Disqus - Latest Comments for Nishland

Re: 4 Keys to Building a Successful Nonprofit Web Site

Nishland — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:32:27 -0000

Great resources here on making your website work for you (or your cause). I agree being relevant and serving up delicious content offers the perfect meal, and the ensuring conversation will have any current or potential constituent coming back for more. After all...who wants to miss out on dessert!

Seriously, learning from your content will only make you stronger (as an organization). Thanks again for providing these resources as a tool to use in monitoring, measuring, and understanding your audience

Re: How Else Can I Brand Myself?

Tim_Jones — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:02:07 -0000

Wow! These are some great suggestions, Nishland!

I will have to check out Reblog -- haven't used that one before, but what a great way to make a post "go viral."

Google Profile definitely a good way to expand your brand -- I really need to get on that. :(

I go back and forth on the email signature -- I try to customize it based on who I'm emailing.

LinkedIn is great. The one thing I tell people with any site like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and so on is to find one that "speaks" to you and focus on that one. Otherwise, you could spend your entire day going from social network site to social network site.

You also mentioned one I meant to mention in the post, as it's one of my pet peeves -- you HAVE to get out from behind the computer screen and actually interact with PEOPLE.

Thanks for adding so much good information to the topic!

Re: How Else Can I Brand Myself?

Nishland — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:42:37 -0000

I love that you use Disqus...what a perfect way to brand yourself as you comment on other's posts/blogs/sites. I also use Reblog on my blog if I post something others may want to use.
Setting up a Google Profile is a great way to "brand" yourself as it allows you to be easily identified when your name is "googled". LinkedIn is a great resource as well.

Don't forget to promote yourself in the simplest way...a signature line in your email!

Also in your offline networking and communication, mention your website as a way for people to learn more about you. Participate in relevant groups/associations and volunteer. Be proactive and be relevant!

Re: x

franswaa — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:01:49 -0000

Thanks @Nishland! Go right ahead and reblog away.

Your right on. Not everyone can do this, but it's great when people try. I can't imagine what it took to get this site off the ground from an internal operations/approval standpoint. Crazy!

Sweet @Aaron. Thanks for the link to your blog. I'll be sure to check it out.

Thanks @Dana! We appreciate the feedback!

Love the Church using Twitter. Thanks for sharing that. I think i should start doing that. I know this type of bold move is not for everyone and it comes in every form, but i love the fact that companies are starting the think even bigger like Skittles did.

http://twitter.com/franswaa

Re: x

Nishland — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:08:02 -0000

Frank, great post! I would love to re-blog this. I totally agree with Rowan, this method doesn't fit with every non-profit...nor does it fit with every brand or corporation. Mars tried this with Skittles versus anyone of their other brands. This was a test of the market, and by any measurement it could have been a sheer success. We unfortunately don't have the honor of knowing which element they were looking to test.

On a global level...brand awareness/visibility and brand engagement are the central themes that can be measured. Those two areas also present a starting point for any non-profit. Sure any non-profit can do a quick constituent survey to find out what people close to them feel/view about the organization... but for those with a larger than community-based reach, or those looking to gain traction...why not think outside the survey box and find a way to gauge a larger base. Often times people are either not aware of an organization at all, or are unsure of exactly what the organization does, and what it could mean to them. This type of social experiment helps create that understand and potentially rally more people around an organization's cause (see brand awareness & engagement). I will throw in the disclaimer that a campaign such as the Skittles campaign does take some time and labor (something many organizations won't have the resources to dedicate to)...but again, this type of "out of the box" thinking can stir a small scale social experiment easily manageable by the smallest of non-profits.

Re: Should You Have One Social Media Identity, or Two?

Nishland — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:46:00 -0000

I would agree to keep things personal. As a hopeful business owner, building relationships is key. Sure it is great to promote your business name, but in the end...you want people to trust in YOU as a person first, because YOU are who they are doing business with...your company is just the name you operate under.

We are all human, and have the power to make decisions. if you are going to "consolidate" your online life, then you can decide not to post those 21st birthday pictures. It is very easy to find out about someone online...no matter which name you are using. In building relationships, you put your best foot forward (period).

Tonisha Landry-Gaines (@nishland)

Re: The Problem With Leaving Twitter

Nishland — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:03:30 -0000

There will always be newer, bigger, better products/services out there. Advantages/Disadvantages to everything we use. That is the simple nature of competition. If we are making enough noise about Twitter or any of these other mediums, I am sure the developers are taking notice and working to improve (at least we can hope). Not like I am a twitter advocate or anything. If we continually abandon just to hit on the next 'new' thing, then what we will ever gain?
I may not have a lot of followers on Twitter....neither have I promoted my brand. But I agree with you Corvida. Leaving would be bittersweet...