Chad Norman's Webby Things : Mobile

7 Webby Things I Have a Crush On

Chad Norman — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:31:00 GMT

If you're a web geek like me, you probably spend every day getting inundated with new tools, services, products, processes, posts, feeds, people, etc - it's mind bending! Finding a useful tool in all that noise sometimes comes down to luck - some weeks nothing will stick, while other weeks it's like having breakthrough after breakthrough. Here are a few helpful webby things that have crossed my screen over the last couple weeks.

BackTweets.com
If your organization is using Twitter to measure engagement, two of the main components worth tracking are retweeting and incoming links to your website. With all the Twitter-friendly URLs being used (tinyurl.com, SnipURL.com, is.gd, etc), search.twitter.com does a poor job of finding people linking to your site. BackTweets solves that by digging into all those short URLs, and returning results showing exactly who is linking to your website. Very cool! www.backtweets.com

Blackbaud iPhone Browser Simulator
A couple weeks ago, Blackbaud CTO Shaun Sullivan released iBBDemo - a demo and test platform for iPhone web content that runs from within Windows. Initially developed to demo iPhone content during presentations, this app is a great tool for any developer working on the platform. Check out Blackbaud Labs for a free download.

The Social Media Elevator Pitch
Whether you're in the nonprofit or for profit world, selling your social media strategy to your internal stakeholders can be a common source of pain. Beth Kanter wrote a great blog post featuring Wendy Harman, the "professional listener" for The American Red Cross, discussing her social media elevator pitch. Social media is still very new, and many executives want to learn why it's important, but need the message to be clear and concise. Check out the post for some great ideas you can use to get your pitch ready.

monitter.com
I'm a huge fan of the real-time social web, and so you can imagine my excitement when a friend turned me onto monitter.com (Thanks, Lindsey!). Monitter is a Twitter aggregator that displays keyword-based tweets in a real-time stream. www.monitter.com

Gmail fixes attachment annoyance
Oh my, some times it's the simple things. Gmail will finally allow you to select and add multiple attachments at one time. Oh yes, that's right. This is one of those features that was painfully missing, and it should make anyone's Gmailing a little more efficient.

N2Y4 Mobile Challenge
Mobile technology is becoming a common partner to social action, and organizations like NetSquared are doing amazing work to see that innovation thrives. The N2Y4 Mobile Challenge brings together mobile tech junkies and social activists for collaboration and competition. And with a target audience of 2.2 billion, a little innovation can go a long way...

Change the Web Challenge
The work Social Actions is doing is changing the way the world acts. The Change the Web Challenge reaches out to the development community to create innovative tools that help people share opportunities with those ready to act. Check out the stuff that's already running on the Social Actions API. If you're interested in the $10,000 prize, you've got until April 3rd to submit your entry.

Socially Tricking-out The Charleston Green Fair

Chad Norman — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Last Sunday, I spent six straight hours manning the Go Green Charleston booth at the first annual Charleston Green Fair. I really had a blast chatting it up with everyone that stopped by, and loved spreading the knowledge with our "Is it Recyclable" tabletop game. It was an amazing event!

I also spread a little social web love around immediately prior to, during, and after the event in an effort to increase the engagement of the Go Green audience. Not only did our core audience get a richer experience, so did the city as a whole. Times are tough, and money is tight for all nonprofits, so using existing tools and devices has never been more important. Here are a few webby things I did to engage my audience during the Charleston Green Fair:

Used the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page to remind our supporters about the event. We received a few immediate responses about attendance, and a couple general questions...cool!
Sent a last minute message out via the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page offering a reusable shopping bag to the first 3 people who mention the offer at our booth. All three bags were given away - 1 from Twitter, 2 from Facebook.
Posted real-time event photos via TwitPic on the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed. Each image got a similar amount of views and comments, so it would seem our remote audience was consistent throughout the event.
Chatted with friends and supporters via my personal Twitter account, and was able to arrange a few on-site meet-ups. I also received some interesting comments and encouragement from everyone during the long, but fun, day. Thanks!

