All Blog Posts (20)

Villageous in Variety

We mentioned this on our Twitter and Facebook pages last week, but in case you missed it, Variety wrote an article about the Miss America pageant's social media program and they interviewed me for the story. Click on the following link to read the article: Miss America wins new media fans.

Als

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Added by Heather Lauer on February 5, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

I recently led a training session with some small business owners in Phoenix teaching them how to promote their business using Facebook and Twitter. After the session, I was chatting with a small business owner who wanted to discuss the pros/cons of starting a Facebook page to promo… Continue

Added by Carole Braithwaite on February 1, 2010 at 11:56pm — No Comments

Dealing with difficult “fans”

Trolls, spammers, flamers and just plain old jerks, we’ve all experienced those who can make our online experience less than pleasant, but what happens when these types end up in your online community? Just one out of control member can completely derail your messaging and end up hijacking your online conversations.… Continue

Added by Nina Simmons on January 26, 2010 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Can you hear me now? Am I coming through loud and clear? How do I sound?

Sometimes in order to truly and effectively reach your audience, you need to repeat the same message several times in your social network posts. Typically the people you’re trying to reach read things at different times of the day/week depending on when they spend time online browsing the networks they belong to. Given the large number of messages people are increasingly e… Continue

Added by Carole Braithwaite on December 30, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Small changes, big improvements

Every day I observe quite a variety of methods that businesses use to get their message out into the community. Some business do a great job...and others could benefit from sharpening their approach. Here are a few common problems with the way some businesses communicate through social media, and my suggestions for how just a slight change in approach can hel… Continue

Added by Nina Simmons on December 17, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Lost in Status Update Translation

With all the social media tools out there these days, many of us now have profiles on several platforms. You might use LinkedIn for professional networking but use Facebook for communicating with friends and family. Or maybe you manage your company's social media effort and maintain a presence on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn because you're r… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on November 21, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Round-Up

COVERING THE RACE THAT STOPS THE NATION: Eric O'Keefe is the author of a recently published book called The Cup that tells the story of the 2002 Melbourne Cup and how winning jockey Damien Oliver dealt with a family tragedy just days before the race. Eric was in Australia last week to cover this year's race and then he swung through Los Angeles on his way home to report o… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on November 9, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Team Villageous hard at work

Here's a photo of Team Villageous doing live social media coverage of a client's event. We're Tweeting our fingers to the bone - with support from our mascot, Lucy!

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Added by Heather Lauer on October 29, 2009 at 4:02pm — No Comments

Round-Up

Typing "Round-Up" into the subject line of this blog entry reminded me of this great EDS commercial from a few years ago. It still makes me laugh every time. At any rate, Round-Up will be a regular feature here on Villageous.com where we highlight things happening in social media that are of interest to us. So here we go. A LOVE NOTE FROM THE FTC: Starting in December, the… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on October 24, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Villageous Twitter Guide

I know there are already many Twitter Guides floating around the Interweb, but recently I've had several friends and clients ask me to explain Twitter in layman's terms. So I decided to compile my tips and advice into a document I could easily share with people as I… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on October 17, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Pickens Plan: Case Study

We recently compiled a case study about the Pickens Plan online campaign over the past year. The report highlights the various social media tools that have been utilized to organize and activate a supporter base of 1.5 million in support of energy legislation to reduce American dependence on foreign oil.… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on July 22, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

PdF 2009: The Pickens Plan “Hub and Spoke” Model

At last week’s Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) meeting in New York, Ning CEO Gina Bianchini gave a talk about the “hub and spoke” model of building and engaging a social network. This is the model we have used for building the Pickens Plan social action network – a model that has served us quite well – with our presence on other social networks being focused on continually driving people back to our Ning… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on July 7, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

PdF 2009: Beyond MyBO

Following is a clip of the presentation I gave at PdF 2009, along with Todd Zeigler of The Bivings Group, in which we discuss our experience with the PickensPlan.com social action network over the past year.

To view the full presentation, including Q&A, click here. Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on July 2, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

PdF 2009: Social Action Networks Panel

I will be participating in a panel discussion at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City on June 30, 2009. “Beyond my.BarackObama.com: How Social Action Networks Like Facebook, MySpace and Ning are Changing Politics” will be moderated by Washington Post reporter Jose Vargas. In addition… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on June 21, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Bivings.com: Pickens Plan Mini Case Studies

Our technology partner on the Pickens Plan website, The Bivings Group, recently posted a couple articles about effective tactics we’ve used for recruiting, retaining and engaging supporters. Below are the links to those articles. Social Media and the Pickens Plan Virtual March… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on June 21, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

CNN: Ning – The future of online social networking?

I’m a big fan of Ning.com as a customizable social networking platform to build a community around a specific interest or cause. CNN recently interviewed Ning CEO Gina Bianchini about the future of social networking. Following is an excerpt from that interview:

CNN: What makes Ning different from other social-networking sites?

Bianchini: It’s focused on providing the [means for] people to create new social networks around their interests and passions and connect new people

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Added by Heather Lauer on May 25, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

CenPho.com: A social network for people who live and work in Central Phoenix

Back in 2005, CenPho.com was launched as a blog focused on exploring life in Central Phoenix. We are now relaunching the site as a social network for people who live, work and play in the microcosm of the Valley of the Sun that is known as CenPho. The Web site documents everything from every hol… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on May 11, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

“On the Issues” with Phoenix Vice Mayor Tom Simplot

I recently appeared on a show called “On the Issues” hosted by Vice Mayor Tom Simplot on Phoenix TV Channel 11. We talked about my upcoming book, Bacon: A Love Story, and generally discussed life as a blogger.

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Added by Heather Lauer on April 22, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Center for American Progress: Getting Wired for Progress

Earlier today, I participated in a panel discussion at the Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, DC. The topic of the panel was Getting Wired for Progress which featured the internet strategists behind several of the leading campaigns pushing for a clean energy future.… Continue

Added by Heather Lauer on April 16, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

SocialMediaToday.com: Obama’s Not the Only One Who Gets Social Media

Posted below is my recent interview with Robin Fray Carey from SocialMediaToday.com. You can click here to read the version on the SMT website.

Last week I interviewed Heather Lauer who is in charge of online strategy for the Pickens Plan, a grass-roots effort to support legendary oil-man-turned-energy-independence champion T. Boone Pickens’ strategy for reducing the country’s depen

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Added by Heather Lauer on February 2, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments