprofit blog world.

Thanks in advance for your attention,
Janet Levine and Jennifer George
www.toobusytofundraise.com

I'll only forgive the spam if your blog is amazingly, superbly, unequivocally the greatest thing since... since Pulp Fiction. Or Fun Dip. Or Tiger Woods.

If not, then no, I do not forgive the spam. Sorry. How can they write "Dear Nonprofit Bloggers" and then refer to how much they like my writing?

PS - The first link doesn't work: This website is temporarily unavailable, please try again later.

PSS - Yes, I realize that I'm promoting their site by blogging this (it will hopefully give them a chance to make up for their spam with at least one amazing, life changing post). But please Janet and Jennifer, no more spam.

Meatball Sundae

2008-02-14T09:25:00.004-05:00

Just finished Seth Godin's latest book "Meatball Sundae" this morning. As are most of Godin's book, it's a fast read - but don't let that fool you. This is an important book for many reasons.

Aside from the fourteen trends that the book explores (everything from The Long Tail to direct communications and commerce between producers and consumers is looked at), I do believe my favorite part was the case studies. Real-life examples of how companies have put these trends and concepts into practice to create movements. Part of what we all have to do as non-profit marketers is in fact, create movement, action and passion for our causes. So often though, we end up doing the opposite by spamming, over-communicating and controlling our communications efforts.

I had a long conversation with a software vendor yesterday. They are trying to re-position themselves in the marketplace. Problem is, they are over-explaining things and making it hard for themselves by not embracing a few of Godin's trends and ideas.

The CEO doesn't have a blog.
There is no user community.
They lack in "big ideas" that can will make them any different than their competitors.

One last thing, in case Seth reads this at some point (the web never forgets)... on page 194 he talks about the March of Dimes Share Your Story site. It's not accurate that it came from a volunteer blogger. It didn't. It came from the a few of us inside the joint who really believed in the idea. We had to cajole and convince upper management to let us do it (it took about 2 years). So Seth is half right, it wasn't started by the CEO, but it wasn't started by a volunteer either.

Mobile Fundraising?

2008-02-13T10:06:00.003-05:00

I'm hearing and reading a lot about the forthcoming "explosion" of mobile fundraising. Tons of issues to consider including of course fee structure from the carriers and the fact that donations are limited to something like $10. I came across this link (thanks Katrin) that suggests that there may be a solution forthcoming. I hope so.

The nuts and bolts of that article:

The Mobile Giving Foundation is positioning itself to be the approval and payment processor for nonprofits in the U.S. with an anticipated April 1 public launch.

Here is how it will work:

A nonprofit applies to the Mobile Giving Foundation.
Carriers waive all fees for premium SMS donations for the approved nonprofit campaign through the Mobile Giving Foundation.
The Nonprofit hires a vendor for campaign execution (the fulfillment vendor for the United Way was Mobile Accord) with Verisign as the mobile delivery service.
The Mobile Giving Foundation takes a 10% cut of text donations; anticipated to be reduced to 5% if the volume of campaigns increases. Payments are processed within 60 days post-billing at which point the nonprofit receives a check.

10% is still a lot, but it's way better than the 40 or 50% you'd have to pay now. I still think this is really clunky, but it's a first step for sure.

I wrote about a mobile marketing experiment that didn't work so well a last March here.

Made to Stick... sticky as glue

2008-02-13T09:54:00.002-05:00

I read "Made to Stick" while in Seattle and San Diego last week and want to marry it. Really. I loved it that much. So much of what I have been unable to articulate myself is right there inside this amazing little book. Go get it right now and read it! Seriously.

The authors have outlined a practical and effective checklist that you can use immediately once you understand the principals that have been laid out.

Here's the SUCCESs framework... read the book and get it all...

Simple... find the core... the one true thing.
Unexpected... you need to surprise people to get their attention in the first place.
Concrete... drop the intellectual, academic stuff straight away and explain yourself... understanding drives action.
Credible... credibility (various forms) will let people believe.
Emotional... it's not enough to believe... people have to ALSO care about you.
Stories... getting people to act isn't about facts and figures, it's about great storytelling.

I can't speak highly enough of this book, it's simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional and weaves great stories. Go for it.

Tracking Buzz, WOM, Tweets and Such

2008-02-01T15:55:00.001-05:00

I've had what seems like endless conversations lately about how to actually track and measure buzz, word of mouth, tweets and especially videos.

The raw numbers aren't too hard to come by, but the lack of any easy way to measure conversions and track users is seemingly impossible at this time. Outside a cookie that could follow users wherever they go, I'm stumped to a certain degree about how to get past superficial numbers like views.

