3 (Three) Small Ways to Make Big Change

After announcing my return following a blogging hiatus, I received an invitation from The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio to write a blog article. The invitation was right on time and is just the push I needed to write about another topic passionate about — community support and social change.

In advance of Friday’s annual Keyholder fundraiser, the editor asked me to respond to this question: What can you do today, this month, or year to spark change in your community? Great question! There are so many ways — big and small — that people can do to make change happen today!

Of course we could talk about the big things like raising money, serving on a community board or hosting an event, but instead I want to focus on “small” or less obvious ways people can make change happen. Because small or large, contributions to change are just that. No matter how small your contribution — it matters.

Go In Your Community

Museums, churches, local governments, meetup groups, Internet communities and many others host all types of events to make their community a better place. Unfortunately, many events are not supported or embraced. But a small way to spark change in your community is to support your community by attending these events. If you want to spark change such as seeing more community events or more people attend — do your part and go! Support what happens in your community.

Get Opinionated

Frequently, people are neither interested in receiving feedback and too busy to give it. Whether you have a great experience or one that lacks luster — giving your opinion is one small way to spark change. In most instances organizers of community gardens, public art shows, welfare programs, fairs and festivals all want feedback. They really want to know what you enjoyed, if it met your expectations, what you would like to see in the future and  more. That’s how improvement happens. And although it can be time consuming to complete surveys and questionnaires consider how the simple act of giving your opinion can improve your community.

Go Local

If the change you want to spark is more local business then the best “small” thing you can do is to shop, eat, and buy local. That’s not to say there aren’t some great national or regional chain businesses, but change at the local economic level happens locally. And the commitment to make your daily, weekly, or occasional purchases at a local business sparks tremendous change for that business, its employees, your local economy and the national economy.

The idea of sparking change is awesome — and the options are limitless. Whether you have plans to spark big changes or you want to start with small ones, you have options.

What would you add to the list?

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio is excited to welcome special guest Whoopi Goldberg to Nationwide Arena on Friday, June 29th for Keyholder 2012. The Women’s Fund’s annual Keyholder event is a preeminent gathering in the central Ohio area, attracting thousands of people to honor the women and girls who have made a significant impact in their lives. Tickets are on sale now for $50 each and all proceeds are used to provide grants that promise social change for women and girls. Call 614-225-9926to purchase tickets or stop by http://womensfundcentralohio.org for more information. Connect with The Women’s Fund on Facebook and Twitter (@WomensFundCO).

 

Google Chrome Extension: ToDoist A Review

I’m always on the lookout for great Google Chrome web browser extensions and those that provide some additional functionality to make my life on the internet easier. I don’t have a magic way to find extensions other than using a search phrase like “Best Chrome Extensions,” and seeing what comes up.

During a recent search, I came up with ToDoist — which I’m convinced will make my life easier. I’ve only been experimenting with it, so I’ll give the highlights here of what I see so far with this to do list extension. To be sure, there are a bevy of list making extensions available, so don’t be afraid to search around to find the one that works best for what you want to accomplish.

Unlike most extensions I’ve used in the past, users of ToDoist first sign up for the service through their website. Once you complete that, then you install the extension, which will be added to your navigation bar with a check mark and “T” icon.

Once you sign up and get to the start screen, ToDoist provides you a great overview of the range of ways in which you can integrate the application into your existing online usage habits. Since I use an iGoogle dashboard, I appreciate you can incorporate your ongoing to do lists there, as well as the Netvibes dashboard. ToDoist is also available as an iphone and Android mobile application. There are keyboarding shortcuts and filtering options as well.

As a list making function, I appreciate the ability to first create projects and then assign tasks to the pertinent individual projects — which obviously makes ToDoist a bit more than a simple list making application — but rather a project management app.

Once you’ve created your project, and then assigned tasks to that project — this is were ToDoist gains some momentum in my book. What I really like is once you’ve set up your project, ToDoist has an “Add Link” function which allows users to easily bookmark pertinent web links. Additionally, you can assign that link as a task to a specific project. For me, this eliminates emailing links to myself with a reminder to return to them at a later time. However, if that’s something you would like to do — ToDoist gives you that option.

