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By Beth Warren, September 28, 2009 11:48 am

**I originally posted this on my blog in June 2009 when I first started supporting 12 for 12K.  In light of tomorrow’s big GG24 event for Doctors without Borders, I’ve updated it and reposted on this site**

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.  ~Edmund Burke

One of my favourite things in every career I’ve had (there have been a few..)  is that I’ve had the ability to assist others in some respect.   At one point I worked in not-for-profit and loved it.  During my time in the music business, I organized fundraising events, concerts, food drives and other helpful things.  Often, these were the “best” parts of my job. 

As well as my media/marketing experience, I also have a background in Volunteer Management.  I have both been a volunteer (Girl Guides, Scouts, etc) and organized volunteers.  I enjoy the experience of helping others.  Most of the time when I’ve ended up helping out, it’s because someone had to do it. It’s as simple as that.  We need a parent to work the book fair.. well, someone has to.. I have the time and ability.. so sure.  I’ve had a bunch of charitable experiences.. from sitting on volunteer boards and committees to  being a Brownie leader.. to sponsoring a child in another country.  My experience with volunteering, or with assisting anyone for that matter, is that you don’t do it with any expectation for yourself other than a genuine desire to help.

In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy.  ~Karl Reiland

In June, one of my Twitter friends, Jon Aston (@JonAston on Twitter) was looking for “ten good people” to help out with The 12 for 12K Challenge.  I had seen the logo on Twitter in various peoples’ profile photos and noticed it on their Twitter pages, but really didn’t know a heck of a lot about it, so I asked about it.  And I asked Jon what he wanted these “ten good people” to “do”.

The 12 for 12K Challenge is the brainchild of Branding and Social Media Expert Danny Brown.  The concept is very simple. Using social media the participants would raise $144,000 in 2009.  Each month a different charity would be the recipient of the funds raised. 

For the GO GLOBAL 24 event  September 29th, the charity will be Doctors without Borders. Henie Reisinger (@hennartonline) will be tweeting for 24 hours.. there are sponsored hours, and all donations are certainly welcome. Please get more information here.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  ~Winston Churchill

Here’s why I’m writing this:  all I had to do was commit $10 a month. Seriously. $10. And of course, it would be nice if I could spread the word about the movement. So I said yes.  I can do $10.  Not hard to find.  A few less Tim Horton’s coffees.  A couple less beer, one less bottle of wine..  (ok, let’s not get ridiculous)…

The point I’m making is this: it’s a simple thing to do. $10 once a month. Easy. It’s just a little bit… but if everyone does a little bit, it will be a LOT. And I understand that not everyone has the $10. So do WHAT YOU CAN.

For the GO GLOBAL 24 event, there will be auctions, donations and more while Henie tweets for 24hours straight.  YOU can help. Whether it’s contributing time, money or effort.. YOU can help. Because if everyone helps out even just a little bit.. it all adds up to a lot.

 Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.  ~Dr. Seuss

Comments (15)

By Beth Warren, September 22, 2009 12:09 pm

A couple of weeks ago I read a post by brilliant radio consultant Jaye Albright of Albright & O’Malley  – it was about a Twitter promotion a station in Texas was doing and how it’s only a matter of time before you see more Social Media contesting. 

Which makes sense.. it’s ALL media.. radio, television, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.. it’s about connecting with others.  It’s a win/win.

Except for the fact that the majority of Radio fails miserably at Social Media.

Very few radio stations are using social media well.  Most aren’t using it at all. In this economy and the state that terrestrial radio is in, you THINK they’d be all over it.. after all, more listeners = more ratings = more money.

But they aren’t. They are either just not bothering or they are doing it poorly.

There are over 12 THOUSAND radio stations in the United States and only 121 of them are on Twitter. (http://radioontwitter.com/) 

Radio is missing a huge opportunity to drive web traffic, create listening appointments and increase time spent listening.. but they don’t seem to recognize what they are doing wrong.

The 3 biggest reasons:

1. Radio does not engage.

When I was in radio school, not to mention working in radio, the Program Directors would encourage the jocks to talk on air as if they were speaking to their best friend. One on one with another human being. Entertain them. Engage them.

