Never Do This: Ghost Comment

There are very few actions or tactics in the world of social media that fall under the categories of “always” or “never.”

Different social media platforms and audiences require different engagement efforts, different responses and different sensitivities. Across the board standards are few and far between. But the other day, one was brought up during a lunch conversation: ghost commenting.

Ghost commenting is using an alternative identity to post online comments, questions or responses that you wouldn’t post under your own name. It’s also completely discoverable, shady, disingenuous, the opposite of transparent and just plain wrong. The minuses far outweigh the pluses.

Probably the most infamous case of ghost-commenting-gone-bad was in 2007 when Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was outed for making comments and posts on Yahoo! Finance forums about the then-potential merger of Whole Foods and Wild Oats. I admire Mr. Mackey for many of the leadership qualities he has shown at the helm Whole Foods, but several self-flattering posts under the guise of “Rahodeb” later, and who knows what to really think of him?

The sad part is how often ghost comments occur. Typically, the more frequent anonymous posts are made surrounding a controversial or emotional topic, which also happens to be the worst time to get involved in a disingenuous manner. And yet, political stories tend to receive the most pseudo-name comments. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see who is behind those comments?

The fact is everything online is discoverable. If someone really wanted to find out who made what comment, they could. The next time your company/organization/party/candidate is being taken to task on a forum or an online story, think about whether or not one comment (no matter how small) is worth risking your professional credibility.

The intelligent comments and posts find a way to effectively get a point across with a real person standing behind the opinion. You will need, however, to grow a thick skin since the ghost commenters can take anyone to task because they effectively have immunity from taking ownership of their comments.

We are seeing dramatic changes in how online forums are handled, with registrations through Facebook accounts and many forums disappearing. Only in rare instances do these forums advance the conversation. At least by being you, you can post comments and feel good about doing the right thing even if everyone else is posting fiction.

What You Need to Know About SOPA and PIPA and Why it Matters to You

If you’ve been online at all over the past few weeks, odds are you’ve run across stories, comments and posts regarding two pieces of current U.S. legislation: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Both bills revolve around the issue of online piracy and protecting copyrighted materials. SOPA is a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives and PIPA was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Generally, numerous media outlets, publishers and lobbyists for the media industry are in support of the bills. Detractors, including a majority of companies and associations in the technology industry, claim that these bills will have a negative, and even long-term detrimental effect, on the Internet’s stability, security and innovation.

Both pieces of legislation are complex and fairly difficult to understand. This Mashable article offers a succinct layman’s explanation of the two bills and where they stand today while this PR Daily article goes a bit more in depth. Currently, SOPA is being held up in the House, but the Senate is planning a vote on PIPA as early as next week. All of this is causing quite a stir online. Multiple prominent online companies - including Wikipedia, Reddit and Mozilla - are planning a 24-hour blackout tomorrow in protest of both SOPA and PIPA.

The subject of online copyright enforcement has been around as long as the Internet and impacts companies of all sizes. The same can be said about innovation, creativity and the sharing of ideas and information online. Where do you stand?

An Emerging Trend for 2012: The Collision of Social Media and Crisis Communication

The most frequent questions I encountered in 2011 included: what should we do when a detrimental story about our company breaks online? How do you respond to social media posts or comments from angry customers, or even disgruntled employees? Or do you avoid response and consider deleting comments? Worse, how do you stop the spread of misinformation, or blatantly false claims about your CEO, company or its products?

It used to be that the worst-case scenario for a business going through a crisis was a story appearing on an evening network newscast or in the morning paper. Today, the greater risk is what happens to that story, or any unfavorable story for that matter, when it is broadcasted across social networks. In the era of social media, not only does the public have the opportunity to say, report and offer opinions at will, but they are able to do so without any type of factual check and balance. And all of that information lives online in perpetuity, eroding reputations that took years to build.

A quick search for “crisis communication” on Mashable turns up a lengthy list of situations and case studies that played out over the past year: Taco Bell being under fire for the ingredients in its ground beef, the reaction to NetFlix’s price increase, and there were plenty of political figures who had their issues. As you can imagine, the list is quite extensive.

During 2011, GroundFloor Media saw a large increase in the number of clients that were looking for answers to the “what if” social media crisis questions, and even a few clients who experienced the intersection of crisis communications and social media firsthand. We expect this trend to continue in 2012 as more and more individuals, companies and their customers continue to expand and engage in social networks.

In December, GroundFloor Media launched its proprietary Online War Room™ to help prepare businesses and organizations for scenarios that can, and will, occur on social networks. This secure tool allows our Rapid Response and social media teams to work with clients to customize training sessions and mimic online crisis and issues management situations and conversations, in real time. We all know that preparation is key in any crisis situation, and the Online War Room allows our clients to discover what they need to include in their social media response plan, test their existing response plans, refine the processes for reacting and responding to negative sentiment and misinformation, and even put executives more at ease with communicating in the social media space.

In most cases, the first 120 minutes of a crisis can determine the public’s perception of an organization, and social networks exponentially emphasize the need to be prepared for any number of public conversations and crisis-related scenarios. What are your company’s plans to effectively manage its online reputation in 2012?

