THINKing

8 Ways To Use Twitter Lists

UPDATE: We just launched our Fortune 100 Twitter list. Feel free to follow it or any of our lists mentioned below.

We talked recently about the Twitter lists set up by My Creative Team. Are you using Twitter lists? Tell us about it.

We now have a Twittering Media Outlet List, a Twittering US Journalist List, and a Twittering Canadian Journalist List. Because Hootsuite - our favorite Twitter appliance - now allows you to import your lists, we also set up a Social Media List of our favorites in that category.

We have found a number of ways to utilize Twitter lists. Let’s take a couple of minutes to think about the how-tos of lists.

1. Experts. We established our social media list for the purpose of following experts in this milieu.

2. Social media monitoring. There’s a good piece on this at Fresh Networks‘ blog.

3. Industry news monitoring. We have set up the Twittering Media Outlets list to keep up with breaking news. You also could set up niche news monitoring lists, as we are going to do for our client, Camstar Systems, so we can keep up-to-date on topics such as manufacturing execution and quality management.

4. Employees. A number of businesses, ranging from Mashable to the New York Times, have set up employee lists. This could be a good customer service tool for your company, particularly if you work for a Fortune 1000 size firm.

5. Promote Causes. NonProfit Tech 2.0 has a post about how to use Twitter lists for promoting non-profits and causes.

6. Geo-Specific Lists. My Creative Team has been listed in a number of Charlotte, NC-area Twitter lists, like this one. This is a good way to keep up with what’s happening where you live, or where you used to live.

7. News Sources. Poynter Online has a solid post telling journalists how to use Twitter lists to help streamline their jobs.  Mashable also has a piece on how journalists are using Twitter lists.

8. Job Search.  Looking for a job? Set up a list of companies for which you would like to work, so you can get a sense of the corporate culture. Add executive search contacts to the list so you can discover what jobs are available.

Those are just a few ways to use Twitter lists. Got other ideas?

Oh, before you set up your own list, there may already be one out there. Check Listorious, the directory of Twitter lists.   Here’s one we found about job searches.

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Feeling Charitable

I need your help. I want to get more people signed up for the My Creative Team monthly enewsletter. So, I’ve decided to donate a dollar to charity for every person who signs up between now and Christmas Eve.  Even if you decide to opt-out after Christmas, I’ll donate up to $1,500 to the Crisis Assistance Ministry. Why Crisis Assistance Ministry? Because, as they say on their website,

When there is nowhere else to turn, we provide emergency financial assistance, clothing and household goods to families in need.

The need this year among the so-called “working poor” is profound. Because they are actually working and making some money, they get very little, if any, government assistance. The help of Crisis Assistance often means the difference between eating and not eating.

Will you help me reach my goal of 1,500 new subscribers so that together we can help the truly needy? Sign up here.

Please spread the word to your friends, particularly those in marketing and HR at Fortune 1000 size companies, since that’s our target market. Additionally, feel free to share this across your social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Thanks for your help. Are you doing anything charitable this year? Tell us your story.

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How About Giving Charities A Holiday This Year?

Despite a recession, Americans spent more on holiday shopping in two months in 2008 than they did all year on charitable giving. Holiday retail sales for November and December 2008 in the general merchandise category totaled roughly $460 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Charitable giving for 2008 declined to $307 billion from $314 billion in 2007.

Don’t get me wrong - I am pro-capitalism. But I think that Americans should be giving at least as much to charity as they are spending on holiday gifts. So, we started a program called Holiday For Charity in 2002, and once again My Creative Team is promoting the program that provides some simple ways to help the less fortunate.

The number one thing you can do is ask friends, family and business associates to donate to charity instead of buying you gifts. Here’s why: a lot of people would donate to charity in someone’s name but they don’t feel right doing it unless they have that person’s approval. So, give them your OK and help someone who needs it more than you need a Christmas gift.

Here’s how Holiday For Charity works:

1.     sell the holiday gifts you receive online at eBay’s GivingWorks, and donate the proceeds to charity

2.     register and shop at iGive.com, whose merchants donate a portion of each transaction to the charities of your choice

3.   offer to do volunteer work in lieu of buying holiday gifts

4.     donate directly to charity in lieu of buying holiday gifts for clients and customers

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Use The Neglected Weapons In Your Marketing Arsenal

Business marketers have a lot of weapons in their arsenals but they often overlook some very important ones. So, let’s do a quick inventory.

