Dooley Online

How social media blurs lines

How does social media blur lines between personal and professional or organizational? Beth Kanter asked that question over at twitter.

I manage two brands in the social media space:

• Organizational: World Resources Institute (WRI). You don't need to be a corporation to have a brand online. A brand reflects the people, issues and personality of your organization offline.

• Personal/Professional: Laura Lee Dooley. Yes, people can be (and are) brands. My online brand reflects who I am offline and there are no other brands like me. I am unique.

Each of these brands has presence in major social media spaces: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, YouTube, etc.

Each of these brands has a different "voice". The WRI brand reflects information about the environmental, economic, and social issues staff work on on a daily basis. My personal brand focuses on information and issues of personal interest to me.

Each of these brands creates its own network of connections. In some cases there is overlap among these networks - some of the same people/organizations connect to both brands and may connect in multiple social media spaces. 

One of the challenges of managing two brands simultaneously is the same as managing your work vs. your personal life:

• No matter what brand I'm representing, I work to present the brand in a professional manner - you never know who is (or will be) evaluating you by what you post. This is particularly important when you consider that in many social media tools an organizational presence requires a personal administrator. What I do and say in my personal profile reflects on any organization I represent.

• Like many people, I maintain two email accounts (actually, I have more than that, but I primarily use two for my social media work). I use the email given me by WRI for WRI-centric social media accounts. My personal profiles link to my personal email. Should I move to another organization, there will be continuity of service in my personal social media accounts.

• I maintain this personal blog as well as contribute to WRI's organizational blog (www.wri.org). In this blog I focus on social media, online marketing, web analytics and other areas of interest which are a supporting, rather than primary, area of interest and research to WRI. On WRI's website, I blog about issues of direct relevance to WRI's research areas. 

Having worked this way for some time there are several issues I think will be relevant in the future: 

• As part of the hiring process, personal profiles in social media will continue to grow in value and importance.

• Organizational and personal brands will contribute to and build off each other. The organization may serve as the hub with the personal brands acting as spokes.

• Individuals and organizations significantly increase their use of social media to establish virtual organizations/alliances to accomplish specific goals.

• At some point, organizations will expect (and accept) that individuals maintain personal profiles in specific social media in order to communicate with other staff, partners and constituents.

• Those using social media online will become more comfortable with having their personal lifestream viewed by those they work, live, and play with because it will be an integral and accessible extension of these relationships. And what's more, it will make those relationships more authentic and stronger.   

Listening to and measuring the online conversation

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This builds on Beth Kanter's post, "What is the value of listening to social media channels for your organization?"

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As a web analytics person, a challenge has always been getting the right metrics to the right person at the right time. 

In this post I'm going to focus on two areas where we currently provide metrics for World Resources Institute staff.

Website metrics (http://www.wri.org)

Moving from Webtrends and AWStats to the free Google Analytics tool was the first step in unlocking our content. 

Having said that, we are still using AWStats to track PDF downloads because not all links to PDF downloads originate through our website.

Having years of data locked up in MS Excel spreadsheets, this year we decided to take a different approach and develop tools that could be accessed directly by our staff.

This year we incorporated some basic metrics into an "Analytics Snapshot" posted on every page of our website (staff need to be logged on to the site to access).

* Page views pulled from Google Analytics.

* Number of diggs

* Number of blogs in Technorati linking to the page in the past 60 days. 

* Blog links captured throughout the internet - this number is generally higher than the number identified in Technorati because it includes blogs not currently indexed by Technorati. We also allow staff to add blog postings they find which are not currently captured.

We also have a tracking dashboard which captures some basic site-wide statistics, including:

* New content published on the site by type for the past 3 months and past 3 years.

* Top 10 site searches (search term, number of searches)

* Top digged content (page title, url, number of diggs)

* 7-day snapshot of top 10 pages with most page views (title, url, date posted, number of page views, content type, and sparkline)

* 2-month snapshot of top 10 pages with most page views (title, url, date posted, number of page views, content type, and sparkline)

* Top 10 publication pages for the past 3 months (title, url, date posted, number of page views, and sparkline)

* Top 10 projects for the past 3 months (title, url, date posted, number of page views, content type, and sparkline)

* Top 10 stories for the past 3 months (title, url, date posted, number of page views, content type, and sparkline)

* Top 10 charts and maps for the past 3 months (title, url, date posted, number of page views, content type, and sparkline)

We also provide training and direct access to WRI's Google Analytics account for all staff requesting it so they can run their own reports on the content of interest.

Social Media metrics

In preparation for incorporating major social media stats into these analytics dashboard, we have labeled website content using the Google Analytics campaign schema:

URL?utm_campaign=entry&utm_medium=entry&utm_source=entry&utm_content=entry& utm_term=entry

utm_campaign	utm_medium	utm_source	utm_content	utm_term	destination URL
blogging	twitter	microblog			URL
socialmedia	facebook	wri-group			URL
socialmedia	linkedin	wri-group			URL
newsletter-type	email	newsletter-name-yyyy-mm-dd	hyperlink	hyperlink-text	URL

We use tweetburner.com to both shorten our URLs for posting on twitter (twurl them) and to track our clickthrough rates. Having said that, tweetburner has had problems since Crosspring.com took over - around December 12, 2008. While tweetburner is still capturing clickthrough data, it isn't rolled up on a day-by-day basis so we can't track our growth in clickthroughs over time - something which we found valuable in the past:

There are more than 400 applications currently available to help you manage and track your twitter account. We use the following tools on a regular basis to develop twitter metrics, track conversations, and listen online:

* search.twitter.com. If you haven't used this tool, use it. It is by far the best tool for tracking the conversation on twitter. Search by @twittername, by #hashtags, and by keyword.

* twittercounter.com. This tool was recently updated to show graphs for last week, last month, and the last 3 months. You can also post a badge on your website to advertise the number of followers you have.

* tweetake.com provide you with a backup of all your Twitter data via a .CSV file. You can download and analyze information about your followers, friends and tweets.

* twittergrader.com measures your twittering mojo, just for fun. 

* lessfriends.com identifies who follows you, who you follow and where there is mutual following. A good tool to make a quick account of who you may not be following (but should be).

There are many other tools out there - try them out and determine what works best for your organization's needs. Lists of many tools can be found through my delicious.com account - http://delicious.com/lldoolj2/twitter+tools

Lessons Learned

Listening to the conversation has taught me:

* Opt-in email newsletters are still king in terms of click-throughs. Email will never die, but you need to use it properly.

* People who enjoy the conversations I'm having and connect to me in one social media venue will often connect in other social media spaces as well (twitter, digg, facebook, linkedin).

* People who are leaders in online conversations about our issues are not always the same as those who are leaders in the offline world. You should reach out to both audiences.

* People who choose to follow me or my organization do so because of the conversations we participate in and the issues we care about. Keeping the trust of those who follow and support us is an important responsibility.

* It is important to leverage the active social media networks that are already out there - jump in, listen, contribute and you will develop a core group of dedicated followers who will become advocates for you and your work.

* Free tools I use to connect and to listen: Google Reader, Google Alerts, Google Analytics, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Facebook, LinkedIn, Technorati, SlideShare.net, YouTube, Flickr and other social media. WRI has also been awarded a Google Grant - we are testing our keywords through Adwords and will continue to monitor our clickthrough rates.

* New staff and interns often connect to the World Resources Institute facebook group. There are a variety of ways for an organization to exist in facebook - as a group, as a page, and as a cause. Do your research before determining which of these best reflects the purpose of your organization on facebook. 

* WRI's LinkedIn group members share news and respond to posts. It is worth building or expanding your organization's presence in this tool.

* It is useful to maintain both organizational and personal profiles in the major social media, as appropriate. This promotes different conversations and connections appropriate to each profile.

Yes we can! Resources to green your lifestyle

Over on twitter, @earthwriter asked me if my organization (World Resources Institute) offer documents or advice for people who want to practice sustainability at home.

While WRI does have some offerings along those lines, our primary focus is at the government, business and institutional policy level.

But given the economic and environmental problems of our time (and Obama's refrain that it's not about him, it is about us and what we can do), more and more people are trying to green their lifestyle.

@earthwriter is a good example of this with his My Journey to a Sustainable Life site where he seeks to reduce his environmental footprint one decision at a time.