If you’re willing to upgrade to the preminum service, you can get access to reminders, notes and much more. I’m like many people in that I’ll make due with the free service. That’s not to say in the future, I won’t upgrade, but for the moment, I’m not sure what ToDoist has to offer is worth the cost of upgrading.

So, what do you think about ToDoist? Are you currently using it or another list making, project management application or add on with some good functionality? I invite you to share your thoughts on ToDoist or any other add on in the comments section below.

Related articles

• Seven Chrome Extensions (and One Request) for Google Plus (seo.com)
• 5 Best Chrome Extensions for Google+ Power Users (quickonlinetips.com)

 

Because Sharing is Sexy! How to Optimize Your Website to Maximize Social Sharing

It’s likely that you’ve taken some important first steps to encourage users to share your content among their networks by adding Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, buttons and even a social plugin such as a Facebook Like Box on your website. Now it’s time to get serious about social sharing.

Most business owners don’t realize that there are even more ways to integrate social media into your website to encourage social sharing.

Why does social sharing matter?

In 2009, Nielson surveyed 25,000 Internet users in 50 countries and found that 90 percent of users trust recommendations from people they know. Also, Nielson in “Global Advertising Consumers Trust Real Friends and Virtual Strangers the Most,” found 70 percent of consumers trust the opinions of strangers posted online. Brand websites placed third in overall credibility with users.

This means people look to other people for recommendations on what to buy, read, eat, alongside all types of products and services — that’s why consumer review sties like Angie’s List and Yelp and so popular.

Keep in mind: your users are your best advocates. When users share your content, they spread your message further.

Here’s the good news, there are several ways you can integrate social sharing options into your website to not only take advantage of the 70 percent of users that trust brand websites, but also those placing trust in their social network connections.

Create Excellent Content
There’s no substitute for great content. The more valuable the content, the more willing users are to share it. Make reports, white papers, and product descriptions sharable, alongside pictures, videos and podcasts. Different users find different content compelling — so provide lots of great options.

Include Share Buttons Everywhere
Share buttons in the header or footer of your site is good, but also you want to integrate share buttons on every single piece of content. Asking visitors to search for the share buttons or cut and paste a link is work and likely a lost share opportunity.

You may be able to count on power users — those that visit your site 10 times or more a month — to search but since they make up about 7 percent of your traffic, make sharing easy for those that visit your website only a few times monthly or casual users. That’s where the bulk of your site traffic is coming from. Share buttons everywhere makes sharing really easy.

Like the Page — Don’t Leave the Site
Since Facebook is the big kid in the sandbox with 700 million users worldwide, giving users the option to like your page and update their status while on your website just makes good sense. Don’t give users a reason to leave your site, the more time they spend, the more opportunities for conversion.

We invite you to share your thoughts with us in the comments section — and of course — feel free to share this post with your networks! So, how will you maximize social sharing options on your website?

Related articles

• The Science of Sharing (thenextweb.com)
• Will Google +1 button for Publishers challenge the Facebook Like button? (techblissonline.com)

 

You Produce Digital 411 User Contest is Open!

Digital 411 is about what the awesome users want and that’s why I’m handing over an episode to you! Announcing theYou Produce Digital 411 User Contest! Win the opportunity to produce your own episode of Digital 411 — an internet radio show heard exclusively on TalktainmentRadio.com with Dr. Erika Pryor.

What do you have to do to win?

Submit your pitch in 140 characters or less on Twitter @Digital411, Facebook, or by email at: digital411@talktainmentradio.com. The last day to submit pitches is Friday, May 20, 2011 at 5pm.

Since, this show is all about the users, the winning pitch will be the result of an online election between 3 finalist pitches.

Online voting is Monday May 23, 2011 through Friday May 28, 2011.

our only guideline is to submit a pitch that is related to technology, tech gadgest, social media, or web tech.

