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Posts Tagged ‘online marketing’



Sarah Trees

02/25/2010

Get the word out with CoveritLive
07:01 pm by Sarah Trees


In today’s world, users want the breaking news at their fingertips, and CoveritLive (CiL) is the latest software application that makes this possible. Whether you’re a political candidate hosting a Q&A session or a news station covering the President’s State of the Union, CoveritLive can get the word out to your audience. CiL was built to handle multiple users at once – and by multiple I mean in the hundreds of thousands. But that is not the only amazing feature; here are a few of others:

  • Stream live video
  • On the fly translations
  • Reader Comment API – client’s can setup their own chat application and reader can comment from mobile phones or external chat rooms
  • RSS feeds – provide readers with writer and event feeds
  • Moderators or Writers can cover their event from their iPhone, Blackberry or smartphone
  • Publish up to 12 Twitter Accounts
  • Invite up to 25 panelists to provide commentary
  • Integrate 3rd party software like YouTube, WordPress, Twitter
  • Branded templates – Viewer window templates allow you to add your logo
  • News Flash and Scoreboards
  • Manage readers comments
  • Create a Media Library
  • Embed Large photos
  • Deploy Quick Polls for your readers
  • Advertise

What would be the cost for such a cool tool? You’d be surprised at how inexpensive this software is. There are three different pricing structures: Basic, Ad Supported and Subscription. The basic package is free of charge  and there aren’t any ads and up to 5,000 unique readers a month are allowed to view your live event. Ad Supported is also free, but serves ads, and after 45 days revenue sharing is possible. The last package is a one-year subscription, which contains no advertising and costs $400 per month.

Here are a couple of examples of companies that utilize CoveritLive:

PhilliesNation
General Motors
NBA – The Boston Celtics
CBC National Post

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Jessica Carlson

01/06/2010

With great risk comes great reward
12:28 pm by Jessica Carlson

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Starting off the new year on the right foot, our own Max Fose was featured on the cover of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s Impact Magazine. In the article about three successful valley entrepreneurs, Fose tells the story of how IWS was born.

After working with Senator John McCain throughout the 1990’s, Fose, who had inherited an entrepreneurial spirit from his father, took a gamble on entering the political arena, specifically creating and mobilizing advocates and supporters all within the online realm.

When asked what kept him motivated to forge his own path, he says, “I’ve always loved setting my own pace, betting on myself, investing in myself.” And, it’s definitely paid off. Marking the new year, IWS has hired five new employees and expanded into a new office. In his own words, he says that, “there’s a direct correlation between the harder you work, the greater your success.” And, anyone who knows him will tell you that he’s one of the hardest working people that he’s met. And as a true beacon for the right kind of entrepreneurship, he’s incredibly passionate about what he does and securing record-breaking results for clients. If you ask him, he’ll tell you that, “For the past 10 years I’ve never thought of going into the office as a job.”

To learn more about IWS and to read the full article, check out Impact Magazine.

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Jessica Carlson

12/09/2009

The Nanci Fund: A Case Study in Building Communities for Good
01:12 pm by Jessica Carlson

nanci_01_09

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” – Ghandi

The Reasoners, a now family of five, have much to be thankful for this holiday season. You see, a few months ago, Craig and his wife, Leeann, were entrenched in the Columbian legal system, attempting to adopt twelve-year-old Nanci Parra.

They met the young girl at an orphanage in Columbia while visiting the children they were adopting – Brayan, age 13, and his little sister, Tatiana, age 8. The adoption process, should have lasted only a month, but due to special circumstances, Craig had to stay in Columbia for four months, allowing him and the family to bond with the shy and sweet, yet blossoming young girl. Both Brayan and Tatiana made it safe and sound to the Reasoners’ home in Phoenix, Arizona. But the thought of Nanci could not escape the new family.

Working with IWS on a pro-bono basis, the Reasoners decided to create an online village that could help pay for the expenses to give Nanci a home and a better life. The generous supporters helped Craig and Leeann bring her home, and they recently finished up the final stages of paperwork and they have all safely made it back to Nanci’s new home. Their adoption costs for all three children was expensive, but thanks to supporters, they were provided with some relief in the cost to give Nanci a home.

At IWS, we’ve always strongly believed that we all have a responsibility to do more good. Max Fose says he often takes on pro bono work because he believes that, “…We all have a responsibility to give back. We’re fortunate enough to be in a position that we can, but even if we weren’t, we would do whatever we could.”

To find out more please visit the Nanci Fund. To find out what we else we’re doing to help the community this holiday season, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

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Jessica Carlson

10/09/2009

YouTube celebrates 1 billion views per day, so we have some tips
01:16 pm by Jessica Carlson

youtubelogoHead over to YouTube right now and you’ll see just how excited they are about reaching this huge milestone. While it might seem like only a minor change to modify their logo, if you check out the file name, “logo_holy_crap_1bn_a_day,” it’s clear to see that they’re just as impressed as most of us are. So in honor of their 365 billion views a year from here on out, we decided to provide some tips on how to become the next big YouTuber, or at least to ensure that your videos are being seen by a larger audience than your mom.

  • Be entertaining. While some people check out YouTube to catch up on the latest news in the world, the majority of visitors are there to get a laugh, be surprised or feel some other sort of emotion aside from boredom. Whether you’re a politician or a company, it’s important to get at least a few videos up that showcase your sense of humor and personality.
  • Collaborate. The likes of Carl’s Jr. and Intel have all used the power of YouTube users with a much bigger audience than them. Find out who’s huge on YouTube and is relevant to your audience and reach out to them asking to make a video about your organization or company (but, most of them won’t do this for free, so stock up on schwag or prepare to shell out their rent for the month). This will not only give people a fresh perspective of your organization, but it will most likely reach an entirely new audience. Can’t find anyone that fits with your organization? Than reach out to your existing audience and promote user generated content, so it’s not always about you.
  • Optimize your content. Many videos are found via search, so make sure that you’re utilizing appropriate and related keywords. Also, take advantage of other tools YouTube offers, such as adding other videos as video responses to your latest video and providing links to your other relevant networks in the sidebar.
  • Send your videos to your mother. In order to increase views and attempt to go viral, you have to start sharing your content, and not always with just your preexisting audience. Send videos that are worthy of spreading to people within your network and encourage them to share with their networks. Include your latest video’s link in your email signature. Pitch your videos to bloggers, asking that they blog about your organization and include an embedded video.

 

These are just a few simple tips that can help you increase your views and grow your audience. While, you might not get a billion views per day like our friends at YouTube, you’ll definitely watch your success increase.

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Jessica Carlson

09/23/2009

Measurement is the key to success
07:05 pm by Jessica Carlson

eMarketer SurveyeMarketer recently reported that the majority of professionals are using social media to market, collaborate internally and manage customer service. And, we think this is great that so many people are embracing these tools that can help make their day-to-day tasks more efficient, help them reach a wider audience and can help manage consumers’ opinions and perceptions.

The bad news? The minority are actually measuring the effects that their social media outreach has.

Social media can be measured quite easily, but only once you have concrete goals in place. Goals such as “Increase Facebook Fans by 10 percent this month” can easily be tracked using Facebook Insights. Third-party Twitter apps even offer solutions for measuring your outreach via the micro-blogging site. For instance a goal such as “Double @replies this month,” can be assessed and measured using services such as Twitter Friends.

Whether you’re just starting to use social media, or you’ve been ahead of the curve, always make sure to set goals and measure your outreach’s effectiveness.

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