So why isn’t radio doing that with Social Media?  They are breaking their own rules. Most radio stations have a disproportionate ratio of followers to following on Twitter and seem to rarely interact with those “friends” on Facebook. 

I randomly selected stations that I listen to as well as other stations from the U.S. and Canada..  Ninety five percent  of the stations I researched are following less than ten percent of their followers. Some aren’t following ANY.   HINT: The more you follow, the more will follow you back.

Many stations had less than 100 followers. And they’re only following 10 or so. Most of these seemed to be following celebrities and the like. Great for research. Bad for communication.  Dudes… I have more followers than you. And I don’t have a big ol’ broadcast centre.

If radio would become “friends” with these listeners, the listeners would be far more likely to be loyal.  Plus, sending out one “tweet” a day just doesn’t cut it.  Nor does being unresponsive when listeners send messages to you.  Hard to have a conversation with someone when you’re the one doing all the talking. Just sayin’.

p.s. Having your jocks “blog” by writing 3 lines with a link to a cat singing Happy Birthday. Yeah, not riveting.

2. Radio doesn’t promote itself.

I know! Hard to believe! Think about how many followers and friends Joe Average would have if he were on your local radio station every day telling everyone his Twitter handle and/or Facebook address or YouTube link.  Lots, right?  Thousands..maybe even bajillions…

 If radio actually DID such a thing, they would.  Listening to some of these stations, and checking out their websites.. most did not even have a link to any of their social media sites.  Nor did they talk about them on the air. 

Unfortunately, many in radio think that social media sites are competition for hits to their own websites. 

They’re wrong.

Most listeners will go on a social media site at least once a day.. not so much their favourite radio station’s website. Using social media effectively, radio could drive far more listeners to their own websites.

Using tools like Facebook, Radio could have listeners upload their  own content for contests.. much simpler than Buddy emailing a pic and webguy having to then upload it to the station’s site.

Connect the dots people. It’s what links are for.

3.  Radio vastly underestimates Social Media’s value.

Unfortunately, most in radio don’t think social media is a valuable tool for them. However, now I will speak in their language. Demographics.

Looking at the facts and figures provided by Mashable, Neilsen and Quantcast there are currently 14 million Twitter users in the U.S. alone.  Which makes it sound kind of piddly when you realize that Facebook has over 200 MILLION users.

And, my radio friends, sixty-six percent of those using Facebook are between the ages of 18-49.  58% of users make over 60K a year. 54% Female.. 46% male.  Sound familiar? 

Twitter usage has jumped from just over 5 million users to 27.6 million users in 6 months. Twitter is most popular with working adults between the ages of 35-49. Accounts for 42% of their audience.

Seventy-two percent of Twitterers are in the core demo of 18-49.  54% Female.  46% Male. The vast majority of Tweeters are not only regulars, but they are “addicts”.  From February ’08 to February ’09, Twitter usage increased 1382%. 

Go look at the cold hard facts.. www.quantcast.com … www.nielsen.com .  And read this .

Yet, most stations don’t even have a social media strategy.  Why not?

Radio: Let me know if you need help with that.. evilgenius@live.ca

Comments (13)

By Beth Warren, August 31, 2009 11:15 pm

I was re-tweeted multiple times the other day after posting the following:

“How to gain 1000s of twitter followers! Just be real, stay cool, & stop using BS widgets to make yourself popular!”

I have to say that this wasn’t MY original tweet.. I RT’d my friend Robert Casanova (@theh2hproject) .. but the message was such that many many people agreed and passed it along.  Definitely struck a chord.

Apparently there are still some that think whoever has the most followers wins (*cough* Ashton Kutcher *cough*)  But here’s the thing that some people really don’t seem to “get” about Twitter, Facebook and social media in general.. It isn’t all about the numbers.  I KNOW!  SHOCKING!

It’s about actually connecting and having relationships.  If you don’t actually have conversations with these people, what’s the point of it all?

Therefore, I spent some time yesterday “culling the herd”. 

Unfollowing.  Un-friending.