I guess the message here is that there are a lot of little things you can do with your existing communication channels that can increase the engagement of your audience, without decreasing the funds you in your bank account. As always: set goals, experiment, track, analyze, and repeat.

A Quick Note about Site Width and the iPhone

Chad Norman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:32:00 GMT

Making the decision to go with a fixed width or fluid width for your website can be agonizing. The geek in you welcomes the challenge of designing a site that fills any browser, while the marketer in you wants the absolute control over the layout afforded by fixed width design. In the end, fixed width often wins out.

Now that millions of iPhones are circulating in the wild, you need to take a look at how your site is rendering in this pocket-sized format. Ideally you should be developing a special version of your site optimized for the iPhone, but in reality you will probably only have time to tweak a few things.

One thing to look at is how many pixels you've chosen for your fixed width site. I've noticed that fixed width sites designed to support a 1024 pixel width look better than those set to support an 800 pixel width. The content fills the screen and the text is more legible (see screenies below). This might be an easy CSS change for your site, which will make it instantly more readable on the iPhone. So, if you've needed one more reason to help convince a stakeholder that a move to a wider site is needed, this just might help.

4 Webby Things on My Mind

Chad Norman — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:44:00 GMT

Here are four webby things I wanted to share with you all this morning.

Episode #12 of The Baudcast is hot of the griddle, and ready for consumption at Blackbaud.com or the iTunes Music Store. This was a fun episode to tape, so a big thanks goes out to Garrett Keating and Micheal Sola for taking the time to chat with us. The conversation wandered through topics like Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, efficiency through integration, multi-channel messaging, BBNC API, BBNC Idea Bank, social networking, Blackbaud Delivers, NetWits Live @Portland, Socialthing, VoteTheBay.org, and more. The Baudcast, Episode #12

Alternative search engine Cuil.com has officially launched today. You gotta love anytime someone re-imagines the search space (like Mahalo.com), as it's hard to think we'll have a better option than Google. Will Cuil be that better option? It's hard to say, but with ex-Google employees at the helm and an index that is allegedly bigger than Google's (121+ billion pages), they're off to a good start. And while my blog is not at the #1 spot for my name as it is in Google, Cuil is pulling up all kinds of other stuff...specifically my social networking profiles. Also, my LinkedIn page is #1 (just in case you needed another reason why you shouldn't neglect your LinkedIn profile). Cuil.com

I've been really excited to get an invite to 12seconds.tv, the new video-based microblogging/updating service. Since the videos are not streamed live (like with Kyte, Qik, or Stickam), it feels like a short attention span version of Seesmic. But with 3G iPhones proliferating across the world, this is great way to embrace the swelling real-time social web. And hey, moving pictures are worth 10,000 words - for, you know, when those 140 characters at Twitter just aren't enough! www.12seconds.tv

I love Twitter, you love Twitter - we all love Twitter. Well, now there's identi.ca, an open microblogging service using an API that jives with Twitter. This is big, because now the massive Twitter developer pool can work its magic on identi.ca with very little additional work (this works fine for Twhirl). And since identi.ca is hooked in with OpenID, this could get interesting. www.identi.ca

That's all for now. Please enjoy these webby things, and have a webby week!

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Chad Norman — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:32:00 GMT

I'm really not obsessed with Twitter...well, no more than you are at least. OK, maybe a little more. Either way, I just wrote this article for Fundraising Well and The NonProfit Times, and thought it should end up here on Webby Things. Enjoy!

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Social networking connects us like never before. We find each other, exchange information, and develop expanding networks as easily as we send email. This helps individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and governmental agencies form new kinds of relationships. That’s great, but now what? How do we put these relationships to work?

Sometimes participation in social networks can feel passive, because everyone is focused content. Friend requests, photo galleries, comments, application installations — it's exhausting! It’s like we’re spending all of our time creating and consuming each other’s content, instead of actually doing something.

What Is Twitter™?
Twitter™ is the social network that asks, "What are you doing?" and was designed “for staying in touch with and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing.” It’s sometimes called a micro-blogging service, because posts are limited to 140 characters or less. You can also look at it as social networking based on text messages, much like Digg™ is based on news or LinkedIn™ is based on resumes.

