Among the various pictures I’ve hung, there’s now a vintage Clairol ad on one of my shelves that my co-worker, Alicia, found for me in the June 1960 issue of Life magazine. “Does she…or doesn’t she? it asks. I find myself staring at the model’s red lips and simple wedding band, curious about what her life was like. But what I really love is the ad’s story, which I first read about in Malcolm Gladwell’s 1999 article in the New Yorker.

You see, this ad was created by a woman–Shirley Polykoff–a junior copywriter at Foote, Cone & Belding. Female copywriters were rare in the 1950s ad world so Polykoff was certainly an anomaly. In 1956, she was given the Clairol account just as the company was launching “the first hair-color bath that made it possible to lighten, tint, condition, and shampoo at home, in a single step.”  (In my head, Mad Men’s Peggy Olson is perhaps modeled after Shirley. Makes sense, right?)

“Miss Clairol gave American women the ability, for the first time, to color their hair quickly and easily at home,” Gladwell writes. “But there was still the stigma-the prospect of the disapproving mother-in-law. Shirley Polykoff knew immediately what she wanted to say, because if she believed that a woman had a right to be a blonde she also believed that a woman ought to be able to exercise that right with discretion. ‘Does she or doesn’t she?’ she wrote.”

The campaign led to overwhelming Clairol sales, and hundreds of other hair color options now available in today’s drug stores.

About ten years after the successful Clairol campaign, another brilliant female copywriter emerged: Ilon Specht, who created the advertising for L’Oreal’s hair color line. You’ll have to read Gladwell’s article for the full scoop on her campaign’s strategy. Trust me, it’s worth the read.

But one thing that really sticks out in Gladwell’s article is this:

“They were brilliant copywriters, who managed in the space of a phrase to capture the particular feminist sensibilities of the day. They are an example of a strange moment in American social history when hair dye somehow got tangled up in the politics of assimilation and feminism and self-esteem. But in a certain way their stories are about much more: they are about the relationship we have to the products we buy, and about the slow realization among advertisers that unless they understood the psychological particulars of that relationship-unless they could dignify the transactions of everyday life by granting them meaning-they could not hope to reach the modern consumer.”

Specht and Polykoff’s findings have never been more relevant. Reaching the modern consumer is about being part of their everyday life, understanding their passions, responding to their frustrations.

Today, exactly 90 years after the 19th Amendment passed, I can’t help but be thankful to work at an agency where females represent a large majority of our work force. We are following in Polykoff’s steps, although I would imagine we haven’t had to fight as hard to get to where we are today. She fought for us.

I’m also thankful I work in an age where the consumer is our focus. How fun that I get to connect daily with the very consumers I’m trying to reach–whether it be through the copy I write for an ad, Twitter or Facebook.

Does she… or doesn’t she? It’d doesn’t really matter anymore. And that feels really good.

If you’re ready to figure out how to use Places for your business, here’s what you’ll need to do:

To claim a Facebook Place.

1. You have to check in via a mobile device. If your business isn’t there, you click Add and fill in the necessary info.

2. You have to (oddly) find your check-in on an actual computer (not a mobile) – this is listed in the Newsfeed of your personal Facebook page.

3. Click on the Place name you checked into.

4. This takes you to a Place URL for that business. At the bottom of the page, find the link that says “Is this your business?”

Then this gets a little bit wonky…privacy wise. Or, looking at it another way, is refreshingly stringent about your identity’s safety.

5. To claim a business, you fill in the contact info for the business and yourself, including your position. Then you have to attach a copy of the business’s official documentation:Official documentation for your business (please provide a copy of one of the following):
- Articles of Certificate of Incorporation (for a corporation)
- Certificate of Formation (for a partnership)
- Local Business License (issued by your city, county, or state)
- Better Business Bureau (BBB) Accreditation

Personally, I hesitate to set this up because 1) Facebook believes in open everything, so I’m not sure how much information I want to give them, especially in the form of a copy of a business license; and 2) it would be extremely difficult to claim another’s business, so how necessary is it?

On the other hand, without claiming your business, you can’t edit your Places info.

It’s quite possible I’m being paranoid, but it’s something to think about before taking the step to claim your business on Facebook Places..

For a bit more detail: Mashable’s Places Guide

3fold loves Sacramento. We are avid supporters of our Midtown neighborhood and big fans of bike commuting. We are also big ol’ softies when it comes to helping out our own…and apparently our friends and colleagues (around town and in our various social media networks) are even more awesome.