~ Jim Licko

Navigating the Pinterest Craze

“I’m obsessed.”

“It’s your fault. I just can’t stop!”

“It is so addicting.”

For the last few weeks I have been receiving text messages, emails and Skype messages with these complaints from friends, family and coworkers. Why? Because I have been encouraging anyone and everyone I know that likes social media and blogging to get on board with Pinterest.

“Pinning” could be the next it verb to coincide with “tweeting,” seeing as how Pinterest is now on the list of the ten most visited social networks according to Mashable—and it is still an invitation only network.

If you have chosen to ignore the Pinterest craze, an easy way to think about the concept is that it’s the modern day equivalent of tearing out photos from magazines and newspapers and saving them all in a “someday” box under your bed. Members of the network can either chose to “repin” or “like” images from the Pinterest site, or a button on your browser that allows you to pin any image, from any website, across the entire Worldwide Web. Images that you pin are then organized by you onto virtual inspiration boards.

For example, if you love to bake then you can pin photos of cakes, cupcakes and muffins and save them all to a baking themed board. At any time you can go back to your boards to remind yourself of décor ideas, recipes, travel destinations, crafts (the list is endless) that caught your eye and pursue your passions accordingly.

I could go on and on about why Pinterest has become a personal obsession, but what I find even more exciting are the opportunities for early adopters to carve out a niche space for brands. Mashable recently published a great piece with five distinct ideas for how brands can think about leveraging Pinterest and are right to point out that smaller brands who have a hard time cutting through the clutter on Facebook might just have the chance to be a little more visible to their fans on Pinterest.

Why and How Nonprofits Should Use Pinterest and How 11 Brands are Reaching Customers on Pinterest are two other smart reads for helping marketers decide if the platform is a fit for 2012 social media strategies.

If you are considering Pinterest but still need a nudge to get started, here are a few ideas to make it work for a brand:

• You have at least one Pinterest obsessed employee who would be eager to be the Pinterest ambassador for the brand.
• Your brand story lends itself to being told through pictures, or your product inspires people to aspire. For example, Whole Foods pins photos of dream kitchens in which they’d love to cook healthy, wholesome meals while West Elm pins photos of patterns such as chevrons and stripes that inspire their designers to create the items you can buy in their stores.
• You are looking for new ways to host contests, promote products and give customers a more intimate look into the culture of your organization. In December 2011, Land's End was among the first to successfully host a national, public contest on the platform--all based on having customers pin pictures of their favorite Land's End products for the chance to win gift cards.
• You are willing to tip your hat to what inspires you or your business to succeed by pinning images and pages generated by others, not just your brand or close associates.
• Social media giants like Facebook are not moving the needle as much as you would like, and you have the capacity to try new platforms that reach your target audiences. 
• If you can think outside your own brand box and show people how your brand might influence other areas of their life, Pinterest might be for you. For example, if you own a cupcake shop, pin photos from blogs about planning great parties, or if you sell cars, pin photos of amazing road trip destinations that could be made possible by traveling in one of your vehicles

For more inspiration from brands that are doing a great job on Pinterest, read this article from Mashable which highlights recognizable names like Martha Stewart, Today (as in the show) and the Travel Channel.

Happy pinning!

~Alexis Anderson

A New Perspective

As part of GroundFloor Media’s 10th anniversary Get Giving initiative, I was a member of the Colfax Crew, the team that was supporting Colfax Community Network (CCN). As a reminder, CCN advocates for and works on behalf of children and families residing in low-income, transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue by providing information, services and programs to strengthen and improve family and community life.

Before learning about CCN, I never gave too much thought to Colfax Avenue – other than thinking that it wasn’t exactly the prettiest street in town and that I didn’t want to find myself walking down it alone after dark.

I now look at it in a very different light. In fact, the other day I found myself driving down Colfax and paying particular attention to the many motels along the way. What would it be like to call one of those places home? To wake up there every morning? To live in one of those motel rooms with four or five other people, sometimes more?

Or, even worse, to worry every day about your children living in a motel that may be filled with convicted felons and sex offenders who are on parole and have been placed in Colfax motels by the Colorado Department of Corrections. In September 2011, 9News conducted an extensive investigation of sex offenders living in Colfax motels. In many cases, the motel management staff did not disclose the number of sex offenders living in their establishment, or they openly stated to undercover reporters that the motel was safe for children despite some places having more than 20 registered sex offenders living there. Read more about this issue on 9News.com.

On my drive down Colfax, I happened to see a child running down the length of a motel parking lot and couldn’t help but wonder about his life. And I thought of the kids involved in CCN’s after school program – the ones we spent an afternoon with the week before Thanksgiving. They are such amazing kids – full of so much joy and energy and promise. A particular exchange between two of the kids that afternoon especially pained me, though – and I wondered if they were mirroring some of what they see in their daily lives at the motels – aspects of life that no child should be exposed to.

And while I know that our small contribution alone won’t ultimately change these kids’ lives, it helps me to think that maybe we were able to make some sort of difference. Perhaps one of the field trips we sponsored will end up sparking an interest for one of those kids (e.g., an interest in astronomy following a trip to the Museum of Nature & Science) that helps keep them in school and out of trouble, or maybe an article of clothing we donated will help keep one of them warm this winter. Regardless, I am grateful that GroundFloor Media encouraged and allowed us to undertake this project. And I am grateful that caring people such as the employees and volunteers at CCN are working so hard every day to make life better for these kids and their families.

As we wrap up our Get Giving project, and especially as Christmas fast approaches, I feel compelled to make one more “ask” – if you would like to learn more about CCN and/or find out how you can help support the organization, please go to the organization’s website or drop us an email at getgiving@groundfloormedia.com.

~Amanda Brannum

Managing Social Media During the Holidays

The last two weeks of December become a ghost town in many offices, as employees scatter far and wide to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Social media management often falls to the wayside as team members focus on year-end reports and 2012 plans instead of Facebook updates and new blog content.

It could dangerous to assume however that just because the social media manager is away from his or her desk that your customers and followers are offline as well. In fact, many people will capitalize on quiet mornings at home during their vacation to catch up with their interests online, including social media content distributed by the companies they follow. Moreover, if you are a retailer or service provider, customers will actually expect to hear from you throughout the season—especially if they are anticipating coupons or exclusive sales for being a social media follower.

To remain relevant during the busy holiday season without over-extending a skeleton staff, below are five tips for staying on task into the New Year.

1. If your company does not already follow a monthly social media editorial calendar, draft one with daily, pre-written content from Dec. 19 – Jan. 2. This will save whoever is in charge of social media through the holidays any added pressure of being creative when he or she is hearing crickets around the office.
2. Create an “in case of emergency” social media monitoring and response team. A crisis can bubble up at any time, particularly on social media channels, and depending on the size of your business, you need to have at least two people on call for responding in a timely and effective manner. Dealing with a customer complaint from Dec. 24 on Jan. 4 is no longer considered acceptable, and could cause more harm than good if the issue spreads virally in the interim. 
3. Use the scheduling feature of a social media dashboard like Hootsuite to schedule tweets and Facebook posts on days when no one can publish content personally. However, do be sure that someone will review comments and questions that might come in from fans within a 24-hour period to maintain some sort of responsiveness. 
4. Take advantage of quiet time in the office to review your 2011 social media plan, and dedicate time to executing ideas that have sat on the back burner all year. For example, if you planned to issue at least one Facebook poll but never got around to it, draft and distribute a short poll that is relevant to the holidays and your business. We all tend to get stuck taking care of tactics when we’d rather focus on being strategic – take advantage of the time you have.
5. Ask an eager employee who enjoys social media to help with creative posts on official office closure days. For example, if a few team members will be meeting on New Year’s Day to go skiing, having them post a photo to wish fans a safe and fun holiday can give your company personality, and show that employees enjoy being together.

The holidays should be a time when we can all unplug and unwind to celebrate a successful year. Just be sure that downtime is balanced with the type of social media content and customer service that will have customers returning to your company for more in the New Year.

Or, at the very least, offer followers a sincere “best wishes” for the holidays and let them know when your company will be closed in order to allow staffers to spend quality time with loved ones. Tell fans what date to expect regular posts to commence and enjoy the downtime!

~Alexis Anderson

Tails are wagging!

If you read Kristina Reilly’s blog post in October, you learned that the GrrroundFloor Animals at GFM united to support Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign as part of GroundFloor Media’s 10th Anniversary Get Giving project. We reached our goal to donate a minimum of $2,500 and had fun putting together a video featuring all the GFM dogs. Our donation will go toward furthering research in treatment, prevention and hopefully finding a cure for canine cancer some day soon. If you forgot to donate or are looking for a good cause this holiday season to make a donation, visit the GrrroundFloor Animals fundraising donation page.

Beyond the Canine Cancer Campaign, Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) aims to help not only dogs but, all companion animals and wildlife as a national animal charity in Denver’s back yard. We asked Heidi Jeter the Director of Marketing and Communications to tell us more about ways to give and what our efforts mean to the future of animal health. Our team is very passionate about helping our furry family members – you might just run into one of our four-legged friends if you stop by our office impromptu - and hope our efforts lead to finding a cure.

What does GroundFloor Media's donation mean to MAF and the future for canines?

Cancer is the no. 1 cause of death for dogs over the age of 2. The only way to beat this disease is through scientific study. Unfortunately, there is little government funding for animal health studies, so scientists who want to help animals depend on organizations like Morris Animal Foundation for their funding. GroundFloor Media’s donation will help us make a difference in preventing and treating cancer in dogs.

When did the Canine Cancer Campaign start and how can people get involved?

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign is an unprecedented global effort to prevent, treat and, ultimately, cure cancer in dogs. It launched in 2007 with the goals of learning how to better diagnose, prevent and treat cancer in dogs. The Foundation currently is funding 39 canine cancer studies. Some of the cancers being studied are bladder cancer, lymphoma, bone cancer, mast cell tumors and soft-tissue sarcomas.

