Blogging for nonprofits?

Statistically, nonprofits perform poorly when it comes to using online communication to keep in touch with their donors and other stakeholders. Even now, the majority of nonprofit web sites fail to collect email addresses from visitors. Blogging may be a bit beyond many nonprofits, but if used correctly, can be a great way to get the message out about your organization.

Bob Johnson offers some ideas for using blogs to boost nonprofit interest. And be sure to check out Nancy Schwartz's web site and add her blog to your Feed Reader. I did.

By the way, all you nonproft consultants out there (including me) may be interested in the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants (Kivi Leroux Miller) where you can submit your best blog posts for nonprofits.

SEO for Newbies

I was thrilled to read this post by Lee Odden. Finally, someone else embraces the holistic approach to business and the web and the power of integration. It's always seemed obvious to me that everything needs to work together, and a challenge to segregate all the little pieces. I'm just a big picture person, I guess.

http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/01/seo-for-newbies/

FREE book

Everyone likes getting something for free. So how would you like to get Seth Godin's book "Small is the New Big" for free? All you have to do is visit his Squidoo Lens and download a new chapter each week. You'll also find some added bonuses.

Cool huh?

http://www.squidoo.com/smallis/

If you want to just buy it outright...
Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas

The Chosen One - funny

Wow! I can relate!

Small Business Trends for 2007

If you're a small business, I'm certain you've faced some of the employment trends/challenges highlighted in this blog post by John Mariotti. And if you're thinking about starting your own small business, you might get a clue about what holes you can fill by looking at the tips for solving some of these dilemmas.

And in another post, highlighting a study by Intuit on the Future of Small Business, you'll see diversity, the rise of personal business, and growth in entrepreneurial education topping the list of trends.

And while you're there, Craig, take a look at the Pet Industry Trends for your awesome gourmet pet food and treats business - Colorado Pet Chef.

Business plan? Who needs one?

In a recent post, Guy Kawasaki references a Babson College study on alums who started businesses with and without business plans. Their findings may fly in the face of popular business [training] thought - and a lot of business planners may be unhappy. "...the study found no statistical difference in success between those businesses started with formal written plans and those without them..."

So the basic recommendation is that you not spend hours and hours on a formal written business plan unless you're going for money - like investors, loans, capital, etc. It can serve to improve communication and get your team moving in the same direction. I think the most important statement was, "A great plan won’t make a lousy idea successful, and a lousy plan won’t necessarily stop a great idea."

I've seen too many great ideas get bogged down in over-planning, over-thinking - what some people call analysis paralysis. For some folks, planning is safer than actually doing. There's real risk involved in starting a new business. You have to put your whole self on the line. That can be a very scary proposition.

Granted, I'm generally an early adopter who jumps in quickly (although age and experience has tempered that impulsive urge a bit - just ask my mom). I've learned to spend a little more time researching and analyzing the challenges and opportunities. Guy's recommendation to keep your business plan short and not spend more than 2 weeks on it fits perfectly.

After being involved in the start-up of several successful businesses (none with formal written business plans), I say "go for it!"

Which are you?

In his blog, Seth Godin asks the important question: "Which are you?" It's much better to be a "the" than an "a". Are you A realtor or THE realtor? Are you A salesperson or THE salesperson? Whatever your profession, strive to be THE, not A.

The 59 Smartest Nonprofits Online

Whether you're a nonprofit who wants some insight into how to do it better, or you're just interested in finding a high-quality charity to support, you definately need to check out this list of the 59 Smartest Orgs Online. There's a lot any for-profit business can learn from the examples on this list. Learn to tell a great story and you'll win people over. If you're looking for a new way to reach your constituents, donors, clients, buyers, you may get some ideas here. And after you've spent time reviewing the online presentation of these nonprofits, vote for your favorite.

Stolen goods sold on Ebay

I saw an article on the Today Show this morning about organized crime using eBay to fence stolen property. When I googled "ebay stolen property" I got pages of links to articles about people using eBay for this illegal purpose. Although I haven't really thought much about it before, it really didn't surprise me. eBay (like Craig's List and others) is built on trust, and overall it works. Less than 5% of merchandise sold on eBay is stolen.

It reminds me that unscrupulous people will always try to take advantage of a good thing and use it for their own purposes. After the tsunami disaster, someone used an email soliciting donations to disaster relief to send a computer worm. And after the gulf coast hurricanes, fake disaster relief sites popped up on the internet exploiting the kind generosity of strangers (see my article, Give Generously but Give Wisely).

I'm not a cynic, but I am cautious. Mostly, I'm angry and disappointed.

It's up!

I've worked hours to launch a new look for the Whole Brain Technologies web site, and now it's finally up and running. Actually, it's been up for a few days. I'm still doing some tweeking and adjusting. The devil definately is in the details. But overall, I'm pretty happy with it. A very liberating experience, I'm relieved to finally claim the company as my own (more about that later).

I have a renewed appreciation for anyone spending time, money and energy on a web site - like my clients. I spent hours just looking for photos to use on the site. Going through the old site and deciding what to keep and what to leave behind was a valuable review of the company's past direction. Now it was time to articulate it's direction moving forward in 2007.