Here is a short list of twitterers I follow with green your lifestyle websites (in alpha order):

• @gogreentube
  http://www.gogreentube.com/
  Watch a green video. Offset your carbon footprint. It's that simple. Seeks to educate, inspire, and connect you to other green interested people.

• @greenoptions
  http://greenoptions.com/
  Green Options is a community and network of blogs dedicated to helping you figure out what sustainability means to you.

• @GreenTravelHub
  http://www.rezhub.com/greentravel
  All you need to green your travel in one place. Donates 20% of the proceeds from every trip to green non-profit groups.

• @greenyourdecor
  http://www.greenyourdecor.com/
  Your guide to stylish, eco-friendly decor.

• @Idealbite
  http://www.idealbite.com/
  "A sassier shade of green" serving up free, bite-size ideas for light-green living each weekday.

• @jillbuck
  http://www.gogreeninitiative.org
  Jill Buck is the founder the Go Green Initiative - a simple, comprehensive program designed to create a culture of environmental responsibility on school campuses across the nation.

• @LighterFootstep
  http://lighterfootstep.com/
  A healthier family. A cleaner planet. Making the most of your weekly budget.

• @maxgladwell
  http://www.maxgladwell.com/
  Max Gladwell (MG) is the nexus of social media and green living, covering trends in ways that are relevant to how you live. They provide practical information about how these new technologies can contribute to a better quality of life for you and those around you.

• @naturallysavvy
  http://www.naturallysavvy.com/
  Information-based website to inform you on the basics of natural health - using and consuming natural and organic products.

• @PeopleForEarth
  http://www.people4earth.net/
  A social network and a wiki ECO guide with the purpose of inspiring and empowering you to enjoy more eco-friendly and fulfilling lives.

• @rshreeves
  http://www.alittlegreenereveryday.com/
  Some useful information, some anecdotes, some rantings, and some inspiration from the quest to make her family and perhaps the world around her A Little Greener Every Day.

• @Smart2BeGreen
  http://www.smart2begreen.com
  Simple steps to greener living

• @sustainablog
  http://sustainablog.org/
  Since July 2003, sustainablog has been providing information on environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics. The blog regularly features environmental leaders, experts in alternative energy and green technology, and real people trying to lighten their environmental footprints.

• @tokers
  http://www.greenenergytv.com
  Green Energy TV is an Online Television Channel that is dedicated to airing green videos for millions of viewers around the world.

• @TwilightEarth
  http://www.twilightearth.com
  A green practician, philospher, and regular blogger who shares the ups and downs of living green. Check out his post "List of Thing's I've Learned About Going Green"

But this is just a short list. Check out the more extensive list of green websites through TreeHugger's Carnival of the Green, a weekly blog phenomenon which provides a summary, a digest, of the green blogosphere.

Feel free to add a name to the list in the comments section, below! Please include:

• @Twittername (if available)
• Website URL
• Short description of site purpose/content

It's hard to live in DC area and not ride the wave . . .

Wordle.net: Using tag visualization for interest insight

If you want to know more about what I'm interested in, check out the links I've bookmarked on delicious.com. The visualization on the right comes from the fun tag cloud tool at www.wordle.net. Wordle provides tag clouds for lists of words, web pages, or delicious.com tags. Once the initial tag cloud is created, you can play with the format until you get a visualization that you like. You can then save it into the gallery.

There is a wordle blog ("News" in the banner) which highlights some of the interesting ways you can use wordle - from printing on mugs to using to teach spelling in a classroom. For all the fun you can have with wordle, there are a few shortcomings: Once you save a tag cloud, you cannot manipulate it further. You have to go back to the beginning if you want to create multiple versions of a tag cloud. So, if you are making tag clouds from a list of words, you need to re-enter that list for each tag cloud you generate. There is a search, but it isn't readily available from the home page. You can find it by going into the gallery, though. While you can save your wordles into a specified gallery (mine is called Laura Lee Dooley), you can't: create a user account or profile, comment on another's tag cloud, rate different wordles, or save your favorite wordles to your account (since you can't create one to begin with). Having said that, wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg in his spare time and was never meant to be a social media site - but I can't help imagine how much more valuable it would be if some of the standard social media elements were added . . .

Social media: What are we measuring anyway (and how)?