It had to be done.

“It’s not me, it’s you.” 

I had to break it off with a few of them.  Looking through who had recently started following me on Twitter, I realized that some were not people that I had any interest in following (or not people at all for that matter..) and so deleted or blocked as the case may be.

Sorry, but I have no interest in learning about buddy’s MLM scam  business… nor do I wish to view anyone’s webcam.. and my teeth are quite white already, thanks.

Aside from the usually spamminess that was purged I also stopped following a few people for various reasons.

If I reply to something you’ve tweeted and you can’t be bothered to EVER respond, that’s a monologue, not a dialogue. We are not interacting.  See ya.

Only talking about your biz offering and all that you can do for me.. thanks but no thanks. Bye.

If all you ever have to say are quotes by someone else or just RT’ing everything.. appreciate the thought but…. you are not enthralling. Just sayin’.

And if you’re some guy who’s major interest in Twitter is hitting on women in a not-so-subtle manner.. again, not interested dude. Feel free to check out POF or Lavalife.. that’s what it’s there for.

The bottom line is.. if it’s all about communication, community and connections.. I’ll go for quality,  over quantity.

You can keep your  1000’s of followers. I like real relationships and conversations much better.

Comments (5)

By Beth Warren, July 31, 2009 9:57 pm

“Hi neighbour!” said the little kid next door. “What are you doing?”

The daughter answered that we were just hanging out, enjoying the patio. And what was he doing?  “I’m playing trucks! Wanna see my trucks?”

Earlier we could hear him on the other side of the fence dancing around and singing “I’m five years old! I’m five years old!” in that sing songy voice that little kids do so well.

Of course, we looked at his trucks.. they were very impressive. He was happy we liked his “diggers”.

The whole interchange made me think about social media and how it brings down the barriers that we put up as adults… and essentially allows us to be five years old.. if we want to be.

Think about it.. would you randomly walk up to some stranger on the street and ask if they wanted to see your trucks? Or your dolls, or your business offering or what have you. No. You likely would not, as you would be perceived to be insane or at least borderline creepy.

But if you’re 5 years old, you can do that. It’s socially acceptable. (Mind you, most 5 year olds don’t have a biz offering, but I digress…)

Social media removes that barrier. You are allowed to act like a five year old. You can be forthcoming, friendly and brutally honest like only the really young can be.  You can chat with people,  be a little silly if you choose… ask people to read your blog posts.. take a look at your new application, check out your website…. look at your trucks.   And most will.

And then, like most five year olds do, they share. Introducing you to many new friends who you wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t let down those barriers and in essence, acted a little like a 5 year old.  Without the tantrums, we hope.

Wanna see my trucks?

Comments (1)

By Beth Warren, July 30, 2009 5:58 pm

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” - Groucho Marx

I was listening to my local radio station the other day and the announcer on air made a huge deal for several breaks about playing the new Pearl Jam tune. I’m not the biggest PJ fan in the world (is it cool to call them that, or did I just out myself as a geek?) but because he was making a big deal out of it, I noticed. So when he said “here it is!” I listened.. and low and behold, there was the intro … which sounded an awful lot like AC/DC’s Back in Black… which it was. 

A couple more songs played, then he introduced the new Pearl Jam again without calling notice to the fact that he pushed the wrong button the first time around.

Now, I went to radio school and worked in the field.. and I have pushed the wrong button. Some programmers will say just pretend it never happened. However, as a listener, I feel as if you are trying to dupe me. I know what I heard. Don’t treat me like I’m dumb. I would have had far more respect for the dude if he stopped the song in it’s tracks, said “I’m a dumbass, sorry…” and THEN played the track.

When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback.  ~Bill Copeland

I follow this guy on Twitter who has created numerous Twitter accounts in order to promote his new business.  Which is fine, except that he operates all of them himself, pretending to be other people.  He’ll have Twitter conversations with his various accounts, asking “the guy who works for him” questions and replying.. he’s even gone so far as to create fictitious CLIENTS.  And then proceeds to have “wow you guys really helped me” conversations.

