A New Approach to China

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

(H/T @PatrickRuffini)

Tracking Moveon.org Emails for the Greater Good

My friend Charles Lenchner has a fascinating new obsession — he’s keeping track of advocacy emails from MoveOn.org and publishing them for the larger advocacy community to check out. The goal? To study an unusually effective list and get an idea of their tactics over time, including subject lines, content, narrative arcs and all of the other elements that go into a successful email campaign.

How a Twitter ReTweet Promotion Really Works

While I don’t work for or with them, I often use men’s and women’s clothing retailer Express as a great example of social media marketing. Formerly part of Limited Brands, which includes Victoria’s Secret, another social media powerhouse, Express only recently started selling clothes online and are relatively new to the Twittersphere. But they jumped in, in a big way, and are doing a great job.

This Will Be the Year Adobe's 2 Million Flash Developers Come to the iPhone

It’s no secret that Apple doesn’t like Flash. It won’t allow Flash apps to run on the iPhone or iPod Touch despite all of Adobe’s cajoling and pleading, and despite the fact that it’s long been working in the labs. The iPhone’s lack of support for Flash is a major inconvenience for both consumers and developers, and is a gaping hole in the iPhone’s arsenal.

But all of that is about to change because Adobe is going to bring its 2 million Flash developers to the iPhone, with or without Apple’s blessing. 

The Fighting Four

Erick Erickson is right.

Let’s be honest. One of the reasons the left is so head over heels in love with the online left   is because of the moonbat ability to turn on the cash. [...] [I]f we want to be taken seriously, we need to step up to the plate.

As he says, "the establishment of the Republican Party will keep ignoring us" until the online Right has a tangible impact on the measurable metrics of politics: messaging, mobilization and money.

Friction

Stamps (remember those?) make direct mail work. Because it costs money to send a piece of junk mail, you'll think two or three times before you mail something to a million people.

Email, of course, is free.

Except it's not. The friction that slows down sending email to everyone all the time is the cost of all the people you'll lose. 

@Bivings is Hiring

We are hiring a project manager in our Client Services division to help us manage the web programs of some of our clients.  We’re looking for someone who has a passion for the web and social media, knowledge of Drupal/Wordpress and two years of relevant job experience.  You can apply via our job listing on Craigslist.

Brazen Careerist on Getting Starting With a Blog

It seems like everywhere you go these days, whether on the web or in your local grocer, you hear about blogs. It is true that there are many of them out there, about 112.8 million according to Technorati and more starting up every day. So what is the deal with blogging anyway, and how do you go about starting one?

First of all, do not reinvent the wheel. There are so many resources out there that beginning a blog as become as easy as typing the word blog into a Google search. When you do that you are immediately overwhelmed by the massive number of responses. So to make things easier, let’s take a step back.

So, I made it to Pittsburgh (at 3:30 in the morning no less) and now I'm ready for the show to get rolling after I locate where the nearest @Starbucks is :)

Stay tuned today for frequent updates from the conference. Not only will I provide you with technology tips galore - I'll also let you in on Pittsburgh's other finer moments, like the steak salad I'm dying to try for the first time and mastering the art of Pittsburghian lingo.

Here's your mini guide to Pittsburgh speak:

Steelers = Stillers

Y'all or You All = Yinz

Yinzer = Someone from Pittsburgh

Downtown = Dawntawn

I'm in Pittsburgh = I'm in da 'Burgh

Let's practice, "Yinz wanna go dawntawn to watch the Stillers game?" or "Yinz goin' dawn to Fat Heads dawn on Carson in da South Side tonight?"

And on another more important note, here's your daily Second Cup --

Twitter Plans to Mangle ReTweets

If you’ve read this blog, you know that ReTweets are one of my favorite topics. For a ton of reasons I think that they’re not only one of the most important developments to come from Twitter, but from social media in general...

...In a stunningly disappointing move, Twitter has threatened to completely eviscerate most of the value out of ReTweets by “formalizing” a feeble version of a format that was already well understood and functioning.

Best Practices for Mass Emailing

Here at The Bivings Group, we’ve dealt with a myriad of requests for mass emailing services, tools and strategies to help our clients make the most of what is the most powerful weapon in online advocacy. Based on our research and testing, here are some best practice tips for making your email campaigns as effective as possible. Most of these items fit a general theme of narrowing the focus and increasing the personalization in email messaging.

I recently asked on my Twitter what my followers thought was the most preferred way for a Political Campaign to contact them. I received a few replies, but nearly as many as I hoped to get a good opinion from the masses.

So i pose to you the same question:

My goal is to get about 150-200 total votes. So if you can help spread the word on the poll I would greatly appreciate it.

Modeling the True Value of Social Networks: 2009 Edition

A year ago we modeled out the true value of various social networks based on the idea that users in high-value online advertising markets like Japan, the UK and the U.S. were worth more (financially speaking) than those in lower value online advertising markets. Facebook had recently become the largest worldwide social network in terms of users, but based on our model MySpace was still by far the most valuable social network.