Thank you to everyone who pitched in on our “Alicia-On-Wheels 2.0” bike replacement fundraising drive! It means a lot. You’re all amazing and we’re blessed to know you.

What was Google Wave exactly? I’m not sure. Sort of a social network-collaboration tool-instant messenger-news feed on speed, I think. For its advocates, Wave’s strength was this lack of definition. For the rest of us, this wishy-washy concept was its greatest weakness. And, because of this general lack of understanding, Google Wave has been put to out to pasture.

All is not lost, though, for Google Wave lovers (do these people really exist?). The largely Australian-developed product will stay up through the end of the year and, according to Google, may be built into other projects in development.

Still, everyone can generally agree, Wave was a big fat failure. But is this such an awful thing? Maybe not.

Any successful business knows the importance of failure, especially when it comes to innovation. Wave’s failure offers some valuable lessons for Google…and the rest of us.

1. Innovation is not Certainty’s BFF. Being an innovator is a little bit like being crazy–you’ve got the wings strapped on and you leap off the cliff hoping you soar or, at very least, have a net to catch you. Innovators create without any guarantees that an idea will work. And, even if it does, who knows if it will have actual value. Even a company like Google, known for its wealth of talented employees and deep pockets for invention, had not figured out a way to determine beforehand if a market for Wave existed.
2. Some types of uncertainties can be resolved early, many can not. Sometimes the only true way to find out if your idea has merit is to make the investment and see. Google set out to pioneer a risky project and (very) publicly launched it so it could see how the market reacted and learn from the experience. Of course, launching a product when all eyes are watching for any hint of weakness is daunting, but, should it succeed, the rewards can be staggering.
3. Sometimes success is defined in ways that have nothing to do with the actual idea succeeding. Developing a better process, streamlining a technique, building the infrastructure for future ideas, or inspiring your team to try new things without fear of failure are all worthy outcomes of a tried-and-failed launch. By launching Wave, Google proved to existing and potential employees, customers and competitors that the company values innovation. When recruiting the best and brightest talent is more difficult than ever, potential employees are drawn to organizations that allow them to take risks and explore their creativity, and the development of innovative projects helps retain them.
4. Failure is the best way to succeed. The first step in innovation is almost always a big ol’ failure. Historically, many of the most innovative products and services are built on the rubble of bad ideas, failed attempts, and unexpected roadblocks. Organizations that learn to accept and deal with these failures can become pillars of leadership, with cultures that have a high tolerance for risk and staff that doesn’t become paralyzed by second-guessing.
5. Know how to tell when to pull the plug. Good managers of innovation develop clear metrics to measure performance of a product launch and are not squeamish when it comes to shutting it down. The ability to recognize a failing project and reallocate the intellectual and financial resources its consuming quickly to other more promising endeavors is critical to innovation success. Google Wave had a year to gain traction. When it didn’t, Google cut its losses and is focusing on the next big thing. In fact, some of Wave’s technology is already being applied to the communication and collaboration features of already successful products like GMail and Docs.

Of course, Google is not exactly the Average Joe of business. Unlike many organization, where big risks can make or break them, Google has the resources to tinker with new ideas relatively risk-free, seeing how 98 per cent of their revenue comes from advertising…the rest of their stuff is essentially a hobby. Smaller companies and managers, especially those without alternative revenue streams, take a much bigger risk with innovation.

But, of course, true innovators love a good risk. Even those that end in failure.

The smoothie giant recently launched a cheeky new “commercial” for the ‘Cheeseburger Chill’ smoothie. As soon as the video hit social networks–a play on the super-positive, hyper-wholesome image of McDonald’s commercials (complete with rapping employees)–people took notice.

And were a little disgusted.

Bewildered customers rushed to the site only to learn Jamba Juice was, in fact, not blending up delicious meaty-cheesy-smoothie goodness. Instead, they were challenging their fast food counterparts, saying their attempts to make high-quality smoothies was as ridiculous as Jamba blending up burgers.

This campaign accomplished what it set out to do–it got people’s attention. Jamba hooked people into the farce (“No way!”), drove them to the website to learn more (“That can’t possibly be true… can it?”), then delivered their central message (“Oooh, I get it. Funny!”). Added bonus: visitors to the site received a $1 off coupon for a smoothie of their choice (“Sweet!”).

Of course, there were also many who missed the joke by not doing their research–at least one appalled foodie blogger reported the video as truth and several Facebook commenters and re-tweeters bought into the ruse without first checking the site. Fortunately, Jamba Juice’s campaign was well-executed, clearly explained and offered an added value to loyal fans. A few misunderstandings didn’t ultimately cause the campaign to backfire.

