Nonprofit Expressions

Now wait a minute.. this blog is not about people like Heath Ledger dying…. Is it?

No, but his death mere hours ago in his New York apartment is lighting up the blogosphere, and although this is a very sad story of drug abuse and a life of excess leading to ultimate destruction, it is relevant here because it is a great example of the quick response of the bloggers.

The current top Technorati (a blog search engine) blog on the sites entertainment page was posted just two and a half hours after the actor was found by a masseuse who came for an apointment to the SoHo apartment.

This is incredible if we think closely about it. Before the nightly news, and long before the next newspapers will have printed it, and before some news websites had the news posted, a blogger had all the details online.

That blog is actually a part of the New York Times website. This is also very interesting when we consider the fact that many people who never would have visited the NY Times website will have read this blog. In fact without this blog being written and posted in the NY Times blog section they would have missed out on a lot of traffic and exposure.

The lesson we can take from this is that blog search engines like Technorati are looking for the most current and relevant information to dish out. In fact by writing this blog about Heath Ledgers passing (only because it is relevant at this moment) will probably drive more readers to this blog in the next 24-48 hours as his death is big news and the masses move to search for information about it.

This principle can always apply when writing current or up-to-date content. One blog article or website story can in fact produce volumes of website traffic if the article is current and relates to something people have a lot of interest in.

This article is also an extreme stretch. When I decided to write the article I needed to find something very current in the news, including Heath Ledgers name in the article only applies because any current news could in fact be used.

The best time to write new interesting and insider content is when it is likely to be news or highly interesting to the largest group of people. If you run an organization that feeds the hungry and you see a best selling author on world hunger doing an interview on the news, that moment is a great time to write on your blog about the author, or to post a review of his book on your site.

When your sector of society or industry makes news, you should be using it to your advantage!

By Jennifer

Forget the lead paragraph, watch our ‘Elf Yourself’ video. (A Christmas treat from Nonprofit Expressions).

Office Max gives internet consumers the “miraculous ability to turn themselves into elfs,” according to the www.elfyourself.com website. The program lets you upload up to four pictures of your friend’s faces. The result? A hilarious video of your friends, coworkers, boss or family members that you can share with them!

So let’s get to the point: what makes it a viral ad, and why is it so effective?

Wikipedia defines viral marketing and viral advertising as “marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.”

According to George Silverman in ‘The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing,’ a satisfied customer may tell an average of three people about a product/service that they like, but ELEVEN people about a product or service which they didn’t like. In the case of Elf Yourself, however, people may tell 4 ore more people every time they make a video - multiply that by the number of videos each person makes (I made 5 versions for family and friends).

Other well-known viral ad campaigns include the Aqua Teen Hunger Force campaign which caused a bomb scare in Boston. Although this was not an internet campaign, it obviously created a lot of brand awareness. Other types of viral promotions include funny video clips, interactive online games called “advergames” or text messages, for a few examples.

Viral Marketing as Cause Marketing

Let’s think about viral marketing in nonprofit terms. We don’t necessarily have a product or service, but we do have a cause. If a viral ad for a specific cause is self-replicating, that means that a user is feeling connected to a cause or purpose. They start to have a feeling of ownership with the cause. TheNewJew blog talks more about maximizing social networking tools.

For more information contact the author.

By Aaron1.
Get listed in the Search Engines. This is maybe the most simple of the ideas in this article - but its a good place to start. Most websites receive over 80% of visitors from Google, Yahoo, and MSN. For that reason alone many of the strategies I will discuss relate directly to how to get in the top search results of the search engines. You cannot spend to much time or energy making sure you show up in the search engines. For starters check and see if your site is listed on google and yahoo. In the search bar type “site:yourdomainname.com”. What should appear is every page indexed by that search engine. If you do not show up, you do not exist in that search engine. If only a few of your hundreds of pages show up it means the search engine didn’t index all of your pages. We will get into why later.

2. Keyword Phrases are “Key.” Every time someone looks for something in a search engine they usually type in a word, or several words. We call this the “keyword phrase.” You need to figure out what keywords really work for your site, by knowing what people actually type into search engines to find the information or products you offer. This is too complex to explain here, but a good Search Engine Optimization company can tell you exactly what phrases you need to know.

3. Every Page Needs a Title. The title of your page is the first thing a search engine reads, its also what appears in many search engines. If you’re home page is titled “Home” it actually can show up as Home in the search engine results. Be specific with your page titles, and use your keyword phrases in them.

4. The first Heading on your page should read like the title of the top story of a newspaper. Make it big, bold, understandable, and most of all use your keyword phrases. This is the second stop on the search engines visit, and may also appear in the search result pages when people find you.

