i am digital and so can you

I AM DIGITAL AND SO CAN YOU

A LOOK INSIDE MY TOOL KIT (AND BRAIN)

How do you launch half a dozen websites, send dozens of eblasts, direct mailings and newsletters to raise millions without an office* (or employees). Ben Johnson goes through his favourite tools for project management, testing, databases, email service providers to show how you can scale your work to be a digital-first organization.

*office rented as of October 2012.

THIS PRESENTATION:

When the Web first became available to users, it was primarily about retrieving information. as it evolved in the 2000s, it became known as web 2.0 - a platform associated not only with consumption of information, but also with collaboration and participation. hubspot.com

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Your organization: was probably born before the internet took off

likely developed working habits in isolation of the internet

probably isn’t making the most of the internet

probably isn’t nearly as productive as it could be

How much does your org depend on the internet?

A BIT ABOUT BEN

Mediocre writer Colour blind Can’t draw No musical taste Not a people person But I LOVE marketing.

LAST MONTH: 1 website re-coded from Drupal to WordPress 2 websites moved from crappy free WordPress site to awesome custom WordPress site 3 e-commerce donation systems built for three different clients 2 NPO’s entire donation history reviewed and visualized with KPIs Several press mentions for clients from Fort St John to Victoria 4 eblasts to tens of thousands of emails 1 flyer to be sent to 95,000 households 1 newsletter to 13,000 people 1 Christmas card for 5,500 people 1 heartfelt video sent to donors via eblast Enumerate photos for web, print, etc. Multiple brochures, one sheets, business cards, transit ads, etc. Ongoing management of a half dozen websites More data crunching, communications work, and just plain advising

655 hours

Our entire team is working in “real-time” for two to three hours in a day. We’re in three (sometimes four) different time zones. Combined we’re working up to 18 hours of the day. I love: The internet didn’t just make it possible to work anywhere. It made it possible to work with anyone.

It’s not where are we, it’s when are we.

What tools are there to help with productivity?

Dropbox Trello Tuex Deux

+

Dropbox

It is surprisingly social. It’s an excellent way to segregate information. Sharable links making moving data super easy. Version tracking! Mobile amazing!!! Sometimes a browser free experience is a good thing. FREE, unless you love data [photos] (mobile app too!)

Dropbox has more than 50 million users. People save one billion files to Dropbox every 48 hours. Dropbox is installed on 250 million different devices. Dropbox has paying customers in 175 countries. More than half of Dropbox users are from outside the U.S. People in over two million businesses are using Dropbox.

Trello

Very free-form (pro and con) Mobile app They are developing faster than I can imagine! Great for showing the team, the whole project etc.. Not necessarily great for individual productivity FREE (mobile app is too!)

Teux Deux

Very, very simple Mobile app Allows for “five minute” tasks that I don’t need to do today but I should do on “this day” or “someday”.

FREE (iphone app is 2.99) Learn more:teuxdeux.com/faq

Balsamiq

Very amateur friendly. Web or desktop. Balsamiq’s two points on their website say it all. Remember, focus on collaboration = web. Don’t get in the way of the designer…

What are your favourite web applications?

Google Analytics Visual Website Optimizer MailChimp Formstack PayPal & Stripe

+WordPress

Google Analytics

Is amazing.

e-commerce & goal conversions ($$$) mobile % (technology in general really) events (how many downloads of x) referral traffic (where are they coming from?) advanced segments (slice and dice) visitor flow (where do they go?) reports (like a boss)

http://www.frontierishere.ca/?utm_source=emailfooter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=testing

URL BUILDER - http://bit.ly/TBNgwO

Visual Website Optimizer

Is amazing. Wysiwyg! A/B Testing. Heatmaps. Inuitive reporting. Test like the best of us without $25/mo Use WordPress or Drupal plugin and it’s a snap. 50% off for charities!

Optimizely.com for data without the heatmap

+122% improvement

MailChimp Is amazing. Very amateur friendly but as robust as any email marketing system. They’re productivity is also astounding (constant tweaks and improvements). Example being recent drag and drop editor. Great process: •  Someone writes it •  Another designs it •  A third codes it •  A fourth sends it MailChimp also has tinyletter for simple needs and Mandrill for transactional email. 15% off for non-profits! Integrates with everything that integrates.

Vertical Response MailChimp

Re: The Patriot Act According to the Treasury Board of Canada, the chances that information would be accessed under the Patriot Act are remote. In fact, in the decade that the Patriot Act has been in effect, the federal government is not aware of any case where personal information about a Canadian was accessed under the act.

Formstack Is amazing, but not perfect. It gets you to the precipice of greatness. Almost anything is a form (donation checkout, survey, contact, application…) Form analytics show you who views the form vs. who completes it (and where they drop off!) Their integration hub is truly amazing, and it didn’t exist two months ago.

PayPal & Stripe Is amazing. Many people have learned to hate PayPal because of their idiotic behaviour 5-8 years ago, but Websites Payments Pro is amazing. $35/mo + fees. Easily take monthly gifts. Modify, cancel, suspend. Great for developers, good for gift processors. Use Formstack for key donation details. *key challenge will be reconciling monthly donations (expected versus actual) STRIPE: It’s early days but it is incredible at taking one-time gifts and pre-set monthly amounts. Both connect with Formstack very, very easily.

Database + web

A good database is one that has a clean user interface for processing, allows you to export everything, and allows for integration. Salesforce highcharts.com The best analysis of data is not done in a desktop application. It’s done on the web!

Make the internet your first employee.

Don’t use services that don’t work well with others.

Use multiple mediums.

Smaller teams are quicker.

People consistently underestimate the additional time needed by larger teams, with the forecasting errors growing larger as teams get bigger. Increasing a team's size can hamper coordination, diminish members' motivation, and increase conflict, the researchers say. (HBR, Oct 30, 2012)

Paper discriminates.

Curiosity kills cats, not people.

Articulate what you can’t control, and let it go.

Embrace an abundance mentality.

Covey coined the idea of abundance mentality or abundance mindset, a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and success to share with others.

Kaizen.

AKA flywheel effect.

You can accomplish anything in life provided you don’t mind who takes credit for it.

Harry S. Truman

Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company.

The End.