Beth Kanter has been busy looking at blog metrics in her recent posts:

• Unpacking Engagement Metrics for the Nonprofit Blog
• What are the best metrics to use to measure ROI and improve your blog's content?  

I shared a comment highlighting the idea that, when you move into the social media space, numbers don't measure true human interactions (which cannot really be quantified). Human interactions are best captured through stories.

Which leads to the question, what are we measuring anyway?

Unless you are completely unfortunate, if you join a social media site such as twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc. you are bound to see your connections increase over time. People will find you and friend, follow and fan whether you reciprocate or not. Your numbers will go up by virtue of you being a living, breathing person with an account/profile in the social media space.

So why do we focus so much on numbers if they are likely to automagically increase over time? (Probably because it is easy.) What benefit does tracking the increase show us? (Increasing numbers DO boost our confidence - "you like me, you really like me!")

What matters more is who is behind those connections and what they contribute to your overall purpose for being online in that space to begin with.

So, here is one way to proceed:

1. Identify your overall purpose - what are you passionate about? What are you doing that is worth sharing?

2. Who do you want to connect with (by interest, profession, group, individual)? Who do you want to share information with? Who do you want to learn from?

3. How can these connections help you achieve your purpose? What kind of communication and exchange will provide mutual support?

4. What online tools can help you make the connections and how will you use them?

5. How will you measure success? Use available numerical metrics but also include method for regularly capturing non-numerical data - such as stories of how a connection helped you achieve your purpose.

6. What time commitment are you willing to devote to nurturing this online space? What are you willing to give up to invest in the success of this community you've become part of? How will you allow the conversations to change the way you do business?

What do you think?

1/9/08 update: Check out Steve Woodruff's post, "The Strategic Serendipity of Social Media" over at MarketingProfs. This highlights the unpredictability of the impact of social media ... or as Nick Mendoza writes in his comment on this post "chance conversations yield concrete conclusions."

Mainstream media on social media

In preparation for a briefing, I searched for some of the recent and/or important articles by mainstream media on why organizations should use social media.

What mainstream media articles would you include?

PBS
Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR
January 5, 2009

TIME
An End, and a Beginning, for the Media
December 31, 2008

Financial Times
Twitter uses 140 characters to change world
December 30, 2008

Discovery.com
Mars Phoenix's Twitter Proves a Huge Success
December 5, 2008

The Washington Post
The Unwritten Rules of Social Networking
December 3, 2008

The Wall Street Journal
Twitter Goes Mainstream
October 27, 2008

Business Week
Social Media Will Change Your Business
February 20, 2008

T-shirt: "doin' it in the facebook, with the twittering"

Updated 1/8/08: My t-shirt idea was vetoed on Threadless (probably because it wasn't pretty enough).

Here it is for your viewing pleasure. Vote on Threadless for The t-shirt with Republican National Committee Chair Mike Duncan's now famous quote ...

GraphJam: December 2008 Favorites

GraphJam continues to offer me several LOL opportunities. I received a lot of positive feedback on my GraphJam: November 2008 Favorites post that I decided to continue this as a series ... enjoy!

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A great thought to start the new year . . .

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Based on personal experience, I believe the following could apply to a one-year-old as well ...

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"Oh, yeah!?! Well, here's what I really think . . ."

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I sent this to my son, who is taking Pre-Calc. He laughed for the next 5 minutes. So true ...

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On a more sobering note ... another reason why we should look at our health care system. Of course, percentages presented here are not final ...

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Remember Pong?

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I love snow as long as I'm on the inside looking out ...

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Okay ... I like this one because it's currently true.

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Been there, done that ...

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Could also reflect status when someone really, really, REALLY needs to get in contact with you . . .

. . . and what you do to try to locate your lost phone . . .

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A accurate assessment of charts on GraphJam . . . ?

How I changed my diet and lost 25 pounds

Many of us need to lose weight. After my sons were born, I found that my weight just kept creeping up on me. Last year I finally found the motivation to really address my weight issues.

While 25 pounds doesn't seem like a lot for some, it is a significant stepping stone to continued success. I highlighted this achievement on twitter and Sue Wolff encouraged me to share my techniques. 

I share this as a case study and not as advice on how to lose weight - I'm not a nutrition or health expert. I do believe everyone is unique and what works for me may or may not work for you. Plus, as you will discover as you read on, I could have done a lot more to lose more weight.