There are lots of ways to support the campaign, many of them are listed on our website at www.CureCanineCancer.org, including.

· Donating in memory or honor of a special dog

· Participating in a Morris Animal Foundation K9 Cancer Walk

· Hosting a dog walk to benefit the Canine Cancer Campaign

· Creating a personal Cure Canine Cancer fundraising Web page

· Sharing your survivor stories or memories

We also have some great gift items on our website at http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/make-a-difference/shop-smart.html. These include animal-themed ornaments, wine, pet tags and a lot more. Part of the proceeds from all of these items benefits Morris Animal Foundation.

Are there any connections between canine cancer and human cancer, especially around research?

Cancer is similar in dogs and humans. What researchers learn from dogs may lead to cancer prevention and treatment breakthroughs for humans and vice versa—treatments being used in humans successfully are now being studied for dogs. Different breeds also develop different types of cancer, which indicates strong genetic factors. Learning more about the genetic connections in dogs could help researchers studying human cancers as well.

Tell us about the K9 Cancer Walk? When is it and how can I participate?

The K9 Cancer Walk program raises funds for its Canine Cancer Campaign, which funds prevention and treatment research to help dogs enjoy longer, healthier, cancer-free lives. In 2011, the Foundation hosted five walks nationwide including the first-ever in Denver. The 2012 walk schedule isn’t finalized yet, but people can visit www.K9CancerWalk.org to learn more.

~ Carrie Odberg

Kids on Colfax

Thanksgiving came a bit early to GroundFloor Media (GFM) this year.

In the weeks leading up to the annual kick-off to the holiday season, Alexis Anderson, Amanda Brannum, Kimmie Greene, Laura Love-Aden and Jennefer Traeger, aka the Colfax Crew, set out to collect personal hygiene products and clothing donations to support the Colfax Community Network (CCN), an organization dedicated to providing information and programs to the children and families residing in low-income and transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue in Denver.

On Nov. 17, the team filled three cars with donated goods and that was just the beginning.

Once the cars were unloaded, the fun began as the team spent the afternoon volunteering with the kids from the CCN afterschool program. The program strives to create an afternoon of “normalcy” – a break for kids who are likely heading home to unpredictable circumstances.

The kids, ranging in age from 5-11, gathered together to read and share stories about the day before eating homemade snacks and starting homework. Toward the end of our time together, pencils and notebooks were traded in for straw hats and stuffing to build two scarecrows for the CCN garden. The GFM team worked with the kids throughout the afternoon, engaging them about their favorite foods, music and hobbies, as well as helping them with spelling and math.

We felt lucky and proud to spend time with the kids and staff at CCN and urge anyone with two hours to spare to reach out and volunteer their time. The connections are invaluable and remind us in the midst of the mayhem of Black Friday and Cyber Monday about the true meaning of the holidays and giving.

Our involvement with Colfax Community Network is part of the agency’s 10th Anniversary Get Giving campaign. GFM is celebrating 10 years in business by donating a total of $10,000 to four Denver-area nonprofits – $2,500 per organization – Colfax Community Network, Underwearness, Morris Animal Foundation and Dress for Success. In addition to the cash donation, GFM staff divided up into four teams to collect community donations and volunteer time for each organization.

Best Friends Helping Best Friends - Canine Cancer Campaign

In August our family patriarch passed away. Red (aka Reddrick von Poopenheimer III) was the classiest of dogs. A Hungarian Vizsla, Red was as close to a human as a dog could be. He could open the fridge on his own, sing a tune and give you the slyest of winks. He was woven into our lives like nothing else, and we miss him every day.

It’s in honor of Red and all the other GFM fur babies who bring so much love and slobber into our lives that we’re working to raise money for canine cancer research as part of GroundFloor Media's Get Giving 10th Anniversary campaign.

Morris Animal Foundation's Canine Cancer Campaign is helping scientists worldwide prevent, treat and, ultimately, cure cancer in dogs. We believe that, working together, we can one day cure canine cancer. Research funded through the campaign will help develop prevention strategies, test new treatments, establish tools for cancer researchers and train new scientists specializing in cancer research.

Please donate today to help us create a healthier tomorrow for dogs.

~ Ashley

Knee-Deep in Underwearness

It’s not every Sunday afternoon that we find ourselves knee-deep in thousands of pairs of kids’ underwear. Now before you go calling the authorities, consider this: according to the Colorado Health Foundation’s most recent Colorado Health Report Card, more than 143,000 children in Colorado live in poverty. Our state ranks 14th in the nation for children living below the poverty line.

What do these things have to do with each other? Well, this holiday season thanks to a start-up charity called Underwearness, thousands of kids will receive new, clean underwear – something most of us take for granted, but for many underprivileged kids it is a rare extravagance. As part of its Get Giving 10th Anniversary campaign, GroundFloor Media’s Underdogs team (Wendy Artman, Carissa McCabe, Amy Moynihan, Claire Mylott and Ramonna Robinson) helped Underwearness founder Koree Khongphand-Buckman purchase and hand-sort thousands of pairs of girls’ and boys’ underwear. Koree started Underwearness out of her home when it came to her attention that some poverty-stricken children do not have underwear — clean or otherwise.