What do you think of these April Fools-style marketing campaigns? Do they work or are they too risky for a brand if too many people don’t get the joke?

And, in celebration, here’s an awesome video homage to some of the great sharks who’ve entertained us (the only time when jumping the shark is a good thing)!

In general, Americans are accessing the Internet through mobile devices in increasing numbers, with 59% of those surveyed saying they accessed the mobile web, compared with 51% a year earlier. Also, nearly half of all adults (47%, up from 39% in 2009) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card and 40% (up from 32% in 2009) of adults use the internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone. Rates of laptop ownership among African-Americans have risen to 51% from 34% in 2009.

African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos were the most active users of the mobile web. Cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners take advantage of a much greater range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users. In fact, 18 percent of African-Americans use a cellphone as their only form of Internet access, compared with 10 percent of whites

Younger people and people living in households making less than $30,000 a year are increasing their mobile web use at particularly fast rates and were more likely to access the Internet solely through their cellphones. Cell phone owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use their mobile device to send text messages, access the internet, take pictures, record videos, use email or instant messaging, and play music.

According to the report, compared with a similar point in 2009, cell phone owners are now more likely to use their mobile phones to:

• Take pictures—76% now do this, up from 66%
• Send or receive text messages—72%, up from 65%
• Access the internet—38%, up from 25%
• Play games—34%, up from 27%
• Send or receive email—34%, up from 25%
• Record a video—34%, up from 19%
• Play music—33%, up from 21%
• Send or receive instant messages—30%, up from 20%

One major fact revealed by the report is mobile – device or just on the move by laptop – is not a trend. It’s also not limited by age, race, or income status, which opens up exciting opportunities for marketers looking to expand their campaigns to mobile.

But is the number good for the social site…or detrimental?

As more people join, the numbers also show Facebook activity is on the decline. In fact, the blog Inside Facebook recently reported a decline in the number of 18- to 44-year-old active users in the U.S. in June — particularly 26 to 34 year olds. And it doesn’t look like a fluke. The blog’s guess for the decline: privacy. For sure an issue Facebook has gotten battered by of late, and one the declining age groups care about. But is it really the driving factor?

As a member of Facebook’s biggest declining age group, and someone who has significantly downed my Facebook usage of late, privacy is absolutely a factor. But, at least for me, it’s not nearly as influential as a loss of having good old fashioned fun on the site.

Facebook is a job now. Updating is an effort, keeping in touch with friends’ updates is more difficult, and my streams are choked with ads, games, and information that has veered from Facebook’s original charm: enjoying the happenings in friends’ and family members’ lives.

With the flood of apps and fan pages joining the community – looking to connect where their users are of course – Facebook has become more commercial than conversation. And this is a dilemma for marketers.

An audience of 500 million people is impossible to ignore, but as more and more brands enter the arena, the conversation becomes less and less relevant to personal users. In fact, the latest annual ACSI e-business report gave Facebook a score of 64 out of 100, one of the lowest levels of customer satisfaction among all businesses measured and on par with airlines and cable companies.

People want a Facebook that no longer exists — a pure, simple way of keeping up with friends. Marketers want Facebook to help them connect with people in more meaningful ways. Can the two find common ground? They have to if Facebook is to survive.

The first step is for brands using the site to learn to respect the idea of Facebook from a user’s perspective. It’s a whole new ballgame for marketing strategy, because the old rules don’t apply in this social setting. It’s time to come up with some new ideas…which, unlike Facebook of late, can be quite fun!

And those of us who tried to be (but were thwarted by a Midwestern upbringing that may have been a teensy bit ungracious to the sport of soccer) could at the very least get excited about what the World Cup did for new media and its legitimacy.

World Cup coverage by the numbers (ESPN’s at least):

• ESPN reported nearly 110,000 people per minute used its online and mobile services to access World Cup content.
• ESPN’s 2010 FIFA World Cup App was downloaded 2.5 million times to date.
• About 1.1 million devices on average accessed the app each day during the tournament.
• ESPN’s mobile properties have generated 499 million page views for ESPN World Cup content.
• ESPN3.com has attracted an average of 6.9 million unique visitors to its game broadcasts.
• The Germany-Spain semifinal game on average had about 355,000 people watching it live at any given minute—making it the most viewed live event ever on the site (no numbers yet on the final game between Spain and the Netherlands, but with 700 million viewers worldwide, I’d guess the mobile numbers are fairly impressive).
• Traffic wise, Yahoo! had 22.7 million unique visitors between June 7th and June 13th, with 7.9 million visitors directly to the World Cup Soccer site at Yahoo! ESPN reported 16.5 million unique visitors total, with a guesstimate of over 3 million for the World Cup.
• Thanks to the often office-hour timing of the games, American broadband users apparently crashed many an office server…no real numbers on this, I just mostly find it amusing (USA! USA!).

