Epic Change, Cause Marketing on the Social Web

Interview with Stacey Monk. Founder, CEO of Epic Change.

If you’re not familiar with this story, get ready for some goose bumps. In addition to warming your heart, this story is a great example of cause marketing with many valuable lessons for marketers.

Epic Change is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization founded by Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel. They help social entrepreneurs who are change makers share their stories to get funded for a charitable cause. Their current project is partnered with (change maker) Mama Lucy in Tanzania to build school classrooms in the Arusha district of Tanzania, Africa. First, a little background on Stacey Monk (herself an impressive change maker).

A Life Changing  Trip

Stacey always had the inspiration to work in the non profit sector. After graduating from college, she needed to repay student loans so she joined the workforce as a management consultant working in change management. She consulted for businesses and public sector clients on this discipline.  In 2007 Stacy took a life changing trip to Africa where she volunteered at Mama Lucy’s Shepherd’s Junior school. When Stacey returned to her consulting practice, she learned that the landlord sold the land that Mama Lucy’s school was on. That motivated Stacey to act on her life long dream of working in the non profit sector. She and Sanjay founded Epic Change and took on Mama Lucy’s school as their first project.

Using the Social Web to Raise Funds

Epic Change adopted social media out of the gate as a way to reach people for donations through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. They had a zero dollar budget. Stacey started using Twitter without any idea why. She connected with interesting people around the world which couldn’t have otherwise happened. One of those people is Sam Lawrence who has a popular blog called Go Big Always.  One day Sam said he didn’t feel like writing a blog post. Stacey volunteered to write it for him. She knew that Sam has a large following.  So, Stacey wrote a guest blog post about how she is going big to build classrooms in Tanzania through her non profit Epic Change. Sam shared that blog post on Twitter and it wound up reaching hundreds of new followers. It quickly struck Stacey how she could reach many influential people through Twitter and blogging.

That experience was a huge light bulb. Stacey figured out the power of the social web by connecting with influential people who can spread the word. Stacey’s connection to Sam Lawrence was game changing. His network turned out to be a huge door opener for Epic Change even though Stacey didn’t have a personal connection with Sam. Many new donors and new relationships came from that one connection with Sam Lawrence.

TweetsGiving 2008

Stacey started spending more time on Twitter as a result of her “going big” blog post and her new found connections on Twitter. This inspired Stacey to create a fund raising event called Tweetsgiving. Avi Kaplan, a new friend she met on Twitter, wrote a touching blog post thanking her for mentor-ship and passion for giving.  She was moved by his gratitude. So, Stacey invited the Twitter community to participate to show their gratitude. She asked influential bloggers like Jeff Pulver and Chris Brogan to invite people to give thanks for whatever they were grateful for and invited them to donate to TweetsGiving. The TweetsGiving event took place over just two days preceding Thanksgiving 2008. The goal was to raise $10,000. Over $11,000 was raised in just two days! TweetsGiving alone enabled Epic Change to build a classroom for Mama Lucy’s school in Tanzania.

TweetsGiving Success Factors

Why was TweetsGiving so successful? One reason is clearly stating the financial goal of $10,000 and stating what the money would be used for (to build a classroom). The call to action was to donate $10 for one brick. All the donators are listed on the wall of gratitude in the school.  The wall of gratitude was painted by local artists.  It reads: “This classroom was built from gratitude…Thank you!” All the donors are listed by their Twitter handle as shown in the picture below (that’s my Twitter name in the callout).  The entire classroom is enveloped by the wall of gratitude.

Five classrooms have been built as of this writing. And over $75,000 has been invested to secure land, a school bus, install flushable toilets and implement solar power. Over 300 children are now attending the Shepherd’s Junior school under Mama Lucy, which is triple the size since the beginning of the project! Equally important, this model is now proven which allows it to scale. Mama Lucy has also been certified now in national exams. Her school recently scored #1 out of 117 schools in their district in Arusha, Tanzania!

