Driving In Traffic

St. Benedict's Podcast

I've been working with St. Benedict's Episcopal Church to improve their web presence.  I have been working on getting a podcast up and running.  I even spent several hours designing the logo. 

They have decided to have two types of programs. 

• Meditative Moments:  which are short (5-6 minute) episodes that are designed to be inspirational and stress reducing.
• Sermon Cast:  these are broadcasts of sermons that are given during their Sunday worship.  They hope for these to be used by members but also allow people interested in the church to hear the types of topics that are discussed and hopefully be less hesitant about coming to church.

So it is with great pleasure that I say that we finally launched it.  It is called St. Benedict's E-Cast. Click here to check them out or you can listen directly from their site.

Flock: Web browser test

I'm a huge Firefox fan.  I was thinking about upgrading to Firefox3 and was researching the features and reviews when I found an article on the Minneapolis Star Tribune site by Anick Jesdanun that discusses the many options to the Microsoft web browser. 

Opera 9.5 is discussed but the author also discusses the Flock2 browser.  I had not heard of it but was intrigued because it integrated with many of the social networks and was really make to appeal to the "web 2.0" (ick -- I hate that term) enthusiasts.

So I decided to try out Flock.  Afterall, it won a Webby.  It's pretty easy to use and very intuitive.  I am actually writing my blog from the Flock Interface.  I haven't published yet, so I can't say how easy it is to select from multiple blogs.  However the WYSWYG editor seems very similar to many of the other editors I've used. 

The other thing I like is that it allows you to select a web-based e-mail as your default e-mailer.  So there will not be anymore clicking on an "Contact Me" link and having IExpress open up.  YEAH!!!!! 

Another awesome feature is that you can connect to your Facebook account and keep a "friend feed" open.  In your friend feed, you see their status and you are alerted to if they have added media.  If they have, you simply click on the media link and a small bar is opened at the top of the window and you can scroll through and open things of interest.  There is also an "actions" link where you can post to profiles, poke them, and other typical facebook features.

You can also easily import all your bookmarks and preferences from Firefox directly to Flock.  It has a Myworld feature that I need to explore more--- at first blush it looks similar to the igoogle homepage with similar functionality.

Thus far, Flock is very interesting and I kinda like it.  I plan on exploring the extensions to see what other cool stuff you can do.

If you have used Flock--- drop me a line and tell me what you think is cool.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: Flock, Social Media, Web Browser,

Branding

To me--- nothing says comfort on a winter day than looking at a the red and white of Campbell's Tomato Soup and knowing all I need is a good grilled cheese sandwich. Years of experience with the product, memories associated with those experiences, the occasional TV commercial that gives me the warm fuzzies and the consistent goodness of Campbell's tomato soup have all come together to create an a feeling of contentment and home by just seeing the can. 

Branding is a process by which we try to use a variety of tactics to elicit a positive emotional response from customers and potential customers.  It is much more than selecting a logo, colors and packaging.

Branding involves communication, imagery, and reputation building.

In order to brand effectively, one needs to:

• examine the strengths and weaknesses of the competition,
• examine your own strengths and opportunities for improvement
• communicate and listen to staff regarding perceived internal strengths and goals
  
• listen to customers desires, needs and wants.

From there, we can begin to understand the possibilities for changing customer perceptions in order to improve customer loyalty and probability that a customer will come back-- again and again.

While the informal and personal tone of the blogosphere and social media, to date, has been identified as a risk of  starting a blog, there is the very real possibility that these very traits could play well into marketing and branding endeavors. Afterall, what better way to build an emotional response to what you do than to start a relationship with your customer? What's the harm in letting people know a little bit more about you as long as it is presented professionally?

Branding and Marketing: Do Blogs Fit In?

Marketing and branding are not an activities that manipulate the intrinsic properties of a product, service, company or a cause. Instead, they are processes by which you influence customers, both real and potential, to create in their own mind that your product or service has more value than those of your competitors. 

Many think branding and marketing are the same things.  Unfortunately, they are not.  However, the two are interdependent and intertwined, which probably accounts for much of the misconception.  It is a broad generalization (but take the leap for a moment)... but marketing has its foundation in educating people about you and branding is about taking that knowledge and making it ring emotionally.