If it wasn’t clear before, it sure is clear now-new media is relevant media. What started in large part during the 2010 Winter Olympics (see our post here) has now become mainstream.

Whether it’s online, in-app, radio, or TV, people want media where they are when they are there. I can only hope the media companies desperately clinging to the old school broadcasting formulas (looking at you NFL) take note. While some, like MLB.tv, have at least made inroads, it’s not quite what it could be…as a service to the fans or as a new revenue stream…yet.

What do you think? Anyone watch the World Cup online? Follow it on an app?

Source: PaidContent.org

It’s hardly a secret that mobile marketing is the biggest thing since…well, mobile. In fact, a recent study by Morgan Stanley that declared mobile web to overtake traditional web by 2015, becoming at least 2x the size of desktop Internet when comparing Internet users to mobile subscribers.

Driven primarily by 3G services and an availability of anytime, anywhere wireless capabilities, consumers mobile online activity has risen dramatically with the now 24/7 access to cloud-based content and applications.

Some interesting stats:

• Video accounts for 69% of mobile data traffic.
• Real-time technology and location-based services are expected to drive mobile retail.
• Facebook is the single largest repository for user-generated content such as pics, videos, links and comments.
• Apple and Android platforms are gaining in the mobile OS market, while Windows Mobile, RIM and Palm decline.
• The overlap between mobile users and social web users continues to grow; more and more users are accessing the social web from a mobile device.
• Games are bigger than any other app category — both for the social web and for mobile devices.
• Online ad sales are growing, but virtual goods, premium content and other models are big business, especially for the mobile web.
• The average iPhone user only spends 45% of his on-device time making voice calls.

Consumer usage of wireless data (including video + images + content + communications) continues to grow rapidly and there are three platforms demonstrating especially strong momentum that combines consumer and developer adoption and interest:

1. Facebook: Increasingly becoming a desktop + mobile communications hub.
2. Mobile: Led by Apple’s iPhone / iTouch / iTunes ecosystem, the mobile market empowers brands and developers to mine an entirely new channel to reach existing and potential customers, advocates, and influencers.
3. The web: Online usage of products / services are gaining share over their offline counterparts and growing wireless usage is expanding market opportunities.

Other findings about mobile-marketing users:

• They are more likely than non-users to regularly give advice to others about products or services they have purchased
• They are more likely to regularly seek advice than non-users
• Their top triggers for online searches are magazines, coupons and cable TV
• After conducting online search, they are most likely to communicate about it with others via face-to-face, email and cell phone
• Both mobile marketing users and non-users go to iTunes.com, YouTube.com and LimeWire.com – in that order- most often to access or download video/music content
• They are more likely to visit Facebook, Myspace and Twitter “regularly,” vs. non-users.

However, with increasing opportunity comes increasing challenges for marketers:

• 66.8% of overall respondents don’t like text ads (vs. 63.5% in 2008)
• 60.2% don’t like voicemail ads (vs. 56.8% in 2008)
• 59.6% don’t like video ads (vs. 56.1% in 2008)
• 58% of people think marketers need permission prior to sending an ad (vs. 55.6% in 2008)
• 52.1% think mobile ads are an invasion of privacy (vs. 49.5% in 2008).

It’s not how you say it, it’s where. Well, and how, yeah, that’s important too.

If you want to reach audiences in social media, a new study clarifies what they’re looking for in the most popular platforms. Online advertising network Chitika analyzed the interests of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Digg users by comparing the genres of sites that receive traffic from these social networks, looking at 287,090 impressions for the report. Of course, as in all things marketing, it’s not a universal rule…but a place to start:

• Twitter: News
• MySpace: Games and entertainment
• Facebook: News and community
• Digg: A little of everything

Another interesting finding came from MySpace users, who apparently have no interest in news whatsoever. Instead, they split their interests between video games (28%) and celebrity and entertainment content (23%). This aligns with what we’ve seen in terms of MySpace’s business strategy around securing exclusive entertainment content over the past few months and where it’s likely headed for the future.

This is a useful bit of information to have, especially for marketers and brands wanting to be where their audiences are.