The relationship model is simple: You can follow people, and people can follow you. When you “tweet” something, your followers receive the message in their feed and on their phones. It sounds simple, but what separates Twitter™ from the social noise is its ease of use and mobile reach. The introduction of real-time, everywhere connectivity into a social network has produced meaningful results — results well past the original vision of keeping up with your friends while on the go.

Let’s assume someone on your staff has used Twitter™ to build a large following of interested people (how to do that is another article altogether!); what happens next? How can you make these Twitter™ relationships work?

Your Followers Are Actually Listening
Reaching out to constituents is a necessary part of fundraising, and many traditional methods require a serious investment. Direct mail, phone calls, email, blogging, and public relations can all take a long time to actually reach your audience. With an established following on Twitter™, you can reach out to them in just seconds. But you’ve got to have something to say…

You could use Twitter™ to broadcast outgoing marketing by posting links to event registrations, online donation forms, or volunteer opportunities. This is a more traditional way to make the relationship work, and many organizations are doing it. But you may want to try a more subtle approach by posting about those same things, but with a more personal vibe. Tweet that you are touring the venue for this year’s gala, stuffing bags for volunteer day, or heading to a board meeting. It may sound crazy, but your followers will care about this stuff. In fact, knowing these things will make them feel closer to you. This could come into play during your next campaign, as it’s always harder to say “no” to a friend.

Followers on Twitter™ can also help you spread your story, which can bring a welcome set of new eyeballs to your mission. Danielle Brigida is a social media expert who detailed her development of a successful social media strategy for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). By leveraging relationships in various social networks, including Twitter™, Danielle’s followers regularly help NWF content land on the front page of the social news website digg.com. When this happens, a post on the NWF Wildlife Promise blog might see traffic increase from around 150 pages views to around 29,000 page views. For organizations like NWF, where online visitors often turn into online donors, investing in a social media channel like Twitter™ can clearly pay off.

You Should Listen Too
If Twitter's™ emergence as a broadcast tool is the predictable success story of the platform, then its power as a receiver is the big surprise. When you reciprocate relationships by following your own followers, you let your most avid supporters know they have a chance to reach out to you — and that you’ll listen.

A frequently used tactic on Twitter™ is to ping your followers for some information. You could reach out for ideas for your gala theme, find a volunteer in a nearby neighborhood, or get one last anecdote before a board meeting. Instant feedback by like is difficult to get with traditional tools, but Twitter™ can make it happen as you’re rolling on the tarmac or waiting in line at a store. A community that’s always connected is always there when you need it.

But what about just getting to know your constituents better? After a big alumni event, spending an hour following links to Flickr™ photos and YouTube™ videos might give you a clearer picture of how things really went from an attendee perspective. If you have a large scale media or viral campaign, you can use a tool like TweetScan to monitor the chatter. Because the Twitter™ platform is mobile and provides constant access, it’s becoming the place to go for instant reaction. If you can develop a large enough following, this can work for you.

In the end, Twitter™ is a place where relationships can get things done quickly. As with any foray into social networking, a well thought out strategy and clear goals are important first steps. But once you decide to integrate real-time social networking into your communication plan, your Twitter™ relationships will be ready for duty.

Want to see what it’s all about? Sign-up and follow me!

The Twitterverse is Alive at the Conference for Nonprofits

Chad Norman — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:47:00 GMT

Blackbaud's Conference for Nonprofits in Montreal is off to a brilliant start this morning, and Twitter updates are allowing attendees to share the experience with their followers. The era of microblogging (Twitter), lifestreaming (Socialthing! and FriendFeed), and mobile broadcasting (Qik) is changing the way we we communicate with each other, and events are certainly prime venues to play with this technology.

I've already seen a few tweets from people I'm following, and I'm dropping some myself. Twitter user micahwittman sent in this update from Marc Van Baar's session on Mail Merging: "Spoiler: Raisers Edge 8 to have Total Giving and other aggregate fields for mail merge!" Shortly after, I picked up a tweet from marcapitman, who said: " tweeting from the Blackbaud conference in Montreal. About to learn about building an online village! (This is my first "in session" tweet!)"

