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About Jim Turner
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Jim Turner is the leader of the One By One Media and it was his vision that began the business in 2004. Jim is a well-respected social media consultant and professional blogger, mentoring others to become professional bloggers and leading companies through successful online social media campaigns. Jim is well connected in advertising, public relations, marketing and other business circles, consulting with Fortune 500 companies, large agencies and startup companies. Jim has experience in management and leadership from working in the law for more than 20 years and is taking those skills to the social media arena and making companies successful as they enter into the Web 2.0 business space. Jim serves on the advisory boards of a few companies to consult them in how to make their companies work in the social media environment. Jim lives in Colorado with his wife and four children.Expand Your Message, Not Your Budget
In this instant information age, there is the constant lure of what’s new and hot, and the perception that you must always be grabbing and re-grabbing your audience’s attention – much like waving keys in front of a toddler.
Certainly, a new approach to your company’s or organization’s goals can re-energize existing supporters and attract new ones, but an all-too-common mistake is to throw the baby out with the bathwater for each new campaign. A smaller organization may think they need to emulate outrageous global corporation campaigns that seem to have nothing to do with previous messaging, but look closer. “Coke is delicious and makes your life better” – that’s every commercial they’ve ever done. “Our cars are really, really well-made and sexy” – that’s every car commercial ever made. Their message is consistent. Is yours?
UNICEF USA recently updated their Haiti365 site in honor of the two-year anniversary of that devastating earthquake, January 12th. Originally, the site had been designed (by our sister company, StudioGood) to be a place where people could upload messages of hope and support to the children of Haiti. UNICEF knows – as does every nonprofit – that supporters are looking for personal connections to the causes they support. Haiti365 was a simple way to encourage supporters to invest their time and their hearts. Hundreds of videos were posted and shared with the children being helped by UNICEF workers in Haiti.
For the anniversary, they wanted to remind people that the work goes on, and will go on for years to come. According to StudioGood Account Director, Kerrie LeBourveau, “The site’s original purpose was to send one-way video messages of hope to Haiti. This year we’ve expanded that to a two-way conversation, an interactive Q & A if you will. It was an efficient approach cost-wise, and a natural extension of UNICEF’s strategy.
They needed to find a way to build on the earlier connection. A lot of bells and whistles have been created in the past year – lots of shiny keys available to be waved in front of overloaded users. But UNICEF kept their microsite as it was with the same design and basic messaging of giving voice to the children of Haiti. It was a simple, cost-effective update that expanded the concept from sending messages to responding to a specific question from a Haitian child. A sort of video pen-pal set up.
LeBourveau added, “Another key component is to remind people that the kids they’re helping are just like you and me and the kids we know. They have questions and jokes and infatuations with celebs like Justin Bieber, and most of all, they just want to be heard.”
Is a video campaign right for you? Maybe, maybe not. As LeBourveau explained, “At StudioGood we aren’t normally advocates for video campaigns – in general it’s difficult to generate participation and the quality of user generated video can be less than great. But when the call to action is as powerful and engaging as this, there was simply no better way to draw in audiences to UNICEF’s mission than through this terrific video campaign.”
So, we return to our point – and we do have one – that there’s not always a need for a costly, from-scratch approach to a commercial or nonprofit update. LeBourveau makes it clear that, “If you’re a non-profit working under a limited budget, always consider the necessity of a complete rework of a site versus a simple refresh.”
Goodnight, Irene…
Mornin’.
Over 27,000 people found a safe haven in Red Cross shelters overnight. Red Cross Disaster Relief Teams are working in over a dozen states, bringing their food trucks and aid to neighborhoods just like yours.
One thing they can’t do is get back all the blood drives that had to be cancelled – a loss of an estimated 1,500 much needed donations.
So…
Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10.
Call 1-800-RED-CROSS to donate blood or click on redcrossblood.org.
As always, the Red Cross Safe and Well site that allows people to let their loved ones know they’re okay is up and running.
Sometimes it’s just that easy to make a real difference.
Have a great week.
Are you Ready? GOOD!
There’s been a lot of talk on the news and around the interwebs this week about emergency preparedness. All the shakin’ and blowin’ going on has everyone on edge. But you don’t have to be nervous. You can be ready.
The great part is that all the people who want you to get ready were ready to help before everyone knew they needed to be ready.
The HandsOn Network is all about 
preparedness. They have a great site called Good & Ready that has many ways for you to take action. They’ve partnered with the American Red Cross and other organizations to get you, your family, and your community ready for the next “big one.”
