Blog Tips from the Internet Strategist

This is a great listing of the basic blog tips that all associaitons and all bloggers should remember.  The blog needs to have your great information and expertise, but these technology tips can make it user friendly and get the readership you want.

http://blog.inc.com/e-commerce/2009/11/13-must-have-blog-techniques_t.html

SEO and Video

SEO is always a hot topic when you are discussing websites.  Everyone wants the next secret to getting the top Google placement in searches without the effort.  As the saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it is!”  There is no easy way for your website to reach the top search results page or #1 position.  Your website needs to be current, updated regularly with high-quality content.  There are great tips out there, but remember that nothing can be a website with great content that your members love.

For an update on video and SEO, an upcoming topic, check out this great article from Steve Strauss:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/the-little-known-secret-to-getting-page-1-google-rankings-steve-strauss

Six Ground Rules for Effective Meetings

Start and end all meetings on time – include time frames for each agenda item.  This shows respect for those who take care to arrive on time.  If repeat latecomers begin to understand that rather than everyone waiting 5-10 minutes for them that they will be “clinking” in to a meeting in progress, it will likely improve their on-time arrival.

Follow the agenda – stay on track and schedul time for brainstorming. Include: 1) item to  be discussed; 2) who is responsible for introducing the item and leading discussion; 3) action request to be taken.

Actively listen to and show respect for the opinions of others - This is common courtesy and helps a group make good decisions.  This might require asking for input from participants who are not so quick to speak and limiting the floor time of “talkers.”

The only stupid question is the one that isn’t aske – If something is not clear to you, do not assume it is simply your lack of understanding.  Others might share the same lack of clarity.  Ask questions!

Ensure that credit is given where it is due  – Nothing motivates volunteers more than something that has no cost to an organization: Simple but sincere thanks.

Minimize disruptions – We all know there has been a massive prliferation of hand-held devices. Encourage meeting attendees to refrain from using them.  In exchange, promise to conlude the meeting on time/as scheduled and take scheduled breaks.

Check out Association Jam!

There are general news aggregates like Digg.com where people can submit stories from the web that they like and then rank them.  This is great, but you get a pretty wide variety of information.  But, there are now sources for associations … check out Association Jam.

http://associationjam.org/

“Association Jam is a community website for people in professional and business association”

You can sort their news feeds by popularity, top from the current date, yesterday, last month or last year.  It is updated regularly, although it isn’t getting high traffic numbers yet.  Pass this along to your friends, and submit your association articles.

Social Media Strategy for Associations

This was also published for the MSAE Tech Expo.

Social Media Strategy for Associations

By Jessica Gill & Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP
Ewald Consulting

From the beginning, the purpose of associations has been about creating communities with a common purpose. Through the years, we have seen trends come and go, but our “business” is still the same. The methods and how we deliver value and relevance continues to evolve.

Like the internet, social media is a tool for associations to use to further our purpose. It’s not a stand alone strategy.  Like any transformational change, social media can pose an opportunity or a threat to associations. If ignored or used without a strategy, there lies the threat. Before we can use the social media phenomena to our advantage, we have to understand how to use the tools appropriately. 

Unlike the one-way communication of the first generation of the Internet (Web 1.0), the second generation of the Internet (Web 2.0), consisting of the social media applications, now provides multi-way communication and interaction.  There is a social media application for everything – to create conversations, to create and review content, to review the buzz about your industry or association, to coordinate and add value to in-person meetings or to network with colleagues from across the U.S. There is a certain uneasy loss of control over message, but an exciting new opportunity to really engage with our communities.

Not all social media applications are appropriate for all associations and each group needs to determine how they fit into their overall strategic marketing plans.  Social media relies on authenticity and openness, so associations have to be careful not to over-monitor their group’s software.  Creating applications where your members can freely express themselves, however, can lead to legal problems so there must be a careful balance for associations.