One of the hardest parts about this post was the title - I didn't want it to sound like one of "those ads". But, inevitably, it does. So, here is what I learned along the way. Note that my success isn't attributed to one thing, but to a variety of techniques - more of the beginning of a lifestyle change than the adoption of a specific program.

Going into last year's weight loss plan, I took into account several things:

• Diet and exercise are THE prescriptions for weight loss.

• I have never been good at follow-through with exercise (even more so with the extra weight), so I felt my best approach was to tackle the diet side of the equation as a first step.

• I tend to sit at a computer for most of my work day and I get up at 4:30am workday mornings, sometimes without adequate amounts of sleep. These lifestyle elements have been identified as contributors to weight gain. But I would continue work within these parameters in 2008.

• I had tried modest improvements in diet over the past ten years - but my weight still climbed. So I needed some SIGNIFICANT diet improvements. 

• I hadn't started until March/April of 2008.

• The best weight loss is gradual but continual, so losing the full amount of weight I want to lose (given my parameters) was going to be a multi-year process. So I started with something that was achievable given that I would probably not be devoting much time to exercise this year.

• I was willing to invest financially in some guidance on improving my diet. 

I DID invest in a self-help program - the 6 Week Body Makeover Program. Now, I don't recommend this for everyone and I'm not pushing this as what worked for me, but I did find it useful in getting me moving forward on a diet that worked for me. The reason I won't recommend it is that I didn't follow it to the letter - I digressed. But I did adopt some of the elements of this program as a first step.

The most useful portion of this program was the "Blueprinting" - identification of my body type. Essentially it identified me as having a low metabolism and the best way around that was to build up my metabolism to burn more body fat.

That made sense to me based on what I knew of myself. 

The prescription: Boost my metabolism by cutting down on oils, carbs and other fattening foods and increase my intake of proteins, fibers, and all the green leafy vegetables I desired. Also, invest in vitamins to boost my metabolism.

• To increase my metabolism to help with fat-burning, I start with a light breakfast of a protein (2-3 egg whites) and a fiber (1/4 cup oatmeal). Egg whites is important as fat and cholesterol primarily resides within the egg yolk whereas egg whites primarily contain the protein.

• Eat every 2-1/2 hours with a 2-4 ounces of a low-fat protein and a fiber (vegetable or fruit). For a total of 5 meals each day. I had to watch the fruits and vegetables I selected - avocados are more fattening than apples. Fresh is better than cooked. Through this exercise I discovered the joys of eating edamane, a vegetable I had rarely dined on before. I prepare a package of edamane and that is my vegetable for most of my meals for the day. I compost the pods. 

• Drinking water and coffee during the day helps fend off pangs of hunger. However, having smaller meals every 2-1/2 hours cuts back significantly on the hunger pangs.

• I also invested in vitamins to help boost my metabolism. I have to say that I never liked taking vitamins and have avoided taking vitamins for years because I believe you should get your nutrients through your foods. But I decided to try them this time. They did seem to boost my metabolism on the days I took them.

A major key to the success of this diet plan, however, was to radically remove fats, sugars, and carbs from my diet.

• Where possible, I would no longer cook with margarine, butter or oil. Instead, I turned to using water or low-sodium vegetable, chicken, or beef broth. While there are many broths that "claim" to be low-sodium, I found the lowest sodium is Kitchen Basics at 480 mg. And they have just launched a no-salt version of several of their broths, so I'll be looking for that to appear on my grocer's shelf soon. Note: It is important to actually read the labels because claims on packages don't mean a thing until you comparison shop.

• Where I absolutely had to use some kind of oil to avoid food sticking to the pan, I used cooking sprays. I selected olive oil and canola and while they contain cooking oil, they do so at much smaller amounts than I would typically used if adding by hand.

• I changed from sugar to Splenda or Whey-Low. One positive benefit of using a Splenda-sugar mix in baking is that I don't need to use as much and I don't get that burned sugar effect that often occurred when making my sons' favorite banana bread. I use a teaspoon of maple flavored Whey-Low in my morning oatmeal.

