Archive for category Uncategorized

How use Social Media to Support Statewide Causes

protest
I am currently working on a few different statewide initiatives and I thought I would be fun to share how I am using social media to support these causes. One cause is a political race and the other is a campaign to ensure the Governor and legislatures of Arizona don’t eliminate the adult education program (I know…why do I have to convince our political leaders that even adults deserve an education? Who knows and I’ll spare the details. However, I will share some things to keep in mind when supporting a statewide cause.

1. Only choose to support a cause that inspires you and has lots of motivated people behind it. This is critical. You will get swamped and tired very quick so it is important that you have something other than “I really feel bad” about this situation to keep you going. Additionally, you will have more influence when people see how passionate you are.

It is also important to choose a cause that is in alignment with your business and you feel you have a reasonable chance of succeeding with. Winning is not everything, but everyone loves a victory party.

2. Make sure you identify your goals and make them measurable. Is your plan to get massive exposure; If so, how much? Influence political leaders; which ones? Raise funds? How much? For each of these questions it will be imperative that you identify the online groups and communities where the people you want to influence hang out in. You should be where they are to create positive conversations that lead them to supporting your efforts.

3. Identifying your time line is critical. Will your campaign last 4 weeks like I’m expecting the “Save Adult Ed for Arizona” program or will it last 6 -9 months like a political race? The amount of work and how fast you do it, will be based on knowing your time line.

If you have a longer campaign cycle it will be important neither to overwhelm people with too much content nor to wait for the last min. A steady pace of 2 – 3 post a day on Facebook with many people posting as much as possible to a Group or Fan page is perfect. 10- 15 tweets a day on twitter is also a good goal.

4. Social media is powerful but don’t limit yourself there. Become friends with media personalities on social media sites before you need them. Comment on their work or their post and weave your cause in when the timing is right (i.e. when the opportunity presents itself in chatting or a post. Bombarding someone you don’t know well could get you blacklisted super fast. You will also want to make plans for your team to write letters to the press, their representatives or host a rally. You can easily use social media to spread the word about these things.

5. If you are using your business as a tool to the support the statewide change you would like to see, make sure you choose a position on the team that will allow your business to really shine. What platforms are you or your employees good with, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogging? My strength is Facebook but I also took on blogging for the “Save Adult Ed Arizona” program. I soon became aware that getting certain parts of the blog to work was an unexpected challenge. To overcome this, I quickly asked for help and shifted that task to someone more capable. It is also important to remember that how well your business performs becomes your brand forever in the community. Always go the extra mile to deliver a brand worth talking about.

6. Choose a structure for your team. Will your team be small with one person in charge of social media or will it be filled with masses of motivated people from everywhere, whom you will only need to gently guide to ensure your message gets out?

Will your span of control be centralized and hierarchal, where someone at the top reviews everything and some authority figure or personal disaster puts an end to your efforts, or will your organization be decentralized?

Decentralized organizations have no real leader; people lead themselves and collaborate with others that are committed to an idea in order to get the word out.

If your operation is centralized look for ways to delegate or you’ll burn out. If it is decentralized, make sure its easy for your supporters to get wide access to the content you want communicated. One volunteer saying the wrong thing could derail your entire cause.

7. Stay organized with collaborative tools like Google calendar, Docs, Groups, Zoho or Groupsite. There are many free collaboration tools available. Make sure you identify your needs before hand then choose the collaboration platform that works best.

8. Think big, build alliances, and conquer the counties. This step is paramount. In order to have a loud voice it is important that you build a number of alliances that support your efforts both on and offline. Every organization should play to their strength and organize various aspects of the campaign.

It is also equally important that you have representatives in various counties managing social media efforts in those areas. These representatives can leverage personal contacts and local groups they are affiliated with to spread the word faster than someone unfamiliar with that county.

No Comments

Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro in Tucson & Across America

slclogo30pt1

The Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro Event will take place on Jan 13, 2010 in Tucson, and nationally via teleseminar on Jan 14, 2010.