Over the past year, we’ve set up Linked In groups and Facebook accounts for our clients with relatively good results. Recently, we formed a Social Media Strategy Team to develop a comprehensive strategic approach to implementing social media for our clients. We started out putting together a list of all the tools that were out there (at the moment) and put them in buckets. Through several meetings and continued research, we have narrowed the list down to make sure we do 3-4 strategies well and with measurable impact. We are currently working on developing policies and procedures around all of these applications.

Key Tools to Consider

Bookmarking Applications (Del.ici.ous, Digg, Mixx, etc.

Listening:

One of the best uses cited for these types of programs is to search the web for comments and articles on your association and industry. This is a good way for a “gut check” on your association, industry and any initiatives. 

RSS Feeds/News Updates:

Digg.com and Mixx.com both feature widgets that can be embedded in a website that will pull content from one feed or a feed topic like “business.”   The downside is that as the association, you have no control over what content is pulled. Mixx.com can pull multiple feeds into a widget by tag name. 

Pipes.Yahoo.com provides a service to create your own mashed widgets from any number of feeds. These can also be filtered by topic, author, site and more.  This removes the problem of pulling information that your association doesn’t want or would find in poor taste. 

YOUR RSS Feeds

Associations that put out industry news, legislative updates, and other similar information can create their own RSS feed that members can sign up for. This might not ever replace email completely, but these feeds provide a great member benefit and fast information. Page2Rss.com is a service that can turn any page into an RSS feed. 

Widgets for Share This
In addition to creating your own RSS feeds, associations should make all their content “share-able” through a Sharethis.com or addthis.com type of service.  This means that your members can bookmark your content and share it with a wider audience. These widgets are generally free and you are providing word-of-mouth-advertising through the web.

RSS Feeds Examples: www.mnpgc.com; www.mapa-mn.com

Blogs (WordPress, etc.)

Listening

Like bookmarking applications, one of the uses for blogs is to search the web to see what others are saying about your industry and your association. 

Industry/Association Updates

A blog for your association can be a powerful marketing tool, but only if used correctly.  A blog is not a place to post press releases.  You already have a website, so don’t use your blog to restate everything that is there.  Instead, a blog should provide your association with a voice.  The topic of your blog does not need to be 100% in-line with your industry.  If your busy members (and hopefully potential members) are going to take time and read your blog on a weekly or daily basis, you have to give them a good reason.

Examples: www.ewald.com; www.mnpsych.org

Twitter/Micro-blogging

Legislative/Regulatory Feed: The best option for using this social media application is to create a twitter feed (or micro-blog) on issues that our members would want to subscribe to.  I did not find a lot of “long-term” micro-blogs, so the best options for association right now are legislative and regulatory updates.  As with blogs, keeping the content current is important.  The Twitter feed needs to be updated several times a day, and should be “suspended” if you will not be updating for a significant time period. 

Event Feed: Quite a few associations that are moving to using Twitter as a means to help their conference/event participants communicate with each other and presenters.  Using this tool would require that members are already using the technology, but could offer event updates, previews, arrange on-site meetings and allow for feedback/community after presentations. The downside is that the feedback can be negative or critical. The associations, planners and speakers should be ready for that and interact as well with the participants.

Wikis (Crowdsourcing)

Board/Committee Sharing Pages

Wikis can be a great way to allow your board or committee to share on a private space without having to send long chains of email out to the entire group.  Wikis have the ability to notify their members of updates as well, which removes the requirement of the members to return to the site to see any changes.  They can be private and invite only those members you approve.   

Social Networking

Sites like Linked In and Facebook are a great way to connect the student/younger members and to keep international members connected despite the long distances.

If we build a white label (from scratch) social networking page like Ning.com or similar applications, it gives the association a lot more control over who is in/out and what is on there.  The downside is that this is a separate application and is going to need marketing to get to the desired audience.  With Facebook and other existing applications, you already have the captive audience.