In the past two years, consumer adoption of new media formats has increased at double- and triple-digit rates. With technologies such as high-definition TV, digital video recorders, high-speed mobile broadband, and improved website experiences, consumers have embraced the greater convenience and higher quality created by these technologies.

According to Nielsen’s Three Screen Report, for the first quarter of 2010:

• HDTV: 47.9% of US households with a TV now have a HDTV, up 189% from the first quarter of 2008.
• DVR: 36.2% of TV households now have DVRs, up 51% from 2008 levels.
• Broadband: 63.5% of households now have broadband Internet access (high-speed connections that improve online video delivery), up 24% from 2008 levels.
• Smartphone: 22% of households now have smartphones, up 38% from a year earlier and up 120% from 2008 levels.

TV remains the preferred screen of choice, though consumers are watching more timeshifted TV and Web-based video:

• Some 286.2 million people in the US with TVs now spend on average 158 hours and 25 minutes each month tuning into television, roughly 2 hours more TV per month than a year earlier.
• The number of people who watch timeshifted TV reached 94.6 million in the first quarter, up 18.1% from a year earlier—with users watching timeshifted TV an average of 9 hours and 26 minutes per month, up 14.7% from a year earlier.
• Some 134.5 million people now watch video on the Internet (up 2.6% from a year earlier)—spending on average 3 hours and 10 minutes monthly doing so, up 5.9% from a year earlier.
• The mobile viewing audience reached 20.3 million in the first quarter, up 51.2% from a year earlier—with viewers watching an average of 3 hours and 37 minutes each month.

Another interesting finding: the younger the viewer, the less video they watch across the board for all mediums, including PCs, except for mobile. In fact, there’s an inverse relationship between age group and number of hours watched on mobile devices.

What does all this mean? Well, generally, consumers want content that is high in quality and creativity, and is delivered quickly. As for mobile, the report offers further proof to the existing content providers that their future consumers want content everywhere, all the time.

Companies such as Ad.ly have seen the potential for Twitter as lucrative ad space, as have some celebrities and citizens looking for extra cash. Even Twitter itself has struggled to find a way to make a profitable business model, and has recently created an ad-buy model similar to Google’s sponsored search results. Let’s take a look at the current ways users are starting to see ads trickle into their Twitter experience:

Paid Tweets
Until Twitter recently banned the practice, third-party agencies were selling “paid tweets” that would insert themselves into a user’s timeline through the interface of whichever application they were using to read tweets. Essentially, this spams the user who is expecting to read a friend’s tweet but instead scans an advertisement before he/she can realize it’s not really part of their stream. Twitter is okay with applications selling ad space around a stream, but not within a user’s stream itself.

Alternatively, agencies and companies have started soliciting celebrities to post advertised tweets, in which they sound as if they are promoting a product or event. In this scenario, the word [AD] appears  at the end of the tweet. Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno (@apoloohno) and comedian Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) are among the early adopters. Both have received mild backlash from some of their followers regarding these ads, with some fans even threatening to un-follow. Twitter is generally seen by its users as a people-driven platform with a personal touch they can’t get anywhere else.  A user tweeting for money is seen by many as disingenuous and selling out. However, others feel it’s an individual’s right to make money off their tweets if they are providing a service (like laughs, in the case of Michael Ian Black).

Pros: Effective for getting impressions. Cons: Aggravating and invasive for users who might consider it a type of black-hat advertising. Bringing in paid tweets amongst other personal tweets can be seen as a violation of the principle of Twitter culture, creating backlash against the person or brand posting the ads.

Promoted Tweets
Twitter has started selling “promoted tweets” similar to Google’s sponsored links. A company can pay for their tweets to show up at the top of a timeline when a user searches for a specified topic or hashtag. Disney/Pixar has been using promoted tweets for Toy Story 3, as seen below:

Pros: High visibility, not as obtrusive for users. Users are already familiar with the format via Google. Cons: This is a new marketing technique – it has been suggested that it may not be as effective once users learn to treat them as ads and filter them out of their visual field.

Promoted Trends
With Promoted Trends, advertisers can purchase a hashtag that appears under the real-time trends. It is clearly marked as a promotion, not to be passed off as a genuine “wisdom of the crowd” trend. Coca-Cola recently used this feature with great success during its World Cup promotions, generating 86 million impressions!

Pros: High number of impressions and click-throughs, not as obtrusive for users. Cons: This is a new marketing technique – it has been suggested that it may not be as effective once users learn to treat them as ads.