Building a Technology Lab is Next

An online vote has been mobilized to build a technology lab. Twitter people got involved in the voting along with the local people in Tanzania by going to internet cafes in town to cast their vote to get the funds for the technology lab. For many of them it was their first experience using the internet and they got to use it to vote to get more resources for their local community. On Stacey’s next trip they will teach people how to use the internet. The local people in Tanzania will also get to participate in TweetsGiving 2009.

TweetsGiving 2009

I asked Stacey about plans for TweetsGiving 2009. She was not ready to announce the financial goal when I conducted this interview. But, I’m sure we’ll learn about it very soon. She assured me the goal will be bigger than the 2008 goal. And, I have no doubt it will be exceeded once again.

Experiment that Paid Off

Stacey Monk’s story has so many inspirational lessons for us as humans and as vocational marketers. The main lesson I want to emphasize for marketers is to be willing to experiment. When Stacey launched TweetsGiving 2008 she didn’t know what to expect and she wound up exceeding her goal. She reached out and engaged influential people who helped her exponentially reach many more people. Stacey also produced content every step of the way. Her most successful content was user generated content, especially content that is produced in Tanzania in the way of photos and video.

Inspiration to Others

Many others have been inspired by Epic Change including me. I wrote a story about Epic Change in my book, Marketing 2.0.  Shel Israel has also covered Epic Change in his book, Twitterviille. Stacey was invited to speak at South by Southwest Conference where she learned that others have been inspired by her as a result of TweetsGiving. Many are frequently reaching out to Stacey for advice on raising funds on the social web for a charitable cause.

Stacey’s Advice to Marketers

Stacey is very grateful for the attention she has received, not for self serving reasons, but rather for the positive impact it’s having on Epic Change. Stacey advises marketers to consider partnering with charitable causes to make a difference. Along the way, you can reach influential people who align with the charitable cause. When for-profit businesses adopt a cause marketing mindset there are several winners. One of them can be the marketer. But, the biggest winner is the cause.

Thanks for advice Stacey!  I can’t wait to hear about TweetsGiving 2009.

YouTube or MyTube? Video Content Marketing

Podcast/Video Interview with Shaun Pope of Endavo Media

This podcast interview with Shaun is about using video content marketing in a Marketing 2.0 strategy. Shaun is the co-author of the video chapter in my Marketing 2.0. social media book. Endavo Media is an Internet TV platform that allows a marketer to easily upload video content, brand it, control it and monetize it. It allows any marketer to create “branded entertainment.” Shaun points out that those companies having the most success with video have fun with it!

A video excerpt of this interview will be posted on the branded Find and Convert video channel.

Marketing 2.0: Content Marketing  & Relationship Building

YouTube is a popular tool. Shaun refers to it as: “YouTube is really their tube.” While YouTube has ease of use and wide distribution in its favor, the reality is that YouTube gets all the branding benefit of your video. Your video on YouTube   brings the audience to their platform, not your platform. Marketers should strive to bring their audience to a branded entertainment destination.

There is some value to uploading video on YouTube. It’s a free video service.  It’s easy. Your videos are  displayed by topic. But, because your video topic is tagged, YouTube will display other videos with similar tags. So, people can easily find your competitors videos or get distracted by other videos because YouTube will display “like” videos. In other words, you can lose control of your audience on YouTube.

In a branded video channel you maintain full control of your video content and give your target audience a branded entertainment experience. You control the calls to action, the links, the messaging, the channels and generally the whole experience.

I refer to the branded entertainment concept as “my corporate tube.”

Examples of Companies using Video Successfully

Rick Short, MarCom Director at Indium Corp., has produced video about their solder paste product. Some of his videos are funny. But the humor is generally only humorous to their target audience. It’s like an inside joke. Outsiders wouldn’t consider it funny. Like the video of Rick giving his wife a present at a restaurant. The present was a tub of solder paste. His wife didn’t think it was funny. But, his audience does…These funny videos strengthen relationships with his global audience by humanizing an otherwise technical topic.

TurfNet: They are an association of golf course administrators.  TurfNet TV uses fun and humorous content. They recognize the importance of ongoing story telling that attracts their audience.