Strikes me that someone will create and release a platform designed to manage all your social media much like existing systems that manage content (CMS) and e-mail marketing. I'm waiting and hoping one will be forthcoming. It would be great if that someone created something that was able to actually push content from a central repository, or even repurpose content right out of a CMS.

I came across one company that claims to have something. Anyone know these guys? I signed up for their free 14 day trial and took a peek at the web demo. Interesting stuff. Seems like a hosted, self-service version of something I saw from Buzzmetrics (I think it was Buzzmetrics) a few years ago.

User Experience Design

2008-02-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

Charles Mauro is a highly experienced user experience designer who I've worked with for the past several years. It's always a pleasure when I have a budget to find ways to work with Charles because he brings with him amazing analytical capabilities along with a finely tuned sense of what makes for good user interfaces. Each year his firm MauroNewMedia publishes an "Annual User Experience Design Review" where he looks at any and all major UED systems, products and designs. It's fascinating reading that should appeal to your inner usability designer.

This year's review includes discussion and analysis on the iPhone, MTV's virtual worlds and Second Life, Guitar Hero, Google Docs and much more.

If you want to know what it's like to work with Charles, this paragraph sums it up nicely:

Both Guitar Hero and the Nintendo Wii are exceptional examples of how creating a tighter connection between the user's interaction with the physical world and a screen-based display produces high levels of engagement and commercial success. Guitar Hero and several games for the Wii take advantage of the customer's ability to acquire skills through the use of familiar real-world gestures and actions. By creating an interface between these actions and the feedback mechanisms of the game, these products do one very important thing: they tighten the connection between the user and the user experience.

If you are looking for missteps, don't miss the Facebook/Beacon discussion or the One Child Per Laptop discussion towards the end.

This note on Facebook is probably my favorite in the entire document - because more and more, I think niche communities online is where it's at.

Facebook will continue to have problems monetizing its massive user base. New social networking sites will emerge in 2008 that begin to capture smaller specific segments of the Facebook user profile who aren't well-served by the Facebook user experience.

Enjoy the reading and feel free to debate anything with me in the comments.

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

2008-02-01T11:04:00.001-05:00

For me, the answer is barely. It took me far too many tries (6) to get this right. I should have known better and taken my time.

What my point in posting this on this blog? I'm reading a book about sticky ideas and this immediately caught my attention and practically demanded my attention. If you are crafting messages and marketing strategies, you'd be lucky to have something like this quiz to get your constituents buzzing.

Do the problem and then download and open the spreadsheet -

There are 7 girls on a bus

Each girl has 7 backpacks

In each backpack, there are 7 big cats

For every big cat there are 7 little cats

Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

The number of legs is the password to unlock the Excel sheet.

If you open it, add your name and send it on (or post it) to see who else can unlock it. Send it back to let the person know you got it correct.

This is a real math problem so don't say that a bus has no legs. If
you get the correct answer, that's the password to the spreadsheet.
Put your name in the column with the names and forward it on if you
were smart enough to get the right answer.

Figured out the math problem, but couldn't figure out how to save and
forward the spreadsheet with my name on it! Don't know if a 5th
grader could get the correct answer to this problem, but I know most
any 5th grader could have figured out saving the spreadsheet. See if
you can do it in less than the 5 tries it took me to get it right!

The Reading List

2008-01-31T09:47:00.000-05:00

I'm finally off my self help kick (4-hour work week, The Power of Story, The Power of Now) and am back to the business books that I love.

Here's the list of what's on my nightstand... reviews/blog posts/notes coming as I finish:

Made to Stick
Join the Conversation - disclaimer: I got this book from the author/publisher
Meatball Sundae - Mr. Godin's latest

This is Big...

2008-01-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

Facebook's announcement about a new JavaScript client library that will allow Facebook apps to be displayed on any website is big, really big.

What's bothering me are all the negative comments. What am I missing?

I think some of this has to do with Social Networking backlash that is certainly overdue at this point. Did you know that yesterday was "International Delete Your Myspace Account Day?" I'm sure someone is already cooking up a Facebook version. Hey, maybe they'll make it into a facebook app!

In any case, Larry's comment tipped me off to the backlash:

"When will this long national social nightmare end?"

Or even better, Mobilekick's Larry cheer:

"Smart, clever, whatever… facebook isn’t that tight, and I agree w/ larry iunno what all you lametards are on. When I am at a bar the college kids here say myspace, only *** are like “wee facebook.”"