With Koree’s help the Underdogs team literally emptied the aisles at the local Kmart, then proceeded to count, sort by size and gender, and jam-pack boxes to help fulfill orders for several nonprofit organizations around town, including Safehouse Denver.

As we were diligently counting and sorting, what struck us most was the sheer volume of underwear needed by each organization. Safehouse Denver alone needed more than 1,000 pairs of varying sizes of underwear to accommodate the boys and girls it serves. All of us who volunteered that afternoon are mothers ourselves, and it was hard not to think about our own children and how fortunate we are to be able to provide for them. By literally being knee-deep in underwear destined for shelters, our eyes were truly opened to the dire straits of other Colorado families. There is something particularly enlightening about holding another child’s basic needs in your hands that stops you in your tracks.

In an effort to include GFM team members outside Colorado, too, the Underdogs have joined forces with Underwearness to launch a giving campaign in Milwaukee, where Wendy is based. Koree introduced us to a local supporter there, and we are helping to promote a drive with the goal of collecting 5,000 pairs of underwear for local nonprofit Journey House. Journey House will then distribute the underwear to families in need on Milwaukee’s south side.

We couldn’t be more proud to have helped Underwearness on a recent Sunday afternoon and to have expanded our support outside Colorado to the current fundraising drive in Milwaukee. Although our part is just a small drop in the bucket toward satisfying the demand for clean underwear, we walked away with a new appreciation for what a good heart, a great idea and lot of hard work can do. Thank you Koree and the Underwearness team for all you do to give kids dignity!

NOTE: if you’d like to get involved in our effort to support Underwearness in Colorado or in Wisconsin, please contact getgiving@groundfloormedia.com.

The Art & Science of Key Messages (part two)

(See Oct. 31 post for part one, which covered identifying target audiences)

Limit Key Messages to Three and Back Up with Proof Points

There's no magic to three key messages other than it's usually easier for people to remember items in threes. Coming up with three targeted, memorable messages will help everyone in the organization serve as ambassadors, delivering consistent messages each time they communicate on behalf of the organization. Developing proof points to accompany your messages will help bring your messages to life and make them stand out. This is where you can come up with a "kitchen sink" list of proof points for each message. Examples of proof points may include: awards and recognition, research, statistics, real-life examples, practical applications, etc.

Key messages Should Be One or Two Brief Sentences

Messages that are three or four sentences each will not be memorable or resonate with your target audiences. By writing your messages down, this will help you focus on making sure they're brief, concise and understandable.

Practice Makes Perfect

Once you develop key messages, it's critical to vet them. Practice your messages with people outside your company or organization. Deliver your messages to friends, family, neighbors and complete strangers, asking them to repeat back what they heard to ensure you’re accurately communicating your key messages. If your messages don't easily flow from your tongue and the recipient is having trouble repeating them back, they may need more work.

Train Your Employees, Volunteers

The final step, and one that is often overlooked, is training your spokespeople, employees, volunteers and other ambassadors for your company or organization on how to effectively deliver key messages and proof points when speaking to target audiences. Media train your spokespeople and have them practice delivering key messages in mock interviews. Role playing in groups where employees can team up in twos and practice sharing the messages in different mock settings (cocktail party, business lunch, child's soccer game) is another effective way to learn and become comfortable with the messages.

Uses for Key Messages

Your key messages and proof points should be incorporated into all internal and external communications efforts including media interviews, news releases, speaking opportunities, marketing materials, proposals, social media outreach, employee communications, website, etc. They should be reviewed and updated, especially your proof points, several times each year to ensure they remain relevant and timely.

GroundFloor Media recently worked with several nonprofit organizations, including Youth Opportunity Foundation, Colorado Youth at Risk and Rose Community Foundation, to help them develop key messages and proof points for their respective organizations.

~ Barb Jones

The Colfax Crew Connects with the Colfax Community Network

The Colfax Crew team has adopted Colfax Community Network (CCN) as its beneficiary for GroundFloor Media’s 10th anniversary Get Giving program. For Amanda Brannum, Laura Love, Jennefer Traeger, Kimmie Greene and myself, all it took was a few words about CCN to make us realize that we wanted to be a part of supporting its mission.

Let’s start with one simple question…

What do you think about when you drive down Colfax Avenue and pass motel after dilapidated motel?

I am willing to bet you don’t think very highly of the people who are inside. The terms drug addict, criminals and prostitutes probably come to mind. There may also be an assumption that the motel dwellers deserve to be there, or that they haven’t worked hard enough to find better housing.

However, what if you learned that those motels actually house hundreds of families with young children—children who do not choose to be born into poverty and spend their entire childhood growing up in those conditions? What would you think if someone told you that the grandparents, parents and children in the residential motels are more of a community—a community of good people who are struggling every day to stay one small step above being homeless?

When the Colfax Crew team learned the truth about those “seedy” Colfax Avenue motels, we knew that we wanted to donate our time and Get Giving donation budget to these families and the CCN staff.