I decided to update the corporate colors and change the tagline. That was a refreshing change. I like the connection green (rather than the old teal) has to growth. I've always liked purple, so I couldn't get rid of that color. Plus, it forced me to update the designs for letterhead, business cards, and other collaterals. I even adjusted the colors for this blog.

The best thing is that now I'm free emotionally and psychologically to move forward. I've reclaimed the company as my own - something I no longer need to share with anyone.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Google's Philosophy

I've been working diligently on redesigning the Whole Brain web site while I'm recreating my company and myself (more on this later). I was looking for some samples of a business philosophy because I want to include one on the new site when I ran into this one from Google. I thought it was very interesting to see how they think about what they do. Although it's lengthy, it's not terribly boring because it's written in a "google-style" -- friendly, conversational, open -- not a lot of fancy wording, just talk. See for yourself.

Lessons for Pat O'Brien

For those of you who don't keep up on all the celebrity gossip, Pat O'Brien (Access Hollywood, The Insider) has checked himself into rehab after making some critical email and voicemail errors. Perhaps it's a lesson not only for Pat, but for the rest of us too.

Before leaving Access Hollywood in summer 2004, O'Brien sent out a drunken email critiquing his co-hosts including Nancy O'Dell. The email was promptly followed by a public apology and an admission of a drinking problem.

Lesson #1 for Pat O'Brien: If you write an email while intoxicated, sober up before hitting the send button.

After leaving Access Hollywood, O'Brien got his own entertainment gossip show called the Insider. At first it looked like O'Brien got his drinking under control. However, he apparently decided to get drunk, do a few lines of cocaine and leave a string of dirty voice-mail messages all over the place.

Lesson #2 for Pat O'Brien: If you are "horny" and doing illegal drugs, don't call everyone in your address book and tell them. You are a celebrity damn it! Especially don't leave voice mail evidence that can be recorded and leaked all over the internet.

If you're out of the loop and want more info on this critical issue, check out this article at MethodShop. Or better yet, read the blog (and buy a t-shirt while you're there) or this little inside commentary.

Just a thought (since before I read the commentary) -- what's with everyone checking into rehab these days? Kennedy, Foley, and now O'Brien. I guess it's that devil alcohol that made me do it.

And those two glasses of red wine made me write this post. Rrrrriiiiiigggghhhhtttt. Oh what the hell!

Marketers: Practice what you preach

After you read this post from Duct Tape Marketing, consider where your internal and external realities meet. Do you walk the walk or just talk the talk? If you don't believe what you're saying, why should anyone else?

Marketing is what you do and what you say

Lessons from the Lemonade Stand

For anyone in a management position -- whether you work for yourself or someone else -- these common-sense tips are a wealth of information! Included in these 101 little gems of wisdom are managing yourself, time, resources, people and more.

"Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: 101 Common Sense Management Tips"

And if you want to try your hand at running your own lemonade stand, check out this free online game: Lemonade Stand.

Life and economics are all about choices: play your way to success with Get Real! Or become a neighborhood tycoon as you run your own Lemonade Stand. Games from Moneyville.

One of the best seminars I've ever attended was The Accounting Game, based on running a lemonade stand. It was so much fun and a great way to learn to manage the numbers and read financials. (Yes, accounting can be fun.)

The Accounting Game : Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand

Image spam - example 2

I have a really good spam filter on my email, but this one still got through with the subject: "Re: a question" from Dr. William Clark.It included some random nonsense words in text at the bottom, but that was about it. Notice the instructions not to click on a link. That's because there's no link to click on. That's pretty much how it was able to get through the filters.

Just what I needed -- more crap!

Are you an addict?

More than one in eight adults in the US show signs of being addicted to the internet, a study has shown. A typical addict is a single, white college-educated male in his 30s, who spends more than 30 hours a week on "non-essential" computer use.

Users spend hours online each day, surfing the Web, trading stocks, instant messaging or blogging, and a fast-rising number are becoming addicted to Internet video games. This is an increasing problem for employers and families. "We are seeing more people who lost their jobs because of too much time spent surfing the Internet during work. More relationships are breaking up because of spouses sneaking out of bed to check e-mail in the middle of the night," says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude -- principal author of the study and head of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Though it's not yet an officially recognized psychological disorder, just Google "internet addition" and you'll find a bevy of links to recovery centers and programs.

When the future of BlackBerry was in doubt due to a patent infringement lawsuit in 2006, it was feared that Washington DC would shut down. Since it hit the market seven years ago, BlackBerry has accelerated the pace of business and bred a generation of workers who rely on constant e-mail updates. At a weekend seminar I hosted a couple of months ago, one of the attendees couldn't give up his CrackBerry habit, continually reading and messaging during class, breaks and dinner, hardly pausing to look up. Drove me nuts! Are these people the adrenalin junkies of the technology age?

Are you one of the 14% who can't stay away from the Internet? I know I am, but I have an excuse... it's my job. Heh heh.

BBC: US shows signs of 'Net addiction