5. Heading’s are bigger than subheadings. This is not only common sense, but the search engines feel that your h1 heading tag is more relevant to the page content than your h2 heading tag. So make sure your code actually uses semantic XHTML (the code should describe the document contents). If you use your website title in big h1 on every page you are making a big mistake. Use your keyword phrase in your heading, and related words in your subheadings.

6. META its important. You have probably heard of a META tag before if you own a website. No its not a birth defect or a medical bracelet. Its a piece of code that is hidden in your website. Every single page of your site needs them. The first one it needs is a description tag. This tag tells the search engine what the page is about. The text you put here will often end up in the search results page as well.

7. Keywords in the META. You keywords also belong in the meta section. You should have a keyword tag with the relevant keyword phrases in every page of your site. Each one should represent the page its on. (hint: every keyword phrase in the tag should exist on the page itself) for an example of a keyword tag and a description tag see the following:

8. Make Your First Words Count. When you begin any web page article or text you should make sure that your keyword phrases are right in the first couple sentences, somewhere in the middle once or twice, and again at the end. You are trying to make sure the search engines know what the article is about, while still writing for people to read.

9. Anchors are Not Just for Ships! Anchor tags (xhtml tags that create a link between two documents or pages) are very important in telling search engines what a document is about. Search engines assume you will link to other pages and sites with relevant content. So make sure your links use keyword phrases, and are descriptive. Example of a good link: (Blue mountain bike maintenance) where the entire line is a link. Example of a bad link: (read about blue mountain bike maintenance here ). where the word “here” is the link, leaving out all the describing text.

10. Make Sure the Crawlers Can See Your Entire Site. When search engines “crawl” a website they can only read text. They can’t see images, video, or flash. So make sure your site has plenty of text, and VERY CRITICAL, make sure your links are in text somewhere. If you only link from one page to another in a flash movie, or using images the crawlers may not even try to take a look at the pages you link to. If you want to see what pages the search engines have index type “site:http://wwww.yourwebsite.com” into the search engine you want to check.

11. Map it! If you want to make sure google and yahoo get to take a look at all of your pages you need to create an XML sitemap. This is really a very simple process use the sitemap generator.

12. Send Your Sitemap. Google and Yahoo want to see your sitemap so they know what pages to index. Submit to google here, and submit to yahoo here.

13. Every Page for Itself. In the world of “search” - every page on every website in the universe is competing for the same search traffic. That means unless google and yahoo can figure out what your page is about you will often be left out in the cold on page 1,234 of the search results for your search keyword phrases. Make sure you remember its every page for itself, not every site for itself. Every page should be a complete thought. Every page should have specific keyword phrases associated for it in the META tags, content, headings, and links. If you always remember this you are a step ahead of the competition. (Are they really even competition if you show up as result number 4 on page one and they show up as result number 1 on page 64?)

14. Do Some Reading. If you want to get good at the search engine game read some authors who have had success with them.

15. Get Local. If you are a local business who needs local business (you don’t sell watches online to people in china) you should get local with the search engines. Local Search is somewhat new, but very important to local businesses. You need to poke around and make sure you are listed in google’s directory results for local search. You should also check on yahoo, yellowpages.com, and other local search websites. Make sure you show up the same way you expect to in the local phone book. In todays world many people don’t pick up a paper phone book very often when they have search at their fingertips on the work computer, on the cell phone, even on people’s tv’s.

16. Get Some Links. This is a double edged sword in internet marketing. Not only can a visitor click on a link from another site to find you, the search engines assume your website is more important the more links you have pointing to your site. So ask websites that are not your competition but still relevant to your business. Remember to ask them to use descriptive text when creating your anchor’s, even better yet email them the text you want them to use. (NOTE: you can offer to link back, but its not as great an idea when thinking about search rankings.)

17. Get Listed in Online Directories. Directories like Google’s are free to get listed in, and they can count as links! Not many people actually search directories these days, but they do produce some traffic, and the links are worth their weight in gold. (NOTE: Yahoo’s directory is a complete ripoff. Unless you have a million dollar web marketing budget just forget it and move on to the free listings like google.)

18. Write an Article… or 30. Writing articles people can use in newsletters, and on websites is a great way to earn some links, introduce yourself to some readers who might grow to like you. You should write short, concise, fun articles about a topic that relates to your organization. You can them list them in an article source directory for people to use for free. These are a great way to get links because you can write a three or four line bio at the bottom of the article and put a link to your website in it.

19. Start an Industry Blog. Blog’s are the communication tool of the future. I mean who really knows whats going on in an industry like the people working there? Skip past the PR pro’s and the spin doctors and read a blog. Better yet - start a blog! What do you know intimate personal, in-depth information about? If it relates to your business you should be blogging about it. People in your field of work, and people interested in your business will want to hear what you have to say. Blogs are also a great way to earn some links because people will start linking to your articles.