Currently, CCN focuses on the following services for the motel community:

• Family Night
• Emergency Walk-In Services
• Access to Services
• After School Program
• Summer Camp

CCN is also always looking for volunteers and donations. We encourage you to visit the “Get Involved” section of the website to review available volunteer positions and current wish list items.

In the coming weeks our team is thrilled to be donating time and resources in several areas. We will attend a Family Night gathering to meet motel families and learn first-hand about their struggles and the support CCN provides. We are also sponsoring six field trips for children serviced by CCN in order to expose them to new, positive Denver experiences and hopefully lighten their spirits in the process. And finally, we will collect clothing and hygiene products for the families to help fulfill CCN’s current wish list needs.

We look forward to sharing our experiences with you here on the GFM blog. Click here to read more about our work with CCN, and please email us at getgiving@groundfloormedia.com if you would like to get involved as well!

~Alexis Anderson

The Art & Science of Key Messages (Part One)

Effective communications is both an art and a science, and to be successful, any marketing communications program must be relevant to your target audiences. At the very heart of the communications program are key messages. For this reason, developing key organizational messages is a critical first step to any communications campaign.

Key messages should speak directly to target audiences’ interests, while effectively impacting the desired behavioral changes. Too often, organizations craft overly complex messages by including "everything and the kitchen sink" that they want to say about the organization. The result is key messages that tend to be too long and difficult to remember. Instead, messages should be clear, concise and direct. “Easier said than done” – true, but not impossible. Following are some quick tips for developing memorable messages for your organization and for training your organization's ambassadors (spokespeople, other employees, volunteers, etc.) to deliver those messages.

Identify Target Audiences
Some important first questions to ask when beginning the message development process: Who are you trying to reach and why? What is it that you want your audience to learn or do as a result of your message?

Key messages are what you want your target audiences to "take away" from your campaign or program. Your organization will have multiple target audiences, but instead of trying to come up with 12 messages for the 12 target audiences you've identified, there's probably an opportunity to combine these audiences into like-minded groups. For example, let's pretend your organization is a food pantry providing food to individuals and families. While the food pantry may identify numerous target audiences, there is a natural way to "group" audiences because of what you want them to do.

Potential targets for a food pantry include:
• Donors – People and businesses that donate money and food to the organization
• Influencers or key stakeholders – Policymakers and community leaders interested in finding ways to reduce the number of families living in poverty
• Clients or customers – Individuals and families who use the services of the food pantry.
In this example, you can begin seeing how your messages are targeted to each of these distinct groups.

Following is an example of a key message directed to donors:
"ABC Food Pantry is a model of efficiency and stability, from its low administrative costs and vast volunteer base, to how it collects and delivers food to people in need." From there, you can insert a proof point to back up the message. "In fact, 93 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to providing services to people who are hungry."

Check back for part two of this blog where I'll cover more on how to develop key messages and proof points.

~ Barb Jones

An inspiring tale of one's quest to become healthier

Do you ever read a blog that gives you the extra push you need to make something happen? Most recently, I enjoyed a post from our client, Bob Mook, at the Colorado Health Foundation. His post, "To health and back again," focused on his quest to live a healthier life - for him and his family - and offered some key advice: While health-focused organizations like LiveWell Colorado encourage and promote healthy living, "revolution also begins at home – as in your home."

Just like me, Bob's post, might give you the extra push you need to walk, run or venture to the gym this weekend.



~ Jennifer

Team Impressionistas Takes a Second Look at First Impressions

Around 55% of another person's perception of you is based on how you look. Fair? No. Human nature? Regrettably so. We’d all like to believe that an employer will choose substance over style during a job interview, but there’s no denying that wardrobe is part of a first impression.

You know the scenario – the golden call for a job interview comes in and, the night before, you’re tearing through your closet trying on every suit you own to decide if it’s “the one.” I’ll admit I’ve probably spent more time prepping my interview outfit than my interview question responses.

But the reality is that not everyone has the luxury of picking and choosing from a closet stocked with professional attire. If you’re a low-income woman on a budget, there’s one place you’re likely to turn for a little wardrobe 9-1-1 – Dress for Success Denver. As part of GFM’s 10^th anniversary Get Giving initiative, the Impressionistas Team is donating money and time to help Dress for Success Denver continue to help women make powerful first impressions in the workforce through updated wardrobes, as well as career training and counseling. And, seeing that it’s the nonprofit’s 5^th anniversary this year, the timing for our partnership couldn’t have been more serendipitous.

The timing is also opportune for you to donate. Are you now working in a more casual or remote environment, yet keeping a stash of just-in-case suits? (This was so me until recently.) Did you lose or gain weight and can’t bring yourself to purge the old-you attire? Label it lazy, hopeful, sentimental or something else, but really… it’s time to put those perfectly good suits to good use.

