Tuvel Communications Blog: August 2005 Archives

August 30, 2005

Katrina: Disaster Releif Orgs. that need your help!

Disaster Assistance in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Many WNG Members have asked us how to help with Hurricane Katrina disaster assistance. In response, we have taken the initiative to provide a list of pertinent relief organizations.

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August 25, 2005

Blogging from the beach

Who says blogging hasn't turned mainstream? We're enjoying the sunshine in Virginia Beach for a few days. Met a fellow by the pool and the conversation turned to the usual- where you from, what do you do, how did you hear about this hotel... Turns out that my new friend found out about our hotel through bloggers comments...

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Posted by Mitch at 07:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 24, 2005

The Well is for sale

webcommunities reports that:

The Well, an online community founded in 1985, is to be sold by it's current owner Salon.com. Salon bought the community in 1999 for US $5 million. Since then, it's always managed to turn a profit but memberships (costing $120 to $150 per year) have declined from 6000 to 4000 between 1999 and
today.

Salon expects to achieve a sale price of around $500,000 - about the equivalent of one year's subscription fees. That's probably a bargain if the members themselves buy the community...

More.

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Posted by Mitch at 11:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Gone fishing: lite blogging ahead

Blogging will be lite as I cut over to Movable Type and head to the beach (finally) for a few days of R&R.

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August 23, 2005

links for 2005-08-23

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Lead gen and free chapters

I have always been a fan of free chapters as a way to sell more books. After all, some really well known marketers have been doing this for years.

We are in the middle of a B-B lead generation campaign that uses a book as an incentive. We just discovered that the publisher gives away a free chapter. What we're unsure of is whether the chapter increases the value of the offer or prompts someone to take the wrong action.

I should probably post this question to Brian Carroll's blog...

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Posted by Mitch at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 18, 2005

Non-prof marketing badges

(seen on The Rhetoric Of Me with a pointer from Chris Dover)

The American Cancer Society continues to be an innovator in the world of non-prof marketing and fundraising. Here's their download page where you can grab a badge to fight cancer.

Orgs sometimes forget the importance of the marketing download page to spread the word. Download pages make it easy for folks to display, link, tell others and is mission critical! Pages typically include links, banners or buttons and blurbs for lists and newsletters.

Hey, maybe we should check to see if these marketing pages are on Chris Dovers list and add it if it's not.

Another nice 'spread the word' page is the Skoll Foundation's Uncommon Heroes. You can check out some other blog badges at the Blog Business Summit, going on as we write... We'll have to find (or create) some examples of these marketing pages for orgs that don't have unlimited budgets ;-)

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Posted by Mitch at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 17, 2005

Psyco killer

Chris Dover, over at RelayBlogger thinks that I look like the dude from Psycho! Agree? When I did a Wash Post chat, someone said that I look like Dustin Hoffman. Darn, that pic and chat are down. Where's a cache when you need it?

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Posted by Mitch at 05:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 16, 2005

August 20 meeting: RSS Feeds and Blogs for Business

I just received word of the Washington, DC CPCUG Entrepreneurs and Consultants SIG August 20th Meeting. Bob Bailey, of Message Builders, is the featured speaker and the topic is RSS Feeds and Blogs for Business.

To register Contact Karen at the CPCUG Office, 301-762-9372.

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Posted by Mitch at 03:46 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 15, 2005

11% of Blog Readers Use RSS to Manage Feeds

This survey has been blogged already but following is Potomac Tech Wire's version. I wonder how many blog readers use email to keep up? Commoncraft recently notified readers that he was doing away with email updates.

It interesting, I seem to get the most understanding of feeds when explained in relation to MS Outlook or other email programs...

Study: 11% of Blog Readers Use RSS Technology to Manage Feeds

New York --About 11% of weblog readers use RSS (Really Simple 
Syndication) to sort through the increasing number of blogs available, 
according to a new study by Nielsen//NetRatings. 