Of course, you already have a company name, a positioning statement, logo, stationery, business cards and a website.
Right?

The next thing I suggest is an employee survey. Ask them about what’s happening where the company meets the customer. Find out how employees feel about the company. A recent survey shows that employee attitudes have a huge impact upon a company’s bottom line. Motivated employees provide great service, and great service can separate you from your competitors.

Next, develop a customer retention program. It costs five times more to develop a new customer as it does to keep an old one. E-newsletters are an essential part of my customer retention program and should be a part of yours too.

Finally, here is a random list of other items that can be considered part of your marketing arsenal.

- your reputation

- advertising

- consultations, demonstrations, seminars, samples

- community involvement, cause marketing, philanthropy

- media contacts, bylined articles, op-ed pieces

- guest speaking program

- great working environment

- employee training & development program

- networking, referrals

- contests

- customer surveys

- special events

If your time for marketing related tasks is limited, take some advice from my marketing mentor: pick three things from above and do them right.

Are you using any of the neglected weapons? Tell us about it.

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Give It Up

Christmas is a time for giving, but somehow we’ve gotten this holiday turned around a bit. Every year I promote Holiday For Charity, a simple way to help charity during the season of giving. I just heard about a couple of other ways to augment the Holiday For Charity program - GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com. Here’s what they say about the programs:

More than 70,000 nonprofits have partnered with a new Yahoo-powered search engine called GoodSearch.com, and online shopping mall GoodShop.com to enable their supporters to generate donations just by doing something they do everyday – search the Internet or shop online. What makes the system so compelling is that it doesn’t cost the users a thing. It’s a form of philanthropy that works for everyone in this tough economy!

Consumers are helping their favorite causes by shopping at GoodShop.com where they can choose from more than 800 well known retailers including Target, Apple, Macy’s, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Petco and others. The shopping experience and the prices are exactly the same as going to the retailer directly, but by going through GoodShop, up to 37% of the purchase price is donated to the user’s favorite cause. In addition, GoodShop provides the user with coupons and deals for the stores so not only are they helping a cause, but they’re saving money while doing so!

Similarly, with the GoodSearch search engine, approximately one penny is donated to the users’ favorite charity with every search. You use it exactly as you would any other search engine (it’s powered by Yahoo so you get quality search results) and the pennies add up quickly – just 500 people searching four times a day will earn around $7300 in a year! It doesn’t cost the users a thing!

So, help spread the word through all your social media channels. Word-of-mouth can help make a difference this year.

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Holiday For Charity Is Back

Americans spent more in two months on holiday items than they did all year on charitable giving in 2007. Holiday retail sales for November and December 2007 in the general merchandise category were up about 1.7 percent, totaling roughly $469.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Charitable giving for 2007 set a record, topping $306 billion.

I am not against capitalism – far from it. But I think that Americans should be giving at least as much to charity as they are spending on holiday gifts. So, we started a program called Holiday For Charity in 2002, and once again My Creative Team is promoting the program that provides some simple ways to help the less fortunate.

The number one thing you can do is ask friends, family and business associates to donate to charity instead of buying you gifts. I think a lot of people would donate to charity in someone’s name but they don’t feel right doing it unless they have that person’s approval. So, give them your OK and help someone who needs it more than you need a Christmas gift.

Here are some other elements of Holiday For Charity:

1. sell the holiday gifts you receive online at eBay’s GivingWorks and donate the proceeds to charity

2. register and shop at iGive.com, whose merchants donate a portion of each transaction to your charities

3. offer to do volunteer work in lieu of buying holiday gifts

4. donate directly to charity in lieu of buying holiday gifts for clients and customers

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Links 11/6/2008

A lot of brands are jumping onto Twitter, the latest being Dunkin Donuts. Here’s the Dunkin Donuts Twitter page. Where’s Krispy Kreme?

While we are on the subject of Twitter, Darren Rowse of Problogger has launched a new blog, TwiTip, that’s all about Twitter. If you are into Twitter you’ll want to read this. If you are into blogging, read Problogger. It’s on my must read list.

Here’s another blinding glimpse of the obvious: LinkedIn users have higher incomes.

And, in case you missed it, check out my recent posts on cause marketing.

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Join My Cause

Today, I distributed a news release through PitchEngine about a new cause marketing program. Next week I’ll be announcing the details via the My Creative Team enewsletter, Think. I am making a $500 donation to Crisis Assistance Ministry, a non-profit that provides assistance and advocacy for people in financial crisis, helping them move toward self-sufficiency.