Here are a few ideas you can do today to help Dress for Success Denver’s disadvantaged women in their journey to economic independence:

• Donate… duh. Drop-offs are the second Saturday of the month at Dress for Success Denver, which means the next one is Nov. 12. Mark it on your calendar today. Heck, go a step further and round up suits from your friends and/or officemates. Help them help others.
• Don’t donate. What I mean to say is don’t donate anything you wouldn’t wear yourself. These women want to feel chic, professional and confident, so bring only new or nearly new clothes with no stains or tears (that means no 80’s shoulder pads a la Melanie Griffith in “Working Girl”). Current wish list items are: white button-down shirts, black slacks sizes 16-26, camisoles, nice jewelry and handbags.
• Financial support. Don’t have suits to spare? Financial donations in any amount help.
• Volunteer. Visit the Dress for Success Denver volunteer page to sign up to be a personal shopper, career center counselor or donation day warrior.
• Show some Facebook love. Follow Dress for Success Denver on Facebook to learn about their events, their needs, help share their cause with your own networks or just to tell them what a great job they’re doing.

~ Rebecca

GrrrrroundFloor Animals Get Giving to support Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign tag line says it all, “Best Friends Helping Best Friends.” It was our team’s love for our best friends that quickly united us to support the Canine Cancer Campaign as part of GroundFloor Media’s 10^th Anniversary Get Giving project. For me the decision was also deeply personal; this past June I lost my best friend Duke to lymphoma.

Duke was a labor of love. We rescued him when he was just shy of his second birthday. We were told that we were his fourth home, but that had nothing to do with behavioral issues rather lack of time to care for a high-energy Weimaraner. We welcomed Duke into our home, and he quickly became my shadow. He was never keen on leaving the house and often had to be bribed to go for a walk. Offering a ride in the car was always met with hesitation and usually required us lifting him reluctantly. Duke was a home body. Sounds great except that it was Duke’s home and he was adamant about not letting others in, making it difficult to entertain or host house guests.

In March, something changed in Duke. At first, the vet optimistically thought it was a minor infection, but he wanted to run additional blood work. A few days later that blood work confirmed the worse –Duke had lymphoma. According to Morris Animal Foundation, 1 in 4 dogs will die of cancer. It is also the leading cause of death in dogs over the age of 2 years, and the risk increases with age. On June 20, my best friend Duke became part of that statistic.

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign is funding research to help develop prevention strategies, test new treatments, establish tools for cancer researchers and train new scientists specializing in cancer research. Our team hopes that you will support this campaign by helping raise funds to one day cure this disease that affects so many of our "best friends." For every dollar we raise, through its 10^th Anniversary Get Giving program, GroundFloor will match it up to $2,500.00. Please take a moment to visit our giving page and learn more about Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign. Feel free to share the link with friends and family because together we are working to fund a cure.

~ Kristina, team member of GrrrrrroundFloor Animals

10th Anniversary Get Giving: Underwearness

As part of its 10th Anniversary celebration, GFM has identified four charities to which staff teams will be dedicating time and effort, as well as donating $2,500 to help the cause. In this video meet Koree Kongphand-Buckman, founder of Underwearness. GFM will be supporting Underwearness in the coming months by helping to fulfill and deliver orders around the Denver metro area, as well as raising awareness for Underwearness through some local media outreach. You can learn more about Underwearness at www.underwearness.org.

Celebrating by Giving Back

As most of you know by now, GroundFloor Media is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. And as you also know, giving back to the community has been an integral part of our agency from Day One. So, it only seemed natural that our celebration should include a community component. The only question was what it would look like…

In the end, we decided to build upon our existing Get Giving program and donate $10,000 ($1,000 for every year the agency has been in operation) to four nonprofit organizations. Our crew divided into four teams, and each team chose a nonprofit to support. The only stipulation was that the organization had to be a 501(c)3 – otherwise, the sky was the limit. Not surprisingly, knowing our crew, women, children and animals rose to the top, and the selected nonprofits were:

• Colfax Community Network: advocates for and works on behalf of children and families residing in low-income, transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue
• Dress for Success – Denver: promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing them professional attire, a network of support and career development tools
• Morris Animal Foundation: advances health and welfare research that protects, treats and cures companion animals, horses and wildlife worldwide
• Underwearness: provides new underwear to children in need

Our teams will be jumping in to volunteer with each of these groups, in addition to providing them with $2,500 apiece. We’ll be conducting a clothing and hygiene product drive for Colfax Community Network (CCN), as well as planning a field trip for the kids involved in CCN’s after school program. We’ll be working with Dress for Success – Denver as it celebrates its own fifth anniversary. And we’ll be supporting Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign and helping to deliver underwear to kids in need.

Of course, we’ll be blogging, tweeting and posting to Facebook about our adventures along the way – so be sure to check frequently for updates. And if you’d like to find out how to get involved with any of the above projects and/or organizations, please check out our newly launched 10^th Anniversary Get Giving webpage. We have been so fortunate to be a part of this community for the past 10 years – we are thrilled to be able to give something back as we celebrate this milestone.

~Laura Love-Aden

Stop Taking the "Social" out of Social Media

Measurement is the “Social Media 2.0” topic of discussion in 2011. From sessions at South by Southwest Interactive titled “Value of a Facebook Fan” to client inquiries about the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) dollar value of social media, metrics and analytics of social media efforts are front and center these days.