The firm said that 
5% of blog readers use feed aggregation software and more than 6% 
percent use a feed aggregating web site to monitor RSS feeds from 
blogs. "While RSS is an established technology, the growing 
popularity of blogs has catapulted RSS into the spotlight as a content 
personalization tool," said Jon Gibs, a senior research manager for 
Nielsen//NetRatings. The majority of respondents to the survey were 
less familiar with RSS feeds. 

Among the other respondents, 23% 
understood RSS but did not use it, while two-thirds either did not 
understand the technology or had heard of it.

Categories: RSS

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August 12, 2005

Strength.org offers RSS

I spend a lot of time explaining the benefits of RSS/Really Simple Syndication to non-profits and companies. Here's a Washington, DC based non-profit that makes their latest news available via RSS. Share Our Strength has also incorporated blog like features into their website.

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Posted by Mitch at 06:21 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 11, 2005

Blogs and Community Building

Diva Marketing points to an American Cancer Society blogging effort and then some. Lisa Stone and RelayBlogger are featured here. Chris Dover (aka RelayBlogger) has also asked for feedback from the Relay for Life blogging effort.

Another great community effort was recently launched by the March of Dimes. Nancy White and Lee LeFever, of commoncraft (and MOD members!) are responsible for this effort.

It's great to see national, branded non-profits blogging and (still) building communities (especially around advocacy issues). Non-profits understand 'community building' more than corporate America does-- that's for sure. What's interesting is that you can talk to a company about blogging but mention the term community building and eyes start to flicker. And, blogs are all about community building.

Speaking of community building, Nancy White has an interesting pos t about the changes that blogging has brought to her onlinefacilitation listserv. These days, I wonder if blogging has done (or will do) to email what email did to newsgroups.

Back to Chris Dover's excellent best practices list he's compiling, I want to take a closer read and offer input but one organization we can all learn from is Spirit of America. They have done a particularly good job of engaging the blogosphere, fundraising and getting mainstream media exposure.

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Posted by Mitch at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 09, 2005

Blog Tutorial- redesign time

I'm redesigning the blog (who isn't?). problogger points to a really good Blog Tutorial - Blog Templates PhotoshopSupport.com. In addition to the redesign tips, Jennifer Apple offers a resource list and information on creating a blogging icon.

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Posted by Mitch at 06:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 08, 2005

RSS on the rise

This week's edition of the Washington Business Journal has a short piece on the potential of RSS advertising. Consider the following quote from the story and remember that email and RSS don't necessarily compete but can compliment each other.

While the traditional media catches on, RSS early adapters are bloggers. A great way to get your blogging info. is through email. Bloglet has made a business out of this.

It's going to potentially replace e-mail newsletters, says Gary Duke, executive vice president of D.C.-based MDB Communications.

This topic reminds me of an earlier thread: Email is dead (again). More RSS information can be found in a 15 page report published by Forrester's Charlene Li on Using RSS As A Marketing Tool. (read about the report all over the place but first on Sally Falkow's Website Content Strategy).

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Posted by Mitch at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Aug 22-25. 2005: adaptive path washington, d.c. user experience week

adaptive path, the Ajax folks, are coming to Washington, DC later this month to talk about user experiences, Web 2.0 and social software. The line-up looks great. Wonder if they'll raffle a ticket or 2 for some of the start-ups in town (hint-hint).

More information and sign-up here. (hat tip: Venturepreneur)

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August 07, 2005

The Living to 100 Healthspan Calculator

This comes from Time magazine's list of Top 50 Bloggers/Websites (Steve Rubel)

The Healthspan Calculator actually calculates how long you'll live while making suggestions for improvement. I took the survey and my life expectancy is 88 yrs. old.

You can take the The Living to 100 Life Expectancy survey here.

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Posted by Mitch at 03:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

links for 2005-08-07

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August 04, 2005

ExecutiveBiz Event Series Webcast

Here is the webcast from this week's Washington, DC marketing meeting; Are you one in a million? Or just one of the millions? This event is part of the ExecutiveBiz Event Series- free registration req'd to view the webcast.

I haven't finished the webcast yet but it must be good because it includes heavyweights such as Mary MacPherson and Kristi Hedges talking about marketing to a packed house in hot, sticky August!

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