With Twitter’s extensive reach, it was only a question of time before the site figured out a way to monetize. Twitter’s own Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends could have great potential for advertisers if used in moderation. Users are concerned these new programs may be so successful that their experience will be overrun with ads. Twitter must be weary of disturbing the independent, people-driven culture it has developed. If overwhelmed, tweeters may start to feel inundated with cash-grabs and sell-outs. So far, the company has expressed dedication to protecting the user experience, so one can hope they will maintain a balance that will please users and advertisers alike.

Ultimately, the users will determine the future success of any social network. If you are a Twitter addict like so many of us here at 3fold, , how do you feel about ad programs?

(Photo Credit: inventorspot.com)

Lately, I’ve been feeling a little too connected. Perhaps you’re familiar with the warning signs:

• Checking your phone every three minutes for no particular reason.
• Leaving the office with tired eyes, only to crack open your laptop the moment you walk in the front door.
• Logging into Facebook just one last time before bed.

I’ve started wondering – as I handle a daily barrage of tweets, emails, texts and phone calls – am I developing ADD? Granted, because of my job, I’m probably more connected than the average person. But, that’s also the reason why I thought I’d be a perfect candidate for this challenge.

So, last week, I gave up my cell phone for three days. Below is a video of my experience and the ups and downs of my cell phone-free work week.

The video has also been uploaded to the NYTimes.com along with others who completed the challenge. Soon, the site will post the very best videos on their website. Maybe mine will be chosen; maybe it won’t. Either way, I’m glad I participated.

In fact, I had such a positive experience, I’ve unplugged in other ways too:

• No more checking Facebook after 8:00pm
• Attempting to not check social networks on the weekend
• Unsubscribed from blogs that take up too much of my time

If you had to give something up, could you? What would you give up? What should you give up?

The issue: when you type in a few keywords in Google search that match what your website is offering, it falls on page 10 of the search results.  How do you get your site higher on search engines like Google?

The old methods include meta keywords, paid links, keyword stuffing, but these worked best in 90′s and early 2000′s. Search engine algorithms have changed, so your SEO strategies have to as well.

While there are dozens of technical tweaks that should be made on the site itself – sitemaps, internal linking, content optimization, site speed, etc. – what matters most now are content and inbound links. Here are a couple easy web-based ways to help boost your website in the search engine results.

1. Content. Remember, sites aren’t listed in search engines, pages are. Search engines crawl those pages looking for relevant information to match with keywords. Search engines have one job, and that is to find content for searchers. They don’t care what your site is about or what you want it listed under, they want to offer the best search results for their customers.
2. Directories. Submit your site to directories. An example of a Site Directory is DMOZ, otherwise known as the Open Directory Project. Any site owner can submit their site to this directory and it is all based around categories such as Health, Business, etc.  Each top level category is broken down into smaller/more focused categories.   For instance, many nonprofit sites may be found through the top level category Society, then broken down by Organizations.  The DMOZ directory is handled by volunteer editors that update the various websites submitted  through the various categories.  DMOZ partners with AOL Search and Google.  Yahoo! also has a site directory, but they charge $299 to be a part of their directory.
3. Inbound links. Choose your targets carefully, make personal contact and don’t automate the process. Make sure the sites linking to you have a decent page rank or it’s not worth it. You may increase your inbound traffic a hundredfold, but  discover you’re still not getting results. A million “junk hits” aren’t worth a single “quality hit” from someone who really wants to find your service. It might take some time to research the places that would work best for you, so I’ll use one of our clients, a local theatre company, as an example. The theatre’s website can be submitted to Playbill.com (a theatre website) and will be listed along with other theater companies throughout the United States. Once a site is added, it ends up on this list.  The more quality exposure the better, I say.
4. Link exchanges. Yes, this can be somewhat tedious and time consuming, but it does increase your website’s ranking in search engines if you have quality links on your website.  Basically, the web crawlers from Google, Yahoo and other search engines crawl your site for information and this includes any links on your website.  If you have a link to a quality website (one that is high in the search rankings) and this website in turn links to your website, this will increase your website’s search ranking.  This is also called reciprocal linking.  So, for instance, if you own a running store and linked to to Nike’s website, and Nike in turn linked back to your site, then your search engine results would be higher.  Most of the time, these link exchanges are done via e-mail. The best way to go about this is to identify sites that would be good matches, then ask the website managers to link with your site.Here is an example of a link exchange request that a client of ours received recently:

Dear Webmaster,

As a part of an ongoing campaign to increase the link popularity of our website, we are looking for good potential sites like your site ___________, which has a theme relevant to ours. We are interested in swapping links with you.

