Google Plus Video

Google Plus, or Google+, can be a great tool. But how do you use it to help drive website hits to your organizations webpage? If you odn’t use it, did you know than more than 100,000,000 do?

Here’s a video from Movie Mondays, a free weekly video on fundraising, that addresses this issue. Specifically, Marc Pittman, noted author and speaker on nonprofits and technology, shares how Google Plus can benefit your organization. Marc wrote the book, Google Plus for Nonprofits.

Please watch the short video and tell us what you think – link to the video: Google Plus for Nonprofits

How do you use Google Plus? Please share in the comments.

2012 Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmark Report

Here’s a video of Jeff Patrick, president of Common Knowledge, being interviewed by Melanie Mathos at the 2012 NTC conference explaining the 2012 Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmark Report.

Jeff goes over topics in the report such as ROI, value of a new fan/follower, commercial social networks, and resources for strategies. If you don’t have a copy of the report, you can get it here. It’s free.

YouTube, Livestreaming and You

YouTube recently announced that they opened livestreaming capabilities for nonprofit organizations who have a channel on YouTube.

If you are not already registered with Youtube as a charity, here are steps to do so.

Let us know once you do so we can share your experiences.

Have a Coke and a Smile…or Why Content Matters

Coca-Cola is the most consumed beverage after water. People collect Coke memorabilia. It’s an iconic brand and the company takes it seriously. So what does a company with such global implications focus on to engage their customers via social media? Content.

Here’s a video explaining Coca-Cola’s social media strategy for content.

Does this mirror things you’re doing already or want to do in the future?

5 Things for Wednesday

1) Twitter has started to email account users when someone retweets your tweets. Assuming you check your email often or get prompted when you get a new email, it makes it a little easier to know when someone has retweeted your work.

2) Twitter is buying Tweetdeck. If you use Tweetdeck already, you shouldn’t notice much change.

3) Who has rights to photos you post on social media? A woman posted a photo of the latest shuttle launch on a social media site. News agencies picked it up and used it but few asked permission. This has opened up the debate of who owns the photos, videos, and anything else you post to social media. You should read the privacy and permissions policies for each social media tool/platform/product you use to know.

4) Hashtags continue to be important in social media. I’ve discussed them in the past. Here’s a list of 30 hashtags you may want to follow that are specific to nonprofits.

5) People often ask me what is the future of social media? Is it a semantic web? Is it mashing up current tools? Is it a new and easy way to measure social media? Yes, Yes and Yes. What are your thoughts on the future of social media in the near and distant future?

Challenges of Finding the Right Social Media

Here is a short video from Constant Contact on the challenges tackling social media and the metrics that are important, especially as you start using social media. The speaker discusses small business but it can easily be interchanged with nonprofit organization.

What have been some of your struggles?

Advanced Twitter Search

So you think you’re a Twitter guru. Do you know how to use their Advanced Search Tools to find what you seek?

Here’s a nice brief video from Mashable that demonstrates how to use Twitter’s Advanced Search Tools.

Enjoy!

Is YouTube Making You Money?

Here’s a great tool I stumbled across, MyU2B, which tracks how much a YouTube channel earns each day, the comments, thumbs up or down, and favorites based on views to the channel. In the past I’ve discussed the impact YouTube and other video channels have on your search rankings and advocacy.

While I don’t expect that our agencies would earn significant amounts of money from the ads that are displayed on YouTube, there are indeed significant amounts to be made. For instance Rihanna earns more than $3,300 per day, which translates to more than $1 million annually.

A main benefit I see of MyU2B to us is placing statistics for all of your YouTube videos on your channel in an easy to read chart. If you aren’t listed, check it out and request to see your channel’s statistics.

What other tools do you use to track your YouTube channel and other social media presence?

Social Media and Preparedness

In addition to being a great way to engage your constituency, social media is a great internal tool, especially when you want to communicate both internally and externally. This video from TEDxNOLA demonstrates how you can use social media in your efforts to get information out quickly when something unexpected happens.

Reel Impact

Are you using video and movies to share your story? Is it on YouTube or Vimeo? Are you combining still photos together with music or a voice over on MS Movie Maker? Are you using Miro or Ustream or any other of the multitude of sites that allow you to share videos online?

This video from FilmAid briefly explains how you can use film (and video) to educate and move people to action. You can learn more here and here.