Here’s the thing.. he slips up every now and again and responds from the wrong account. He also phrases all of his tweets the same way for each account, so it’s pretty obvious.   If I notice this, others have to be noticing too. I understand he’s trying to start a “buzz” about his venture, but by creating fake clients and fake employees, I have no reason to trust anything else he’s saying.  So every time he contacts me about something, I am entirely skeptical.  

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.  ~Syrus

Last year I joined the AC/DC fan club in order to take advantage of the advance tickets available to club members. Part of my membership package included a “gift pack”.  So I waited.. and waited and many months later still had not received my “special fan club gift”.

So of course I was a little put out.. I went to their website and looked for a “contact” to complain to.  Finally found an email address and shot off a note.. also noticing that on the fan club page it now said that they had a YEAR to send out the item (I didn’t notice that the first time…. I’m not sure it was there in the first place..)

Then I waited. And still nothing… so I started telling people I was going to boycott AC/DC and blog about it and oh you wait.. they’ll be sorry. (Knowing full well that likely this would have absolutely no affect on this little Australian band…) Then FINALLY (the day before I moved coincidentally!) I received a package from AC/DC Fan Club headquarters!  Got my buttons and stickers and other trinkets.. plus a note that apologized for the delay.

And I was happy.

“Honesty is something you can’t wear out” – Waylon Jennnings

The gift itself wasn’t that big a deal, it was the fact that they admitted fault,  and fixed it.

All anyone really wants out of any relationship whether it be personal or business is that the other party in the relationship is being honest and treats them with respect.  Everyone screws up. Admit, fix it, move on.

Just be real.

Because most people want to be spoken to  honestly and be treated like they have a brain in their head.

Oh, and maybe some AC/DC buttons.

Comments (2)

By Beth Warren, July 25, 2009 2:16 pm

I moved about a week ago and consequently I am adjusting to a new house, new town, new everything.

Met a couple of my new neighbours over the last little week or so. They seem nice enough. The last few places I’ve lived I’ve not gotten to know many of the neighbours so needless to say if I was ever in dire need of a cup of sugar, I’d be out of luck.

Mulling over the whole neighbour issue, I was thinking that fair being fair, I should really make the first move and say hi, how are ya… after all, just because I’m the newbie, it doesn’t make it their responsibility or duty to make me feel welcome to the neighbourhood.  Friendship is a two way street.

This morning I read this tweet from my friend Kneale Mann (@knealemann on Twitter.. check out his blog here)

Go to your followers list. Pick five people. Have a close look at all of their profiles and sites. Say hello.

Coincidentally, I had not only been thinking about doing something along these lines in my new ‘hood, but had also thought about this re: Twitter. 

Yesterday, I tweeted that I like it when a new follower says hi to me and tells me why they’re following..  I don’t always “catch” all the notifications of new followers.  I try, and I make an attempt to take a look at their profiles and determine that yes, they are indeed humans for one, but whether or not I’d enjoy their tweets.

I’d been slacking off, obviously.

Therefore, I took my lovely friend’s advice and went through a bunch of followers, said hi, looked at their profiles, read some of their blogs.  I’ve met some pretty cool people from all over the world just by saying “hello”.  I have new friends in the UK, California, Guatamala, Peru, New York… all over the Twitterverse..

If you don’t cross the proverbial street to say hi to your Twitter neighbours, how are you going to become friends? Guess you could say friendship is a two way “tweet” (yeah, I know…)

Won’t you be my neighbour?  Because you never know when you’re going to need a cup of sugar.

Comments (1)

By Beth Warren, June 26, 2009 4:47 pm

Strange but interesting times online the last little while.

The Good

Many on Twitter have coloured their avatars green to show support for democracy in Iran and  for those protesting the rigged elections.  #IranElection has been one of the top trending topics on Twitter as a result.  Social media has been vital in disseminating information about the turmoil in Iran once the government blacked out foreign news coverage.   Ironically, more people likely know about this situation than if it had been reported in the traditional media.  Teenagers with green avatars who would likely not be watching CNN and otherwise be ignorant of Iran’s situation. A good thing.