• I stopped adding cream to my coffee (no, I haven't given up coffee yet). I invested in a personal coffee maker for home and have discovered I prefer the lighter roasts. I collect the grounds and compost them. I still go to Starbucks or Caribou Coffee now and then, but mostly to purchase ground coffee beans to make coffee at home. When I do order a specialty brew, I ask for the skim version of my favorite beverage. ("I'll have a triple-shot-venti-white-mocha-skim, thank you.") 

• I don't eat out during the day but bring food prepared from home. I invested in a small George Foreman grill ($30.00 and recommended by my mom) which I use to prepare some of my proteins. Because I am working with small portions, I can prepare the proteins and any vegetables that need cooking each morning as I prepare my breakfast.

• I've cut down on sodas (though I still have a diet soda now and then) and drink water. I desire to purchase an orange Kleen Kanteen, but since there are many drinking vessels available to me I have postponed that investment. But it is still very much on my radar of future purchases.

• I cut back on my carbs and starches. Initially I exchanged whole grain rice for pasta. But I discovered that semolina pasta cooked al dente is actually better for you than rice or potatoes. Also I've also learned to make pasta from scratch to avoid the sodium and other additives I would get in store-bought versions. Note - pasta making can be a bit time consuming. I also limit my intake of bread, though I do make banana bread on a regular basis. But since it is made from scratch using low-fat, low-sodium ingredients, I enjoy a few slices myself.

• We still eat out - but we tend to be selective on where, how often, and what selections we order. Eating out has the potential to hurt our pocketbooks as well as our health, if done regularly. A good resource for making the right choice when eating out is Eat This, Not That brought to you by Men's Health (visit the accompanying website at http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/).  Often the portions you get when eating out are worthy of two or three meals, so I will eat half (or a third) and bring back the rest to save for subsequent meal(s). And I WILL eat leftovers - that is key because I know it is easy to bring home a doggie bag and forget about it until it is no longer edible. Key to the success of eating leftovers is storing them in air-tight containers. Don't ever leave your leftovers in the packages provided by the restaurant. Always repackage - this includes pizza. It is interesting to note that one of he frustrating things I have encountered as I eat smaller portions is that sometimes I seem to have too many leftovers. I announce that dinner will be comprised of leftovers to make sure leftovers are eaten.

• Along this timeline I also discovered the website EatingWell.com which is an accompaniment to the magazine by the same name. There are a wealth of great recipes there and I learned how to replace existing recipes with healthier versions incorporating low fat, low sodium and better-for-you ingredients. I also used FoodNetwork.com to find healthy recipes. Making food from scratch eliminates many of the fats and sodium additives that you will find in pre-packaged and restaurant-prepared foods. I download individual recipes from these sites into individual word documents in a folder on my computer under My Documents labeled My Recipes. I can test the recipes and, if they are a success, I can update them with the appropriate changes (if any). I also invested in an inexpensive 3-ring binder recipe book to hold print-outs of my recipes which I use in the kitchen.

• I weighed myself regularly but didn't let the daily ups-and-downs of weight loss depress me. Fluctuations are to be expected. If you find your weight has gone up, just refocus your efforts. I kept my weight goal down through the holiday season - where it is anticipated you will gain weight - by sticking to my diet guidelines.

Other investments:

• Slow cooker ($50.00). This is a wonderful tool for preparing low-fat meals that can cook for several hours. I prepare ingredients the night before, then pop them into the slow cooker before I go to work. And clean-up is easy. Actually, the slow cooker I use is one I purchased several years ago but it found it's way out of the cupboard and back on my kitchen counter this year.

• My Food Diary ($9.00/month). This is a website where you can track your diet, weight loss, and exercise programs. I found this stie useful for a while, but after a while I found I spent less time online and given the economic downturn, I looked for areas to cut costs and so discontinued this program. But it is a useful resource. which I might use again at a later date.

• Pasta machine ($30.00) and pasta drying rack ($15.00). This is my most recent purchase and I'm still improving my pasta-making skills. But I hope to expand my capabilities in this area over the coming year.

• Ingredients / Specialty cooking books. With the Internet having so many resources available at your fingertips for free, I hesitate to purchase recipe books. When I do, I tend to invest in books that expand my understanding of a wide range of ingredients unfamiliar to me or new cooking techniques I'm seriously adopting.

I hope to continue losing weight in 2009, but assume I will need to incorporate exercise into my regimen to reach my final weight loss goal.