Please consider listing us here: ______________. Our text link info is:

Title: Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans
Description: Receive fresh roasted coffee beans. We will roast your blend within days of shipping it to you. Receive it while its perfect for drinking.
URL: _____________
Once you place our link on your website, your link will be added in the best category here: _____________

Thank you very much for your time and I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best Regards,
Webmaster
URL
Address
City, ST 12345

This particular site wasn’t a great match for our client, so we had to decline, but had it been a similar organization in a different community, that would have matched the mission of our client and been a good opportunity. In fact, because the missions of the two were so different, many search engines would have frowned on the exchange and, possibly, penalized the two in the rankings.

One thing to remember is that Search Engine Optimization takes time and you probably won’t see any major results for a good six months or more. However, using these tips, your website should start slowly creeping up the search engine result rankings, so don’t be discouraged.

In a world becoming more and more crowded by community organizations, standing out becomes essential. For imaginative and future-thinking charitable orgs, a number of for-profit marketing trends are opening up a new world of outreach opportunity. Here are a few ways nonprofits can begin adding to their marketing campaigns to increase awareness:

1. Partner with a bigger brand: The biggest trend for corporate PR is cause marketing. What is your organization doing that could connect to a brand? A nonprofit teaching computer skills to homeless could reach out to computer retailer, offering computer center naming rights in exchange for resources. An group providing business clothes for struggling women could partner with fashion brand, creating valuable media opportunities for both organizations. You know your services, how could they benefit corporations with a bankroll?
2. Create a global community: Social media is more than Facebook. Nonprofits can their own social platforms, recruiting volunteers, artists and donors from far and wide for digital participation. Create a gift registry-type site that allows donors to purchase “wish list” items instead of simply asking for cash. Crowdsource ideas for building an environmentally-friendly playground on the cheap.  Recruit social advocates to participate on your behalf in their own social networks or blogs.
3. Tell your story to more people: With YouTube, Flickr, Facebook video, and blogs, nonprofits can literally give a face and a voice to the people they serve. Interview your clients, let them tell their stories. Talk to your staff and volunteers, show the world why they want to help your organization. Facts and figures may show a need, but nothing beats connecting emotionally for spurring people to action.
4. Collaborate. Campaigns are good, movements are better. Get rid of the competition by connecting with similar organizations to create a community movement that lets people join without necessitating they align themselves to one nonprofit. Never underestimate the effect of having to decide between many options for creating complete inaction. Remove the barrier and increase the power of your message.
5. Know how your audience communicates: Ask them. Assuming your communications are the best method for reaching current and potential donors and volunteers can cost you. Add a poll to your website, send out an e-blast linking to a survey, add it to a sign up card, or just call them and find out. Not only will many appreciate being asked, but you’re outreach will find greater success.

From minimalist to quasi-trash can, it’s clear 3folders are always prepared – in your face, Boy Scouts. (Please note the pepper spray.)

Here’s what we found…

What does your bag say about you? We’d love to know!

However, marketers have always struggled with proving their very real value with very real numbers. Thankfully, with the emergence of social and digital media and technologies, one of the most important developments has been the creation of smarter and faster analytics.

Of course, anyone can access and look at analytics, marketer or no. What’s the big deal, right?

Here’s the hitch…and boy can it be a doozy when it comes to profit. Are your numbers – good or bad – reflecting your intended goals? Let’s face it, with so much data available most people end up with too much data altogether. The cold hard truth is: data is dumb.

Successful analytics demonstrate actionability: how and when you’re engaging with the right audiences and what the value of that interaction is to your brand. This is where the real statistical fun starts!

To strengthen the quality of your analytics, here’s a few things to think about:

• Value – Analytics wants to be a river, you need it to be a stream. Do you understand the data? Can you attach it meaningfully to your goals? Can you identify the diamond-in-the-rough strategies to implement and boost your success?
• Engagement – Where and how are conversations about your brand happening? How often? Is it a full conversation or a mention? How much excitement are your messages generating with your targeted audiences?
• Sentiment – What are people saying about your brand? If it’s good, how can you build on it? If it’s bad, how can you make improvements?
• Traffic – How many people are coming to the places you’re engaging? How are they getting there? How can you drive more to visit and participate?
• Influence – What’s your status as an influencer? Who are the people with influence who can help your brand? Are you communicating the appropriate information to reach them? Do you know the current and emerging trends affecting your brand now and in the future?