I’m involving readers by offering to give an additional $1 each time they forward the newsletter to a colleague. So, the total pot could be $1,000. Here’s how you can get involved. Sign up for my newsletter. When you receive the October 21 issue, use the forward feature in the newsletter to send it along to friends who might have an interest in marketing and PR. You must use the newsletter’s forward button so I can track the forwards.

Simple. You click a button and a very effective charity gets a $1 to help the working poor. Or, you can donate directly to Crisis Assistance yourself. I’m using Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed and StumbleUpon, to name a few social media outlets, as a means of publicizing the cause, too.

What’s your cause? Let us know if we can help spread the word about your cause.

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More Cause

We talked about cause marketing recently, and I wanted to delve deeper into some of the findings of the Cone study we discussed.

Cone’s study not only shows that people say they will do more business with companies involved in a cause, but that they actually do more business with cause marketers.

Substantial cause-related sales lift for two of the four consumer packaged goods categories tested:

- 74% increase in actual purchase for a shampoo brand when associated with a cause (47% of participants who saw the cause-related message chose the brand while only 27% of those who saw the generic corporate advertisement chose the brand)

- 28% increase in actual purchase for a toothpaste brand when associated with a cause (64% of participants who saw the cause message chose the target brand vs. 50% who viewed the generic corporate advertisement)

- Modest increases in the other two product categories tested (chips and light bulbs) – Qualitative consumer responses showed that the issue, the nonprofit and the inherent nature of products were key factors in making cause-related purchasing decisions and helped explain why movement in these categories was not significant.

Top causes Americans want companies to be involved in include:

- Education – 80%

- Economic development (i.e.: job creation, income generation, wealth accumulation) 80%

- Health and disease – 79%

- Access to clean water – 79%

- Environment – 77%

- Disaster relief – 77%

- Hunger - 77%

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Marketing For Just Cause - Part 2

As we discussed in part one, cause marketing - done correctly - can boost a company’s performance. Now, let’s take a look at the five steps you need to take in developing a successful cause marketing program.

Choose Your Cause Strategically. Search for a single charitable cause that you and your employees can believe in, as well as one that helps advance your business objectives. For instance, a company may choose an educational cause to ensure it has a continuing pool of well-educated workers. Many companies seek issues that align with their products, services or geographic service area. Others look for issues that resonate with niche audiences or that differentiate them in the marketplace. You may want to consider choosing an emerging issue. This way, your company will be a pioneer rather than just another in a list of companies.

Perform Due Diligence. Once you have identified the cause, check out the individual charities involved in that cause just as you would any other strategic ally. Do they deserve your support? What is their public perception? Are they well run? What are their objectives, goals, successes and failures? Who are their executives and board members? Do they have any complaints lodged against them? How much of their money goes to salaries and overhead and how much actually gets to those it serves? Are they capable of helping you access intended target markets? Visit Give.org to evaluate charities of interest to you. Below is a link to a site that helps you evaluate charities.

Establish Goals. Now that you have selected your charity, determine what it is you want to accomplish with your involvement from a business perspective. There are tangible and intangible goals you can reach through cause marketing. Are you looking for networking opportunities at the board or donor level? Do you want to raise your business’ profile through publicity about your involvement? Are you trying to build employee or customer loyalty? Or, do you just want to shore up support in your home community? Set your goals and then you can determine what resources, both time and money, to budget for the cause.

Dive In. Although writing a check to the cause will help, this should not be the extent of your participation. Choose a single cause and maintain a focused campaign that integrates the cause into the very fabric of your organization. Look at other ways to expand your involvement. Serve on the board. Become a volunteer for your selected cause. Encourage employees to get involved in projects with the selected charity. Give them a “charitable time” budget each month that lets them use business hours to perform their service with your chosen cause. Strategic allies and even customers may want to be involved if you have selected your cause wisely.

Communicate. Develop a simple, direct and compelling message that not only explains the cause but the reason your company is involved. Explain how purchases – if part of the program – are directed into the cause and how that contribution will affect it. Then, promote the cause in customer mailings and in your advertising. Create joint events with your nonprofit partner to attract customers, prospects and media coverage.

Selecting and supporting the right cause for your company can build profit, brand equity, as well as employee and customer loyalty, while improving the world. So, what could be better than that?

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