We’ve now remodeled social network valuations based on current user numbers and Facebook’s most recent $10 billion valuation. The results are dramatically different.

White House Emails Speech to Supporters

Saying "It was a historic speech, and since many Americans were asleep at the time it was given we wanted to make sure you had a chance to see it," Obama senior adviser David Axelrod sent out a video of President Obama's speech in Cairo to the White House's e-mail list today.

Congressman Uses Wisdom of Crowds to Redesign Website

Congressman for California’s 15th congressional district, Mike Honda, has decided to put the fate of his website in the hands of his supporters.  More precisely, he used crowdSPRING, an online marketplace for creative services, to have designers create designs for his new site, and the public can vote on the design they like best. Honda, however, doesn’t take the concept of crowdsourcing all the way, because the final design will be chosen on criteria other than public votes.

In 2008 "A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign," this according to Pew Research study. With so many Citizens using the internet to talk to each other and get news, shouldn't our elected officials be communicating with us using email?
I made the rounds of my elected official's websites to see how well they were communicating with "we the people"

Federal

President George Bush (R)

Pros: Confirmation page and confirmation email. (only site to have double opt in).

Cons: No front page opt in so hard to find out where to subscribe, double opt in message flagged as spam.

President-elect Barack Obama (D)

Pros: Opt in box on the front page, only requires my email and zip code, confirmation page (with ability to invite friends) and confirmation email.

Cons: None

Senator Arlen Specter (R)

Pros: The opt in box is on the front page and he has a list of past newsletters.

Cons: Requires both first and last name, no confirmation email

Senator Bob Casey (D)

Pros: Opt in box on front page, also has an action center with a petition where you can submit your email address.

Cons: Unfortunately the system was down and I got an error when I hit submit (otherwise he would have ranked on top of the list. Requires first and last names.

Congressman Joe Pitts (R) 16th district

Pros: Opt in box on home page

Cons: Triple opt in, once you hit submit an email is generated which you have to reply to with a command, after following the instructions I got a reply email saying my command wasn't valid. Generated emails do not say who they are from.

State

Governor Ed Rendell (D)

Pros: Has opt in box on home page, only requires an email address.

Cons: No confirmation page or email confirmation that your submission has been processed. i.e. I don't know if I'm signed up yet.

Senator Mike Brubaker (R) 36th district

Pros: Link from home page and sends a confirmation email.

Cons: No opt in on the front page, only a link. Requires first and last names, confirmation email flagged as spam by google mail.

Rep Scott Boyd (R) 43rd district

Pros: Link from home page (quick to respond to suggestion of having a monthly newsletter)

Cons: No opt in box on the front page. Required fields are: First name, last name, address, home phone, work phone, email, zip code, county, government priorities.
Visit your elected officials and see how good a job they do communicating wit you. Post results in the comments.

Cross-posted at KeystoneConservative.com

The controversy over MoveOn's General Betray Us ad reminds us that the best online strategy is still about getting the basics right. In this case: tapping into the visceral reaction to an event within the first 12-24 hours and inviting your supporters to participate to respond in ways that count. And you'll primarily use the most unglamorous, Web 1.0 club in the bag: e-mail.

An outrage like General Betray Us doesn't come along very often when you're the party in power. So I was pretty disappointed when, in the maelstrom that unfolded on Monday, the Republican candidates for President chose to respond by press release, rather than by writing a personal note of disgust to their email list. By sending a well-crafted email, not only could the candidate have gotten his initial response across to a larger audience (the essential principle of "Big Seed Marketing") but he could have more effectively stayed in the news cycle with an action item he could follow up on over the next couple of days. Most reporters are on your email list, so they won't miss it if you break news through the medium. And for those that aren't, you follow up with a press release announcing the email. This is basic blocking and tackling.

Of all the major GOP players, only the Republican National Committee -- my old stomping ground -- used the medium to respond in a timely manner, sending an appeal for money out on Monday night. While I expect that this email and others like it did quite well, I think the opportunity to list-build was even greater. Fundraising is generally a one-off. The people you sign up using a petition or who co-sign a letter stay with you for an entire campaign -- and beyond.

The key to being effective in this operational window is building an action item with actual news value. And it could have been as basic as asking your supporters to sign on to a letter to Hillary Clinton asking her to denounce the MoveOn ad. When she doesn't -- you get to send another email telling people she's ignored the voice of the people and asking people to take further action, like donating to defeat Hillary Clinton, or doing letters to the editor, or emailing Pinch Sulzberger about the New York Times' "family discount." Either way, the candidates would have gotten an automatic story out of this.

The one candidate who fundraised effectively off the controversy was Rudy Giuliani, who devised his own New York Times ad using MoveOn's dramatic discount as a hook to re-enter the discussion. Rudy engaged the medium effectively by asking people to participate in his response, rather than just donating to fight the generic MoveOn/Hillary bogeyman. Now, I don't quite get how spending $181,000, or $167,000, or even $65,000 on one page of newsprint is cost-effective -- unless your message is explosive like MoveOn's -- but if there is anything this has controversy has shown, it's that a spread in the Times still has a certain aura about it.

