An entrepreneurial adventure in content creation, idea generation, viral marketing, renegade branding strategies, and small biz nudity by Lani & Allen Voivod, aka The Content Lovers™, co-owners of EpiphaniesInc.com. "A-Ha Yourself!™"
May 2010
27
The answer is that it’s in your control, as Lani notes in this Earth Day video with a timeless message. You’ve got the tools you need to spread your message farther than ever before. Step outside your comfort zone and share it to elevate the communities that matter deeply to your life and business:
If you can’t see the video wherever you’re reading this (like on Facebook), you can watch it here on our YouTube Channel,
May 2010
17
(Yes, it’s an official press release coming your way…We’re so proud of the City of Rochester and its hard-working success team for making this important shift into the social realm with us! If you’re a leader in your own city, town, government, or economic development agency and know it’s time to establish a presence on Facebook and Twitter so you can engage with and be relevant to your community, PLEASE shoot us an email at Hey @ EpiphaniesInc.com, call us at 603.524.5248, or connect on our Facebook Page. We’re here to make it easy, pain-free, and even FUN.)
[GILFORD, NH] – More than 400,000 adults in New Hampshire are on Facebook. More than 30,000 of these users live within 10 miles of Rochester, the fastest-growing Seacoast city in the Granite State. Based on these statistics and the needs of their constituents, the City of Rochester decided to take bold action earlier this year to connect and communicate with their community in relevant, streamlined, budget-friendly ways.
The City is proud to announce that it is now welcoming residents and businesses to connect and engage with them on Facebook and Twitter. Eight of its high-profile departments and services have joined these leading social networks, thanks to a strategic partnership with social marketing consulting firm Epiphanies, Inc.
“At first, I wasn’t convinced that using social media was professionally appropriate for cities and towns,” admits John Scruton, Rochester City Manager. “But after attending two Chamber of Commerce events on social media last year, I’ve paid more attention to where the trends are going, and realize how important it is for local and state governments to effectively reach younger generations where they work, live, and play.”
The two Chamber events Scruton attended were presented by Epiphanies, Inc. co-owner Allen Voivod, and sparked the conversations that led to this forward-thinking alliance.
“Rochester is the first city in New Hampshire to establish a cohesive, brand-centric presence in social media across multiple departments,” says Voivod. “This provides individual departments with the creative license and autonomy to build communities that serve each department’s unique goals, and their audiences’ specific needs.”
Those eight departments and services include Police, Fire, Public Works, City Clerk, City Manager, Economic Development, and Recreation (RAYS), as well as an all-inclusive City Page. The Gilford-based social media company recommended focusing efforts on Facebook and Twitter based on the popularity of these platforms, their search engine influence, and their ability to leverage time, resources, and content across multiple channels.
In addition, Epiphanies, Inc. developed three distinct Social Media Policies for employees and the community interacting with the City on social media, and provided a combination of online and in-person training to employees who will represent the City on its social environments.
“Thanks to Allen’s help, we’ve been able to move forward with confidence and clarity into the social media realm, which is so important for us as stewards of the community,” notes Karen Pollard, the City’s Economic Development Manager. “It’s our responsibility to evolve and use these new communication tools to attract new industries, increase our visibility, and prosper as a dynamic, powerful business climate that fully embraces the future of community development.”
About the City of Rochester
Rochester, the Lilac City, offers businesses, residents and visitors alike the conveniences of a prosperous city combined with the charm and traditions of New England. From its rolling hills and rivers, to its vibrant arts community, to its rich history and active civic life, Rochester is a wonderful place to start a business, visit or to raise a family.
About Epiphanies, Inc.
Hailed as “visionary” and “two of the most creative thinkers in the industry” by the NH Division of Economic Development, Lani and Allen Voivod share powerful social marketing & success strategies through speaking, workshops, and their own online channels. Their company, Epiphanies, Inc., trains teams, crafts strategies, and serves as long-term success partners for entrepreneurs, bold brands, and mission-driven organizations. “Like” them on Facebook at http://facebook.com/AhaYourself, and watch their free Slidecast on social media for municipalities at http://bit.ly/AhaYourCity.
Serial entrepreneur, former Chief Evangelist for Apple, nine-time author of bestselling biz books – now that what we call a keynote speaker!
The 2010 Social Media Success Summit kicked off with a bang last night, led by Guy Kawasaki and his “How to Use Twitter as a Marketing Weapon” session. And in a remarkable example of the trapeze equivalent working without a net, his webinar included real-time demonstrations of the power of Twitter searches (even on his own name).
As of this writing, there’s still time to join the Summit and get access to the recording of his session (along with all the others to come this month), and to whet your appetite, here are three contrarian ideas worth noting for entrepreneurs, bold brands, and mission-driven organizations:
1. Absolutely do use Twitter for marketing and sales. Guy shared that the way he uses Twitter actually makes some people angry. He referred to them as “Twitter fascists” – people who insist that Twitter only be used as a social network, and not as a bottom-line business tool.
I loved hearing that from him. It reinforces what’s best about Twitter and other social media platforms. The creators of these tools couldn’t possibly envision all the uses their audience could get out of social media, but they created tools flexible enough that the masses could bend them almost any which way, which is a key driver in their mass adoption.
2. Repeat your tweets. Likening this to CNN and how they repeat the same content on their news shows – heck, you could say the same thing about ESPN and SportsCenter - Guy shared that his default is to tweet the same post four times, eight hours apart. That way, he knows he’ll hit a prime-time viewing zone with at least one of the broadcasts.
This works particularly well for him as a highly-watched Hyper-Tweeter, with 53,000 tweets to his name already. For the “average” professional, business, or organization on Twitter, repeating is still viable. It just has to be more evergreen content, and spaced farther out (say, measured in weeks, not hours).
3. Tweetmeme tops Digg. Though Digg is by far the more popular and heavily-trafficked service, Guy notes that Tweetmeme does more with less. Unless you get a ton of “diggs” from your Digg button, you won’t make it to the Digg.com front page, and the traffic you get from Digg will be meaningless. (Kind of like not being on the 1st page of Google search results.)
On the other hand, getting a handful of retweets through the Tweetmeme button (that’s one at the top right of this blog post) can expose your content to hundreds of thousands of people, depending on the number of people following those retweeters. So if you don’t have a Tweetmeme option on your blog, make it a priority.
To see more of the resources Guy shared during the session, check out this Alltop post, which has not just the bones of his presentation, but a bit of meat on them as well.
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Lani - Creative strategy. Practical dreaming. Brand-building brainstorming.
Allen - Inspired collaboration. Active listening. Content implementation.