20. Are You Newsworthy? Here is a tip, when you submit a press release “over the wire” it ends up on computer screens all over the world. If what you have to say is truly newsworthy it could end up in publications like CNN, Fox News, USA Today, the local paper, or on blogs. If your organization does anything newsworthy you should let the world know. Not only is the news a great form of advertising, but its free. Make sure to include your web address on any and all press releases you send out.

21. Does Your Business Card Advertise Your Website? How about your office stationary? What about all your printed materials? You spend money on your printed materials so remember to make the most for your dollar and advertise your website URL on everything you can print it on. I have even visited a few websites I saw on the side of car doors.

22. URL on the Television. Many times companies forget they can advertise their website in other advertising. It gives people an immediate place to get more information or read further about your organization. So if you are going to be on the radio, TV, or even in the newspaper anytime soon remember to advertise your website URL.

23. Install Your Signature. Microsoft Outlook is like today’s mail room. But what is a good mail room without stationary to write your letters on? If you forget to put your key information in your emails via signature, you are missing out on free advertising. Put your name, position, organization, address, telephone number, fax number, email address, and URL in your signature. Its like having your business card in every email you send.

24. Give Something Away. A great way to drive some traffic to your website is by giving something away for free. As a nonprofit a great way of doing this is to get a local business to donate it. Offer the business advertising in return, and you shouldn’t have to much trouble finding a willing donor. Then advertise your giveaway on your email contact list, your mailers, in the newspaper, (NOTE: If it is for a cause it is newsworthy) and even on a sign out front.

25. Start an Internet Newsletter. One of the best forms of advertising I have had personal experience with is email advertising. If you develop a good list you can send out a newsletter and drive hundreds if not thousands of people to your website. At one point earlier in my career I corresponded with over 7 thousand people a week via email. I was having conversations with over three thousand of them via email using personalized form responses. If you do not have an email list you can send a newsletter to, you should start collecting addresses today. I know many clients who advertise almost exclusively through email newsletter. It just works.Stay “tuned” for Part 2 of ‘Website Marketing Strategies’ - we will discuss guest blogging, rented email lists, and more!

By Jennifer

Nonprofits today have a flood of choices when determining the best way to communicate with their donors and publics.Email advertising… Press Releases… Direct Mail Postcards… Radio ads?

Choosing the right option at the right time can be confusing and overwhelming. But worst of all - it can be ineffective. Combined correctly, however, they can become the ultimate communications campaign to increase donations, sell a product - or even get publicity (free media coverage!)

Integrated Marketing Campaigns are when an organization strategically unites all of the forms of communication so that messages and campaigns are consistent and more effective.

The Trend

Large companies often have two or three different communications branches: Marketing, Advertising and/or Public Relations. Let’s look at the differences:

Marketing:

Planning and implementing a mix of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the organization to the client. Examples: advertising, shipping, packaging, selling.

Advertising: A paid, public, non-personal, persuasive message by an organization to existing and potential clients. Examples: radio, television and pop-up ads.

Public Relations: The methods and activities used to establish and promote relationships with all of an organization’s publics. Publics include all the people who share a common interest with an organization, like customers, donors, employees, community leaders, the media, competitors, etc. Examples: donor development, media relations, crisis management.While the goal of Advertising and Marketing branches is to sell a product or service, Public Relations focuses mainly on relationships between the organization and those key publics and stakeholders. All of these branches play an important role in the growth of an organization.

The importance of integration (IMC)

With three branches going in all different directions, you can imagine how it would become difficult to have one goal. And with the branches not working together properly, a company’s relationship with its audience could be permanently damaged.

The solution? Integrated Marketing Campaigns.

Looking Out for Your Publics

Imagine your audience sitting in front of the television or surfing online—if they see your TV commercial or pass their mouse over a banner ad, no one stops to recognize the particular work of either the marketing, advertising or pubic relations department. What consumers recognize is limited to the company name, logo and basic idea. The best way to make the consumer’s connection with your company stronger is to keep everything consistent.

IMC and Your Nonprofit

You don’t have to hire an expensive company to conduct your IMC campaign. In fact, you don’t even have to major in communications to use this method! You can start with a few simple tools and a team dedicated to success.

Tool 1:

Media Planning Guide>The market strategy and planning worksheet available to our newsletter subscribers will take you through a six step method to outline your situation, strategy, identify your tactics and how to evaluate its effectiveness. Go to www.nonprofit-expressions.com/media-guide.html for your free copy.

Tool 2:

Putting It Together and Making It Work from Amazon.com>There are endless books on IMC and the method. Go to this Amazon.com book link for one example.

Tool 3

: Integrated Marketing White Paper>Integrated Online Marketing with Direct Mail Fundraising (Adding a New Communication and Donation Channel Increases Donations). Read the White Paper here.