Social networking pages are similar to a party – if no ones there and nothing cool is happening, it won’t be very effective and even if you have members, it will stagnate.  Also, you want to provide unique content that is not a duplication of your website, without driving traffic away from the website you already have. Ideally, you want to create a reinforcing loop – your social networking pushes members and non-members to your website and your website encourages them to join the social networking as well.

If you’ve got ideas and/or questions around social media for associations, let’s keep the conversation going at the Ewald blog at www.ewald.com.

Jessica Gill is Project Manager and is leading the social media strategy and research for our clients. Kathie Pugaczewski, CAE, CMP is Vice President of Operations and Account Executive for two associations. Ewald Consulting is an association management and public affairs firm with offices in the Twin Cities and Chicago, providing full association management services for over 30 international, national and state associations.

Search Engine Optimization Top 10

Now that you have a website, how do you make sure the right people see it?  It’s not as easy as it sounds, but here are a few things to keep in mind… 

1. You Can’t Trick the Search Engine. When search engines first started, the algorithm for site ranking was not too complicated, but the algorithms behind the current search crawlers are very detailed. They look at keywords, type of media on the site, links to and from the site, and quality of content. You cannot “trick” the site search engine into a good ranking; you just need to build a great website.
2. Keywords are King. The most important part of SEO for your website will be the keywords you choose. These keywords need to be located throughout your website, including the following when possible: page title, content pages, meta tags, H1 text and URL. Remember to keep the keyword language as a part of your overall content to keep your website sounding natural.
3. Keywords Need to be Carefully Chosen. Because keywords are such an important part of your page ranking, make sure to choose them carefully. Your keywords need to be relevant to your association – the more specific, the better. But, make sure that the keywords are used by your potential audience. Being the top ranked page on a keyword or phrase that is never used will not help.
4. Check Your Competition. When choosing your keywords, check out who is competing with you for the same or similar keywords. You don’t want to go after a keyword where you cannot achieve the top ranking because the competition is too large or too well established. But, friendly competitors with good rankings can create value by linking to your site.
5. Connections Are Key. In addition to keywords, search engines look for links and link-backs on your website. Outbound links should be listed on your website, but only to relevant, quality pages. Your inbound links are more important, so be sure to encourage your members, vendors and related associations to put your logo and link on their website.
6. Your Site Needs Variety. The search engines no longer just look at the static text in links and keywords. They also search for a variety of media. You want to have many different types of media, including graphical elements, video and audio. Try to keep these items off of “gallery” pages. The search engines give higher rankings to those sites with a variety of media on each page.
7. Increase Your Presence with Social Media. Social media can provide additional presence on the Internet outside of your website, and can provide link-backs. If appropriate, set up a LinkedIn group and blog, and use both to link to pages on your website. Also, use a news feed or RSS feed to gather information to both increase your site content and links from members. Encourage your members to post news articles and links to Digg.com and other news aggregators to reach a wider audience.
8. List Your Site in Online Directories. Internet directories are now getting more traffic than the yellow pages, so make sure that you don’t neglect to list your association website in online directories. Yahoo Directory! and Business.com are just two of many such directories.
9. The Only Sure Ranking is the one you pay for. All the SEO work on your website will increase your ranking, but there is no guarantee that it will get you to the first ranking, or even the first page. If your association struggles, even after other SEO steps, to get a top ranking, you may consider the pay-per-click advertising of Google. For as little as a few cents per click, you can be listed on the top of any selected keyword search.
10. Review, Update…Repeat. SEO is not a one-time process. The Internet is constantly changing and new websites are created every day. Your website needs a consistent SEO review so you can adapt to a changing market.

Social Media Tips

Social Media is a hot topic for associations.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind…

1. Listen First: Social media is a conversation, and like any good conversation, you must be an active listener. Listen to the social media to see what our members and others are talking about, what they say about you and also to learn the unwritten rules of each program.

2. Know Your Audience: Not every technology is right for every group/organization. Use social media only when it makes sense, not just because it is new or cool.