Basically, metrics are meaningless without thoughtful planning and analysis. Take the time to know your numbers…or find an expert to help you go from spreadsheets to action. You’ll be happy you did.

One of my biggest arguments when creating advertising for our clients is to make it say something, not just add to the noise. Whether the ad is useful, funny, clever, informative, or just beautiful, it should give something to the audience, not just ask for a response.

For this reason, I’m in love with the new Wired app for my iPad. Not only does this revolutionize how one experiences a magazine, but it completely changes the game for traditional “print” advertising.

Forget text and photos. Now, a photo on a page can come to life – it can move, show varying angles, offer an album of images, or become video. An ad can begin a story and the reader can choose to finish it via link to a custom site right from the page.  According to a CNET poll, 20 percent of iPad owners bought it for the primary purpose of reading books and magazines. With 2 million iPads sold in under 2 months, the opportunities for advertisers are exciting.

Studios can play full trailers of upcoming films. Car companies can demonstrate a vehicle’s handling capabilities on the open road. Clothing companies can show off an entire season of wearables. All from the page of a digital magazine.

Is it easy to create these new ads? No, but it will get easier. Is it cheap? Definitely not, but prices will get better. It’s a beginning. And if you’re not thinking about how your brand or organization can start exploring it, you may get left behind.

As AdWeek said, “To put it simply: the iPad is a solution waiting for a problem. And when marketers start figuring out what problems the iPad can solve for them, things will really get interesting.”

For the past two weeks, Lesley has been kind enough to let me take some time off for—you guessed it–the glorious series of nerve-wrecking interviews. After completing a couple of them, I have realized what I have known for quite sometime—3fold Communications is legit. Gordon, Linda, Phyl, Angela, Ross, Kim, Natalie, Alicia, Amanda, Allison, and Lesley are all very, very legit. And no, they did not pay me to write this.

I can say this because my original-three-month-internship-turned-six-month internship has provided me with oodles and oodles of memorable experiences and career skills that are useful and meaningful for my career.

For all you job seekers and soon-to-be graduates out there, let me just say what you may already know: experience is key. For every interview I’ve had, my first question was, “Can you tell me about your experience? Why PR?” For a decent portion of my explanation, I have discussed in detail, my experiences at 3fold. All of which are notable, however there are a couple skills that come to mind:

#1: Stalking. 3fold loves digital media. Don’t quote me on this, but interning at 3Fold has transformed me into a Grade A professional stalker. I must admit, I didn’t have much trouble locating my secret ECON1A crush my sophomore year, but attempting to locate target audiences for your clients, or media contacts, can be quite challenging. I have found with the proper tools and knowledge, locating target audiences weren’t as complicated as I thought it’d be. A large portion of the tools I used to find people were social media based. Understanding the impact of larger social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, and Blogger and upcoming networks such as FourSquare and Urban Spoon, has allowed me to easily build our media lists. I began understanding the impacts of digital media and how it could dramatically change the impressions of a brand.

#2 Engaging. 3fold stresses the importance of maintaining relationships with contacts in the community. One of the best pieces of advice I have received from professionals is to be bold and to network. Together at 3fold we have compiled a list of over 1,000 influencers for a client, but how powerful is the list itself without the existence of connections? While some of these connections have already been built, there is always room for improvement. A large proportion of my thanks go out to the capacity of social networks today. Conversations are generated by literally milliseconds. These word-of-mouth technologies allow for me to converse and strengthen my relationships with local online bloggers and influencers.

#3: Follow-up. 3fold emphasizes the potential of persistence. I have been told once that pitching a story to the media is like dating. After episodes of being persistent, it is almost heartbreaking to experience another “no” from a reporter, or especially a “maybe” that suddenly turns into a no. But within these forms of rejection, there is a small glimmer of hope. To me, each pitch or invitation is an opportunity to expand a client’s reach. I have come to understand that persistence is greatly valued in public relations. Media outreach is not going to walk to me; I have to chase after it.

I could go on extensively about the skills I have adopted and experiences I have encountered during my time at 3fold. However, what is more important, is the relationships I have created with each person on the 3fold team. After a series of internships and part-time jobs, I learned that by the end of the day, it is the dynamics of a team and how well they can work together that truly makes a company successful. I love that at 3fold, even though each team member has a title, everyone’s ideas count. It was the series of collaborative ideas that allowed for successful marketing plans to emerge. 3fold consists of very talented individuals and an even more powerful team. I will miss each of them dearly and wish them all the very best.

Are you a recent graduate? Are you just as nervous and excited as I am about taking on the new world? Find me on Twitter! @sandra_fong