The Bad

I woke up in the middle of the night Sunday night/Monday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. So I turned on my Blackberry to take a look at the Twitter stream .. and came across the posts from Perez Hilton asking people to call the police.  Needless to say,  the rubber necker in me had to slow down to gawk at this carwreck and try to decipher what had happened.   It was fascinating to watch the drama unfold..regardless of whether you think Perez is a jerk or not…  thousands, conceivably millions, were aware of the plight of Perez before it even was a blip on the traditional media’s radar.  Not necessarily a bad thing initially, but it ended up as more of a name calling high school catfight than a pressing social issue. (Yes, no one deserves to be hit. We agree.)

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, a couple of days later, Dina Lohan went on a twitter rant in a desperate bid for attention, claiming that she was virtually being held hostage by a hotel chambermaid who assaulted her with a towel. Give me a break.  Definitely bad.  Please get over yourself Dina.

Ed McMahon passed away on Tuesday and then Farrah Fawcett on Thursday.  Many received the news of their deaths online.  The ensuing heartfelt messages, sharing of memories and videoclips, links to various images and stories.. back to good.  Two cultural icons being remembered.

The Ugly

Then the news hit that Michael Jackson had been rushed to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest and the interwebs went nuts.  And it got ugly almost immediately.  Perez added to the backlash against him by posting this originally.    Then while the world waited to see the outcome of Jackson’s rush to emergency, the rumours that Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford had both died.  As it turned out, both false and merely a publicity stunt by a website not affiliated with either.  But ugly to say the least.  Unremarkably, there are already “mj death joke” sites up and running. Wow. What took so long? Ugly.

But back to The Good

Regardless of what you thought of Michael Jackson personally, there’s no denying his impact on pop culture.  Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett made their mark on our collective psyche as well, but not with the magnitude of MJ.   Despite his penchant for plastic surgery and questionable behaviour, he was a musical genius who provided the soundtrack to several generations. 

Many cried when they heard the news of his passing.  And they reached out to others in mourning through the sharing of links, music, video and condolences.  Through Facebook groups, Twitter, websites and more… people connecting to share their memories and love of an icon.

Social media is about making a connection.  Hopefully more choose “good” connections over the alternatives.   The world has enough bad and ugly.  Just ask anyone in Iran.

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By Beth Warren, June 13, 2009 11:19 pm

For several weeks now the big news was that at midnight last night Facebook would be offering vanity URL’s to their users. 

I know several people who were planning to stay up late to make sure they got their preferred names. I wasn’t planning on being one of them.. I just really wasn’t all that concerned.  There are a lot of “Beth Warrens” on Facebook and if I had to pick a different name… then no big deal. 

I use Facebook for fun, not for “business” or anything of that nature.. it’s a way to stay connected to my friends around the country and around the world.  It’s “personal” for me..  more of a  free time fooling around kind of thing.  Most of what I post is fairly humourous and tongue in cheek.. so if I had to go with something else.. I could live with it.  evilgenius maybe?  funniestgirlintheworld (my hotmail addy)?  Honestly, didn’t really give it much thought.   In fact, midnight came and went and I totally forgot about it and went to bed.

I was actually surprised at how many people were going a wee bit crazy over the whole thing.  Apparently within an hour a million user names had been registered. 

This morning I remembered that the URL’s were available and asked my kids if they were going to put vanity URL’s on their Facebook pages. First, they had no idea what I was talking about. Then, they confirmed that I was both addicted to the internet and that I was a geek.  (Uh, duh.)  And then they completely ignored the whole thing.

I logged on to FB and tried it out.. first try, http://www.facebook.com/bethwarren was available.. and I took it.  There are a LOT of Beth Warrens on FB so I’m really quite surprised I got it. 

I’ve taken a look through my friends’ profiles and some have added a personalized URL, some haven’t.  Most just used their own names. But some got creative. My favourite is my friend Avril’s… http://www.facebook.com/laughaminute (uh, I’m still the funniest girl in the world.. just so you know, Av.). 

But bethwarren will do.. after all, it’s my name.. oh, and evilgenius was taken.

(Take a look at this one.. this is hilarious.)