Take a minute to look at the simple steps you can take that will ease your mind. Oh, and they might ease your wallet, too. There’s a $250 Lowe’s gift card or a $1,000 American Express gift card that’s gonna be given away to someone who signs up to Create a Plan, Build a Kit, Help Others, or Get Trained.
C’mon now. Get to it!
Stay tuned: Next week we’ll be talking more about HandsOn and service projects connected with the anniversary of 9/11.
Are you ready for Mother Nature’s next big jolt?
It’s certainly been an “interesting” week on the east coast as they rocked and rolled through an earthquake and batten down the hatches in anticipation of Hurricane Irene. The middle of the country has had a wicked tornado season this spring (over 1,200 and counting), and the western US late summer wildfire season is rolling right along.
Basically, it appears Mother Nature is very unhappy about something and we all need to behave ourselves. One thing that might put some good karma out there is to get ready for the next big surprise she has up her sleeve.
The Boy Scouts have known the value of being prepared for decades. People who live on the west coast have their earthquake preparedness kits, while southern coastal dwellers have plywood hurricane shutters ready to go. (You do, don’t you? It’s all in good condition and easy to access. Right?) But no matter where you live, you need more than freeze dried food and some extra bottles of water. You need training. Showing up at a tornado site and asking “what can I do” isn’t that helpful. Showing up and saying, “I’m CERT trained” or “I have Red Cross First Aid training” means first responders can put you where you’re needed immediately. Basically, a trained person is a useful person.
Breanna Medina, Emergency Manager for the City of Rancho Cucamonga in California spoke to us at this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service about the importance of getting trained in advance.
Medina, who is also the city administrator for their Community Emergency Response Team program, described the challenges of putting a CERT training program into place and the ways their city adapted the program to fit their limited budget and resources. Simple approaches, such as using the existing community recreation magazine, as well as Facebook and Twitter to not only promote the classes but to keep CERT volunteers involved and informed. Another linchpin in this streamlined implementation is their “Train the Trainers” program that allows leaders in a business or congregation to become certified to train others in their community. It’s all about building a pool of effective and enthusiastic volunteers who can provide much needed, trained assistance during any variety of emergencies.
The worst feeling in the world is one of helplessness in times of need. To stand on the sidelines and have no way to help a friend or neighbor can be heartbreaking. So, don’t let that happen to you. Check with your local city or country Fire Department or click here to search for a CERT program by zip code.
Stay tuned – tomorrow we’ll be talking about a great program from the HandsOn Network folks called Good & Ready that has lots of preparedness links and information you can use. We want you to be ready so you’ll stay safe and keep spreading the good!
Linkin Park’s Big Secret!
To be a successful band in today’s crazy multi-media world you need to stand on a box and shout about every new EP, CD, video, and concert you release, and tell the world every single detail of every aspect of your next big promotion.
Leave it to Linkin Park to ignore conventional wisdom. Oh, they’re happy to tell you that their next concert is August 31st. They just won’t sell you a ticket. Or tell you where the concert will be held. Insanity or genius?
Actually, it’s simply another example of Linkin Park’s long tradition of doing good while making great music. Since they established Music for Relief in 2005, they’ve raised $4 million to benefit victims of natural disasters around the world.
The Secret Concert for Japan will be held in an intimate club setting somewhere in Los Angeles at the end of the month. Performing with Linkin Park will be Japan’s best selling band – ever – B’z. Great music, up close and personal. There’s only one thing you have to do one thing to gain access: raise money for Japan’s tsunami survivors.
Sign up, create a fundraising page, and start spreading the word. Everyone who raises $500 or more gets two tickets. More money = more tickets. Only the first 500 people to meet the $500 minimum fundraising goal will receive tickets. Plus, there are extras galore, including meet and greet access, signed instruments, and just the totally cool factor of knowing where a private concert will be held while the rest of the world can only sit and wonder. (Ticket holders will be given venue info a few days prior to the concert.)
“The band wanted to reward the people who make the best efforts to raise the most money for Japan,” said Music for Relief COO Whitney Showler. She pointed out that even people who just put down their own cash to meet the $500 minimum are still making a difference. “You have to set up the fundraising page,” she said. “People are still sharing with their network and raising awareness.”
Start your fundraising page today. Or find a pal’s page and support them. Or, what the heck, support a stranger. All the proceeds will go Japan humanitarian aid. Do it.