Register NOW!

:
:

At this event you will learn:

- How Social Entrepreneurship is reshaping business

- Why“social problems” represent the greatest source of economic opportunities for our time

- How to use your existing business to take advantage of these problems to make a difference as well as a profit

- What it means to be a sustainable non-profit

- How you can partner with a team of people to help your organization create lasting results in the world

WHEN
Jan 13, 2010 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm (Wednesday)

WHERE
Ward 2 Office (map)
7575 East Speedway Blvd (Speedway/Pantano)
Tucson, AZ

Live Teleseminar Event
Jan 14, 2010
Complete Form above for Call information

EVENT VALUE $197
Cost: FREE

No Comments

Encore Careers turn Seniors into Social Innovators

encore-careers-semicolon1
In today’s economy, employers have an advantage. They can hire the best people many times for the least money. However, in the insurance sales industry, an industry known for its long hours and commissions only model, choosing the right candidate is still a difficult proposition.

I was talking to my friend Samuel this weekend. Samuel is a head hunter for a major insurance company and he was discussing the difficulty of finding quality employees.

I asked him if he had ever considered hiring retirees. As expected like most people in his position, the thought never crossed his mind. Why? Samuel’s firm seeks out sharp young people with loads of energy who are expected to give it the good ol’ college try until they burn out 2 years later and quit. Aside from the obvious problem here, many of today’s picture perfect candidates have credit problems because of the sluggish economy. Poor credit means disqualification when it comes to various financial services licenses.

Additionally, limited cash flow, lack of contacts and entrepreneurial skills make the it even tougher for young people to pursue a career where in the first 2 years they can expect to earn a little more than beer money.

I proceeded to make my case that seniors, people over 55 were, were a better target market for the focus of his recruiting efforts.

Here are some reasons why seniors are awesome recruits for the insurance industry

- People over 55 have years of contacts that trust them and would easily do business with them.
- They are loyal workers
- They are perceived to be wiser because of their age
- They often have a passive retirement income so going without a pay check for 2 years is not an issue
- They have years of work experience and are highly productive
- They like the flexibility of working for themselves but not by themselves.

I could go on but I think you get the idea. Bottom-line, seniors know how to get a job done.

In fact, many seniors are making big strides as social innovators. Each year Encore Careers, a campaign run by Civic Ventures, a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose awards The Purpose Prize, a $100,000 award for social innovators in their encore careers.

Encore Careerist are ordinary people using a new stage of life to do extraordinary things. Some of the winners were:

* A former telecom executive who helped wire an Appalachian county and brought laid-off factory workers back to profitable farming;

* A professor who invented a way to transform toxic fly ash into green bricks;

* A psychiatrist who helps saves soldiers’ lives by offering free mental health treatment;

* A former NASA exec who works to treat alcoholism in Native American communities by reviving old customs and traditions; and

* A couple who honor their son, killed on 9/11, by helping to bring mental health services to countries ravaged by terrorism, violence and war.

These people – and five other $50,000 winners – are social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to take on society’s biggest challenges. Now in its fourth year, the six-year, $17 million program is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life. To learn more visit www.encore.org

Tags: , , , ,

No Comments

The First Ever Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro Event

The Socialpreneur Leadership Course Intro Event will take place on October 5th 2009 in Tucson, Arizona. Details Below

At this event you will learn:

- How Social Entrepreneurship is reshaping business

- Why“social problems” represent the greatest source of economic opportunities for our time

- How to use your existing business to take advantage of these problems to make a difference as well as a profit

- What it means to be a sustainable non-profit

- How you can partner with a team of people to help your organization create lasting results in the world


WHEN

Oct 5, 2009 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm (Monday)

WHERE
Lady Joan’s Boutique (map)
7040 East Golf Links Road
Tucson, AZ

Cost: FREE

No Comments