Tool 4

: The Nonprofit Expressions Method of IMC>Nonprofit Expressions is not an advertising company. We are not a web design company. We are not a market research company. Nonprofit Expressions is in the business of communication. We want to make sure you know your audience and that your audience knows you, whether your target public is a businessman looking to support your ministry, or an internal support staff member. Nothing will happen without relationships and relationships are impossible without communication.For a free communications assessment or a complete list of resources, please contact the author at jennifer@nonprofit-expressions.com.

Build a ministry website checklist for success

The internet plays an important role in ministry development. The net is a place for donor development, branding, and marketing your organization. Many organizations simply do not realize the power of having a professional image until they miss funding opportunities because their marketing is unprofessional.

If you place yourself in the socks of an executive in charge of dispersing funds to charity, or even just an everyday Joe who only has $50.00 to donate this month, a professional image will go a long way as a convincer. The number of scams in every community that focus on ripping off potential donors, is staggering. People give money voluntarily to charity, so naturally criminals will pose as charities.

Your organization’s first line of defense against skeptical donors is your reputation. By doing your work well, you will build a good reputation. However, that is only one side of the reputation coin. When investors and others are introduced to your organization it may be a business card or a website doing the introduction. The first impression that person forms will be based, in part, by the image presented by your marketing.

To make the most of first impressions and further facilitate relationship building, make sure your organization is represented well in all of your marketing. Especially your website, because an internet visitor may only give you 3- 5 seconds before they decide you are not worth the next 30 seconds of time it will take to read the web page. Keep the following in mind to take your 3 second interview and turn it into a lifetime relationship:

1. Is every page of your site organizing the information in such a way that it is easy to identify what your organization does? (For instance, a church web site should identify the fact that it is a church in the title and logo of the site)
2. Is the information easy to read and well organized? If your site looks cluttered or the text is hard to read most visitors are going to favor the “back” button over further investigation.
3. Does your site look as professional as other sites in the same industry? When you compare your site to your competition how does it stack up? If your site does not look as professional, you are likely to loose potential relationships to your competition. Likewise, if you look more professional you are likely to draw new relationships away from your competition.

If your site does not meet the standards it should, then it is time for a re-design. If you don’t have a site yet, the following should be helpful in preparing to create a ministry website.

Checklist for creating a ministry website

• Find an experienced design team. Do not put your image in the hands of a college student who builds websites in his spare time. Likewise do not allow a “technical” person working for you to create a website unless they have the necessary experience. Now that rule does not apply if the college student is an intern at amazon.com and the technical person used to work for a web design firm. But a good rule of thumb is that those who have little experience in developing websites will have little success in professionally presenting your vision to the web.

• He who creates his own site, has a fool for a client. Now this is not always true. I of course create my own site, but as a professional developer who has been building sites since 1996, I should be expected to do so. But even with my experience in writing xhtml, css, xml, and many others,  I still have to learn new tricks and techniques weekly. The web design field is simply too broad for one person to successfully know or learn everything. It takes a team to create a successful ministry website. In 1998, developing your own website using a “for dummies” book was not only acceptable, but common. Today’s internet is not a D-I-Y environment. The rate at which the technology of web design is changing is blistering. Hire someone who does this for a living, and prides himself on keeping up with the trends.

• Who will update your content? Now just because you should not develop your own site does not mean you cannot edit its content. With today’s technology managing pages and content is in the realm of the non-technical. Enterprise level sites are often updated by people without technical skill beyond Microsoft Office. Ask your developer about Content Management capability for your site. It may cost you more up front, but in the long run you can save time and money by having interns and secretaries update the content on your site.

• Don’t get ripped off: know how much should you be paying. The price for a professional design studio to design a website will vary depending on what technology you require and how experienced the team is. Current rates for web development teams are right around $1000.00 per day of work the studio performs. This should average out around $80 - $100 per hour. Every task will not require more than one person during development, thus any price less than $75 per hour is a good deal. If the design studio is charging you on a per-contract basis and does not offer to break down the contract on a per-hour basis, you are getting ripped off. The design studio is offering to create a “cookie-cutter” website that will likely take them only a few hours to launch. Your design company should be able to show you what they accomplished hour-hour. This is the current standard.

• It is all about your goals A design team worth their oats should be asking questions about your ministry’s goals. Without a solid understanding of your goals and your vision, the website will not be able to contribute to them. When shopping for a web site you will find many offers for a site with 5 - 10 pages of content, and a slick layout. You pay for quality and experience. A good design team should be attempting to create an internet extension of your current ministry. If you cannot easily identify the ministry goals being accomplished by the proposed site, you will only end up with an e-business card. While this is easy to refer people to, it serves little purpose, and is likely not worth the amount of effort a website requires, or the money needed to develop it.