Case Study: Coffee Shop Social Media

Posted by On Filed under Marketing
Case Study: Coffee Shop Social Media

In the fall, I started working with a coffee shop owner who knew he needed to be more active on social media. More than just active, he knew he had a few challenges and opportunities on his hands. First, his customers – and even some of his staff – didn’t know about many of their sustainability practices. For example, they serve organic coffee and recycle all of their coffee grounds with a local composter. The ethos of his coffee shop wasn’t being promoted or even shared.

Also, he wanted to share more local news and more information on the sustainable coffee industry, to supplement posts and shares about his own shops.

This is a case study of how we produced some astounding results in just one month.

Keep reading →

Digital Detox: A Modern-Day Sabbath

Posted by On Filed under Health, Pause for Reflection, Voluntary Simplicity / Minimalism
Digital Detox: A Modern-Day Sabbath

A Sabbath is a day of rest, observed by some Jewish people from Friday evening to Saturday evening and by some Christian people on Sundays. Within these religious traditions there’s also a ritual of worship on these days. For the past few years, I’ve created my own Sabbath rituals and I thought it was about time I wrote about them.

Since 2014, I’ve blocked off “Sabbath weekends” every few months. On these weekends, I don’t work, I unplug from the internet and all digital devices, I don’t schedule too many projects for myself, and I focus on restful activities, like reading, meditating, going for walks, and journaling. On a few Sabbath weekends, I’ve even tried not to spend money.

Keep reading →

7 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Blog

Posted by On Filed under Marketing
7 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Blog

Many non-profit staffers and small business owners start blogging because they “know” they “need” to do it or because someone suggested it would help their cause. These are innocent nudges in the right direction, often doled out by a board member with marketing experience or a CEO who wants to write or by a consultant who is ready to set you up with a blog, whether it’s right or wrong for your needs.

I’ve personally cautioned more people out of blogging than into blogging because a blog wouldn’t best serve their goals or because they just wouldn’t be able to devote the appropriate time to it. Blogging can be a huge undertaking and first one needs to ask if a blog is right for your cause or your business.

Here are some questions to ask before starting a blog:

Keep reading →

Managing social media in 10 minutes a day (non-profit and small business edition)

Posted by On Filed under Marketing 3 Comments
Managing social media in 10 minutes a day (non-profit and small business edition)

There’s no denying that social media can be a huge responsibility to take on within your work. For those who use it personally, it becomes real obvious real quick how much of a timesuck Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and other channels can be. So it corresponds that managing social media professionally can be intimidating.

But how much time does it really take to have a professional presence on any given channel on behalf of your organization?

Keep reading →

Hootsuite: Social Media Management Lifesaver

Posted by On Filed under Marketing
Hootsuite: Social Media Management Lifesaver

For non-profit and small business staff juggling multiple social networks, Hootsuite is a lifesaver.

If you’re not familiar with the social media management tool, here’s the run-down: Hootsuite allows you to manage most of your social networks in one place.

Like a web browser, you can set up one tab per network, so you can toggle between, say, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Within each tab/network, you can monitor a home screen (feed, wall, etc.), your own sent and scheduled messages, and searches and mentions of your brand or specific keywords.

Furthermore, you can create and schedule messages, on one or many networks, with features like shortened links, images, location tagging, and more.

Keep reading →

3 Steps to Creating a Social Media Will

Posted by On Filed under Marketing, Pause for Reflection
3 Steps to Creating a Social Media Will

Several friends have passed away over the last few years. For months after their passing, Facebook still told me whether or not they were online. Google+ suggested I add them to my circles. And Twitter suggested I invite them to join.

Most disturbing of all were the Facebook reminders. Birthdays were the most shocking: being asked to wish someone a happy birthday, months after their passing, with their smiling face or familiar profile picture popping up in my feed all day.

This got me to thinking about what was happening with their account and started my research social media wills. Yes, it’s that kind of will: a way to protect and even pass on your (digital) property after your passing.

Keep reading →