The problem is there is no silver bullet for social media measurement just yet. The social aspect itself is what makes measurement so challenging. What and how social media efforts are measured is going to be different for every business and/or business objective. Social networks exist online, but that doesn’t mean they can be tracked in the same ways, or even with the same expectations, as your online advertising or SEO efforts. Don’t forget that social media is “social.”

We all have access to free services like Google Alerts and Twilerts that provide frequent updates on mentions of your brand, but how can you be sure you’re not missing an important conversation? Subscription-based tools like Radian6 and Sysomos* have become the industry standard for aggregating online conversations about your brand and measuring engagement numbers (things like sentiment, share of voice, etc.), but what about those private Facebook conversations or password-protected Yelp reviews that currently aren’t funneled into your results? Similarly, Google Analytics and trackable links like Bit.ly allow us to monitor click-throughs and conversion rates, but how can you know exactly why a person clicked at the time they chose to do so? Was it the post itself that motivated them to click? Or was it a combination of other influences that resulted in a click on that specific post?

I often compare time spent on social networks to time spent at a cocktail party. For me (and most surveys and industry articles agree), it’s extremely annoying when a person talks all about him/herself without actually having a conversation or lively banter with you. And it would be unheard of to have someone walk up to you, hand you a business card, and then turn and walk away. Have a conversation. Get to know the person, what they do, and how they might help your business. Then, take it a step further and introduce people who might benefit each other. That’s the beauty of networking, and that is what should truly be measured as a result of your social media efforts. Social media is first and foremost about connecting with people, building your brand, being a thought leader. The sales leads and CRM will come as a result of making quality connections. It really is about the quality of your connections, not the quantity.

Twitter’s recent announcement that it has started allowing promoted tweets (from brands you don’t even follow) to appear in your feed is a prime example of removing the “social” from social media. I understand the purpose or end goal - Twitter is working to find ways to boost revenue through “guaranteed” or increased visibility and click-throughs. But please, don’t interject yourself in my current conversation, hand me a business card or a coupon, and then leave. You wouldn’t do that at a cocktail party, and you shouldn’t do that on social platforms either. It’s disingenuous, and sure, it might result in a brief spike in web traffic, but what does it say about your brand and the impression you leave with your customers? Treat social media as an opportunity to connect with people, a chance to network and build your brand. Then measure how well you’re doing it.

~ Jim Licko

*GFM subscribes to and frequently uses both Radian6 and Sysomos on behalf of its clients.

A Time to Blog

Your social media strategy has been set. Pages have been built. And, for the first few months, the “shiny new object” of your organization’s social media practice kept everyone motivated to produce strong content on a daily or weekly basis.

But then work gets in the way—new client proposals, business travel, budget forecasts and plan development for the fiscal year ahead. And more quickly than you even realize, the company’s social media content has gone stale and finding the bandwidth to reprioritize can seem overwhelming.

Below you’ll find a few simple suggestions for keeping the content pipeline full without having to reserve nights and weekends for writing.

1. Block time to draft multiple blog posts at once. Find a hole on your calendar and block at least an hour to draft posts not only for the upcoming week, but the one after that also. You’ll need to stay nimble enough to quickly develop content when timely issues break, but most industries lend themselves to scores of evergreen content that can be written in advance and updated slightly just before publishing.
2. Create – and stick to – a social media editorial calendar. This tool works well for blogs, in addition to Facebook posts, Tweets, YouTube videos, Flickr albums and more. Dedicate an hour to mapping out content for the month ahead and you’ll breathe a sigh of relief every Monday when for the most part, the week’s posts have already been written. But do remember that someone still needs to be monitoring for and responding to incoming comments and questions, as well as jumping on relevant trends or any issues that are brewing underneath the surface of the social channels.
3. Think beyond the written word! Many of us forget that we can also rely on photos and a stellar caption for quick, eye-catching blog posts. “Wordless Wednesday” is a popular movement in the mom/female blogosphere that utilizes just one interesting photograph and a word or phrase for that day’s post—a great option for organizations with strong visuals, such as a consumer product manufacturers or nonprofits (with client consent of course).
4. Develop a “weekly roundup” schedule. One day each week, such as Friday mornings, recap the company’s top post of the week based on Web traffic or comments along with outbound links to top industry stories/blogs from the same time period. Readers will eventually become accustomed to turning to your organization as a resource on that specific day to help catch them up on what they might have missed during the week.
5. Secure guest bloggers. Aim to have credible guest bloggers submit content as far in advance as possible – depending on the topic – to fill the coffers on weeks when you or your team cannot dedicate an ounce of bandwidth to social media. For example, you may want to send out a tailored email at the start of each quarter to five or more potential guest bloggers to ascertain their interest in contributing content, providing a few topic ideas and general guidelines for length, accompanying visuals and timing. Be sure also to request that he or she cross-promote your blog on their social media channels once the post is live.

Maintaining a steady blogging cadence is not easy, but by getting ahead of it during the “slower” times, you can avoid losing all momentum when work (and life) gets in the way.

What other tips do you suggest for keeping up a regular blog schedule?


~Alexis