Still, I was hoping the Republican candidates would use this moment as an opportunity to dramatically beef up their email lists by signing up tens of thousands of outraged conservatives.

The Heritage Foundation has graciously posted the video of last week's Modern Media Strategies workshop in Washington. For those of you who missed it or couldn't make it to D.C., I'm reposting the video of my presentation with Romney 2008's Mindy Finn on how to build and activate a mass movement using e-mail. Here is the accompanying slideshow.

I hope you find it useful. Please let me know if in the comments if this presentation (or any of the ones last week) caused you to make a change in your online strategy, or even in how you look at the online world. Now that we've reached 160 eager young conservatives in person -- and hundreds more by posting these videos -- we're hopeful that this will have a real world impact in the strategies conservatives are using to reach their core audience.

Fred Thompson announced via e-mail tonight that he will announce his run for President on Thursday, September 6th. While the timing of his e-mail was awful (received at 6:42 pm Central), the content is terrific.

There are a few observations that come to mind though:

1. True to Thompson's grassroots, populist form, the campaign does not include a single donation link in this e-mail. Some might question the wisdom of that, but Fred came into being as a Presidential candidate with the support of grassroots activists. It's a very smart move. The campaign knows their audience here and know that they'll make a ton more money off a house party plan than a standard "donate now" link. (They did not neglect, however, to put a bubble on the side with a big red "Contribute" button but it's placement is appropriate.)

2. The e-mail is addressed to "Dear Friends" not "Dear Allen." That's a crucial mistake, especially when I know they have my name on file - I gave it to them when I signed up for their e-mails! As I've said before, e-mail is about building a relationship. I don't have a warm, friendly relationship with people who call me "Friends." Technically, this is easy. Someone just dropped the ball.

3. Fred Thompson will launch a legitimate campaign for President via webcast. That's just unreal. Sure, Hillary and Edwards and all them did it months ago, but that was months ago when there was no pressure and relatively little media attention. I'm as much of a new media guy as anyone, and I applaud them for going for it, but this is risky at best. Friends of Fred Thompson will not get nearly the attention from the mainstream media as a big event on the square in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. would. On the other hand, this does play to his strength. He is a professional TV actor after all. I'd imagine they will allow networks to play the broadcast-quality video live as well. Either way it is a go-for-broke strategy and I'm interested to see how it plays out.

4. As good as this e-mail is and as much as it will stir up support, conceptually they're light years behind what Mitt Romney is doing - namely, (as Patrick Ruffini pointed out earlier today) hosting a contest giving supporters the tools to create an ad online that will be aired via broadcast. I have no doubt, however, that they have some interesting, strategic, focused plans up their sleeves.

An image of the e-mail can be viewed here.

The text of the e-mail is below:

Dear Friends,

On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, there will also be a National House Party, during which there will be a conference call with Fred.

We enter this campaign in a strong position. Fred is consistently near the top in the polls, and conservatives across the country have put together the closest thing to a draft in recent presidential campaign history in an effort to bring about this day. The next few weeks will only serve to build upon those efforts, with house parties, visits to the early primary states, and a homecoming in Lawrenceburg, TN on the 15th. To view the dates and locations of Fred's bus tour, please click here, and check back soon for more information on attending one of these events.

By announcing via webcast, Fred is able to take his consistently mainstream conservative message directly to the voters, who are already responding to that message with a strong upwelling of grassroots support. The webcast and the following campaign tour will play to Fred’s strengths, a consistent record of conservatism, his ability to clearly spread his message, and his ability to work with and connect with Americans from all walks of life. Be apart of this historic occasion by signing up to host or attend a house party today.

Sincerely,

Bill LacyManager, Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.

When David, Rob, Soren, and I started kicking around an idea for an online training for conservatives, we maybe expected 50 people would show up to an all-day event in a sleepy August in D.C. when the city practically shuts down.

In light of that, the turnout at Heritage today rocked. More than 150 young conservatives showed up, many from out of town, ready to take the fight directly to the left.

More than anything, it was a great meeting of the minds, and my head is just awash in new ideas from all comers. It was also amazed me to see how many people are really following TechRepublican and instinctively buy in to the narrative about technology and the future of the party that we are building collectively. And that's not just online professionals. These are the people who will be running the campaigns and major nonprofits 5, 10, 15 years down the line.

With the success of the Save the Debate coalition, the emerging competition to ActBlue, and real efforts to churn out more online operatives kicking into high gear, I think we'll look back and say that this is the summer it started to happen.

My panel was about the boring, stodgy topic of email campaigns and how to build a mass movement on the Internet. It's something I don't thing gets enough attention with the current laser-like focus on social media (which is definitely emerging). I co-presented with my friend and former colleague Mindy Finn of Romney for President, who followed up with a case study of the campaign's enormously successful Sign Up America! campaign.

My slideshow is below. Consider this a teaser. You'll need to hear me speak for it actually make sense -- or so I hope!