HubSpot TV: Weekly internet TV show on Friday at 4pm hosted by Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe.  They deliver great tips and advice on inbound marketing strategies. I like that they emphasize the low cost infrastructure of HubSpot TV. They use a camcorder and show topics on a plain sheet of paper. They understand that video is important, but it’s a cog in the wheel. They produce a lot of content across multiple social web platforms, blogs, Twitter, forums and video.

Many people in today’s global economy have basic video production skills because the tools are so readily available to the masses. Whereas in years past video was restricted to professionals with expensive gear.

Market Leverage: Affiliate Marketing TV

Market Leverage is an affiliate marketing network. They bring together content publishers and merchants. They promote different offers from publishers to affiliates on their branded Internet TV channel. They have a lot of fun with it. Their audience understands them and enjoys their video.

Strenghthening Your Brand

A weak brand = weak sales. A strong brand can result in strong sales. People buy from people they are comfortable with. Video content goes a long way toward straightening your brand. Video content should be a staple in very Marketing 2.0 strategy.

Video content production is a terrific way to bridge the gap between sellers and buyers.

I have produced a brief summary of my book: Marketing 2.0 on my branded video using the Endavo Media platform. It is MyTube. Check it out.

I hope you’ve been inspired to use video content in your Marketing 2.0 strategy!  Don’t hesitate to share your comments below about how you’re using video or other examples of Marketing 2.0 companies doing it.

@berniebay

I Will Continue to Eat at Dominos Pizza

As an inbound marketing professional and a social media evangelist, I also consider myself part of the media. Anyone who cares enough about a topic and is willing to blog about it, Tweet about it and generally discuss it on the social web is in some way a part of the media.

You’ve probably heard about the two idiots who work at a Domino’s Pizza in  North Carolina who thought it would be funny to shoot a disgusting video illustrating unsanitary tactics. When I heard about it and saw the video I must admit that my immediate reaction was like most others. It’s human nature to be disgusted by the video. It’s also human nature to have a negative sentiment toward the Domino’s brand (in this case).

But, I want to go on record that I will continue to patronize Domino’s (to the extent that I eat pizza from time to time). The reason for my sentiment is for the quick response from Domino’s President, USA Patrick Doyle and his passionate commitment regaining the trust of you and me (their customers). He thanked the online community for quickly alerting them to the video. His video apology is explicit about the damage to the Domino’s brand, and their commitment to clean food and outstanding customer service.

I scanned the Twitter stream around #dominos and not surprisingly there is a lot of chatter about it. However, I see some people criticizing Domino’s for nit picky stuff. They could’ve done this, or could’ve done that in the way they communicated. I don’t want to hear that crap! They responded quickly using the very same platform that has created this PR nightmare. As Mr. Doyle points out the actions of  2 idiots out of 125,000 hard working employees around the U.S. should not be the cause of a damage to the Domino’s brand, though he understands it is indeed very damaging.  The two employees who shot this video have been fired and are being charged with a felony.

Below is his video apology. I encourage you to view it and consider the power of social media, both positive and negative. I believe the lesson here is even when something negative like this happens, the social media platform should be used positively not only by the brand, but by those of us who care enough to come to their defense.

You may have a different opinion. Whatever your opinion, the beauty of the blogging platform is that you get to express it. Other than vulgar language, I will not filter any opinion you may express in the comments section below. Let’s hear your opinion on this incident and the role of social media as a platform to deal with it.

Social Media Lines Blurring

As social media continues evolve, grow, blossom and even mature among both personal users and businesses, the lines are beginning to blur among them.

Well known social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are now being used in the same sentence as Twitter and Flickr.  Isn’t Twitter a micro-blogging tool?  Isn’t Flickr a photo content sharing tool?

What about YouTube?  Is YouTube a social networking site?

I don’t intend to give you a concrete answer to these questions.  Who am I to define these platforms? The user community is defining them.  But I will offer some offline comparisons to consider as you ponder this question.