3. Don’t Eat Your Own Lunch: Watch for overlap between the free social media features and your members benefits. Make sure you are not giving away any benefits that are essential to your group.

4. Be Open, but Smart: The whole point of social media is to share, but you do not want to share liability. Make sure your rules and policies are set before you launch any social media, and make sure all of your employees and members are aware of the rules. The informal setting of social media can sometimes encourage slips in etiquette so make sure to remind your users often.

5. Social Media is like a Party: If the social media part is dull, or no one is there, your joining members will not stay. To get continued participation, make sure your group is fun, engaging, current, and updated often. Give your members a reason to be there.

6. Let it Go: Unlike other types of marketing, you will lose some control over the content and the message. As long as you have your policies, learn to let go. If you over moderate or don’t let opinions be heard, no one will participate.

7. Respond Quickly: Bad news and misinformation can spread at the speed of light on the Internet. Keep your ear to the ground so you know what is out there and respond within 1-2 hours whenever possible. It is better to respond with an “I’ll get back to you” message than to let the rumors run.

8. Make a Marketing Plan: Social media is a different medium, but it is the SAME as any other media. You need a plan, a timeline and deadlines – make sure you set aside time to participate in social media and get your volunteers involved wherever possible.

Any other ideas or comments?

Is Twitter an “ap” in Search of an Application?

It will be interesting to see how Twitter is being used by the business community a year from now. We used it-successfully, I think-at a recent conference that we managed in Chicago. A number of the attendees tweeted their comments and questions and those tweets were used as feedback by the presenters and as fodder for discussion by participants. On the flip side, I made the mistake of following a self-styled “Twitter-guru” for a few weeks. Based on the number of tweets I received from this woman I don’t think she does anything else but eat, sleep and tweet. Thank you “un-follow”! To me the biggest challenge for users will be segregating personal from professional tweets. A number of applications exist to categorize tweets (such as TweetDeckbut) I haven’t seen one yet that easily allows one to easily manage outgoing tweets and separate them by intended audience. I’m interested in your thoughts on where this all goes… (especially from those of you who were made aware of this recent posting via Twitter!)

Persistence

My 17-year-old daughter, Sarah, a junior in high school, started looking for a job in the early spring as soon as she was finished with the ski racing season. Full of optimism, she went to local employers looking for work. I think she expected to be working within a day or so. After several days and no callbacks she wondered if her optimism was well-founded. I reminded her that not only were we in the worst economy of her lifetime, but the worst economy of mine, that she was a teenager with no experience competing for scarce openings and would really need to “work it”. She redoubled her efforts, drawing a wider circle for her search, and going back repeatedly to potential employers. Every day after school for five weeks the same: apply, apply and no jobs. Finally…a week ago..she hit! Twice! The same day! One in retail during the week! One in hospitality on weekends! (Sarah gets excited!)

I’m proud of Sarah’s persistence and am reminded of something that my dad has said to me in the past: “you can learn things from your children once in a while.” Watching a 17 year old kid, with no experience persist and succeed in an endeavor where she didn’t know she could fail is humbling and instructive.

Fear

I’m usually in the office by 5:30 AM. I enjoy being alone during the early part of the day which tends to be my most productive time. That’s when I handle tasks that require my most intense concentration. My trip to the office starts at about 4:45 AM and I even like my commute whose route I change frequently for variety. It gives me time to map out my day and reflect upon our world while it is still peacefully silent.

On a recent morning trip to work I drove by a situation and imagined a scenario that has given me pause since I witnessed it. I drove by a car dropping off what appeared to be a mother and her six or seven year old child in front of a children’s heart clinic. What they were actually going to do there is only known for sure by them and whomever they were seeing but I imagined myself in that role with one of my daughters. I imagined what I would be experiencing if, perhaps, we were there for a heart transplant, heart surgery or some other serious condition. I thought about how fearful I would be for her health and compared it to the things that I currently fear. It made me realize how powerful fear is and also how small are most of my worries.