Not all the comments were so sophisticated. Fabian said:

"I am not sure if anybody see it coming but it is brilliant. Facebook is becoming not just a platform but an online operating system. Now somebody needs to develop one of these apps that is actually worthwhile and not a toy. And Facebook needs to start making $$$$$$$$$$$ not just $$$"

Online operating system? I think Google is on that one too, aren't they? Either way, I believe this Facebook announcement is big.

OK - We Have To Talk About This

2008-01-30T15:20:00.000-05:00

Armstrong foundation to launch fitness Web site

Innovation to the extreme? Perhaps! I so love this idea it hurts.

"If we were going after a broad category like health and fitness ourselves, we wanted have the best brand," he said. "We would not take on a category this fat unless we had the LiveStrong brand." (The "he" in that statement is Richard Rosenblatt, the former head of MySpace.com.)

Let me try to process this... what the guy who used to run Myspace.com is saying is that he needed a partner and a non-profit brand to do execute his business strategy, right? Voila. Music to my ears! That's selling the value in a big, big way and is something non-profits can get better at.

Lance himself was quoted as saying "I don't think we've ever met our full potential on the Web when it comes to the livestrong.org site, but that's not our expertise. Our expertise is fighting cancer."

This is a stunningly simple and powerful statement, don't you think? I think so!

Here's two questions you can ask yourself right now...

What is (or isn't) your organization doing that it should be doing?
What are you doing that is outside of your expertise (like building software perhaps?) that you should be outsourcing so you can focus on what you are really good at?

Have fun coming up with answers for those two doozies. Please comment, I want to talk about this with someone.

New Shopping Experience?

2008-01-30T15:12:00.001-05:00

Check out this real-time "Watch People Shop" mashup. Neat.

It doesn't appear that this site offers anything that unique, but does have some built in social networking/marketing functions like wish lists, recommendations and comments. Doesn't that site called Amazon do all that?

Facebook Application Usage

2008-01-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

I came across a chart in the WSJ this week that showed 'Top Friends' vs 'SuperPoke' on Facebook.

The numbers are astoundingly large. The top 3 in order are*:

Top Friends 6.2 million users
Movies 5.2 millon
SuperPoke 3.6 million

What's even more incredible about these numbers is the penetration among all U.S. Facebook users. The Top Friends app has and 18.5% share. Amazing.

I realize everyone in "non-profit land" is trying to figure out how to use this marketing machine to find new donors and engage constituents - but I think the thing here is that these apps are all ego driven. Comparing yourself to others, listing your favorite songs and posting up funny graffiti for friends is one thing - these apps all appeal to our innate sense of "me, me me."

Whether you should (or even can) flip the model to make an application that is about your organization is still a big question in my own mind... but is something I've been doing more and more thinking about lately.

*Statistics source: Wall Street Journal/comScore Widget Metrix

NYT Magazine Article: Extra Helping

2008-01-28T09:38:00.001-05:00

Great article in the NYT Magazine this week on Kiva.org.

Donor engagement simply means something different today than it did 10, 20 or 50 years ago.

Here's my thinking... the feeling you get when loaning someone the money they need to build their business is quite different than the feeling you get from a making a traditional donation.

Old way is charity and a handout and is passive. There is nothing inherently wrong with the old way other than perhaps there is something better about the new way...

New way is about creating self-efficacy and accountability and being an active partner in helping make the world a better place.

The Last Interaction

2008-01-25T14:26:00.001-05:00

Seth is at it again in his latest post "The Latest Interaction."

"The last interaction, in my experience, is responsible for virtually all of the word of mouth you're going to get, positive or negative."

Yea, totally! I did a big research project for a huge non-profit that I used to work for looking at the entire web experience for a particular event. Guess what we found out...

We found out that the last interaction that donors and participants had proved to be CRITICAL to their overall experience. It didn't matter whether it was an e-mail thank you or a real-world experience after a long run/walk/swim/skateboard etc... that moment in which you have to make the really feel that they are making the world a better place is crucial.

Just today, I re-wrote a thank you letter and e-mail after talking to my client about how important it is to make sure that their donors feel all warm and fuzzy after clicking the donate button.

Don't miss out on this, it's super important - the last interaction you have (each and every time you interact with someone) is going to leave a critical impression. Get it right and you have a chance to get another "date" and to continue the relationship.

The Direct Mail Business Model

2008-01-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

Wired Magazine has a great feature this month called "Why Things Suck!" which I absolutely loved. One of the things that suck as you might guess is Junk Mail. See where I might be going with this post yet? I pulled a few of the more interesting parts of the Wired article here for easy reference - but check out the entire thing - it's worth a look.