What can I say, I'm loving this! This influx of real-time tools is encouraging lifestreaming and self-broadcasting, and their impact is only just beginning to become evident. One thing is for sure - things will never been them same...for you, me, nonprofits, corporations, and even government agencies.

OK, back to the Twittterverse...

Anyone Need Twitter Slides?

Chad Norman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Last week, I sat on an emerging technologies panel at the South Carolina PRSA conference. This was a great opportunity to introduce a tool like twitter to a room full of professional communicators. It doesn't matter if you work for a 500-donor nonprofit or a publicly traded behemoth like Google, tools that facilitate disintermediation are becoming more and more relevant to marketing, and Twitter is no exception.

So since I know some of you are out there tech evangelizing everyday, I thought a few of my Twitter-related slides might prove useful to you. I've uploaded a PowerPoint file with 10 graphical slides that you can use to your heart's content. It's not much, but hey - if it saves you a few minutes while working on a presentation, that's just more time for you to tweet. Enjoy!

Why Twitter is Actually Useful

Chad Norman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:51:00 GMT

As with most webby-types, I'm becoming hopelessly addicted to Twitter. That said, I have a lot of trouble explaining to skeptics how tiny updates about what people are doing can actually be useful. They don't see that while Twitter appears to be about nothing, it is really about everything (I'm starting to understand how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David must have felt pitching their show "about nothing" to NBC.)

CommonCraft said it best: real life is what happens between blog posts and emails, and now there's a way to share. Watch the video and see for yourself...their explanation is right on the money. To me, following the right person on Twitter is like shadowing a mentor - the content comes from in the field, is timely, and can be extremely useful. Following someone on Facebook feels like I'm reading their yearbook or dorm room door - the content is planned, often stale, and typically unhelpful (groups, causes, and apps aside...but stay with me). If you don't believe me, check out these updates from my Twitter and Facebook feeds:

Twitter feed:

CaliLewis: Shooting live on www.GBTVlive.com now. Will give away eight Woopra invites randomly. Must log into geekbrief.tv & have left a comment.
ntenhross: very concise, easy outline to ensure email delivery for orgs newer to all this: http://snurl.com/23h6r-snit
WilHarris: WT? New Kids on the Block are back??
bwjacobs: Thundercats are GO for Cocoa Infinity build!
JasonCalacanis: Google Analytics now supports hourly/weekly/monthly reports! Thank you Google Gods!!! I love you!!! kiss kiss: http://tinyurl.com/392ct8

Facebook feed:

Rachel Hutchisson and Colleen Troy are now friends.
Rich Conte added the Dogbook application.
Erin Watson is attending SCPRSA Spring Conference.
Meg Trott, Suzann Wolfe, Violet Meyer and Seth Greathouse changed their profile pictures.
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It's not even a contest. Facebook is telling me about updated profile photos, installed applications, and products I may want to buy - this is not real life. Twitter is telling me about updates to Google Analytics, how to get Woopra invites, Blackbaud product information, and new tech tools for nonprofits - this is real life. This is useful. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of "I just ate a hamburger" posts on Twitter, but the useful content tends to stand out.

I think Veronica Belmont described it well: Twitter is great for keeping tabs on internet friends (professionals, peers, partners, etc), while Facebook is great at keeping track of brick and mortar friends (family, classmates, neighbors, etc). That's a great way to look at it, and makes sense. Web-savvy types want to connect directly with followers via mobile phones, IM, and laptops in order to push the industry forward. My cousin just wants to find his old girlfriend from high school or post photos of his frat party - that's a different need, and it requires a different tool.

In the end, it's the concept of Twitter that is useful and historic. This is the first truly mobile platform providing busy professionals, celebrities, and other notables with an easy and safe way to directly communicate with their followers (and it works for the rest of us as well). When you've got a full calender, it's hard to blog or make phone calls...especially to your fans. But at 140 characters or less, there is always time to tweet...and thanks to Twitter, someone just might be listening.

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