When the users have spoken, the winner and I will produce YOUR Digital 411 episode including:

• Guest selection
• On-air script development
• Pre-show research
• Run on-air interviews live!

The You Produce Digital 411 User Contest episode is will air live Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the Talktainment Radio studios in Columbus.

So, get your 140 character pitch ready and tweet it to @Digital411 or email digital411@talktianmentradio.com. The deadline is coming quick! Anyone is eligable to enter this contest (this means you can enter even if you were a guest co-host on a previous episode). 

Good luck and thanks for being a loyal Digital 411 supporter!

Click here to access Digital 411 on iTunes! 

Related articles

• Guest Co-Hosted Today on Digital411 w/ Erika Pryor, Nate Riggs, and Tiffany Odutoye (agent-seo.com)

 

I’m Fired Up! (or Why getting fired helped me get out of my own way!)

I’m fired up! That’s what I’ve been saying to myself — and more importantly — out loud and to others! I’m fired up and pissed off about some things and that’s just the way it is for a while. Maybe you’ve noticed some of my recent blog articles and Digital 411 programs. If you havn’t buckle up and settle in for a few hundred words, it’s about to get interesting. As a disclaimer: This post is a rare personal one.

A few weeks ago I started my dream job. Working as an account executive at RMD Advertising. A great company with an excellent reputation for growing food brands. I worked hard there — about 6 days. I did like every new employee hoping to learn the ropes as quickly as possible. I stayed late, took work home, tested my knowledge as I accomplished tasks, and asked questions when I couldn’t figure things out on my own.

Then I heard the words no one ever wants to hear. “I gotta let you go” followed up with, “I just don’t think you’ll be happy here.” Now, I’m not sure what the second part means, but I’m fairly certain I know what the first part means. That’s right! RMD Advertising fired me after just 6 working days. Now, since I wasn’t snorting bumps in the bathroom or secretly defecating on my boss’s desk, I can’t figure out how a person gets fired in just over a week. But being the overachiever that I am, I had accomplished the task.

It’s likely I’ll never learn why I was prematurely let go and it’s not important to this story. So, what is important is how getting fired helped me get out of my own way. Here’s what I mean by that.

Considering I’ve never been a very good “employee,” and I’ve heard the stories about entrepreneurs getting fired from every job they ever had, I got to thinking. May be this major blow to my self esteem is the universe telling me that I’m supposed to be an entrepreneur. A role I have resisted for a while because entrepreneurs are rouge, outerliers and risk takers. I didn’t want to be those qualities because the aren’t typically used glowingly. However, we’re experiencing a huge paradigm shift. Now 15 year olds are successfully starting businesses, securing start up capital, and learn business basics in summer camp. But as an entrepreneur, you’re constantly working the hustle. Another thing I wanted to avoid.

Working the hustle is a big part of the life of an entrepreneur. You are consistently selling yourself, your business, networking and seemingly up against what seems to be great odds, only to find yourself strategizing as to how you’re going to overcome those challenges. That seems hard. What I failed to recognize (and the universe did see clearly) is that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. And in my case — having a full time job with little flexibility was getting in the way of doing what I’ve always done: work the hustle.

So what did getting fired do to help you get your own way to do?

That’s a convuluted way of saying: What are you doing now? Well I’ve resisted working full time as a consultant, but when I was approached to do a consulting project 3 days after I was fired and negotiated a contract  just 6 working days after being fired for not doing bumps in the bathroom I got the hint. It’s time for me to stop attempting to be traditional — which I’m not — and make my own way.

So, what am I so fired up about? Well, initially I was fired up about getting fired — of course. But now I’m fired up about being an entrepreneur, about finding obstacles as opportunities, and helping people with social media and digital PR. Also, I’m fired up about doing what you were born to do — and not what people have determined you should be doing. Since everyone has skills and talents, that means we should be using what comes naturally and easily to us to fully be your authentic self.

I say if you have to get fired in order to realize that, then so be it. Everything does in fact happen for a reason.