Your name is on a list
And you have no one to blame but yourself. You refinanced a mortgage or got a new credit card. You subscribed to a magazine or donated money to a charity. These organizations sell their lists to aggregators.

How dare you donate money to a charity? Sheesh.

The math kicks in
Let's say you're soliciting donations. You buy a list of 5,000 names for $500. It costs you $2,500 in labor and postage to mail your plea. Of those 5,000 envelopes, 94 percent will be recycled and 5 percent will be misaddressed. But 1 percent will prompt a response. That's 50 people. And that determines how much you have to earn from each one: You spent $3,000. You need your 50 suckers to cough up an average of $60 each to break even. (It also works for email, though the response rate is much lower: 0.2 percent. But sending junk email — spam — is nearly free.)

Does this look at all familiar? I thought so! Look, I'm not saying you should stop (not unless you want to stop raising money). I just don't yet see how our past and our future is going to reconcile. If the customer is in control, than this just isn't going to work for much longer.

PS -I hope you didn't miss the e-mail kicker at the end (0.2 percent?!)

Dimes for Diapers

2008-01-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

This is exciting... my 10 year old daughter is doing her very first service learning project. She's picked the New Haven Diaper Bank to try to help and is hard at work both in school and online trying to fundraise. I'm using a bunch of different outlets to try to help her reach her modest goals of $500 by February 11th (that's the due date on the service learning project). Obviously I'm proud of her, and am even more excited to see her accomplish her goals.

She and I shot a video (outtakes coming soon), built a blog and started to use my Facebook account to promote her efforts (i.e. we'll do anything to raise the money!) In addition, she got the school principal to agree to let her distribute flyers to every class in school - pretty slick I thought.

Kids today, eh?!

Here's her first post on her new blog:

Hi!

This blog and web site is designed to help raise money for the New Haven Diaper Bank - I'm doing a service learning project called "Dimes and Dollars for Diapers" and my goal is to raise as much money as possible.

Here are some of the facts of why I'm doing this project:

Safety net programs, like Food Stamps and WIC, which are supposed to provide poor children with basic necessities do not cover diapers.
An adequate supply of diapers can cost over $100/monthly
Infants need up to 12 diapers a day; toddlers about 8 diapers a day. In low-income households babies may spend the whole day or longer in a single diaper.
Cloth is not an option for most poor people. Most childcare centers require parents to provide disposable diapers. Furthermore, most people living in poverty do not have easy, affordable access to washing facilities.
You should donate now because without clean diapers, lots of bad things can happen.
Parents who are working or in school cannot take advantage of free or subsidized childcare if they cannot afford to leave disposable diapers at the childcare centers.
Inadequate diaper changing increases the risk of numerous health problems from skin diseases to hepatitis.
A baby crying non-stop from being in a soiled diaper for a prolonged time is at greater risk of abuse.
For more information, please visit the New Haven Diaper Bank.

Please consider visiting her blog and:

Make a donation of course!
Send the link her blog: http://diaperdrive.blogspot.com/ to your friends who care about babies who need diapers
Learn more about why this is a problem

Are You a Seth Fanatic?

2008-01-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

Aren't we all? If you are a killer developer hell-bent on working on insanely cool stuff, here's your chance. Good luck.

(Their office in Irvington, NY)

Salesforce.com

2008-01-22T10:58:00.001-05:00

Great interview in today's WSJ (paid access) with Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.com who is talking about software being built on "platforms" yet again.

Thing is, I get what he's saying and buy it, big time. Two years or more ago, I was at a SF.com event where they first launched Dreamforce and had a long conversation with a sales guy there who didn't buy it. He told me he was focused on selling salesforce.com and that this new platform wasn't ready for prime time. In some ways, he was right - adoption never took off.

Today, it seems as if more and more companies are using web services and web based platforms for real, mission critical applications. Benioff points out in the interview that there are more than 20 companies now selling "software-as-a-service," up from only Salesforce just a few years ago. Now he's talking "platform-as-a-service." While he admits that this is a long process (perhaps 10 or more years to become mainstream) it's worth noting that the big boys (Microsoft, Oracle etc) are all now moving into this world as well. There seems to be a ton of momentum around this idea.

For non-profits (and others), I think it's time to think outside the box when looking at companies like Salesforce.com not just for their pre-packaged CRM solutions, but for their visions of the future as well. It's also time to start making sure that your existing vendor solutions are thinking about opening up their black boxes. As we all move further and further into this hyper-connected world you'll have to make sure that you can actually connect, swap data between systems, applications, partners and more.