If you belong to a health club, you joined it (presumably) to exercise.  On the surface, that is the purpose of a health club (or gym).  If you belong to a business organization such as a chamber or local business club, each of these organizations has a defined charter.  When you join any of these organizations mentioned here as examples, the premise of your membership is to participate in their charter.

Even if you joined any of the above for pure networking, you have to play by their rules.  You can’t go to your gym and hand out fliers and a business card in street clothes.  You’ll annoy so many patrons you’ll get kicked out. 

I have developed some very good relationships at my health club that carry into my personal and professional life.  I can say the same for a local non-profit business club I belong to (TBTF).  In both cases, my intent has been sincere.  I go to my healthclub to workout.  I go to TBTF functions to get involved, give of my time and talents and meet smart people.  Because both of these examples are local to me, I occasionally overlap.  I see people at my healthclub that belong to TBTF and vice versa.

The same can be said of social networking, even though the local aspect is much less a factor.  I know people in Facebook whom I also know in LinkedIn and Twitter, and vice versa.

So, what’s the benefit to this cross platform networking online?  I submit there are many benefits.  At a minimum I can meet other smart and interesting people through both platforms, and I really enjoy meeting smart people.

Since my profession is Internet marketing, and in particular we do search engine optimization (SEO) for our clients, another benefit is exposure to the content I produce.  Such exposure can result in content being shared among the network resulting in quality links.  Some content exposure can be incidental and some can be intentional. 

As I continue to network in the online social media world, I’m amazed at how the mutual benefits of social, networking and relationship building coincide with SEO value through the propagation of content and organic link building that occurs.

What’s your experience on social networks?  Which platforms do you use the most?  Which platforms mentioned here are social networking sites and which are (fill in the blank)?

 

Beyond Blogs

I frequently deliver a presentation on Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing. It’s a high level presentation that explains to business professionals what Web 2.0 is about. I cover RSS, blogs, podcasts, social networking, micro blogging, wikis and trends to watch. The presentation is available for download.

In my presentation I reference an article written by BusinessWeek in May 2005 which foretold the prominent rise of blogs in the corporate setting. The May 2005 cover story actually uses this phrase in reference to blogging: “Our Advice: Catch up or catch you later.”

The June 2nd issue of BusinessWeek is out and it’s a doozy! I recommend your read it!

The editors did a gem of a follow up story to the May 2005 article. Apparently, the web traffic to the May 2005 article is huge, not to mention the comments posted on their blog about it. Additionally, BW (much to their credit) felt compelled to update the story and particularly write about predictions they missed.

Remember, you should read the entire article. But, here are some excerpts:
“….Three years ago, we wrote a big story – but missed a bigger one….Blogs, it turns out, are just one of the do it yourself tools to emerge on the Internet. Vast social networks…now offer people new ways to meet and exchange information…These social connectors are changing the dynamics of companies around the world. Millions of us are now hanging out of on the Internet with customers, befriending rivals…It’s as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides…Ambitious workers use these tools to land new deals and to assemble global teams for collaborative projects.”

Did you catch that last sentence??? These social tools are not just for teenagers. We (you, me and our colleagues) have figured out how to use them productively in our businesses.

The article goes on to talk about tools that have become very popular to include Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes and Facebook. One person is quoted as saying “the new resume is 140 characters,” referencing the paradigm for communicating on Twitter. BTW, you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/berniebay.

The article gives a few examples of large corporations – BT, IBM – getting real work done on inhouse social networking sites.

One point I feel is very well made (and resonates loud with me) is their first fix to the May 2005 article is to revise the title from “Blogs” Will Change Your Business to “Social Media Will Change Your Business.” Yeah! That hits the nail square on the head!!!

Another well stated point in reference to how people use social media is: “A new class of supercommunicators has emerged.” Another point nailed!

The article closes with this: “Even if the bubble burts – and we predict it will – the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.”

If you are hungry to learn more about the global impact of social media and how you should be participating, this article is a must read. Here is the link again: Business Week Blog Article