Well.... that sounds easy, huh?

Blogs... where do they fit in?

I'm glad you asked... blogs are just one tool to help both educate and to create an emotional bond to you, your business/cause and products/services.  If done correctly, every post of a blog can be a little glimpse into you, your values, your commitment to a cause and/or your passion for what you do.  Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that a business/nonprofit blog should be an unfettered gush of emotion and personal musings.  Instead, I want to propose that the words that you choose to talk about something are a subtle reflection of who you are.  Everything you write gives readers a chance to understand how you think, what is important to you, how smart you are, and if you are a person that they might like.

And lets face it... people like to do business with people who they like.  If they like you, they will spend more money, be more loyal customers and tell people about you. 

How does this translate into marketing and branding... well.....blogs give folks a chance to get to know you and decide if they like you.  If people like you and your blog, this will give the emotional underpinnings for your branding efforts to take hold.  The beauty of it is that while doing all of this you can talk about your cause/products/services/company.  Business and nonprofit blogging is simply good bang for your marketing and branding bucks.

Thanks to Anosmia for the photo.

Tips for Starting a Company Blog

I've recently been looking up tips for starting a company blog.  I know what I think but I wanted to see what others think too and are there some major take aways.  I ran back across a "classic" post on Mack Collier's  The Viral Garden  blog.  It was posted a while ago  11/28/2006.  It discusses things to consider before starting a company blog. It is actually a summary of a 10 step article he had written for Marketingprofs.com (paid subscription required).

He emphasizes the following:

1. Understand up-front that a blog is a LONG-TERM investment.
2. Write the blog from the READER’S point of view.
3. Have a comment policy in place before you start blogging.

If you have to narrow things down to just three tips --- these certainly are the most important. One tip that I would add---- search out and read blogs in your area of expertise before starting a blog.

I think this is excellent advice for anyone considering starting a blog— not just company blogs. These actually have been lessons I’ve learned through trial and error. Like many other bloggers, I find the hardest thing is to be diligent about posting. Life gets busy and I get distracted. Just like cheating on a diet, it is important to recognize the error and then pick up and start again. Don’t judge yourself and don’t quit– just get back to doing what you need to do.

Is Going Green Worth the Green?

Today I had a bag of Sun Chips with lunch.  On the new, redesigned label I saw that the Frito Lay company now boast that Sun Chips are now made, in part, with solar energy and the company also buys Green Energy to offset the 100% of the electricity required to make the chips.  This is not an advertisement for Frito Lay, but you can read more here.

Small to medium nonprofits and small businesses both often have small, tight budgets.  Much of the time, there just isn't the extra money to buy solar panels, batteries for storing electricity or anything like what big companies are able to afford.  Add to that, the fact that some recycled products cost considerably more than other less environmentally friendly counterparts.

So --- is going green really worth the green?  Well, perhaps so. Especially, if you are willing to make some tradeoffs and adjustments.

First, there are some easy ways to be friendlier to the environment.  Using technology to communicate with stakeholders can be a big cost saver and be kinder to the earth all at the same time.  Marketing e-mails, emailed newsletters, ezines and electronic distribution of other educational materials eliminates printing and direct mail costs--- which in the day of increased postage rates can add up to serious change.

Second, the tide is beginning to shift in consumers wanting to be patrons or donors to organizations who are making strides to go green.   In many cases, people expect to have pay a little more to offset the cost of going green.  The key here is "little".  People are willing to be a little inconvenienced or to spend a small amount more. 

Third-- there are a bunch of smart people out there who have some great ideas about going green.  One such place is the Foundation Center.  They are offering free classes at some of their regional offices to discuss innovative ways to begin going green. Earth Ministry is an organization focuses on helping Christians and Christian organizations to be better stewards of the Earth.  Even if you are not a Christian the Earth Ministry's Blog has some good and quick ideas about making small changes toward going green.

Obviously, Frito Lay believes there is marketing and good will value in taking steps to go green.  They have proudly changed packaging and created a website to get all the bang they can for their buck. 

What do you think?  What is your company or organization doing to be more environmentally friendly?  How are you capitalizing on the good will value of your efforts?